Because drivers frequently need to grapple with controls while keeping their eyes on the road, the fewer physical buttons a car has, the more they need to divert their gaze and attention in order to change the temperature or radio station.

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Their vibe is masculine with a gray-and-brown palette and a surfeit of technology, such as the maddening touch-screen panel meant to control the suite's three TVs (one in the bathroom mirror), DVD player, radio, iPod dock, temperature, drapes, lights, and many other things I never got the hang of.

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Each patch contains a microprocessor and memory along with either a radio transmitter, a sensor reactive to light or temperature, a microphone, batteries or a display.

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These include a rechargeable battery, a temperature sensor and a built-in radio that allows one Pinoccio with a WiFi shield to communicate wirelessly with other Pinoccios.

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In addition to free VOIP, internet radio and wall mounted control stations for light , curtains and temperature, each room will boast three or more tablets to interface with room service and housekeeping, workstations with various international power outlets and chargers, and 3D flatscreen TVs set up to accept input (movies, Slideshows, presentations) from smartphones, computers, cameras, tablets or memory cards.

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In recent weeks Dr Smith and Dr Sample, working with Scott Southwood, another researcher at the University of Washington, have built a weather sensor that measures temperature and light levels and sends a packet of data every five seconds by radio.

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It contains a device that measures such things as temperature, motion and light intensity, and it sports a miniature antenna and a radio with a range of 10 to 50 meters.

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