Hasta La Gadget!

‘Tis amazing what a partnership with Google can do. Unless you’re a frequent patron of Home Depot, there’s a slim chance you’d ever heard of Lighting Science prior to this week’s opening I/O keynote. Now, said company is leading the Android @ Home charge, and based on what we learned yesterday at its booth, we’re feeling better than ever about home automation’s chances in the mainstream market. Company representatives noted that this Google-led mesh networking solution — which beams out commands on the 900MHz frequency band — is the first HA solution that’s truly designed to be ultra-low-cost and easy to implement. Compared to Z-Wave and Zigbee, there’s far less technical expertise needed to start automating things in your home, and there’s no need to take out a second mortgage to open your garage door with your handset. Oh, and there’s zero chance anything fails due to congestion on the 2.4GHz band.

We pressed the company on pricing details, and it stated that the wirelessly enabled light shown above would be priced “at parity” with the non-wireless counterpart available today. At last check, that puts a single bulb at around $30. In order to make these kinds of devices compatible with existing Android phones and tablets, a couple of WiFi-to-900MHz adapters will be available. From Lighting Science alone, you’ll soon see a light switch, security lamp and a regular wall wart on sale to handle the transfers. In other words, you can pick up a dirt-cheap plug, toss it in your guest room, and immediately give your Nexus One the ability to dictate Android @ Home products. Not too shabby, but what does this mean for the broader industry?

Continue reading Lighting Science demos Android @ Home bulbs, promises dead-simple home automation (hands-on)

Lighting Science demos Android @ Home bulbs, promises dead-simple home automation (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 06:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The HTC EVO 3D and LG Optimus 3D just got themselves a new buddy in the three-dee picture-taking arena in the shape of Sharp’s Aquos Phone SH-12C. We know, that name just rolls off the tongue. What’s remarkable about the 12C is that the dual cameras on its back go all the way up to 8 megapixels (to the EVO 3D’s 5), which will be creating quite the tasty workload for the 1.4GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 chip contained within. A qHD (540 x 960) screen resolution also keeps up with HTC’s latest, though the 4.2-inch, 3D-capable display on the Aquos offers more pixel density and less in absolute real estate. Android 2.3, replete with some evident customizations, will serve as the OS, and 720p video recording in 3D will also be available when Sharp launches the 12C in Japan on May 20th. Rest of the world? Well, we can dream about it right now.

Sharp Aquos Phone SH-12C has 3D cameras, qHD resolution, Gingerbread filling originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 05:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No need to worry about that loud, fiery exploding noise in Florida last week — that was the sound of us all becoming a little bit safer. An Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Saturday, carrying Lockheed Martin’s Space-Based Infrared Systems (SBIRS) Geo-1. The spacecraft will be followed by three more satellites launched in the next five years, all totaling $17.6 billion. Ominously referred to as “persistent overhead surveillance,” the $1.3 billion first piece of the SBIRS constellation missile defense system is set to replace the antiquated Defense Support Program launched in 1970. It’s a small price to pay to keep those darn space invaders out of our hair.

Continue reading First piece of SBIRS missile defense system launched, not shot down

First piece of SBIRS missile defense system launched, not shot down originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 03:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on December 14, 2005 by CyberNet.

Google has now added some more opportunities for developers of the world to unite. Similar to what Firefox has done with extensions, Google is now doing with your personal homepage. There will be more of these “extensions” available as time goes on, but there are currently a few available to add right now. Some of these include a weather map, an analog clock with calendar, and customizing the Google logo that is displayed for you. This could be the start of a beautiful thing. This is from the Official Google Blog:

The personalized homepage was created to bring together the stuff that interests you from across the web. From an engineering perspective, this became an opportunity to create a framework for all types of content and information. Supporting RSS and Atom feeds was one step in that direction, and today we’re excited to start supporting richer web apps as well. With the Google Homepage API, developers can now create modules for the personalized homepage. It’s designed to be flexible and easy to use, and you don’t need to download anything to create a module. To get the ball rolling, the team’s created a few modules to add to the directory. So check these out and get started creating your own.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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If you ever get tired of poking away at your smartphone’s screen like a doorbell, you’re not alone. The forward-looking folks over at Microsoft Research have been working away at a new touchscreen system designed pick up on more natural, whole-hand movements, effectively allowing users to break free from the finger-based paradigm that governs most tactile devices. Developed in coordination with engineers at Microsoft Surface, the company’s Rock and Rails interface can detect three basic hand gestures: a balled fist, which holds items on the screen, an extended hand that can align objects (see the cell marked “d,” on the right) and a curved paw, around which users can pivot images (see cell b). This taxonomy opens up new ways for users to crop, re-size or generally play around with their UI elements, though it remains unclear whether the display will trickle down to the consumer level anytime soon. For now, it appears to operate exclusively on the Surface, but more details should surface when the system’s developers release a paper on their project, later this year. Hit the source links to see a video of the thing in action.

Microsoft’s Rock and Rails touchscreen lets you massage your photos with both hands originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 00:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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