Archive for the ‘Cool Gadgets’ Category
9th May 2010
So, the lucky guys at Gizmodo were able to get their hands on an iPhone 4. There’s a bit of a story behind their acquisition. Apparently, Apple has been testing the new iPhone in the wild already, and one of Apple’s employees have, well, misplaced one. A lucky soul found the iPhone in a bar in Redwood City, and was sent to Gizmodo. Wow.
Now, we really can’t be 100% sure that this is indeed the new iPhone. But there are lots of clues that point to it being real. There really is an Apple employee who reported that he lost a prototype iPhone. It was covered in a rubberized casing so it can be disguised as an iPhone 3GS. Right now, it looks like it’s a major departure from previous iterations of the iPhone. Let’s start with the design of the phone itself. Gone is the curved back that defined the first three iPhones. It’s now flat at the back, and if you don’t see the front of the iPhone, you’d think it was made by Nokia or something. I won’t go as far sa to call it ugly, but I’m not exactly a fan of the new look.
Features-wise, this is also a totally different monster. Here’s Gizmodo’s roundup of the new features:
What’s new
• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. It’s unclear if it’s the 960×460 display thrown around before—it certainly looks like it, with the “Connect to iTunes” screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic
What’s changed
• The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) or ceramic or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared to tapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be the orientation of components inside making for a different sound
• An aluminum border going completely around the outside
• Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)
• Everything is more squared off
• 3 grams heavier
• 16% Larger battery
• Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery
What do you think? Is this the real deal or a really elaborate hoax that Gizmodo fell for hook line and sinker? If this is the real thing, what do you think of the changes?
9th May 2010
You know humanity’s doomed if we get robots that are constantly pushing on the boundaries of the uncanny valley.
Okay, maybe I was just exaggerating a bit, but as you can see, Geminoid F, a copy of a woman in her 20s with long dark hair, exhibits facial expressions more naturally than previous androids. However, even though she’s more realistic than other robots, we all could see that she still hasn’t quite overcome the uncanny valley yet and that she’s still – for the lack of a better term – creepy.
From IEEE.org:
Ishiguro, a professor at Osaka University, is famous for creating a robot replica of himself, the Geminoid HI-1, a teleoperated android that he controls remotely. The new Geminoid F (“F” stands for female) is also designed to be remote controlled by an operator.
In a press conference in Osaka, Ishiguro demonstrated how the android could mimic the facial expressions of the woman as she sat in front of a computer with cameras and face-tracking software.
Ishiguro’s previous androids, in addition to his own copy, include replicas of his then four-year-old daughter and of a Japanese TV newscaster. I couldn’t find more details about the identity of the Geminoid F’s master template, only that she is “one-quarter non-Japanese.”
What do you guys think? Also a video of the robot below:
9th May 2010
So Microsoft just announced not just one but two new phones. Calling them Kin One and Kin Two (no, seriously), these are Windows Phones designed specifically for people who are actively navigating their social lives. Brought to life through partnerships with Verizon Wireless, Vodafone and Sharp Corporation, KIN is designed to be the ultimate social experience that blends the phone, online services and the PC with breakthrough new experiences called the Loop, Spot and Studio. KIN will be exclusively available from Verizon Wireless in the U.S. beginning in May and from Vodafone this autumn in Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The thing is, didn’t just Microsoft announce Windows Phone 7? And isn’t everyone like praising Microsoft’s new phone operating system to high heavens? So why is Microsoft going to release another phone that’s social network-centric, but has no app store – or even any ability to create apps at all? And why make one that is competing with Windows Phone 7? It really sounds like a dumb marketing strategy, but when you take a closer look at it, it’s actually brilliant.
According to Engadget:
Last year, something like 200 million smartphones were sold. Lots. But that’s only one sixth of the total phone market of 1.2 billion phones, as reported by Gartner.
No matter how fast the iPhone market is growing, and how badly Microsoft wants to get back into that business, there’s other action to be had. And if Kin’s cost is kept low—both the handset price and the monthly data fees—then going after Samsung and LG and Nokia, hoping to draw people away from their cheap generic phones, could be easier than fighting Apple and Google (and BlackBerry and Palm). If so, then there’s success to be had, too.
Ah, there we go. The Kin is made for people who would like to be connected with their social networks all the time without worrying about apps to install or anything of that sort. I can see it now: a Windows Phone 7 phone for me and my needs, and probably a Kin for my 16-year old cousin who only wants to tweet and post to Facebook. Sweet.
9th May 2010
So, we’re living in a society that already encourages being a lazy-ass meatbag already. You’d see people working day in and day out, chained to their desks, without moving a single major muscle. So, how else do we ensure that people become fatter? Honda apparently has an idea. You see, Honda’s U3-X personal mobility prototype will ensure that you will never ever want to walk again, be it long or short distances.
Check out Gadzooki has to say:
The U3-X is a continuation of Honda’s unofficial human meat puppetry project, which started in 2008 with a set of assistive robo-legs, and will end with, well, Wall-E. Conceptually, it sits somewhere between two other historically dignified modes of transportation, the unicycle and the Segway. It supports the rider’s weight with an omnidirectional wheel, which is actually made of smaller, perpendicularly aligned wheels, and which responds to slight movements in the rider’s upper body; a shift of the shoulder in any direction eases the rider across the floor, in a surprisingly predictable and controllable way. It doesn’t feel like rolling so much as it feels like floating.
Okay, I have to admit, riding on a sort of futuristic and fully-automated cross between the Segway and a unicycle that will not let you fall off it is pretty neat. Apparently it’s the most comfortable thing to ride on, and Engadget goes as far as to say it’s a joy to ride on. I certainly hope that they don’t market it to able-bodied people though, because that thing has major potential for disabled people.
9th May 2010
The merger of Nokia’s Maemo and the Moblin Project, MeeGo, that new-ish Linux distro made for mobile phones, TVs, and netbooks, has finally released the first beta of the new operating system. The build images are meant for developers or those who are comfortable working in a terminal since the build won’t come with any user interface. The images currently work with any Intel Atom-based netbook, Atom-based handset (Moorestown) or Nokia’s N900.
From Engadget:
Sadly, the MeeGo user experience — the good stuff, that is — isn’t included here, so if you flash your N900 you’re going to end up booting into a terminal console, but hey, some of you sickos are into that sort of thing, aren’t you? Next up for the team is a release billed 1.0 that will come in May, and we’re told details on the road to that version will be unveiled over the coming days. Take care of yourselves if you go for it, alright?
However, if you’d like to get your hands dirty with code, you’re free to download the 392MB image file so you can test it yourself so you’d just get an idea on what MeeGo is like. Make sure to run it from a USB drive though!
Download MeeGo here.
