17/09/2011 Click

be paid out, what will happen if it starts running into trouble?

Now on BBC News it is time for Click.

Do not change channel. Do not change channel. This week on The

Thick Of It, we are back at the IFA technology show to witness the

future. From thought power would a TV remote, too smart house lights.

We will meet the smart -- the smaller companies try to get a big

ideas noticed. And we will talk to two audio visionaries, the inventor

of the MP3. Welcome to Click. Well come back to

Berlin. Last week, we saw a time of new devices been launched at the

IFA technology expo which was taking place just down the road.

They are or hitting a shop near you very soon. But while the product

managers were busy pushing their toys, some other organisations were

showing off staff which is a few years ahead of its time.

Some ideas are further off than others. For many years, there has

been a bubbling interest in brainwaves. We have seen a number

of companies attempting to detect electrical brain activity and use

it to control simple devices. Hit- out, Chinese technology out bit

Haier were showing a simple video game where the play at tries to

blow up barrels by thought alone. The eventual idea is to change TV

channels simply by thinking about it. The problem at the moment is

that only two brain states can be detected with any accuracy. It

would translate to change channel and do not change channel. There

was no allowance for whether you want to go up and down a programme

guide. But sometimes were changing research it takes decades to come

to a fruition. It is something that this man knows all too well. After

more than 20 years of research, he finally complete changed the world

of music with his innovation, the MP3. Once upon a time in the late

70s, there was a professor in Germany who thought it should be

possible to transmit audio over ISDN lines. A couple of years later,

he got a PhD student interested in this, that was myself. A number of

years, it did not really go forward. There was a meeting in London in

1992. Depending on whom you ask, it was five-ten years and will the

rest -- the rest of the one noticed. At this year's IFA, they were

demonstrating ideas that were much closer to being ready, if anyone

buys into them. This is an interactive shop window, allowing

shoppers to browse and buy, even when the shop is closed. The giant

3D infrared sensor catches gestures in the same way as the Xbox Kinect,

although this one can already trapped subtle movements in

individual fingers, something that Microsoft is also -- is still

working on. How do you stream high- definition video to a portable

device that refuses to keep still? Traditional wi-fi is not fast

enough to cope with all the data, so how about using visible light

instead? By flickering over head LEDs on and off, it may be possible

to transfer those all important ones and zero is at speeds of 800

mbps, it is a tin ear being dumped as hi-fi. -- it is a technique.

This is leaked way version. They are receiving their own Datastream

and sending their own Datastream back up using a light transmitter.

Although these two computers have Web cameras attached, the output

for one is being steamed up to another, and the output form one is

being streamed back to that laptop screen. In the future, data can be

streamed due whereby you had a light source. Traffic lights can

been traffic information to your car as it passes by. The

researchers say that visible light communication is visible when

normal radio wi-fi is undesirable, in example, in hospitals. It is

also more secure because it does not leave the room. It is not the

case that researchers can always go off and explore any area they feel

like. There were cost money, and that often comes from large

technology companies in the whores in IFA. It can mean that you become

a slave to fashion. -- in the halls. In Germany and all over the world,

conserving the environment, e- mobility, better cars, all that is

in fashion. That is good. On the other hand, a lot of other things

that I think should be more in fashion, such as laying the

groundwork, my true it -- Micro Electronics is out of fashion in

Europe. If you are talking about the shrinking computer? That is

part of it. The basis for tomorrow's equipment. Tomorrow's

equipment may not be made of rigid silicone chips installed -- at all,

but instead flexible electronics, printed on to bendable polymers. 1

Y are doing that is to use a printer such as this one, which is

being developed by a Japanese researcher. It is capable of

producing darts and lines more than ten times denied them traditional

printers. -- ten times thinner. With the global economy still

reeling from the crash of 2008, is R&D Investment suffering, were the

crowds at future technology shows been treated to anything new at

all? I have not seen any group of companies that have a lot of money

to spend. Everybody looks after the bottom line. Does that mean that

R&D is suffering at the moment? is always suffering, that is

nothing new. It is a bit disappointing if you know that you

talk about development of some technology costing half a million

in total, and then they have five more million dollars to do the

marketing. One of the options open to the larger tech companies is to

let the smaller guys come up with the idea, go through the pain of

development, and then just to buy take a look at how the smaller

innovators are weathering the financial storm. Now it is time for

this week's tech news. Microsoft has been showing off more of its

next operating system, Windows 8. This version is designed to work

with PCs and tablets, in a bid to challenge Apple's IOS and Google's

Android operating systems. It will feature a large, easy to hit a

patch green tiles and controls, which should improve on the fiddle

the ones that made Windows 7 such a woeful experience. It is due to

launch in 2012. As Windows moves to arm, Android is moving to Intel.

The next generation of its smartphone OS will be operating on

Intel's atom protesters. -- processors. It looks like

Hollywood's Scarlett Johansson could be the latest victim of

computer hackers. Naked photos were leaked online. The FBI says it has

launched an investigation. They went on to say that dozens of stars

have had personal information stolen from e-mail and other

accounts. Last week we heard from Richard

Taylor, Dan Simmons and Mark Cieslak on developments in their

chosen fields of tech. While there were making their reports, a few

other Brandon James caught their collective attentions.

The big boys at IFA is pushing 3D on the consumer at every single

angle, including laptops. This machine has glasses with 3D

technology, which is basically a lenticular screen with a little bit

of software which is connected to the web camera. It looks for your

face, and then very subtly, it shifts or where the focus of the

image is, it needs to do this to try and create a 3D switch box. So

the image has always looked like they are falling behind the actual

screen. If I move around a little bit, it subtly shifts. If you get

bored of watching 3D, you can simply flip off the screen, and

then get back to plain altar 2D. We are used to our smartphone as

being able to do absolutely anything, but this new one from

Korea Telecom wants to be part of everything you carry around with

you. For example, take this tablet. It does not have any processes or

storage inside, the guts of the machine is provided by your phone,

and it is waiting to be connected so that when you pop it in the back,

the Android a 2.3 operating system under a smartphone ditch you this

rather nice 10 inch screen on which to play. You can take it a stage

further as well. We have seen the occasional phone that slots into

the tablets, but Katie's Spider Phone, due out in November in South

Korea, is designed with several add-ons in mind. It is the first

with a jaw called 1.5GHz processor, making it most part -- more

powerful than most Netbooks. Each part has its own battery, and all

can share the phone's 3G data connection. With this set-up, you

are stuck with a smartphone version of Android, rather than one

designed for a larger screen. A lot of phones have an HDMI cable

slot, so you can put the big game on the big screen. You can get is

fine talks to the Controller of via Bluetooth. When you start playing,

it is also -- it is almost like you are not playing a phone game at all.

MP3 docks are a hallmark of trade shows, but this is one of that is

scaling new heights. It is the brainchild of Jean-Michel Jarre. He

took some time out to explain what I was witnessing. It is delivering

10,000 watts. For public spaces, hotels, and for smaller venues, for

concerts, if your ceiling is high enough up. It is sort of an audio

totem for the industry, saying that we are ready and to get back with

Every time we two to a trade show there's one stand in the corner.

Not run by a huge corporate, but a smaller company with a big idea.

What inspires these people. Do they really have the next big thing? LJ

Rich has been tracking the tech entrepreneurs trying to get noticed.

The age-old problem in a crowded marketplace - making your product

stand out. This year 1400 Exhibitors plyed their wears,

hoping to induce buyers. These video recording sunglasses, 720P,

HD among the few. It shows style is as important as function,

reflecting the direction. Consumer electronic industry. Big business

can make products faster, cheaper and better quality. An advantage of

smaller outfits is they can move quickly. To get a wider audience,

they need help. Here is a phone with no internal power, turning any

object into a 1 wt speaker. Public transport could be a nightmare with

it. Along with 27, Taiwan's Raytech is looking for a distributor in the

EU. The first one was 3,000 units. All the boxes on display show

different packaging options. Judging by the interest of passers-

by, he should have made a few more units to sell and a side business

in earplugs. The opportunities of south-east Asian companies to

attract European buyers does not come cheap. You look at $3,000 for

a stall in the back of beyond. This one-handed tablet holder might take

on a usual fare. What's wrong with using a finger. Imagine making

detailed drawings or arranging fe. In character based languages like

Chinese and Japanese, there's the gap in the market. Whether it's big

enough to make a profit is another matter. Like the others. Robotics

master has come to IFA looking for European rengs. Jack the Ripper's

latest product is a $50 -- Jin Sato's latest product is a ladybird.

Powered by two electric toothbrush motors, it recognised black and

white squares, turning them into one of 64 commands. It's a unit in

Japan exported to India, Korea. They cannot afford so I believe my

smaller one will help many people. Don't we all. After tracing the

shofer, I'm not the only one that could do with a back rub. These

vests look clumsy. The patient sticks in their hands for pressure

on the shoulder, it's pleasant. So it should. The good feeling coming

a at a barg ain $100, Darth Vader would have less stressed if he

swapped his helmet for a face mask. I felt the force under here. They

shib 60,000 a month. As an entrepreneur knows, shipping means

the product is delivered to someone else's warehouse. Ending up in our

house makes a difference to the bottom line. LJ Rich, loving the

head mass anger, I'm having a bit of that -- massager, I'm having a

bit of that later. Hands up who stares at a computer model most

days. Pretty much our crew. And who spends a good part of every evening

doing the same. If you find that the bright monitor is causing arm

strain as darkness falls, what you need is a bit of Flux in your life.

Kate Russell explains more. Computer monitors are set up to

look good in the daytime, when the LCD competes with sunlight

streaming through the window. You may not realise the strain on your

eyes at night, so says Flux, a widget that dims the screen to

something more intimate in the evening. I don't know if there's an

official medical evidence to support the eye strain theory,

after installing Flux I didn't notice the gentle warming of my

screen, until I turned to my second PC, killed the screen saver and was

almost blinded by the glare. Once installed you set the location and

specify how warm you want the screen to be in the evening and

leave the software to transition from day to night, giving your eyes

the most comfortable ride possible. There are free downloads for

Windows, Mac and Linux. There's an overright button when you work on

colour sensitive products late into the night. Launching a successful

networking site is no mean feat on today's socially saturated web.

This presents itself as a Twitter model with a twist. Giving you 2

minutes of simple to record audio rather than 140 characters, calling

itself a vocal social network. Like any social networking start-up it

needs a critical mass of users to make it a success. They are not

there yet. If you feel like a gossip and don't want to type into

a internet text box, this could be a good place to hook up.

# I don't want to # Talk about it. This is Kate

Russell. Bear in mind all posts are public. Be careful what you choose

to gossip about. You can follow people, recording reply messages,

creating a string like what a text network is. My only gripe is lack

of control when listening. Roll back options would be nice. If you

are looking for something cool to do with your windows phone 7, take

a look at Timedancer an episodic sci-fi series fuseing video and

gaming to create an engaging experience. It is well-known that

the Timedancer corporation used time travel tech for years with no

supervision from... You make choices along the way to unlock

Click, carving is class through a narrative a bit like the fighting

fantasy games you used to get when you make a choice and turn to a

particular page. This has great- quality video. The downside is you

have to watch the video through a cloud of greasy finger marks on the

screen. The first episode is free to give you a taste and after that

you'll have to pay for downloads. It's a well produced app with a

great story. You can enjoy it more than once, which is probably just

as well, considering how little content there is out there for the

windows phone. If you are a rugby fan, you might have noticed a big

event is going on right now. The Rugby World Cup 2011 reaching a

climax towards the end of October. Keep up with the latest fixtures

and news at the official website. They have free apps for the major

mobile form at, as well as keeping you up to date with matches and

results, includes information about the players and teams, and a

regular dose of video highlight. If you happen to own an iPhone or iPad,

there's another app you can download. Rugby World Cup calendar

2011. It's free with supporting banners. There's no video, it's

been really well put together with loads of information on the players

and an indepth run down of the rules. So if your other half is not

a rugby fan and bothers you with questions during the match, hand

them the iPhone and crack open more beers. Finally, I wanted to give a

quick shout out to Posterous who implementeded a well overdue revamp

of their blogging platform, the overhaul positions the site to

compete with People Plus and Facebook. Focusing on sharing

retaining core values. Worth another look if you have left your

poor Posterous to gather kust in your hard drive over the last

couple of years. The mobile apps had a makeover, I had to download

it again, it didn't update automatically. That was Kate

Russell and Webscape. That's it from Click in Berlin, I hope you

enjoyed our jaunt around IFA. Get in touch on our website or tweet us.

Don't forget everything at IFA is on the website. On this week's

podcast we'll talk to broadcaster and author who delved into the