Toshiba is intent on making a camera sensor for smartphones and tablets that borrows a trick from Lytro and allows users to select a focus area in their photos after having taken them. Not only that, but it’ll also allow users to put the whole photo in focus, as well as work with video shot on the device, potentially one-upping the pioneering Lytro camera in a form factor designed for use in everyday devices. Engadget spotted a report from Asahi Shimbun detailing Toshiba’s latest mobile imaging project.
The camera is designed to use 500,000 small lenses layered on top of the camera sensor, each of which grabs a slightly different image which is then combined into one via Toshiba’s software. The result is an image that users can tap to select focus, just like with those created by Lytro’s lightfield technology, but in a package small enough to fit in your pocket, rather than in Lytro’s elongated camera body. While Toshiba is already hard at work on the tech, and hopes to link up with smartphone and tablet OEMs to work it into their devices, don’t expect to see anything available commercially using this tech before at least the end of 2013. No word yet on whether it’ll allow users to shift perspective slightly in addition to focus, the way Lytro does since its latest update.
We recently covered a project that allows you to create Lytro-style pics using any camera that can manual focus while shooting digital video, but Toshiba’s tech promises to be even easier to use, and likely cheaper for most individuals, too. Many see Lytro itself as a tech demo, with the ultimate intent of the project being to get the tech into more wide-ranging consumer devices. In an interview with Gizmodo in October, Lytro founder Dr. Ren Ng mused on when we might see Lytro tech in smartphones, which reportedly still requires “extensive research and testing.” It looks like the race is on, however, with Toshiba eager to capitalize early.
Samsung is keeping its fans entertained during the lull between Christmas and New Years with a several announcements and teasers: a CES 2013 Smart TV teaser video, a sneak peek at its Smart Hub, a content platform for Samsung Smart TV, and a new version of ChatON that turns its cross-platform messaging app into a social media network.
First ChatON gained traction in its efforts to render SMS obsolete. Now with ChatON 2.0, Samsung is positioning the service, available in over 200 countries in 60 languages, as a “micro” social networking platform where users can create personal profiles and post status updates for friends to comment on.
The new version also makes it easier to leave comments or content, including photos and videos, for friends in “the Trunk,” which Samsung describes as an alternative to, or at least a first-stop before sharing on Facebook and other social networks. ChatON 2.0 adds a multiscreen feature that makes it possible to chat up with up to five connected devices on a single account. Users can invite friends to ChatON conversations from different platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Weibo.
The new Smart Hub’s updated home screen allows users to simultaneously watch live broadcasts and movies while using apps and looking at personal photos. Samsung also said that in 2013, Smart Hub will offer a “more intuitive experience with various contents, live TV broadcasts, VOD, apps, Internet and such.” The “Flipping” function will allow users to flip through five screens like a book with Samsung’s motion control function.
What does Samsung want consumers to use the Smart Hub and ChatON 2.0 on? Presumably its Smart TV, which won’t be launched until CES in two weeks. But in the meantime, Samsung fans can get a sneak preview with this video Samsung posted today on its blog:
One of the stranger things I came across while in Tokyo last month was a digital artist who built a human camera that requires touch from another person to snap photos.
It is artist Eric Siu’s bit of rebellion against an increasingly technology-dependent world that distances people from real-life interactions. This effect is especially pronounced where Siu lives in Japan, as the Internet has allowed “Hikikomori” and “Otaku” sub-cultures to thrive. In “Hikikomori” culture, teens actually shut themselves in from interaction with the outside world.
As social networking, e-mail and other forms of digital communication replace or squeeze out time for face-to-face meetings, Siu wanted to create a piece of technology that required the opposite — real human touch.
The Touchy Camera, which he built using off-the-shelf parts for a few hundred dollars, is a wearable camera that requires another person to touch the wearer in order for it to work. Otherwise, the wearer is blind because the camera’s shutter doesn’t open without contact from someone else (see the GIF I made below).
If you touch him for 10 seconds or longer, that camera snaps a photo that’s viewable from an LCD screen on the back of the his head.
We walked around with it one morning in the Roppongi Hills area in Tokyo. And to make an understatement, the effect on bystanders was a bit magical. Some people would run away if they saw us come close, while others started asking questions. When some of them touched him and the shutters in front of his eyes opened, they gasped and smiled.
The camera works when human touch completes a simple circuit. Siu hands you something that looks like a lightbulb to hold in one hand, and when you touch him with the other, it completes a basic low-voltage circuit.
Siu only has one version of the Touchy camera, although people have asked him before about buying one as a toy. Since releasing it earlier this year, he’s performed all around mainland China and Asia and actually has gotten a bit of interest in it as a product. He says he would be open to making others if there was demand.
He and his partner, another character named Margaret Toucha, just made a holiday video (above) filled with boxers, pole dancers and some meandering around downtown Tokyo.
The first ever musical recording in space (that we know of anyway) was performed just a few days ago on the International Space Station by Col. Chris Hadfield, commander of the International Space Station. The song, which is already climbing up Reddit’s r/Music page, is an original Christmas Carol called Jewel in the Night.
Based on the commander’s Facebook and Twitter pages, he and his crew are celebrating Christmas in every way possible while they’re away from their families. They even have a Christmas tree on the ceiling, thanks to what the commander calls “the beauty of a weightless Christmas.”
Col. Hadfield is married, with three adult children, one of whom sent us his Christmas Carol.
The song is interesting, as it depicts Christmas from a birds’ eye perspective, from space. The International Space Station crew is spending Christmas as far away from Earth as possible, and while I try to stick with the classics, no situation is more suited to an original melody.
Here’s the SoundCloud file:
It’s crazy to think that someday, probably soon, when space travel has become a consumer industry, that this could be the Christmas Carol of outer space.
I mean, we made it through the Mayan Apocalypse (and the Black Friday Apocalypse), so in my book we’re good to go for at least a few more centuries.
In other words, get used to Jewel in the Night. One day, it too will be a classic with Oh Holy Night and Jingle Bells.
Lyrics
So bright, Jewel in the night. There in my window below. So bright, dark as the night. With all of our cities aglow.
It’s long been our way To honor this day And offer good will to man.
And know, where eever we go, It’s come round to Christmas again.
So far, shines every star. They’re without limit to see. So grand, far away land Beckoning, calling to thee
And let it be shown Where ever we go In all of the wonders above,
With all that we bring There’s no finer thing Than this message, this province of love.
A love for the families That gather below. Love for the stranger That you’ll never know.
For those who aren’t with you Who wander above.
So bright, jewel in the night. There lies the cradle we knew. Home of all that we love And all of our memories, too.
It shall be our way To wander away And take with us all that we know. And never cease this message of peace From Bethlehem so long ago.
It shall be our way, to wander away, And take with us all that we know. And never cease, this message of peace, From Bethlehem so long ago.
It’s a safe bet that a fair few children of geeky moms and dads will be finding a rectangular-shaped parcel under their holiday tree tomorrow. And when they rip off the shiny wrapping those lucky kids will find an oh-so-tasty Raspberry Pi inside: a $35 mini computer that can play Blueray-quality video and has more graphical power than a Nintendo Wii — although none of that will be immediately obvious. The Pi is a learning tool not a plug-and-play toy.
The first thing the kids are likely to notice after they winkle their Pi out of its antistatic packet is that it looks a bit weird. If they’ve grown up surrounded by slick, shiny consumer gadgets like iPhones and iPads they may never have handled an uncovered circuit board before. Reclaiming electronics from the sealed box approach is all part of the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s plan to get kids learning to code – curiosity being an essential component of learning and creativity.
So in the spirit of stripping away a few more layers, I’ve been asking the Foundation what the secret is to making a $35 mini computer. The basic recipe is this: having extremely skilful cooks who can craft batch after batch of Raspberry Pis as quickly as possible, and with as few duds as possible.
Many Raspberry Pis are made in the UK, in Sony’s Pencoed factory in Wales which landed a multi-million pound contract to manufacture Pis for one of the Foundation’s Pi licensees, Premier Farnell, back in the fall. Premier Farnell also has two locations in China which produce Pi but the majority of its production (70 percent) is in Pencoed, and in January the factory will account for its entire Pi output. (The Foundation can’t disclose exactly how much of the Pi pie each of its licensees accounts for.)
Sony’s Pencoed factory makes an average of 4,000 Model B Pi‘s every day — or one every 7.5 seconds. Which is hard to imagine when you consider the intricacies involved in churning out thousands of double sided PCBs (printed component boards) with surface mount components on both sides and plated through hole components on the top — with blobs of molten solder being laid down in just the right spots, and the correct components stamped on them at a rate of 5.5 parts per second. And doing it all on a very tight budget.
Boards are made in panels of six Pis which go through four “key processes”: mounting the bottom surface components, mounting the top surface components, mounting the plated through hole components; and then testing and packing.
Pi on a budget
Of course, making a Pi is nowhere near as complex as making a modern smartphone, but the balancing act here is keeping the price down without eroding the distributor’s business model. The most costly components in the Pi are the Processor and Memory core silicon, closely followed by the connectors.
With a $35 price tag (and just $25 for the forthcoming Model A Pi) components have to be bought at the right price but also the right quality — since manufacturing defects also have to be minimised and squeezed out of the production process till they’re barely ever there. It’s no good slowing production either: demand for Pi is so high they have to be able to make thousands per day.
“To achieve the low price whilst still yielding a sustainable business model requires skillful manufacturing optimisation and parts procurement,” says Pi hardware designer and Foundation trustee Pete Lomas (no relation!). “The production line has to run efficiently and deliver a very low failure rate. Component vendors must be selected for both quality and price and any potential changes passed through a detailed selection procedure. It is little use saving 40 cents on the components if the failure rate of finished Raspberry Pi rises. Equally every defect is aggressively pursued to understand it’s root cause and eliminate it.”
“Test failures” do still exist of course, but Lomas says that “to our knowledge” fewer than 100 boards have been returned by users as defective — meaning less than 0.1 percent of boards have slipped through the quality-control net. “Of these, some had physical (transit) damage and others had no fault found, so the actual figure is somewhat lower again,” he adds.
Selling like hot cakes
In terms of keeping up with demand, Lomas admits the Foundation was initially caught on the hop — having drastically underestimated people’s appetite for Pi — which resulted in shipping delays in the early months. “We were caught out by a massive increase in interest in the Pi in the very early days,” he says. “Whilst we were setting up for a modest production run of 20,000 units the expressions of interest overtook us by a factor of 10. At that point we decided to engage with our partners Premier Farnell and RS.
“Even with their significant resources, the logistics of getting components for a hundred thousands of Pis and getting them built was a challenge.”
Unlike an electronics giant like Apple or Samsung, the not-for-profit Raspberry Pi Foundation and its suppliers were not in a position to stockpile components prior to launch to scale up for the unexpected surge in demand. (And let’s face it, even Apple can’t always keep up with demand.) Another delaying factor is long lead-times on some of the Pi components, says Lomas.
“[Our partners] didn’t have the opportunity to stockpile before launch (unlike, say, Apple), so things were always going to be tricky. Scalability also depends on the components and the lead-time on some parts, especially the processors, is significant and still can present issues a year in to manufacture.”
The Foundation is expecting to sell about a million Pis in its first year of operation — a far cry from the original 20,000 production run it budgeted for.
Baked in the U.K.
The Raspberry Pi was born in the U.K., so it’s only natural the Foundation wanted Pi to be made in the UK too. Sony’s Pencoed factory was chosen because it ticked a variety of boxes, says Lomas — not least, being open to visits from children to see Pi making in progress.
“Making Raspberry Pi in the UK is a desire that we had on day one. The Foundation’s aim is to encourage children to develop an interest in programming, electronics and related engineering subjects. Having the manufacturing of Pi in a place that we could provide opportunities for ‘show and tell’ was also important and the overall philosophy of the Sony management and staff has been a significant enabler for this,” he tells TechCrunch.
“Sony Pencoed was chosen because both their world-class technical capability and their enthusiasm for the Raspberry Pi project overall. We also should not forget that they offered our licensees a viable cost model on a par with the ‘all in cost’ of Far East manufacture. Equally from a technical point of view, the management and resolution of any design related production issues or optimisations is much easier when they are only a few hours away.”
The factory now has more than 22 staff dedicated to Pi production. The overall lead time from first contact with the factory to hitting “volume production” was around 14 weeks — giving an indication of how long it took Sony to devise the Pi production line. Now there’s a “rolling production forecast” between Premier Farnell and Sony which allows for “a degree of production flexibility” with around a month’s notice, says Lomas.
“The only process that Sony did not already have in their production process was Package on Package. Within the introduction programme they researched the process in depth, selected and installed the equipment and ran trials to validate the process before introducing it to the Pi line,” he adds.
Another helping of Pi
Asked whether Sony’s factory could scale up to greater production capacity in the future, Lomas says there is “significant extra capacity” that could be brought on stream. “Ultimately it is the licensee’s decision where to place additional capacity, but overall the Sony experience has been excellent,” he adds.
There has been no let up in demand for Pi, according to Lomas, but the Foundation believes its existing Pi factories have enough capacity to keep up with demand. “We hope that in the next few months we will reach equilibrium where manufacturing is balanced (as much as it ever can be) with demand. We have options to increase capacity with our existing manufacturers and so additional factories would in all probability not be required.”
For more on Pi production, Lomas has written an excellent, blow by blow account of the various stages and processes of Sony’s Pencoed Pi production line — such as the reels of surface mount components used to keep production ticking along, how Pi boards are baked (yes really) in giant ovens to make sure all the components are properly adhered, and the perils of “lava accidents.”
The Foundation has also put together a video montage showing some of the Pi production stages:
The DC44 from Dyson is truly an Animal. It’s as good as it gets in the land of vacuum cleaners, with a wireless base, multiple lightweight attachments, and a sleek design. Sure, it’s on the expensive end of the spectrum, but when storing and using your vacuum cleaner is this easy, you realize it’s well worth it.
Plus, it does a damn good job of keeping the house clean.
Long Version
Features:
Dual-power mode
Cordless
5 lbs
Motorized cleaner head
.09 gallon bin capacity
Includes combination tools, crevice tools in the box
… the best vacuum I’ve ever used. Setting aside the fact that it’s cordless, light, and sleek, the DC44 actually works better than any other vacuum I’ve come into contact with. My apartment is noticeably cleaner after using it, and the act of vacuuming is noticeably easier when it’s with the Animal. I never once have to go over the same surface twice, and getting the white shag rug or the white upholstered headboard clean with the extra tools is quick and painless.
On top of that, the Animal is cordless, which means no more tripping over or wrangling wires, and it Dyson’s patented mobility technology, relying on a centralized sphere to help maneuver into tough corners and crevices.
It’s incredibly light, and does its job so quickly that it’s tough to get tired before you’re finished. This, of course, depends on the size of your home, but in either case it’s likely an upgrade from almost any other product in the weight department.
One slight downside may be battery power. According to Dyson, the Animal only provides 20 minutes of continuous use in regular mode. I found that to be very modest. I used an initially fully-charged Animal on three separate occasions, all for longer than ten minutes each, and only had to charge it after that third time.
The Animal comes with dual power modes, meaning you can use it for 20 minutes regularly or for “8 minutes on Boost mode.” Boost mode is intended to pull up the really tough stuff, which it does well, but it does drain power much faster. I got about 13 minutes out of Boost mode.
(Editors’ Note: I mixed up products in the video above, and accidentally said the Animal has a six-hour battery life. My mistake. My apologies.)
Buy the DC44 for…
… both the clean freak and the slob. A vacuum isn’t the sexiest gift, but this is just about the sexiest vacuum in the world, and the only I’d deem acceptable as a Christmas gift. However, if you so choose to give the gift of cordless clean, don’t bother worrying about that recipient’s disposition toward a clean home.
My girlfriend requires a spic and span living environment, whereas I’m far more laid back in that department. Of course, she enjoys a quick lap around the apartment with the Animal, cordless and free. But I was surprised to find that I didn’t mind vacuuming at all with the DC44. It’s even quiet enough to leave on the news or the music.
Because…
… some of the best gifts are the things we need, not the toys we want: a coffee maker, a new washing machine, luggage, or a vacuum cleaner. If you’ve seen a loved one struggle with their out-dated vacuum cleaner, the Dyson DC44 is a truly thoughtful gift.
It will pay off in the long-run, when daily cleanings prove to be much more efficient. But it’s also shiny and new, and a fun thing to open up on Christmas morning.
You waited this long, you might as well go big: Apple’s smaller 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro is a very worthy sequel to the 15-inch variety released this past summer, and while it will still strain the average buyer’s budget, it definitely won’t inspire any buyer’s remorse.
… Apple’s second notebook with a HiDPI display that qualifies for its ‘Retina’ moniker, and the one that is the most portable with a smaller physical footprint than the 13-inch MacBook Air, and significant weight savings over the 15-inch Retina MBP. All of which it accomplishes while still boasting the same 7-hour battery life as the 13-inch non-Retina variant.
Buy the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro for…
… yourself. This is a pricy machine at $1,699 (or $1,999 for the configuration with 256GB of flash storage, plus configurable options), so it’s unlikely that anyone else will be buying this for you, unless you’ve been very good this year. Also, since you’re reading this on or after Christmas Eve day, you could spring for this if you completely forgot or couldn’t get to someone on your list who’s incredibly important. They’ll forget how inconsiderate you were the first time the desktop swims into view on the Mac’s amazing display.
Because…
… you could go for the 15-inch model for only $600 more, which also introduces a dedicated graphics card into the mix, but you likely don’t need to. In practice, I’ve used both interchangeably and only very occasionally noticed the difference: when editing video and outputting to dual high-resolution displays, for instance. Otherwise, the weight and size savings you’ll get with the 13-inch are worth any minor performance trade-offs. But if you’re after a computer that can come with you to any shoot and handle photo editing duties in eye-popping style (thanks to Adobe’s recent Retina-supporting Photoshop update), this is definitely the machine to get.
We brought you a video back at the end of November that showed off Massoud Hassani’s mine-clearing device, the Mine Kafon, based on a wind-powered child’s toy. Now, the Afghan industrial designer has taken the suggestions of a number of our commenters and put the project on Kickstarter. Hassani is looking for £100,000 to make the Kafons and document the process.
While the Mine Kafon is cheaper to produce than more traditional methods of clearing minefields, owing to rather simplified construction using bamboo that harnesses wind motor for locomotion, Hassani still needs startup funds to get the project going at a scale where it will be useful to residents of his home country of Afghanistan, and other war-torn locations where there are still hundreds of buried mines left to be cleared. The Kickstarter project is designed to take Hassani’s concept and make it a practically deployable device.
The funding will go to bettering the engineering of the basic prototype, including improvements to GPS accuracy and improvement of overall durability (the Kafon is intended to survive multiple mine detonations, not just one), as well as mold-making and fabrication costs. It also accounts for money set aside for providing backer rewards, which include lamps designed by Hassani which use the same mold that creates the Mine Kafon’s feet. Finally, some of the budget will go towards a film documenting the construction and deployment process.
This is one of those rare hardware Kickstarter projects where backers won’t walk away with the shipping device (though you do get a 1/4th scale model at the £5,000 pledge level). But the point is that for most who back this, you won’t likely be in a position to actually need the Mine Kafon’s services. Usually there’s a degree of risk with backing Kickstarter projects, but in this case, even if it helps put only one Mine Kafon on the ground, the risk is more than justified.
I was a good boy this year. I ate all my vegetables, cleaned my room, and didn’t freak out over Instagram’s new TOS. My Christmas list is short this year. I want a lathe turning chuck, a new mother-in-law and for the purpose of this post, a Nintendo Wii U. Easy. I am trusting in you. Don’t let me down.
None of those items should be hard for you to find. The Wii U is popular but not that popular. But I swear, Santa, I better not have to sit through a Wii U update tomorrow morning. I want to wake up, run out to the living room and instantly start playing with my new Wii U.
Giving #WiiU as a gift? Pro-tip: Perform system updates before wrapping so it’s good to go as soon as it’s opened!
Nintendo even took to Twitter last week to advise updating before wrapping. It’s good advice, Santa, and applies to other items, too. Christmas morning should be a time of excitement, not configuration. The Wii U’s system update is required – there is no way to skip it and update later. Other items, like an iPad bought several months ago or a Microsoft Surface, will have less critical, but still important updates waiting. Can you do them for me?
Just don’t take off the OEM screen protector, Santa. That’s for the new owner to take off. I love peeling back the plastic on a new gadget. Best feeling ever.
Yours truly,
Matthew Burns
P.S. — I could really use some new socks, too. White ones are fine. I’m not fancy.
If you’ve watched and enjoyed the program known as “The Good Doctor Who” in which an alien of some sort who flies around with his little, knobby robotic buddy (I’m not entirely clear on the details), you’ll be pleased to note that one fan, our own former employee Greg Kumparak, has built a real Tardis police box which, using some digital trickery, is really bigger on the inside.
Greg built his little Tardis around Thanksgiving and added a little light on top. Because he’s a Dr. Who fan, he found his device to be lacking in realism. He then programmed a 3D model of the inside of the Tardis – it looks like the inside of the Teletubby house – and added an augmented-reality element to make the room inside appear when you held up your smartphone. Bang: instant Tardis.
Greg quit working with us so he could start building things and this is one of his coolest little creations. I’m not a huge Dr. Who fan, but anyone who has enough love and intensity to build a cute little model and make it all the cooler is a good guy in my book. Now he just needs to make the Millennium Falcon from Star Trek.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
