Sep 04
After the commoditization of phones and tablets, companies are desperate to find the next big thing. Some believe that people really want smart watches. The only problem is that smart watches are stupid.
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Sep 04
The smartwatch era is officially here and Qualcomm has just announced their very own smartwatch to rival the Galaxy Gear, and many others. Wearable computing is only going to grow, and Qualcomm wants to help lead the charge by jumping in early. Today at Qualcomm Uplinq 2013 they’ve announced the Qualcomm TOQ always-on smartwatch. The […]
Sep 04
Last year when I saw YEI Technology’s Unreal Engine demo of their 3-Space Sensors, I mentioned how it might be able to integrate with the Oculus Rift for a more immersive virtual reality experience. Turns out the company had the same plan all along. YEI recently launched a Kickstarter fundraiser for PrioVR, an improved and affordable version of the 3-Space Sensors.
The PrioVR sensors are significantly smaller than the 3-Space Sensors and will also include an input unit. The latter is for plugging in additional external input, i.e. physical controllers such as a joystick or a gamepad. Data from sensors and input units will be sent to a “centralized wearable wireless hub architecture”, which in turn will beam the data to a base station that has a USB output.
PrioVR currently comes in two developer kits: PrioVR Lite includes 11 sensors, 1 input unit, the wireless hub, the base station plus the straps needed to wear all of the electronics. The PrioVR Pro kit adds 6 more sensors and 1 more input unit to the Lite kit. As expected, the kits will come with SDK and API so developers can adapt or build games around PrioVR. YEI Technology also said that “major game engines will be supported” and that they will also release “demo projects and open source code examples.”
Pledge at least $450 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a PrioVR dev kit as a reward. I wonder what gaming companies and console makers think of all these virtual reality hardware. The Omni VR treadmill in particular seems to be in direct competition with the PrioVR. I also find it hilarious that Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft seem to have given up on motion-controlled gaming when in fact they popularized it with their respective efforts, especially with the Wii and the Kinect. I guess they weren’t able to connect the dots to virtual reality. Perhaps no one really did until the Oculus Rift hit the scene.
However, while the PrioVR and other VR hardware have immense potential, I think it’s safe to say that we’re still years away from seeing consumer versions of any of them. I think the manufacturers need to sort out who their partners will be and eventually release a complete package for consumers and game developers alike. They can’t expect us to buy various VR hardware separately without knowing which games they’ll work with. Remember, as of now these sensors and headsets are separate from PCs and consoles – you know, the machines that actually run games. If folks are already balking at the Xbox One’s price, imagine how they’ll react when they find out you have to shell out hundreds of dollars for a console or a gaming PC, $300 for the Oculus Rift and then $450 more for the sensors. Holy crap. A subscription-based cloud gaming setup – with free-to-play games – almost makes sense from my wallet’s perspective.
[via PrioVR]
Sep 04
Do you like to crank your music up to 11? Are you the type of person who doesn’t care about their neighbors? Or do you live in a single-family home on a large lot? Either way, Sony’s latest stereo system should fit the bill.
The new Sony SHAKE-5 stereo system may be a “mini” system, but it’s backed by an ear-shattering 2,400 watts of power. This thing is guaranteed to turn your house into a nightclub – and quite possibly bring the police to your front door. Each speaker is a 3-way setup, with a 13.8″ woofer, 7.9″ mid-range and a 1″ horn tweeter. Power is divided across four 600 watt amps.
In addition to its massive sound output, the SHAKE-5 offers a multi-colored LED lightshow built into the middle of its large subwoofers to help you complete the disco effect. It also offers several “DJ” effects, including a mode called “BASS BAZUCA” which is supposed to crank the low-end even louder. In addition to AM, FM, CD and USB sources, it also offers built-in Bluetooth connectivity for wireless music playback, and NFC sensing for devices that support it. It’s also got a microphone input should you want to play DJ.
The SHAKE-5 will be available in the U.S. later this month for $999(USD).
[via Sony Blog]
Sep 04
While Google hopes to launch Google Glass by Christmas,
there’s a lot of speculation as to its acceptance in the business
world. Surely with an anticipated price tag of slightly under $1500, at
first glance (pun intended), one would think only larger brands would be
able to afford this innovative new device.
Sep 04
Innovative Wearable LED Display
Posted in: Today's Chili
Thanks to a new Kickstarter project named Fos, you may soon be able to display a number of items on your body thanks to a flexible LED display, from the miles you walked to your body weight and other useful items.
Sep 03
Bionym Nymi wristband uses wearer’s heartbeat to authenticate personal tech
Posted in: Today's ChiliBionym has announced the pre-order of its Nymi wristband, a small device that seeks to complement passwords and PINs as a personal authentication device. Falling solidly into the wearable technology category, Nymi works by using the wearer’s heartbeat to determine identity, using that information to log into computers, unlock car doors, and more. The idea […]
Sep 03
If you think back to when flatscreen TVs first hit the market one of the things that a lot of people wanted to do was mount them on the wall. The problem with mounting most LCD and plasma TVs on walls is that they’re often too thick and heavy, and most of them just ended up sitting on entertainment centers. Now there are incredibly thin-profile OLED screens coming to market that will definitely be skinny and lightweight enough to hang on the wall like a work of art.
LG has unveiled their new Gallery TV (model 55EA8800) that uses an incredibly thin OLED panel inside of a bezel that looks like a picture frame. The overall effect is of a piece of artwork hanging on the wall inside of a custom frame. That frame does more than just look good, it also hides the television’s speaker system called Canvas Speaker 2.2.
Taking the picture frame effect even further, the TV ships with a gallery mode and preloaded digital images of artworks from famous artists. Buyers can also put their own images and artwork on the TV and have them display in gallery mode as well. Pricing for the TV is unknown at this time, but knowing how much other OLED sets are going for, I’d expect it to be somewhere around $10,000(USD).
[via Pocket-Lint]
Sep 02
New Samsung Android Watch Sighted
Posted in: Today's Chili
Samsung Galaxy Gear may be released this week and turn out to be the most advanced Android watch released so far, with an OLED screen, NFC, a camera and a full day of battery life.
Sep 02
I don’t know if 3D cameras ever took off or are taking off, but a simple invention could hasten their downfall. It’s called the Kúla Deeper, an add-on for standard DSLR cameras that uses mirrors to create two side-by-side images or videos.
The Kúla Deeper attaches to 72mm DSLR lenses by default, but Kúla will also release additional lens adapters for other lens sizes. The add-on has four high precision mirrors that create two images and then reflect those two images on the lens. You can immediately enjoy the stereosopic 3D on your camera’s LCD display with the glasses that come with the Kúla Deeper. Kúla will also release a free software called Kulacode that will let you convert the images and videos you captured into various 3D formats.
Cross your eyes and pledge at least €59 (approx. $78 (USD)) on Karolina Fund to get a Kúla Deeper as a reward.
[via Digital Trends]
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