CrunchGear |  |
- The Impeccable Timing Of The Verizon iPhone Rumors
- BerkeleyBionics Gives Paralyzed Woman Her Legs Back
- CEATEC 2010: Hands-on With Fujitsu’s “Social” Teddy Bear Robots (Video)
- You May Not Buy Cisco’s Umi, But Thousands In Korea Will Have One (TCTV)
- Sony Announces World’s First 16.41MP Sensor For Cell Phones
- First Look: Nikon CoolPix P7000
- New E-Ink-Like Tech May Obsolete E-ink
- Sony’s Google TV Sets Get Sized And Priced
- GM’s Voltec Charging Station Costs May Total ~$2000
- A Look At The Logitech Vid HD Video Call Service on The Logitech Revue
- One Chart To Sue Them All
- MacBook Air Supply Running Out; Refresh Imminent?
- Yahtzee Tells Us What He Really Thinks About Halo: Reach
- US Cellular finally announces their Samsung Galaxy S variant: the Mesmerize
- Verizon announces the first 38 cities that will get LTE — Here’s the list
- Panasonic HDC-SDT750 3D Camcorder Now Shipping
- Dish Network Subscribers Get Logitech Revue For Only $180
- Logitech Revue First Hands-On!
- Accessories Abound For Logitech Revue: Web Cams, Mini Controllers & More
- Logitech’s Revue Product Page Goes Live, Preorder One Now For $299
| The Impeccable Timing Of The Verizon iPhone Rumors Posted: 07 Oct 2010 05:37 AM PDT  The Verizon iPhone rumor is as old as the iPhone itself. So whenever anyone trots it out, you take it with a grain of salt. It's like The Beatles coming to iTunes. It will happen eventually, but who knows when. That said, today's Wall Street Journal report about Verizon readying to launch the iPhone in early 2011 has all the makings of a good old Apple-controlled leak once again. And so it may be time to really believe. Now, I of course don't know for sure that Apple fed WSJ this story -- but let's look at the recent history. In January, as rumors were swirling about the iPad, the WSJ had a story suggesting the tablet computer could run around $1,000. At the time, I pointed out why this reeked of Apple setting expectations low so they could blow them out of the water. A few days later, a former Marketing Manager at Apple backed this up. The result? Steve Jobs on stage announcing the iPad would start at just $499. Boom.
|
| BerkeleyBionics Gives Paralyzed Woman Her Legs Back Posted: 07 Oct 2010 05:31 AM PDT eLEGS is a unique exoskeleton for general consumers designer to allow wheelchair-bound folks to walk. The product, based on some early work at the Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering lab. In this video, a nearly paralyzed young woman walks again after 18 years. We’ll keep our eye on the site today and see what’s coming next from these guys. Amazing stuff.
|
| CEATEC 2010: Hands-on With Fujitsu’s “Social” Teddy Bear Robots (Video) Posted: 07 Oct 2010 05:20 AM PDT
One thing that’s really missing at this year’s CEATEC 2010 exhibition is robots, at least from the bigger companies. One exception is Fujitsu whose so-called “Social Robots” may not look like much from the outside but are actually quite sophisticated. Even though the teddy bear robots sounded pretty creepy (they keep making weird noises, which you can hear in the video embedded below), I was brave enough for a hands-on test. I was surprised how responsive the robots actually are. It takes just a split second to detect the presence of a human being (the bears have a sensor for that built into their nose) and after that, it’s possible for them to interact and “communicate” with humans through face recognition and constant tracking of the position of the human conversation partner. Depending on how you behave, the bear reacts differently: it laughs, waves its paws, moves its feet etc. (the robot are hundreds of pre-programmed patterns of behavior). The bears are equipped with 12 joints, multiple touch sensors, microphones, speakers, and accelerometers. Just like the famous (and much cuter) robo seal Paro, the goal here is to sell the robots to nursing homes and schools. Here’s the video I shot at Fujitsu’s CEATEC booth:
|
| You May Not Buy Cisco’s Umi, But Thousands In Korea Will Have One (TCTV) Posted: 07 Oct 2010 04:59 AM PDT
However, the main problem with Cisco is not innovation, it’s getting outside of the boardroom and finding a real place in the consumer’s living room— and no where is that gap more apparent than in Umi’s sticker price. As CrunchGear reporter Devin Coldewey lamented, it’s a consumer-facing device priced for the office at $599 for the system and $24.99 a month. After the presentation, TC TV got a chance to catch up with Marthin De Beer, Cisco’s SVP of the Emerging Technologies Group, and asked him to justify Umi’s price. See parts of our demo and the interview with De Beer ahead.
|
| Sony Announces World’s First 16.41MP Sensor For Cell Phones Posted: 07 Oct 2010 04:29 AM PDT  If you thought the 13MP sensors you've seen lately in some Japanese cell phones were enough, think again. Sony today unveiled the 1/2.8-inch back-illuminated Exmor R IMX081PQ CMOS sensor (pictured on the left), which boasts 16.41MP. Needless to say, it's the first of its kind. Read the rest on MobileCrunch.
|
| First Look: Nikon CoolPix P7000 Posted: 06 Oct 2010 10:45 PM PDT
First off, this is not a review. I’ve only had access to the camera for a few hours. I’ve been giving it a thorough checking out, and these are merely my initial impressions. The P7000 is unquestionably intended to take on the Canon G12, and while it doesn’t have a swing out screen, the other features make up for it. Nikon has created an alternative to the Canon, and in many ways surpassed it. The P7000 has a 7x optical zoom, which is on the high end for P&S zooms. The controls are easy to use, and easy to navigate. The level of control you have in this camera is very impressive. You’ll find almost the same level of features that you’ll see in Nikon’s DSLR line. I used one of SanDisk’s Extreme SDHC cards (the 30MB/s version) with the P7000, and noticed no buffering when taking pictures. Either it’s so fast that you don’t notice, or Nikon has hid it in such a way that it’s not visible to the end user. The P7000 has a few new features as well, including a built-in neutral density filter and the ability to control the flash output power — both important for certain exposures. Flash power is important when use the on camera strobe as a fill light, as it’s really easy to overpower your subject if you’re not careful. The only thing I’ve run into so far that I don’t like is the macro focusing. If you are not in macro mode, the camera struggles a bit with focusing on items that are close up. Not a deal breaker, but something to be aware of. The menu system also feels a little sluggish. This is of course something that Nikon will be able to fix later, and it’s a minor annoyance at worst. This is a camera I would be comfortable carrying around while leaving my beloved DSLR at home. Its small size also makes it a great pocket camera. The verdict so far, it’s an amazing camera and one heck of a deal at $499.95, though of course that’s far more than your average P&S. There’s room for improvement, but nothing that is a deal breaker. Expect to see our full review once we can get a review unit sometime in November. For now, enjoy these lovely shots from Sandia Mountain, and visit this set again tomorrow night, as I’ll be shooting with the P7000 all day tomorrow and adding more pictures:
|
| New E-Ink-Like Tech May Obsolete E-ink Posted: 06 Oct 2010 10:20 PM PDT
The display, demonstrated at the University of Cincinatti, uses a different substrate for the pigment used to create black areas on the display: oil. Apparently this leads to less resistance for the pigment and a faster refresh rate: 20ms, theoretically allowing the display to change up to 50 times per second. That’s more than enough for full motion video and animation.
In addition to the faster refresh rate, the non-black parts of the display are more reflective than current e-paper screens, reflecting 75% of light as opposed to 40%. Consider that an increase in both brightness and contrast, making it far more like regular paper. At this point, it’s still only a report in a physics journal, but demonstrably superior technologies like this (owned by companies with names like “Gamma Dynamics”) have a habit of being snapped up. Will we see E-Ink buy them? Or will someone like Amazon do it and freeze out the rest of the industry? Either way, I’m putting my e-reader buying on hold until I find out. [via Ars Technica]
|
| Sony’s Google TV Sets Get Sized And Priced Posted: 06 Oct 2010 09:37 PM PDT
You’re looking at four models:
My guess for the 24″ one is $899.99, but I might be nuts. There’s also a listing for one NSX-GT1, which would be Sony’s standalone Google TV box. The listing mentions an eject button, so unless they’ve invented a way to eject YouTube videos, that means it’s got a Blu-ray player in there. No pricing or date on that guy, though.
|
| GM’s Voltec Charging Station Costs May Total ~$2000 Posted: 06 Oct 2010 09:19 PM PDT
What can we say? Want to be an early adopter and have the high-end gear? Don’t be surprised when they come for your wallet. Here’s the press release: Chevrolet Volt’s 240V Home Charging Unit Priced at $490 2010-10-06 DETROIT – Chevrolet has an agreement with a supplier to offer Chevrolet Volt owners one of the most affordable 240V home charging units on the market. Priced by SPX Service Solutions at $490 before installation, Chevrolet’s “Voltec” 240V home charging unit is one of several 240V home charging units that will be offered for sale by SPX Service Solutions, a national provider of home charging installation services and equipment. The Voltec 240V home charging unit can charge the Volt’s battery from depleted to charged in about four hours, compared with 10 hours with the standard 120V charge cord that plugs into a household outlet. Installation of the Voltec 240V charging unit is estimated at $1,475 but can vary based upon electrical requirements. In addition to Chevrolet’s Voltec unit, SPX will sell a variety of home charging stations and manage all aspects of installation for Volt owners, including the home survey, installation, permitting, Department of Energy and utility coordination, and identification of available programs and incentives for reduced charging rates. [via Autoblog]
|
| A Look At The Logitech Vid HD Video Call Service on The Logitech Revue Posted: 06 Oct 2010 06:53 PM PDT
Here’s a quick look at how the Revue’s Vid HD service works on through Google TV. I still say this is the killer app for the device. Click through for video.
|
| Posted: 06 Oct 2010 04:09 PM PDT
[via The Daily What]
|
| MacBook Air Supply Running Out; Refresh Imminent? Posted: 06 Oct 2010 03:23 PM PDT
Rumors from a couple months ago put the new Air at a petite 11.6″ and have it even thinner and lighter than the current model. That falls much more in line with my idea of an ultraportable; the 13.3″ form factor just isn’t really any smaller than a MacBook in many situations. an 11.6″ Air might even be something I’d be into, and I trashed the first one.
|
| Yahtzee Tells Us What He Really Thinks About Halo: Reach Posted: 06 Oct 2010 02:45 PM PDT Yahtzee was surprisingly kind to Halo: Reach, he actually had some kind words to say about the final title in the franchise. I’ve been playing through it a bit myself, and I have to agree; the story is relatively compelling, even though the plot sometimes has a tendency to wander off into non-comprehension land. It boils down to if you liked Halo 3, you’ll probably like Halo: Reach
|
| US Cellular finally announces their Samsung Galaxy S variant: the Mesmerize Posted: 06 Oct 2010 02:00 PM PDT
We’ve known that US Cellular was getting their own version of Samsung’s Android-powered superphone, the Galaxy S, for some time now. Hell, we’ve known about it just as long as we’ve known about AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon’s, all of which have already hit the shelves by now. US Cellular, however, has been letting things ripen for a bit, keeping everything from specs, to photos, to the device’s name close to their chest — until now. Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>
|
| Verizon announces the first 38 cities that will get LTE — Here’s the list Posted: 06 Oct 2010 01:57 PM PDT
While a number of other companies have chosen to keep quiet through this years CTIA Wireless tradeshow (some have even cancelled scheduled press events), Verizon’s gone ahead and started things off with a bit of a bang today. Just minutes ago, Verizon dropped an info bomb with the announcement of the first 38 regions that will be getting access to their 4G (LTE) network when things start going live later this year. Is your city on the list? Check it out after the jump. Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>
|
| Panasonic HDC-SDT750 3D Camcorder Now Shipping Posted: 06 Oct 2010 01:49 PM PDT
It turns out that the HDC-SDT750 isn’t a completely new camera, but rather an existing model with an adapter that converts the input to the camera to 3D. The best part of that is you can buy just the adapter for a mere $599, which will input full HD at 1080p into the camera. [via 3D Display]
|
| Dish Network Subscribers Get Logitech Revue For Only $180 Posted: 06 Oct 2010 12:55 PM PDT
As I said, it's Logitech's day today, and now it’s time for other companies to piggyback on all the goodwill. Dish Network has two main bits of info for us this afternoon: one, that it’ll be selling the Logitech Revue, and two, that if you’re a subscriber you’re potentially looking at a nice little discount. Nothing wrong with that. Should you qualify, Dish Network will let you have the Revue for $179—a full $120 off the retail price. Yup, that’s it!
|
| Logitech Revue First Hands-On! Posted: 06 Oct 2010 12:32 PM PDT
The device itself is no great shakes. It’s basically a box that connects to your DVR (it’s compatible with Dish’s device right now) and you can control it via a larger RF keyboard or Logitech’s old and tiny Bluetooth controller you may be familiar with if you’ve used Logitech’s Harmony gear. The real magic comes from Google TV which allows you to search for content via the controllers or even via voice commands through your cellphone. That’s right: you can say “Price Is Right” and the show will appear on your screen, provided it’s available online. That said the content side of things are very slim pickings. While I love me some YouTube videos, they’re the Goldfish Crackers of content and, as such, are as exciting as hanging out with a toddler. Howover, you can also download podcasts and videocast. More valuable is the sourcing for personal device like laptops. To view content on a Revue you “play” the content on another device and it appears on your screen via DLNA.
|
| Accessories Abound For Logitech Revue: Web Cams, Mini Controllers & More Posted: 06 Oct 2010 12:09 PM PDT
Logitech has won the afternoon~! It’s showing off the Revue, and it seems to replicate many of the features of the device I’m currently using: a computer. (I suppose the blame there lies with Google TV, not Logitech.) In any event, there’s a number of accessories that will be available alongside the Revue that may interest you. They’re all available to pre-order right now.
The Revue can videoconference when used in conjunction with the TV Cam (above, $149.99). As the name implies, it is, in fact, a video camera that you plop on (or near) your TV.
There’s the Mini Controller ($129.99), which is a remote control in he guise of a mini keyboard. Or…
You can instead use the Harmony App for Android and iOS.
Lastly, there’s the Keyboard Controller. It’s like the Mini Controller, but bigger. It actually comes with the Revue, so you won’t need to go out of your way to find one.
|
| Logitech’s Revue Product Page Goes Live, Preorder One Now For $299 Posted: 06 Oct 2010 11:57 AM PDT
The box itself is listed as capable of outputing a 1080p@60fps signal, though we’ll see in person how smooth it actually is. The I/O ports are as expected with HDMI 1.3a in and out, along with 10/100BaseT Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports, S/PDIF, 802.11b/g/n connectivity the Logitech Harmony IR blaster port, and even a built-in Logitech Unifying receiver that’s compatible with a number of current Logitech wireless mice and keyboards. The Revue even ships with a compact keyboard complete with integrated remote and touchpad, HDMI cable, and one IR mini blaster. All good stuff, but it’s the HD camera we’re excited about. Just like we thought, video conferencing will play a part in the Google TV strategy and Logitech has a cam specifically for the Revue. The TV Cam looks like re-purposed webcam from Logitech’s PC offering but seems to be slightly larger. It’s designed to hang on the TV and record 720p video through Carl Zeiss glass. The service seems restricted to only those that have a Logtich Vid account, so don’t expect to talk to your Skype buddies right away — hopefully some sort of hack will open it up. Of course Logitech would have keyboard and remotes solutions for the Google TV. The Revue ships with a small keyboard with an integrated touchpad and navigational buttons. However, the diNovo Mini keypad also got a re-badging and will be available for $129 under the product name Mini Controller. We’re still dissecting everything on the site while we have teams at both the NYC and SanFran Logitech events. But if you already sold, all these products are up for pre-ordering right now with the Revue going for $300.
|
After a 15-minute private demo of 
Nikon announced their new 
The E-Ink Corporation may have cornered the e-paper market, with its screens in 
We got our first big blast of 
Good news for Panasonic shooters looking for 3D. The new 
| You are subscribed to email updates from CrunchGear To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment