Hasta La Gadget!

It was over a month ago when we heard Google was planning to build their own smartwatch and even got to see a concept of the rumored device earlier this week, but today, a patent has surfaced that may hint at what we can expect from Google’s smartwatch.

Google’s patent, which is titled “Smart-watch with user interface features,” is for a smartwatch design that features dual touchpads, a wireless Internet connection and components that are located within the device’s wristband instead of underneath its face. The touchpad will not only be able to allow its users to perform the expected range of interactivity such as tapping, pinching and stretching gestures, but may also be completely removable as well. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Renny Bluetooth Home Ringer , Google Glass Now Has A Reddit Application,

If you’re hip-deep in Arduino projects, you’re likely aware of shields: graft-on boards that add functionality, most often getting the Arduino in touch with the rest of the world. Many of these require more than a little coding skill to get the ball rolling, even in light of the Netduino, which has led Supermechanical to unveil its new Twine Cloud Shield. The board links the Arduino to a Twine WiFi sensor and gives the Arduino every internet feature the Twine can offer through just three lines of code. There’s even a pair of touchpads on the shield to trigger actions through capacitive touch. Do be prepared to pony up for that ease of use when it costs $35 for the Cloud Shield alone, and $150 to bundle one with the Twine. Still, the outlay may be justified if you’re more interested in quickly finishing a fun experiment than frittering your time away on the basics.

Filed under: Misc, Peripherals

Comments

Source: Supermechanical

The Logitech Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650 provides a large glass touch-surface, allowing you to perform the basic point, click and scroll functions anywhere your fingers rest on the touch surface. Priced at $79.99, the new touchpad is fully compatible with the Windows 8 gestures, including edge gestures for app switching, app bar and charms bar activation, pinch-to-zoom and three-finger swipe to take you back to the Start Screen. The Logitech Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650 draws power from a rechargeable battery that offers up to one month of operating time on a full charge. [Logitech]

It’ll be another two weeks before Windows 8 PCs go on sale, but if you like, you can pick out your gesture-enabled peripherals now. Logitech just announced two wireless mice and an external trackpad, all optimized to support gestures in Windows 8. Starting with the mice, the Touch Mouse T620 has the same design as the M600 announced earlier this year, except it supports Win 8 gestures out of the box. (The M600 will get a software update allowing it to work the same way.) Similar to its predecessor, the T620’s entire top surface is touch-enabled, which means you can do things like swipe the right side for the Charm Bar, or swipe from the left to rotate through open programs. You can also double tap with one finger to return to the Start Screen, and double tap with two fingers to show the desktop.

Moving on, the Zone Touch Mouse T400 has a touch strip that you can use to move up and down through pages, as well as scroll through the live tiles on the Start Screen. In a brilliant twist, though, the touch strip itself is comprised of two buttons, which you can use to toggle open apps or bring up the Start Screen, depending on which end you press. Finally, the Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650 is a Magic Trackpad-style touchpad with a spacious glass surface, which seemed impeccably responsive during our brief hands-on with it. Unlike the two mice, which run on AAs, the T650 has a rechargeable battery, which you can re-juice over USB.

All of these accessories use proprietary 2.4GHz wireless technology instead of Bluetooth, which means you’ll need a free USB port to accommodate the accompanying transceiver. The dongle can pair with up to six Logitech peripherals at once, but that’s a bummer if you also happen to own gear made by a Microsoft or HP. As you might have guessed, these are compatible with Windows PCs only, though you could use them with Win 7 if you so chose. Look for all three this month, with the Touchpad T650 priced $80, the Touch Mouse at $70 and the T400 at $50.

Continue reading Logitech outs two wireless mice and an external trackpad, all optimized for Windows 8

Filed under: Peripherals

Logitech outs two wireless mice and an external trackpad, all optimized for Windows 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Oct 2012 04:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Logitech Blog  | Email this | Comments

If there were one PC we’ve seen thus far from the HP collection bringing on Windows 8 with touchscreen capabilities that we’d call the king, it’d be the HP SpectreONE. This machine is the most expensive of the all-in-one designs HP is offering up here at the start of the Windows 8 generation of PCs, and with its 23-inch flush glass display and 3rd generation Intel Core processor options, not to mention it’s lovely and sleek looking body, there’s no stopping it. This device will not, on the other hand, be launching with the rest of the October wave of devices – it’s coming in November.

You’ll find that this beast keeps the Spectre brand name hot with NFC technology to tap your devices together and share media wirelessly and utterly simply. You’ve got many of the same features the rest of this newest HP wave of machines have such as Beats Audio for enhanced sound. And HP Connected Remote, Photo, and Music are included as well – HP is presenting an experience here both in hardware and software, with HP technology making a unique experience for you both outside and in.

You’ll get the computer itself along with a wireless multi-touch touchpad and a keyboard inside the box. With what may very well be a giant step forward for how we use PCs in general, HP has opted out of including a wireless mouse in the package you’ll be getting when you purchase the HP SpectreONE. The true test is at hand – can we bring the desktop world into the universe our notebook-loving hands have been working with for quite a few years already?

UPDATE: HP informs us that there WILL be a mouse in the package now. Good for you traditionalists!

HP might be taking a gamble here – even if it is a tiny one. If you want a mouse, you can buy one for next to nothing, after all – even a wireless mouse doesn’t cost a pretty penny if you know where to look. However, it’s the thought that counts. HP has thrown the mouse out the window here, and with it goes the last component that did not look flat. Now with the HP SpectreONE, HP can present a package that is, indeed, working with basically all flat hardware – and you’re going to love it.

This beast will be appearing on November 14th for a starting price of $1,299 USD MSRP – that’s an expected price and release date, of course, we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the final word on that. You can start saving up now though, no harm in that! Have a peek at our HP tag portal to see the rest of HP’s new Windows 8 machine offerings from start to finish – great stuff on the horizon!

HP SpectreONE all-in-one PC brings trackpad-centric experience to Windows 8 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.