Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Yes, it does sound pretty Borg, but a San Francisco artist has called on engineers to come up with a Web camera replacement that will fit into her fake eye. Tanya Vlach, who lost her eye in a car accident, wants engineers to create a small Web cam that will fit inside her prosthesis and allow her to record her life. Experts think it’s possible. In her blog, Vlach has thrown down the gauntlet to anyone who can create an ‘eye-cam′. She wrote: “I am attempting to recreate my eye with the help of a miniature camera implant in my prosthetic / artificial eye. The intraocular installation of an eye-cam will substitute for the field of vision of my left eye that I lost in 2005 from a car accident. While my prosthetic is an excellent aesthetic replacement, I am interested in capitalizing on the current advancement of technology to enhance the abilities of my prosthesis for an augmented reality.” Jump now for the specs and an extreme close-up of that eyeball.Specifications: (I just put this together from the research I′ve done about miniature video cameras.) * DVR * MPEG-4? Recording * Built in SD mini Card Slot * 4 GB SD mini Card * Mini A/V out * Firewire / USB drive * Optical 3X * Remote trigger * Bluetooth wireless method * Inductors: (Firewire/USB, power source) Any bright sparks out there with some good ideas can find her here. Check out the prothesis below.-Martin Lynch camera health sci-fi

Original post by nafiz

It’s time to break out the Alsatians people; our future robot overlord masters now have a face. ‘Jules’ is the name of their equivalent of Adam, and was developed as part of a project called ‘Human-Robot Interaction’ at Bristol’s robotics lab by a team of engineers. For the time being its sole job is to mimic people’s facial expressions by mapping them onto electronic motors under the flexible rubber skin. Developer Peter Jaeckel (we’ll start getting scared when Robert Hyde gets signed to the project) sees application of the technology on robots in the workplace, care, education and in space. “Robot appearance and behaviour need to be well matched to meet expectations formed by our social experience. If people were put off, it would counteract all efforts to achieve trustworthiness, reliability and emotional intelligence” he says. Peter seems oblivious to the fact that ‘trusting’ robots is the first step towards damnation, but unless anyone fancies travelling back in time to stop him, it looks like the research will continue. Of course such a story wouldn’t be complete without a freaky video showing the thing in action, you can check it out below. - Paul Lester [DailyMail] robot bionics future

Original post by nafiz

When a company launches something called ‘Dark Fire’, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a perfume from some B-list celebrity or, what happens to your ass after consuming a Chicken Naga curry. Thankfully, it’s neither. Dark Fire is the second robot guitar from guitar masters, Gibson. Check out the first one here. This time around, the name comes from the colour and, no doubt, all the Satan-worshipping guitar riffs you’ll be coaxing out of it on your way in the fiery pits. Dark Fire can now tune itself in under a second - faster than the original - meaning you can tune numerous times while playing a single song if necessary. It’s lighter and smaller than its predecessor and you can tune your axe up to 500 times between charges - again, a big improvement. The onboard Chameleon Tone technology also has Gibson being incredibly confident by stating that “never before has one guitar been able to produce every imaginable guitar sound”. Fighting talk indeed. It comes with the Robot Interface Pack (RIP), a box for acting as a conduit between your riffing and whatever digital audio system or PC you’ve connected to. There’s no price yet but considering the first one cost £1,300, you may want to hang onto your trusty secondhand Les Paul. Out on Dec 15th.-Martin Lynch [Music Radar] guitar music robot

Original post by nafiz

The company that kicked off the craze for cheap, idiot-proof and tiny camcorders has just gone one better by throwing in high-definition. Flip, the makers of the popular Flip Video Ultra and Flip Mino, has just unveiled the Flip MinoHD, which adds 720 HD shooting into the mix. The Kodak Zi6, which we really liked, did this first but now the market leader in these devices has caught up and added a few extras to keep rivals chasing. Unlike its peers, the new MinoHD comes with 4GB of internal storage which is good for around 60 minutes of HD video and it looks smaller too. The lithium-ion battery is good for a claimed 2 hours and it costs - in the US for now - around £150, making it more expensive. Jump now for the features.Flip Mino HD •Sleek, pocket-sized camcorder shoots breathtaking HD video •Available in black or whatever you want •4GB of on-board memory records up to 60 minutes of video •Dimensions: 4″ x 2″ x 0.6″; weighs just 3.3 oz. •HD 720p resolution (1280 x 720) in16:9 cinematic widescreen •No glare display (1.5″) •Sealed, rechargeable lithium ion battery (up to 2 hours of battery life) •Flat back-panel with touch-sensitive buttons •Instant playback, pause, fast forward/rewind, and delete features •Connects to TV for instant viewing •New built-in FlipShare™ software works on any PC or Mac: •Save, organize, and edit videos with ease •Email videos and video greeting cards •Upload videos directly to AOL Video, MySpace, and YouTube •Capture HD snapshots from your videos •Create custom movies with your own music •Order DVDs and have them shipped anywhere in the world Suggested Retail Pricing: $229.99 Like its predecessors, the MinoHD is compatible with PCs and Macs and comes with all the software you need to get those embarrassing videos up on YouTube and MySpace in a heartbeat. UK shoppers may have to wait a couple of months since the regular standard-def Mino only arrived here last month. -Martin Lynch video camcorder HD

Original post by nafiz

The iPhone 3G knocked the Motorola RAZR off the top of the US sales charts for the first time to become the most popular consumer handset for Q3. According to the latest stats from NPD Group, the iPhone has ended a 3-year run at the top for the RAZR. Behind the RAZR sits Research in Motion’s Blackberry Curve, LG’s Rumor, and LG’s enV2. “The displacement of the RAZR by the iPhone 3G represents a watershed shift in handset design from fashion to fashionable functionality,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for NPD. “Four of the five best-selling handsets in the third quarter were optimised for messaging and other advanced Internet features.”Looking at the specific features that motivated consumers when purchasing, 43% of buyers cited the need for a camera and 36% wanted the ability to send and receive text messages [isn’t that almost every phone?]. Mobile phones with a QWERTY keyboard experienced the greatest year-over-year rise in sales with 30% of all phones sold in Q3 having one. This is up from 11% in Q3 2007. Despite the iPhone’s success though, the recession is kicking in with sales of phones down 15% against Q3 last year.-Martin Lynch [NPD] iphone mobile phone razr

Original post by nafiz

Panasonic is set to become a very, very large electronics company indeed following confirmation that it plans to takeover struggling Sanyo Electric in a deal suggested to be worth up to £5.5bn. The new Panasonic would become a £70bn giant. The deal, the biggest ever in the Japanese consumer technology sector, will give Panasonic access to two key technologies: batteries and solar panels. Sanyo is currently the leading global supplier of rechargeable batteries for mobile phones, cameras and other portable devices - earning Sanyo almost $4bn annually in revenues. Sanyo also makes nickel-metal hydride batteries for gas-electric hybrid cars for Ford and Honda and has a lithium-ion battery deal with Volkswagen. Panasonic works with Toyota and the deal would place Panasonic at the forefront of future car battery technology. Goldman Sachs, Daiwa Securities SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking currently hold a 70% stake in Sanyo, which they paid $2.5bn for back in 2006. Panasonic has yet to agree financial terms but if it goes ahead, it may spark other large consumer tech mergers in the cut-throat Japanese market.-Martin Lynch [Businessweek] technology merger consumer

Original post by nafiz

They’ll stick Bluetooth into anything these days and, why not? Today, RXS has announced it’s stuck Bluetooth into a special rear-view mirror for your motor. The Bluetooth Rear-View Mirror Hands-Free Car Kit, to give it its official title, clips over your existing mirror, with no installation or wiring required. So far, so simple. It is also powered by a rechargeable battery which means no dangling cables every time you use it, while the microphone and speaker are housed discreetly. The really nice touch is that caller ID is displayed on the mirror so you don’t have to take your eyes off the road to see who’s bothering you.It comes bundled with a small Bluetooth headset that you can slip on to continue a call once you’ve parked and gotten out. The mirror’s rechargeable lithium-polymer battery allows for up to 15 hours talk time and 20 days of standby time. The Bluetooth headset is good for 2.5 hours of yapping and 2 days standby. It costs £70, and you can find it here.-Martin Lynch cars mobile phones bluetooth

Original post by nafiz

Nintendo’s DSi may have been going down a storm in Japan but it seems it might have had an ulterior motive in updating its popular handheld. Part of the reason for the success of the DS is undoubtedly the popularity of the R4 module and its associated guises. This thing allows you to use homebrew content stored on a microSD chip but we’d imagine most people are using it for playing pirated games. Well, the new DSi apparently doesn′t work with any of these units, displaying an error message when one is plugged in. Nintendo will argue that the features of the new console cover most of the legal things you’d want to do with an R4 anyway, and its ultimate intention may be to faze out the original DS and push the ‘protected’ DSi onto consumers so they can start getting a bit more money from games sales again. The idea is fraught with problems however. First up we’d expect an R4 DSi to be developed and released within nanoseconds of the announcement becoming widespread, and second this may mean that people will just opt to stick with a DS Lite. Whatever happens, we reckon the Japanese giant will have to wait for the next generation handheld to arrive before it can stop the ‘R4 revolution′ in its tracks. - Paul Lester [Kotaku] Nintendo R4 DS

Original post by nafiz

There are only a handful of big players in the portable media player market, at least in the UK. Archos is arguably the most popular with its excellent range and Apple is obviously doing well with its video-capable players. Cowon is another and seems to want a piece of blighty-pie following news that its successful O2 will in fact be getting a UK release. It will be available in 16GB and 32GB versions with the option to add another 32GB via microSDHC card, so there’s bags of room for all your media files. A generous 4.3″ 480×272 display, 18/8 hours playback for music/video and support for 720p resolutions complements an unprecedented degree of format support for your files, full list below. Prices are rumoured to be around £209 for the 16GB model and a rather generous £249 for the 32GB when released during the first half of this month, though this seems overly cheap to us so we′re awaiting confirmation. - Paul Lester Cowon O2 format support: AVI, WMV, ASF, MP4, MKV, OGM, MPG/MPEG, DAT, MTV, MP3/2/1, WMA, ASF, AC3, FLAC, OGG, M4A, MKA, TTA, APE, MPC, WV, WAV. [T3] Cowon PMP handheld

Original post by nafiz

The recent announcement of an update to Nintendo′s wildly popular DS Lite handheld has garnered a bit of a mixed response from most quarters. If offers a VGA digital camera, slightly bigger screen and can play music. Big whoop, right? Well yes actually, at least in Japan where it has sold over 170,000 units in just two days at a price of 16,800 Yen, or just over £100.Typically these sales outstripped stock, with many suppliers only able to satisfy pre-orders and others having to wait in long queues with the hope that there will be some left when they get to the front. Sales had been dropping on the DS and DS Lite, not because people don’t want one but because everyone already has one, with 84 million sold worldwide making it more popular than the GameBoy. We don’t expect the DSi to be quite as popular over here when it’s released next year though, that is unless Nintendo comes up with some sort of platform defining game that uses a digital camera. - Paul Lester [PCWorld] Nintendo DSi handheld

Original post by nafiz

If you’re concerned about sensitive data you may have stored on your phone, be it bank details, email addresses or photographs of a secret underground lair, British IT innovator Virtuity has come up with a rather nifty ‘Mission Impossible′ style solution. If a phone is lost or stolen, the software can detect where it is anywhere in the world using WiFi and GSM communications and start deleting any information that might be dangerous in the wrong hands. It adheres to US Department of Defence standards for data removal and once complete a report is sent back with information on what was erased and where the phone is. Initially it′ll be released for Windows Mobile devices that offer business application but this will be expanded and development is already underway for the Symbian OS. BackStopp also offers software that′ll do a similar job for laptops and its applications come with handy features such as encryption and the fact that it’s ‘always on’ and not reliant on an internet connection to work. Check out the official website below for more details or to request free trial. - Paul Lester [BackStopp] BackStopp mobile phone security

Original post by nafiz

As fans of all things technological we can probably all join in our hatred of that god-damned ridiculous plastic clamshell packaging that you see wrapped around things like memory cards and other small devices. It’s bullet-proof, seemingly inches thick and involves you covering yourself in body armour before attacking it with a pair of razor-sharp scissors and hoping that either these or the lethal shards of resulting plastic don’t cause serious injury. Well thankfully it seems as though the guy who came up with this heinous invention won’t be getting any richer, following news from Amazon that it’s starting a multi-year initiative to produce ‘frustration-free packaging’ that’s easy to open and free from excess materials. It’ll feature recyclable boxes and will be rolled out in the US first, with the UK expected to start benefiting from early next year. CEO Jeff Bezos is clearly on our side, and said “I think we’ve all experienced the frustration that sometimes occurs when you try to get a new toy or electronics product out of its package. It will take many years, but our vision is to offer our entire catalogue of products in Frustration-Free Packaging.” Memory cards are apparently the first to go and will now ship in recyclable cardboard envelopes which use less materials and are far lighter. What odds that Amazon will be reducing post and packaging costs to reflect the savings it’ll be making? - Paul Lester [Amazon] [TechRadar] Amazon packaging gadgets

Original post by nafiz

There’s been a lot said about the high cost of the iPhone and its expensive 18-month contracts but that’s not stopping it being a hit with poor people. Well, not breadline poor, but ‘poorer′ consumers. According to a survey in the US by comScore, the strongest growth market for the iPhone this summer has not been well-off punters but actually with those on lower salary brackets. No doubt, well-heeled fashionistas will be horrified. It found that iPhone adoption since June rose 48% among those earning between $25,000 and $50,000 per year and by 46% among those earning between $25,000 and $75,000. That’s 16 times more those than those earning $75,000 to $99,000 and three times the growth rate of those earning over $100,000 a year. “As an additional household budget item, a $200 device plus at least $70 per month for phone service seems a bit extravagant for those with lower disposable income,” said Jen Wu, senior analyst, comScore, the report’s author. “However, one actually realizes cost savings when the device is used in lieu of multiple digital devices and services, transforming the iPhone from a luxury item to a practical communication and entertainment tool.” So, there you have it: the iPhone is not as expensive as we thought, apparently.-Martin Lynch [Source] iphone mobile phone

Original post by nafiz

The drive towards miniature - or pico - projectors gathers pace today as the UK gets its second tiny device, the Pico Media Projector from RXS: Redshift. It looks very similar to the MPr𛈆 from 3M which arrived a few weeks ago with a £300 price tag. This too will cost £300 and, coincidentally, uses 3M tech under the hood. It measures a pocket-friendly, 11.5cm x 5cm x 2.2 cm and weighs just 160g. The rechargeable lithium ion battery allows for up to an hour of playback time so, you won’t be watching Lord Of The Rings but, it’s good for showing short videos, presentations, camcorder clips and photos without the hassle of bringing along a regular projector. That said you can hook it up to the mains too and it comes with a handy flexible tripod for easy positioning. Resolution is VGA - 640 x 480 pixels - and it can fire up an impressive 50in image from a distance of 6-feet away. It comes bundled with a VGA cable, composite video cable and iPod video cable. You can find it here. -Martin Lynch news projector mobile phone movies

Original post by nafiz

It seems even the rich are feeling the pinch as luxury TV and audio company, Bang &amp Olufsen (B&ampO), has decided that its flirtation with the mobile phone sector is at an end. The maker of the odd and ugly luxury Serene mobile [£675] and, more recently, the equally odd but less ugly Serenata [£800] with Samsung [pictured] has decided to batten down the hatches and go back to its roots. That means no more £700-800 phones or high-end DVD recorders and players. From now on, the company will focus on making the ridiculously expensive - but very good - TV and sound systems that it made its name with. Bang &amp Olufsen’s chief executive Karl Kristian Hvidt Nielsen says the collapsing property market means people no longer have the cash they once had for decking out their homes with the finest AV equipment, and admitted sales across all product lines are down. Speaking to the FT about the company’s decision, Gartner telecoms analyst Carolina Milanesi commented: “What Bang &amp Olufsen was trying to do with their devices was not fitting the current environment … people are looking to spend less, not more, on phones.” Tell that to iPhone customers.-Martin Lynch [Source] phone mobile phone

Original post by nafiz