Hasta La Gadget!

Here at Showstoppers 2013 during CES 2013, Evado Filip is showing off its new device called VivoPlay. The device has one very important goal: keep your children safe without suffocating them. Parents can link the VivoPlay to a companion iOS or Android app, keeping tabs on their child while letting them still be a kid.

There are a number of potentially life-saving features Evado Filip is focusing on with the VivoPlay. The first of the features is location, with the device being able to keep an eye on your child’s location using GPS, GSM, and WiFi. Using those three technologies at once means that there’s a better chance your child will be able to be found if they go missing, so naturally, it’s a winning idea.

Parents will be able to designate five different numbers that can communicate with the VivoPlay, and outside of those, the device won’t be able to contact anyone else. Children only need to push a single button to make a call, so if they ever need help, they won’t need to go through menu after menu to make a call. Parents will also be able to send text messages up to 16 characters long to their child’s VivoPlay, which is an added bonus.

One particularly nifty feature is the ability to create safe zones. If your child wanders outside of the safe zone you’ve designated, you’ll be alerted with a text message, and in turn you’ll be able to contact your child and see what’s up. It’s a very cool little device and it even comes with a built-in emergency feature that a child can use to get help quickly. The VivoPlay will be available soon, but while we wait for more details to come out of Evado Filip, be sure to check out our CES portal for all of our news from the show.

VivoPlay from Evado Filip hands-on is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

PA Consulting has created a mobile phone basestation using the Raspberry Pi. In doing so, they replaced a giant 30-foot GSM cell basestation that is scarcely larger than your Internet modem. The consulting group based in Cambridge, UK, detail briefly how they achieved this in a video that you can watch after the jump.

According to the consulting firm’s team, a variety of wireless experts using the Raspberry Pi, a radio interface, and a couple pieces of open source software create the mobile basestation. As you can see in the video, the team uses two cell phones and successfully has them communicate with each other. The purpose?

To show that it can be done, and for a very small price. “We’ve shrunk a 30ft basestation into a 3-inch Raspberry Pi and created our own mobile phone network. This proves what can be achieved through low cost, off the shelf systems.” Of course, they had to do this in a screened room in order to avoid running afoul of the law.

The system is run using three applications: OpenBTS, FreeSWITCH, and a script for assigning telephone numbers. OpenBTS is used for providing the GSM standard, while FreeSWITCH is used to route calls “in a similar way to Skype,” the consulting firm explains. Condescending a 30-foot tower into a 3-inch Raspberry Pi is perhaps the epitome of demonstrating low-cost solutions for the future.

[via New Electronics]

PA Consulting creates mobile basestation with Raspberry Pi is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

As Google Play groans under the clicks of early shoppers, Google’s apparently got its software sorted too. A new Android 4.2 file for the Galaxy Nexus over at XDA-Developers matches reports we’ve had from users who have already been gifted the latest version of Jelly Bean over-the-air. Now, this is the ‘takju‘ version, meaning it’s meant for GSM devices ordered directly from Google, although the phone meddlers at XDA-Developers already have all the details needed to make the switch to this specific iteration. Sure you’ve got the right GSM Galaxy Nexus? Then, once you’ve read all the instructions and warnings from those aforementioned developers, you can pick up the download at the source below.

Update: We’ve added a link to download the Android 4.2 file for the Nexus 7 also. Enjoy!

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google

Android 4.2 reaches some Galaxy Nexus phones early, grab the GSM version here (update: Nexus 7, too) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Nov 2012 03:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink XDA-Developers, Android Police  |  Android 4.2 Galaxy Nexus OTA update (download), Android 4.2 Nexus 7 update (download)  | Email this | Comments

The last Casio G’zOne handheld to come our way was the Commando, a military-grade device that marked the company’s first foray into Android smartphones. Now it seems there’s another one in the works, at least if a recent FCC filing is any indication. The Casio C811 looks to be a successor to the aforementioned Commando, with its G’zOne branding and features like WiFi and GSM world phone capabilities. Notably, the FCC document reveals the phone has Verizon-flavored LTE plus NFC support, both of which lead us to believe it’ll likely be a mid- to high-end handset. Not much else is divulged from perusing the filing, but we’re sure that whatever the C811 turns out to be, it’ll be just as tough and durable as the rest of Casio’s G’zOne offerings.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Verizon

Next-gen Casio G’zOne makes it to the FCC, reveals LTE and NFC support originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 08:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  FCC  | Email this | Comments

Rejoice all ye owners of the GSM version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus because not only is it time for an Android software update, it’s coming the easy way, too – right over the air. All you’ll have to do is go into your settings and hit the software update button inside your device info near the bottom of your setting list and bam! There it is, ready to bring you up to an ever-so-slightly changed user interface.

This update brought on homescreen flip-flopping for the Nexus 7 – turning on to its side for some landscape action at long last. This update for the Galaxy Nexus brings with it the ability to expand notifications with a single finger as well as a collection of bug fixes as per usual. While it’s clear that this update is necessary for all Galaxy Nexus users, it’s not entirely clear what it fixes other than that notifications bonus bit.

With this sort of update comes a wave of misunderstanding on how Android updates happen, starting here with Verizon users who will, inevitably, ask when their update is set to hit the plate. As it were, Galaxy Nexus updates coming to the 4G LTE Verizon version of the device do not come regularly, and we’re unaware of when the 4.1.2 update will be hitting said phone. It’s not the most ideal situation, but as Verizon’s build for the device is not exactly the same as the GSM version shown above, more work must be done before a software update can be pushed.

This update now exists on the Galaxy Nexus GSM iteration and the ASUS-made Google Nexus 7 tablet. It’s a 15.1 MB download and will be coming to your device automatically, so just hit the snooze button for now! Meanwhile also prepare yourself for some hot vanilla Android action with the LG Nexus 4, the next-in-line for Google’s fabulous stripped-down line of devices showing their best-of look at Android, straight from the lab.

Galaxy Nexus Android 4.1.2 appears in over-the-air update is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.