Have you ever wanted to stand on the bridge of your very own spacecraft and, in a stentorian voice, proudly declaim “Computer? What is the weather in Brooklyn tomorrow?” The Ubi, announced a few years ago and successfully funded to the tune of $229,000, was supposed to offer us this Picardian Utopia of always-on computing and, to a degree, they’ve succeeded. What does the Ubi do?… Read More
Originally a Kickstarter project, Ubi is a ubiquitous computing device. Designed to plug into your wall and remain dormant until you talk to it, this little computer can perform searches, wake you up, and even sense environmental conditions in every room.
The Ubi costs $219 to pre-order and should ship in early 2013. Founded by a Toronto team, Amin Abdossalami, Mahyar Fotoohi, and Leor Grebler, it’s an answer to the problem of ubiquitous computing. Because it’s always on and depends on the cloud to handle queries and various applications, it can become a sort of background computer for users with larger homes. It can also double as a thermostat, baby monitor, and intercom.
The Ubi can also monitor other Ubis in your house, notifying you when a light goes on, for example. It works with smartphones and tablets to create a networked system of mini computers that work together with other applications, including the Nest thermostat.
While I’m not completely certain these guys are the folks to pull this off – getting the ubiquity into ubiquitous computing is very hard and Samsung, LG, HTC, and Apple are all trying – I’m really excited to see how these things fare. I hope that one day soon I can hold my head up high and say in a stout, Starfleet-inflected voice: “Computer, identify malfunction immediately!”
And Ubi will say: “You’re the malfunction, John. You are.”
Back in August we reported on a device called the Ubi, and for those who might have missed our post or have forgotten, the Ubi is a device that will bring voice-activated computing to your home. It plugs into your wall socket and will connect to your home’s WiFi network, letting you dictate commands to the device hands-free, which means that you will be able to ask the Ubi to perform certain commands while you’re reading a book, cooking, watching the television or basically anytime you might have your hands full. At the moment its creators have listed features such as internet search, email, speakerphone, intercom, home automation and monitoring.
The good news is if this sounds like a device you wouldn’t mind getting for your home, you will be pleased to learn that the Ubi is currently available for pre-order via its website where it will set you back $219. It will also come with temperature, humidity, air pressure and ambient light sensors to help provide feedback, a microphone and a set of built-in stereo speakers. If you’d like to learn more about the Ubi or watch some videos, head on over to its website for the details where an extensive FAQ has also been provided.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: The Ubi Kickstarter project wants to bring voice activated computing to your home, LG Hom-Bot robotic vacuum cleaner debuts internationally,
While our smartphones or tablets are perfectly capable of listening to voice commands and performing actions based on them, it would also mean that we will need to carry them with us all the time. If you like the idea of hands free computing around the house, then this Kickstarter project dubbed Ubi might be worth taking a look at. It plugs into your wall outlet and will connect to your home’s WiFi, letting you dictate voice commands while reading your book or while watching television, or even better while cooking so you don’t have to pause and look at your recipes.
Some of the features that its creators are planning to ship with Ubi includes a speakerphone, home speaker system, a virtual assistant, voice memos, an alarm clock, intercom system, a baby monitor and even the ability to control your home’s climate (although it might need web enabled thermostats like Nest). Ubi will be based off Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and will be powered by an 800MHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor with 1GB of RAM. It will sport an omni-directional microphone, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, temperature, humidity and air pressure sensors and an ambient light sensor as well. If Ubi sounds like something you wouldn’t mind hooking your home up with, then head on over to its Kickstarter page for the details or to pledge your donation.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Chameleon Kickstarter project aims to change the home screens on Android tablets, BlueDrone RC car lets you control it via your Android device,
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