Hasta La Gadget!

Ah, ingenuity. We’ve seen Google’s Android platform used for a host of unorthodox applications over the years, but Ben Kokes’ concoction deserves a round of golf claps to call its own. The so-called Replay Football system employs a Bluetooth-enabled Nerf football with a 9-axis inertial sensing motion processing module (MPU-6000 by InvenSense), and when linked to a visualization / throw analysis application, you’re able to analyze the rotation of a football in real-time as it’s thrown. From there, the app breaks down the nuts and bolts of the toss, and while it’s not able to blurt out pointers on correcting things just yet, we’re seeing endless potential for the next revision. Don’t believe us? There’s a video just below that’ll make a believer out of you, yet.

Continue reading Spiral training Android application turns anyone into Peyton Manning… in theory (video)

Spiral training Android application turns anyone into Peyton Manning… in theory (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s stick mimics telephone recievers of old. Photos Pocket Lint

According to Samsung, phones are now officially too big to use to make calls. Its latest accessory is a tiny phone receiver that you lift up to your ear to make a call. It’s a little like a Bluetooth headset, only it’s not a headset (despite the name — the Slim Stick Type Bluetooth Headset).

The HM5000 (its robot name) pairs with up to two phones simultaneously and has a microphone and a speaker in its slim, sleek bar-shaped body. There’s also a clip so you can tuck it into a front pocket just like a pen. A vibrator will inform you of incoming calls.

It seems ridiculous, although at least you can’t dorkify yourself by stowing it in your ear like any other Bluetooth headset. But Samsung is clearly thinking of tablets, here. The existing Galaxy Tab has been hacked to make phone calls, but imagine a tablet with voice calling enabled. You’d never hold that up to your ear, but this little bar would be ideal.

The headset/receiver was shown off by Samsung at the CTIA show in Orlando, Florida, so it may or may not make it into your local cellphone store. But even if it doesn’t, expect somebody to start making these. Imagine an iPad with a retro-phone handset and an on-screen, old-fashioned phone dial.

Samsung Slim Stick Type Bluetooth Headset hands-on [Pocket Lint]

Photos: Pocket Lint

See Also:

• Retro Dial-Style iPhone Phone Dock
• Retro Phone Handset Brings Back the 80s, Attracts Hipster Ladies …
• Bluetooth Retro Phone Handset
• Caller ID: Retro Rotary Phone Picture Frame Hack
• Retro Phone With Mod-Cons

Do you pine for animatronic eyes and robots that whisper sweet nothings in your ear? Well, geeks with distant girlfriends rejoice, because TEROOS, the shoulder-mounted, remotely-controlled telepresence avatar has arrived. Created by researchers from Keio University in Japan, the little bot has a camera and mic so far away friends can see and hear what you do, while a directional speaker keeps your conversations private. Communication’s courtesy of Skype, while some custom code lets users control the device’s six-axis articulating head. It’s not an independent system, however, as it relies upon a smartphone to relay commands from a PC to the avatar through Bluetooth. Users can also change the bot’s facial expressions thanks to a couple of googly eyes and mechanical eyelids, though it doesn’t have quite the emotional range of other androids from the land of the rising sun. Intrigued? Check the vid after the break.

Continue reading TEROOS robotic avatar gives your long-distance girlfriend a tiny, googly-eyed face (video)

TEROOS robotic avatar gives your long-distance girlfriend a tiny, googly-eyed face (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Casio’s low-power Bluetooth watch runs for two years on a button cell

Casio has put Bluetooth into a wristwatch. By itself, that’s not so much to talk about. But this is the low energy variant of Bluetooth 4, which means that the watch will run for two years on a coin-cell, just like any other wristwatch.

The G-Shock Bluetooth looks a lot like you’d expect — a chunky plastic sports watch, with added Bluetooth logos. The main schtick is that the watch will sync its clock with your cellphone. Because your phone updates its clock with network time, this should mean the watch is always accurate.

You’ll also get notifications of incoming calls, SMS and email, and if you lose your phone you can use the watch to activate an alarm or make it vibrate. This may not be as useful as it sounds, though, as the maximum range of low-energy Bluetooth is just 5 meters, which means you’ll still be wandering from room to room to find it.

The biggest problem, though, will be finding a Bluetooth 4 phone to pair it with. Once these become more common, though, who wouldn’t want a watch that could do all this and run for two years on a CR2032 battery? The super low power consumption alone means that Bluetooth notifications just got a whole lot more useful.

The watch should be in stores soon, for an unknown price.

Casio G-Shock Bluetooth Watch Revealed [A Blog to Read via Oh Gizmo]

See Also:

• Casio Makes Your Eyes Water with G-Shock Man-Box
• Crazy-Rugged Casio Is a Titan Among Tough Timepieces
• $200 Watch-Phone Is a Fun, Affordable Accessory
• World's 'Most Feature-Packed Watch' is Also its Ugliest
• Why Wristwatches Are Still Worth Watching

Tunebug readies the Rumble, adds speakerphone capabilities to its SurfaceSound speakers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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