Hasta La Gadget!

Lots of us spend the summer by the pool, sipping Mai Tais and working on our tans, but Adam Duran had better things to do with his vacation. Instead of engaging in such lethargy, Duran attended the Army High Performance Computing Research Center’s summer course held at Stanford, where he and his mentors, Sohan Dharmaraja and Adrian Lew, developed a Braille writer app for tablets. You see, the average 8-key Braille writer is a custom laptop that costs $6,000, so given the paltry pricing on today’s slates, this new solution is considerably more economical. Users place their fingertips on the display and the app populates keys underneath them, rendering tactile indicators of the keys’ location unnecessary. Plus, the virtual keyboard provides a custom fit for your phalanges no matter how big or small they may be. The project has some “technical and legal hurdles to address” before it’s made available to the masses, but here’s hoping they can clear them soon. Video of the app in action after the break.

Continue reading Student spends summer turning a tablet into a Braille writer, says mowing lawns is for chumps

Student spends summer turning a tablet into a Braille writer, says mowing lawns is for chumps originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 22:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With gaming on tablets, the visual experience is often top-notch, but the controls are unfamiliar at best — even inadequate at times. But adding a traditional joystick is impractical, especially when aesthetics is a key selling point for manufacturers. Chicago-based Knowles Electronics has a fairly practical solution, however, and hopes that some manufacturers will adopt its Mems Joystick. At just 1.6mm tall, the joystick is slim enough for a device to maintain a svelte profile, and the 40 microamps it consumes during normal operation is relatively negligible, according to company reps. Tablets are just the start — Knowles built a series of prototypes to demonstrate a variety of potential applications.

We took the joystick for a spin on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Motorola Atrix, Nintendo 3DS and a pair of laptops. All of the joystick prototypes connected using Bluetooth or USB, and were designed specifically for this CEATEC demonstration — sadly they won’t be available for purchase, though manufacturers could implement the controller into similar products. It took only a few seconds to get accustomed to the pair of joysticks mounted to the back of the Tab. Controlling gameplay felt natural, and we definitely preferred playing with a clear view of the display. We also navigated through Google Maps, and scrolled a web page — both experiences felt superior to moving around the touchscreen. The 3DS joystick functioned similarly to the native controller included with that device, though Knowles reps noted that it’s significantly smaller, and uses less power — and without compromise, it seems.

Jump past the break for a walkthrough of the devices we saw today, but try not to fall in love — you won’t be able to use the Joystick anytime soon, if manufacturers decide to implement them at all.

Continue reading Knowles Electronics Mems Joystick for Samsung Galaxy Tab, Nintendo 3DS hands-on (video)

Knowles Electronics Mems Joystick for Samsung Galaxy Tab, Nintendo 3DS hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you were holding out hope that Tuesday’s Apple announcement would be trumped by an exclusive iPhone 5 on Sprint, prepare to be disappointed. The company’s confirmed that no new handsets would be shown off at its Strategy Event today. Instead, the carrier is focusing on how it intends to bundle all of those separate radios — CDMA, LTE, WiMAX — into a future device line up. Emphasizing the need for an enhanced user experience over 4G technology marketing, the operator stressed a commitment to supporting existing WiMAX subs. Dual-mode CDMA / LTE products are set to launch in the middle of next year, with tablets, smartphones and modems across both the high-end and mid-range to be on offer. Motorola’s Sanjay Jha appeared in a taped segment to confirm his company’s involvement in the production of these 3G/4G products. Of course, Sprint plans to support current CDMA and WiMAX products, offering them for sale throughout 2012. As for Direct Connect, three of those Push-to-Talk handsets will hit the carrier in the last quarter of 2011, with additional devices planned for 2012.

Sprint’s LTE plans detailed: phones, tablets and modems coming by 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo’s IdeaPad A1 now on sale: a slice of Gingerbread for under $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Real Racing 2 shows off iPhone 4S’ graphical chops, brings split screen gaming to iOS (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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