Some really nice tech for 2013 to get the creative juices flowing!!

[Aerendraca]

I thought I would try and drum up some more activity on the forums with a quick tech update loosely related to DIY Cintiq builing with the intention of getting some creative thoughts and ideas bouncing around.

First up the 'Leap Motion' controller, a small USB device that sits on your desk in front of your monitor and allows you to manipulate the on screen data using just your hands! Takes on the likes of the Microsoft Kinect although is far more sensitive (allegidly). Pre-Orders $79.99 (~£53).
Link to Leap Motion: https://www.leapmotion.com/

Next up we have the 'MYO' controller, A hands free device that clamps to your arm like a blood pressure monitor and acurately measures electrical impulses in your muscles, the information is used alongside data from motion sensing hardware to provide another cool way to control stuff. Pre-Orders are $149 (~£98).
Link to MYO: https://getmyo.com/

This is the one that most people have probably heard of - Google Glass. Augmented reality glasses which will give you a new perspective on the world whilst looking actually quite cool. No idea on cost as I can't find any info on that.
Here's the link: http://www.google.com/glass/start/

Whilst still in developemental stages (and so not readily available for the consumer yet) there have been some rather cool breakthroughs in battery technology this year. A team of scientists/engineers at the University of Illinois have developed and are continuing to develop a new method of creating battery cells, which whilst being tiny are mighty powerful and can be recharged up to 1000x faster than competing technologies. They claim that this cell technology means that you can produce batteries which are ten times smaller for the same output, or you can make batteries which are 10x more powerful at the same size as competing batteries. Here's a link: http://news.illinois.edu/news/13/0416microbatteries_WilliamKing.html

Another team of scientists/engineers at Northwestern University (Chicago) are working on stretchy lithium Ion batteries. Bit wierd but still cool, here's the link: http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2013/02/clever-battery-completes-stretchable-electronics-package.html

And for those times where you need to step away, be it from the frustrations of taming jitter problems or for some creative inspiration, well soon you will be able to relax with a consistantly perfect cup of tea! Scientists at UK based company Cambridge Consultants (partly responsible for the first round teabag) have developed a machine - not unlike a coffee machine - which will make the perfect genuine brew every time, Nice!
Here's the Link: http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/news/pr/release/112/en

[bernard]

Oooh!  the part about the microbatteries is news to me.  To me, this is a super-killer thing. If I were a big name in consumer (or military!) electronics, I would immediately try to get my hands on this and buy the whole chabang. One of the biggest headache with most portable devices is the freakin battery.

[Aerendraca]

I believe they are having problems with safety with these small cells at the moment, but once the teething problems have been resolved these batteries will be epic! For example, I read somewhere that with current electric car technology you can expect about 100miles before you will be looking at a recharge and that a full charge takes about 16hours. This is hardly practical, but, imagine you replace these with this new battery technology, suddenly it's 1000miles between charges and probably only an hour or so for a recharge!! That's huge!!
I would think that in reality it would probably be half of this, but that's still 500miles on a full charge.

Or looking at it another way, my IBM laptop has a pretty good battery on it and a full charge will last me about 4hours under general use, swapping out the current battery for one of the same size composed on these mighty cells would last me 20 - 40hours! I can smell a fully portable no time constraints Cintiq on the horizon.

[bernard]

safety: yeah, I can imagine!  These appears to be able to blow tons of Amps if you are willing to draw it -- like a short would instantly blow up.    I remember I was working where reps were coming to show us Lithium-ion batteries (something that was rare at the time).   Before they handover the 2 battery sample to us, they ask tons of questions on how we plan to use this and its safety. It is was considered dangerous!  Each battery  "component" was shipping with a special circuits to protect against overloads.

In that case, it is much, much worse. 

This makes me think about all those star trek trickery with re-using the battery within the disrupters or tricorders to power up super-forcefield shields or across-the-galaxy radio beacons. All that modifications done with just sharp piece of metal.  Ah well. If it was that simple.