Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, January 05, 2015

Panasonic's new 4K TVs will run Firefox OS under the hood

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/05/panasonic-4k-tvs-with-firefox-os/

Panasonic's promises of Firefox OS-based TVs in 2014 didn't amount to much, but the company is back with much more concrete plans for Mozilla's web-based platform. The electronics giant has revealed that all of its 2015 Life+Screen 4K TVs (the CX600, CX650, CX800 and CX850) launching this spring will run Firefox OS. You can not only run web apps, but also send content to your TV from any device with a Firefox browser or a compatible app. You'll even get notifications from smart appliances connected to your home network, Panasonic says. It's hard to know if the new software will help Panasonic compete with the likes of LG's webOS sets or Samsung's Tizen models, but it's clear that simply making a smart TV isn't enough in the tech world these days -- you need to have a full-fledged software ecosystem to back it up.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, Software, HD

Source: Panasonic (PR Newswire 1), (2)

Sunday, January 04, 2015

OnStar Can Now Assess Your Driving For Cheaper Insurance Rates

Source: http://gizmodo.com/onstar-can-now-assess-your-driving-for-cheaper-insuranc-1677279938

OnStar Can Now Assess Your Driving For Cheaper Insurance Rates

Starting this summer, OnStar will become the electronic version of nervous parents in the back seat of a teenager's car, providing drivers with an opt-in program that will evaluate their driving over a 90-day period. Once complete, it will not only give drivers an objective assessment of their skills behind the wheel and tips on how to drive better, it could also lead to cheaper premiums and rates with Progressive Insurance.

DJI Inspire 1 Mount Puts An Incredible 4K Drone Camera In Your Hand

Source: http://gizmodo.com/dji-inspire-1-mount-puts-an-incredible-4k-drone-camera-1677423406

DJI Inspire 1 Mount Puts An Incredible 4K Drone Camera In Your Hand

Announced this past fall, DJI's Inspire 1 is a badass drone that puts a 4K camera on one of the most stable rigs out there. Announced today, the Inspire 1 Camera Mount allows you to put that powerful camera in your hand.

Oh Hell Yes: A Phone With Glasses-Free 3D and Joysticks Built In

Source: http://gizmodo.com/oh-hell-yes-a-phone-with-joysticks-and-glasses-free-3d-1677424608

Oh Hell Yes: A Phone With Glasses-Free 3D and Joysticks Built In

The Obox W3D looks a little but like a PSP at first glance, but inside it's a completely different beast. Running Android 4.4, the W30 isn't just a gaming device, it's also an actual phone. Its best tricks have nothing to do with that though, and the leading one is a glasses free 3D screen.

These Crazy Powered Skates Accelerate Your Steps As You Walk

Source: http://gizmodo.com/these-crazy-powered-skates-accelerate-your-steps-as-you-1677425665

These Crazy Powered Skates Accelerate Your Steps As You Walk

Ever since the Segway made its grand debut, mankind has been looking for crazy ways to take the work out of walking. And the Rollkers, a pair of powered skates, promise to make it much easier to get from point A to point B by accelerating every single step you take.

I Used My Finger As a Mouse... And It Made Me Miss My Mouse

Source: http://gizmodo.com/i-used-my-finger-as-a-mouse-and-it-made-me-miss-my-mo-1677429525

I Used My Finger As a Mouse... And It Made Me Miss My Mouse

There is an all-out war against the mouse, and this year, it's in the form of Motix. Instead of your standard point-and-click affair, your pointer finger becomes the mouse.

Up Close with Ring: Maybe Smart, Definitely GiganticÂ

Source: http://gizmodo.com/up-close-with-ring-so-huge-on-my-hand-1677431362

Up Close with Ring: Maybe Smart, Definitely Gigantic

In the wide world of crowd-funding unicorns, smart rings have been hustling for the top of the heap. Among them is Ring, a gesture device that promised to let you someday control your own home with a series of arcane finger wags. I just saw it in action and seems like it works but god damn does it look dumb.

D-Link's New Wi-Fi Routers Look Like Reverse-Engineered Alien Technology

Source: http://gizmodo.com/d-links-new-wi-fi-routers-look-like-reverse-engineered-1676131189

D-Link's New Wi-Fi Routers Look Like Reverse-Engineered Alien Technology

At one time when all you needed to connect was a couple of laptops, a cheap wireless router would more than suffice for most homes. But these days, when there's everything from phones to tablets to TVs relying on your Wi-Fi network, it makes sense to splurge on your hardware. And D-Link's new 11AC Ultra Performance Series routers promise speeds of up to 5.6 Gbps optimized for the myriad of different devices constantly hopping on and off your network.

With a 2-Year Battery, This Wireless Motion Sensor Can Go Anywhere

Source: http://gizmodo.com/with-a-2-year-battery-you-can-put-this-wireless-motion-1676116530

With a 2-Year Battery, This Wireless Motion Sensor Can Go Anywhere

The best way to protect your home from intruders is a network of motion sensors monitoring every square inch of your abode. D-Link's new Z-Wave Motion Sensor not only makes that possible, it makes it impossibly easy, since the wireless sensor features a built-in battery that's good for up to two years of continuous operation. So you can mount it in obscure and hard-to-reach places, and not have to worry about running wires or constantly changing batteries.

Linksys unveils networked storage and its fastest WiFi router yet

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/04/linksys-ea8500-and-network-storage/

Linksys EA8500 router

You knew that Linksys wouldn't sit idly by while competitors like ASUS and Netgear rolled out extra-fast WiFi routers -- sure enough, the Belkin-owned networking giant is coming to CES 2015 with some speedy wireless of its own. The company's EA8500 promises brisk, interruption-free 802.11ac at 1.73 Gbps thanks to both multi-user antennas (which keeps the speed up when the network is crowded) and a relatively quick 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor. It's also loaded with frills, such as four Gigabit Ethernet jacks as well as ports to share your eSATA and USB 3.0 storage. The EA8500 will be expensive at $280 when it ships in the spring, but it'll be accompanied by the $180 WRT1200AC if you're willing to settle for "just" 1.3 Gbps while maintaining similar features.

To top it off, Linksys is also diving into network attached storage through its new WRT Network Storage Bay. The enclosure will share two desktop hard drives (plus any drive you hook up through eSATA or USB 3.0) with your home network. The $130 box won't break new ground when it arrives in the spring, but it's worth a look if you want your backup hub or media server to match a Linksys router sitting on top.

Linksys WRT Network Storage Bay

Filed under: Peripherals, Networking

Source: Linksys (EA8500), (Network Storage Bay)

Kwikset's Kevo lets you lock your home while on vacation in Tahiti

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/04/kwiksets-kevo-lets-you-lock-your-home-from-tahiti/

Kwikset launched its Kevo Plus service today, which finally brings its number one requested feature to life: remote locking and unlocking. Launching in spring of this year, the service will enable new and existing Kevo lock owners to upgrade their systems via a Bluetooth-enabled gateway shipped with their introduction package. The Plus platform will come with unlimited Scheduled (for a home cleaning service for example) and Anytime eKeys, remote locking and unlocking and real-time monitoring. The gateway connects to your home's internet router and interacts with the Kevo lock via Bluetooth Low Energy to either track activity or activate the lock itself. Apple products are supported across the board, though Android support is currently limited to Lollipop on the Moto X, Moto G and the Nexus 6. No word on pricing for the Plus service, but with a bit of shipped hardware attached to the deal, we'd suspect it'll cost more than $20.

We're used Kevo products in the past and the demo shown at the show apes that functionality, but with a couple new icons on the app's home screen. If your connected lock is locked, that icon glows on the main page and if it's open, that icon glows. Tap whichever icon you want and the phone communicates with the Kevo Plus service that, in turn, connects to your home gateway and completes the action. We definitely see the merit in always having a handle on your home's security and the instant access to your loved ones in a pinch. As long as the security bit stands up to scrutiny, Kwikset's automated lock business has just gotten a lot more attractive.

Parrot Zik Sport headphones do noise canceling, heart monitoring

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/04/parrot-zik-sport-headphones/

Parrot's Zik 2.0 noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones may not be ideal for workouts, but fans may want to give the new Zik Sport a spin to get a similar experience. Granted, these are actually in-ears instead of the earcup type, but Parrot and Philippe Starck still managed to tuck in eight microphones -- six for noise-canceling, two for voice calls -- in addition to a heart rate sensor, pedometers and a five-hour battery (and that's with all the features turned on). That's a very impressive package given how much smaller these headphones are.

Understandably, the Zik Sport is made out of plastic and will be coated in a chrome finish, in order to achieve the impressive 75-gram weight. What's more, it's designed with five contact points -- the top, the two black boxes (which store the battery and circuitry) and the earbuds -- with your head, so that it can be worn securely with great comfort. That's certainly the case with the prototype we played with at CES.

These headphones have a dedicated companion app that not only lets you adjust the level of noise cancellation and sound effects, but also monitors your heart rate, running speed and even finer details like vertical oscillation (the less the better) plus left and right step detection (they should be in sync). Thankfully, the fitness data can be shared with most other sports applications, but we'll hear more about that in the near future.

What remains unknown are the price and the exact launch date for the Zik Sport, so we shall keep an eye out for them later this year.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Wearables

Use your feet to fly around a virtual world

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/04/ces2015-3drudder-hands-on/

Almost every time we've played around in virtual reality, be it of the Oculus Rift or Gear VR variety, we've had a game controller of some sort in our hands. It's necessary to navigate an environment, pop around and generally have a look about. The folks behind 3DRudder want to take that paddle and put it under your feet. At its simplest, the 3DRudder is an unobtrusive circular platform that replaces a D-pad on the controller. It's about 12 inches across and has a halved sphere underneath. Gyroscopes and accelerometers tucked inside track your movements via the pitch and yaw of your tootsies, and it connects to your computer via USB. According to the developers, the primary use they have in mind is for navigating 3D modeling programs like ZBrush or Maya, freeing your hands to switch brushes or change a tool while using feet to get around the scene you're making.

My demo started a bit slowly, focused on simple up, down, left and right movement. Then came the ability to spin and zoom in and out. Having each bit of navigation cordoned off felt pretty stilted, but once the leash came off and I had everything at my disposal, getting around the rough mock-up scene with walls, statues and other obstacles felt totally natural. Of course, it took me a few minutes to stop exaggerating the motions I made by tilting too hard one way or the other, but that faded away in short order as well.

But back to virtual reality. There wasn't a headset on display to use in tandem because, as founder and president Valerio Bonora tells it, there'd be too much to comprehend at once. Honestly, though, after 20 minutes of getting my feet wet (sorry), I was ready to strap on a headset and see just how well the device would work in practice. No dice. The developers also say that 3DRudder could replace an input for a first person shooter, but that's a lofty goal and it feels like it'd be more gimmicky than actually useful in practice. Even outside of competition, precision aiming and movement is key. Regardless, the gizmo is apparently compatible with existing titles.

Perhaps best of all? It won't be long before you can try the gadget for yourself and it won't break the bank, either. We're told that the device will launch this May for $110.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Peripherals, HD

Source: 3DRudder

Zensorium's 'Being' is a fitness wearable that promises to track your mood as well

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/04/zensorium-being/

We've seen wearables that track our heart rate, our activity levels and our sleep, but rarely do we see one that tracks our mood as well. That's the idea behind Zensorium's Being, a wearable that promises to not just monitor the usual activity tracker data such as NREM and REM sleep, heart rate, steps, calories burnt, distance and speed, but also your mood.

And apparently it's not just a glorified mood ring. At a pre-CES event in Las Vegas, a Zensorium spokesperson tells us that the Being, when combined with an accompanying iOS or Android app, is able to tell us at what time of the day we're feeling a particular mood. The moods that it tracks are Distress, Excited, Normal and Calm (though the prototype that we saw had different moods displayed on the app). The watch apparently figures this out by monitoring both your heart rate and blood pressure -- it can be worn on the wrist or clipped onto your clothes.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test this out because the product the company had on the show floor was a non-working prototype. I did find out a few details about the Being however; it appears to have an OLED display, a capacitive touchscreen and a battery life of "two to three days." The colored dots that you see on the display here are indicative of the mood -- blue appears to represent anxiety or "negative stress," while yellow is more indicative of excitement, or "positive stress." I was also told that the Being needs to be worn in contact with the skin in order to obtain these so-called bio-parameters for up to 72 hours. The idea is that the longer you wear it, the better it's able to track the data.

It's difficult to assess the veracity of these claims, but Zensorium does say that they've consulted with both neuroscientists and psychologists when developing the product. If you're confident enough with what Zensorium is saying here though, you can go ahead and pre-order the product for $169. Or you can wait until March, when it's set to retail for $199.

Filed under: Wearables

Source: Zensorium

When fingerprint scanners are hidden in your trackpad, you'll want one

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/04/fingerprint-scanners-in-disguise/

Fingerprint scanners are coming to laptops. Again. Thanks, in part, to smartphones making them, if not quite cool, then useful. Synaptics (who is the laptop trackpad leader) already told us all about SecurePad, a touchpad with a fingerprint sensor built into the upper-left corner, and now look! Here it is! While the sensor built into the prototype laptop had a raised outline, Synaptics also told us that, heck, it can make it look like anything a hypothetical PC maker wants -- even if that means making it indistinguishable from the "main" trackpad. Since last month, laptop manufacturers have been able to start embedding the tech into their PCs, although which company will strike first with the sensor remains a mystery.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

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