Hasta La Gadget!

For those of you waiting for the real-deal collection of Star Trek gadgets and gizmos, you’ll find that today is a great day – the tricorder has arrived. The folks at Scanadu have been developing a handheld device that, while not exactly service the same function as the 60′s series tech, is certainly Star Trek-worthy in its abilities. This device has been in development for less than a year and will be prototype ready by the end of 2012 – so says the NASA-Ames Research Center-based startup team themselves.

This unit goes by the name SCOUT and is ready to connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth in a snap. Once you’re synced up, you’ve only to press the SCOUT device up to your temple and let it sit for 10 seconds. In those 10 seconds you’ll find that your vital signs will be scanned with great accuracy, this including your temperature, heart rate, breathing rate, ECG, and SPO2.

Photo via Scanadu’s official Facebook page showing Tan Le and Kim Vu “Scouting” themselves.

Development of this project happened rather rapidly if you count only the time since it was announced until now – that, again, being less than a year. If you’re counting the amount of time since Scanadu co-founder Walter De Brouwer prototyped his first tricorder effort, it’s a bit more extended. De Brouwer’s first tricorder was backpack-sized and didn’t quite have the consumer potential that this new SCOUT project does.

The SCOUT will retail for under $150 and is small enough to easily slip into your pocket – and it’s not just made for doctors. In fact, De Brouwer made it clear this week with FastCO that it’s made primarily for those everyday citizens that want to keep themselves monitored on a daily basis.

“We really want to show people their health stream. You go to a doctor and you get data points. You probably forget about them. But in this time of personalized readings we should have personalized parameters. What is a fever for me might not be a fever for you.” – De Brouwer

The SCOUT is just one entry in the massive rally for the Qualcomm Tricorder X prize – that being $10 million USD for the best tricorder that meets specifications set up by Qualcomm itself. In addition to the SCOUT, Scanadu is bringing forth a couple more medical-oriented tiny gadgets as well: ScanaFlo and ScanaFlu.

The ScanaFlo is a urine analysis system made specifically for pregnant women, scanning for signs of complications like preeclampsia and diabetes. The device works with a set of 20 cartridges that are dipped in urine with data sent back to the Scanadu app – again, on your smartphone. ScanaFlu is a saliva test that’s made primarily for the flu, but also checks for upper respiratory infections of many kinds. Each of these three products is set to be released by the end of 2013 in their final form.

Scanadu SCOUT Medical Tricorder recalls Star Trek – and it’s real is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Here you are another Bluetooth 3.0 portable keyboard for Tablets and other devices. Compatible with Android, iOS, OSX, PC, Linux and even PS3, the BSKBB15 just weight 155g and will be sold in Japan in the middle of December at around 7,035 Yen.

It’s never good when your bathroom scale gives you inconsistent readings. That’s probably one of the reasons why people seem to like these new high-tech scales that can track your weight history via your smartphone. There aren’t too many available on the market yet, so it’s good to see more alternatives popping up like this one from Wahoo Fitness.

The Wahoo Balance Smartphone Scale is powered by Bluetooth, and it allows you to track your weight and BMI over time. It will send your weigh-ins directly to your iPhone or iPad via a free app. The scale itself can manage up to 16 different users and it can hold up to 130 weight readings. Keep in mind that it only works with the Phone 5, iPhone 4S, iPod Touch (5th generation), iPad (3rd and 4th generations), and iPad Mini – presumably because it’s using Bluetooth 4 tech.

The scale is available for pre-order now for $99(USD). Orders will start shipping in the first week of December, so they could make a nice gift idea – assuming the recipient doesn’t think you’re trying to send them a message about their weight.

[via Ubergizmo]

Nokia has revealed its first “Facebook phone”, the Nokia Asha 205, along with a colorful candybar, the Nokia 206, borrowing the Lumia colors for a budget market. The new Asha 205 features a full QWERTY keyboard and a dedicated Facebook button, as well as forty free EA games, while the 206 comes in the same black, cyan, magenta, yellow, and white as Nokia’s Lumia Windows Phone 8 handsets, and offers up to 47 days of standby time. Both the Asha 205 and the 206 are available in single- or dual-SIM versions, each keeping both SIMs active simultaneously, and feature Nokia’s new Slam file-swapping system.

Unsurprisingly, given Nokia is pricing them both at $62 (SIM-free and pre-subsidy), neither phone has 3G nor any particularly complex features. There’s a 1.3-megapixel camera and Bluetooth, with the latter being used for “Slam” – that uses the strength of a Bluetooth connection to automatically select the nearest phone to you for photo, music, or other transfer. It’ll work on the Asha 205 and 206, as well as send to any other S40, Asha, or Android device (the proximity detection is the new part; regular Bluetooth is used for the transfer). However, not Windows Phone at present; Nokia says that will follow on in time.

In practice, Slam cuts down on a couple of button presses. Choose to send “via Slam” and have the two devices near each other, and it automatically identifies the other phone; there’s no passcode to punch in, just an accept-transfer dialog on the other device. When we tested it versus the regular Bluetooth transfer, the only real difference was that we needed to pick the right Bluetooth recipient from a list.

The Asha 205 comes preloaded with the Facebook app, eBuddy Chat, Twitter, email support, and access to the Nokia Store for other titles. It supports up to 37 days or standby (on the single SIM model; up to 25 on the dual SIM) and up to a 32GB microSD card. The Facebook button simply acts as a launcher to the Facebook app – it can’t be remapped to, say, Twitter, and unlike the button on HTC’s Salsa and ChaCha Android handsets, doesn’t automatically trigger a Facebook share of, say, the photo you’re currently viewing. In the hand, it’s light but a little thick, but the keyboard is easily used.

As for the 206, that’s a classic form-factor with a surprisingly effective and modern design. Gloss-finish on the front, and easily-gripped matte on the back, it feels solid despite the $62 price tag, and the buttons are clicky and tactile. Nokia is positioning it as an ideal – and distinctive – phone for emerging markets as well as those users simply looking for a basic talk and text device, particularly those who might prefer a large, clear 2.4-inch display and sizable keypad.

Both the dual-SIM variants of each phone use Nokia’s EasySwap, which keeps both of the SIM cards active at the same time. That’s handy for travel, when you might want your home SIM active for emergency calls, but a local SIM present for cheaper service; alternatively, you can set up each SIM to be active only for voice, data, SMS, or MMS, or a combination of the four, depending on what tariff you have for each line.

Both the Nokia Asha 205 and the Nokia 206 will begin shipping before the end of the year.

Nokia Asha 205 “Facebook phone” and $62 206 hands-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Until you’ve tried a Bluetooth speaker, you can’t really understand how useful they can be. Sure, the sound quality isn’t always spectacular, but it always blows speaker built into smartphones and tablets away, and the wireless convenience can’t be denied. Logic3 has just announced a Ferrari-branded Bluetooth speaker dock, which doesn’t really mean a whole lot, since it’s not like you’re going to be driving this thing.

The Ferrari Logic3 Scuderia FS1 Air speaker dock was inspired by the Scuderia Ferrari racing team as well as the GT car’s lines, creases and curves. It’s powered by “Class HD” technology and has an integrated digital signal processor, controlling the crossover and equalization so that it coaxes the best out of your encoded music.

The integrated 30-pin connector will allow you to dock most iDevices and juice them up while they play their tunes. While it’s not as expensive as an actual Ferrari, the $600+(USD) price tag will burn a hole in your pocket, and if I’m going to spend that kind of money on a dock, I prefer the style of the B&W Zeppelin Air, which can be had for just a few dollars more. But if you’re a die-hard Ferrari fan, you can get your hands on the Scuderia FS1 Speaker Dock at a variety of retailers around the world.

[via Ubergizmo]