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CNET News
- Corning's mind-blowing concept of a glass future
One day we could have high-tech walls made of touch-sensitive architectural display glass.
(Credit:
Corning)
"Gorilla Glass" could one day become a household phrase, but Corning has even larger ideas.
"A Day Made of Glass 2" is a montage of "how highly engineered glass, with companion technologies, will help shape our world," according to Corning. It is mind-blowing to imagine everyday objects suddenly having rich, interactive displays and multiple functionalities.
After watching the video, I began to think about how intelligent glass, installed on a broad scale, could change the world. There are two key integrations: in the education and medical fields.
Education: the final frontier.
(Credit:
Corning)
In the video, kids sit in rows of workstations in a classroom with a large, interactive touch-screen display and a teacher. Computers show only what is on the main display with no distractions. The menu system and interactive features, combined with a teacher's expertise, compel the kids to pay attention and learn. I certainly feel this is what education could be, and should be. Just seeing the purported UI reminds me... [Read more]
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VW adds a driver's car to the Jetta model range
(Credit:
Wayne Cunningham/CNET)
With the 2011 Jetta update, Volkswagen made some compromises to get the price low, but the GLI restores handling and power to this otherwise humble model.
Significant additions to the Jetta GLI are a multi-link rear suspension and rear disc brakes. The most important part of the package is one of the best powertrains available today, Volkswagen's TFSI 2-liter four cylinder engine mated to its Direct Shift Gearbox. That engine combines good economy and and power.
Cabin tech options mirror what can be found in other high trim Jettas, with an available navigation system and iPod connectivity. We raved about the Fender audio system in this Jetta, which blows away other audio offerings in this segment.
The biggest competition to the GLI comes from Volkswagen itself, with the GTI. That hot hatchback gets the same powertrain, along with launch control. But if a sedan is more your style, then the Jetta GLI will have to suffice.
Read CNET's review of the 2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI.
[Read more]
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Obama supporters pick Patriots, GOPers go for Giants?
A Super Bowl Sunday red and blue reversal?
(Credit:
Screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET)
Super Bowl Sunday offers no respite from partisan bickering in this presidential election year.
A Silicon Valley startup found a strong overlap between how people feel about who will win today's big game and who they'd like to see win the presidential election in the fall.
Mountain View-based Saygent conducted a survey asking 205 people for their Super Bowl predictions and then did a bit of data crunching using its voice response and analysis platform. Saygent's algorithm looked at the way people talked about the teams and the game ("by analyzing the way people talk about the game we can infer who is actually knowledgeable and who is taking a stab in the dark," the company says).
Saygent then filtered out "people with very low trust or a strong bias" to come up with a prediction from its "trusted crowd" of 90. The result? the New England Patriots by three points.
That's almost identical to the official line, which had the Pats by 2.5 points at last check, and is--frankly--not that interesting.
But Saygent, in what it admits is not an exact science, also asked people in the same survey who they planned to vote for for president. When it took a ... [Read more]
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Will Monster's new in-ear headphone dazzle audiophiles?
I'm hoping the whole celebrity-branded headphone shtick will soon run its course, but I have to admit Monster's new Earth Wind & Fire Gratitude in-ear headphones are pretty spectacular.
Earth, Wind & Fire was one of the most popular funk bands of the 1970s, so naturally they were primed to attach their name to a headphone. That's fine, but I have to judge a headphone on its build and sound quality, and the Gratitude is a very decent headphone indeed. The heavy gold accents on the earpieces were a little gaudy for my taste, but that's showbiz.
The Monster Earth, Wind & Fire Gratitude in-ear headphone
(Credit:
Monster)
It provided a fair degree of noise isolation from the NYC subway's racket, and the flat, tangle resistant cable's color scheme matches the Gratitude's gold trim. There's a ControlTalk in-line mic and volume/talk controls, and the 12 pairs of different size and type of eartips make it easy to get the perfect fit to seal-in the headphone's sound. If the seal is less than ideal, as is frequently the case for me, the sound will never be up to snuff. The Gratitude's assortment of tips set a record for the most varied selection I have ever seen packed with an in-ear headphone!
You also get two carrying pouches, one zippered and one that looks like a woman's tiny purse. The Gratitude is backed-up with a one-y... [Read more]
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What if the Vita had an Apple logo instead of Sony's?
Apple play: Viva La Vita.
(Credit:
David Carnoy/CNET)
Call me crazy. Call me misguided. But I preordered a Sony PS Vita the other day.
That's right, I plunked down a $50 deposit at a GameStop near work, thereby earning the right to own Sony's new handheld game console the day it comes out here in the U.S. on February 22.
I didn't catch too much grief among my fellow editors for doing it, although we have an ongoing debate in the office about how successful the Vita will be. A lot of folks think the Vita, like the Nintendo 3DS, will have a rough go of it, largely because it's just too expensive at $250 for the Wi-Fi-only version and $300 for the Wi-Fi+3G model.
Part of me agreed. Having played around with the Vita at a few "preview" events in the last few months, I was mostly impressed with the system and its graphical capabilities, which approach those of the PS3. But some of the touch controls seemed gimmicky (in addition to a 5-inch touch screen, it's got a rather superfluous touch pad on the back of the device), the battery life could be a bit better (the battery is sealed in so you can't swap a second one in), and it was hard to overlook the fact that it takes proprietar... [Read more]
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