Hasta La Gadget!

Residing in hall space a fair distance away from the likes of the Toyota and Sony, the automotive division of Alps Electric was demonstrating a forward-looking vehicle interface at CEATEC 2012. Connecting together the company’s existing capacitive touch technology with motion sensors and eye movement cameras, the system centers on the multimodal commander — that mysterious-looking orb located below the gear stick. Navigation through it can be done through waving your hand over the device, swiping or rotating the orb like a dial. This can then move through weather, music and map programs, which are all integrated into the car’s touchscreen, while an overhanging motion sensor will also detect where your hand is headed. An Alps spokesman said that this means the system can try to predict your intentions, adjusting the UI before you reach for the controls. We’ve got a hands-on video from pretty busy showroom — and more impressions — after the break.

Continue reading Alps Electric integrates motion sensors and eye detection into vehicle cockpit of the future (video)

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Alps Electric integrates motion sensors and eye detection into vehicle cockpit of the future (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 08:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UK 4G carrier EE has been flaunting its speeds again, and we couldn’t resist stopping by to see how the iPhone 5 and other handsets perform on the new LTE network. Set to go live within a matter of weeks, EE – a combination of Orange and T-Mobile UK – promises to deliver the first taste of 4G speed to data-hungry Brits, and the numbers certainly are impressive: downloads nudging 60 Mbps and uploads of up to 18 Mbps.

EE had laid on a number of its devices for us to benchmark, with the iPhone 5 being joined by HTC’s One XL LTE, and Huawei’s Ascend P1 LTE. The handsets span the gamut of price points, something EE says is very much intentional: data plan pricing hasn’t been confirmed yet, but EE told us it has resolutely mass-market ambitions in mind.

That likely means a slight premium over 3G data, but hopefully not too much as to dissuade regular customers from dipping a toe into 4G. From what we’ve seen, it’s certainly worth their while: as our comparison video shows, all three phones are capable of impressive turns of speed.

EE 4G LTE benchmarks:

In our testing – conducted in central London – performance was reasonably variable, though we noted that the Huawei handset seemed to regularly post slower speeds than its HTC and Apple rivals. The biggest difference may well be how the 4G system holds up under heavy use: LTE is designed to take better advantage of the available spectrum, so EE’s network should be less prone to bogging down when multiple concurrent users are taking advantage of the upload and download speeds.

One minor blip may well be in the 3G/4G handover. As it stands, voice calls are still carried over EE’s 3G network, so the handsets automatically step down onto 3G whenever a call is made. That means, if you’re also tethering with the phone, the data connection you’re relying on will also slow. There’s a slight increase in the time it takes to initiate a call, though only of 1-2 seconds, and the 4G signal is restored shortly after the call is terminated.

The first EE phones go up for sale today, albeit through Orange and T-Mobile, with the promise of an easy switch to a 4G contract when the service goes live to the public. There’s more on the iPhone 5, meanwhile, in our full review.

EE LTE benchmarked: iPhone 5 gets super-fast in the UK is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

NEC isn’t much known for its Android devices outside of Japan, but having played with the Media Tab UL N-08D at CEATEC we now think that’s something of a shame: it’s one of the best tablets we’ve seen so far. Running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on a 7-inch, 1,280 x 800 LCD display, and clad in a 7.9mm thick, 249g chassis made of metal, plastic, and carbon fiber, it’s fast and feels high-quality in the hand.

Inside, there’s a 1.5GHz dualcore Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 processor paired with 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a microSDHC card slot to add to that. Connectivity includes LTE, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and microUSB, and there’s GPS and two cameras.

Up front is a 2-megapixel shooter for video calls and vanity shots, while there’s an 8-megapixel camera on the back with autofocus, an LED flash, and 1080p 30fps video recording. The main camera uses Sony’s Exmor R for Mobile technology, with a backside-illuminated CMOS.

It’s how NEC has managed to package together the various components into something so thin and light which really impressed us, though. The Japanese market gets a TV tuner, and there’s a special haptics system with five levels of response to suit different alerts. A 3,100 mAh battery drives the 7-incher for up to 690 minutes of 3G talktime or 900 hours of LTE standby, and the display – although not quite of the resolution of B&N’s NOOK HD – has great viewing angles and impressive brightness levels.

NEC Media Tab UL hands-on:

In short, it’s Apple-levels of polish but resolutely running Android for those who can’t be swayed to iOS, something we’ve been hoping for from Android OEMs for some time now. Unfortunately, NEC shows no sign of offering it outside of Japan, where it’s been available on NTT DoCoMo for a couple of weeks now.

NEC Medias Tab UL hands-on: The best Android tablet you probably can’t buy is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Another prototype from DoCoMo aimed at Nihon‘s commuters, the i beam concept tablet forgoes any touch at all, allowing the user (once they’re at the specified ‘sweet spot’) to navigate around apps and screens using your eyes. Two sensors along the bottom edge of the tablet track both of your eyes and after a slightly laborious configuration setup, we were able to tour around the prototype slabs features without laying a finger on it. The navigational dot was a little erratic, but we’ll put that down to prototype nerves. The tablet was otherwise able to follow our eye-line and fulfill what we wanted it to do.

Returning to the home screen by targeting the kill box in the top right corner proved to be the most difficult thing — we soon resorted to tapping at the screen for that. DoCoMo showcased an eye-controlled game, alongside picture galleries, a web browser and a reader app. The e-book client seemed to be the most heavily involved, with the ability to look up words with a hard-stare, and flip pages by eyeing the two lower corners. The Japanese carrier isn’t planning a consumer launch any time soon — and the hardware comes with a pretty pronounced chin at the moment, but if you like staring at someone staring at a tablet, our eyes-on is after the break.

Continue reading NTT DoCoMo’s i beam tablet prototype is driven by your eyes (video)

Filed under: Tablets, Alt

NTT DoCoMo’s i beam tablet prototype is driven by your eyes (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been just about a year since former Apple exec Tony Fadell unveiled his newest project, the Nest Learning Thermostat. At the time, it was notable for being the sexiest thermostat in the history of household automation, with WiFi connectivity, mobile apps and an iPod-like click wheel for adjusting the temperature. Today, Nest Labs announced the follow-up to that product, and while it boasts the same tricks as the original, it’s noticeably slimmer and will work with a wider array of heating and cooling systems. Oh, and the company is finally releasing an Android tablet app, while the current iOS and Android phone applications are getting updated with new features as well. It’s up for pre-order now for $249, while the old model has gotten a price cut to $229. That’s the short version, but if you head past the break we’ll give you a more detailed walk-through of what’s changed.

Continue reading Nest Learning Thermostat gets refreshed with a slimmer design, improved scheduling features

Filed under: Household

Nest Learning Thermostat gets refreshed with a slimmer design, improved scheduling features originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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