TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Up Ahead: Breathing Batteries, a Personal Traffic Alert System

Judy Mottl | Date: 01-05-11 | Comments

IBM's recent Five in Five list offers up a few innovations that anyone would welcome.

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Up Ahead: Breathing Batteries, a Personal Traffic Alert System
One of the best things about the week between Christmas and New Year's is the onslaught of IT industry predictions and forecasts, and one of the most interesting so far to come from that recent timeframe is the five tech advancements IBM expects to see happening in the next five years.

Why? It's not about computing as much as it is all about how our own lives will be changed by technology advancements.

IBM's recent Five in Five list predicts that technology will make travel easier and safer, as well as the dawn of what it calls "breathing" batteries.

Both would be welcomed advancements as the battery option is expected to provide a charge 10 times longer than today's lithium-ion and will be able to run anything from today's mobile devices to the electric cars now hitting roadways. That would make life easier for any tech road warrior.

The traffic-related technology would customize a driver's commute path and offer up suggestions in transit to avoid congested areas. Who wouldn't want that capability?

This list is IBM's fifth year of predictions, and while there's a year left on the initial list, most have not yet been realized. Yet some have come to fruition, notably how mobile phones would become much more than voice call mechanisms.

Just two years ago, one of IBM's Five in Five ignited some excitement. It was one about how "forgetting" will become a faded memory.

I don't know about you, but brain cramps are happening on a daily basis when it comes to keeping up with all the social media tools; the add-ons for tweeting and texting; and the inordinate amount of ways we are able to keep in touch, keep track and stay within reach of nearly everyone these days.

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