Minority Report meets Avatar...

It's finally becoming a reality.

We've all read about touchscreen hardware on phones, computers and other applications, but they all relied on actually touching the screen.

Even my students are getting excited about the possibilities that exist with this tech.

Basically, Evoluce has developed the touchscreen concept beyond having to touch it. Within half a meter, you can interact with the screen with multiple touches/inputs.

My concept here? Combine this with the semi-transparent LCD screen, make a big honkin' tablet that'll flip up and have a centralized media center.

Obviously, the appications could be developed for hospitals, military, schools, and pretty much where something has to be displayed and changed on a regular basis.

I like it!

Shazam!

Adios Lala...

Oh lala...why did you have to leave?

In case you didn't know, lala.com is leaving at the end of the month. I got the email offering the simple confirmation and reassuring me that my cloud music purchases would be protected (in various ways). While I didn't invest as heavily in the collection as my brother, I did have a few.

Pandora.com will remain a favorite of mine, offering customized "channels" of your favorite artists. Grooveshark.com is another, but not quite as limiting as Pandora. While I like being able to go to any song that is available (just like at home), I didn't like how The Beatles weren't available.

This is sad news in that Apple is looking at "protecting" it's investment, perhaps venturing into the realm of an on-line store (as opposed to having the separate app iTunes run). I don't blame them; I will simply miss the Google results for music that offers you the opportunity to listen to the song right off the search results page.

So go ahead and Google your favorite artist or song. Enjoy clicking on those results, becuase while Pandora may move in right now, lala's interface is quite nice and will be sorely missed.

For you lala, I dedicate this next song...

Sony Reader starts the Avalanche

And so it has begun...

Having taken a few weeks away from my usual geeking out on tech news (thanks a lot, TAKS!), I just found out about the price drop on Sony's entry level eReader.

They dropped the price a while back, and now it's pretty much settled in to a ~$150 USD range. Quite nice.

Will this bring about more price drops? Because, quite honestly, for a truly niche device, I can't see folks dropping more that a Ben Franklin (that's $100 USD) one one. Look around at other niche devices. MP3 players, cell phones (maybe not so niche), tennis shoes, even point-and-shoot cameras. Entry level items of these nature fall into that single bill price range.

Sure, the iPod is a bit more, but not much. You could go for the iPod shuffle for even less, that that only supports my theory here. Cell phones have it right, and I think that's the future for the model of eReader business.

Remember those Columbia or BMG music offers? 8 albums/cassettes/CDs with the promise to buy X more in the next year or two? Yeah, that's it. Cell phones do it with a locked in contract. Sign a contract, get a bad ass reader (not just an entry level, but one with 3G or touchscreen...) and agree to buy twelve books in the next two years. Everyone wins, wouldn't they? Maybe book a month? Who knows?

I'll continue watching these trends and wait a bit more, as my tablet is still holding up.

Kris, take note: eBooks are here and aren't going away...