Did you know blowing out a candle makes ‘lil rainbows in the smoke? Of course you did, they probably teach this shit in schools now. When I was in school we didn’t learn anything about rainbows except RON J BIZ or whatever.
Thanks to Erik, who once put a candle out by clogging one nostril and sucking really hard with the other one. You’re sick.
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Amazon this morning pounded itself on the chest once more for selling Kinde devices as if they were hotcakes, particularly during last (Black) Friday. According to the company, it was the “best Black Friday ever” for the Kindle family, with Kindle sales “increasing 4x over last year”. As usual, don’t expect Amazon to share hard sales numbers, because they never do.
We’ll have to do with analyst estimates, which I’m sure will be rolling in during the course of this week (today is Cyber Monday and will likely result in another sales spike for Kindle devices). The number does run in the millions, of course, and Dave Limp, Kindle VP, is quoted as follows:
“Even before the busy holiday shopping weekend, we’d already sold millions of the new Kindle family.”
Amazon also reiterated, again, that its tablet computer, the Kindle Fire, is its bestselling product on Amazon.com. In fact, they say this has been the case for the past 8 weeks now, since the device was introduced on September 28.
As you may be aware, Apple held it’s big iPhone 5, er 4S, event in Cupertino today, and while the iCinco failed to make an appearance and the company’s stock plunged 5 percent as a result, it was still a good day for the Apple faithful. iOS 5 is coming on October 12th, and though some who’ve been waiting to upgrade were disappointed by the striking similarity between the iPhone 4 and the new iPhone 4S, Sprint users are now welcome, and the 4S is notably speedier.
And perhaps most exciting (depending on who you ask) is that Siri, the personal assistant app that uses natural language processing to answer questions, make recommendations, and eventually aims to replace your butler, will now be native on all iPhone 4Ses. Sure, some have already been using Siri on the iPad, Apple probably should have made this available for the iPhone 4 as well, and we’re all pretty surprised that Apple has kept the name Siri, after buying the company that makes its eponymous app back in April of last year, but now the app is native, always with you, and it works.
What’s so cool, as Apple said in their description of Siri, is that it’s “proactive, so it will question you until it finds what you’re looking for”. This should hopefully mean that you won’t have to shout your question 10 times before you divorce Siri and throw her in the toilet — Siri uses context and logic like some kind of sweet, sweet robot from the future. She’s a humble and intelligent assistant, and works towards proving the kind of deep voice integration that will be part of Apple iOS 5 (and mobile technology going forward).
However, what’s even more mind blowing is that Apple predicted this technology more than a quarter century ago. The following video has been making the rounds over the last 24 hours (and thanks to Sociable for first pointing it out), which you really have to see.
Apple’s “what if” exposition, which contains some late-’80s awesomeness, describes something called the “Knowledge Navigator” — a suped-up, tuxedo-ed personal assistant that users manipulate by way of voice and touch. According to the video, the personal assistant connects with all the major networks, features two-way videoconferencing, and helps you keep appointments, find, converge, and share documents — the works. It’s quite a feat considering the Apple IIGS had just been released the previous year.
Basically, The Knowledge Navigator predicts touch technology, the iPad, iPhone, Skype, FaceTime — and Siri. All in one talking, well-dressed device. The savvy technologists among us may be well aware of the progenitors and technological precursors to these devices and services, but here we have very real confirmation that Siri (and Apple products as a whole) have been in gestation in the minds of Apple’s wizards since (at least) 1987.
And the best part? If I’m not mistaken, this “futuristic” video is set in the year of 2011 — there’s a mention of an article written in 2006 that was supposedly created five years in the past. Now, even for those cynics and naysayers among us, that’s pretty fantastic. Hold on to the top of your head. I guess Apple didn’t steal the idea for iOS from Android after all.
Without further ado, below you can find the 1987 introduction to Knowledge Navigator and 2011′s introduction to Siri:
Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007.
Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod (offered with…
Fun for the whole family! (except children under 48″)
This is a picture of Japan’s new Takabisha roller coaster at the Fuji-Q (NOT Suzie-Q) Highland amusement park near Mount Fuji. It features a 121-degree drop so, not only will you be ejected from your seat, but hit by the coaster car afterward. You hear that, Disneyland?! There’s a new happiest place on earth AND IT’S CALLED HEAVEN.
…the Takabisha roller coaster boasts the world’s steepest freefall: A gut-melting 121 degrees capable of inducing g-force levels equivalent to those experienced by fighter pilots.
The 141-foot, 62mph drop is merely the cherry that tops a 2-mile-long roller coaster cake filled with seven major twists and turns
Count me in — I f***ing looooooove puking. Helps remind me I’m alive. Also, that I boozed as hard as I could. GO BIG OR GO HOME! Ooooooooor to the hospital to get my stomach pumped. That charcoal taste is growing on me.
Hit the jump for two videos of the dizziness. The first from the ground, the second from the front seat. Now I don’t feel so good.
View full post on Geekologie – Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome
Fun for the whole family! (except children under 48″)
This is a picture of Japan’s new Takabisha roller coaster at the Fuji-Q (NOT Suzie-Q) Highland amusement park near Mount Fuji. It features a 121-degree drop so, not only will you be ejected from your seat, but hit by the coaster car afterward. You hear that, Disneyland?! There’s a new happiest place on earth AND IT’S CALLED HEAVEN.
…the Takabisha roller coaster boasts the world’s steepest freefall: A gut-melting 121 degrees capable of inducing g-force levels equivalent to those experienced by fighter pilots.
The 141-foot, 62mph drop is merely the cherry that tops a 2-mile-long roller coaster cake filled with seven major twists and turns
Count me in — I f***ing looooooove puking. Helps remind me I’m alive. Also, that I boozed as hard as I could. GO BIG OR GO HOME! Ooooooooor to the hospital to get my stomach pumped. That charcoal taste is growing on me.
Hit the jump for two videos of the dizziness. The first from the ground, the second from the front seat. Now I don’t feel so good.
View full post on Geekologie – Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome
