Touch Screen Starbucks Tables & GPS Dog

As we move forward with ever increasing technology and bandwidth requirements here are a couple interesting new applications. A bit off-beat, but ya just never know what creative folks will come up with next. http://sharptelco.com/


Totally Trivial: Mad scientists
By Nick Wood , Total Telecom
22 October 2008

The South Korean operator made its first foray into fantastical furniture at a special branch of Starbucks, which will use the touch-screen sporting table, equipped with advanced mobile technology, to allow customers to order and pay for items on the coffee shop's menu."Traditionally, Starbucks customers order and pay at cashier counters," said SK Telecom, in a statement that sent shockwaves through no one."Once customers select and pay for items from the 'Ubiquitous Table', the order information is immediately transmitted via mobile technology to the store's system. As soon as the order is ready, a message appears on the screen of the 'Ubiquitous Table'."The all-pervading furniture has so far been limited to one pilot store in South Korea, and as yet there are no details on a wider rollout.On a related note, rumours that Steven Spielberg is in talks with Paramount to produce 'Attack of the Ubiquitous Tables', have just been started by us.

Putin equips dog with sat navRussian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has put a collar containing satellite-guided positioning technology on his black Labrador, Koni, reports the Associated Press.The former president asked one of his deputies Sergei Ivanov for the device to help him keep tabs on his beloved dog, which is not the most unusual request from someone who used to work for the KGB."She's wagging her tail, she likes it," said Putin, in the report.The device goes into standby mode when the dog isn't moving, "if it, say, lies down in a puddle," said Ivanov, or gets squashed by an armoured car, said Nick Wood.The system itself doesn't use the US Global Positioning System (GPS), but instead relies on the Russian-developed Global Navigation Satellite System, or GLONASS for short.However, while Russia may have beaten the U.S. to blasting a dog into space when it launched the ill-fated Laika in 1957, it still trails in the deployment of navigation satellites: GLONASS is unable to provide worldwide coverage – it currently has 21 satellites in orbit, but needs 24.Still, Ivanov is doggedly determined (pun 100% intended), and claims the system will be extended to the rest of the planet by the end of 2009.

Offices Buildings - a thing of the past?

Do we need office buildings anymore? As data services from T1 or DS1 to GigE continue to become more prevalent in the network the pricing of these advance data services will continue to drop. So what good is an office anymore? Do we need physical interaction? I often Instant Message people in the cubes adjacent to mine instead of talking. We just starting to see 100 Gigabit Ethernet Service tested in the Network. We can only imagine the possibilities of the applications that will be coming down the pipe to use that bandwidth. It could be entire new conferencing application to see and speak to coworkers as easily and quickly as we use instant messaging services now. Consider how much fuel could be saved if the majority of the work force worked from home, not to mention the benefits to the environment. Productivity and Accessibility are always questions when people want to want work from home. I believe given enough bandwidth and the right applications it will be nearly seamless to determine if a person is home or at the office.