Break-through technologies from 2009
by Yolandi on 23/12/09 at 10:27 am
2 comments
What’s the first technological innovation that comes to mind when you think about this past year? I’ve listed a few of my favourite technologies of 2009. These technologies opened doors to new avenues for the future and were the talk of the town for months.
In 2009 we got a taste of Microsoft’s Project Natal at E3. The X-box game console has been transformed into more than just a game console. I’m talking about Microsoft’s vision of the connected living room that is a paradigm shift away from remotes and controllers, towards a more immersive, multifaceted interface. Natal transforms your own body into a physical controller. This isn’t a single technology though. It’s a combination of a RGB camera, an infrared depth sensor, microphone and processor. Natal can interpret a wide variety of actions, including gestures, facial recognition, and voice commands. Natal won’t be available until 2010 but the technology has already been developed and all we have to do is be patient. There are amazing things to expect from Microsoft in the next couple of years that could change the way you live and the way you do business.
The long waited and anticipated Windows 7 was released in October. It included great new features such as Snap, Windows Search and Improved Memory Use. The Mail&Guardian describes it as like Vista, but better. “Most of Vista’s annoyances have either been removed, or (mostly) can be changed so the system works the way you like – It takes personalisation to extremes.”
There are also a few Real-time technologies that should get praise from 2009. Google has introduced its real-time search feature. For certain search queries, real time web pages, Twitter updates, Facebook content, MySpace updates and more will appear in a subtle, streaming box in your results page, with a pause button. It’s not live on the public site yet, it’s just a demo, but we can expect this feature to be in full swing by next year. Another real-time technology that changed our way of following search updates is Twitter. Twitter search has made quite an impact on its users this past year. Twitter allowed people to watch real-time updates on Twitter search results page.
We can expect these technologies to improve in the future and of course, we are anxiously waiting to see what 2010 would bring. Here are some fun posts if you’d like to read more on this topic:
Top 10 Real-time technologies of 2009
Top 10 Technology stories of 2009
Yolandi Janse van Rensburg writes about social media, marketing, life and, of course, cars. We say “of course” because Yolandi is nuts about anything on 4 wheels. Besides moonlighting as the Heavy Chef girl at World Wide Creative, Yolandi runs Autofemme, a blog about cars, as a business on the side. View more articles by Yolandi.
Tags: Technology/Internet
Liza
Dec 23rd, 2009
Top 10 Technology stories of 2009 = broken link
Yolandi
Dec 23rd, 2009
Sorry about that, I’ve fixed it so you’re welcome to check out the links