For the the most part, many of the Android tablets and alike, all enter the scene saying that they are the next “iPad Killer.” Google is releasing an all new operating system designed specifically for the tablet called Honeycomb and Lifehacker has done a great job listing the ways the new OS is better (and worse) than the iPad’s. Check it out here. Also, to find out which of these new tablets are iPad’s main competitors, head over to Gizmodo to discover the best of the best here.

ABC has just released an iPad app for Grey’s Anatomy that syncs the television show with your iPad to view alternate content. It works by opening the app during a viewing of Grey’s Anatomy, and then the iPad will sync up with the show’s timeline by listening to the audio. Once synced, the user unlocks exclusive content that is displayed on their iPad. This offers a great way to add a tablet as a companion to viewing other media. For more information, head to Mashable.

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The new TRON LiveCycle app uses real world data and integrates it into gameplay. While this isn’t Living Art per-se, we do see value in this technology being integrated in Living Art projects.

For more information check out Coke Zero’s website.

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IDEO, the same company that brought us an amazing digital book concept, has built a table that can instantly stream an mp3 from reading RFID tags found on a simple card dropped onto the table. With IBM’s plans to create Billboards that deliver personalized RFID messages, this new invention renews our excitement us to see RFID technology moving forward.

Via Engadget

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The material shown in the photo contains piezoelectric nanowires which, when flexed can produce enough power to drive an LCD.

When we first produced our Living Art magazine for Outside (vid below), we envisioned a future where magazines and other media were published and distributed on recyclable, flexible OLED devices which would cost about the same as a hardcopy magazine today. Imagine something about size of a sheet of paper, and the thickness of a laminated menu, that you can purchase on your way to work and use as long as you like. Nanogenerators like this may be the technology that powers such a device.

Our belief is that once portable media is freed from the constrains of the proprietary device like a smartphone or tablet, the barriers to access this media become low enough to make the medium near ubiquitous. So naturally we are excited to see little advancements like this emerge. If you’re looking forward to someday curling up with a flexible digital magazine that you can afford to loose on the train, this is definitely technology to keep your eye on.

“Now researchers at Georgia Tech have made the first nanowire-based generators that can harvest sufficient mechanical energy to power small devices, including light-emitting diodes and a liquid-crystal display.” [Technology Review]

IDEO, a design and innovation consultancy, has released an inspiring video of three concepts that illustrate new and engaging ways ways to display the written narrative using the digital book. IDEO believes that increasing the digital context can add to books instead of taking away from it. The three concepts Nelson, Coupland, and Alice provide very different solutions that offer a way to enhance the digital book.

We’re excited to see some of these innovations develop, and it’s great to see these in a concept video before they go to market- a process which gives forum for discussion. The book is still being written on how digital content can be delivered in ways that are meaningful- wether they attract or distract, and how we use technology to enhance the reader’s experience. Check out the video above, and let us know what you think.

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Samsung showed off its prototype for a transparent LCD touchscreen at the SID International Symposium.  Because the display is transparent, this creates the tricky issue of where to hide the backlights. Samsung solved this issue by cleverly hiding LED lights in the borders of the screen, which can automatically detect poor lighting conditions. It will be interesting to see how this technology is used: in store front windows, backseat car windows for boring road trips with the fam… I’d love to see a coffe table book be the actual coffee table.

Enjoy the always sketchy prototype video above.

via OLED-Info and Techi

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Director Chris Milk and interactive production company B-Reel have produced a stunning interactive music video for the song “We Used to Wait” by Arcade Fire using HTML5 technology. After launching a browser that can handle HTML5 (preferably Chrome), the video asks you to simply input the address of your childhood home. This launches the viewer into an emotional representation of your old neighborhood using CG animations and video clips and layering them on top of Google maps and street view. In the end, you are presented with a custom made choreographed nostalgic experience that music videos or shorts have never been able to explore. HTML5 is offering a new way to experience the internet, and we are very excited continuing to watch it develop.

Check it out yourself here.

We’re suckers for these “vision of the future” vids. While there’s nothing quite groundbreaking about The Astonishing Tribe‘s vision (except maybe that 90′s haircuts are back), it’s still fun to see. Oh, transparent OLED! We can’t wait.

If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s Microsoft’s screens and displays of 2019 vision.

via Gizmodo

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HD projection power house Obscura Digital, the company that can use any object as canvas, released a video highlighting their 2010 California Roadshow that is very inspiring. They traveled across the state transforming many popular locations including 700 ft of the USS Midway and the architectural wonder that is the Walt Disney Concert hall. Some locations used as many as 12 projectors and required around two days of rigging and calibrating. Pictures and alternate video below.

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