Hasta La Gadget!

Emblaze’s long-canceled First Else may never come back in its original form, but to our surprise, its futuristic Splay interface has finally been ported to Android! Released as a free beta by the same company, this fan-shaped launcher offers a similar single-hand experience that the ALP device once promised to deliver.

The UI’s main menu has four categories: Phone (call log, contacts and profiles), Diary (email, calendar and messaging), Media (music, video, photos, camera and file manager) and Apps (with seven customizable shortcuts). Upon laying your right thumb onto any of these, a sub-menu expands and you can go one level deeper by dragging your thumb to the left of your desired sub-category, and then let go to toggle the item. Similarly, dragging to the right takes you back to the previous menu, or you can drag to a blank area and let go to jump back to the main menu. All of this is accompanied by slick graphics like before, thanks to the good work by Israeli design house Sugapusher back in the day.

The only downside of this release is that some of the features need serious refining. For instance, the Music Player sub-menu fails to filter out ringtones, and the Video Player sub-menu only managed to load the latest few clips taken with the phone’s camera. We’d also like to see integration with other apps, obviously, but this simple beta will do for now. Check out our hands-on video after the break, and head over to Google Play to grab the free Splay launcher.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile

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Via: AddictiveTips

Source: Google Play

When the company that helped invent 3D printing asks you if you want to be turned into a Star Trek statue, the only right answer is: “how soon?” Naturally, we immediately shot off a couple of selfies (front-facing and profile) and ticked off a couple of personal details: I wanted a phaser, naturally, and poor Tim got stuck in a red shirt, to help bring out the natural Riker in that beard of his. Sadly, we only had the option of the Original Series, in the lead up to launch, so you’ve got to use your imagination. As for the inscription on the base, Engadget Show producer Benjamin (who you can see after the break) asked for “Peace and Long Life,” in keeping with his pointy-eared Vulcan theme, and I went with “May the Force Be With You,” because, let’s face it, I was always more of a Star Wars guy anyway. Tim wanted the simple, but expressive “Khaaaaaaan!” but sadly didn’t make it in under the wire, so he’ll have to get creative with a Sharpie.

Once you send in two photos, fill out the specifics and pay the (admittedly somewhat steep) $70, someone at one of 3D Systems’ fulfillment centers will convert your image into a 3D model, import it into the company’s software and then print it out using the Projet 660pro. It’s a rebrand of the high-end device we saw at work at Laika’s Portland studios, printing out faces for the then-forthcoming stop-motion feature ParaNorman. The printer is capable of rendering objects in impressively high resolution, far more than you’ve been seeing on those consumer printers you’ve heard so much about.

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Source: Cubify

Acer today unveiled the Acer Iconia A1, the company’s first full-featured 7.9- inch tablet targeted at modern day explorers, adventurers, digital freaks and mobile executives requiring an all-day mobile companion. Thanks to a sleek and light-weight design that is comfortable to hold in one hand, it also easily fits into a purse or bag. The new Acer Iconia A1 keeps people entertained and connected with smooth and speedy navigation, browsing and media playback powered by a fast quad- core processor.

The Acer Iconia A1 was introduced today with other new products, including the Acer Aspire R7, Acer Aspire P3 Ultrabook and Aspire V Series touch notebooks. The new line of Acer mobile products highlights the company’s focus on redefining the computing experience through progressive design.

Highly Responsive Fun
Busy mobile users get the prompt performance they want with smooth video playback, and fluid and fast navigation through apps and websites powered by a fast MediaTek Quad Core 1.2GHz processor. Gestures, zooming, scrolling and navigation are all intuitive, and games are responsive, realistic and even more fun with the integrated gyroscope for movement and vibration responses.
The LED-backlit display with IPS technology and a 170-degree viewing angle vibrantly highlights videos, photos and multimedia content in accurate color and brightness. The 1024×768 resolution makes text and graphics crisp and clear, while the 4:3 aspect ratio is great for web browsing and e-reading as well as gaming.
Acer’s new Touch WakeApp® gesture gives customers one-touch express access to their favorite apps directly upon waking from sleep. The Iconia A1 delivers the Google experience with services like Google Now, Google Search, Gmail, YouTube, and great content such as magazines, movies, games, books and more than 700,000 apps from the Google Play Store.

Easy to take Everywhere to Stay Connected
Starting at only 0.90 pounds and measuring only 0.44 inches thin, customers will also enjoy taking it with them for navigation and location-based apps via the built-in GPS.

The Acer Iconia A1 keeps consumers connected to Wi-Fi networks and hotspots with reliable 802.11b/g/n wireless technology. Plus, the integrated Bluetooth 4.0 lets consumers quickly connect the tablet to a variety of other devices, such as headsets and printers.

Digital Hub
The 5MP rear-facing camera captures 1080p video at 30fps that can easily be edited for quick sharing on-the-go. The front-facing camera pairs with the enhanced microphone to capture video and audio clearly for video chats and recording. The micro USB 2.0 and microHDMI port enable quick transfer or sharing of customer’s photos, music, videos and other digital content.
Pricing and Availability
The Iconia A1-810 with 16GB capacity will be available in June at a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of $199.99 USD.

TitanArm already took home silver in a competition for senior projects at the University of Pennsylvania, and now the team behind it is visiting Orlando to compete in the Intel-sponsored Cornell Cup for embedded design. We stopped by the showroom and snagged a few minutes with the crew to take a look at their creation: an 18-pound, untethered, self-powered exoskeleton arm constructed for less than $2,000.

To wield the contraption, users attach the cable-driven mechanical appendage to themselves with straps from a military-grade hiking backpack, and guide it with a thumbstick on a nunchuck-like controller. If a load needs to be held in place, the wearer can jab a button on the hand-held control to apply a brake. A Beagle Bone drives the logic for the setup, and it can stream data such as range of motion wirelessly to a computer. As for battery-life, they group says the upper-body suit has previously squeezed out over 24 hours of use without having to recharge.

Filed under: Robots, Alt

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And the news just keeps on coming. Acer just made yet a third product announcement here at its New York City press event. That would be the Acer Iconia A1 tablet, the same Android tablet leaked by a French retailer a few weeks back. Well, it’s official now, and it’s going on sale in the US later this month for $169. Spec-wise, it measures 11.1mm thick, runs a 1.2GHz quad-core processor from MediaTek, and is topped off by a 7.9-inch IPS display with 1,024 x 768 resolution (hey, what’d you expect on a budget tablet?). It also has 8 or 16GB of internal storage, as well as built-in 3G, similar to the comparably priced FonePad from ASUS. As for software customizations, you’ll find Acer’s WakeApp feature which lets you launch into a designated app when you wake the tablet from sleep.

In our brief hands-on, the device felt like you’d expect a $169 tablet to feel: it’s made of plastic, and lacks any sort of visual flare, but the back cover at least feels durable, and doesn’t seem to pick up many fingerprints (especially in white). The display, too, might be the best part about the device, its low pixel count be damned: the viewing angles are wide enough that you can read the screen with the tablet lying face-up on a table. That’s all for now, but we’ve got some hands-on shots below.

Update: We’ve amended the post with full (and correct!) specs.

Update #2: Acer’s confirmed the 16GB version of the tablet should sell for about $199 in the US. It’s expected to ht shelves by the end of the month.

Filed under: Tablets, Acer

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