Technology and the future

Technology seems to be an important factor in our everyday lives. It is almost impossible to avoid. Almost every person owns a cell phone and a computer and uses them almost constantly. Technology has certainly evolved. The evolution of technology has brought me to wonder where is it going and where will it end. With all the advances in technology, I decided to search for new products that will be coming out soon.

Cell phones were originally designed to simply make phone calls without tying callers to one location. But today's cell phones can do so much more, from snapping digital photos to sending text messages to playing video. Well now, you can add a sobriety test to the list. South Korean manufacturer LG will introduce the LP4100 to the U.S. market sometime in the near future -- though no date is set. The phone features a built-in Breathalyzer. The company placed several models on the market in that country last year has already sold more than 200,000 units. The phone works by allowing users to blow into a small spot on the phone, and if they've had too much to drink the phone issues a warning and shows a weaving car hitting traffic cones. The company also sells plug-in Breathalyzer adapters for some phones. None of the models tell you exactly how much you may be over or under the legal limit, but it can keep you from making other alcohol-related mistakes. The LP4100 also lets users to set up the phone so on certain nights and after a certain time they cannot call certain people in their phone book. With this feature, think ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend. If you have a blood alcohol level over .08, the phone will not let you dial that person. I feel that this is quite an invention that will help a lot of people and prevent those awkward nights.

MP3 players certainly have evolved also. From just playing music to storing pictures and video, there certainly are many choices out there. One of my favorite finds is the Archos 605 WiFi. The Archos 605 WiFi is available in many different sizes. This MP3 player, just like many others is fairly small in size. It's specs are just 4.8 in. x 0.8 in. x 3.2 in. Consumers can by it in 4GB, 30GB, 80GB, and 160GB. It's price ranges with size, the 4GB can be found for as cheep as around $200 and the 160GB for around $380. The Archos 605 offers a hi-resolution touchscreen (800 x 400) that can be used with either your finger or stylus. The Archos 605 allows you connect to a WiFi connection to wirelessly download content directly onto your player. You can also stream movies, TV shows, and music that are stored on your computer. The device is also Internet ready with an optional web brower plug-in, you can surf the web on sites such as youtube.com. With the Archos 605, you can store up to 40 videos and play them in MPEG-4, WMV, protected WMV, MPEG-2*, VOB*, H.264* (*with optional plug-ins) formats. It can also store up to 300,000 photos, record TV in most video sources such as satellite/cable box, VCR, DVD player in MPEG-4 format, and store up to 15,000 songs. The Archos 605 is my choice for most versitle MP3 player on the market.

Digital cameras are also very popular items today. They come in a variety of styles with range of prices. Most people find ultra-slim cameras to be thier desire. I found the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T2 appealing to the eye. The new Cyber-Shot by Sony truly does offer the best in the camera world. The ultra compact Cyber-shot DSC-T2 is equipped with a 2.7-inch, 230,000-dot touchscreen LCD and an f/3.5-4.3, and a 38-114mm 3x zoom lens. The T2's numerous photo-sharing features include the ability to display images in chronological order, in a calendar view, and by event. Photos can also be saved as favorites and then sorted into categories within the favorites folder for quick retrieval, and in-camera slide shows can include selectable transitions and music. The T2 can also output images to an HDTV with an optional HD component cable or HD cradle, and it's loaded with Sony PMB Portable software, which allows it to publish photos and videos directly to online image sharing sites such as Flickr and YouTube. The Cyber-Shot is designed for automatic snap-shot photography with few manual adjustments. However, the touchscreen can be used for spot focusing and metering. The T2 offers Sony's recently introduced Smile Shutter mode, which automatically snaps a picture when someone in front of the camera smiles. It allows the photographer to track a specific person in a group by selecting the person's face on the touchscreen, then releases the shutter when the subject smiles. Non-Smile-Shutter face detection is available as well. The T2 will retail for about $350 starting in December and will be sold with blue, green, pink, white, and black sliding lens covers. This camera may seem to be a little on the pricey side, but I think that it well makes up for it's price in advancements and features.

"Technology is very important and beneficial to our everyday life, it makes our life easier than it has been in other generations," said Anthony Lance about technology.

When I asked my mother, Kandi Duffing, what she thinks about technology, she said, "When things look cool along with being technologically advanced, it's a win-win situation."

With the advancements in just these 3 items, I can only wonder what the next year will bring.


I found my information on multiple sites each found through yahoo.com.