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Zero Punctuation on Dead to Rights: Retribution

Posted: 20 May 2010 05:40 AM PDT

Baby sandwich.

Pictures and video: Robotic exoskeleton HAL-5 up and close

Posted: 20 May 2010 03:41 AM PDT

I had the chance to attend a TED event last weekend, namely the TedxTokyo conference, which took place for the second time in Japan. And as CrunchGear’s Japan correspondent, I was naturally most interested in the geekiest presentation delivered: that of Professor Sankai from Tsukuba University (near Tokyo). (The video was of the presentation was uploaded just a few hours ago, which is why I waited till today.)

Sankai talked about and showed the latest version of his brainchild, the super-cool robotic exoskeleton HAL-5. Made by his spin-off company Cyberdyne (yes, HAL-5 and Cyberdyne), the robo suit helps paralyzed persons walk and lift heavy objects through transforming brain signals sensed through the skin into motion.

You can find more technical details in our detailed article from last summer. In the meantime, Sankai developed wearable robot arms that can carry 80kg each. And now it’s also possible for people who lost a leg, for example, to make use of HAL-5. In other words, the leg part can now even help people who need to rely on an artificial replacement, not a “real” leg. Both new accomplishments are demo’d in the video embedded below.

Here’s the impressive presentation Sankai gave during TedxTokyo (in English) on video (not made by me). I shot the pictures you see above myself during the day of the event.

HIIDE biometrics device scans pretty much everything… wait, at 640×480? What year is this?

Posted: 19 May 2010 06:30 PM PDT


So I read about this portable biometric scanner (it’s been around for a while, but the Pentagon just ordered $10 million worth of them) and immediately looked up the first scene from Blade Runner. You know, the one with the Voigt-Kampff machine? Yeah, that’s pretty much this thing. Watch out, replicants.

Actually, the HIIDE (stands for “Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment”) won’t detect whether you’re a synthetic human, only whether you’re you. But it’s very thorough. It checks your iris, your face, and your fingerprints. I hope they’ll settle for two out of three, I can’t imagine it’s got a 100% hit rate on all of them, all of the time.

Here’s the crazy thing, though. This machine, supposedly state of the art, has a grand total of 256MB, that’s megabytes, of internal storage for biometric profiles. But it can store 22,000 profiles. What the hell? That leaves like 100KB for each profile. Yeah… so as it turns out, this thing takes pictures at 640×480.

Now, I’m not megapixel fiend — far from it — but I wouldn’t trust my identity to a thing with such mean data allocation. Seriously, it’s 2010 and our biometric scanners are taking VGA iris scans?

Woah, these laptop bags made from recycled fire hose look awesome

Posted: 19 May 2010 06:00 PM PDT


It’s too bad we didn’t hear about these before Bag Week. Feuer Bags is a German company that makes bags out of decommissioned fire hose. You better believe they’re tough. Plus, they have a beautiful worn-in look right out of the box. I know “pre-worn” is a bit of a cliché now, but there’s something beautiful about objects that are genuinely hard-used and have stood up to the punishment. That’s these bags to a thread.


They’re mostly red, black, and white, as you can see — those likely being the colors used by the fire department in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

Material:
- firefighting hose
- truck tarpaulin
- safety seat belt

See, these things are made to last. Truck tarp is what waterproofs messenger backpacks, and of course nylon seat belts are practically indestructible. And what can I say about fire hose? It’s fire hose.

There are a number of styles available, from the laptop bags pictured above to messenger bags, handbags, and even some sweet-looking belts. Want.

[via Gear Diary]

Good idea: spot for briefcase on a bike. Bad idea: bike costs $1300

Posted: 19 May 2010 05:30 PM PDT


That’s a nice looking bike. A bit of suspension on the front… nice commuter frame… I’d pay $500. What’s that, it costs more than twice that? I assume there are gold nuggets inside the frame. No? Indeed. Then I’ll bid you good day, sir.



This design from TATO is a good idea — nobody wants to bungee their stuff onto one of those racks — but the price really is quite a lot for what seems otherwise to be a decent mid-range commuter bike. The gear arrangement is Shimano, though. I guess when you consider high-mid-range parts and a bit of a designer premium, $1300 (1500 Swiss Francs) is understandable, if not entirely justified.

[via The Awesomer]

NVIDIA’s Android tablet looks pretty sexy

Posted: 19 May 2010 05:00 PM PDT


With a Tegra 2 Tegra 2-esque ARM A9-based processor confirmed Tegra 2 inside, 9.7″ wide screen, and a full gig of RAM, these tablets from Foxconn (unnamed and undated) look to be pretty serious pieces of hardware. They run Android, which I’ve always thought is unsuited for tablets that size, but hey, until something nicer comes out, it’s free and it works. More info over at Giz. Netbook News has a video for you, as well (thanks for the Tegra confirmation).

Two minutes’ hate: competitors smash ice apple at Windows tablet event

Posted: 19 May 2010 04:30 PM PDT


I know, it’s all in fun. But it’s kind of funny that Apple is now the one being hammered.

Toshiba improves LCD shutter glasses for 3D viewing

Posted: 19 May 2010 04:00 PM PDT


The technology associated with 3D content is getting better, and the dark screens and headaches plaguing the more sensitive viewers may soon be a thing of the past. Personally, I hope these expensive, complicated LCD shutter glasses go the way of the dodo, but until then, they may as well be as good as they can get.

These new Toshiba screens, made specifically for shutter glasses, have improved switchover time between open and shut, and block more light when shut to boot. It cuts down on 3D field “crosstalk,” in which your left eye sees partially the image meant to be seen by the right. Causes headaches and such.

Yet this will not be the end of the improvements. Like TVs and cameras, they’re taking their time perfecting the art. Another few months will bring another improvement… and this is something theater owners and projectionists need to be aware of. What a pain! If you’re using dual projectors and polarized light, this isn’t an issue; that’s why I think that technology will win out in the end. Simplicity is a powerful thing on a mass market, and so is low cost. Active shutter glasses will be gone in… I’m going to say two years. It’s like a VHS-beta thing.

Squishy batteries that fit A through D – probably not going to happen

Posted: 19 May 2010 03:30 PM PDT


We have to give concept designers points for trying, but I don’t think this resizable battery is going to fly. For one thing, the actual core is tiny, and batteries derive their power from packing as many volatile chemicals into their little bodies as possible. Imagine putting six of these, at D size, into a boom box — the thing would die in like 15 minutes.

There’s also a question of heat. That memory foam is, I’m guessing, rather a good insulator. Batteries generate heat when they’re in use and rechargeables really hot up when they’re plugged in. I’d be concerned that these suckers would catch fire.

That said, though, it’s good to see thought being applied to battery design. Unlike wall outlets, which are surprisingly hard to improve on, batteries are pretty much a blank slate. Sure, we’ve got AAs and stuff, but there’s a lot of room to play in as a designer. This particular concept just doesn’t seem to have legs.

[via Gajitz and Treehugger]

LaCie’s new net-connected RAID external is featureless and black, like my soul

Posted: 19 May 2010 02:00 PM PDT


Luxury storage masters LaCie have introduced a new drive (well, drives) intended for maximum data protection and connectivity. Inside that forbidding black box are two hard drives, and every bit that’s written to one is written to the other in true RAID 1 fashion. It has built-in server and torrent download functions, which could be nice, and if it’s connected to your router, you should be able to access your files from pretty much anywhere.

It’s also got a USB 2.0 interface, so you can use it as a normal hard drive as well. Capacity is either 2TB or 4TB, though if I’m not mistaken, effective capacity is half that. After all, there are only two drives in there and they’re mirroring each other exactly. 4TB of space would require two 4TB hard drives… and those don’t exist yet. $480 for a total of 2TB of space is a bit insane if you ask me.

You might remember the Drobo FS that debuted a month or so back that shares many of these features. The LaCie is cheaper, but the limited capacity really kind of sinks it if you need a versatile or professional solution. For a little light storage and torrenting, the Network Space MAX will be fine, but if you need expandability and more options on the accessibility front, the Drobo is a necessary buy — though it’s significantly more expensive.

Ah yes, this guide to 3D capturing and viewing technologies is most comprehensive

Posted: 19 May 2010 01:30 PM PDT


I’ve been thinking of writing up a post detailing the different viewing methods for 3D TV/gaming/cinema and their various strengths and weaknesses, but it looks like that won’t really be necessary. Cyberlink has put together a really nice and very detailed guide to pretty much everything the end user needs to know about 3D.

If anything, they err on the side of objectivity. Whether one method or another is better isn’t really the point — and as I mentioned in my reply to Roger Ebert’s issues with 3D, these technologies are maturing quickly and to pick a winner (or declare them all losers) would be shortsighted. And as a commenter points out (I noticed this as well), polarized solutions are given a sort of lowballing, though higher resolutions and/or dual projectors in cinemas can easily circumvent the resolution issue Cyberlink cites. Might Cyberlink be in the business of selling active shutter glasses, perhaps?

At any rate, if you’re in the market or just want to be informed, this is a great (though rather long) article. You can download the whole thing as a PDF or read it over at Tom’s Hardware.

Best Buy wants to install your copy of Red Dead Redemption

Posted: 19 May 2010 01:30 PM PDT


We could either give Best Buy the benefit of the doubt and chalk these stickers up to an over-zealous blue shirt or Best Buy really does expect to con some ignorant customers out of some cash. Your call. [via Consumerist]

Newzbin has shut down

Posted: 19 May 2010 01:00 PM PDT

Well that didn’t take long. Newzbin.com has shut down, just about six weeks after the High Court in the UK ruled against the Usenet indexing site. You had to see this coming.

The immediate reason for the closure was administration, which is sorta like bankruptcy here in the U.S. The court case against the Motion Picture Association drained the Web site dry, especially after being forced to pay the MPA’s court fees. resulting in the friendly “Newzbin Closed” message on the site today.

The site didn’t keep any logs to speak of, so if you were a member there’s no reason to freak out. I had a subscription once upon a time, and I’m not worried in the least.

There’s some sort of mystery regarding what happened to the site’s source code. Did someone steal it? Did a monster eat it?

There are, of course, plenty of other Usenet indexing sites out there, but Newzbin was sorta the elder statesman of the crowd. I mean, the .nzb files that people use to download from Usenet do stand for .NewZBin…

Even if all these indexing sites go under, I look forward to reading Usenet the old fashioned way: one group at a time, manually.


Voyager 2 likely suffering from “flipped bit syndrome”

Posted: 19 May 2010 12:30 PM PDT


The Voyager 2 transmission hiccup appears to have been identified. The problem? “A value in a single memory location was changed from a 0 to a 1,” said JPL's Veronia McGregor. As I’ve said countless times to end users complaining about “computer problems”: computers are all ones and zeroes inside, and who can tell what will happen when a one unexpectedly becomes a zero, or vice versa? Kudos to everyone at NASA for identifying the problem, and making plans to reset Voyager’s memory so that its on-going mission may continue!

As to why that zero become a one? Who knows! Cosmic rays? Aliens? Let your imagination run wild in the comments!

Via Discovery.com.

CrunchDeals: Watchismo’s stock of vintage mechanicals on sale

Posted: 19 May 2010 12:26 PM PDT

Mmmm… I love me a jump hour. Mitch at Watchismo is holding a sale on most of his vintage stock including a crazy Jaeger LeCoultre Masterquartz LED and a bunch of Jump Hour “digital” watches from before the era of digital.

This crazy Sicura is particularly amazing with its battery lamp lighting up a handwind movement.

Vintage 70’s Swiss Sicura Instalite Jump Hour Mechanical Digital

Mechanically wound by manual movement, lamp function by battery and lit by pressing upper right pusher

Blue Dial lights up in addition to three portholes above display

Only in the 70’s, right? Huh? Am I right?

Columbia gets into the sports watch market in a big way

Posted: 19 May 2010 12:00 PM PDT


Columbia just jumped head first into the sports watch buisness with nine different model lines spanning three distinct market segments. Chances are that if you need a watch for an outdoors activity, one of these new watches will fit the bill as they feature everything from an altimeter, to a barometer, to a compass — all for a bit less than other sports watches from Casio or Suunto.

Each one of the three segments — travel, trail, and water — features three model lines, each at a different price point. The top of the line models are of course the most feature-filled and retail for $250 with the median line costing between $150 and $125, with the least expensive models costing $75. Smart move on Columbia’s part. It takes a lot of the guess work out of the buying decision as each price-point drop also eliminates a few features.

Watch nerds might be a bit hesitant to drop the cash on a watch from a company like Columbia though. These geeks might point out something about the movement or face design. But most watch nerds rarely go outside (e.g. John Biggs) and probably aren’t in Columbia’s targeted market anyway. These watches are meant for the rest of us. [Columbia]

Atmel’s advanced touch panels are growing up to tablet size – and you’ll be touching one soon

Posted: 19 May 2010 11:30 AM PDT

Recently I bemoaned the fact that the iPhone still has a huge advantage over other phones in that it has the most responsive and accurate touchscreen. Their days as reigning champ may be numbered, however: Atmel, a behind-the-scenes company that makes, among other things, the touch panels for Samsung’s newest smartphones, is announcing today that their maXTouch technology will now be available in sizes up to 15″. I talked with Atmel’s Binay Bajaj, who seemed very proud of their product. Everybody likes to boast, he said, but he was confident that their touch tech is measurably better than any on the market. They even made a crazy dramatic video of potential applications.

Told you it was crazy.

The maXTouch panels are currently found in a few announced products, though they wouldn’t name any specifically except for the Wave (the Galaxy S is a guess of mine). They said, however, that they’re working with the top guys in the business to put their new touch panels in all kinds of stuff. At up to 15″ in size, they could power anything from a small slate to a full-size notebook. I wonder if any of the current rumored or announced tablets have Atmel touch panels?

What exactly makes a touch panel better than another? Well, it actually depends a lot on the implementation. Synaptics told me after I ragged on the trackpad industry that a bad trackpad is almost always due to bad implementation at a higher level than the trackpad itself. Of course, they would say that. But it’s the same story with touchscreens. Unless these high-quality touch panels are paired with high-quality screens and a UI that matches them in snappiness, then you won’t be able to tell they’re all new and advanced.

The maXTouch platform itself supports the usual gestures, but also has virtually no limit to touches. It supports stylus input due to what they call neutral capacitance, and rejects palms and unintentional touches natively. A 7ms response time rounds out the package, which they say puts it at the top of the class.

Why do you, the reader, care? Well, the more stuff that is implemented natively by the touch panel, the more features you get on basic devices. With powerful touch panels standard, there’s no need to design a UI or OS around single touches only, or to worry on a software level about inputs interfering with each other. Too many devices I’ve seen coming out use sub-standard touchscreens with slow response times or limited gestures. The responsive and powerful touch panels in Samsung’s newest flagship phones are now big enough to put in larger devices. I’ve asked Atmel to keep me posted on new devices sporting their tech so we can compare them to non-Atmel stuff — it’s really the only fair way to evaluate something like this.

Canon’s imageFORMULA P-150M portably scans documents into your Mac, no lie

Posted: 19 May 2010 11:00 AM PDT

Does your Mac need a new scanner? (I think I’ve had the same scanner for like 10 years. The Mac driver is still for PPC processors, that’s how old it is.) I ask because I needed a fun way to segue into a brief discussion of the Canon imageFORMULA P-150M, which, as you may have surmised, is a scanner that works with your Mac.

It’s portable, so that’s neat, and it works with Evernote, which I’m also going to consider neat. Note that that’s different from “fairly neat,” which is reserved for much more exciting things.

I’m going to assume that you, the CrunchGear reader, knows what a scanner does. Put your paper in, hit the button, and off you go. It can scan 15 pages per minute!

I’m also going to assume that this is a higher-end scanner, since it carries a $295 price tag.

How do you make boring tech exciting? This is probably a fine, fine scanner, but there is no way to make talking about a scanner fun and exciting. Believe me, I was going to write a short story where the main character’s name was Scanner McScanney to try to jazz this up, but was like “meh, I’ve already written enough about this. I sure could use a sandwich.”

Verizon adds the HP Mini 210-1076 to its netbook stable

Posted: 19 May 2010 10:31 AM PDT


Verizon’s latest netbook nearly completes its collection. The 10.1-inch HP Mini 210 offers the N450 1.66GHz Atom CPU along with 1GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive. Windows 7 Starter edition powers the netbook and it can be yours for for $149 with a 2-year data contract. Of course $50 more will get a larger screen and Windows Home Premium with the HP Mini 311.

Now the big red V has the Windows XP-powered Gateway LT at the $50 price point, the new HP at $149, and the more potent HP Mini 311 rounding out the group at the $199 mark. Now all Verizon needs is a tablet of some sort. Say, maybe, one by RIM?

You’re playing a lot of mobile games on the subway, aren’t you?

Posted: 19 May 2010 10:00 AM PDT

You’re on the subway on the way to work. It’s not a long trip, maybe 15 to 20 minutes long if you’re coming in from an outer borough. You have to kill the time somehow lest you be alone in your thoughts for a few moments. What do you do? If we’re to believe a new survey, then you’ may well whip out your phone to play a video game. Back in the day, people would have had a paperback or magazine handy. Times, they are a….

The survey, carried out by Popcap, the social games company, suggests that today 25 percent of 16-24-year-olds play mobile games to pass the time on public transportation. It was only 10 years ago that 11 percent of respondents would have chosen a game over reading material.

The survey asked some 1,500 Britons of that age group to respond. These 1,500 people speak for us all.

Then you have to take into considering that the survey was carried out by a company that would directly benefit from an increase in mobile gaming.

Anecdotally, I guess those numbers work out. You occasionally see people on the subway in New York reading a newspaper or whatever—I’ve actually seen a few e-readers of late—but then you’ve got all these older people playing some game on their BlackBerry or iPhone.

Me? There’s a 100 percent chance I’m listening to a podcast while on the train. Or plane or automobile, for that mater.

via The Guardian

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