And she could be the virtual assistant on your next smart phone.

Emotional Zoe is far edgier than Siri.  She makes Siri seem like your sweet Nana bringing you milk and cookies.

We do love our touch-screen smart phones and tablets, but some of us hate typing on their virtual keyboards.

Tactus has created a dynamic user interface that was a hit when it

was unveiled last month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

A thin, transparent, tactile layer panel replaces the glass or

plastic screens now used on most smart phones.

When a keyboard is called for, microfluid technology pushes the

buttons up. It takes less than a second for them to rise and for them

to retract. Their shape, how firm they are and their layout can be

adjusted by the user.

For more, see Tech Toys column in Saturday’s Free Lance-Star Business section.

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Treiber co-owns National Institute of Justice-certified Renegade Armor of Fredericksburg with Skip Church, another Spotsylvania resident and Marine Corps veteran.

The company makes protective armor for the U.S. military and government and for law enforcement. After the Newtown shootings, Treiber says, Renegade provided bullet-proof vests free of charge to five Fredericksburg-area teachers seeking them.

But he doesn’t believe body armor is the solution–especially not for school children. “We’re not about capitalizing on scared parents,” he says.

Treiber, whose mother is an assistant superintendent of schools in Washington state, wants to “harden” schoolroom doors so attackers can’t breach them.

“Let’s find smart ways to use the technology we have right now,”  he says. “I’m not saying whether there should be guns in the classroom. That’s a political discussion.”

He said it would cost $1,000 or less per door for a quick, short-term protective measure–ballistic blankets with pockets that hold armored plates and which could be quickly snapped on in emergencies.

In the long term, he’d like to see ballistic doors installed in classrooms that could stand up to semi-automatic weapons fire and keep attachers from either shooting through doors or blowing out locks and entering.

Hardening schoolroom doors “seems to me to be common sense,” he said.

“I’m saying use the same technology used by the Department of Defense in [the Middle East],” Treiber said. “This is existing technology that could save people today.”

He said politicians could then decide what other measures need to be taken.

He said he’s contacted U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman’s office and asked him to consider supporting federal funding to help schools harden doors to classrooms.

Treiber said a short-term solution might be clipping ballistic blankets on school room doors. He said they can be “hardened” to resist semi-automatic weapon fire by putting armor plates into pockets.

“We’re prototyping one that will bolt on top of a door as either a soft- or hard-armor option… They could be deployed quickly.”

As a long-term measure, he said steel Renegade uses for police car doors and military vehicles could be used to make bullet-resistant school doors.

But Verizon is to officially announce on Tuesday  that 75 live FiOS TV channels, among them HBO, Cinemax, HGTV, Nickelodeon, Fox News and MSNBC, will be available for in-home streaming via Wi-Fi to  FiOS subscribers to iPads, spokesman Harry Mitchell said Monday night.

An updated Verizon Mobile App makes streaming to iPads possible directly from your home router without PC or Mac software. So you’re mobile, but that mobility ends in your driveway. Still, it’s cool. You don’t have to stop watching TV when you go to the bathroom! My kids will be putting this technology to use immediately.

The app is available in Apple’s App Store.  It only works with high-def set top boxes, though.

Tech Crunch blogger Sarah Perez’s review.

Droid DNA

This might be the gift for the serious gamer on your holiday shopping list. Take 1080p HD,  shrink it down to a super slim, 5-inch LCD screen, go mobile and pack a powerful quad-core processor in with Android Jelly Bean and you have the HTC Droid DNA.  It’s $199.99 from Verizon Wireless with a two-year service contract.

Verizon Wireless press release:

The crisp picture of a 1080p resolution screen has generally been found on televisions or computer monitors in homes. The new DROID DNA by HTC is the first smartphone to scale the resolution down to a five-inch display.  

For gamers, the highest screen resolution possible provides a sharper image for browsing and clearer animations when playing. The five-inch display on the DROID DNA means touch controls won’t get in the way of gameplay. Titles like Reign of Amira take advantage the quad-core processor in combination with the 1080p to deliver superior graphics during a game. 

With the holiday shopping season at hand, better resolution means clearer images, particularly useful for those scanning websites to compare prices and product details. Included on the home screen is a new icon, that offers a single point of access to several Amazon shopping apps in one spot.

The DROID DNA is designed with a built-in wireless charging back to take advantage of a wireless charger, one of this year’s best tech gifts. Charging the DROID DNA is as easy as setting it on a charging pad, eliminating the need for an outlet.  

The DROID DNA by HTC is available for pre-order starting today and will be in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores starting Nov. 21.

Verizon Wireless Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II

The Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II, sporting a full QWERTY keyboard, 1.2 GHz dual core processor, 4G LTE and Android 4.0, will be available from Verizon Wireless “sometime in the coming weeks.”

The carrier says the Stratosphere II “aims to balance business and a rich multimedia experience.”

It’ll run you $129 with a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year service conteact.

The Stratosphere II offers a number of entertainment features. Users can rent or purchase movies from the Samsung Media Hub that they then can watch right on the Stratosphere II’s 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display for high quality video entertainment. S Beam uses near-field communications (NFC) to easily share photos and videos with other compatible devices.

On the business side, the smartphone is Global Ready with the ability to call and email from over 200 countries, has built-in Virtual Private Network (VPN) connectivity when on the road, and supports multi-vendor Mobile Device Management (MDM). With numerous security features like Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and on-device AES 256-bit encryption, the Stratosphere II aims to protect personal and professional information.  

Jimmy Kimmel shows people on the street the iPhone 4S, tells them it’s the iPhone 5 and they rave about how much better what they think it is than what it really is. “It’s all in your head,” Kimmel says. And he’s right, of course.

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And Apple’s official iPhone 5 trailer, posted on YouTube a little while ago…  It’s the thing you use more than anything else, it’s …  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Huh, Wha?!

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Yes, it’s a great-looking phone.

Its all glass and aluminum body is 18 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter than its predecessor, the iPhone 4S.

It has a bigger, 4-inch screen.

Its new A6 processor is faster.

Its new operating system, iOS 6, is cooler.

It had 4G LTE capability.

It has a camera that’s supposed to work better in low light than the iPhone 4S’.

But my reaction is a yawn. Maybe Apple has caused me to become jaded. Maybe I expect too much from it in terms of innovation. But the Earth hasn’t moved for me. I don’t have the desire to plunk down $200 or $300 for this one. At least not yet.

There will be long lines to buy the iPhone 5 on Sept. 21. There’s no doubt it will be a big success.

But, for now, at least, until I get a chance to test the new iPhone, it seems to me that it’s not a game-changer and that Samsung’s Galaxy S III, launched in May, is a more interesting phone and probably a better phone.

Check out the Associated Press’ comparison of the two phones:

By the Associated Press

A head to head comparison of the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S III.

iPhone 5

iPhone 5 specs:

• Display: 4-inch (diagonal) with a resolution of 1136 by 640 pixels.\
• Memory capacity: 16, 32 or 64 gigabytes, depending on price. There’s no way to expand it with memory cards.
• Price: Starting at $199, for 16 gigabytes of memory.
• Size: height: 4.87 inches; width: 2.31 inches; depth: 0.30 inch (124 x 59 x 7.6 mm)
• Weight: 3.95 ounces (112 grams)
• Cameras: 8-megapixel camera on back, 1.2-megapixel on front.
• Video recording: high-definition (1080p — comparable to the resolution of a 40-inch flat panel TV) up to 30 frames per second with audio.
• Battery life: Talk time is up to 8 hours on 3G. Internet works for up to 8 hours on LTE and up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi. Up to 10 hours of video playback. Battery can be replaced by service personnel only.
• U.S. wireless carriers: Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and others.
• Network compatibility: 3G networks worldwide, plus 4G LTE networks in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Germany, U.K., Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.
• Operating system: Apple’s iOS 6 (will also be available for download to older iPhone models)
• Near-field communications: Not available.

Verizon Wireless Samsung Galaxy S III

Samsung Galaxy S III specs:

• Display: 4.8 inches (diagonal) with a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels.
• Memory capacity: 16 or 32 gigabytes. Can be expanded by up to 64 gigabytes with a memory card.
• Price: As low as $99 for basic model
• Size: height: 5.4 inches; width: 2.8 inches; depth: 0.34 inch (137 x 71 x 8.6mm)
• Weight: 4.7 ounces. (133 grams)
• Cameras: 8-megapixel camera on back, 1.9-megapixel on front.
• Video recording: high-definition (1080p — comparable to the resolution of a 40-inch flat panel TV) up to 30 frames per second with audio.
• Battery life: Up to 9 hours of talk time (depends on network). Battery replaceable by user.
• U.S. wireless carriers: Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and others.
• Network compatibility: 3G networks worldwide, plus 4G LTE networks in the U.S., Canada, South Korea and some other countries.
• Operating system: Ice Cream Sandwich version of Google’s Android.
• Near-field communications: Yes. This lets the phone acts as a credit card with some payment terminals and lets it share data when tapped against some other phones.

Gates and Microsoft were seen as the establishment, epitomizing greed. Steve Jobs and Apple were perceived as being part of the counter culture–the anti-Microsoft.

Ironically, the “greedy” Gates left Microsoft and went on to become the world’s biggest philanthropist. And he’s given a cash award for innovation in the form of a solar toilet: “Will Bill Gates do for the Toilet what he did for the Computer?”

When Apple was awarded a judgment of over $1 billion in its lawsuit against Samsung yesterday, the public lost. Unless the ruling is overturned, Apple will reap billions from other companies who want to use features like double-tap zooming. And that will be passed onto consumers.  If upheld on appeal, it will mean fewer choices.

In a statement, Samsung officials said:

“It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners, or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies. Consumers have the right to choices, and they know what they are buying when they purchase Samsung products. This is not the final word in this case or in battles being waged in courts and tribunals around the world, some of which have already rejected many of Apple’s claims. Samsung will continue to innovate and offer choices for the consumer.”

The ruling sent a message that “stealing isn’t right,” Apple officials said in a statement:

“We are grateful to the jury for their service and for investing the time to listen to our story and we were thrilled to be able to finally tell it. The mountain of evidence presented during the trial showed that Samsung’s copying went far deeper than even we knew. The lawsuits between Apple and Samsung were about much more than patents or money. They were about values. At Apple, we value originality and innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on earth. We make these products to delight our customers, not for our competitors to flagrantly copy. We applaud the court for finding Samsung’s behavior willful and for sending a loud and clear message that stealing isn’t right.”

CNET  questioned whether the jury was prepared to deal with the complexity of patent law.

CNN Money reports on what happens to your Samsung phone:

 ”Apple’s design and software claims involved scores of Samsung devices, including the Nexus S 4G and S II.

“As a result of the ruling, Apple could request an injunction against the Samsung devices that were found to have infringed on its patents. That means Samsung could be forced to take those gadgets off the market until they are changed.

“If you already own the devices in question, though, don’t worry: Even with an injunction, no one can pry the phone out of your hands. But it’s possible that your phone could receive a software update that tweaks how it looks and works.”

It’s a big win for Apple and its stockholders–at least in the short term.

In the long term, Apple, which was already outsourcing hundreds of thousands of American jobs to China in order to make itself one of the most profitable companies in history, may lose its cool, counter-culture image and begin to be perceived as greedy.

And that, in turn,  just might mean that owning an iPhone or an iPad doesn’t seem quite as cool.

Maybe Apple will decide that with the billions it collects over time if the ruling is upheld, it can afford to bring all those jobs back from China. That would make every American proud to own an Apple device.

 Ha, ha, ha. No, I guess not.