Hasta La Gadget!

Can’t wait for Windows Phone 7 Series, but can’t hack the emulator, either? Don’t lose hope, Windows junkies — you can still bring some semblance of WP7S order into your life with this Metro UI-inspired desktop HUD. Based on the open-source desktop customization platform Rainmeter, the “Omnimo UI” will overlay your desktop with a minimalist, tiled interface not unlike the one you’ve been drooling over for weeks, with live hooks into many useful services (including Gmail, iTunes, Steam, Twitter and SpeedFan) as well as the usual widgets and a host of program shortcuts. The best news of all? It’s available now for all versions of Windows since XP, completely free of charge; simply follow the source links or flit over to Lifehacker, where good folks will teach you how it’s done.

Omnimo: desktop Windows given fashion makeover with Phone 7 Series flair originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Clearwire has made it crystal clear that it isn’t taking a “WiMAX or die” approach to 4G — and frankly, it couldn’t afford to, considering that the infrastructure suppliers and hardware manufacturers could easily continue their trend toward shunning the next-gen underdog. What’s interesting, though, is that the company now appears to be taking a very active role in developing an LTE-based standard that could supplant WiMAX in its 2.6GHz spectrum should the need arise. Along with Motorola, Huawei, ZTE, Cisco, Nokia Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent, and — surprise, surprise — Clearwire partner Sprint, the company is asking the 3GPP to define a standard for running TD-LTE in the 2.6GHz slot. Unlike the more commonly-used FD-LTE — the standard Verizon is using, among others — TD-LTE operates unpaired, meaning it can operate in slimmer chunks of spectrum than its counterpart. Asking for a standard is clearly a far cry from actually building out a network, but it’s interesting to note that Clearwire and Sprint alike both have their eyes firmly fixed on an LTE-based technology if the WiMAX industry packs it in.

Sprint, Clearwire among companies asking for TD-LTE standard in WiMAX spectrum originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For most blind computer users, surfing the internet or catching up on e-mail means reading just one line at a time, because commercially available braille displays can’t show full pages of text.

Researchers from North Carolina State University now say they have devised a display that would allow visually challenged users to read a full page at a time — and at a much lower cost than existing displays.

“We have developed a low-cost, compact, full-page braille display that is fast and can be used in PDAs, cellphones and even GPS systems,” says Dr. Peichun Yang, one of the researchers working on the project, who is himself blind.

A full-page display is better because it allows readers to skip paragraphs and read the parts they want, instead of forcing them to go over it line by line. Full-page display also presents more information in a shorter time.

Braille characters, developed by Louis Braille in 1821, are created by a pattern of raised dots. Alphabets, punctuation and numerals are represented in cells. Each cell is made of six dots arranged in a 2×3 dot matrix. A dot may be raised at any of the six positions to form the characters.

“Braille is very significant, and statistically about 90 percent of blind people who have a job can read braille,” says Dr. Yang. “It’s a very important part of their ability to read.”

Braille displays on the market now use piezo-ceramics, in which a 2-inch-long lever forces up the dots, explains Dr Yang. “It’s expensive and limiting,” he says.

As a result, a typical braille display today has just one line of 80 cells, and can cost up to $8,000.

Instead, Dr Yang and his team developed a new way to create the raised dots. Each cell in their display uses what is called a “hydraulic and latching mechanism.”

“The mechanism can offer a large displacement and fast response time simultaneously, which is the key to a good commercial braille display,” says Dr. Yang.

A four-line display developed using the new system could be around $1,000, and fullscreen displays could come later.

Here’s how Dr. Yang’s technology works. Picture each cell as a rectangular cavity that is filled with liquid. The top and bottom have a small opening that is sealed with a flexible diaphragm. There are four bendable actuators made of electroactive polymers — which means they change shape when voltage is applied — on each side.

By manipulating the voltage, two facing polymers can be made to displace the fluid housed within them. This pushes the fluid up towards the top, raising the dot. Once the dots are raised, a latching mechanism would support the weight being applied by a person’s fingers as the dots are read. A refreshable braille dot has a response time of around 30 milliseconds.

Dr. Yang and his team hope to create prototype displays within a year, and if successful they can be commercially produced.

See Also:

• Pulsing Touchscreen Tech Spells Out Braille
• Tattoos for the Blind
• All Eyes on Braille Software
• You Gotta Feel the Music

Photo: Braille sign at the Port Museum ( reinvented/Flickr)

OS 3.2 seems good enough for the iPad launch, and Apple likes to keep things on the same level.

Those of you looking to nab an iPad might want to consider going back to school.

Starting in the fall, Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania will provide all first-year undergrad students with a 13-inch Macbook and an iPad. And after two years, the university will replace the laptop with a new one, which students can take with them after they graduate.

“With this technology at your fingertips, you can create a just-in-time learning environment, stay in touch with professors, advisors, and classmates, research any topic at any time, engage in hybrid and fully on-line courses, and access a whole host of Seton Hill technology services,” the school said on its Web site.

No word on which version of the iPad students will receive.

Seton Hill said its faculty members will also receive the same technology and training on how to use the devices. “In this way, Seton Hill is training students of all learning styles and abilities to be better researchers, better at compiling and organizing data, and better at publishing and presenting information — better, in fact, at becoming lifelong learners who can easily adapt to new situations and new technologies in their lives and careers,” the school said.

Seton Hill’s IT staff will provide Apple Care services, and students can use loaner Macbooks if theirs need to be serviced. Training sessions will also be provided.