Microsoft has developed a new concept keyboard, which it calls the “Adaptive Keyboard”.  This is just a prototype, and unfortunately there are no immediate plans to turn it into an actual product.  The keyboard seems particularly suited to professionals who can often feel that the standard keyboard is either too cramped or limited for their requirements, thereby decreasing productivity. Addressing such issues, the keyboard is able to adjust content according to the context in which tasks are being performed. In addition, at the top of the device there is an integrated touch sensitive screen which allows for additional functionality.

Below is a video for this year’s UIST Student Innovation Contest.  Microsoft will given free rein to students to do whatever they like to the keyboard, with a prize at the end for the most innovative ideas.

Venture Capitalist and blogger Fred Wilson gave a talk a few days ago at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View. The key point of his talk was about disruption — what companies are doing out there to change the technology space. Nothing earth-shatteringly new, but interesting insights from a smart guy.

This hour long talk includes his six words to live by on the Internet: Global, Social, Open, Mobile, Playful, Intelligent — and a bonus seventh one: Instantaneous. As an investor in Twitter, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Wilson included this last one.

Bob Metcalfe led invention, standardization, and commercialization of the Ethernet local-area networking system for personal computers. In this discussion, Metcalfe is joined by Cisco Senior Vice President Kathy Hill to discuss his experiences in the technology industry, life lessons and current passions. A fascinating insight into one of the greater Entrepreneurs of our time.

For The New York Times Magazine’s annual “Year in Ideas” issue, published this Sunday, Paula Scher illustrated a chart of selected 2009 patents, classified on a spectrum from “When Real Life Isn’t Exciting Enough” to “There Must Be an Easier Way.” Note striped socks were not patented until this year; “At Last,” indeed. The chart was compiled by Alexandra Horowitz and Ammon Shea.

2009 was the year of the bacon comb and other innovations. Click to enlarge.

[ Article Source: Pentagram ]

Dr. Andy Stanford-Clark explains how he solves everyday problems with thinking that focuses on the idea of a smarter planet, often with existing technology. His house Twitters and now, so does the Red Funnel Ferry line that he uses to commute from his home on the Isle of Wight to the IBM Hursley Lab.

Andy’s work with Home Automation is slowly revolutionising the way we interact with objects and devices we own. With the ability to globally remotely control and monitor anything from a light to the temperature or water meter reading in your home, home owners and consumers are able to better control or maintain those things in their lives that are important to them. The implications on an industrial level are staggering, with huge potential for enhanced efficiency and cost reduction.

The program said “the key to success-now more than ever- is INNOVATION. How are designers, architects businesses and schools reinventing themselves to fit 21st century models?” Susan Szenasy of Metropolis hosted, shown above with James Ludwig, Vice President of Design for the office furniture company Steelcase, not a company with a reputation for being cutting edge. That is going to change.

Ludwig made some interesting predictions about the future of the office:

Ludwig’s main thrust is that the only businesses that are going to survive are those that promote collaboration and communication. With technology at hand or coming, there really is no other point in going to an office. “Fixed and mobile devices give information a seat at the table.”

The office of the future will be affected by:

1) A new sobriety: smaller, simpler.

2) Google: will it scan everything, become the repository of knowledge? Will the workplace simply be a pipeline to Google?

3) Telepresence: will high definition video conferencing change the way we collaborate?

4) New Devices drive new postures: will smaller, lighter more flexible wireless tools eliminate the need to sit at a desk?

5) Resource use: Everything will just have to use less.

Peter Yost writes for Building Green, a great resource for anyone interested in green architecture, and a major source for TreeHugger posts. He made some interesting predictions about the future of housing in America:

1) Build with less space. The American home had been growing on average by 75 square feet per year, because people equated space with value; as we have pointed out many times on TreeHugger, the bigger the house, the lower the cost per square foot. But the carbon footprint of a house goes up proportionately with its geographical footprint, and the cost of operating these houses will become prohibitive with rising energy costs.

2. Heat people, not spaces. We should be heating and cooling by task, not whole rooms, let alone whole houses. He even predicted that we might wear heated clothing to reduce the temperature in our homes to less than we might consider comfortable.

3. Fuel will drive change. with increasing energy costs there will be a strong incentive to reduce the use of cars, and access to transit will drive real estate values.

4) Transportation alternatives will become more viable. We will choose our vehicle by task: a bike for short and local, cars when we need them. We will probably look at cars as a service rather than ownership.

5) Water 17% of all the energy consumed in the State of California goes to cleaning and moving water. We have to use less, and we have to stop using drinking water to flush toilets and water our gardens.

TreeHugger

Is there anything more annoying than trying to balance a tray of food and have everything slip and slide. Just imagine how much easier it would be if everything would stay in place! Lappers, Archer Innovations new ergonomically designed dinner trays, do just that and do it beautifully in bright, trendy colors and patterns. Lappers Trays are made from durable melamine and have indentions for a dish and a cup that are fitted with anti slip silicone mats. It means, the dish and cup stay in place even when the tray is tilted! They are dishwasher safe and they are available in different fun patterns.

source: HolyCool.net

eOffice scooped last year’s BCO Innovation Award and a new Birmingham centre has now been judged the best small project in the Midlands and East Anglia.

Technology has dramatically changed the way business is done in the 21st century and that drama is playing out in new office design. Serviced business centres are becoming a serious alternative to conventional space and eOffice has pushed the boundaries even further, adopting a concept more akin to hotels.