10 -- No! 11 Innovations That Changed the World

(Almost) Full Article at CNBC

1. 1908: Ford's Model T
2. 1928: Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
3. 1954: Nuclear Power
4. 1961: Yuri Gagarin enters space
5. 1969: Concorde makes its maiden flight
6. 1979: Sony's Walkman goes on sale
7. 1989: Sir Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web (they claim.)
8. 1996: Birth of world's first successfully cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep
9. 2001: The iPod is launched
10. 2013: Bionic Limbs

11. 2014: PicoP becomes widely available. (This entry added by Peter)

    



In a society increasingly dependent and entertained by mobile data, people routinely used devices that could retrieve far more visual data than the screens on those devices could deliver.

To get large screen data delivery, people needed screens that plugged into the wall. They could get some data from the small screens on their phones. This tiny laser projector suddenly made quality data-delivery possible anywhere.

Its affordability, portability and low power usage will enable many millions of people to access entertainment and video information they couldn't afford before.

PicoP will create profound changes in the way people drive, use their computers, view video entertainment and play electronic games. It will also have many industrial and medical applications. Its extreme portability and ability to deliver data anywhere on nearly any surface makes it an incredible tool with more uses to be discovered.

Something BIG in the works at APPLE

http://bgr.com/2014/04/28/apple-r-and-d-spending-2-8-billion-dollars/



By Brad Reed on Apr 28, 2014 at 2:53 PM
Email @bwreedbgr

Yes, it’s a good bet that Apple will release at least one major new product category this year. Wall Street Playbook’s leading tech analyst writes over at Seeking Alpha that Apple in its last quarterly earnings report revealed a “$2.8 billion jump in commitment for things like new manufacturing equipment, research and development, marketing and product tooling” as well as “a 30% jump in research and development costs, which, in the quarter, reached $1.4 billion, representing a 66% jump in R&D spending in two years.”

All told, Apple has really started ramping up its spending on R&D over the last two years and is plugging a lot more money into new manufacturing equipment as well. If we put 2 and 2 together here, then it seems very likely that Apple is planning a big new launch in the near future that will likely at least start in the fall when it unveils its first-ever wearable computer.

What comes after this, however, is still a mystery. While we wouldn’t bet on Apple launching its long-fabled television set, a major refresh of its Apple TV set-top box is likely in the works as Apple will look to move much more aggressively to get into the online video streaming market.

Whatever it is, though, a $2.8 billion boost in R&D, manufacturing equipment and related expenses suggests it’s going to be big.

Target Price? Clues to this year's sales?

The image is from the Corporate Overview from April 2014.

Find Corporate Overview PDF here...

From the 2014 line:

4.6 Million Smartphones?
2.4 Million Tablets?

7 million units?

Do some math...

It's been a dream for a while... soon

The Father of Science Fiction with TV Glasses...

Microsoft Purchase of Nokia Handset Unit Complete

Ben Miller

Contributing Editor-Puget Sound Business Journal

Email

Article at source

Microsoft Corp. said its $7.5 billion purchase of Nokia handset division is now complete.

"The mobile capabilities and assets they bring will advance our transformation,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, in a statement.

As part of the deal, former Nokia president and CEO Stephen Elop, who was once a candidate to become Microsoft's CEO, now will serve as executive vice president of the Microsoft Devices Group.

With the Nokia purchase, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) adds 25,000 employees to its workforce, which previously numbered about 99,000.

New Nokia.com Website

Current Apple Commercial for 5S

It features projection and projectors in a number of scenes....

Concept IPhone Accessory

Yes, this would be possible with PicoP.

Do I think this is a leak of the real thing? No.

Could we get something like this very soon? Absolutely yes.

New Patent -- & Rare editorial Comment

Tiny Projectors are going to be EVERYWHERE. 

We are a visual data dependent society and getting more so. Whether that data is text or video information, tiny projectors are how we're going to get that information from our increasingly powerful (and shrinking in size) portable computers.

This patent is just another example of how video can be usefully delivered just where it is needed.

Will Microvision dominate the tiny projector market? Maybe. Will they get enough to make the holders of their stock wealthy? Almost certainly yes. -- end editorial comment --

**************************************************

On-board tool tracking system and methods of computer assisted surgery
WO 2013052187 A2

ABSTRACT
A number of improvements are provided relating to computer aided surgery utilizing an on tool tracking system. The various improvements relate generally to both the methods used during computer aided surgery and the devices used during such procedures. Other improvements relate to the structure of the tools used during a procedure and how the tools can be controlled using the OTT device. Still other improvements relate to methods of providing feedback during a procedure to improve either the efficiency or quality, or both, for a procedure including the rate of and type of data processed depending upon a CAS mode.

*****

Microvision specifically is mentioned several times:
"Projector" is mentioned 180 times.

[00073] The final subsystem is an indicator to provide the surgeon with OTT CAS appropriate outputs related to when his movement of the tool, as well as in relation is to the intended resection within a real time OTT CAS step. The indicator can be any variety of means to align/locate the surgical path with the intended resection: a panel of lights that sign directions to correct the surgeon, a speaker with audio instructions, a screen, touchscreen or iPhone or iPAd like device (i.e., a so-called "smartphone") on the OTT equipped tool displaying 3d representation of the tool and the patient with added guide imagery or a digital projection (eg. by a picoprojector) onto the patient's anatomy of the appropriate location of a resection. The indicator serves to provide an appropriate OTT CAS output to guide the surgeon to make the right resection based on real time information.

New Patent -

http://images3.freshpatents.com/pdf/US20140104501A1.pdf

More about the new Land Rover and Laser Tech

http://www.motoring.com.au/news/large-4x4/land-rover/discovery/new-york-motor-show-discovery-off-road-42960

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Discovery Vision Concept hints at Land Rover’s next-gen 4WD capabilities

If the Discovery Vision Concept’s tech-laden interior and exterior features moved the game too far away for a Land Rover traditionalist, then the effort put into the concept’s off-road capabilities should bring them swooning back.

The Discovery Vision Concept features the latest in Land Rover’s off-road thinking, with Remote Control Drive being a particular highlight.

Operated via the removable secondary rotary dial housed in the centre console, or via a smartphone or tablet app linked to the car’s encrypted WiFi, Remote Control Drive promises to assist in the toughest of conditions, for example when judging if the vehicle can squeeze between that rock and the hard place.

Land Rover also highlights its broader application, when coupling to a trailer or driving through gates.

A ‘vision’ of what the app would look like displayed a digital steering wheel, which the controller operated with their fingertips.  Forward and reverse options were also available.

Cameras are also used to create what Land Rover calls a transparent bonnet. Under-grille cameras record the terrain passing underneath and project it onto the vehicle’s heads-up display, creating the illusion of a see-through bonnet.

The Discovery Vision Concept’s front foglights can emit infrared lasers that can be deployed to scan the approaching terrain, providing the driver with a mapped image on an interior screen to better prepare for potential hazards.

When in trouble, the laser technology can also project visible images onto the road, alerting others to any issues – think emergency triangle or caution sign.

A Project Ara Wishlist

http://www.yugatech.com/gooooogle/diy-smartphone-project-ara-what-are-your-specs/

March 27, 2014

DIY smartphone Project Ara: What are your specs?

 930 29 0

So we’ve seen Samsung’s Galaxy S5 flagship phone. There’s also Sony’s Xperia Z2 and even the All-new HTC One. With these companies giving us a set of fixed specs, I say forget about all the hoopla for a second and instead, you tell us what you want to see in your smartphone when Google’s DIY Project Ara comes to fruition.

I’ll get this started. Here’s how I want my Project Ara:
4.7-inch body
1920 x 1080 display
20MP rear camera with Xenon flash and night vision
5MP wide-angle front camera
4K video recording
Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor
3GB RAM
64GB internal memory
Stereo speakers
Pico projector
2 x 2500mAh battery
Since I’m more of a multimedia guy, I want my specs to lean more towards imaging capabilities. I’d prefer a 20MP rear camera with 4K video capabilities and a Xenon bulb so I could effectively capture clear and blur-free images even at night, with the option of night vision widely-seen on Sony’s handycams. To share them, I’d get a Pico projector of some sort to easily show my latest photos or short films to my friends. Also, two battery modules to hot-swap!
The point of this article (besides publicly day-dreaming about our fantasy phones) is so that we realize the possibility of the future of smartphones as early as today. Google’s Project Ara is now undergoing developer conferences and could come early 2015 – which is just a year from now.
Would it be a hit to consumers like you? How much would it affect other smartphone manufacturers? Would their strategy change? If so, how? Only time will tell.



http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=611546&page=379

Conceivable you could double up on wifi modules for faster through put. Even something like an ethernet module could help you tie into a local nas.

Did you see the phone that Google is using to map 3d environments? You could do that with an additional module instead of a whole new device.

There's companies, mainly in professional fields, working on creating things like scanners for blood sugar. People with diabetes won't have to carry around another piece of hardware with them.

Boom sound and a pico projector for doing presentations. Being able to add an LTE module or a whitespace module would be great and would allow even faster iteration of tech.

You work at a sensitive place of work? Remove the camera and you can still have your own phone. Slide in your work module and you don't have to carry a second work phone.

2015 Mustang has HUD?

UPDATE

Apparently NOT -- at least in the US.
Looking for confirmation

From Fox News

Fast Forward to 2:00 and listen.... the rest is good too.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/2897489942001/secrets-of-the-2015-ford-mustang/?intcmp=related#sp=show-clips

Heads up display in 2015 Ford Mustang

I have no reason to doubt that this is actually in the 2015 Mustang, as it's from Ford's video featuring the vehicle. If someone finds out otherwise, please let me know.

Now I have compared this picture of a released picture of a 2015 mustang and there are a couple of differences... vents in the center even with the speedometer on the 2015... which may cast some doubt...

.... and the Mustang guys..

"Pause the video at 0:03. That's a Mustang with a pretty fancy HUD. That's the interior of a 13. (Probably the Hero Stang) but the point of it was to showcase some of the 15. So, does that confirm that the 15 is getting a HUD? I sure do hope so!"

Thank you mrkrabz from mustangrevolution.com





Found reference to this on a Mustang Enthusiast's site.
http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/f388/t345582-17/

Google to offer Phone Service?

This is actually huge.

The love of PicoP is going to be very dependent on availability of content.

If Google can pull this off, the bandwidth available for cell networks will be huge in most urban areas, and bottlenecks that currently exist on conventional cell networks will be largely ameliorated. (Big word, I know, look it up.)

http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/03/google-phone-service-leak/?ncid=rss_truncated&cps=gravity

Many see Google Fiber as an attempt to disrupt the stagnant world of internet service providers, and it now sounds like Google wants to shake up the wireless industry, too. Sources for The Information claim that the search firm wants to offer mobile phone service in Fiber areas. It's not yet clear how this would work, but Google reportedly told Verizon in January that it would like to become an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) piggybacking on Big Red's network. None of the companies involved are commenting on the rumor, and there are no guarantees that Google's dreams will become reality. We certainly wouldn't count on Verizon's cooperation given its vehement opposition to the net neutrality principles that Larry Page and crew hold dear. However, Google is the sort of company that's willing to supply internet access by any means necessary -- if it's really bent on offering phone service, it'll find a way.

Another Project ARA Article

http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/15/project-ara-modular-smartphone/

Much more at the link above

The night before Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division was supposed to show off the one and only functional Project Ara prototype to a room full of eager developers, someone dropped the phone and broke the display. At any other product reveal, this worst-case scenario would be a nightmare come true. Not to Google: the company made lemonade out of a lemon by turning it into a selling point for the modular smartphone. A year from now, painful situations like this can be easily fixed by simply buying a new display and swapping out the broken one.

Not that last night's fiasco would've made much of a difference. Attendees at this week's Project Ara developer conference wouldn't have been able to boot up the prototype and play around with it like any typical smartphone -- in this case, "functional" is not the same as "functioning" -- but at least it would've made for a better presentation. Regardless of how it looked, however, we were able to briefly handle the Project Ara prototype and some of its first modules. To be clear, this is an extremely early model and there's a long way to go before seeing the light of day, but it at least allows us to get a good glimpse of what's to come over the next year as Ara continues to prepare for launch.

We stink at predicting future technology...

Display is key.

http://time.com/60505/this-1981-computer-magazine-cover-explains-why-were-so-bad-at-tech-predictions/

Project Ara - Reinventing the Smartphone

http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/15/5615880/building-blocks-how-project-ara-is-reinventing-the-smartphone

Building blocks: how Project Ara is reinventing the smartphone

A handful of Google engineers and designers are building a phone the DARPA way

By Dieter Bohn on April 15, 2014 11:45 am Email @backlon

The broad outlines of Project Ara have already been announced and had plenty of doubt cast on them. It's an attempt to encourage hardware manufacturers to build modules that will slot into a metal "endoskeleton," which serves as the basic core of a phone. The camera, screen, and any other feature that you'd traditionally associate with a smartphone would exist only as a modular tile — even the processor and the power jack would be removable. The challenges that ATAP needs to overcome are formidable to say the least. Since well before the iPhone, mobile technology has been on an inexorable march towards integration. Putting as many parts as possible on a single circuit board — or even a single chip — has benefits that are impossible to ignore. Integration saves on battery life, weight, thinness, and cost, among other things.

ITRI Automotive Laser Heads Up Display

http://www.taiwantrade.com.tw/EP/1234/news-detail/en_US/61345/

ITRI Releases Advanced Automotive Laser Head-Up Display

Date: 2013-11-08

Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) recently released an automobile module that projects the widest laser head-up display (HUD) to date. The ITRI touts the module as the most advanced of its kind in the international market.

ITRI Releases Advanced Automotive Laser Head-Up Display

The HUD module is expected to "help local makers of automobile electronic devices enter a niche market," the institute said.

The laser HUD module, based on laser micro-imaging technology, comprises high-frequency scanning components, a pico projection laser engine, super-wide distance imaging optics and other key components. This allows it to project an HUD display made up of real-time images, navigation and traffic data, according to the ITRI.

The institute said the components and technologies used to make the state-of-the-art device are the most advanced in the world, and it is now applying a patent for the product.

The nonprofit ITRI, headquartered in Hsinchu County, is Taiwan's top R&D organization and is engaged in applied research and technical services. With the transfer of its innovative technologies, the institute has helped establish many high-tech companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

Amazon New Phone

http://bgr.com/2014/04/15/amazon-smartphone-photos-specs-kindle-phone-exclusive/

3D without Glasses? Kindle Phone?

Full Article

Amazon phone reportedly coming in September with glasses-free 3D

Stop us if you've heard this one before: Amazon's getting ready to launch a phone. This is actually one of the longest-running rumors we've heard, with the first reports stretching back to 2012. So what's different this time? According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is already showing off prototypes of the handset to developers and is gunning to announce the device by the end of June with a September release. The report tells us that Amazon wants to differentiate itself from other top-of-the-line flagships by adding four cameras with retina-tracking tech, making it possible to project 3D images without needing glasses.

Rumors of a "Kindle phone" (or multiple phones) have been floating around the internet for ages, and this isn't even the first time we've heard that Amazon was working on a 3D-type display -- the Journal began reporting last May that the project would enable visuals that "seem to float above the screen like a hologram." Given how much smoke we've seen, there's quite likely fire. We wouldn't be surprised to see some news come out around the same time as Google's I/O developer conference, but we're more curious to find out exactly what Amazon plans to do with this retina-tracking tech and how developers will be able to take advantage of it. Needless to say, it certainly would add an interesting element to our already endless Instagram feed.

Google Project Ara Modular Phone Developer conferences

We may get some interesting news from one of these.

FIRST CONFERENCE AGENDA

Project Ara Module Development Kit  -- if anyone who looks here knows how well MVIS's PicoP fits here, I'd be really interested to get your opinion.

Structure and Features (Module Sizes)

Modules can provide common smartphone features, such as cameras and speakers, but can also provide more specialized features, such as medical devices, receipt printers, laser pointers, pico projectors, night vision sensors, or game controller buttons. Each slot on the frame will accept any module of the correct size. The front slots are of various heights and take up the whole width of the frame.^[7] The rear slots come in standard sizes of 1x1, 1x2 and 2x2.^[7] Modules can be hot-swapped without turning the phone off.^[6] The frame also includes a small backup battery so the main battery can be swapped.^[6] Modules are secured with electropermanent magnets. The enclosures of the modules are 3D-printed, so customers can design their own individual enclosures and replace them as they wish.^{[6][5] --- FROM WIKIPEDIA}

• According to the sizes listed here, the Sony Module using PicoP appears to be an excellent fit as a Project Ara module.

Good article about Release Date and Goals

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Google's Project Ara modular smartphone gets a trio of dev conferences

BY MICHAEL GORMAN  @NUMESON  FEBRUARY 26TH 2014, AT 4:53:00 PM ET

Google's got plenty of moonshots brewing in its Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP), but one of the most intriguing is its modular smartphone design, called Project Ara. Because Ara's a platform designed to lets users swap out hardware (processors, cameras, or sensors) on the phone, it presents unique opportunities for developers to build different kinds of modules and the software needed to make them all work. That's why ATAP's going to be doing three developers' conferences this year, with the first one set to happen April 15-16 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

Folks that want to attend, but are outside striking distance of the Bay Area need not fret, however, as there will be a live webcast and interactive Q&A sessions of the conference, too. This initial event will focus on building the modules themselves, as Google will be making an alpha version of its Module Developers' Kit available at the beginning of April. We don't know what the other two conferences will be about (though software development for Ara seems a good bet), but more info and the conference agenda can be found at projectara.com in the coming weeks.

PROVOK -- Tablet with Projector

http://product.kfds.co.uk/portfolio/provok/

On Facebook

Apple TV article

Minyanville > Sectors > Technology

Apple TV Will Have Us Waving at the Camera, Analyst Says

By Mike Schuster Apr 10, 2014 2:41 pm

Not only has Comcast asserted that new Apple TV hardware is under way -- one analyst suggests it will sport motion-sensing technology.

Back in November, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) took a $350 million gamble on the Tel Aviv-based company PrimeSense, which specialized in motion-sensing technology and was responsible for designing the original Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Kinect gaming device. (See: What Will Apple Inc. Do With Its Latest (Rumored) Acquisition?)

Theories began to swirl about what exactly Apple would do with PrimeSense and its expertise in detecting movement and control gestures in a three-dimensional environment. Chiefly, many saw it as a logical integration into a soon-to-be-revamped Apple TV. After all, gesture-based controls were popping up in Samsung (OTCMKTS:SSNLF) and LG television sets -- as well as the Xbox One -- and Apple might be keen on paying some extra attention to its relatively ignored set-top box. 

Of course, there was still the possibility that PrimeSense -- like many acquired companies before it -- was bought strictly for the patents and would summarily die a quiet, strangled death before any product saw the light of day.

However, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, Apple may in fact put PrimeSense technology to good use and release that motion-sensing Apple TV box yet. In his latest research note this week, Kuo foresees an upgraded Apple TV hitting shelves this fall. The updated set-top box will recognize movement and gestures, similar to the Microsoft Kinect, and will reportedly eliminate the need for a physical remote. That's a far cry from the endless tapping that Apple TV users are accustomed to in order to navigate menus and enter in search queries into the on-screen keyboard.

While Kuo confidently predicts gesture-based controls, he isn't sure how the new Apple TV UI will differ from the current generation or whether this upgraded model will debut with its own App Store. But Kuo sees an Apple TV App Store as an inevitability, which should please fans.

However, those fans won't be happy to hear that there probably won't be a full HDTV set coming from Apple this year and that it may not ever be produced. According to Kuo, Apple would need to update and foster its TV ecosystem before debuting a television set. "Considering the high cost involved in creating a TV supply chain, we don't expect the iTV to debut before the TV ecosystem improves," he says.

Although many analysts have predicted an upgrade to the Apple TV this year, Kuo has a respectable track record that gives his claims some extra weight. In January 2013, Kuo presented a time line for Apple releases that accurately included the iPhone 5S, the iPhone 5C, and an iPad Mini with a Retina Display.

Not only that, a new set-top box from Apple was substantiated this week in Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable's (NYSE:TWC) filing to the FCC ahead of the hearing for the potential merger. Here's an excerpt (emphasis ours):

Today, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) competes as a network, video, and technology provider, and eight out of nine of the next Google Fiber markets the company announced are in Comcast or TWC areas. Apple tablets are viewing platforms for cable services even while Apple offers an online video service, Apple TV, and explores development of an Apple set-top box. Microsoft just announced that it will feature ads on the Xbox One, creating a new video advertising platform. And just last week, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced its own set-top box while it continues to leverage its unequaled sales platform and family of competitive tablets to promote its burgeoning Prime Instant Video business.

So, how would Comcast and Time Warner Cable be aware of such a device? Last month, Apple was rumored to have been in talks with Comcast to deliver live TV and on-demand video via the Apple TV -- possibly this upcoming model. But unfortunately, it's unlikely to be a huge departure from a mere Comcast app on a menu screen. (See: An Apple-Comcast Deal Probably Won't Fix Big Cable.)

In light of Chromecast's success, the Android TV announcement, and the recent debut of the Amazon Fire TV box, major tech players are paying extra attention to the media center market. Hopefully, a new Apple TV will keep the momentum going and help put some worry into the black, greedy heart of Big Cable.

Read more: http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/technology/articles/Apple-TV-Will-Have-Us-Waving/4/10/2014/id/54552#ixzz2yWO30j9W