Gadgets

Tapping a principle of quantum mechanics and a medieval-looking nanoparticle, a UK firm has created a composite material that may soon deliver efficient, pressure-sensitive touchscreens to numerous devices. Yorkshire-based Peratech has already licensed the technology to a division of Samsung that provides mobile components to other handset manufacturers, but it's in the growing realm of touchscreen tech where the potential for Quantum Tunneling Composite (QTC) is most exciting.

Wireless TV just got a whole new meaning. Sony has just announced a new short-range, intra-gadget technology that clocks a 11Gbps transfer speed. The tech, known as millimeter-wave, allows electronics innards to communicate wirelessly with one another, which could allow for slimmer designs and fewer wires--that means fewer connections to sever, and potentially more reliable gadgets.

It wasn't that long ago that the T1i first brought 1080p video to an entry-level digital SLR--albeit at a pokey 20 frames per second. Today, Canon's latest digital Rebel, the T2i borrows the video capabilities of the far more advanced 7D in a sub-$1,000 package.

Think that 9.7-inch iPad display is all the touchscreen you need? Portuguese company Displax would like to challenge that notion. The company says it is bringing to market a multitouch capable, super-thin polymer "skin" that can be applied to any material -- flat, curved, opaque, transparent, you name it -- creating a digital muli-touch surface virtually anywhere, from a wristband to a desktop to a pane of clear glass.

It wouldn't be the Olympics without distractions; the 2006 Winter Games in Turin had their Austrian doping scandals, and the most recent Summer Games in Beijing were punctuated by an epic opening ceremony followed by rampant media censorship. Not to be outdone, Canada's Bright Ideas installation will allow visitors to the upcoming Vancouver Games the chance to control lighting installations at major landmarks in faraway Ontario using only their thoughts.