You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
3D printing is changing how people make and build things these days. From printed guns to gowns, the sky’s the limit when it comes to 3D printing. This, you can clearly see, with the shoes that Alan Nguyen of Freedom of Creation has come up with using 3D printing technology.
The iPhone Mashup Shoe features an overlapping strap with an intricate heel that has its very own iPhone case. You can slip your smartphone snugly into the case so you can carry it with you wherever you’re headed in the most unconventional way possible. Each shoe comes with its own iPhone case, so you can carry up to two phones at a time.
While they look kind of cool, it’s not a very sensible design, since your phone will probably be worse for wear after a short while. But while the wedges won’t be so gentle on your iPhone, at least they’ll be kind to your feet.
The iPhone Mashup Shoe was exhibited last year at Milan Design Week and Maison et Objet Paris.
Nguyen explained: “They actually work. I heard they’re pretty comfortable but I haven’t tried them myself.”
[via C|NET]
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Amazon is reading a pair of smartphones and an audio-streaming device, new leaks claim, with one of the phones using eye-tracking and a glasses-free 3D display for hands-off navigation. The unannounced gadgets are the handiwork of Amazon’s Lab126 hardware division, the WSJ‘s sources reveal, with the high-end smartphone relying upon retina-tracking to allow users to dig through a floating hologram-like interface.
“Using retina-tracking technology, images on the smartphone would seem to float above the screen like a hologram and appear three-dimensional at all angles” the insiders claim. “Users may be able to navigate through content using just their eyes.”
That’s only one of a number of smartphones Amazon is working on, with at least two tipped to reach the market. Fewer details are known about the second phone, which is known – alongside the other hardware – as Project A, B, C, and D within Lab126. The clandestine development is internally referred to as the “Alphabet Projects” its said.
As for the the media-streamer, that’s said to be an audio-only product, and could potentially be similar to a Sonos. Interestingly, despite previous rumors in April about Amazon working on a set-top box through which it would deliver streaming media such as on-demand Amazon Prime video, this musical product is said to be a different project.
In fact, Amazon is apparently looking to hardware on a grand scale, though the sources did also suggest that any or all of the projects could be axed before they actually reach the marketplace. That could be down to financial or other concerns, they suggest, or simply deciding that the smartphones and other devices aren’t ready for prime-time.
Nonetheless, it doesn’t come as a huge surprise to hear that Amazon is flirting with new products, particularly in mobility. The company’s ambitions in the smartphone space have been widely-rumored since before even the Kindle Fire tablets were released, with Amazon expected to use a heavily-customized version of Android tailored to suit its digital media sales ambitions.
As for the media streamer possibility, with Amazon already having an MP3 download store, and the Amazon Cloud Player service streaming content from the online locker to users’ smartphones, funneling it instead to home audio equipment doesn’t seem too far fetched. In that case, Amazon’s tablets and potential smartphone could then become a touchscreen remote, navigating through playlists.
Of course, glasses-free 3D has been met with mixed – though generally negative – reactions from the public when companies have tried to use it in mobile devices. The Nintendo 3DS, for instance, has struggled to carve a niche out, despite its relatively unique feature of 3D gameplay, while LG’s attempts to put glasses-free 3D in phones in the shape of the Optimus 3D also failred to spawn a sequel.
One possibility is that by using an eye-tracking system, the 3D effect could be considerably more impressive. Currently glasses-free systems lack precision, and can appear more like layers of stacked images than true 3D. Factoring in more accurate gaze-tracking, however, could improve on that, making a true 3D interface more usable.
Amazon smartphone duo with glasses-free 3D eye tracking tipped is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Denon‘s just added to its lineup of network-capable AV receivers with new IN-command models that bring 4K, streaming and surround sound options aplenty. The flagship model is the $1,300 AVR-X4000, which supports 4K passthrough for the few lucky owners of such sets, along with HDTV to 4K upscaling, Spotify, AirPlay and DNLA 1.5. Other features include 7.2 surround sound output with Audyssey DSX, Dolby Pro Logic IIz or DTS Neo:X encoding, 125 watts of power per channel, seven HDMI inputs and three outputs, a remote control app for iOS, Android or web browsers, home automation compatibility, multi-room control and MP3 audio restoration. The $900 AVR-X3000 and $650 AVR-X2000 pack similar features but dial back the watts, surround sound and decoding capability, while the $450 AVR-X1000 is limited to 1080p output and carries the smallest amp. All the models are now up for grabs, while the copious list of specs can be found at the source.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Via: HDTV Space
Source: Denon
A few units of the much hyped Oculus Rift 3D headset are now in the hands of developers and testers. But Stefan Welker wants you to know that if you have a modern Android smartphone, you already have half of a 3D head-mounted display. Welker and his colleagues are working on releasing the Durovis Dive, an open source 3D gaming system that works with Android smarphones.
The current prototype of the Durovis Dive uses a 3D-printed case and a pair of lenses jacked from cheap binoculars. The head-tracking software taps into the smartphone’s accelerometer, compass and gyroscope. Currently the only game that works for it is a modified version of Quake 2, but as Welker mentions in the video other games can be tweaked to work with the Durovis Dive.
The consumer version of the Durovis Dive should be released by August 2013, but Welker already posted the software (including the modded Quake 2) and instructions to make your own on the Durovis Dive website.
[via Nerdcore]
While 3D printers having been for sale for quite a while now, it seems they’re gaining enough popularity to begin selling in major retail stores. Office supplies retail chain Staples has announced that they will begin selling the Cube 3D Printer at its stores, becoming the first major US retail store to sell 3D printers.
The Cube is available now on Staples.com, and will eventually be available in a select number of Staples store by the end of June. The Cube costs $1,300, which is quite a bit less than MakerBot’s offerings, which usually start at around $2,000. The printer is able to print objects that are up to 5.5-inches wide and tall.
The Cube features WiFi and is compatible with both Mac and Windows. Plus, the printer comes with 25 free 3D templates to get you off to a quick start, with more templates available online. Staples is also selling ABS and PLA plastic cartridge refills, CubeSticks, and replacement Cube Print Pads. We heard late last year that Staples would be starting its own 3D-printing service, so perhaps this is the first baby step into that realm.
The 3D-printing community hasn’t gone quite mainstream yet, as it’s still very much a niche hobby at this point, but with the beginning of selling 3D printers in major retail chains, the awareness for 3D printing may go up, encouraging more people to get into the hobby and create an even larger community around it.
Staples becomes first US retailer to sell 3D printers is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
We’ve heard plenty of stories about 3D-printed guns in the past, but a 25-year-old law student has just created what is the world’s first fully 3D-printed gun. It’s certainly nothing fantastic to look at (it looks like a squirt gun), but the creator of the gun, Cody Wilson, calls it “the Liberator,” so it must be pretty intimidating.
The gun is made up of 16 different pieces that were 3D-printed separately using ABS plastic. Every part of the gun is 3D-printed except for the firing pin, which is needed to be metal due to the amount of force it handles. The gun is designed to fire standard handgun rounds, and it uses interchangeable barrels for different calibers of ammunition.
Wilson plans to soon release the CAD files for the gun on the Defcad.org website, which is a database full of CAD files for 3D-printers of different guns that you can make. As for the Liberator, it can fire a traditional round without a problem, but in order to comply with the Undetectable Firearms Act, Wilson put a chunk of steel in the body so that metal detectors can detect it.
Of course, 3D-printed weapons have been a controversial topic lately, since anyone with a 3D printer can make a gun without ever going through background checks or any other kind of verification system. Users can even obtain CAD files for high-capacity automatic rifles like the AR-15 and AK-47, which are illegal in the first place in many states.
[via Forbes]
Law student creates world’s first fully 3D-printed gun is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
If you have a couple million expendable dollars laying around, your days of waiting in line at the theater, getting dubiously-washed recycled glasses, and leaving with your coat reeking of eau de popcorn could be at an end. IMAX has rolled out a personal home theater option, which is currently only open to select clients who presumably own mansions and other such things.
While IMAX hasn’t revealed the cost of the system – probably as one of those if-you-have-to-ask-you-can’t-afford-it maneuvers – word has it the price tag is at least $1 million, but could be $2 million or more. The home theater option is only currently available to a select few, but those who buy it will be in possession of “the world’s most immersive and luxurious entertainment experience,” or so says IMAX, which will be decking its customers out with equipment and services you’d expect for such a high cost.
As far as equipment goes, the IMAX Private Theater will provide its customers with a “visceral” experience, offering both 2D and 3D video, as well as its sound technology for an audio system tailored to the room’s acoustics and geometry, meaning it is designed specifically for the customer rather than being offered as a one-size-fits-all system.
The process is quite involved, with the price including the cost of bringing in architects, designers, developers, and installers to get it all in place. The customer will get input into the home theater’s design, and the equipment and such will be built to accommodate it. Once finished, the system will be monitored remotely at all times, will have predictive maintenance, sub 5 minute customer support response times to problems, and more.
[via Slashfilm]
IMAX unveils home theater option is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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