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0:00:26 > 0:00:32It seems like absolutely everyone Welcome to the programme. I might
0:00:32 > 0:00:37be officially the last to welcome you to 2013. We look ahead to a
0:00:37 > 0:00:43tech that might be trending in the next 12 months. The next big thing
0:00:43 > 0:00:48could be, well, things, or rather, the internet of things. The concept
0:00:48 > 0:00:54of objects are not even technology get hooked up to the net. What does
0:00:54 > 0:01:04it mean? David Reid dropped into a conference in Paris, known as Le
0:01:04 > 0:01:09
0:01:09 > 0:01:15The internet is the world pass - Matt Walker's largest printing
0:01:15 > 0:01:20press. People exchange data across continent. Maybe, except while we
0:01:21 > 0:01:27were not watching, the web has become much more. They are calling
0:01:27 > 0:01:33it the internet of things. It is a collective device that measures and
0:01:33 > 0:01:36a tell us about the real world falls -- with sensors. I am
0:01:36 > 0:01:41improving my personal fitness with an electronic barometer that makes
0:01:41 > 0:01:45me aware of how I am walking and how I am sitting. It is making
0:01:45 > 0:01:51things visible in the world that were previously invisible. By doing
0:01:51 > 0:01:56this, we changed our behaviour. Sometimes, I realise I do not have
0:01:56 > 0:02:06enough steps. I would get up and walk about more and get more active.
0:02:06 > 0:02:06
0:02:07 > 0:02:16It is helping me lose weight. is an internet of things device. It
0:02:17 > 0:02:17
0:02:17 > 0:02:23is a wide thermostat that is used with despite phone. -- smartphone.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28It does not toast your furniture while you are out at work. We have
0:02:28 > 0:02:33these senses and things happening. How to retake the data common of
0:02:33 > 0:02:42these things to make action and insights? You do not go to a doctor
0:02:42 > 0:02:52every day and say, it is my six- month check-up or yearly check-up.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56
0:02:56 > 0:03:02YouTube cars not tell us this? Your Cars can tell you when they are
0:03:02 > 0:03:09sick. You can pull over and park online.
0:03:09 > 0:03:16I am going to pay for parking. I have pulled up to the parking meter.
0:03:16 > 0:03:26I drop these arrow into the app. I put in mind numberplate. I have now
0:03:26 > 0:03:27
0:03:27 > 0:03:30How much we numbingly share may become more pointed with an
0:03:30 > 0:03:36automated internet of things, no longer dismiss ball as a detail
0:03:36 > 0:03:41that threatens to obscure the bigger picture. How much control we
0:03:41 > 0:03:45have could make up half of our relationship with technology. You
0:03:45 > 0:03:53cannot hammer in a nail over the internet. With internet of things
0:03:53 > 0:03:58taking shape so quickly, perhaps we should not be too sure.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02David Reid reporting from Paris. Next, a look at this week's
0:04:02 > 0:04:08Ticketek news stories. China's new year's resolution may
0:04:08 > 0:04:12have been to reduce its huge carbon footprint and investing to clear up
0:04:12 > 0:04:18its spice. The government is starting to upload hourly update on
0:04:18 > 0:04:23air pollution levels in 74 of its biggest cities. Greenpeace reports
0:04:23 > 0:04:28air pollution in China is 2-4 times above the World Health
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Organisation's standards. LG has started taking orders for its 55"
0:04:32 > 0:04:36OLED televisions, currently the largest on the market, costing
0:04:36 > 0:04:42�6,000. The energy-efficient technology
0:04:42 > 0:04:46which allows for Venus Greens, but the clarity, colour and contrast is
0:04:46 > 0:04:50only available for smartphones and habit up to now. We expect to see a
0:04:50 > 0:04:59lot more organic LED TV screens next week when we travelled to Las
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Vegas for the world's largest tech show, CES.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08His goodbye to photographs, thanks to a newcomer from Toshiba. It is
0:05:08 > 0:05:12shrinking the size of existing technology that allows users to
0:05:12 > 0:05:18adjust the focus of the shot after it has been taken. The camera has
0:05:18 > 0:05:23500,000 tiny lenses that take snaps at different focal lengths. That
0:05:23 > 0:05:27the formation can be used to focus the short later. The tech was
0:05:27 > 0:05:35pioneered by Stanford University but failed to go mainstream due to
0:05:35 > 0:05:38its size and price. One of the biggest problems that
0:05:38 > 0:05:43smartphone manufacturers have these days is trying to differentiate
0:05:43 > 0:05:48their slice of black magic from rivals. One Russian company thinks
0:05:48 > 0:05:54it has a solution. Richard Taylor explains.
0:05:54 > 0:06:02Shall screen phones, nothing new. Think of the old Nokia smartphones.
0:06:02 > 0:06:08This one is a bit different. This one has a regular tour -- read like
0:06:08 > 0:06:12capacitive a touch screen. It is running jellybean. On the back, it
0:06:12 > 0:06:18has an e-paper display using electronic ink, injecting three
0:06:18 > 0:06:22changing voltage different inks on the display. It does not use energy
0:06:22 > 0:06:30until it changes the display to update the formation. It uses low-
0:06:30 > 0:06:35power. What is the thinking behind it? With me is this man. Tell me,
0:06:35 > 0:06:43what were you thinking when you made this phone? It is a
0:06:43 > 0:06:49fascinating concept. We came up with this idea two years ago. We
0:06:49 > 0:06:53were inspired by the experience of users. Talk me through some of the
0:06:53 > 0:06:58scenarios when people use the second display. By him in London
0:06:58 > 0:07:06and I do not know how to get from point to point B. I open Google
0:07:06 > 0:07:11Maps. Subtly, the battery is running out. I can make one gesture
0:07:11 > 0:07:16and put this image of him up on to an e-paper display. It will last
0:07:16 > 0:07:24longer. I can still use Google Maps. When it is out of battery, the
0:07:24 > 0:07:34image can stay there. I know where to go. It has been a
0:07:34 > 0:07:34
0:07:34 > 0:07:37The good old incandescent light bulb has been with us since the
0:07:37 > 0:07:411870s, but it is a remarkably inefficient way of generating light.
0:07:41 > 0:07:51That is why it is being phased out around the world and replaced with
0:07:51 > 0:07:55new technologies such as LED. The reduction in the US was delayed,
0:07:55 > 0:08:05but that has not stopped some of New York's iconic structures coming
0:08:05 > 0:08:12
0:08:12 > 0:08:16up with some bright ideas on how to This was the midnight moment on New
0:08:16 > 0:08:26Year's Eve, the descending ball was cheered on by a crowd of over one
0:08:26 > 0:08:26
0:08:26 > 0:08:29million. Every year, the event is arguably the single biggest
0:08:29 > 0:08:39advertisement for LED technology in the US, with media outlets
0:08:39 > 0:08:39
0:08:39 > 0:08:48reporting on its efficiency and annual upgrade. The ball has shed
0:08:48 > 0:08:51its halogen and incandescent history. That was in 2007. Back
0:08:51 > 0:08:55then, most people had never even seen an LED light globe, and the
0:08:55 > 0:08:57biggest challenge for the ball's owners was to ensure that none of
0:08:58 > 0:09:07the legendary sparkle, created by the combination of crystal and
0:09:08 > 0:09:12
0:09:12 > 0:09:16light, was lost with a new transformation. When you see a
0:09:16 > 0:09:19crystal chandelier and fill it with an incandescent light bulb, it is
0:09:19 > 0:09:22the same with the crystal ball. When you look at the modules, and
0:09:22 > 0:09:25there are a lot of mirrors with reflectivity, it reflects the
0:09:25 > 0:09:29crystal. In 2007, the new ball showed energy efficiency savings of
0:09:29 > 0:09:3990%. It was double the brightness. One year later, the brightness
0:09:39 > 0:09:44doubled again. It is so energy efficient that it can be kept lit
0:09:44 > 0:09:47up day and night, 365 days of the tear atop Times Square. That
0:09:47 > 0:09:52certainly was not the case with incandescent light bulbs or halogen
0:09:52 > 0:09:58light bulbs. The famous numerals which are also lit every day of the
0:09:58 > 0:10:08year also get an annual upgrade. The bulbs for 2013 are 30% lighter
0:10:08 > 0:10:08
0:10:08 > 0:10:11than one year ago. Meanwhile, the Empire State Building has just
0:10:11 > 0:10:21unveiled its new LED lighting system, which can beam 16 million
0:10:21 > 0:10:24colours. The old way of changing colours, 1,400 feet above midtown
0:10:24 > 0:10:34Manhattan, involved circles of gel with just a small range, 10 colours
0:10:34 > 0:11:04
0:11:04 > 0:11:08at most. It was done this way for After decades of essentially the
0:11:09 > 0:11:18same kind of lighting, 2013 could be the industry's most illuminating
0:11:19 > 0:11:22
0:11:22 > 0:11:28That's it for the short version of this week's programme. Go to our
0:11:28 > 0:11:33website for more details. It is coming up later on he BBC News