Hasta La Gadget!

Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Given that venture capitalists generally are not as excited about young companies that sell atoms as opposed to bits, companies innovating in hardware are a rare species at DEMO, the long-running technology startup parade. At this year’s spring conference, two companies introduced new devices. The plainly named Always Innovating introduced the Touch Book, a new entrant in the netbook category while the vowel diversity-challenged Avaak introduced the Vue personal video system designed for remote surveillance of a home. Both products cater to an increasingly mobile society that demands digital access on the go and share some similar characteristics, but the states of the market they address could make a major difference for them.

Always Innovating’s Touch Book is a lightweight touchscreen computing device that will sell for $299. It’s two signature features are a detachable keyboard – enabling the netbook to transform from a traditional clamshell to a “pure” tablet – and exceptional battery life of 10 to 15 hours on a single charge. The versatility of the hardware make the design one of the most appealing consumer tablet computing devices to date although the need to put the battery and processing guts behind the screen results in a thicker top half than one would find on most notebooks of similar size.

Still, one can use the device to casually surf the Web on the couch using the new mobile version of Firefox, show photos as a digital picture frame, or even attach it to a refrigerator using the magnetic backing that the company has put on the tablet. It’s a fine collection of atoms, but there’s one Atom you won’t find inside the Touch Book.

Continue reading Switched On: Connecting mobile, mantle and metal objects (Part 1)

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

Switched On: Connecting mobile, mantle and metal objects (Part 1) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ZiiLABS — that same company that blew up the hype machine with its StemCell Computing initiative at CES — is making good on its promise to demonstrate Android in HD on its ZMS-05 media-rich processor / development platform. There’s not much here that can’t be better explained via video than words, so hop on past the break for a look at the (admittedly silky smooth) demonstration.

[Thanks, Ruben]

Continue reading Video: ZiiLABS demos Android in HD on ZMS-05 processor

Filed under: Cellphones

Video: ZiiLABS demos Android in HD on ZMS-05 processor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ryan Gardner did wonders when he proved that multitouch was a real possibility on the G1, and now Sir Luke Hutch has taken things one giant leap further. Put simply (or as simply as possible), he has figured out a way to demonstrate full working multitouch on a stock T-Mobile G1, and he even provides the video to prove it and a list of instructions for developers to follow suit. For those just casually interested, the vid after the break is apt to be enough to get your saliva flowing, but for the hardcore data snoopers in the crowd, the incredibly lengthy read link is where it’s at. Go where you must — it’s like a choose-your-own-adventure book, but for nerds.

[Via Phandroid, thanks Rob and Keyan]

Continue reading Video: coder whips up working multitouch demonstration on T-Mobile G1

Filed under: Cellphones

Video: coder whips up working multitouch demonstration on T-Mobile G1 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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