TechBytes: Faster Wi-Fi is On The Way

May 10, 2010— -- Wireless broadband is about to get much faster. A wireless industry trade group has announced the specifications for a new wireless format for transmitting data over the air at speeds up to 10 times faster than today. The new format would actually complement Wi-Fi because its range is significantly smaller. It would mainly be used to transfer data across a room such as sending an HD movie from a laptop to a TV, making most wires obsolete. The new technology is not expected to be in gadgets for another couple of years.

New technology that can decode human emotions over the phone is now being put to the test. The software breaks down our voices into various qualities to predict our emotions. Many companies are already using it in call centers to help deal with customers. The program is also being used to help diagnose medical conditions like heart disease and even prostate cancer.

President Obama is addicted to his Blackberry, but apparently he's not so crazy about some other gadgets. In a commencement speech at Hampton University yesterday, the President warned graduates of the dangers of technology saying, "With iPods and iPads; Xboxes and PlayStations -- none of which I know how to work -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation." The president may not know how to use an iPod, but he does own one.

The Rubik's Cube is one of life's great mysteries for many, but a contraption made of a Motorola Droid cell phone and Legos has solved it in just 24 seconds. An app uses the phone's camera to take pictures of each face of the cube and sends the solution to the Lego controller. It took just 24 seconds for something that has taken some people years to figure out.