DIY micro-robotics is having a moment. The latest project to take the crowdfunding route to build out a platform for playing around with robotics is called BrickPi. As its name suggests, BrickPi is a mash-up of the Raspberry Pi microcomputer, co-opted to act as the brains of the robot, plus LEGO ...
http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/11/brickpi/
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/11/lg-brings-ubitus-gamenow-cloud-gaming-to-smart-tvs-in-the-us/
LG is more serious about TV gaming than many of its rivals, and it's proving that today by rolling out Ubitus' GameNow service to Smart TVs in the US. The cloud gaming portal streams a mix of mostly console-grade titles, such as Devil May Cry 4 and Dead Rising 2; it also includes free trials and support for a handful of gamepads. A free beta is available now, and the two companies are shooting for a full-fledged launch sometime in the "near future." While it's unlikely that GameNow will replace a PS4 or Xbox One for truly demanding players, we'll take the wider game library any day.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, LG
Source: LG Smart World
Source: http://gizmodo.com/for-whatever-reason-netflix-has-been-publishing-the-av-512463933
For whatever reason, Netflix has been publishing the average ISP speeds for every provider in the US for several months now. And while the top rankings haven't fluctuated all that much in the last few months, Netflix did point out today that the overall average speeds for the top five have seen an a slight uptick.
Time Warner still sucks for me in Manhattan but hopefully the rest of you have benefited from this newfound speed. Or maybe you haven't noticed. Well, have you? [Netflix]
Samsung has already pressing ahead with its own high-density 20nm LPDDR3 modules, but SK Hynix reckons it can go one better. Instead of the stingy, piffling, retro 2GB stack offered by Sammy (pah!), the Korean memory specialist says it's sampling 20nm 8Gb (1GB) chips that can be stacked to provid...
http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/10/sk-hynix-20nm-4GB-RAM/
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Source: http://gizmodo.com/an-upbeat-take-on-brain-imaging-512214505
Your brain is pretty important. If something's wrong you want a doctor to be able to peer in and see what's going on. But noninvasive scans are probably preferable to letting the spirits out of a little hole in your skull. Still, those scans usually have negative connotations, and Dutch painter Joris Kuipers is using CT and MRI scans as the inspiration for his 3D paintings.
His interpretation isn't exactly literal, but is meant to capture the colors used in brain visualizations and the texture of bodily tissues. He experimented with different media, including paper mache and clay, to get the textural effects he wanted. Once you know that, the sunny-colored explosions take on a more sinister tone. Spot the gray matter. [My Modern Met]
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/09/lg-optimus-l7-ii-dual-listed-running-android-4-3/
While Android 4.3 never actually materialized at Google I/O last month, the latest version of Jelly Bean keeps popping up and making cameos all over. It most recently appeared in the specs for LG's Optimus L7 II Dual (that name's a handful, we know) on the company's website. The handset was running Android 4.1 when we played with it at Mobile World Congress and appears to have shipped with that OS version in some markets. Obviously, it's only a matter of time until Android 4.3 becomes official but we fully expect it to debut on Google's own Nexus 4 flagship before coming to any other device. In light of this, and considering the Optimus L7 II features a 4.3-inch screen, perhaps we're just looking at a typo? We've reached out to LG for clarification -- we'll keep you posted.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google, LG
Source: LG
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/09/pqi-power-drive-access-point/
After showing off its USB OTG accessories and NFC flash drive, PQI decided to tease us with its unannounced Power Drive that was sat quietly in a corner at Computex. Much like the Air Pen launched last November, this upcoming device acts as a portable wireless access point with storage expansion, meaning you can share an RJ45 network connection and your files over WiFi. But what's new is that not only is the RJ45 port collapsible to reduce device thickness, there's now also a standard SD card slot in addition to the old microSD slot. Better yet, as the name suggests, the Power Drive can also be used as a USB power bank to charge up other devices, making this PQI's most versatile WiFi product yet. Alas, details are light on the specs, so stay tuned for its announcement at some point in Q4 this year.
Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless, Storage
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/10/samsung-galaxy-ace-3-announced/
Sidestepping the fanfare and press events typically associated with Samsung product launches, Samsung's revealed another addition to its Galaxy family. As we saw teased just hours ago, it's the Galaxy Ace 3, Samsung's latest (humbly specced) smartphone, arriving in 3G (1GHz dual-core processor) and LTE (1.2 GHz dual-core processor) options. Both devices house a 4-inch (480 x 800) LCD display, placing the new device just beneath the Galaxy S4 Mini in Samsung's 2013 smartphone pecking order. Despite those pretty underwhelming technical points, the company's has managed to cram in some of its latest software additions like S Translator, S Voice, and Smart Stay into its diminutive new phone.
There's Android 4.2 underneath, while a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash resides on the back. 8GB of built-in storage rounds out the LTE device, with user-accessible storage of 5GB. There's 4GB in the 3G model with just 1.77GB of space -- but don't worry, there's also storage expansion up to 64GB through microSD. We've added it to our to-do list for Samsung's incoming London event -- it's going to be a busy evening.
Update: The UK can expect to see the faster LTE model when it launches, although Samsung UK isn't saying when that will be.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung
Source: Samsung Mobile Press
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/07/texas-instruments-brings-fast-charging-extended-life-to-li-ion/
Yesterday Texas Instruments introduced a couple of new chipsets (fuel gauge an charger ICs) designed to improve the charging speed and life expectancy of single-cell Li-ion batteries. The technology, called MaxLife, is expected to provide an improvement of up to 30 percent in battery service life and faster charging times. Cell impedance is carefully monitored by the fuel gauge chip while the charger IC uses a model of battery degradation to charge the cell in the most optimal way. Both chips are connected via an I2C bus to form an autonomous battery management system which, according to the company, is safer and more thermally efficient than existing solutions. The two chipsets (2.5A and 4.5A) are now available along with a development kit, so it's only a matter of time until this technology lands into handsets and other devices that use single-cell Li-ion batteries. Check out the details after the break.
Filed under: Cellphones, Misc, Mobile
Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-smart-airbus-case-could-mean-you-never-lose-your-l-511846710
This concept case by Airbus, which pairs up directly with your iPhone, could mean you never lose your bag again.
Called Bag2Go, it uses a GPS-tracker, 2G mobile connection, and an RFID chip built directly into the case itself to record its whereabouts. The idea is, primarily, to allow airports to pair its unique ID with handling systems—and in turn log its location against its owner's travel itinerary. But a paired iPhone can also show the owner data about the case, and even inform them if it's been opened.
That's not where smart stops, either: the thing has a set of scales built into the handle to let you check the weight, and Airbus suggests that the tracking tech could provide people with the confidence to use a door-to-door luggage service so they don't need to lug it themselves. Created in collaboration with T-Mobile and luggage maker Rimowa, it's very much a prototype—but Airbus is hoping to license out the technology. [Australian Business Traveller via MacRumors via Verge]
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/07/sugarsync-adds-remote-wipe/
These days, the danger of a stolen PC resides less in local files and more in cloud access -- presumably, no one wants to share their online storage with a thief. SugarSync's paid subscribers won't have to worry, as the company just rolled out a remote wipe option. Customers now just have to sign in through the web to purge a Mac or Windows system of both its shared files and any active logins. A wipe target doesn't have to be online when the purge starts, either. The new failsafe won't help if an evildoer moves data elsewhere, but we'll gladly take what extra security we can get.
Filed under: Storage, Internet
Via: Computerworld
Source: SugarSync
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/07/nokia-eos-video-shows-mechanical-shutter/
Don't get your hopes up, because the leaked video after the break is one of the most deliberately constrained pieces of camerawork it's possible to imagine. It avoids showing anything except the mechanical shutter release on the back of a phone that bears more than a passing resemblance to the Nokia EOS photos we covered yesterday, and in fact it comes from @ViziLeaks, who was one of those sources for those images. And, well, that's pretty much all there is to say about it, except that it adds a further bit of weight to the notion that we might see a new version of the PureView 808 camera (which also had a mechanical shutter) on a Nokia Windows Phone sometime soon.
Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Mobile, Nokia
Via: The Verge
Source: ViziLeaks (Twitter)
Source: http://gizmodo.com/intels-prototype-thunderbolt-flash-drive-is-the-world-511645717
You can officially stop bragging about how fast your fancy new USB 3.0 flash drive is. At the Computex show in Taipei Intel was showing off this hacked together prototype of a dedicated Thunderbolt 128GB flash drive boasting data transfer speeds of 10 Gbit/s, or about twice as fast as USB 3.0's max. And now that Thunderbolt 2 has been introduced, waiting around for large files to copy to your flash drive could be a thing of the past.
Of course Intel had no word on when consumers could get their hands on the Thunderbolt flash drive, if ever. But there was plenty of interest in it, and as the protocol becomes more popular, it's safe to assume at some point these will move past the prototype stage—hopefully with that adorably compact form factor still intact. [PCWorld]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-futuristic-material-that-will-replace-plastic-is-511544462
Fungus is, almost universally, not a good thing to have in your walls or personal belongings. And normally, selling certain strains could lead to federal charges. But a company called Ecovative is violating both of those rules, creating packaging and building materials from fungus—and they’re being lauded as visionaries for it.
Ecovative was founded by Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre, who started experimenting with fungus as part of a school project. Today, they employ 35 people and maintain a massive facility in upstate New York, where they farm mycelium, the root-like threads that form the basis for fungus. Mycelium is like a glue: it latches onto whatever it finds around it—usually, low-value organic matter like plant stalks or cotton hulls—to create a super-dense network of threads. Ecovative grows it in dark cartons for five to seven days, after which they use extreme heat to stop it from blossoming spores. “Spores come from the fruiting body or mushroom,” explains Ecovative’s Sam Harrington. “Since we don't grow the mycelium for long enough to 'fruit' to form a mushroom, there are never any spores or allergen concerns with our process."
Ecovative's process is transformative in two ways. First, there's the unique biological properties of Mycelium, which can grow miles of thread-like roots in days. It's an incredibly speedy organism, which makes it ideal for manufacturing. Then there's the fact that it grows to fit any mold, almost like a dense foam. Ecovative grows everything from finely detailed packaging for laptops, to wide panels of insulation for homes. They're also able to control the density of each product, simply by stopping the growth process sooner or later. Their latest experiment? Growing Mycelium architecture. This month, they unveiled what they call Mushroom Tiny House, a small gabled cabin whose interior walls are packed with Mycelium insulation. “We see a future where Mushroom Materials are found in the bumper of your car, the walls of your home, and inside your desk,” says Harrington.
The biggest challenge with scaling their burgeoning fungus operation is likely the public perception of its products. Organically-grown packaging is usually seen as coup for companies’ marketing teams, but it’s less so for those on the logistics side of things. Still, that’s rapidly changing. This year, Ecovative is partnering with Sealed Air Corporation, the 50-year-old company that invented bubble wrap, to open a factory in Iowa where they'll scale their packaging output. They’re also in talks with several electronics makers to grow Mycelium packaging for laptops and tablets. "We have tested these materials in environmental chambers under extreme conditions as well as several years of shipping packaging and we have not found mold to be an issue at all," says Harrington.
Harrington, tellingly, situates Ecovative as the latest in a long line of great American chemical and materials giants. “Dow and Dupont spent the last 100 years turning petroleum and natural gas into all sorts of amazing plastics and materials,” he says. “[But] usually with not so amazing environmental consequences. We aim to be this centuries leader in sustainable materials.” Companies like Dow and Dupont have past hundred years developing chemicals to prevent mold. Now, Ecovative is poised to spend the next hundred years encouraging it.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/06/redbox-instant-app-coming-to-roku-players-this-summer/
Redbox Instant recently launched on the Google TV platform and today it's officially announcing plans for a Roku channel. Despite its absence from the original list of devices, Redbox mentioned at Google I/O support for the Roku platform would likely be in the cards. Similar to the Google TV launch (and the recent Hulu Plus update) the app won't work on first gen Roku hardware, but once it's available will bring its unique package of subscription streaming / VOD / kiosk DVD & Blu-ray access to the hockey puck streamers. Still, the reports we've heard from early users are mostly mentioning the need for more subscription streaming content, but getting within shouting distance of the likes of Netflix and Amazon won't be easy.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Roku Blog, Redbox Instant (Twitter)
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