kigmatzomat
Nov 28 2006, 02:48 PM
There is an
article at the Inquirer about a new Sony
patent on trasnmitting audio across a person's skin.
Data transfer is 384kbit/s or what most people consider the low-end of broadband. It's not enough for a video feed of any quality but it could handle a text stream in addition to audio.
emo samurai
Nov 28 2006, 03:07 PM
Knowing them, they won't license the technology to other companies.
Kyoto Kid
Nov 28 2006, 03:53 PM
...ahh, different Inquirer that the one I thought.
Couldn't see how a supermart tabloid that ran leads of superstar break ups & makeups or the latest sign of the apocalypse (found in the froth of a latte at Starbucks) would be a reputable source for tech news.
The future is coming at us at warp speed.
[damn, and all along I thought it was Aeon Technologies who released the first skinlink prototype in 2063]
SL James
Nov 28 2006, 04:28 PM
How is this different from all the RL skinlink links posted before SR4 was even released?
lorechaser
Nov 28 2006, 04:35 PM
In Soviet Russia, Playstation plays you!
kigmatzomat
Nov 28 2006, 06:40 PM
| QUOTE (SL James) |
| How is this different from all the RL skinlink links posted before SR4 was even released? |
Conceptually, not a whole lot different from the others. However, those others weren't Sony. That's not fanboism. Most of the other skinlink patents were from R&D firms or with rather sketchy hardware branches (Microsoft has a skinlink patent of some kind, IIRC).
It is hard to intro new technology and have it actually take off. It requires the skill to make a product that doesn't suck, advertising so people know about it, and pockets deep enough to survive the market adoption period. Let's take the hypothetical case of MS and Sony releasing skinlinked MP3 players at about the same time, since both have the fiscal depth and theoretically the technical expertise to pull this off.
Microsoft will likely mangle the skinlink device they ship with bad DRM, weird drivers, and a UI that makes everyone but Steve Ballmer wince. Resetting it requires licking a 9v battery.
Sony will mangle the skinlink device with bad DRM & weird drivers but it will be easy to use, reliable and chock full of features.
A year later knock-offs will appear that kinda work. In two years the ODMs will figure out how to make decent devices at half the price. The year after that Steve Jobs will announce that Apple has invented uLink for the iPod and that all others are rip-offs. Microsoft will then buy one of the ODMs to release a windows-only version.
lorechaser
Nov 28 2006, 07:48 PM
| QUOTE (kigmatzomat) |
| Let's take the hypothetical case of MS and Sony releasing skinlinked MP3 players at about the same time, since both have the fiscal depth and theoretically the technical expertise to pull this off. |
A couple years ago, I'd have been right there with you.
Judging by the Xbox 360 and the PS3 launches (both Sony & MS's most recent big things) I'd say that might not be the case any more.
kigmatzomat
Nov 28 2006, 08:58 PM
They both stumble but MS and Sony are more likely to move an in-house technology forward than an R&D department is to get their product picked up. Look at e-paper. It's been around for several years but it is only now showing up in products, and those are still fairly niche-y.
It will take a Sony or Microsoft, even stumbling, to make a radically new technology prevalent in a short period of time. From any other source it will take several years longer, at a minimum.
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