You Are the Controller.
Introducing Project Natal, a revolutionary new way to play: no controller required. See a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it. If you know how to move your hands, shake your hips or speak you and your friends can jump into the fun — the only experience needed is life experience.

1. XBox: Ever heard of Project Natal? If you spend more than half an hour on the Web a day, you probably have. Otherwise, please first check out this YouTube video. Impressed? Well, after Nintendo’s Wii, Microsoft had to do something about its own console. And since the Wii was such a big hit, this one has to be bigger. Project Natal will definitely score some big points for the Redmond company.

2. Ford’s MyKey: If you give your car to your kids frequently, you might find that it sometimes gets hard to sleep well when they’re out, as you’re worried about what could happen to them. That’s why next year Ford’s releasing MyKey, which uses a chip in the car’s ignition key so that the driver cannot exceed 80 mph. It can also be programmed to limit the car’s audio levels and to sound loud alerts if the driver’s not wearing a seatbelt.

3. Dual Touch Screen Laptop: We’ve already witnessed top-notch laptops with touch screens. But what about dual touch screens? Apparently, the Italian firm V12 Designs will launch its new version of Canova, a dual LCD laptop. This time, both will be touch screens.

4. 4G Phones. The real download speed of most 3G phones is not more than 384 Kbps, and sometimes a lot less. That’s because it might have a 3 Mbps announced download speed, but the real one is a lot less. The 4G phones promise data transfers of 100 Mbps, and could reach up to 1 gigabit per second when static. That could mean downloading a full length DVD movie in about a minute.

5. Hydrogen Rulz! Hydrogen powered phones might be the next big thing. French researchers will probably announce by next year that a hydrogen fuel could be used as backup power source for mobile communications, letting users have some independence from electricity supplies to charge up their phones.

Technology tends to surprise us, so probably next year we’ll see a gadget we haven’t ever heard about. But these certainly make any tech-savvy person very much intrigued and anxious about what next year will bring. Don’t you feel the same?

If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to post it to your site or blog and forward this link to to your friends. Have a great day!

Editor’s note: Pete Cashmore is founder and CEO of Mashable, a popular blog about social media. He writes a weekly column about social networking and tech for CNN.com.
(CNN) — The “real-time Web” is booming. From Twitter to Facebook to new search engines that discover information posted just seconds ago, it seems the 2010 Web will be fueled by our desire for instant gratification.
But between Facebook status updates, Tweets and new mobile applications that deliver breaking news on our phones, will we be driven to distraction in 2010?
The interruptive Web: What’s new?
We’re one paragraph into this article and I’ve already been notified that I have five new Twitter updates, received one breaking news alert and seen three new e-mails pop into my inbox.
What’s new? After all, e-mail, instant messaging and text messages were distractions devised more than a decade ago. Has anything really changed?
Yes: The network itself has become faster and virtually omnipotent.
Ubiquitous connectivity and the need for speed
One factor that’s dramatically different at the end of this decade versus the beginning: Ubiquitous connectivity.
McDonalds is set to introduce Free Wi-Fi in its U.S. restaurants in January, while Google is providing free wireless Internet at selected airports this holiday season.
Meanwhile, Virgin America, American, Delta, United and other major airlines have ensured that the skies are no longer digitally disconnected. All now provide Wi-Fi on their flights.
Verizon is running attack ads against AT&T — and AT&T is counterattacking with equal force — over which company provides the best 3G coverage. Take note: This isn’t about which company has the best network coverage, since it’s already taken as read that cell phone reception is fairly ubiquitous at this point. Rather, the phone companies are warring over who has the kind of high-speed connectivity that will let you watch YouTube videos while you’re hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Shifting expectations
All this connectivity raises our expectations of an immediate response. Colleagues, friends and relatives become accustomed to the idea that we’re always on and available. Few sanctuaries of digital disconnectedness remain, and consumers aren’t mourning their loss. Our addiction to being constantly connected to our online communities and the world’s information is insatiable.
At the time of writing, for example, a BlackBerry outage is resulting in hundreds of complaints per minute on Twitter. Writes one disgruntled BlackBerry owner: “feeling disconnected. when will service be restored??”
Real-time apps: Productivity boon or bust?
Capitalizing on our constant connectedness and our desire to live in the now, so called “real-time” applications have dominated the Web startup landscape in late 2009.
Desktop applications like TweetDeck and Seesmic let users consume scores of Twitter and Facebook updates throughout the day. News reading tool Google Reader now delivers breaking news within moments, not minutes; collaborative tool Google Wave lets users work together in an environment where every letter they type is shared with the group instantly. Hitting the “enter” key to send a complete thought is much too slow these days.
Mobile versions of these apps, meanwhile, follow you everywhere you go. Speed and connectivity may be satisfying, addictive and in high demand, but is our collective neophilia making us less productive?
Multitasking myths
In a response to my recent CNN column exploring the real-time Web, psychologist Jim Taylor points out that while instant gratification is highly compelling, it’s likely to create yet more digital distractions. It’s true. Studies show that multitasking — the kind of behavior that real-time applications foster — hurts productivity.
A summary of research by the American Psychological Association states that “Multitasking may seem efficient on the surface but may actually take more time in the end and involve more errors.”
The mistakes sneak in because of “switching costs” when rapidly changing tasks, the studies suggest. Surprisingly, “chronic media multitaskers” perform the worst in testing of their multitasking abilities, according to a 2009 report. In other words, those who consider themselves proficient multitaskers perform the worst on the tests.
2010: Innovation or interruption?
In short, Web companies are rushing to satiate our desire for instant gratification, pushing real-time updates to us anywhere, anytime. And yet the studies show that these constant interruptions make it harder for us to process the information — to digest it, come to conclusions and take action.
Could the “now Web” do us more harm than good?
As a technology optimist, I’d like to believe we’ll spot this problem and confront it. In my recent column 10 Web Trends to Watch in 2010, I proposed “content curation” as one antidote to information overload.
By allowing our friends or teams of professional editors to comb the Web and extract the gems, we’d receive more relevant information at less frequent intervals. Technical solutions seem plausible, too: Filters that separate the wheat from the Web chatter.
If all else fails, of course, we can turn off, something I hope you’ll get a chance to do over the holidays.

Google today unveiled more details of Chrome OS, a lightweight, browser-based operating system for netbooks.
With a strong focus on speed, the Chrome OS promises nearly instant boot times of about 7 seconds for users to login to their computers.
“We want Google Chrome OS to be blazingly fast … to boot up like a TV,” said Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management for Google.
The first Chrome OS netbooks will be available in late 2010, Pichai said. It will not be available as a download to run and install. Instead, Chrome OS is only shipping on specific hardware from manufacturers Google has partnered with. That means if you want Chrome OS, you’ll have to purchase a Chrome OS device.
Google is currently working with unnamed computer manufacturers to define specifications for these computers, which Pichai said will include larger netbook-style computers with full-size keyboards, large trackpads and large displays.
Chrome OS netbooks will not have traditional hard disk drives — they will rely on non-volatile flash memory and Internet-based storage for saving all of your data.
All the applications will be web-based, meaning users won’t have to install apps, manage updates or even backup their data. All data will be stored in the cloud, and users won’t even have to bother with anti-virus software: Google claims it will monitor code to prevent malicious activity in Chrome OS web apps.
“Chrome OS is a totally rethought computer that will let you focus on the Internet, so you can stop worrying about your computer,” according to a Google promotional video shown at the event, held at the Google campus in Mountain View, California.
As part of its announcement today, Pichai said that Google would be releasing all of the operating system’s code and design documents to the public.
Introduced in July, Chrome OS is a Linux-based, open-source operating system centered on Google’s Chrome browser. Applications will run exclusively inside the browser, Google said Thursday.
“As of today, the code will be fully open, which means Google developers will be working on the same tree as open developers,” said Pichai.
The OS’s focus on design is consistent with the company’s stance that the future is in the web. In July, Vic Gundotra, Google’s engineering vice president and developer evangelist, spoke on a panel about app stores, in which he said native apps (such as those available for the iPhone) would be obsolete in the future, and that the Web will “become the platform that matters.”
“Every capability you want today, in the future it will be written as a web application,” Pichai said Thursday.
Netbooks — lightweight, low-powered sub-notebooks — were the surprise hit of 2008 and 2009. However, with the growth of netbook sales slowing — and the prices of some full-powered notebooks dropping below $400 — the continued viability of the netbook sector is an open question.
Though netbook shipments are falling below manufacturers’ expectations, the inexpensive, low-powered devices appear to still be selling well. Pichai cited research figures from ABI research indicating that 35 million netbooks shipped in 2009, more than twice the number sold in 2008.
Manufacturers have yet to announce pricing on netbooks shipping with Chrome OS, but Google expects the cost to be about the same as current netbooks. On average, netbooks cost between $300 and $500.
Videos demonstrating Chrome OS’s user interface, security, fast boot and other features are below the jump.

Posted by Peter Ha Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 4:35 pm

By now you’ve seen Verizon’s iDon’t/DROID Does campaign on TV or on the streets. The first commercial can be found here. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek and Verizon has admitted this, but it does highlight a handful of things that the iPhone clearly cannot do. It should also serve as a clear indication that any rumor of the iPhone moving to the network is now squashed. Or they’re confident enough that Apple won’t hold a grudge. The former scenario is more likely

Motorola’s DROID has a very industrial look and feel to it. Gone are the days of lightweight and dainty devices. You don’t have to coddle the DROID or shell out an extra $30 for a case. Wrapped mostly in metal, the DROID is chock-full of features that have become standard on ‘smartphones’ or whatever else you want to call these mini computers. Here’s a quick rundown on features and specs:

Network: Verizon Wireless (CDMA 1X 800/1900, EVDO rev. A)
Operating System: Android v2.0
Processor: Arm Cortex A8 processor 550mHz
Memory: 256MB built-in, ships with 16GB microSD card (expandable to 32GB)
Display: 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen (480×854)
Camera: 5-megapixel with dual-LED flash, auto-focus and image stabilization
Browser: Webkit HTML5, Flash Player 10.1 ready (coming soon)
GPS: aGPS/sGPS
Bluetooth: v2.1+EDR
Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g
Battery: 1400 mAh battery
Sensors: proximity, ambient light and eCompass
Size/Weight: 2.4 x 4.6 x 0.5 in., 6 oz.

DROID’s 3.7-inch display is the best looking capacitive touchscreen we’ve ever seen on any device. It renders images and text beautifully. Colors appear to pop right off the screen. In other words, you can read e-mail, browse Web pages, read eBooks or comics for hours without suffering major eye fatigue. Touch response is good and most taps are registered with very little lag or issue. But the DROID is the only Android device running version 2.0, so it’s difficult to say whether or not it’s perfect. There’s very little evidence to dispute this claim, though.

Just below the screen are four touch-sensitive buttons: back, menu, home and search. For some odd reason, Motorola has excluded buttons dedicated to initiate or end phone calls. You’ll have to initiate the dialer from one of three home screens that you can use to populate various applications or widgets. The buttons are awkwardly placed and often times, we inadvertently tapped the search button when doing anything one-handed (right hand of course). A short tap of the search button will bring up Google Search and the virtual keyboard. A long press initiates Google’s Voice Search, which works amazingly well. The rest of the buttons are pretty self-explanatory. Home takes you back to the home screen and so on.

Underneath the screen is an offset full QWERTY keyboard and directional pad. Anyone used to a BlackBerry or Sidekick will feel at home with the DROID’s keyboard, but will quickly find that it doesn’t offer the same experience. The keys are a tad cramped and there isn’t enough tactile feedback making it difficult to know where your thumbs are without having to look down. It works and is by no means a deal breaker, but depending on how big or small your hands, you’ll want to check one out in person. The directional pad is great for navigating through mobs of text but doesn’t offer much else

On top of the DROID, you’ll find the on/off switch and 3.5mm headset jack. Around the upper right corner on the right rail, the chintzy volume switch does it what it needs to do. The lower left corner is where the camera button has been placed in all its brown sugar colored glory.
Moving to the back of the device you’ll find the 5-megapixel camera and brown sugar colored speaker. The camera is horrible. Probably the worst of any phone on the market and there are a lot of bad camera phones on the market. Start up takes a long time, focusing takes even longer if it can even manage to focus and then you may as well pull out the La-Z-Boy while it takes the image. However, we’re confident that an over-the-air (OTA) update will remedy the situation as it doesn’t appear to be a hardware issue and mainly a software one. The jury is out until Motorola tries to fix this flaw.

First and foremost, the DROID is a phone, which is something people seem to forget when fawning over the latest devices. Does it make it phone calls? Yes. Will you experience dropped calls like your iPhone user friends? No. Verizon’s 3G network is the nation’s largest and it’s close to perfect. The caller and receiver sound crisp and clear. The speakerphone is loud and clear.
Shoddy battery life from any 3G device with GPS, a Web browser, Wi-Fi are commonplace, but the DROID seems to be ahead of the pack. Mileage will vary here, but light Web browsing, sporadic app usage, background tasks, a phone call or two and Gmail will have you running anywhere from 10-14 hours. Certain measures can be taken to lengthen your battery life, like switching from 3G to EDGE (d’oh), lowering screen brightness and turning off GPS, but it’s something we all have to deal with these days.

From a hardware standpoint, the DROID flies but the software will either take advantage of the hardware in a manner that offers a flawless user experience or it’ll crap its pants trying to take a picture.

You can read the rest of the review at TIME magazine website by visiting  http://nerdworld.blogs.time.com/2009/11/05/motorola-droid-review-verizon-wireless/?techsilly=yes

The Canon 3536B001 VIXIA HF200 Flash Memory HD Digital Camcorder delivers brilliant video and photos through a Canon exclusive 3.89 Megapixel CMOS image sensor and the latest version of our advanced image processor, DIGIC DV III. It is ultra lightweight – our smallest and lightest HD camcorder, and brings the ease and convenience of Flash Memory.

What’s more, the Canon 3536B001 VIXIA HF200 Flash Memory HD Digital Camcorder allows you to record at up to 24Mbps, the highest bitrate in AVCHD format, for the highest quality image. The VIXIA HF200’s Canon Exclusive features – such as the Genuine Canon 15x HD video lens, Genuine Canon Face Detection, SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization and a host of new control and creative options – makes our Flash Memory camcorder unmistakably Canon.

Outstanding picture and sound quality! Goes for around $550 at TigerDirect.com

After the initial backup is completed, Mozy will monitor your system for changes in your files. For example if new file appears in your “Pictures” folder, Mozy will automatically add it to your “Pictures” folder in the cloud. If you are concerned about security, Mozy offers 128-bit SSL encryption so your files are save, you can also select 448-bit Blowfish encryption to add even more protection… no, there is no extra charge for that.

For only $4.95 you can rest assured that your data is always save. I highly recommend it.

The Xacti VPC-WH1 boast a high speed, silent engine and in low light situations improves color reproduction. With the 30X optical zoom, you can take vivid close-ups and you can even use 50X digital zoom to focus on small details with ease.

The VPC-WH1 records true HD videos and with the resolution up to 1280 x 720 pixels you will be stunned by the quality this camera provides at 30fps. What I like the most is the use of SD and SDHC cards for storage. It allows you to store a lot of footage into a small space.

While capturing a moving object, use Digital Image Stabilization to reduce image blur. Want to connect it with your TV, PC, VCR or DVD? Xacti VPC-WH1 makes it as easy as turning your TV on! This versatile and contemporary camera looks as good in your hand as the stunning pictures it takes. It retails for about $330 at Amazon or NewEgg.com.

8GB Apple iPod Touch starts at around $180, 32GB goes for about $100 more and you can get a 64GB version for about $380.