Hasta La Gadget!

Hello and welcome to another Friday. It’s a scorcher out there, AMIRITE? But we’re here to cool things down a bit with yet another episode of the TechCrunch Gadgets Podcast.

This week, Microsoft revealed that no one actually wants the Surface RT. Meanwhile, Google earnings call placed a focus on Moto X (and we also just like to talk about it). Finally, TechCrunch invaded Seattle just yesterday with the TC Meetup + Pitch-off with over 900 people in attendance.

John Biggs, Jordan Crook, and Chris Velazco discuss all this and more on this week’s episode.

Enjoy.

We invite you to enjoy our weekly podcasts every Friday at 3pm Eastern and noon Pacific.

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Intro Music by Rick Barr.

The da Vinci surgical system robot has gotten a lot of hype in the
recent past. It has been used to help famous athletes repair damage done to
their body from their job related injuries. But those issues are not without their risks. The company that makes
the da Vinci surgical system, Intuitive Surgical, is coming under fire for a
few concerns around the system.

Blink(1), a Kickstarter favorite that launched a year ago is coming back for more. The indicator light, which plugs into your USB and simply blinks on command, is now selling for a pledge of $25 and sports updated features including USB 3.0 support, dual-sided LEDs, and improved design.

I haven’t seen an example of a Kickstarter project launching a second version so soon or with such competence but here you go: the new Blink(1) will now support more machines – Chromebooks included – and improved IFTTT. It also features dual LEDs so on one side of the device you can show a status indicator and, on another, get input from another program. Think of it as a multi-tasking blinkenlight clad in a handsome metal and plastic case.

I have the original Blink(1) and, sadly, I’ve yet to decide what I want to do with it. However, I would definitely also buy this one in order to also vacillate and eventually lose it in my pile of detritus on my desk. However, you can use it as an open source indicator system, an alert system for alarms and sensors, or simply use it to let you know how hot it is outside or whether or not someone delivered a package on time. It’s especially useful if you’re running, say, a server farm and want to immediately pinpoint bum machines or stopped jobs.

The team is looking for $28,000 and is already at $9,000. They plan to ship in October. This new blink is also completely open source and you can build your own or even print out your own enclosures. It’s a fun little device at a nice price and, if you’re not lazy like me, you’ll probably find it quite useful.

Each week, our friends at gdgt go through the latest gadgets and score them to help you decide which ones to buy. Here are some of their most recent picks. Want more? Visit gdgt anytime to catch up on the latest, and subscribe to gdgt’s newsletter to get a weekly roundup in your inbox.

Comments

The BlackBerry A10 is a rumored device that is said to be working with the BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system and being prepared by the company to do battle with the larger display-toting market that’s swallowed much of the smartphone world. What we’ve seen thus far indicates the A10 to be working with a 5-inch display with 1280 x 720 pixel display resolution, a rather large bump over BlackBerry’s current touchscreen hero device in the Z10 with its 4.2-inch panel.

What you’re seeing in the leaked images above and below are not just the back casing for the A10 suggesting it has a removable battery, but the BlackBerry Z10 as well, so small it fits inside the back case in kind. This casing for the A10 also shows the machine to appear to bring on a bit more bulk that the Z10, but will be a bit more stylish in doing so with rounded edges.

You’ll also find this back casing to indicate the USA-based mobile device carrier AT&T in its logo implementation. This simple addition of the AT&T globe has been appearing as such on devices of all kinds for some time, the most recent example being Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8.0 4G LTE which SlashGear had a bit of hands-on time with earlier this week.

The BlackBerry A10 is said to be part of a multi-tiered second-wave attack with BlackBerry 10 by the company with the same name, this joined by another QWERTY device or two by the time 2014 is over. Expect the BlackBerry A10 to be released by the end of 2013 while more physical keyboard-bound devices begin to roll in at the start of next year.

Meanwhile you’ll have the BlackBerry 9720 with BlackBerry 7 as well as the BlackBerry 10-toting chiklet keyboard-loving BlackBerry Q5 to keep you company.

VIA: C Technology

BlackBerry A10 vs Z10 leaks show sizeable case change is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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