Lexar announces new 2-in-1 Micro-USB 3.0 Flash Drive

Lexar has released a fair number of USB flash drives in the past, but this particular model intends to stand out from the rest of the crowd. I am referring to the freshly minted Lexar 2-in-1 Micro-USB 3.0 flash drive that will target both Android-powered tablets as well as smartphones. Just what does this nifty USB flash drive bring to the table? For starters, it will enable one to transfer and share files between mobile devices – all without the need to carry a pesky cable around or to settle for the relatively slow speed of Wi-Fi data transfer. With the Lexar 2-in-1 micro-USB USB 3.0 flash drive, data transfers will always be quick and easy.

In fact, it is capable of achieving read speeds of up to 120MB/s, which in turn paves the way for the file transfer of a 3GB High Definition video clip in a matter of less than a minute. There is a thumb-slide design which can retract both micro-USB and USB 3.0 connectors, and depending on your needs, you will be able to select from 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities. Fret not about it not working with older devices, since it is also backwards compatible with USB 2.0 hardware. Also known as the Lexar JumpDrive M20 Mobile, you can pick one up this coming October for $34.99 all the way to $64.99, depending on the aforementioned capacity.

Company Page

Amazon Kindle Voyage arrives

When we talk about hardware released by Amazon, one of the surefire topics that rise up would be their range of Kindle e-book readers, such as the Kindle Fire HD that offers plenty of bang for your hard earned buck. Of course, there is also the Kindle Fire smartphone which never really managed to take off in a big way, which could be why Amazon has continued to concentrate on their e-reader range, having announced the 7th generation Kindle which they have dubbed as the Kindle Voyage. How apt, considering the journey or adventure that Amazon has gone through over the years in the e-reader market.

The whole idea of the Kindle Voyage is to deliver what Jeff Bezos calls “the thinnest design, highest resolution and highest contrast display, reimagined page turns, and all of the features that readers love about Kindle—books in seconds, no eyestrain or glare, readability in bright sunlight, and battery life measured in weeks, not hours—Kindle Voyage is crafted from the ground up for readers.”

Hopefully that vision will be passed down from the engineering drawing board to the production line, and eventually to the hands of consumer with the Kindle Voyage as intended. Boasting of an all-new design, the $199 e-reader will sport a beautiful flush glass front and a magnesium back, where it measures just 7.6 mm thin and tips the scales at less than 6.4 ounces. This particular size would mean you can easily hold it with just one hand for a long time, without having to feel any kind of fatigue whatsoever compared to those hybrid notebook-tablets.

Amazon has equipped the Kindle Voyage with a brand new Paperwhite display, where it will sport the highest resolution, highest contrast, and highest brightness of any Kindle. We are looking at a pixel density of 300 pixels per inch, and the unique flush-front display stack relies on specially strengthened glass which can resist scratches. Not only that, the cover glass is micro-etched so that it can diffuse light for better reading under bright light sans glare. There is also new adaptive front light that automatically adjusts the brightness of the display based on the surrounding light, which can be further fine tuned according to your needs. Sounds like we have a winner here, don’t you think so?

Press Release

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus drop tests

As a lover of technology, I personally find it a bit upsetting that people buy state-of-the-art gadgets, only to rush outside and intentionally drop them on the floor. Still, if you’ve just bought an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, I guess it’s kind of helpful to know how rugged your device is — maybe it’ll help you decide whether to put a case on your new phone or not.

Anyway, here are two videos of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 being drop tested:

It’s obviously hard to proclaim any kind of authoritative result from two videos, but it does seem that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are pretty resistant to drop damage and smashed screens. The first video is particularly impressive — but the second video, where an edge impact smashes the screen, makes you wonder if the first guy just got lucky.

Also, I’m impressed at how high-tech drop tests are nowadays — look at the number of cameras that the first drop tester uses! Marvel at the apparatus that the second drop tester uses to ensure a fair and balanced meeting with its maker.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus Apple store lines around the world

Amusingly enough, the first iPhone 6 drop test was actually carried out by a “young bloke” in Australia, who unboxed his new fondleslab in front of a TV reporter — and then let it fall unceremoniously to the floor. You’ll be glad to hear that his screen did not smash.

MaKey MaKey DIY Invention Kit for Beginners and Experts

MaKey MaKey is an invention kit for the 21st century. Turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. It's a simple Invention Kit for Beginners and Experts doing art, engineering, and everything inbetween:

It comes ready to use out of the box with everything you see above: MaKey MaKey, Alligator Clips, USB Cable.

What Can I Make?

That's up to you! First, load up a computer program or any webpage (yes that's right, you're surfing the internet to invent). 

Let's say you load up a piano. Then, instead of using the computer keyboard buttons to play the piano, you can hook up the MaKey MaKey to something fun, like bananas, and the bananas become your piano keys:  

Or let's say you Google for an online "Pacman" game and draw a joystick with a pencil (yes, an actual ordinary pencil):

Then you can play Pacman by touching the drawing with your finger.

Or you could load up facebook or gmail and send a message on a custom-made alphabet soup keyboard:

How Does it Work?

Alligator Clip two objects to the MaKey MaKey board. For example, you and an apple.

When you touch the apple, you make a connection, and MaKey MaKey sends the computer a keyboard message. The computer just thinks MaKey MaKey is a regular keyboard (or mouse). Therefore it works with all programs and webpages, because all programs and webpages take keyboard and mouse input. 

Make + Key = MaKey MaKey! 

Who is MaKey MaKey For?

Artists, Kids, Educators, Engineers, Designers, Inventors, Makers... Really it is for everyone. Here is an 8-year-old girl in a Maker Space:

She invented a "knife-and-log" interface for cutting virtual wood in an online game

Another grad student made this working pressure sensitive switch by layering Play-Doh under a spring:

The workshop took place at Queen's University during a conference.

With MaKey MaKey, kids can start inventing right away, and experts can make working prototypes in minutes instead of days.

What materials work with MaKey Makey?

Any material that can conduct at least a tiny bit of electricity will work (if it doesn't already work, just rub it with bananas, spray it with water, or apply copper tape). Here are some materials people have used in our workshops including Ketchup, Pencil Graphite, Finger Paint, Lemons, etc.:

Other materials that work great: Plants, Coins, Your Grandma, Silverware, Anything that is Wet, Most Foods, Cats and Dogs, Aluminum Foil, Rain, and hundreds more...

Requirements?

MaKey MaKey works with any laptop or computer with a USB port and a recent operating system. How recent? We have tried it with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Mac OSX.

Software on your smartphone can speed up lithium-ion battery charging by up to 6x

 A startup in California, with the rather odd name of Qnovo, says it has developed a new way of rapidly recharging conventional lithium-ion batteries. With Qnovo’s technology, you can get six hours of phone life from just 15 minutes of charging — compared to just 1-2 hours from conventional charging. The secret, according to Qnovo, is that no two batteries are identical — and knowing exactly how much power you can pump into the battery without damaging it can significantly improve recharge times.



As you’re probably aware, lithium-ion batteries — as in, the battery in your smartphone, tablet, laptop — generally hold less charge as time goes by. There are many reasons for LIBs to lose charge and efficiency, but one of the most pesky is the creation of dendrites – mossy deposits of lithium that ooze out of cracks in the anode that form during charging (the sudden influx of ions caused by recharging causes the anode to expand and crack). These dendrites can reach out towards the electrolyte and cause short circuits, seriously reducing the battery’s capacity.



Now, device makers already know that charging a lithium-ion battery is pretty dangerous because of dendrite formation. So, to ensure the dendrites don’t form, the amount of current flowing into the battery is reduced to a trickle. This results in longer battery life, which is good — but also significantly longer recharge times.

Qnovo is offering a different solution. Rather than simply reducing the charging current to the “lowest common denominator” that definitely won’t damage the battery, Qnovo has designed an intelligent feedback loop that constantly checks the battery’s status to ensure that it gets the optimal amount of current. Apparently, simply by simply sending a pulse into the battery, and then registering the voltage response, Qnovo can work out the battery’s temperature, age, and other factors that affect charging. By continually polling the battery as it charges, the current can be constantly tweaked. The Qnovo website notes that this doesn’t just help batteries of different ages, either: Even two batteries made on the same day, at the same factory, can behave significantly differently.



The end result, according to Qnovo, is somewhere between three and six times faster charging — plus your battery stays healthier for longer, apparently. Qnovo is offering two solutions: A piece of software (that runs on your phone/laptop) that improves charging speed, or a special chip that manages your device’s charging circuitry. The chip is more effective, but obviously it’s easier to get device makers to install a piece of software on a phone, rather than redesign a circuit board.

Obviously, if there’s a simple software solution that can both speed up charging and increase battery longevity, then Qnovo could be onto something big. While mobile devices are still severely restricted by total battery capacity, faster charging would certainly give mobile computing another big boost (not that it really needs one, mind you).

Qnovo says its technology should be available on “some smartphones” in 2015.

Warburtons Heated Butter Knife

By this point, we get it, I’m fond of innovative ways to put butter on bread. It’s just so delicious when done right that it’s hard not to be excited when you see a new way of doing things. While you can grate your butter, heat it manually, or just sit it out and wait, there are very fast ways to get things done that will still give you an even spread. Everyone’s passionate about something, right?

Everyone handles the dairy aspect a little differently, but Warburton’s conducted a poll with a little under three thousand people and found the most common practices were using a microwave, heating a regular knife, putting butter on a plate on top of the toaster, or using a hairdryer to get the butter to the exact desired temperature. The Warburtons Heated Butter Knife is the best option, and is backed by scientific fact. The amount of knowledge they have about toast is astounding. They talk about the “butterability” of the bread, and how the perfect temperature that the butter should be at is 41.8 degrees Celsius coming at the bread at an angle of 24.5 degrees, and how you should use short strokes rather than long when spreading.

While I kind of doubt the information, the copious amounts of it on their site (which is about baking) is almost too thorough to not believe. The handle of this knife will remain cool while the edge of the blade can heat inside of 30 seconds to start spreading that dairy goodness. While this is a hilariously neat idea, it’s only a concept at this point, though it likely wouldn’t cost more than $20 should it hit the market. They certainly seem reputable enough to make this sort of device, but we will have to wait and see.

Dremel’s $1000 Idea Builder hopes to bring 3D printing to the masses

 3D printers are no longer gigantic DIY monstrosities that you have to assemble yourself, but they are far from being a consumer-ready solution — until now, perhaps. One of the biggest names in power tools is trying its hand at the future of manufacturing with a new 3D printer. The Dremel Idea Builder is intended to be the first truly mass-market 3D printer with a competitive price, compact design, and a name people know. The price is quite attractive  – the Idea Builder will be on sale soon for $1000.

The Idea Builder is a single-extruder printer, meaning you can only load a single color of plastic filament at a time. The printing platform is non-heated, so this printer is intended for use with PLA plastics only. PLA is by far the most popular material for 3D printing, but ABS is gaining ground quickly. However, it has a tendency to warp badly while cooling unless the printer has a heated bed to help lower the temperature more gradually.

One of the features that affects 3D printer pricing most is the size of the build area. This limits how large your designs can be, and in this case the build area is 230mm x 150mm x 140mm (9 inches x 5.9 inches x 5.5 inches). That compares favorably to more expensive machines like the $2800 MakerBot Replicator 2, which has a build volume of 11.2 inches x 6.0 inches x 6.1 inches. Printing resolution goes as low as 0.1mm, the same as the MakerBot.

Despite the reasonably large build area, the machine itself is rather compact and professional looking. Dremel worked specifically to minimize the footprint by placing the plastic filament holder inside the machine. After all, Dremel is going after more than the serious maker and DIY community — people who don’t have a whole room just for tinkering with 3D printers.

The Idea Builder is a polished piece of equipment, but Dremel didn’t conceive of and build it from scratch. The device was developed in partnership with Chinese manufacturer Flashforge and is based on that company’s Dreamer 3D printer. The Flashforge Dreamer is a solid entry-level alternative to the more pricey MakerBot at about $1300, so Dremel has managed to knock the price down considerably. Internally, the Idea Builder is based on the same ARM Cortex-M4, a low-power chip ideal for signal processing.

Good hardware is only half of the equation when building a 3D printer for regular people — the software is at least as important. Dremel’s 3D software was developed with AutoDesk. It works on both Mac and Windows allowing you to see a 3D rendering of the build file before it’s printed. You can move, rotate, and scale parts as well. Dremel says it intentionally left out some more advanced features like manual temperature control, rafts, and infill percentages. This makes the printer less intimidating to use, but Dremel may add some of these features for advanced users later.

Having a recognizable name like Dremel get into 3D printing is a big deal. At-home manufacturing is becoming a real technology, even if it’s still pricey. The sales channels are also notable: The Dremel Idea Builder will be available in Home Depot stores and on Amazon starting November 3.

This nuclear battery could power your smartphone forever

Your next smartphone or electric vehicle might be powered by a nuclear battery instead of your usual lithium-ion cell thanks to a breakthrough made by University of Missouri researchers. This is bad news for those of you who think that WiFi signals are bad for your health — especially if they’re received by a smartphone situated near your head or gonads — but great news for all of the people who value all-day battery life ahead of increased radiation exposure. The world could probably do with reduced fertility rates anyway, right?

First, just to put your mind at rest: This nuclear battery doesn’t contain a mini nuclear fission reactor — that would be insane (at least given our current grasp of nuclear power generation, anyway). Instead, this battery, developed by Baek Kim and Jae Kwon at the University of Missouri, uses the betavoltaic process to generate electricity. A betavoltaic device, as the name implies, is fairly similar a photovoltaic device — but instead of generating electricity from photons, it generates electricity from beta radiation — i.e. high-energy electrons that are emitted by radioactive elements. A betavoltaic device is constructed in almost exactly the same way as a photovoltaic cell: a piece of silicon (or other semiconductor) is wedged between two electrodes, and when radiation hits the semiconductor it produces a flow of electrons (voltage, electricity).

“But surely having a battery, and thus a mobile device, packed full of radioactive material is a bad idea” I hear you say. And usually, yes, you’d be right. What makes a betavoltaic battery somewhat safe is that beta radiation can be easily stopped with a thin piece of aluminium; gamma radiation, on the other hand, has so much penetrative power that it can only be stopped by a big lump of lead (or other dense metal). This doesn’t mean that beta radiation in itself is safe — it can cause cancer and death — but it’s much easier to control. Just make sure the betavoltaic nuclear battery casing is more than a couple of millimeters thick — and don’t drop it. Ever.

MinION USB stick gene sequencer finally comes to market

When it comes to DNA, France has always been behind the times. Never mind the hefty fines and prison sentence a man apparently can get for trying to order a paternity test, it seems that just knowing your own genetic sequence is offensive enough. Now that the much anticipated MinION USB stick genome sequencer has finally been rolled out, it’s going to be a whole lot tougher for the gene police.

The MinION took a little longer than we originally reported. Even now the 4-inch USB stick has only been made available to select labs Oxford Nanopore has chosen to let purchase the device. Early reports suggest that the MinION will indeed be all that it had originally claimed — namely, have the ability to sequence long reads (i.e. 80,000 base letters long) and up to 150 million bases in six hours. The main concern now is its accuracy.

Some researchers are claiming that they are only getting about 65 to 80% accuracy out of the device. Fortunately for the French citizenry, if only a limited percentage of genome report is correct you could probably make the case that you don’t really know your DNA. The key to getting reliable reads from unreliable nanopore readers is simple redundancy. Provided the sequencing errors are not significantly correlated, and the sequencing can be perpetuated without performance decay, then in theory any arbitrary degree of accuracy can be attained.

The ability to pipette a bit of bodily fluid onto a device and have DNA sequences appear on you screen in front of you may feel like the ultimate conquest of nature, but many may be wondering what good it is to have such a device if your genome has already been sequenced before. The answer is it hasn’t. Unless you were sequenced as an egg, then any sequence you may have been given is just a minor subset of the full DNA spec that has become you. Many people are natural mosaics that formed early on in pregnancy by mysterious union or division of ambivalent agglomerations of cells. Since that time the cells in different organs and tissues have accumulated vast genetic differences through natural and/or directed mutation processes.

This doesn’t even begin to account for all our DNA heterogeneity, though. In addition to possessing thousands of mitochondria per cell with their own related, but still personal DNA stashes, there is the vastly larger pool of endosymbionts — organisms that live inside other cells or creatures — that contribute immeasurably to our being. This larger pool of bacterial, viral, and even free DNA is what now has come to be known as the hologenome. Access to the hologenome, and to changes in our DNA in different tissues over time promises to be the most valuable weapon against present and future disease. While competing devices may be waiting in the wings, the MinION is the tool now best poised to bring us into that world.

A final, cutting-edge new example highlights just how far some cells, and creatures, go to reconfigure their original “genome” throughout their lives. Every time a bizarre organism known as Oxytricha trifallax has a sexual encounter, it decrypts its own DNA and builds an entirely new version together with its partner. Strangely, there is no actual reproduction involved in these encounters, just exchange of DNA. Such extreme genetic rewiring is now just beginning to be witnessed, much less understood.

The eventual mass-market price of the MinION gene sequencer still isn’t known. It will hopefully be under $1,000, though, which in the world of gene sequencing is pretty darn cheap.

Turtle Beach Ear Force Z60

I like an immersive gaming experience, but most surround sound systems seem to  place the sound about eight feet in front of the listener, which I guess, works for most TV shows and movies, but with my favorite first person shooter games the sound is supposed to be coming from my character, footsteps, breathing, and the all important, spent shells hitting the ground…

Well, the folks over at Turtle Beach thought of everything. Check out their new Ear Force Z60 headphones, designed to make your movies, music and games sound spectacular through your headphones.. Utilizing special presets, you can configure the perfect delivery of your sound experience based on just what it is you’re listening to.

These wicked 7.1 channel DTS Headphones provide surround Sound on any PC or Mac. They deliver a chest thumping bass response through PC gaming’s largest speakers, while the dynamic Chat Boost keeps your communication levels well above the action.

The Ear Force Z60′s have an easy USB setup with no software to install as the surround processing is done through the In-Line Surround Sound Control Unit. So If you want to get lost in your next gaming session or be overwhelmed by an on screen epic, The Turtle Beach Ear Force Z60′s might be something you need to bring home, available today…get yours at amazon.com for right around 120 bucks, and remember, if all else fails, call an airstrike.

Xbox One Wireless Controller

Experience the action like never before with the Xbox One Wireless Controller. New Impulse Triggers deliver fingertip vibration feedback, so you can feel every jolt and crash in high definition.* Redesigned thumbsticks and an all new D-pad provide greater precision. And the entire controller fits more comfortably in your hands. With over 40 innovations, it’s simply the best controller Xbox has ever made.

Features

The greatest gamepad – now even better
The Xbox One Wireless Controller features over 40 improvements to the award-winning Xbox 360 Wireless Controller.

More immersive

• Feel the action like never before with Impulse Triggers. New vibration motors in the triggers provide precise fingertip feedback bringing weapons, crashes, and jolts to life for a whole new level of gaming realism.*
• New expansion port with high speed data transfer enables clearer chat audio when using a compatible headset.**

More precise

• Newly designed D-pad is responsive to both sweeping and directional movements.
• Thumbstick improvements enable better grip and accuracy.
• Trigger and bumpers are designed for quicker access.

More comfortable

• Grips and contours have been designed to fit a wider range of hand sizes comfortably.
• Batteries fit inside the controller body, allowing your hands more room to naturally grip the controller.

Additional features

• Contents: Wireless Controller and AA Batteries (2).
• Up to 30ft wireless range.
• Connect up to 8 Wireless Controllers at once to your console.
• Menu and View buttons for easy navigation.
• Seamless profile and controller pairing. Infrared LEDs in the controller can be sensed by the Kinect sensor.
• Expansion port for add-on devices like the Chat Headset.
• Compatible with Xbox One Play and Charge Kit and Xbox One Chat Headset.

Leef Ice USB 3.0 Flash Drive

We always like to have a USB drive on us at all times. You never know when there's a file you need/want to grab/share. But with all the different styles out there, we wanted to find some that performed the best AND looked good. Behold, the Leef Ice USB 3.0 Drives. They are shockproof, waterproof, and dust proof. That makes our data happy. Leef Ice USB 3.0 Drives look really nice on our keychain, too! And that makes us happy.

I guess the name of the Leef Ice USB 3.0 Drives more or less gives the game away, allowing you to look as cool as possible. I know that USB flash drives are dime a dozen these days, and while majority of the more modern ones will arrive to offer USB 3.0 compatibility, the differentiating factor between one and the other boils down to the overall design. Having said that, the Leef Ice USB 3.0 Drives are beautifully designed, as it comes in a no-nonsense form factor unlike the Message in a Bottle USB drive.






You will be able to choose from either black or copper colors, with three different capacities to choose from – 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB, which will retail for $19.99, $29,.99 and $69.99, respectively. Not only that, despite being so small and running the risk of you throwing it into the washing machine as you do your laundry, the Leef Ice USB 3.0 Drive is waterproof, so you should heave a sigh of relief knowing that your data stored within will remain safe and sound. It is also shockproof and dust proof, but it will not stop any kind of incoming bullets. 



Product Specifications

• Leef Ice Drives are designed with an anodized aluminum band and methacrylic resin base, for a unique look
• Available in 2 colors (Black or Copper) and 3 sizes (16GB, 32GB, or 64GB)
• Built with Leef's PrimeGrade Memory which is waterproof, shockproof, and dust proof
• Soft-glow LED
• USB Standard: High-speed USB 3.0 Compliant, USB 2.0 Backwards Compatible
• USB 3.0 transfers data up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0.
• Operating Temperature: 0°C - 70°C
• Storage Temperature: -20°C - 85°C
• System Requirements: Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista (SP1, SP2), Windows 2000, Apple Mac OS X or later
• Dimensions: approx. 0.6" x 1.4" x 0.3"

G910 ORION SPARK RGB mechanical gaming keyboard

The keyboard features Logitech’s exclusive new Romer-G™ mechanical switches, offering 25 percent faster actuation than any other mechanical switch, improved durability and intelligent Illumination.

“This keyboard is the culmination of years of ongoing development by our engineering team, incorporating feedback from gamers and eSports athletes to develop a next-generation mechanical key,” said Vincent Tucker, director of Logitech gaming. “Our team was charged with developing a keyboard that truly improves the gaming experience, and Orion Spark delivers.”

Orion Spark combines lightning speed responsiveness, improved accuracy with superior RGB illumination in a performance-driven design.

“My players love the new switches,” said Andy Dinh, owner of Team Solomid. “They are so excited about them, that the whole team is using them in the League of Legends World Championship.”


Fast, Responsive, Durable: Romer-G Mechanical Switches

Orion Spark features exclusive new Romer-G mechanical switches, which can’t be found on any other keyboard. With an actuation point of 1.5 mm, Romer-G switches register your key presses up to 25 percent faster than competing mechanical switches. Improved durability at 70 million keystrokes, up to 40 percent longer than others on the market, also allows this keyboard to weather the wear and tear of intense gaming.



Intelligent RGB Illumination

The lighting in every key of Orion Spark can be individually customized from a palette of 16.8 million colors. You can mark keys by color to keep track of spells and other commands, change colors to match your setup, or set lighting by game. The lighting is centrally located within each switch and is directed by precision optics, to ensure that the lettering on each key is evenly illuminated.

Arx Control Integration

Arx Control is a new app from Logitech G that works with LGS to enable delivery of a wide range of information on your mobile device including anything from in-game intelligence, to vital system performance stats, to media controls. Using our Arx Control SDK game developers can even create customized applets to deliver content unique to their game. Major developers like Valve have been given early copies and are exploring possible integrations for Steam and for their popular games. Orion Spark features a pullout tray that supports most iOS® and Android™ devices, providing easy access to Arx Control data.

Nine Programmable Buttons

You can also customize your favorite game by assigning game controls and macros to the nine individually programmable G-keys, for quick and easy access to complex commands. Orion Spark supports up to 27 commands across three profiles for maximum convenience, and setup is easy using Logitech Gaming Software.

Sony Unveils Smart Eyeglass

Sony unveiled its SmartEyeglass prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014 on January 7 (local time). It did not launch the wearable device during the press conference or president Hirai Kazuo’s keynote speech on the previous day, but unveiled the product directly in its exhibition booth to catch the attendees by surprise.

According to Sony, SmartEyeglass is used mainly to display information about sports events, such as player information at a soccer match. Specifically, it shows who the player currently having the ball is, how much time is left until the match is over, etc.

Sony is an official sponsor of the Brazil World Cup and is expected to put the product to commercial use in time with the opening of the international tournament in June. The SmartEyeglass is predicted to be utilized in many more fields as well.

Google has their Google Glass, where the world is more or less familiar with this piece of technology by now, and it should not look all that quaint whenever you see someone wearing it out in the public. Having said that, other companies too, do see the potential of smart glasses and the markets that it can open up. Sony is one of them, which is why they have started to work on the SmartEyeglass transparent lens eyewear.

In fact, the software development kit (SDK) is being made available even as you read this, and the SmartEyeglass transparent lens eyewear intends to hook up to compatible smartphones in order for it to superimpose different kinds of essential information such as text, symbols, and images, onto the user’s field of view. When it comes to the smartphone compatibility list, only Android-powered devices will work at the moment – so too bad if you are rocking to iOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry OS. Apart from that, not all Android-powered devices will play nice with the SmartEyeglass, since it will need to run on Android 4.1 or later. Anything less than Android 4.3 or later would mean there is no way one is able to access the video functionality of the camera.

The SmartEyeglass will feature a wide range of sensing technologies, where among them include a CMOS image sensor, accelerometer, Gyroscope, electronic compass, brightness sensor, and microphone. SmartEyeglass will make use of all these features, accompanying them with GPS location information from the connected smartphone, so that information that has been optimized will be provided to the user’s existing circumstances. Sony will take advantage of their special hologram optics technology in order to develop a lens that achieves high transparency of 85% and thickness of just 3.0 mm, all without having to use them pesky half mirrors which obstruct the user’s vision. In addition, implementing a monochrome display would make sure energy consumption is lower compared to that of a color display, while it offers high luminance (up to 1,000 cd/m2).

No idea on how much this will cost when it finally hits the market though, so stay tuned!

Turn Your Words into Action - Livescribe 3 Smartpen

There’s something comforting about having a hard copy of your notes. The feel of the pen in your hand gliding across a blank sheet of paper, and seeing your own handwriting rather than a specific typeface has a certain feeling of security to it (and it’s almost impossible to accidentally delete something). Of course, most of our lives have gone digital and we have to choose between writing down notes and later typing them out, or just typing them so we don’t have to make the transfer.

If you wish you could take notes the old fashioned way, but don’t want to take double the amount of time to write them out, then the Livescribe Moleskin notebook and Livescribe smartpen pairing might be something to look into. The notebook has microdots which make it possible for the smartpen to understand where at and on which page you’re writing on. There are bookmarks in the back pocket of the notebook that will give you a list of commands for the Livescribe smartpen. Each page of the notebook has “buttons” in the bottom corners.


Introducing Livescribe 3 Smartpen

Elevate Your Writing

From the integrated stylus cap to the Swiss-made tungsten-carbide ballpoint ink cartridge, the Livescribe 3 smartpen is a statement of elegant design that delivers the experience of a premium writing instrument.

Putting The Smart in Smartpen

The streamlined design of the Livescribe 3 smartpen conceals an astonishing amount of technology. An infrared camera, ARM processor, Bluetooth Smart chipset, flash memory and lithium ion battery all work together to bring your notes to life on your tablet or smartphone.

Not Just Bluetooth,
Bluetooth Smart

Bluetooth Smart wireless technology allows your Livescribe 3 smartpen to quickly and easily pair to your tablet or smartphone. It also extends the battery life, giving you over 14 hours of continuous writing between charges.