Contact lenses are great if your only issue is near or farsightedness, but for those struggling with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness among older adults, those flimsy little lenses ain’t going to cut it—or at least not the kind of contact lenses you’re used to. But soon, AMD-sufferers could see their vision vastly improving thanks to a slim, adjustable telescope that sits right in the middle of their eye.
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When Rob Orr left his role as BlackBerry’s UK and Ireland chief earlier this month, we knew it wouldn’t be long before another company sought out his skills. Turns out, his final destination has been Samsung, where the seven-year RIM veteran will take up a vice presidential role in the Korean giant’s business-to-business telecoms operation. There’s an official release from Samsung after the break, but we’d have preferred it if Orr had posted something amusing to his Linkedin.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, Blackberry
Via: Mobile Today
Pacemakers are designed to compensate for a condition known as bradycardia, where the heart beats too slowly to provide sufficient amounts of oxygen to the body. And to allow patients with pacemakers installed to continue healthy pursuits like exercise, a company called Boston Scientific is introducing a new line with a feature called RightRate technology that monitors respiration and adjusts the pacing accordingly.
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How did Superman get so big and strong? No kids, he didn’t drink his milk. The answer is this super bread. On Krypton it is but bread, but once it is touched by the Earth’s Sun, it becomes Superbread!
We all wish that this could make us Superman. That would be pretty cool. Actually this bread was made by Chris-Rachael Oseland and it has the Superman insignia inside every slice!
I don’t care what kind of a picky eater your kid is, if you serve this up, they will eat their sandwich. Plus, all of their friends at school will be blown away. You can find the illustrated instructions at Kitchen Overlord if you want to make some Superman bread for yourself.
If you’re anything like the average technology writer you’ll have a drawer full of old kit lying around the place, gathering dust. Well here’s what looks like a neat use for old smartphones that are still functional even if they’re no longer good enough to be your everyday device. Reusing tech kit so it gets a second life to extend its usefulness is obviously to be encouraged — and the plethora of sensors in the average smartphone mean there are plenty of options for use number 2.
U.S. startup, Xavage Technologies, has come up with one: it’s created a phone-housing-plus-app combo — which it’s calling Xentry — that turns an old iPhone or Galaxy S Fascinate into a door-mounted caller-display so you can see who’s at the door and communicate with them via the corresponding app on your own in play smartphone. The old phone is mounted on the inside of your front door, with a customised peephole attachment replacing an existing peephole lens, allowing the phone’s camera to spy on whoever’s outside.
The “smart door” system streams real-time video and audio over your home Wi-Fi network so no need to have a SIM in the door-mounted smartphone. Other features include the ability to disguise your voice when you respond to the caller at the door; door movement detection (using the phone’s gyroscope) so that you can set alerts if someone is trying to enter or exit the house; and a virtual receptionist feature to trigger a message when someone opens the door.
The app also lets you take still photos of the video of whoever is at the door, and supports zooming and exposure adjustment. Simultaneous connection to the door-mounted camera is also supported meaning multiple in-home smartphone owners can see who’s outside.
Xavage is looking to raise $200,000 via Indiegogo to fund production of the two Xentry models, one designed to house old iPhones (3GS/4/4S) and one for the Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate (chosen because it was a popular device in the U.S. market in 2010). The phone housing will be manufactured from either ABS or recycled ABS. The top housing may be aluminium in the shipping version of the product. Xavage added that it plans to expand the range to other “top selling smartphones”, and is working on a universal model for business applications that can be attached to glass surfaces, such as office doors.
Charging the Xentry sounds like it may be a bit of a chore. The housing is designed to incorporate the phone’s charging cable but Xavage adds: “Backers are expected to use their existing charging plug and USB cable while Xavage provides a 15 feet (3 meter) USB adaptor cable.”
So, in other words, you’re going to have to plug a charger cable into the device that’s mounted to your door for at least some of the time. Unless the phone can easily be removed from the housing for charging. Still, for a little inconvenience, you’re getting a low upfront cost video caller door display — and reusing your old phone to boot. The cost per Xentry looks to be around $55. The startup expects to be shipping its first batch in December, if it makes funding.
Update: Xavage said it’s looking at a couple of options to improve the charging scenario. “For the first Xentry model, our power solution is to have the unit connected to the wall outlet via a charging cable. This solution doesn’t impede the normal operation of the door. For next generations we are optimizing our software for power. Additionally, we are looking at an extended battery or a retractable cable system inside the unit.”
It added that the current version of the app, which streams video only when a viewer is connected to the camera and viewing mode is selected, should support about two days of battery life.
The peole of Japan are about to have their very own astro-first in the international community. They may not have been the first to get a man into the void, Russia holds that honor, but they are getting a pretty cool record. They are putting the first robot into space. Kirobo will be visiting the International Space Station this summer.
Today, Renesas is announcing that it’s going to “discontinue” the wireless unit it acquired from Nokia. Finnish state media outlet YLE is reporting that all 808 of Renesas’ employees in Finland will be let go, of which more than two-thirds are located in the northern city of Oulu. Three years ago, Nokia decided to focus on designing and manufacturing mobile phones. It sold its wireless modem division to the Japanese semiconductor firm Renesas for roughly $200 million. The idea was, with wireless modem R&D moved out of the way, the company could concentrate on developing blockbuster handsets.
Unfortunately, the sale took place half a year before Android phones outsold Symbian devices for the first time and Nokia announced that it was going to switch to Windows Phone — this put Renesas in the awkward position of being a modem supplier to a company with collapsing sales. Nokia Siemens Networks has large offices in the same city where most of Renesas’ employees are located. Though, engineers looking for a change of scenery might want to head south to Espoo where Samsung just opened its own R&D center.
Filed under: Nokia
Source: The Wall Street Journal, YLE
The recent announcements of the latest next-generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony have stirred up a lot of renewed fanboy wars, but Alienware general manager Frank Azor says that consoles are simply “becoming more and more like PCs,” proving that the PC is the ultimate gaming machine, and Microsoft and Sony are simply taking that
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