When present meets future

If there’s one thing the Jetsons did for mankind, it’s to make technology palatable – fun even – for pre-sci-fi society. The life of these middle-class technocrats in their safe 2D world was far more convenient than anything we could dream of. Imagine a home with conveyor belts depositing your children from point A (the living room) to point B (the bedroom) in less than a minute. No pushing and yelling required. And though life in the future still has its low points – bad bosses, unfortunately, don’t get trampled on by Darwin’s evolution – the robot butler does what it can with no complaints and no days off. Sure, research teams around the world are working their butts off trying to create the perfect robot (which can mimic and understand human speech) but that sci-fi dream is far from being realized.

Instead the trend everyone’s been gabbing about in the tech industry is digital convergence, where appliances and gadgets can be controlled with a single remote.

"There’ll be a time when you can switch on the air-con in your house from your office using your cell phone," says Abenson Avant’s Walter Lim. "So when you get home, the air-conditioning will already have reached the right temperature."

Convenience may be the catchphrase of 21st-century living – and that is the general direction technology is heading – but certain trends, some unusual, others surprisingly practical, have been making themselves more noticeable as more and more gadgets are hitting the consumer market.

Less Is More

The cell phone industry is the ultimate model in efficiency. Every month, cell phone companies yield newer models – smaller and more compact than the last. The rule of thumb: the greater the number of functions (auxiliary to basic calling and texting), the smaller the device.

MP3 players have followed suit, providing consumers an entire library’s worth of music – and data storage – in a slim, compact chassis thinner than most cigarette cases. The iPod Nano still reigns supreme as the king of all players. Utilizing the same iconic face on a noticeably thinner package, the Nano has made itself the best friend of hip-hugging, slim-cut-jean enthusiasts the world over. Why? Because its reduced size makes less of a bump on back pockets or shirt fronts.

"Tech gadgets are becoming more fashionable as time goes by," claims Lim. "They’ve become accessories."

The iPod has spawned a chic litter of accessories, some from its own maker Mac, and others by outside labels trying to hitch their products on the success of iPods.

The Oregon Scientific iBall is the latest in a growing number of wireless speakers that cater to the "iPodding" market. Shaped like a bowling ball with a center cavity, which allows music to project around an entire room, the iBall broadcasts music from up to a hundred feet. Strong signal and a cool design make this product a conversation piece at large, filled-to-the-rafters parties, and intimate dinners.

Connectivity Is Key

WiFi may bring the Internet-obsessed to their knees, but LG is hoping to change that with their home network services. Essentially equipping home appliances with Internet and inter-home capabilities, consumers will be able to access the Web and their mail while drinking juice from the carton. LG has made the Internet refrigerator available on the market. A sleek double-door ref is fitted with a flat-panel screen, so while the kids are busy gulping down their eight glasses of water daily, they can check out their Friendster accounts. Not a bad way to get hydrated.

Cool Stuff

Refrigerators are the way to the future. Well, that’s what it seems like with the seamless number of services companies are incorporating into these cooling containers.

"Some refrigerators have vacation mode," says Lim. Program the length of your vacation into the unit’s computer and the ref will maintain a uniform climate most beneficial to keeping the food at its freshest state.

Families who spend most of their time in the kitchen will find the TV-rigged icebox the most practical. Additional services include barcoding, when a scanner can input the products, amount and date of expiration, so that no one will have to experience the sight of a moldy mayo jar ever again. The ref will indicate the expiry of a product several days before it hits the inedible zone.

Perhaps the most interesting refrigerator could be the Samsung fridge. "Samsung has a refrigerator with a mirror finish." Originally intended as a sleek design element for those sparsely furnished loft-like kitchens in swanky condos, the shiny exterior has a secondary function.

"The mirror allows consumers to take a good long look at themselves before they grab a bite to eat," explains Lim with a laugh. Now there’s technology stick-thin, diet-crazed fashionistas can ride with.

Big Screen Stars

While technology is pushing everything into the realm of condensed, micro-scaled products, some things are best done in larger scale – like SUVs, augmented breasts and TVs.

Battles have been waged over millions of living room couches over who gets to control the remote. Well, the war’s about to get even bloodier with the arrival of the Sharp Aquos 65-inch LCD-TV. Currently the largest LCD TV in the world, this sleek behemoth has 65-inches of ultra-HD resolution images, making it the king of primetime – at home at least.

The LCD display means the quality of program being broadcast won’t be affected by ambient glare, so you won’t have to dim the overhead lights to get cinema-quality images. Thinner and lighter than most, this TV proves to the world that sometimes bigger really is better.

Where It’s At

If the names and specs of any of the previously mentioned products leave you scratching your head like a lice-covered chimp, there’s no worry. In the shopping department, clueless anti-tech freaks can still purchase the best technology has to offer.

Abenson Avant, the modern, brightly lit space in Greenbelt 4, specializes in electronics, appliances and home entertainment, has a well-trained, competent staff to assist even the most time-warped, tech-illiterate of the metro. (Paging my mom.)

With the store’s interactive display of live phones and cameras, consumers are encouraged to handle and test out the actual products so they can feel the functions and judge the user-friendliness before purchasing.

"We even encourage customers who are in the market for new TVs to pop in a DVD and watch a film, so they can get a feel for the product," says Lim. They’ll even serve you drinks and popcorn. "We do fresh microwaved popcorn," he adds. "It’s really good."

Lim advises consumers to check out all their options before settling on anything. "If you’re planning to invest in a big product, it’s best if you research, talk to our staff and try it out."

No doubt the Jetsons would find many of the products on sale today delightfully retro, but, to most of us regular folk, a 65-inch plasma TV and Internet-capable refrigerator look like the wave of the near future.

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All products available at Abenson Avant, located on the second floor of Greenbelt 4.