Accessibility links
Innovation : All Tech Considered An exploration of interesting ideas that solve problems, introduce new experiences or even change our world.
All Tech Considered

All Tech Considered

Tech, Culture and Connection

Innovation

Monday

Bringing Internet To The Far Corners Of The Earth

Google is doing test flights of its balloons carrying Internet routers around the world. Last June, a balloon was released at the airport in Teresina, Brazil. Google hide caption

toggle caption
Google

Behavior

Bringing Internet To The Far Corners Of The Earth

About 5 billion people are mostly or entirely disconnected from the Internet. So to capitalize on this opportunity, Google and Facebook have begun high-profile campaigns to connect the unconnected.

Bringing Internet To The Far Corners Of The Earth

Listen · 5:26
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/396391960/396405088" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Monday

Now Algorithms Are Deciding Whom To Hire, Based On Voice
Ilana Kohn/Ikon Images/Getty Images

Science

Now Algorithms Are Deciding Whom To Hire, Based On Voice

If you're trying out for a job, the one judging you may not be a person — it could be a computer. Algorithms are evaluating human voices to determine which ones are engaging, calming and trustworthy.

Now Algorithms Are Deciding Whom To Hire, Based On Voice

Listen · 4:27
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/394827451/394906629" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

A New 3-D Printing Method Is Rising Out Of The Ooze

Continuous Liquid Interface Production, or CLIP, uses liquid resin with ultraviolet light and oxygen projected through it to create more complex structures than those of existing 3-D printers. Nina Gregory/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Nina Gregory/NPR

Innovation

A New 3-D Printing Method Is Rising Out Of The Ooze

Remember how the T-1000 in Terminator 2 re-formed out of molten metal? The folks at Carbon3D figured out how to do that in real life, and what they created may be the next iteration of 3-D printing.

Monday

Free Wi-Fi On Buses Offers A Link To Future Of 'Smart Cities'

More than 600 Porto city buses and taxis have been fitted with routers to provide free Wi-Fi service. It's being touted as the biggest Wi-Fi-in-motion network in the world. Sérgio Rodrigues/Veniam hide caption

toggle caption
Sérgio Rodrigues/Veniam

Innovation

Free Wi-Fi On Buses Offers A Link To Future Of 'Smart Cities'

A new service in a Portuguese city not only provides commuters with free Internet connections but also helps collect data that make the municipality run more efficiently.

Free Wi-Fi On Buses Offers A Link To Future Of 'Smart Cities'

Listen · 3:22
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/389250795/390245051" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Wi-Fi Everywhere May Let You Roam Free From Your Mobile Carrier

The sun sets as a visitor uses his mobile phone Monday during the opening day of the 2015 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Wall Street Journal reporter Ryan Knutson — interviewed from the conference Monday via Skype by NPR's Robert Siegel — says that for some smartphone users, Wi-Fi may be able to replace most of the functionality of a cellphone carrier. Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Images

Innovation

Wi-Fi Everywhere May Let You Roam Free From Your Mobile Carrier

To get the most out of your smartphone, do you really need a cellphone plan? That's the question a Wall Street Journal reporter tried to answer by relying only on Wi-Fi networks for a month.

Wi-Fi Everywhere May Let You Roam Free From Your Mobile Carrier

Listen · 4:06
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/390244986/390244987" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

The World Loves The Smartphone. So How About A Smart Home?
Guido Rosa/Getty Images/Ikon Images

Innovation

The World Loves The Smartphone. So How About A Smart Home?

Fresh Air

The ultimate smart-home vision is a home that basically runs itself, from coffee makers to washing machines. But we're not there yet: The real world is a hard place for little computers to operate in.

The World Loves The Smartphone. So How About A Smart Home?

Listen · 6:53
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/388992412/389023643" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

This Valentine's Day, I'm Loving The Boyfriend I Built For Myself
Javier Pierini/Getty Images

Innovation

This Valentine's Day, I'm Loving The Boyfriend I Built For Myself

Single and tired of being asked if you're dating? A new service offers the appearance of having a significant other who texts you and even leaves voice mails. NPR's Jasmine Garsd gave it a try.

This Valentine's Day, I'm Loving The Boyfriend I Built For Myself

Listen · 3:03
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/385846953/386085368" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

'Maker Space' Allows Kids To Innovate, Learn In The Hospital

Emily Neblett, a patient at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., demonstrates circuit pieces from the mobile maker space that are connected by magnets. Noah Nelson/Youth Radio hide caption

toggle caption
Noah Nelson/Youth Radio

Society

'Maker Space' Allows Kids To Innovate, Learn In The Hospital

YR Media

At a children's hospital in Nashville, Tenn., a mobile maker space allows patients to share materials and tools to build new things, while also teaching them about math and science.

'Maker Space' Allows Kids To Innovate, Learn In The Hospital

Listen · 3:55
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/382176898/382218428" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

At 90, She's Designing Tech For Aging Boomers

Barbara Beskind, 90, is a designer at IDEO who works with engineers on products that improve the quality of life for older people. Nicolas Zurcher/Courtesy of IDEO hide caption

toggle caption
Nicolas Zurcher/Courtesy of IDEO

Innovation

At 90, She's Designing Tech For Aging Boomers

Barbara Beskind stands out in youth-obsessed Silicon Valley. She inspires designers at the IDEO firm to think about the needs of older generations: What if your glasses could help you remember people?

At 90, She's Designing Tech For Aging Boomers

Listen · 4:36
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/377702882/378409752" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

If A Smart Stove Could Suggest Recipes, Would You Buy It?

Whirlpool's Kitchen of the Future is on display at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The concept includes a cooktop and connected backsplash that offers recipes and other information. Whirlpool hide caption

toggle caption
Whirlpool

Innovation

If A Smart Stove Could Suggest Recipes, Would You Buy It?

Tech companies are lining up to sell us "smart" things that learn what we might want and give it to us before we ask. But so far consumers seem wary, in part because of privacy concerns.

Saturday

In Vegas, Intel Hopes A Smart Idea Takes Flight

Developers Jelena Jovanovic (from left) and Christoph Kohstall and Intel Corp. CEO Brian Krzanich watch the Nixie wearable drone camera at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Ethan Miller/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Innovation

In Vegas, Intel Hopes A Smart Idea Takes Flight

Chipmaker Intel made Silicon Valley possible. But now the company is searching for a new identity — and business stream. As consumers abandon PCs, the CEO is looking toward an untested area.

In Vegas, Intel Hopes A Smart Idea Takes Flight

Listen · 3:47
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/375992376/376300639" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Look Out, This Poker-Playing Computer Is Unbeatable

Dealer Omar Abu-Eid adjusts a stack of chips before the first day of the World Series of Poker's main event in Las Vegas last July. Humans still reign in most versions of poker. Whew. John Locher/AP hide caption

toggle caption
John Locher/AP

Science

Look Out, This Poker-Playing Computer Is Unbeatable

Forget chess. Poker may be even harder for a computer. But a software program has now "solved" a variant of Texas Hold'em, the bot's creators say. And nothing can keep it from winning.

Look Out, This Poker-Playing Computer Is Unbeatable

Listen · 3:36
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/375736513/375923274" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Why Buy When You Can Borrow? App Connects People And Stuff

Peerby allows people to share their stuff through a mobile app for free. Peerby hide caption

toggle caption
Peerby

Innovation

Why Buy When You Can Borrow? App Connects People And Stuff

Millions of people use apps to share their homes and their cars. Now Peerby, an app developed in the Netherlands, helps people to share things like power drills and bicycle pumps with people nearby.

Why Buy When You Can Borrow? App Connects People And Stuff

Listen · 2:51
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/374184584/374511155" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript