Fossil won’t ship the Meta Watch until August, Dick Tracy wannabes get antsy
July 11, 2011 No Comment
Some of you with a James Bond complex might have been waiting on Fossil’s Meta Watches , a duo of wristpieces that use Texas Instrument’s CC2560 Bluetooth radio to pull in emails, Facebook updates, weather forecasts, and more — depending on what else developers cook up for it, that is. On top of that, the SDK allows Android smartphones and tablets to register button presses and receive sensor data from the watches, and then respond by sending text or triggering the vibration motor. If you already set aside $200 when they went up for pre-order two months back, you’re going to have to twiddle your thumbs a bit longer. In response to a tweet from a curious customer, Bill Geiser, vice president of Fossil Watch Technology, said that thanks to some part delays, the two are now on track to ship in August, not July. If this is all new to you, that means you’ve got some time to ponder whether you’d rather have the analog / digital version or the fully digital one with a larger memory-in-pixel LCD. Decisions, decisions, folks. [Thanks, Alex] Fossil won’t ship the Meta Watch until August, Dick Tracy wannabes get antsy originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 21:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Georgia Tech engineers pull energy out of atmospheric hat, go on electromagnetic scavenger hunt
July 11, 2011 No Comment
Mankind’s about to plunge into the depths of a wireless sensor-powering ether binge — braincell annihilating vapors not included. Spearheaded by Georgia Institute of Technology’s professor Manos Tentzeris and his engineering team, this ambient energy scavenging tech harnesses electromagnetic frequencies in the 100MHz – 15GHz range — anything from your FM car radio to radar — and converts it into a useable DC power source. So, it’s free energy — kind of . The cheap, self-powering paper or flexible polymer-based sensors are created using standard inkjet printers and Tentzeris’ “unique in-house recipe” of circuit-building silver nanoparticles . Current testing hasn’t yet yielded significant enough wattage to power your PS3 Slim, but it could soon via the help of supercapacitors and future solar cell integration. Imagine clothing embedded with health-monitoring biometric sensors, airport security run by something other than aloof TSA agents, or even spoilage-aware drink cartons — milk that tells you when it’s gone sour. The invisible radio band-charged possibilities are endless, but with storage still in the microwatt to one milliwatt range, it’s more concept than solid vaporware reality. Continue reading Georgia Tech engineers pull energy out of atmospheric hat, go on electromagnetic scavenger hunt Georgia Tech engineers pull energy out of atmospheric hat, go on electromagnetic scavenger hunt originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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When they’re not busy carving handsets out of teak (or rockin’ out with their pupils ), the folks over at NTT DoCoMo apparently focus their efforts on saving the environment. Next year, the Japanese provider will begin outfitting its expansive cellphone tower network with ten “green transmission stations,” to be powered by an artillery of biofuels, wind and solar energy. This kind of infrastructure would obviously bring a smile to the face of ol’ Mama Nature, but it could also help mitigate the adverse effects of power outages and elfin insurgents . And for that, we should all be grateful. NTT DoCoMo to power cellphone towers with renewable energy, tenderness originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Meet Thomas Stuker. The sales consultant from Chicago just hit the magical 10 million mile mark after taking 5,962 flights with United, which, if you hadn’t already figured it out, is the equivalent of 400 trips around the globe. Makes you feel better about your two-hour layover en route to your summer vacation destination, doesn’t
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Good niches don’t come cheap, but while $350 isn’t exactly a steal, Acer’s new AC700 will, at the very least, get you into the wonderful cloud-based world of Chrome OS for a good deal less than, say, Samsung’s Series 5 . Of course, there are certain sacrifices to be made for the sake of affordability, namely the fact that the current version of Acer’s entry into the space is WiFi-only — a 3G version is set to hit later this summer for, one assumes, a noticeable price bump. The AC700 has an Atom N570 processor, 16GB of storage, and 2GB of RAM, and best of all, is available right this very moment. Acer AC700 WiFi goes on sale, is your $350 ticket to the Chromebook club originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Always wanted an 80′s arcade cabinet for your living room, but the square footage in your studio apartment won’t cooperate with your gaming plans? Well, a master mini craftsman has created a seven-inch replica of Space Invaders that can fit on your desktop, coffee table, or bedside stand. It was cobbled together using the guts of a Game Boy Advance, some lilliputian controls, and a custom cabinet coated in shrunken decals that’s made of medium density fiberboard. Best of all, thanks to those Nintendo internals, there’s an entire arcade’s worth of games at your tiny fingertips. Between this and its diminutive Donkey Kong cousin , perhaps mini arcade cabinets are the future of gaming . Video of the little gem in action is after the break. Continue reading Mini Space Invaders arcade cabinet big on nostalgia, small in size Mini Space Invaders arcade cabinet big on nostalgia, small in size originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Google Talk to use SRI technology for stabilizing video chats, revive Chatroulette
July 11, 2011 No Comment
Okay, so maybe it’s not the only reason that Chatroulette is due for a revival, but it certainly won’t hurt matters. SRI Technology has just announced that it’ll be providing image stabilization software to take the jiggles from your future Google Talk videocalls. ‘Course, you’ll need an Android 3.0+ device in order to take advantage, but the general consensus here seems fairly positive. SRI’s press release (embedded after the break) isn’t exactly laced with details, but GigaOM is reporting that this could also improve battery life, but only the heaviest of video chatters are apt to notice the difference. Looks like distracting yourself just got a whole lot less distracting. Continue reading Google Talk to use SRI technology for stabilizing video chats, revive Chatroulette Google Talk to use SRI technology for stabilizing video chats, revive Chatroulette originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We’ve heard that the next iteration of the iPad will be thinner, have a Retina Display, and will bring peace to the Middle East. Here’s a rumor that’s a little more mundane, and much more likely to be accurate though — Apple may be adding another manufacturer, alongside Foxconn, to produce its tablet. According to a DigiTimes source the explosion at the company’s Chengdu plant in May has created some serious supply issues. Additionally, tablet sales are expected to grow even higher this year, according to the IDC, and the Cupertino Crew already has trouble keeping up with demand. It seems there’s little choice but to bring on board the likes of Quanta Computers or Petagron Technology, the two front runners for the orders. Apple may be looking to add another iPad manufacturer originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Comcast Xfinity TV app updated for Honeycomb Android tablets, Gingerbread phones and on iOS
July 11, 2011 No Comment
Comcast’s Xfinity TV app made its tablet debut on the iPad last year and now it’s finally ready for Android tablets too. The most recent update on the Android market adds a Honeycomb version with remote control and video on-demand browsing seen above (only officially certified for the Xoom, but it should work on others as well) — but not Play Now streaming , yet — and also should fix the app on phones running Gingerbread. iOS users haven’t been completely left out, as a minor bump has been issued that should fix a few technical issues on those platforms too. The free apps are available at the source links below, choose your preferred flavor and download away. Continue reading Comcast Xfinity TV app updated for Honeycomb Android tablets, Gingerbread phones and on iOS Comcast Xfinity TV app updated for Honeycomb Android tablets, Gingerbread phones and on iOS originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …iOS 5 beta 3 comes out of the oven, brings new fixes and toggles to the table
July 11, 2011 No Comment
Ready for a newly refined recipe for the next flavor of iOS ? After dropping iOS 5 beta 2 on us on June 24th, Apple has now unleashed beta 3, meaning those with sensitive taste buds (and developer accounts) can start sniffing and sussing out what’s changed. Of note seem to be a bevy of toggles controlling location services in detail, while there’s also a new switch for voice roaming in settings. From what we’re seeing not a lot has changed visually anywhere outside of the gears icon, but don’t let that stop you from grabbing this savory download. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] iOS 5 beta 3 comes out of the oven, brings new fixes and toggles to the table originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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