RADIO FOR DEAF PEOPLE

RADIO FOR DEAF PEOPLE


Radio text
The text is broadcast alongside the voice transmission
Radio demonstration

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Millions of people around the world miss out on the joys of radio because they are hearing impaired.

But a new initiative by National Public Radio, technology firm Harris Corporation and Towson University aims to change that.

The consortium is developing radio for deaf people, a counter-intuitive sounding system that translates speech radio into text in real time.

At the moment the voice to text conversion has to be done by typists but could one day be automatic.

The information is then broadcast alongside the voice transmission and displayed on a screen on the radio.

The consortium will transmit the first live broadcast at CES using a prototype radio that has a screen large enough to display big swathes of text.

They expect the first commercial radios to be available towards the end of this year

Eee GOES WIMAX

Eee PC
The Eee PC is getting wi-fi on steroids
The lightweight and small Eee PC from Asus has been one of the tech hits of the last 12 months and more than 350,000 machines have been sold in the past thee months.

It has won admirers for its four gigabyte solid state drive, small form factor and attractive price. It runs the Linux operating system, but can also run Windows XP.

The company has now announced new models - 7, 8 and 9 inch - but crucially, they will have Wimax built in - giving it increased wireless capabilities.

In truth, there are not that many Wimax-enabled areas anywhere in the world, although 70 different countries are running pilots.

But Intel is betting heavily on Wimax as the winning next generation wireless network and so Asus has taken the plunge - at least, in North America.

The entry level Eee with Wimax will cost about $999, according to reports, though Asus has so far remained tight-lipped on exact prices

SMART GPS

SMART GPS

Dash express GPS
The device has two-way internet connectivity

No longer content with simply providing directions from point to point, manufacturers are starting to pack more and more features into in-car GPS devices.

Those on show at CES include the ability to download movie times, find a parking spot and avoid the traffic.

One company, Dash Navigation, has launched a unit called the Dash Express which aims to harness the power of its community to avoid traffic jams.

The unit has the ability to receive real-time traffic data from different sources, including units belonging to other owners.

In effect, each unit works as a traffic sensor sending a user's speed and location over a permanent internet connection.

Back at Dash HQ, the company calculates up-to-the-minute traffic conditions and suggests alternative routes if there is a traffic snarl ahead.

In theory, the device should get better as more Dash users hit the roads.

The device has been developed in collaboration with Yahoo and allows the users to conduct web searches for locations or even the cheapest fuel.

The US service costs from $10 a month.

WIRELESS MEMORIES

Eye-fi card
The card can automatically upload photos to the web
To share photos quickly and easily a wireless camera is a must.

But for those people who do not want to invest in a new device help is at hand.

A company called Eye-Fi have developed a series of memory cards with built in wi-fi that automatically convert your camera into a wireless device.

The 2GB cards automatically connect to a wi-fi network and can dump photos to a folder on a PC or upload them to social networks or photo-sharing sites.

The firm has done deals with the likes of Flickr, Photobucket and Facebook.

The associated software takes care of log-ins and passwords and can even automatically resize pictures if the site requires it.

To send them to a computer the PC must be turned on and running the companies photo managing software.

Currently they are only available in the US but should be on sale in Europe later this year.