When it comes to viewing video on your phone, quality’s not always the biggest concern, but the Droid DNA puts the screen front and center – with full HD capabilities.
Mobile gaming used to be a quaint diversion you pursued while waiting in the grocery line. Now, games for your phone are looking better than ever. It was inevitable that a device would be created that could give gamers a real alternative to the portable game — MOGA wants to be the device you love.
Where’s a cute automatic Japanese robot snowplow when you need one? When nasty nor’easters like February 2013’s “Nemo” blanket huge stretches of America’s northeast with up to three feet of snow, a GPS-equipped robotic snow shovel like Yuki Taro would come in mighty handy.
We haven’t checked in with littleBits in quite some time and, honestly, it was a bit of a surprise to find the electronic tinker toys hiding in a quiet corner of the floor at Toy Fair this year. The property has grown quite a bit in the past few years. For one, it’s no longer a “project” but an actual shipping product. And in the last year founder Ayah Bdeir has turned it from a great concept into an actual company with serious investors. For those of you unfamiliar with littleBits, the goal is to do for electronics what LEGO did for structural engineering. The small color coded “blocks” snap together with magnets allowing even a novice to create a functioning circuit in seconds. The magnets will only connect in one orientation, preventing you from pushing current through a component in the wrong direction and ruining it. Ayah’s inspiration is not just LEGO, but object oriented programing languages that simplify building code, allowing developers to focus on the more creative aspects of software making. By doing some of the heavy logical lifting for you, littleBits hopes that potential electrical engineers and prototypers can focus on the goal rather than the minutia of laying out a breadboard or soldering resistors in place.
The latest version of the platform, v0.3, debuted just a couple of months ago and not only brings new pieces to the littleBits universe, but also adds legs to the blocks for improved stability when piecing together your projects. Currently there are four kits available: the three piece Teaser kit for $29, the seven piece Holiday kit for $49, the 10 piece Starter kit for $89 and the 14 piece Extended kit for $149. (You can also buy individual Bits for between $10 and $35.) If you’re in need of inspiration there are a number of projects for you peruse on the site and the company is even considering packaging them up as pre-planned kits. Though, unlike other electronics project bundles (such as the ubiquitous BrushBot), the magnetic pieces can easily be disassembled and re-purposed if you tire of your creation. While the concept has its roots in brands like Snap Circuits, littleBits definitely provides more freedom than those single purpose offerings. For more, check out the video after the break.
Gallery: littleBits hands-on
Filed under: Misc
The Nest Thermostat can be a hot (or cool) new member of your family as it adapts to your schedule, saves you money, and looks good doing it.
Tablets have become very popular since Apple’s initial unveiling of the iPad, and since then many manufacturers have introduced their own versions, usually running Android. Last year, Microsoft added its own Windows based Surface RT tablet into the mix, but all of those tablets have been running lower powered processors, unable to run full PC software. The Surface Pro however changes all of this.
Bicycling is a great way to stay in shape and the Bicycle USB Charger Kit For Smartphones will help you stay conneted wherever two wheels can take you. Your phone will stay charged for phone calls, music, and those all-important apps. It is able to charge other USB devices as well, including bicycle lights, MP3 players, GPS units, and cameras.
Apple has began to use some vanity URLs for developers of apps. This will enable consumers to find apps quickly and easily, as well as to find more apps by the same developer. The URLs first showed up this week in a commercial at the Super Bowl for the app designed to promote the newest of the Star Trek movies.
Potty training has gone hi-tech. The iPotty, which debuted at this
year’s Consumer Electronic’s Show, gives toddlers some incentive to stay
on the pot by incorporating an iPad stand.
DARPA is looking for input from companies in the electronics industry, researchers, and other interested parties on technology that sounds like something out of a Mission Impossible movie. No, they don’t want exploding sunglasses or anything like that. The research group is looking for electronics that are able to disappear into the environment by dissolving on command.
According to DARPA, after a military battle it’s not uncommon for key electronic devices to be left lying on the battlefield. The fear is that these devices could be picked up by the enemy and repurposed or used to glean intelligence that could harm the United States, its soldiers and allies. DARPA is seeking input on a way to develop electronics that could simply dissolve into the environment on command.
The program is called Vanishing Programmable Resources VAPR. DARPA has issued a special announcement for a Proposers Day could be held before a full solicitation. Participants are asked to conduct basic research into materials, devices, manufacturing, and integration processes as well as design methodology to develop electronics such as an environmental and biomedical sensor that can communicate with a remote user. The key aspect of this is for the electronics to be able to dissolve into an unusable state on command. Last year, researchers showed of self-dissolving electronic circuits which melt after a pre-set amount of time, but offered no on-demand triggering mechanism.
“Commercial off-the-shelf, or COTS, electronics made for everyday purchases are durable and last nearly forever,” said Alicia Jackson, DARPA program manager. “DARPA is looking for a way to make electronics that last precisely as long as they are needed. The breakdown of such devices could be triggered by a signal sent from command or any number of possible environmental conditions, such as temperature.”
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