Hasta La Gadget!

Being an early-adopter is seldom cheap, but is Google having a laugh with its $1,500 Project Glass Explorer Edition? Put up for surprise pre-order at Google IO today – though not expected to ship until early next year – the search giant demands a hefty sum for those wanting to augment their reality early. Cutting edge costs, sure, but there’s the potential for significantly more affordable options that could be here just as soon as Google Glass is.

Google isn’t the only company working on wearables, after all. Back in March, eyeline display specialist Lumus confirmed to us that products using its technology were in the pipeline for 2013, with prices ranging from $200 for more basic models – perhaps just offering media playback – through to $500 for more advanced versions with what we’d think of as true augmented reality.

It’s not the only company working on AR projects, either. We caught up with Vuzix this month to take about its own smart glasses intentions, including the display technology it has been working on with Nokia Research. The company wouldn’t talk specific pricing, but did say that it was aiming more for the mass market and that Project Glass “is not the grail we are seeking.”

Of course, there’s a big difference between a developer kit and a commercial product, and there’s no telling exactly what Glass will do quite yet. Google has been playing its cards close to its chest on that front, only really showing camera use-cases, though we’re also expecting some other functionality like navigation. Still, even if Lumus’ estimates were to double by the time products reach shelves, that’s still a fair chunk less than Google is asking.

So, don’t feel too down-heartened if you’re not at Google IO to preorder a Glass Explorer Edition, or can’t muster the $1,500 Sergey Brin demands. Augmented reality and wearable tech is fast approaching its tipping point, and with that will inevitably come more affordable options.

Are $1,500 Google Glasses a bargain? is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A few weeks ago, we compared the feature sets of iOS 6 and Android Ice Cream Sandwich to see how they stacked up. But then Google and Microsoft went and dropped all sorts of new features in their new Android Jelly Bean and Windows Phone 8 operating systems. That means it’s time to reexamine the relative merits of each once again. Let the battle begin! More »

ASUS CEO Jonney Shih has given a blunt summary of the development process for the Nexus 7 tablet launched at Google IO today, saying that Google “demand a lot” from their hardware partners. Building to a strict target price without cutting corners led to no small number of headaches on the R&D team, apparently; “our engineers said it is like torture” Shih told AllThingsD. To meet those demands, ASUS had to assign at least forty extra team members to the project.

Those staff were spread across the world, taking advantages of the time zone differences to achieve a 24hr development cycle. In total, the Nexus 7 project took four months from start to finish. “I don’t think there would have been any other partner that could move that fast” Google’s Andy Rubin said of ASUS’ involvement.

Meanwhile, Google was working on the ecosystem to go with the Nexus 7, something which Rubin says he had identified was missing from the Android tablet segment beforehand. So, the company now has a new, tablet-centric version of Currents as well as movie, TV and magazine options in the Play Market.

Nexus 7 hands-on:

Still, it seems neither Google nor ASUS expect to be getting rich off the back of the Nexus 7. “When it gets sold through the Play store, there’s no margin,” Rubin admitted, “it just basically gets [sold] through.” Nonetheless, there are apparently signs that the tablet could be headed to retail shelves as well as being sold direct.

More on the Google Nexus 7 in our hands-on.

ASUS CEO: Building Nexus 7 “is like torture” is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Forty years. That’s a long time in the tech industry and Atari knows it. Today it celebrates four decades in the game, and quite the tale it is. Highs, lows and everything in between, Atari has been there. As one of the most influential brands both in gaming and technology, it only seems right to take a look over the company’s history and chart some of the more significant twists in its less than straightforward journey. After the break we speak to the man that started it all and the one currently at the helm, as well as some of the many people whose lives were irreversibly changed by its influence. Happy birthday to you, Atari!

Continue reading Atari: celebrating 40 years on the dots

Atari: celebrating 40 years on the dots originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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My father does not want to die and I understand that. That said, I have watched as over the past three years the quality of his life has been steadily reduce to something approaching zero.
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