Transforming RC robot reaches production form packing heat and a WiFi camera (video)

Transforming RC robot car reaches production form packing heat and a WiFi camera video

If you’re like us, seeing that transforming RC robot in the spring was a mild form of torture without any clues as to when (and if) we could try it for ourselves. Kenji Ishida has clearly been busy assuaging our fears since then, as he just took the wraps from what should be the finished version of his brainchild. The now Brave Robotics-branded machine is more polished, with a 3D-printed shell, but it’s the technical upgrades that will have more of us scrambling for the product page: the production model is toting a missile launcher in each arm as well as a WiFi camera to follow its exploits in both car and robot modes. Anyone who wants the robot as quickly as possible will have to contact Ishida-san, if it’s not too late; there are just 10 units in the initial batch, and pricing is only available on request. A one-month wait for shipping will scuttle any hopes of getting one as a timely gift, too. That said, we can only imagine that any robotics fan would be ecstatic to get an IOU under the tree for Brave Robotics’ project.

Continue reading Transforming RC robot reaches production form packing heat and a WiFi camera (video)

Filed under:

Comments

Via: Hobby Media

Source: Brave Robotics (translated)

Sky+ app update brings remote control features to iPhone, iPod touch

Sky app update brings remote control features to iPhone, iPod touch

It’s been a few months since UK TV operator Sky added remote control features to its iPad app, and now there’s a similar refresh for the iPhone and iPod touch. The v4.2 update gives users brings remote control with support for gestures, DVR scheduling and management, a new guide as well as revamped navigation and search on the smaller screens, as long as they’re connected to the same WiFi network as the box. The Android app is still without the new features, however they’re promised to arrive there “in the coming months.” As usual the update app is available at no charge via iTunes, hit the link below to check it out, or check out the press after the break for more details along with a demo video of the iPad version.

Continue reading Sky+ app update brings remote control features to iPhone, iPod touch

Filed under: ,

Sky+ app update brings remote control features to iPhone, iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Nov 2012 04:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceiTunes  | Email this | Comments

Triggertrap Mobile update adds WiFi control for device-laden shutterbugs

Triggertrap Mobile update adds WiFi control for device-laden shutterbugs

Triggertrap’s automatic shutter release kit has come a long way since its humble Kickstarter debut, and today, yet another feature is being added to its iOS and Android apps — wireless mode. The good news is that you can now control all of those advanced trigger settings from a phone or tablet over WiFi, but the bad news is, you’ll need two of them. One remains bound to the camera by cable and dongle, acting as a slave device that carries out orders given from a second, master device. You don’t actually need a real WiFi network to make use of the new feature, though, as connecting the slave to a wireless hotspot running on the master will work the same. If you happen to have all the necessary gear and some ideas for testing it out, the Triggertrap Mobile updates are available now at the relevant app stores.

Continue reading Triggertrap Mobile update adds WiFi control for device-laden shutterbugs

Filed under: , , , ,

Triggertrap Mobile update adds WiFi control for device-laden shutterbugs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 20:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceGoogle Play store, iTunes App Store  | Email this | Comments

ESA, NASA test interplanetary internet by remote controlling a Lego robot from the ISS

ESA, NASA test interplanetary internet by remote controlling a Lego robot from the ISS, take one giant leap for bricks

NASA (and the ESA) have long been working on a multi-planet internet that can link up spaceships, probes and rovers, but they’ve at last brought the experimentation from the broad scale to smaller dimensions. Lego bricks, to be exact. International Space Station expedition lead Sunita Williams recently steered a Lego Mindstorms robot at an ESA facility in Darmstadt while she orbited overhead, proving that future space explorers could directly control a vehicle on a planetary surface while staying out of harm’s way. As in the past, the key to the latest dry run was a Disruption-Tolerant Networking (DTN) system; the focus was more on reliably getting packets through to the brick-based vehicle than on pure speed. As tame as that Earth-bound test drive might sound relative to an in-the-field use on a less familiar world, it demonstrates that the DTN approach can work when it really counts. We just wouldn’t hold our breath for any Martian RC car races.

Filed under: , , ,

ESA, NASA test interplanetary internet by remote controlling a Lego robot from the ISS originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Nov 2012 11:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Mashable  |  sourceNASA  | Email this | Comments

Rdio posts Android beta app with new sidebar UI, unified playback and remote control

Rdio posts Android beta app with new sidebar UI, unified playback and remote control

Rdio has spent a large part of 2012 revamping its mobile app, and a new beta shows that it’s still full of ideas with two months left to go. The 2.3 test version makes the ubiquitous hidden sidebar even more unavoidable than we’ve seen before, but those not irked by UI homogeneity will be happy to see Rdio gain some multi-device harmony: along with syncing whatever’s being played from desktop to mobile and back, the beta introduces a remote control that lets Android gear either serve as the remote or as a target for other devices. A play-later queue persists across devices, too. Although we haven’t been given a timeframe for the finished version pushing out through Google Play, there’s nothing stopping avid subscribers from taking a slight risk with the beta and getting a taste of their musical future.

Filed under: , ,

Rdio posts Android beta app with new sidebar UI, unified playback and remote control originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceRdio  | Email this | Comments

Romo’s return: the cute little smartphone robot wants to steal your heart again

Romo's return the cute little smartphone robot wants to steal your heart again

The first time we saw Romo, it was a fledgling Kickstarter that received our Insert Coin treatment. It went on to achieve its funding and even landed on our stage at CES. Now, the team behind it are back with a new updated version. The latest iteration boasts an all new circuit board, plus updated software and hardware — along with the promise of an API for developers. If that sounds cool, that’s because it is, but there are even loftier plans afoot if they secure a second round of funding. Remote 2-way telepresence, Roomba-esque navigation learning skills, facial recognition and Computer vision to name a few. So if you’re an iOS-owning (no Android at this time) robot fan, you’d better scoot on over to the source and be lured in by its cutsie little grin (again).

Filed under: ,

Romo’s return: the cute little smartphone robot wants to steal your heart again originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceKickstarter  | Email this | Comments

Alcatel-Lucent flies Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 over 3,280 feet using LTE: reach out and buzz someone (video)

AlcatelLucent flies Parrot ARDrone 20 over 3,280 feet with LTE reach out and buzz someone video

The Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 is many good things, but “long-ranged” isn’t what comes to mind with a 165-foot maximum distance between pilot and quadrocopter. Not to be daunted, Alcatel-Lucent has conducted a test with an ad hoc LTE network, a USB modem and a smartphone to see just how far the remote-controlled aircraft could go on 4G. In practice, quite far: thanks in part to the inherently wide coverage of the 800MHz band in France, the team flew the AR.Drone more than 3,280 feet (one kilometer), all while streaming 720p video of the farmland below. Besides giving us ideas for a North by Northwest remake, the flight emphasized the possibilities that come when we have access to a long-distance wireless link with high bandwidth, such as monitoring crops or some very literal field journalism. The challenge will be convincing Alcatel-Lucent to share its trick and let us pester our not-so-next-door neighbors.

[Thanks, Vincent]

Continue reading Alcatel-Lucent flies Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 over 3,280 feet using LTE: reach out and buzz someone (video)

Filed under: ,

Alcatel-Lucent flies Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 over 3,280 feet using LTE: reach out and buzz someone (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 22:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAlcatel-Lucent  | Email this | Comments

Lockitron launches iPhone-controlled keyless lock that pings you when someone knocks (video)

DNP Lockitron

Lockitron has just outed a new cellphone-controlled keyless entry system, sporting a raft of new bells and wireless whistles. The WiFi-connected product mounts over your existing deadbolt “in seconds,” according to the company, and lets you or those you trust control your lock from anywhere in the world by SMS or the internet. You can also unlock your door in person without lifting a finger if you have an iPhone 4S or 5, as the Lockitron will sense your approach using Bluetooth 4.0 — a feature that may extend to NFC and Android devices in the future, too. To top it off, the system can notify you when a friend or relative returns home, and it has a knock sensor to let you know if someone’s come by to visit. Lockitron exceeded its self-imposed minimum order limit by 250 percent in less than a day, so if you’d like to pre-order one at the current $149 price and get it for March 2013, hit the source.

Continue reading Lockitron launches iPhone-controlled keyless lock that pings you when someone knocks (video)

Filed under: , ,

Lockitron launches iPhone-controlled keyless lock that pings you when someone knocks (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 07:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceLockitron  | Email this | Comments

Netflix iOS and Android apps have a remote control easter egg for PS3 owners

Netflix iOS and Android apps have a remote control easter egg for PS3 owners

Now that the revamped Netflix interface has hit phones and tablets for both Apple and Android powered hardware, the service has quietly enabled something else: second screen remote control. Currently the feature is only known to work on the PlayStation 3 with a mobile device on the same local network, once the two apps are running you can browse as normal on your phone or tablet and when you go to play a movie or TV show it asks you to choose where it will play. While the video is playing you can stop, pause or seek through it to a certain point, change the audio or subtitles, choose a different episode or even browse for something entirely different without stopping the action. The YouTube app on PS3 works in a similar fashion after its most recent update. We’ve got a few screens of the mobile apps at work in the gallery, check after the break for a quick video of it working.

Continue reading Netflix iOS and Android apps have a remote control easter egg for PS3 owners

Filed under: , , , ,

Netflix iOS and Android apps have a remote control easter egg for PS3 owners originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 19:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

LG announces infrared-equipped Optimus Vu II and universal remote app

LG Qremote

LG just outed the Optimus Vu II for the Korean market, designed around a remote control app, QRemote. The company’s translated PR claims (erroneously) that the new device will be “the world’s first smartphone using infrared,” letting it operate gear like set-top boxes and home appliances, including other companies’ products. The device is scheduled to launch next month in the maker’s home country, around the time the Tegra 3-powered Optimus Vu will go on sale in the US as Verizon’s LG Intuition. The company hasn’t released any technical details for the phone — in fact, other than the remote functions, we don’t even know if there are any changes from the current pen-capable model. In any case, it might give pause to another Korean maker about to announce an awfully similar product.

Filed under: , , ,

LG announces infrared-equipped Optimus Vu II and universal remote app originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceLG (translated)  | Email this | Comments