Hasta La Gadget!

[CEATEC 2012] It is usually frowned upon to talk on the phone when using public transport, but the same can’t be said when it comes to using your phones for other purposes. Well, Docomo has come up with some new ways to help commuters use their mobile devices when they’ve got one hand holding onto the rail (or bags) and only one hand free. First up is a solution called Grip UI. During the demonstration, they outfitted an Android smartphone with a bunch of sensors on the side of the phone. These sensors can detect the pressure from your hand that’s holding the phone and can let you operate it differently. Instead of having to swipe your finger across the screen to unlock your phone, you can just grip the sides of the phone to turn on the display, and then a bit harder to fully unlock it.
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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Docomo Shabette Robo keeps you in the know, Docomo works on video-calls for glasses-shaped phones,

Business cards are boring, even if you slot NFC inside them, but the swish business fellow around town could change all that with a home-made hologram card. Pioneer Corporation‘s idea of what construes a “compact” hologram printer might not exactly tally with ours – it’s roughly the size of a large briefcase – but considering you’re getting the ability to make your own full-color holograms we could probably forgive the discrepancy.

Although the size is the headline feature, in fact it’s the ease of use that makes the hologram printer particularly special. It produces Lippman holograms, which traditionally would require a darkened room, real models be photographed, and vibration dampers fitted to keep things sufficiently stable.

Pioneer’s system, however, can run from a 3D CAD file, and demands no technical knowledge beyond hitting print. The resultant holograms can measure up to 75.6 x 50.4 mm, not only big enough for a business card but greetings cards, photographs, and more.

Exactly how much the printer will cost – as well as the print media itself – has not been revealed, though we don’t imagine it will come cheap. Still, who among us wouldn’t pay handsomely for the ability to create tiny hologram cards of ourselves recreating the “You’re my only hope!” Princess Leia pose.

Pioneer reveals compact 3D color hologram printer is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Kokuyo will present next week in Japan a new Wireless Charging desk prototype developed with both Murata and Intel. While there is not much more to say here, beside the basic fact that this desk will let you charge any devices you lay on it and that it will come with a Murata 25W Wireless charging module, I have to say that it’s just about time that someone does something of the sort and I can’t wait to see similar products on the market!

Docomo announced today that its booth at CEATEC JAPAN 2012 will present experiential demonstrations and stage shows introducing a multitude of services and advanced technologies that help people live and work smarter.
The DOCOMO booth will comprise three sections “R&D,” “Smartphone X Home electronics” and “New Models.” The following are some of the highlights that will be offered in each section.
Hands-free Videophone
DOCOMO will introduce a concept handset, worn like glasses, for …

Tablets these days can do a lot of different things, but NTT DOCOMO has a new tablet in the pipeline with a feature that we don’t see all that often: eye tracking. The eye tracking technology in NTT DOCOMO’s new ibeam concept tablet will be supplied by Tobii, and if you’re going to be at CEATEC in Tokyo at the beginning of October, you’ll get the chance to see it in action. It’s there, at booth #4B66, that NTT DOCOMO will be unveiling the prototype ibeam for the first time.

Of course, eye tracking tech probably isn’t going to sell millions upon millions of tablets in the blink of an eye, but it does have its uses. The ibeam uses the Tobii IS20, which is described as “the most advanced and compact eye tracker in the world,” in a statement released today. During CEATEC in Tokyo, NTT DOCOMO will be showing off examples of natural user interfaces for PCs and tablets that are centered around eye tracking integration.

One of the benefits of eye tracking integration is that users would potentially be able to control the ibeam tablet using only their eyes. This means that you could have true hands-free functionality, and we imagine that using eye tracking tech would prove to be a lot easier than using voice commands. At the very least, when using eye tracking tech, you won’t be caught in public shouting commands at your device.

The ibeam certainly sounds like an interesting tablet, but unfortunately we’re going to have to wait for the lion’s share of the details. Since it sounds like the ibeam is in the early stages of development – keep in mind that NTT DOCOMO will only be showing off a prototype at CEATEC – the tablet is probably still a ways off from hitting the market (if it ever does at all). Still, it will be exciting to see what the ibeam can do, so keep it tuned here to SlashGear for more information.

Tobii and NTT DOCOMO announce ibeam eye-tracking tablet is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.