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An extra fifty cents worth of sensors and your iPhone 5s could have read your emotions rather than just track exercise and fitness, chip manufacturer Freescale says, predicting a time soon when smartphones will know more about our moods than our friends and families do. The iPhone 5s’ M7 co-processor, added by Apple in its […]

Earlier today we had a nice sit-down with Kobo, where we got some quality hands-on time with the company’s Arc Android tablet. As you can imagine, that was the marquee product on display, but we also had the chance to handle the outfit’s newest e-readers: the Glo ComfortLight, which has built-in frontlighting, and the Mini, which is exactly what it sounds like. Both will be available October 1st, with the 6-inch Glo going for $129 and the 5-inch Mini priced at $79. Neither will have ads, which might be one of the biggest differentiators between these and some of Amazon’s offerings. If you’re short on time, we’ve got some hands-on photos below, but if you’ve got a few minutes to spare, a walk-through video awaits after the break.

Continue reading Hands-on with Kobo’s Glo and Mini e-readers (video)

Hands-on with Kobo’s Glo and Mini e-readers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So you think that current touchscreen technology is the bomb, so much so that there is no more room for improvement – at least nothing that you can think of at the moment? We’ve got news for you, boys and girls, thanks to Freescale’s latest announcement of the Xtrinsic 3.0 touchscreen technology that is so sensitive, it is even capable of sensing your swipes and touches through a film of water, now how about that? Of course, we do know that most consumer electronics and water do not mix, but there are exceptions to the rule, and the Freescale Xtrinsic 3.0 would be one of the specially designed ones.

Meant to see action in industrial, medical and in-car systems, the Freescale Xtrinsic 3.0 will feature pre-built user interfaces that are more than ready to be added to any device. Apart from being able to work through water, it is also full well capable of withstanding noise, detect electrical interference and reduce false touches. We do wonder just when will it be licensed before it arrives in everyday pieces of consumer electronics.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Freescale 77GHz radar system makes it safer to drive in difficult conditions, Freescale Semiconductor launches 9″ tall walking sensor robot and “Make It Challenge”,

Freescale Semiconductor’s MPL115A2 is a tiny thing that will sit quite comfortably on the tip of your finger. It’s hard not to marvel at the engineering that went into the creation of something so small, yet so sensitive. The little metal square is minute enough to be plunked into a cell phone, offering up location pinpointing technologies that supplement GPS, gauging positions based on changes in atmospheric pressure. Harvard’s Biorobotics team was clearly impressed when it discovered the technology, devising a fascinating implementation that extends beyond the walls of the cell phone. The sensors would go on to form the core of the department’s TakkTile open-source boards capable of bringing sensitive touch sensing to robot hands.

The I2C bus / USB-compatible boards incorporate several of the sensors, with the whole thing covered in 6mm of rubber, to help protect them. The rubber lends some durability to the TakkTile — in fact, if you click on after the break, you can see footage of the team placing a 25 pound dumbbell on the board and banging it with a hammer (which seems to be a fairly popular activity over there). Even with that extra layer, the TakkTile is still quite sensitive — as evidenced by the five gram weight in the video. In fact, it’s even possible to get it to detect a pulse by placing it against your wrist, though the team was unable to recreate that during our visit.

Also compelling is the price — bought in bulk, the tiny barometers will run you $1 a piece, making the tactile array relatively inexpensive to assemble. Once you buy one, you can also get the most bang for your buck by snapping off the rows for individual use, a possibility given the symmetry of the design. Or you can just make one yourself, as the department has opted to open-source the technology, to help make it even more readily accessible to interested parties.

Continue reading TakkTile turns digital barometers into open-source robot touch sensors

Filed under: Robots

TakkTile turns digital barometers into open-source robot touch sensors originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Aug 2012 19:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIA has only ever really had a dalliance with ARM; the VAB-800 might be a sign that it’s willing to go steady for awhile. As the company’s first Pico-ITX board with an ARM chip, the 800 stuffs up to a 1GHz, Freescale-made ARM Cortex-A8 and 1GB of RAM into a tiny, 3.9 x 2.8-inch board. Somehow, it still fits up to four USB 2.0 ports, mini HDMI, VGA and as much as 64GB of storage. The board’s real tricks are its dual integrated graphics processors: the VAB-800 can independently steer two displays, just in case your in-car infotainment system can’t be contained by merely one screen. You’ll likely have to be a car designer or an industrial device maker to make an order, although the 5W power draw and support for Android, Ubuntu Linux and Windows Embedded Compact 7 should soon see the VAB-800 crammed into logic-defying spaces everywhere.

Continue reading VIA makes its first ARM-based Pico-ITX board, adds dual graphics for your in-car pleasure

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Transportation

VIA makes its first ARM-based Pico-ITX board, adds dual graphics for your in-car pleasure originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 05:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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