OLED TV’s have been on every videophile’s wish list since… well, since forever, but the problem has been making them affordable, something they definitely have not been so far.
But it looks like that’s about to change with yesterday’s announcement from LG that you can now pre-order their new 55-inch curved OLED HD TV for the reasonable sum of $3500 dollars. So what’s so great about OLED? In two words: picture quality. Blacks are truly black, colors are amazing, there’s no motion blurring and because there’s no backlight, the TV’s are amazingly thin. We checked out an LG OLED TV last year at their U-S lab and the picture quality was remarkable.
But, it was also really spendy – as in $8,000. The new LG OLED will still pack most of that TV’s features, but at less than half the cost. So when will it arrive? In just about two weeks.
We told you about a publicity stunt by Hyundai a while ago where drivers bailed out of their cars as they circled a test track while smart cruise control and some other autonomous tech kept the cars in motion – and even stopped them safely.
But that was on a test track and the cars were modified. Quite unlike a driver, who activated the smart cruise on his Infiniti, rolled video and then climbed into the back seat as it car blew down a public highway with only this rather new technology at the wheel. Lane-keeping assist kept it going straight but we gotta say, this is NOT what the tech is designed for.
Had the car somehow left its lane – entirely possible – a serious crash would have taken place, likely killing this idiot and perhaps some other innocent drivers. So just a reminder: the tech is there to help you drive safely, not drive the car for you. That’s coming in a few more years.
For all the wonders that computers can do, they’re all pretty much the same: just silicon-based chips running human-written software.
Despite all their miraculous abilities, they don’t work like the human brain. Until now. Researchers at IBM just released details about their Synapse chip, which mimics both the architecture and operational systems of our grey matter. Naturally, gubmint tech arm DARPA was in on the program, and researchers say the breakthrough could change computers at a fundamental level. It’s also very efficient power-wise – just like your noggin.
So what can it do? It’s a long list, so hit this link for our very informative article, which includes some links to IBM’s program about what could be a major step towards artificial intelligence.
Your host today is Caleb Denison. Watch past episodes of DT Daily here.
