Hasta La Gadget!

Canopy promised a whole new world of smartphone control with its Sensus iPhone case in the fall, and we’ve at last had a chance to gauge how well it works here at CES. If you’ll recall, it delivers 10-point touch input across the back and sides that lets apps add interaction without blocking the screen — think of the PlayStation Vita’s back touch and you’ve got the idea. That theoretically sounds great for gamers, but we’d like to see how well it works outside of a dedicated console.

In practice, the case isn’t much different in dimensions to a standard protective iPhone case, if a little chunkier along the base. The whole thing locks in to the iPhone 4’s connector. although there’s still another port to charge through there. The case also has integrated apps attuned for the blind, with Braille entry possible using all those multiple touchpanels. We’ve got a quick tour of how it all works after the break and you can expect to land this summer, where pricing will be somewhere between $59 and $99.

Mat Smith contributed to this report.

Continue reading Canopy Sensus case adds backscreen and side touch to iPhones (hands-on)

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Peripherals, Mobile, Apple

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Source: Canopy

It’s no fun being deaf or hearing impaired. Especially if you are fond of the great outdoors and all the weather-related perils that come with it. Siemens knows this and developed the Aquaris hearing aid, the only one to receive an IP68 rating for continuous submersion under water (to three meters). It’s also dust- and shock-proof, if you’re further up the extreme activity lifestyle ladder. It’s not just about keeping the elements out, it’s also got Bluetooth meaning wearers can listen to music on smartphones and other devices while under water.

The device itself is what you might imagine a hearing aid to look like, if it was given the sports treatment, which makes it attractive to younger folk, and those of an active disposition. Most importantly, it works impressively well, which was amply shown by the demonstration we were given with the device permanently submerged in water at the booth, streaming its audio to another device. The waterproof functionality doesn’t come at the expense of the sound, either, with the Aquaris sporting High-definition sound with 48 channels with frequency resolution and a 12 kHz frequency range. Given the nature of the device, you’ll need to speak with your physician or ENT / otolaryngologist if this sounds like something for you. Available now.

Sean Cooper contributed to this report.

Filed under: Misc

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The Kickstarter page for Urban Hello’s beautiful, strange home phone may not be live yet, but we’ve already gotten our hands all over it. The HD voice device is more than looks, though, featuring two OLED screens built into a minimalist aesthetic, intended to simplify the home phone experience. The handset even comes in a handful of colors, “in order to blend in better with the decoration of any interior.” A pre-order of $85 will net you one of the very first off the production line — of course, the Kickstarter has to go live before you can pledge any money. Head past the break for all the specifics, straight from Urban Hello.

Continue reading Urban Hello introduces bizarrely attractive home phone via Kickstarter, we go eyes-on

Filed under: Household, Mobile

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If you recall, Synaptics is looking to branch out from touchscreens and touchpads and break into a another kind of navigation device: keyboards. The company announced several months ago that it was working on the so-called ThinTouch keyboard, whose slim profile might make it an ideal fit for Ultrabooks and other lightweight laptops. Back when it was first announced, we got to play with small wooden tiles, each of which had a single key affixed to it.

More than anything, the idea was to demonstrate the unique key design, in which the buttons move diagonally, as opposed to up and down. That was an interesting exercise, but it obviously wasn’t the same as typing away on a full QWERTY layout. Here at CES, though, we finally got our chance to do just that: the company is demoing a full-sized keyboard, which has been retrofitted into an older Lenovo laptop. Follow past the break for some impressions, a demo video and a quick recap of the various features it’ll have once it’s actually ready for prime time.

Continue reading Fingers-on with Synaptics’ ThinTouch keyboard for Ultrabooks (video)

Filed under: Laptops

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GoPro ain’t the only name in the action camera game, and here at CES Unveiled we’ve just got a look at Liquid Image’s latest mountable cam — the Ego Mini (that’s it on the right, pictured next to the first-gen Ego). It shoots 1080p video at 30 fps or 720p at 60 fps, and is WiFi enabled, so you can livestream if hooked up to something with internet access. Obviously it’s pretty small and light (as well as waterproof), and we saw it nestled inside a motorbike helmet, and in various mount configurations, like four cams pointing in all directions for 360-degree recording, and two side-by-side for 3D video. In camera mode, it can shoot 12-megapixel stills with a continuous photo-taking mode if you want something in-between full video recording.

The Liquid Image app, which has just been released for iOS and will be making its way into the Google Play store at some point in the future, can pair with the cam and solicit the live video view. It can also access data stored on the Ego Mini’s microSD card (up to 32GB supported), and upload short clips to social networks. The app also works as a remote control for taking stills and will allow you to change settings on the camera. We saw the app in action briefly, and it worked as described, with only a little lag in the video stream, and pretty good image quality from what we could tell from an iPhone screen. Due to arrive in stores in August 2013, the Ego Mini is expected to cost $200. Check out the PR after the break for more info, and check out the gallery below for our hands-on pics. If you’re interested in a more integrated action cam specifically for snowsports, we also took a quick tour of Liquid Image’s Apex HD+ goggles (or HD + WiFi depending on your source), which started shipping in November 2012.

Richard Lawler contributed to this report.

Continue reading Hands-on with Liquid Image’s Ego Mini action cam at CES Unveiled

Filed under: Cameras, Wearables, Wireless, HD

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