Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Things, They are a Changing....

This report from the BBC web site: “A so-called super tomato bred to have unusually high levels of a substance which may cut the risk of certain cancers has been launched by Tesco. The supermarket giant says its Healthy Living Tomato on the Vine contains up to twice the level of lycopene found in other vine tomatoes”. Here’s the kicker: The new tomatoes will be sold in a pack of four or five costing £1.89 ($4.25Can = $1.06 a tomato).

But this is not the only new invention coming to a store near you. Sports clothing firm O'Neill is set to launch a jacket with a built-in keypad that lets you control your iPod or mobile phone without exposing your hands to the cold. A microphone sewn into the collar of the coat works via Bluetooth short range radio with the control box in the jacket so wearers can make and take calls while ski-ing. A backpack with similar controls built in, plus a camera that sits on one of the shoulder straps, will go on sale at the same time. The backpack should cost about 350 euros (£240 or $540Can).

NEC is developing a product called Sala that integrates a radio tag into an item of jewellery, such as a wedding ring - associated with an important event. When the ring, earring or brooch is placed near a display device that can read the tag it calls up the images, movies or sounds the owner has associated with it.

Metro (a large store company) is developing a prototype smart changing room that could help those looking for clothes see what they look like wearing them without actually having to put them on. The system used radio tags to identify clothes and when the items of apparel are put near a large display, sensors read the tags and show an image of a model wearing an outfit made up of those items. Early versions of the system show all the clothes on models but future versions will include a body scanner so the exact shape of shoppers can be used in the display.

Its getting interesting out there.

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