How about some glass from CEATEC, eh? The folks at Nippon Electric Glass were showing off its still-in-development liquid lens technology, as well as its already-available “invisible glass.” The latter, as pictured above, is very much what it says on the tin albeit with some exaggeration, obviously, but we were still very impressed by how little reflection we saw on it. While it’s already being used in art galleries and inside cameras (as sensor covers), Nippon Electric Glass is pushing hard to get its invisible glass featured on mobile devices — the selling point here is simply to achieve the effect of somewhere in between glossy glass and matte glass, so that you’d get the best color vibrancy with minimal reflection. Do check out the video after the break.
As for the liquid lens, Nippon Electric Glass’ version uses low-power electric field to control its liquid crystal molecular orientation, thus changing the focal point. You’ll also see that the lens is also small enough to be integrated into phones and webcams. While the demo response was pretty quick, we were told that it’ll be at least another year before the technology becomes available for us mere mortals. For now, you can see our hands-on demo after the break.
Gallery: Nippon Electric Glass demos liquid crystal lens and ‘invisible glass’ at CEATEC
Nippon Electric Glass demos liquid crystal lens and ‘invisible glass’ at CEATEC (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 03:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Linux gamers are really just having the time of their lives right now. They’ve been embraced by indie game devs, by Valve, Epic and the increasingly popular Unity 3D. And, some of these properties aren’t quite ready for the big show yet, you can get a taste of what to expect from Unity 4 thanks to a pair of playable demos that have hit the web. AngryBots and Unitroids are both available as standalone executables for your open-source desktop. They’re not complete games, but they at least serve as practical demos of the progress being made in porting the gaming engine. They’ve both got their quirks at the moment, but it’s hard not to get excited about the prospect of plummeting through AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! for the Awesome on your Quantal PC. Hit up the source for download links.
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Unity 3D for linux gets two playable demos originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 07:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This is a video of a blind man going for a spin in Google’s self-driving car. Why does it have a steering wheel and rear-view mirror if it drives itself? No clue, I feel like you should have haggled with the car salesman a little more. Dammit, I don’t WANT pedals and I’m not gonna pay for them! The car is pretty impressive and dude even swings by a Taco Bell drive-thru for lunch because you don’t have to be able to see to appreciate a burrito. You do have to be able to taste though, so go easy on the flaming cocktails.
Hit the jump for “some of the best driving I’ve ever done”.
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As solid as modern touchscreens are, there’s very often an subtly apparent sense of disconnect when you try to use one. According to Paul Dietz of Microsoft’s Applied Sciences Group, it all comes down to latency — he notes average touchscreens have a latency of a 100ms, which yields a noticeable bit of lag between a user touching a screen and the screen displaying a reaction to it.
Sure, it’s totally usable, but it never really feels like you’re fully in control. If you drag an app across the iPad’s screen, for example, the icon will dance around your finger a bit as the display tries its best to keep up. The display Dietz and his team have whipped up though could tighten that experience up considerably — unlike the 100ms delay of a regular touchscreen, his display knocks that delay down to 1ms flat.
The difference is staggering, especially when Dietz trots out the slow-motion footage. With the delay between touch input and screen response slashed by “orders of magnitude,” a device packing a display like this has the potential to feel far more (for lack of a better term) natural than its brethren. There’s zero delay when you slide a checker across a board, for example, and bringing that sort of instantaneous feedback to the many screens in our lives could help to bridge the gap between operating a bit of software and the feeling of interacting with objects.
Stylus-based interfaces would benefit greatly from this sort of tech. I spent a few brief moments playing with Samsung’s 10-inch Galaxy Note, and while the included S-Pen certainly did the trick, it was still jarring to see the line I was trying to draw following the pen rather than coming from it. (It took me a few tries to nail that TC logo, natch).
But here’s the thing: as cool as this stuff is, I can’t help but wonder if it’s an accomplishment best appreciated by nerds. Microsoft’s interest in this seems purely academic — they’re not, after all, in the business of stamping out displays. The touch mavens at Synaptics showed off an impressively precise low-latency screen at MWC 2011, but whether or not this sort of tech will ever make it to the mainstream is something else entirely. Cost of implementation is one potential issue, but I would imagine for something like this, a bigger question is whether or not the average consumer will care enough. A stylus-driven UI is one thing, but our standard, slower displays have been doing an adequate job with finger-based input for a while now. Do we really need a disruption in screen tech if what we have is good enough?
I say yes (I’m no fan of just “good enough”) but that’s really not for me to decide. I look forward to seeing if any manufacturers out there are willing to take the plunge on a low-latency screen like this, and I’m even more hopeful that people find they like how it feels.
We’ve all seen the Kinect, or at least heard about its wonders. Well, the same company that hooked up Microsoft during “Project Natal” development has showed off some pretty wonderful technology at CES last week.
It uses a 3D camera on top of your TV to let you interact with your television through gestures. To be honest, it looks a lot like any touchscreen interface you’re already used to (with similar transitions and gestures) but you just happen to be 10 feet away from the screen.
The next-gen interface lets you flip through channels and navigate the TV guide just by waving your hand around and throwing in a few pinching gestures. It made me hate my remote, if that’s any indication of how cool it is (and I love TV).
But watching TV is just the beginning. PrimeSense showed us a (somewhat bizarre) dancing implementation for the technology that lets you get jiggy with it in front of what looks a lot like Windows Media Player visualizations. The camera follows your movements and lets you throw out bursts of “energy” on screen. I didn’t really get the hang of it while I was there but it seems like an excellent technology for a rave or a group of stoned college kids.
PrimeSense even mentioned ways to let you see yourself in clothes you’d like to buy, right on the screen, and purchase them directly.
Now it’s just a matter of time until a major OEM snatches up the technology and we all find ourselves waving at the TV.
Strange gadgets aren’t a rarity at CES, but this processor heatsink is quite an interesting device. It’s called the Cooler Master Hyper 212+ CPU heatsink, and it has a computer built into it. Behind a large fan and lots of aluminum fins for cooling down that processor in your gaming rig, there’s an AMD E-350 Brazos APU on a micro motherboard. According to PC Perspective, the built-in computer has Wi-Fi, ethernet, two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports. We’re not completely sure why you’d want a second computer in your computer, but it’s a pretty neat demo. It’s not a perfect solution: we suspect that your CPU will not be getting cooled properly with a motherboard blocking it, and it’s certainly not going to be easy to open up your computer’s…
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Vidyo Demos Multipoint Video Conferencing on Amazon's Kindle Fire and Extends … The company will also showcase the latest platform support for its VidyoMobile(TM) HD video conferencing software client: Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' running on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smart phone. The new Android mobile platform will be part of … Read more on MarketWatch (press release)
Kyobo Mirasol eReader with Android hands-on This color e-paper technology is delivering unrivaled battery life to eReaders lasting up to 3 weeks while running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Check out or hands-on below. We've been tracking the Mirasol technology for some time and all our coverage is … Read more on SlashGear
CES 2012: VMware Shows Android-based Virtual Machines At CES 2012 in Las Vegas, the company is demonstrating how it can now run a separate instance of Android in a virtual machine that is hosted by an Android-based smartphone. VMware demonstrated this capability on LG's newest handset; the Revolution … Read more on InformationWeek
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Collision avoidance systems aren’t exactly exciting new news any more. But most of these systems, even the ones that jerk the wheel out of your hands, simply detect obstacles — they don’t talk to each other. GM’s new prototype uses Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) to share data with other vehicles. The cars not only detect other motorists, but construction zones, police activity, and slowed or stopped traffic. Unlike a similar concept from Ford, GM doesn’t just talk to cars in the immediate area, but can detect trouble up to a quarter mile down the road, offering plenty of warning time for you to change course or hit those breaks. We think the company’s estimate that such a system could avoid 81-percent of crashes in the US is a tad optimistic though — clearly they don’t realize how big of jerks most drivers are.
GM demos accident avoidance system with brains and long range originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 01:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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So, get this. We were cruising through the halls of Pepcom’s Mobile Focus with a horrible fever and on the brink of delirium. Unsure how much longer we could keep composure, we came upon Navigon’s booth. In addition to displaying its brand new Windows Phone application, the company was also showing off its upcoming releases of MobileNavigator for Android and iOS. Fortunately, Navigon’s Public Relations Manager, Johan-Till Broer, was kind enough to give us a demo of each app. Among the new features, users will be able to select individual states for local map storage, which goes a long way toward freeing up space. Additionally, there’s also a driving mode called Cockpit, which allows leadfoots to check their speed and acceleration over the last 30 minutes. The app updates will be free to all existing users, although if you want to load up new maps, that’ll be a one-time fee. We’re told to expect these latest gems in a couple of months. As for the Windows Phone version, it sells for $ 50, although is currently available for $ 30 — at special introductory pricing. A demo video and full PR is just after the break. Be sure to check it out.
Gallery: Navigon MobileNavigator sneak peak for Android, iOS and Windows Phone
Continue reading Garmin demos upcoming MobileNavigator for iOS and Android, latest Windows Phone app (video)
Garmin demos upcoming MobileNavigator for iOS and Android, latest Windows Phone app (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Earlier today we ventured to downtown New York for a demo of a BMW equipped with MOG’s music streaming app. MOG has been working with Mini and BMW on this app for a while. The BMW version is slated to launch in mid-October and it works with BMW’s new ConnectedDrive technology, available in 2011 and beyond models. MOG’s music library contains 12 million songs.
To launch the app, put your iPhone in a dock under the armrest and you’ll see an automotive MOG version of the app display in the infotainment system in the dashboard.
Use the iDrive control dial situated between the seats to select music by artist, album or song. BMW tells us they have done significant testing to ensure the system is safe for driving. Controls are also available on the steering wheel and instrument panel.
The infotainment system is designed to seamlessly juggle between music, GPS and Bluetooth.
Check it out.
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Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), (English: Bavarian Motor Works) is a German automobile and motorcycle manufacturing company. Founded in 1916, it is known for its performance and luxury vehicles. It owns and produces the MINI brand, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
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Company: MOG Website: mog.com Launch Date: January 6, 2005 Funding: $ 24.9M
MOG Inc. is a next-generation music media company founded in June 2005 by David Hyman, former CEO for Gracenote. MOG has one simple goal: to perfect your music-listening experience.
MOG’s all-you-can-eat, on-demand listening service provides access to a deep library of over 11 million songs from over a million albums through its mobile apps on iPhone and Android, on the Web and through streaming entertainment devices such as Roku, Sonos and internet connected TVs. It surpasses all other music subscription…
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