Hasta La Gadget!

Here’s another project aiming to make DIY robotics as easy as child’s play. Moti is a smartphone-controlled smart motor, currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, that can be attached to everyday objects like cardboard boxes or more elaborate 3D printed creations to let kids (or big kids) build robots that are controlled via a smartphone app. Think of it as a DIY Sphero.

“It’s an ideal servo that has a built-in Arduino-compatible microcontroller, a bunch of on-board sensors, continuous rotation and encoding, io pins for adding electronics, a web-API, instant networking with each other, and control over bluetooth,” explain Moti’s Toronto-based makers on their campaign page.

Moti’s makers have built very granular control into their device, so the user can dictate a specific number of rotations and have the motor “stop on a dime”, as they put it. That granularity allows for or program a sequence of movements to be programmed via the corresponding Android app.

For controlling live movement, the app includes a graphical interface so that the user can, for instance, spin a wheel on the touchscreen to turn the motor, or move a slider. It’s that instant connection between software action and hardware movement that Moti’s creators reckon will capture kids’ imagination and turn your playtime munchkins into little hardware hackers.

Multiple Motis can be daisychained together to allow for the creation of larger robot projects. Or used singly to control individual objects — use-cases Moti’s makers have hacked together in the latter scenario include a remote control for angling the slats on a household blind, and for moving a camera situated on a dolly for stop motion capture.

Additional electronics can be attached to Moti to build out more elaborate robotics, if that’s your bag — each Moti has an Arduino-compatible microcontroller inside so it can be reprogramed or extended by adding sensors and shields.

There’s also a web-API so developers can create other apps and websites that control Moti-powered robots. “We picture new kinds of video games, visualizations and tutorials that integrate with real world contraptions,” they add.

All this is moot, for the moment. Moti’s creators are seeking a rather hefty $165,000 in crowdfunding — to pay for a first production run of 2,000 Motis and convince investors the concept has legs. They’ve raised just over $12,000 of that total so far, with only 12 days left on the campaign, so they’re going to need a big push to hit their target.

A minimum pledge of CAD$60 is required for backers to bag one Moti (sans accessories such as power supply). Or from CAD$90 to get a Moti with a Bluetooth shield so it can be wirelessly controlled. Shipping is pegged at June 2014.

Grand Theft Auto and Glass may be more commonly about the broken variety than Google’s wearable, but that hasn’t stopped one developer from cooking up some head-up map integration between the game and the headset. Mike DiGiovanni‘s realtime GPS for Grand Theft Auto 3 on Glass may only work with the third installment of the […]

Oh, how times have changed. Almost a year ago, Iranian officials claimed the country was suffering from constant internet-based attacks. Now, according to the WSJ, it’s Iran — or hackers working for the Iranian government — that’s allegedly behind a series of digital intrusions on the US Navy’s unclassified computers. The report, which cites unnamed US officials, says the attacks these past few weeks targeted computers that the Navy’s been using for email and intranet. Since no sensitive information was stolen, the US is reportedly more worried about the digital attacks’ implications: Iran is gaining hacking proficiency, and fast. Supposedly, it’s because Russian hackers have been extending their help — true or not, it’s clear that the US can no longer view Iran as a non-threat in the cyber arena. The Navy has already patched up its security system, but the US government is reportedly still waiting for what comes out of the US-Iran talks before deciding whether to take action.

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Source: The Wall Street Journal

If you’re anything like me, you spend way too much of your day seated, at your desk, hunched in front of your computer. During busy days — especially once firmly planted “the zone” — it’s easy for a few hours to fly by without leaving a sedentary position. For this reason, I’m probably not the only one who could use a gentle reminder, just a little, “Hey Rip, you’ve been sitting for two hours, how about standing up, ya lazy bum?”

Well, my friends, your Fitbit can remind you that you’re behind on your steps, but what if your desk could remind you to stand up, or take a break? Thanks to Stir, a Los Angeles-born startup founded by former Apple, Disney and IDEO employees, now you can buy a smart desk that will do just that.

The Stir Kinetic Desk, the startup’s first product, which launches today, combines the health-tracking software of popular wearables like FitBit and Up with connected-hardware and machine learning to create a work experience that actually promotes movement — and, in so doing, your health.

Stir Founder and CEO JP Labrosse was one of the first 35 employees to join Apple’s iPod Division, where he led engineering development teams on two early iPod projects. It not surprising, then, that the Kinetic Desk borrows a bit from familiar Apple designs and interfaces, including built-in touch screen, which has a very iPod-type size, shape and look to it. It’s this touch interface that acts as the desk’s main “control panel,” allowing users to change the configuration and height of their desk, or to go from sitting to standing (and back) just by double tapping.

Not only that, but the screen displays graphs and visual representations of a user’s movement, so they can quickly see how long they’ve been sitting and what their work habits and usage looks like. The desk contains a thermal presence sensor and computer outfitted with its health-tracking software, allowing it to track your movement and display that data through its touch screen.

While it may sound almost uncanny, not to worry, the desk isn’t yet outfitted with Siri’s voice or any sort of personal assistant. While Labrosse was willing to admit that the Stir Kinetic Desk could incorporate some Watson or HAL 9000-like features down the road, for now, the desk is meant to work in concert with the Internet of Things, not to try to commandeer it and dominate your office.

In fact, the desk tracks and adapts to your personal routine in such a way that’s meant to optimize health and productivity. The desk will display how many calories you’ve burned, time spent standing versus sitting — and your answer to “who is the most beautiful desk of them all?” of course.

Labrasse, echoing Harvard Business Review’s recent study, called sitting “the smoking of our generation,” which is probably a little overdramatic, but it’s true that in our overworked, over-connected modern work environment, we do spend more time in chairs than on our feet. While your Kinetic Desk won’t remind you to eat, shower, finish coding and go outside or be a better friend, it will help keep you upright and mindful of the healthier routine that’s right around the corner.

The desk also contains a setting called “active mode,” which you can activate by hitting a button on the front of the desk, which will put it into “Whisperbreath” mode — meaning that the desk prompts you to move after you’ve been sitting for too long with a gentle, one-inch rising and falling motion. You can then double tap to change positions.

Stir’s new smart desk also comes with built-in AC and USB ports (eight and four, respectively), connected to a single power cord you plug into the wall, and comes with Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, which the CEO hopes will eventually allow the desk to integrate with third-party fitness and wellness devices. To think: Your desk could be come your fitness and wellness graph itself. Imagine that. The team will also eventually release a web-based dashboard to allow you to view your work and health data on the go.

The Stir Kinetic Desk has a hardwood surface, comes in white, espresso and four underside colors, and will retail at an expected $3,890. It’s not cheap, but, hey, you can’t put a price on good health, people, especially when it’s your office furniture that’s keeping you healthy.

Labrasse and the Stir team were kind enough to let us take their new health-conscious desk for a spin, and you’ll find our video below. Find the Stir Kinetic Desk at home here.

CyanogenMod, perhaps the best known custom Android firmware developer, has announced it has evolved into a company, Cyanogen Inc., to offer “a mobile OS by the users, for the users”. The new company will aim to cut down the pain involved in actually installing the custom ROM to a device, with a new installer – […]