drag2share: New sensor can read your heart from afar, but knows not your feelings

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/03/new-sensor-can-read-your-heart-from-afar-but-knows-not-your-fee/

Are you fed up with your current ECG sensor? Tired of all the mess of electroconductive gels, sticky electrodes and tangled wires? How about this: Britain's Plessey Semiconductors offers an ECG sensor that promises heart-monitoring without the hassle. We've seen similar technology before, but according to the company, the Electric Potential Integrated Circuit -- or EPIC, as it's humbly called -- can read heartbeats even through a sweater; future versions might be embedded in hospital gurneys for constant, unobtrusive monitoring. Like an extremely sensitive voltmeter, it detects tiny changes in electric fields, which means it could also be used for Kinect-style motion interfaces. The company even imagines a future system where firefighters can use the EPIC to find humans in a smoke-filled room. If you're thinking, "My, that sounds just like my Deus Ex dreams" -- hey, we're right there with you.

New sensor can read your heart from afar, but knows not your feelings originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: CSR sharpens indoor and in-car navigation with SiRFstarV, SiRFusion and SiRFprimaII

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/03/csr-sharpens-indoor-and-in-car-navigation-with-sirfstarv-sirfus/

It's been a while since we last heard from CSR, but that changed earlier this week, when the company unveiled its new SiRFprimaII and SiRFusion platforms, alongside its SiRFstarV architecture. According to the UK-based firm, both SiRFstarV and SiRFusion are designed to provide more accurate geographic data and enhanced indoor navigation capabilities across PNDs and other mobile devices. SiRFstarV, the logical follow-up to CSR's SiRFstarIV architecture, culls location data not only from GPS, but from Galileo, Glonass and Compass satellites, as well as a range of radio signals, accelerometers, gyros and compasses. All this information is fed to the user via the SiRFusion platform, which combines data from radio systems and sensors to provide constantly updated location graphics. Together, both SiRFstarV and SiRFusion promise to help users find their way around both indoor and outdoor locales, within an accuracy range of ten to 15 meters.

The SiRFprimaII platform, displayed above, is strictly geared toward in-car navigation and infotainment systems. This system combines a SiRFprimaII SoC and TriG RF multi-GNSS radio with CSR's Bluetooth and WiFi technologies to create a multimedia rich, touchscreen-based in-car environment. Geared toward both ODMs and OEMs, this hardware-software combo enables drivers to get more reliable navigation data, while allowing passengers to stream video, surf the web and manipulate everything via remote control. As for that SoC, it's powered by a 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 app processor, features an LCD controller for displays of up to 1280 x 720 resolution, and boasts a pair of 3D graphics and video accelerators. For more details, check out the pair of press releases, after the break.

Continue reading CSR sharpens indoor and in-car navigation with SiRFstarV, SiRFusion and SiRFprimaII

CSR sharpens indoor and in-car navigation with SiRFstarV, SiRFusion and SiRFprimaII originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Nov 2011 06:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: LomoKino Super 35 Movie Maker lets you channel your inner Charlie Chaplin for $80

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/03/lomokino-super-35-movie-maker-lets-you-channel-your-inner-charli/

Ever wish you could return to a simpler cinematic era -- one characterized not by 3D graphics and Spielberg, but by silent images and Eisenstein? Well, you can now spearhead the movement yourself, with Lomography's new LomoKino Super 35 Movie Maker. With this device (pictured above), amateur filmmakers can manually produce their own frill-free movies on any roll of 35mm film. All you have to do is load your film into the so-called "magic box," turn the crank and let the LomoKino work its magic. The camera, which boasts a 25mm lens and max aperture of f/5.6, will capture 144 shots on a single roll of film, good for about 50 to 60 seconds of footage. It also supports a wide array of effects, including slide film, color negative, redscale and black and white. Once that's developed, you can run it through Lomography's LomoKinoScope, direct it toward a light source, and watch your homemade Baby's Lunch or Nanook of the North unfold before your eyes. You won't find any sound, special effects, or fancy post-production tools here -- just moving images, plain and cinematically pure. Lumiere enthusiasts can grab one now for $80, or opt for both the LomoKino and the LomoKinoScope, bundled together for $100. For more details, roll past the break for a sample video and the full PR, or get a closer look at the LomoKino in the gallery, below.

Continue reading LomoKino Super 35 Movie Maker lets you channel your inner Charlie Chaplin for $80

LomoKino Super 35 Movie Maker lets you channel your inner Charlie Chaplin for $80 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Nov 2011 07:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: This Woman's Fake Face Is Made from 500 Faces [Image Cache]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5855562/this-womans-fake-face-is-made-from-500-faces

Self-portraitist clickflashwhirr has been snapping shots of her mug every day for over a year—and that's nothing new on the net. But averaging 500 of those snaps into one artificial face? Beautifully creepy.

The digital composite was done by Tiemen Rapati, who explains he "simply [counted] the individual RGB values for each pixel and for each portrait, and [divided] those values by the number of portraits." The result is a slightly hazy, easy on the eyes, year-plus amalgamation of a woman. It's dreamlike, but unsettling to think the face we're looking at here never really existed. I wonder if her face hurt after making that same expression over and over and over and over again? [Tiemen Rapati via Colossal]

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drag2share: Internet Explorer Desertion Continues as Usage Drops Below 50 Percent [Web]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5855654/internet-explorer-desertion-continues-as-usage-drops-below-50-percent/gallery/1

Internet Explorer has long been declining in popularity, but it hit an abandonment milestone in October as its market share dropped below 50 percent for the first time in more than a decade. What browsers are reaping the benefits?

Microsoft's browser is far from dead, but the October stats are hardly favorable. Some of IE's decline can be attributed to the rapid increase in mobile browser usage—Safari rules that land. But while IE is still hovering above 50 percent of users on desktops, it's dropping fast—nearly 2 percent last month. Most of the defecting desktop users are going to Chrome, but Firefox still has an edge over Google's browser. Check out graphs above for more or head over to Ars Technica for comprehensive analysis of web usage. [Ars Technica]

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