Hasta La Gadget!

Product 3 LLC, the company behind the original iControlPad, has successfully funded a successor: folks, meet the iControlPad 2. While there isn’t much to its name, the sequel boasts a handy QWERTY keypad along with an optional swivel-mount that you can attach to any smartphone. It works over either microUSB or Bluetooth, and true to its open-source roots, is said to support the Ouya, the Raspberry Pi and pretty much any other device you can throw at it. What’s more, it can be programmed to control almost any app via its support for touchscreen mapping. There’s still room for additional backers, so you could try to get a raw version for $69 or a boxed edition for $75 if you manage to pre-order in time. Let’s just hope the sequel doesn’t experience the same delays as its older sibling, especially given the $150,000-plus the company earned in its Kickstarter campaign.

[Thanks, Craig]

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Peripherals

iControlPad 2 gets funded, adds QWERTY keypad and smartphone mount originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 02:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have an old iPod dock lying around? It’s not entirely useless with your iPhone 5 and its new lightning connector. All you need is a cheap Bluetooth adapter and you’re back in business. More »

It seems that there still some room for Iriver’s DAP in Japan after all! Today the once extremely popular DAP (Mp3 Player) Korean manufacturer announced in Japan the Astell & Kern AK100 a luxury and High-end audiophile oriented DAP! Schedule to hit Japanese store October 27th the Astell & Kern AK100 comes by default with 32GB of internal memory as well as a a dual MicroSDHC port capable to expand the total amount of internal memory of the Astell & Kern AK100 up to …

Whether you’re a frequent flier, an avid outdoorsman or a kid who was a prime target for bullies back in grade school, when you were so thin you might as well have been two-dimensional, your packed lunch a bait for your physically endowed peers – wait where was I? Right. We’ve all lost a bag at some point in our lives. So it’s fun to see a concept for a suitcase that hates being lost as much as you hate losing it.

Conceptualized by Rodrigo Garcia, the Hop! suitcase has three Bluetooth sensors and a microcontroller. The sensors are meant to be paired with a Bluetooth-enabled phone. A pair of treads running on compressed air help the Hop! follow its owner – or whoever has his phone. If the Hop! loses track of the phone that it’s paired to, it will lock itself down and make the phone vibrate.  It will try its best not to cry, because it’s a big boy.

Head to Garcia’s website to see more details and pictures of the Hop! Forget about following me, what I want is a suitcase that can carry me around.

[via Slash Gear]

Hauling luggage through the airport can be a pain, as any frequent traveler will tell you. A new suitcase called only “Hop” is looking to change all of that, though, using signals from your cell phone to go hands-free. According to Hop’s official website, the suitcase comes equipped with three sensors to identify and triangulate the Bluetooth signal from your phone, using those to pick you out of a crowd.

Once it’s done that, a microprocessor not only figures out Hop’s position as it relates to your phone, but controls the two caterpillar tracks in the bottom of the unit to get it moving. Hop follows behind the user at a constant distance, so you don’t have to worry about it “stepping” on your heels, so to speak. If it loses the signal it’s following, your phone will vibrate, letting you know that your poor suitcase is lost and alone in a sea of strange people.

We can see Hop in action in the video below, and we have to say that it looks like a great little device. There’s just one problem: it looks as if you’ll have to walk at a relatively slow pace to keep the suitcase from losing the signal. Since a walk through an airport is rarely a leisurely stroll, that could potentially cause some issues. Also, don’t expect TSA agents to just smile and wave as you walk through security with a remote-controlled suitcase tailing you.

Still, the idea behind Hop is really cool, and we’re willing to bet that there are some frequent flyers willing who would put down some money for it right this instant. It looks like this is just a prototype at the moment, so don’t expect it to be available for sale anytime soon (if it ever is, for that matter). Would you purchase one of these if Hop ever became available commercially?

Hop suitcase follows user like lost puppy is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
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