Hasta La Gadget!

One of the neat things about CES is that it gives us a chance to check in with startups we covered the previous year. In the case of, Tobii, 12 months makes a world of difference. When we met with the company last January, it had never publicly shown off its eye-tracking Gaze UI, which allowed us to navigate, zoom, select and scroll on a custom Windows 8 laptop with just our pupils and a touchpad. After playing with it, it was obvious to us the technology still needed some fine-tuning, but nonetheless Tobii promised it would have a product to sell in about a year’s time.

Fast forward 12 months: Intel now owns a 10 percent stake in the company, and Tobii recently started shipping its first piece of hardware, the REX. This small USB peripheral, just slightly thicker than a pen, attaches to the base of any computer display, allowing it to bring eye-tracking technology to any Windows 8 machine. For now, it’s only available to developers for a price of $995, but Tobii expects to ship 5,000 consumer units by the end of 2013. Happily for us, though, we got to play with it here at CES 2013. Meet us after the break to see how the technology’s grown up since we tried it out it a year ago, and stay tuned for a demo video!

Continue reading Hands-on with Tobii REX, a peripheral that brings eye-tracking to any Windows 8 PC

Filed under: Peripherals, Software

Comments

Not to be confused with a similar product, the UK-based Fitbug has unveiled a collection of new connected health gadgets here at CES. The Fitbug orb is button-sized tracker that measures calories, distance and even pace. The pedometer tech inside also monitors your sleeping pattern. Connectivity wise, it can hook up to iOS devices including the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPod Touch (5th generation), iPad (3rd and 4th generation) and the iPad Mini, while Android support will be limited to Samsung’s Galaxy S III. There’s three sync modes: Push, for instant updates, beaconing means you can send data at intervals throughout the day, or stream data to monitor your pace. It’s Fitbug’s first device to offer sleep tracking and will monitor your nighttime movements like we saw on Jawbone’s Up. It launches in white, black and pink and can be housed in a watch strap or its own neck pendant. It launches on Fitbug’s own retail site priced at £45 ($73). The Fitbug Wow Bluetooth-enable scales will connect to a similar list of iOS devices, although there’s no word on Android compatibility yet. You can monitor weight-loss (or gain) through the company’s refreshed website too, and the device will launch in March priced at £70 (£114) or £100 ($163), including the company’s Air activity tracker.

Filed under: Wearables

Comments

A (very) early slip through the FCC’s database uncovered Seagate’s Wireless Plus drive several months ago, but here at CES, the company is finally ready to take the official wraps off of the aforesaid drive. It’s a portable 1TB affair, shipping with USB 3.0 support and offering up the ability to stream music and video to practically anything courtesy of its inbuilt wireless module and 10-hour battery. In our testing, the unit did everything it promised, but those with an iOS device will enjoy enhanced usability via the gratis app.

In essence, it’s a slimmed version of the GoFlex Satellite from 2011, enabling users to load up bookoodles of content and then create an ad hoc WiFi network in order to stream it to nearby tablets (iPad, Kindle Fire, etc.), phones, Smart TVs and items that support AirPlay / DLNA. While the cloud seems suitable enough for retrieving content, being on a flight to Dubai or roughing it in cellular black hole throws a kink in those plans. And that, friends, is what Seagate hopes will attract you to its newest $200 HDD. The full presser is embedded after the break, and those who are already sold can pick one up starting now at Amazon and Best Buy.

Continue reading Seagate’s $200 Wireless Plus 1TB hard drive streams content everywhere, includes 10-hour battery

Filed under: Wireless, Storage

Comments

Source: Seagate

Ion’s Air Copy has just stepped into the wireless mobile scanner arena, and it brings support for slinging scanned documents and photos as big as size A4 to Android, iOS, Windows 8 and OS X devices via WiFi. Once documents are scanned, they’re saved as high resolution 300 DPI JPEG files to the connected hardware. A free app available for the gadget gives users a real-time preview of what’s being scanned. There’s no word on pricing or availability as of yet, but you can hit the jump for the press release or take a peek at our hands on shots in the gallery.

Continue reading Ion introduces Air Copy: mobile scanner for smartphones, tablets and laptops

Filed under: Peripherals

Comments

Source: (Ion, PDF)

Delphi has allied itself with Verizon to launch a new Vehicle Diagnostics service. It works through a cloud system that connects your four-wheeler to your smartphone (or internet browser), showing precisely where your car is, as well as options to secure it and check its vitals. Delphi promises the new system will work in most vehicles sold in the US since 1996 and users can pick up alerts for driving and vehicle performance issues, as well as setup geo-fences to monitor if your car goes outside specified zones. Connecting your phone to the car is done through Bluetooth and adds access to key fob commands including remote door control. The compatible smartphone app will arrive on devices running Android 2.2 or later and iOS 5.0 onwards, while the Delphi Web portal works on Internet Explorer 7, with Firefox, Chrome and Safari versions still in the works.

Continue reading Delphi and Verizon launch new connectivity system: track and monitor your vehicle through your smartphone

Filed under: Transportation, Verizon

Comments