When most people think of early computers, they mention the first Mac, or the IBM PC. But for true geeks, their first computer was likely a British product from a curious gentleman inventor named Sir Clive Sinclair.
Back in 1982, he gave the world the tiny Sinclair Spectrum microcomputer, and it was a massive hit with early computer fans – and gamers. Not only could you play games on it, you could also write your own. Well, the Sinclair Spectrum is back, and now it’s called the Spectrum Vega. The keyboard is gone in place of game control buttons, and the original 128k of memory has been somewhat enlarged to hold over a thousand beautifully retro 8-bit games.
And yep, you just plug it into your TV, old-school style. Want one? Sorry, all the early bird units are spoken for, so stay tuned for a full-on retail release, and welcome back, Sir Clive.
With 3D printing, 3D monitors and pretty much 3D everything happening in computers, it’s no surprise that serious attention is also coming to holograms. Now, a research team may have figured out a way to get a real feel for them.
The smart folks at the University of Bristol have come up with a haptic hologram generator, which uses an array of tiny speakers to trick your hand into “feeling” what you’re seeing. Real world uses? Doctors could physically “touch” anomalies detected by a CT scan; museum visitors could handle virtual objects while the originals are safe behind glass, and of course, the potential for gaming is pretty much unlimited.
It’s still in development of course, but you know how it goes: pretty soon all the cool kids will have a haptic hologram gaming system on their wish list.
Remember back in the day when Nokia ruled the cell phone universe? Seems like ancient history, but that was just six years ago! Nokia just couldn’t keep up with smartphones from Apple and others, and now, they’ve just released their last phone.
The Nokia Lumia 830 smartphone will be the last hurrah for the Finnish tech firm; all future phones will be Microsoft products. Redmond reeled in Nokia’s cell phone division earlier this year, and time will tell if that was a smart move or not. Meanwhile, we’ve taken a close look at the 830, which features the Windows Phone OS, a 5-inch screen, and a 10-megapixel camera with Zeiss optics. Overall, a nice phone, but it makes for a pretty quiet exit for Nokia.
Check out our full review of the Lumia 830 right here. So long, Nokia, and thanks for all the phones.
Your host today is Greg Nibler. Miss a day? Watch all the episodes of DT Daily right here. And be sure to catch our latest podcast.
