Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft has finalized its acquisition of multitouch-magic firm Perceptive Pixel, bringing the complex infinite-point touchscreen developer in-house with the Windows maker. Announced last month, the deal hasn’t been fleshed out with details as to exactly what Microsoft intends to do with Perceptive Pixel, but company founder, president and CTO Jeff Han will be reporting as part of the Office team.

“I’m excited to share that all closing conditions for Microsoft’s acquisition of Perceptive Pixel (PPI) have been met, and the deal is completed” Microsoft Office Division general manager Giovanni Mezgec said in a statement today. “We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome PPI to the Microsoft Office Division. PPI’s expertise in hardware, software and thought leadership will contribute to success in broad scenarios such as collaboration, meetings and presentations.”

Perceptive Pixel specializes in large-scale touchscreens that recognize huge numbers of contact points. The displays – which come in table-top and wall sizes – can also be used with special active styluses that can be tracked for latitude/ longitude, distance, time/depth, x/y/z coordinates and other information about the pen tip, even before it touches the surface of the display.

That could well be translated down into a smaller-scale display, such as a next-generation Microsoft Surface. “Our innovative controller technology flawlessly differentiates styluses from fingers while tracking input from each stylus separately and eliminating false touches” Perceptive Pixel says of its pen system. “You can easily annotate or draw on screen with one hand while repositioning on-screen objects with your other hand. And you can rest your wrist comfortably on the screen as you write or draw with the active stylus because our devices recognize and reject a palm or forearm touch input.”

There’s more on Perceptive Pixel in our hands-on with a vast 82-inch model back in January. Terms of the Microsoft acquisition are still to be revealed.

Microsoft finalizes Perceptive Pixel buy for huge-screen touchscreen tech is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Android fragmentation, what Android fragmentation? Oh, there it is. Sony and LG are surprising few but disappointing plenty with confirmation that several devices apiece won’t be getting new versions of the OS. For Sony, it’s the Xperia arc S and Xperia mini pro which have reached the end of the update line, with no chance of an official Jelly Bean release. However, the news is arguably even worse for some LG users, who still aren’t even on Ice Cream Sandwich.

LG Canada has admitted that neither the Optimus 2X nor the Optimus Black will be upgraded from Gingerbread. Both handsets were expected to receive Ice Cream Sandwich – the Optimus 2X in Q2 initially, with the Optimus Black said to receive an update in Q3 – but, in Canada at least, it appears that’s not the case.

“The Optimus Black will not be receiving the ICS upgrade” LG Canada said in a statement last week on Twitter. “The original upgrade announcement was a general statement issued from HQ.” A similar message was tweeted about the Optimus 2X the day earlier.

Sony, meanwhile, used Facebook to deliver the bad news. UK product manager John Cooper revealed that neither then arc S nor the mini pro would be eligible for Jelly Bean, though gave no specific reasons for that decision. However, he did rub it in somewhat with the promise that Sony is “always developing new phones and making sure they get the latest updates.”

The disappointment may not end there, though. Sony says it’s “currently reviewing which handsets are the best for the Jelly Bean update” from its 2012 Xperia line-up, opening up the possibility that some of the more recent flagships might not move beyond Ice Cream Sandwich.

[via GSMArena and via BestBoyz]

Sony and LG ditch phones in Jelly Bean and ICS upgrade cycle is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Most of the console mods we feature are either portable versions of older consoles or add aesthetic features. Rarely do we come across a hack that was made for the heck of it, like this coffeemaker that was transformed into an SNES. Why? Tinkerers do or do not, there is no why.

The mod was made by YouTuber Tyler and his dad. This is actually the second Mr. Coffee that they turned into a Mr. Videogame. Neither of the mods work as a coffeemaker anymore – perhaps Tyler can work on that in the future. Tyler also stated in the description of the first Super Nincoffee video that they originally wanted to make a Super Nintoaster but they found it too hard. Tyler, if you still want to get on that project I think you and your dad should check out this video. The rest of you can see the Super Nincoffee Jr. in action below:

Obviously the whole thing could turn out to be fake. Hopefully Tyler and his dad can post a video of the steps involved or at least the electronics inside the mod.

[via Kotaku]

BMW has revealed its latest electric vehicle, but unlike the i-Series cars the new C evolution bike is somewhat less glamorous and likely to be a whole lot more affordable. Part of BMW’s Motorrad group, the BMW C evolution uses a 11 kW electric drive for a top speed 120 kph and a range of 100 km from an 8 kWh battery. Unlike electric city cars, however, BMW believes the C evolution bike is perfectly suited to motorway driving as well.

While the C evolution may look a whole lot more conventional than the i-Series, it does share some of the behind-the-scenes technology. The li-ion storage modules are the same as in the i3, for instance, and have been designed with longevity despite cold climates and irregular charging patterns in mind.

Meanwhile, an air cooling system saves weight and power, with specially designed ducts guiding airflow through the chassis to keep the battery from overheating. A die-cast aluminum casing with longitudinal ribs gives plenty of surface area, working as a huge heat-sink.

A flat to full recharge takes under three hours, BWM claims, from a regular domestic socket or a public chargin station; in fact the C evolution is supposedly the first two-wheeler to provide support for the latter. In front of the driver there’s a TFT color display which shows remaining charge and range, together with details on whether the automatic power recuperation system – which tops up the battery as the bike slows – is active.

Outwardly, at first glance you might not even realize this particular BMW is electric, though illuminated “e” symbols on the battery trims might be a giveaway. No word on when the C evolution might turn up in showrooms, nor at what price.

BMW C evolution: Earth friendly with no rider compromise is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Kuratas Mecha robot is an art/aspirational nerd project by Suidobashi Heavy Industry. This full-sized Mech robot features a ride-in cockpit, “rocket” launchers, and a “smile controlled” BB Gatling gun. That’s right: when you smile, this thing unleashes thousands of tiny plastic BBs.

Unveiled at Wonder Fest 2012 in Tokyo, you can control the robot with either a set of master-slave joysticks or using a more fluid Kinect interface. It runs something called the V-SIDO (Bushido) OS and includes touchscreen support inside the cockpit as well as 3G wireless connectivity so you can control it via phone.

You can “price out” your own Mech here but rest-assured you won’t be able to drive one of these off the lot any time soon. It’s a one-off project and, as cool as it is, it only moves at about 10KM per hour.

There are some who are suggesting this is CG but considering the AFP/Getty picked up some photos of it, it looks about as real as you can get.

via plasticpals