CrunchGear |  |
- Videos: Health Care Robot Yurina
- How Is 3D TV Doing? Some Data From Japan
- Daily Crunch: The Hills Have Butterflies Edition
- Splitfish’s New Shark Controller Looks A Lot Like The Last One
- The Motorola Droid 2 Gets Released And Ripped Apart In The Same Day
- You May Soon Be Wearing Chemical Detectors Modeled After Butterfly Wings
- Prototype Electric Motor Works With Any Bicycle
- Cyber-Cute Overload: Quadrocopter Drone Has Its Own Little Home
- CrunchDeals: Steam QuakeCon 2010 Pack
- Axon Logic Hackintosh Tablet May Just Out-iPad The iPad
- Bag Week Review: Rickshaw Commuter 2.0
- Carmack Not Interested In Motion Controllers (For Now, At Least)
- Romanian Thieves Brazenly Make Off With Asus Flagship NX90 Laptop
- We’re Getting Closer To Releasing Color And Touchscreen E-Readers
- Bigfoot To Bundle Its Killer 2100 High-Speed NIC In Alienware Computers
- QuakeCon: Carmack Has Rage Running At 60 Frames Per Second On The iPhone. Whoa.
- UK E-Reader Sales Blowing Up, But Still Not That Impressive
- Bag Week Reviews: Booq Mamba Catch L
- Video: The Second Worms Reloaded Trailer
- American Hero Landon Donovan On North American Cover Of FIFA 11 (Along With Kaká & Carlos Vela)
| Videos: Health Care Robot Yurina Posted: 13 Aug 2010 03:24 AM PDT
Japan is the first country that was labeled by the United Nations as a super-aged society (over 20% of the population are currently 65 or older), and it has the world’s biggest robotics industry. So it’s not really surprising to see a relatively big number of “health care robots” coming out of this country, for example Japan Logic Machine’s “Yurina” [JP]. The robot’s main purpose is to help in situations in which physical strength is required. Yurina is able to lift and move people weighing up to 80kg from one place to the other, help them taking a bath or changing diapers. She also doubles as a wheelchair and can be controlled via voice recognition, joystick or touch screen. One battery charge (six hours) is enough for ten hours operation. The robot stands just 126cm tall, but her arms stretch 154cm from left to right. Yurina is actually on sale and costs $41,000 and $43,000. This video (subbed in English and shot by DigInfoNews in Tokyo) provides more insight: Watch Yurina in action in this demo video (in Japanese):
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| How Is 3D TV Doing? Some Data From Japan Posted: 13 Aug 2010 12:20 AM PDT
Think what you want about 3D TV, but it’s here already, and we’ve just seen the beginning. But are people actually buying the devices, as a few dozen models are now available in the US, Japan and other places? The Nikkei, Japan’s biggest business daily, recently investigated the 3D TV market in Nippon. What they found out could be of interest for the US and European markets as well. Here are their main findings: Prices In Japan, prices for 3D TVs offered by the two most aggressive manufacturers, Panasonic and Sony, have fallen 20% and more since they were introduced back in spring this year. Panasonic’s 50-inch VIERA model, for example, is now available for as “low” as $3,600 in some stores in Osaka and Tokyo, after the company launched it with a $5,000 price tag in April. Sony now sells a 40-inch Bravia 3D TV for $2,800, 20% cheaper already than in June (when it made its debut in Japan). As we reported earlier, the company tries a different approach in the US. According to The Nikkei, the nation’s retailers say prices for 3D TVs fall rapidly, but they are still 30-50% more expensive than comparable models without 3D-capabilities. Market size Research firm GfK Marketing Services Japan found out that this early in the game, the market share of 3D TVs is still (not too surprisingly) relatively small. In the week from August 2nd to August 8th, for example, just 2.6% of all TVs sized 40 inches or larger sold in Japan were 3D models.They accounted for 5.9% of all sales for TVs in that size range in that week. But the Nikkei expects the market for 3D TVs in Japan to expand when Toshiba and Mitsubishi launch their models at the end of this month, with Hitachi following later this fiscal year. Addendum To put things into perspective, other sources are more bullish about 3D TV. Take US-based market research firm DisplaySearch, for example. According to a recent report released by the firm, as many as 3.4 million 3D TVs will be sold worldwide in fiscal 2010 (5% of the entire flat TV market). The firm expects 3D TVs to achieve a whopping 43 million shipments as early as 2014 (37%). We’ll know soon if they’re right.
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| Daily Crunch: The Hills Have Butterflies Edition Posted: 13 Aug 2010 12:00 AM PDT |
| Splitfish’s New Shark Controller Looks A Lot Like The Last One Posted: 12 Aug 2010 07:49 PM PDT
I think the main thing is that they’ve reduced power draw, so the one AA battery required to run these things lasts somewhat longer — they say 50 hours. The layout of the controllers doesn’t appear to have changed, although they do have an attractive blue finish now. The FragFX Shark will support PS3, PC, and Mac. This isn’t the only addition to the lineup — I suspect it was revealed a bit early. There should be two other controllers being revealed soon: the Piranha and the Barracuda. No info on those yet. [via The Belfast Telegraph]
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| The Motorola Droid 2 Gets Released And Ripped Apart In The Same Day Posted: 12 Aug 2010 06:37 PM PDT
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| You May Soon Be Wearing Chemical Detectors Modeled After Butterfly Wings Posted: 12 Aug 2010 06:30 PM PDT
Scientists at GE (funded by a few million from DARPA) are planning on making tiny sensors that would light up in the presence of various dangerous chemicals, and I see no reason why they couldn’t be woven right into your coat.
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| Prototype Electric Motor Works With Any Bicycle Posted: 12 Aug 2010 06:00 PM PDT
Check out the video: [via DVice]
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| Cyber-Cute Overload: Quadrocopter Drone Has Its Own Little Home Posted: 12 Aug 2010 05:30 PM PDT
This little bugger is called the Scandicraft, and it lives in that mailbox until there is a perimeter breach, at which point it emerges and flies around, looking for the intruders and transmitting a live video screen. Irresistible (and terrifying).
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| CrunchDeals: Steam QuakeCon 2010 Pack Posted: 12 Aug 2010 05:00 PM PDT
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| Axon Logic Hackintosh Tablet May Just Out-iPad The iPad Posted: 12 Aug 2010 04:05 PM PDT
According to Axon Logic:
Sounds simple enough. But what are these components, exactly? Keep in mind that much of this hardware is user-replaceable.
Basically you’re looking at a slightly overachieving netbook. Impressive in some ways, disappointing in others. The cost will be $800, or $750 if you get into the beta. To those of you who want to draw comparisons to ModBooks: yes, you can do that, but you’re looking at twice the price or more. That’s not trivial. Obviously we would all like a better processor; there are plans to make a “Pro” version that runs on the MacBook Air logic board and a better processor, and of course you should be able to install anything compatible with the socket. But recall that hackintoshes on netbooks last year ran very well on more or less this exact setup. I’m concerned about the weight, but I don’t think there’s any risk people will use this as an e-reader. As for the touchscreen, I am told that a capacitive one is not a good match with OS X. Maybe so with iOS, but with OS X you want to be able to write, draw, click this pixel and not the one next to it, etc. We’ll see. Here’s a sneaky shot of the device in real life, and what appears to be a screenshot of the desktop. Nice multi-boot setup; with 320GB, you’ve got enough to have a decent-sized partition available, and this might be a great IT carry-around tool.
The question is, will people find this useful? Personally, I think a full-on OS X tablet would be more useful than a Windows 7 tablet. It’s just my opinion, but it seems that OS X has a more friendly interface for non-mouse interaction. But is it something that is useful at all? Obviously the keyboard will be less useful on the Haptic than on an iPad. Capacitive definitely has the lead there. But if the handwriting recognition is tolerable, that could be a great way of inputting your occasional login, search terms, or quick email. As with the iPad, it’s amazing what you can get used to. One might be tempted to suggest that this will be useful for artists, but Photoshop and other media-heavy programs will chug on that Atom N270. Even on a MacBook Air they’re not the swiftest. I think that by searching for specific things the Haptic will be good at, we’re losing the forest in the trees. It runs OS X! Hello! You have an entire operating system. Browsing and email won’t be much better than an iPad, probably not as good, in fact. But what about all the other stuff you do on your Macs and PCs? You can plug a keyboard into this if you need to write a paper, or a gamepad to play SNES games. You can install Chrome, watch YouTube, whatever. Ultimately, of course, it’s up to the user whether this is something for them. For some, it’s an unnecessary complication of a simple tablet. For others, it’s too much of a step down from a “real” computer. If an iPad is enough for you, get an iPad. If you need more power, get a MacBook Pro. If you want Windows, get an Lpad. This is just another option in the sea of options out there right now. I’m pretty sure it’s not the solution for me, but I guarantee there are plenty of people out there who are going to love this thing. Head over to Axon Logic (still very much under construction, they tell me) to see more and maybe even pre-order.
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| Bag Week Review: Rickshaw Commuter 2.0 Posted: 12 Aug 2010 03:30 PM PDT
Pros:
Cons:
     Full review: In general there seem to be two type of bags: those molded to a purpose and those made to serve any purpose. There are strengths on both sides, and although I tend to use the unmolded type, I can certainly appreciate a good molded bag. The Commuter 2.0 is definitely one of those. This bag is clearly made with a certain type of user in mind: laptop-toting, work-on-the-run, super-organized commuter types. Possibly even bike-to-work guys; the weather sealing is a nod that way, but other than that it’s not really a riding style. The bag itself has been around since 2008, but recently saw some revisions, including upgrading several materials and adding some extra storage to the outside of the bag. I can picture the bag before the improvements and can definitely say I prefer it like this. The bag is of a sort of chubby, free-standing nature — it won’t fall over unless you push it, open or closed. The bottom has a very rugged-feeling, knobbly waterproof material, so you don’t need to be afraid about putting it down on dirt, wet pavement, or a gross food court floor. The shoulder strap will touch the ground, though, and it’s less rugged, so be aware of it. Of course, the rest of the bag is weather-sealed, as well. There are two mesh compartments on the outside for water bottles, keys, or what have you, and inside them are two small pockets just large enough for an average-sized phone, plane ticket, or other item you need quick access to. There’s also the “stationery” compartment on the back of the bag, which kind of bugs me: arrange your pens and such wrong and they’ll poke you in the back. This pocket would have made more sense inside the main compartment, with some extra padding here instead.   The flap comes in a number of colors and textures, but the usual flavors are there as well, and it looks very tasteful in the slightly iridescent “steel” color I’ve been using. There is also a very nice customizer on Rickshaw’s site. It’s secured by several means: the usual clips, mounted in the usual place, and then two strips of velcro on the inside, which can be covered over with strips of magnets. I like the magnets. When I just throw the flap down after getting something out, they make sure it goes down right. The magnet strips are helpfully labeled “shh!” because they certainly are quieter than the velcro. The shoulder strap is a complicated-looking affair. It’s attached on both ends by a strap, connected to a D-ring, connected to a pinch-clip, connected by a rotating widget to an O-ring, through which the actual strap is threaded. To me it sounds like a lot of failure points, but the pieces are made of metal and seem unlikely to bend or break. They do tend to click a bit as you walk and the weight settles differently. It’s adjusted with a great little quick-adjust system that, although actually simple and effective, looks like it should come with its own instruction manual. The padding was comfortable and didn’t slip on my shoulder, although the slightly thin, slick nylon straps did have some slippage of their own. It’s worth noting that you can buy a different strap for $5.
Inside, you have your main compartment and two square pockets that open along the outside corners (think unzipping from the top inside corner to the bottom outside corner). The small pockets have sub-pockets for SD cards, cables and whatnot, though I would have liked to see some mesh in there. The left pocket thoughtfully includes a lanyard with clips on it, onto which you can affix your ID, keys, or Inception-style totem.
One of the improvements I mentioned was a resizing and material improvement of the laptop sleeve. It certainly feels secure in there, I can tell you that much. A 15″ MacBook Pro fits it like a hand in a glove, but the fleece lining makes it easy to pull in and out. It closes with a little velcro strap, and is attached to the rear of the pocket by two big velcro strips. It could be easier to take out, but then it wouldn’t feel as much a part of the bag. In front of this enclosure there is an empty space of roughly equal size to the laptop thing. Great for putting books, headphones, smallish electronics, and energy bars in… not so much for anything larger, like a few groceries or a DSLR. The bag isn’t designed to allow for such things, of course, because it’s of the molded persuasion, but it’s worth nothing that you won’t be able to fit more than a book, a pop and a sandwich in there. The structure of the bag prevents it from bulging out and accommodating more. Conclusion: Rickshaw’s Commuter 2.0 is a great choice for someone who regularly carries their office with them — there’s plenty of room for laptop-related stuff and a few extras, and the build quality and weather sealing are extremely reassuring. But if you are looking for a more unstructured, all-purpose bag, go for something a little floppier. The Commuter’s rigid structure means it’s made to be used as intended, and that way is probably the best way to get your money’s worth. Product page: Rickshaw Commuter 2.0
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| Carmack Not Interested In Motion Controllers (For Now, At Least) Posted: 12 Aug 2010 03:30 PM PDT
All of us here are totally geeking out over every single word that comes out of John Carmack's mouth at the keynote address at this year's QuakeCon, but one of the more interesting things he said had to do with motion controls like the Kinect and PlayStation Move. In short, he has no interest in them right now. Oh snap. Speaking about input devices and the wider consumer electronics industry, Carmack said:
In other words, don't expect to see id Software whip up a PlayStation Move version of Doom. For now, that is. Carmack didn't rule out the possibility of experimenting with motion control, but at this moment in time it's not something that his games would benefit from. Make of that what you will.
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| Romanian Thieves Brazenly Make Off With Asus Flagship NX90 Laptop Posted: 12 Aug 2010 03:00 PM PDT
They appear to have simply walked in, nicked the NX90, and walked out. The guy and the girl were probably running interference. My question is this: how do they know that thing wasn’t a display dummy?
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| We’re Getting Closer To Releasing Color And Touchscreen E-Readers Posted: 12 Aug 2010 02:30 PM PDT
There are two versions of touchscreen e-paper displays in the works, one capacitive and one electromagnetic, whatever that means. I would guess that one is for finger touches and one for stylus touches and writing. The new panels are scheduled to hit the market around the end of the year, but there’s no guarantee that means our market. Chinese manufacturers and OEMs will have access to the new screens, the production of which is being really ramped up, but who knows when you’ll see a color Kindle or Nook? The advent of color and touchscreen in e-readers will also bring them more in line with tablet features — not a good thing, if you ask me. The more people associate readers with tablets, the more they’ll expect from readers, and readers are a whole other product. I guarantee that apart from a few games and basic reading-related apps, any steps taken toward tablet functionality will be met with “but the iPad does it better” in consumers. Better to reduce prices and make the primary experience (reading) better. [via Electronista]
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| Bigfoot To Bundle Its Killer 2100 High-Speed NIC In Alienware Computers Posted: 12 Aug 2010 01:30 PM PDT
More good news: they’ve reduced the price to $80, which is much more reasonable (though not nearly low enough for me) than the $129 it was a few months back. If you’re a performance junkie, it might be worth the extra bills. But I’ll stick with my dusty old on-board ethernet and budget cabling for now.
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| QuakeCon: Carmack Has Rage Running At 60 Frames Per Second On The iPhone. Whoa. Posted: 12 Aug 2010 01:05 PM PDT
Am I QuakeCon this year? No, of course not because that would have actually been fun. But I do know this: John Carmack just announced that he's got the Rage engine running on an iPhone. At 60 frames per second, no less. Ridiculous, yes. "I can kill anything" on a previous generation console (Xbox1, PS2, etc.), said Carmack, as he demoed the game on the big screen in Dallas. The game should be available next year (hopefully alongside Rage proper), he said. It’s being developed for the iPhone 4 as well as older iPhone models. As for Android development, Carmack said that he'll continue focusing on iOS devices for now, if only because people are spending more money on the App Store than on the Android Market. Plus, it must be easier focusing his energies developing for a set piece of hardware in the iPhone rather than ensuring his code runs on a Droid X, a Droid 2, an [Insert Random Android Phone Here].      Also of note: all id Software iPhone games are on sale for the duration of QuakeCon. Doom Classic for $1.99? Sure, why not? There’s also an id/Bethesda sale on Steam, as seen here.
Carmack, who no longer has to play the role of Mr. Executive with the corner office thanks to the ZeniMax deal, said he's programmed more this year than he has in several of the past years. That's good news for us gamers.
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| UK E-Reader Sales Blowing Up, But Still Not That Impressive Posted: 12 Aug 2010 12:14 PM PDT
Wait, that can’t be right. Surely they mean some far greater number. And in two years, the entire landscape of tablet-form computers will have changed. I’m advising you to take this news with a nugget of salt.
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| Bag Week Reviews: Booq Mamba Catch L Posted: 12 Aug 2010 11:27 AM PDT
Short version: A totally novel messenger bag. But it works. In fact, it works really, really well. You have to see this. Features:
Pros:
Cons:
      Review: I’ve noticed after reviewing two Booq bags previously — the Boa Flow XL & Boa Squeze — and then looking over this one, the brand’s bags all have four distinct characteristics: the extensive use of rip-stop material, tons of randomly-placed pockets, high-quality feel, and premium pricetag. I’ve yet to see another manufacturer stay so consistent across their entire line. The Booq Mamba Catch is more of the same. This bag is novel. That’s clear from the start. Instead of having multiple zippered sections through-out the bag, there’s really only one compartment to the bag. But how it opens is what catches you off guard. The zipper runs around the entire length of the bag, from the bottom left corner, up around the handle and then back down to the opposing side. The flap opens like a big mouth, reveal tons of internal storage and organizational pockets. It’s somewhat strange until you start carrying it around. That’s when it hits you. The design is perfect for those that need constant access while standing — like a tradeshow. You can effectively open up just the top of the bag, allowing the unzippered flap to cover the opening, but then easily reach into the bag anytime. This gives you access to nearly all of the bag’s contents as the majority of the pockets are in this one compartment. The large front flap opens up nearly as much as a briefcase. That’s actually a great way to think of the bag. It’s nearly a messenger bag-briefcase hybrid, offering the best of both worlds: internal compartmentalization with the look and feel of something a bit more contemporary. There are a few outside pockets with a small one on the front flap and then one on each side. Combined with the large internal pocket, I could easily fit my standard tradeshow gear of DSLR, large speedlight, 15.6-inch notebook, power adapter, extra battery, random wireless cards, and a bottle of Mt. Dew. Plus, the strap seems comfy enough. But it’s this strap that worries me the most. It’s detachable by snaps and velcro on each side of the strap. While it didn’t happen when I was testing out the bag, I kept feeling like I would accidentally hit unhook it. I’m sure that fear will subside with more use and I believe the straps are this way to complete the briefcase-ish feel, but I just don’t like the design. I seriously think this is my next bag. My Ogio Hip Hop has a lot of life left in it, but this bag’s top-opening flap feels so right. I’m actually nervous to tackle the next tradeshow (CEDIA, September) without my trusty Ogio, but I think I’m taking this bag to Atlanta with me and that’s the best recommendation I can hand out. Check out the complete Bag Week Review Blitz here.
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| Video: The Second Worms Reloaded Trailer Posted: 12 Aug 2010 11:00 AM PDT Prepare to lose a few days of your life when Worms Reloaded hits Steam later this month.
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| American Hero Landon Donovan On North American Cover Of FIFA 11 (Along With Kaká & Carlos Vela) Posted: 12 Aug 2010 11:00 AM PDT
Captain America Landon Donovan is the cover boy for FIFA 11 here in North America. Well, Kaká, of Brazil, is the real cover athlete, but Donovan and Carlos Vela, of Mexico, share the cover with him. Other countries are as follows: England: Rooney and Kaká Spain: Iniesta and Kaká France: Benzema, Lloris, and Kaká Italy: Chiellini and Kaká No word on the German cover or the Portuguese one—I would be shocked if it's not Cristiano. Observation: Both Kaká and Carlos Vela are in their club kits (Real Madrid and Arsenal, respectively) and yet Donovan is in his U.S. kit. No love for the Galaxy, EA? Oh, and Kaká is quite injured, he’ll be out for something like three or four months. The EA cover curse strikes again~!
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