Archive for February, 2012

By using an RGB camera in tandem with a depth sensor, Microsoft’s Kinect has opened up a world of interactive possibilities , and now Samsung has announced a new camera sensor that melds the two elements into one. The CMOS sensor utilizes rows of depth-sensing z-pixels alternating with a traditional RGB array, allowing the sensor to capture both sets of information simultaneously. The sensor outputs a resolution of 1,920 x 720 on the image side — 1.38-megapixels — while the z-pixels are four times the size of their image-sensing counterparts, providing a depth image with a resolution of 480 x 360. Given that the z-pixels take up physical space on the sensor itself, image-processing software interpolates the values for the missing data… Continue reading…

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Samsung camera sensor captures image and depth information with a single piece of silicon

iRobot has been branching out from its traditional household and military robots for quite a while, and it looks like it’s now officially embracing those activities as a core part of its business. The company announced a reorganization (or “strategic realignment”) today that will see it comprised of three different business units: Home Robots, Military Robots and Emerging Technologies. That last group includes things like the Ava mobile robotics platform, which iRobot hopes will eventually be used in everything from healthcare to retail to security applications. Alongside that news, the company also announced a bit of an exec shakeup, with Home Robots President Jeffrey Beck being named Chief Operating Officer, and former COO Joseph Dyer switching roles to become Chief Strategy Officer. The company’s official announcement can be found after the break

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iRobot reorganizes, forms new unit focused on Ava and other emerging technologies

The Lytro Light Field Camera throws out everything you know about traditional camera design. The oddly-shaped camera is the first to use Light Field Technology, which measures not only the intensity and color but also the direction of light, letting you refocus pictures after the fact. The current camera may not replace anyone’s DSLR or even point-and-shoot, but the possibilities it promises are tremendous. Continue reading…

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Lytro Light Field Camera: technology, impressions, and more

On Wired, Matt Simon profiles Clayton Bailey, who makes spectacular rayguns out of junk and scrap, and who is possessed of a truly magnificent mustache. Next you’ll notice the many steampunkish ray guns — from dueling pistols to rifles to turrets — that Bailey has constructed from materials he found at flea markets and scrap

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Scrap rayguns from Clayton Bailey

Looks like we’re not the only ones to get a Lytro this month: according to company founder and CEO Ren Ng, the tubular light field camera is now shipping to the first batch of pre-order customers. If you were entranced by the groundbreaking shoot-first, focus-later camera in our review today and plan to order one now, we’re sorry to tell you that you’ll won’t be getting it quite that soon yourself. Lytro tells us that production is underway and units will be shipping continually to customers from now on, but if you buy today, you’ll still have to wait for April or May for it to arrive at your door. Continue reading…

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Lytro plenoptic camera now shipping to early adopters

There are hundreds of different ways to make robots move, but computer security expert Michal Zalewski didn’t see one that did what he wanted: namely, a wheeled robot that could execute sharp turns without complex and expensive design elements like large numbers of independent motors. In response, he planned and built the Omnibot, a three-motor robot whose four wheels operate almost independently, allowing it to perform 360-degree turns and move quickly in any direction. The robot, which is still in progress, is being made from hand-cast parts plus the motors and sensors. Two diagonally-opposed wheels are controlled by separate motors while the other two turn freely, correcting drift. A third motor operates a central link that..

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A simple robot design with precise four-wheeled control

[Video Link] Ayah Bdeir is the founder and lead engineer of littleBits, an open source library of electronic modules that snap together with tiny magnets for prototyping and play. littleBits won Popular Science’s “Best of Toy Fair 2012″ and Ayah was named a TED Fellow this year. I interviewed her this morning at TED2012 in

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TED2012: littleBits creator Ayah Bdeir

Mobile messaging service GroupMe has released a new app for Windows Phone, which attempts to mimic Microsoft’s Metro-style design while introducing a few features unique to the platform. The group messaging functionality is largely the same as it is on iOS, Android, and BlackBerry — which, as of January, no longer includes conference calling — but there are a few twists that take advantage of the Mango OS, including fast app switching, live tile updates, and the ability to pin groups to the start screen. GroupMe was acquired by Skype last year, just before Skype itself was acquired by Microsoft — though it doesn’t look like GroupeMe has run in to the same limitations as its parent company’s recent Windows Phone app. Continue reading…

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GroupMe launches on Windows Phone, adds Mango-specific features

Those of you that scurried to get an early spot in the pre-order cue for Lytro’s upcoming camera , ought to carefully skim your inboxes for an email confirming shipment of your infinite focusing shooter. Per a ton of tips from you, in addition to a post from the company’s official blog, early orders of the unconventionally shaped camera that allows you to refocus after the fact are now en route to abodes stateside. When we played with it at its launch event , we came away impressed, yet ultimately longed for the underlying technology to be licensed to others — something the company maintains it’s actively exploring . No matter, with a unit in hand, look for our full review in the coming days. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Continue reading Lytro pre-orders start shipping, infinite focusing now within reach Lytro pre-orders start shipping, infinite focusing now within reach originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:08:00 EDT

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Lytro pre-orders start shipping, infinite focusing now within reach

SCE Japan Studio’s physics-defying Vita title Gravity Rush will arrive in North America June 12, and in Europe June 13. PlayStation Blog announced the game’s international release schedule earlier today alongside a new trailer, which apparently reveals that most of your time spent in Gravity Rush will be spent stealing fruit from elderly women, and then terrorizing people with that fruit. The release date is a bit off from retailers’ original estimation of May 29, and way, way off from the game’s February 9 Japanese launch. Sony Computer Entertainment America marketing manager Wilson Cheng mentions in the comments of the PlayStation Blog post that the delay is due to localization, and promises news about a downloadable demo is…

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Gravity Rush touching down in North America June 12

This week’s TED2012 conference isn’t all talk — sometimes the videos features speak for themselves. Check out this phenomenal one from the University of Pennsylvania starring a number of nano quadrotors playing the James Bond theme by banging percussion, hitting the piano and strumming a guitar. The room in the video has infrared lights and cameras and the ‘copters are outfitted with reflectors, making it possible to plot their position. The result is technical wizardry worthy of Q himself

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Mini quadrotors play Bond, James Bond (video)

If you’ve been following our MWC coverage, you’ll remember Google executive Eric Schmidt’s astonishing keynote speech . In it, Schmidt imagined a high-tech future with global collaboration, societal leveling, and tiny robots that you can dispatch for business trips. Right now, he said, the wealthy are only limited by “what we deem ethical,” but “for most people the power of technology has not really arrived.” Citing Moore’s Law , Schmidt then speculated that in 12 years, “phones that cost $400 will cost $20, and if Google does it right there’ll be Android in every pocket.” When that happened, he said, technology could advance in ways that are unimaginable today. While we covered many of the highlights, Schmidt’s full speech has been… Continue reading…

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Watch Eric Schmidt’s MWC keynote on YouTube

The Pirate Bay has moved away from serving torrent files. Now it serves “magnet links,” which are the addresses of Internet users whose computers have Torrent files; when you want to download a file, you first download its torrent from other users, then the file itself. This means that the Pirate Bay is no longer

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The Pirate Bay moves towards torrent-free database

3D printing may still have quite a ways to go before it becomes as ubiquitous as traditional printing, but there’s plenty of developers out there working to make that happen. One such example comes out of the House 4 Hack group in Johannesburg, who have been working on an Android app called Paint3D that promises to let folks create 3D models and then print them out straight from their mobile device — imagine saying that even just five years ago. Unfortunately, that’s not available to the general public just yet, but you can get a closer look at the app and the results its able to produce at the source link below, and get an overview from one of the developers in the video after the break. Continue reading Paint3D app promises to let you sketch and print 3D models straight from Android Paint3D app promises to let you sketch and print 3D models straight from Android originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds

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Paint3D app promises to let you sketch and print 3D models straight from Android

He was 66. Richard Metzger has more at Dangerous Minds.

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Monkee Davy Jones, RIP

A new software update has been released for the Droid 2 Global, which fixes a few small issues with the handset, and also adds a Google Security Patch. Once updated, users should no longer have issues with the phone turning on by itself or with it reseting randomly during music playback. The 19.4MB download also reduces “out of memory” errors, improves access to Gmail while Mobile Hotspot is on, allows you to save camera settings even after shutting down, and finally lets you download and use the ringtones you’ve purchased. The over-the-air update should be available to Droid 2 Global owners “soon” and brings the software to version 4.5.62. Continue reading…

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Droid 2 Global update adds Google Security Patch, fixes minor issues

Holy crap, but Dominic Wilcox’s sculptures are seriously up my street. He mods little plastic people to depict strange and newsworthy contemporary moments, then animates them by affixing them to the faces of vintage wristwatches and pocket-watches under oversized domed crystals. Dominic Wilcox has created a series of miniature time-based sculptures using a collection of

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Animated tiny people depict current events on the faces of vintage watches

For the third time in as many months , Sony will be again be taking its PlayStation Network offline tomorrow for extended maintenance. A post at PlayStation Blog advises that during the 14-hour stretch, there will be no online gaming to be had on the PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and PSP. That’s a bit of a departure from prior maintenance sessions which allowed users to sign in before work got underway and remain connected to Sony’s online service throughout. As you might expect, the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Home, PSN account management, and even PSN-enabled websites will all be inaccessible until normal functionality is restored around 1AM ET Friday.

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PSA: PlayStation Network to go dark for 14 hours of maintenance tomorrow starting at 11AM ET

Inside Japan’s Nuclear Meltdown Last night, PBS FRONTLINE aired a new documentary about what happened at the Fukushima nuclear power plant during the crucial first days of that crisis. Using amateur video shot during the earthquake and tsunami, interviews with power plant workers who were on the scene, and some astounding footage taken inside the

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Join a live Q&A about the first few days of the Fukushima nuclear crisis

Sure, the FCC didn’t get to tear apart the delectable white Lumia 900 we’re oh-so-smitten with , but given the cadaver activities undertaken upon a smartphone that hasn’t yet gone on sale, beggars can’t be choosers. Inside the filing you’ll find a full manual and a bevy of internal shots revealing what makes Nokia’s flagship Windows Phone tick. Also of note, is a snap revealing the exact locations of its various antennae, which we’ve conveniently culled for you after the break. Honestly, there isn’t much else to it, so have a peep at our gallery or hop on over to the source link to get all personal with Espoo’s baby.

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Lumia 900 gets splayed into itty-bitty Finnish pieces by the FCC (update: photos)

Now that Facebook has started the process of going public , it’s getting serious about monetizing the service. The company has just announced that it will be adding new ad placements as well as a new type of ad to its desktop and mobile service. Starting today, ads bought through “Premium on Facebook” can be displayed in the mobile news feed; advertisers will also have the option to display content on the desktop logout screen starting April. Before, users would only see ads on the sidebar and the desktop news feed.

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Facebook will put ads on mobile news feed and logout screen

With today’s Windows 8 Consumer Preview debut, Microsoft is also launching an apps marketplace in the form of the Windows Store . The Store is hardly overflowing with apps on launch — we’re not seeing much in the way of Twitter clients — but you’ll still find a nice selection including apps like MSNBC, Vimeo, Photobucket, Evernote, Cut the Rope, and more. Kindle and WordPress apps , among others, are on the way. How’s Microsoft’s newest store hold up

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Windows Store hands-on and video

While some of us aren’t fans of animations in our operating systems, for others they’re pure inspiration. Spanish-born artist Emilio Gomariz uses the graphical user interface of OS X to create incredible artwork. Using a combination of the dock, Exposé, Finder, Photoshop, and screencasting software, Gomariz has created animations of rainbows, patterns, letters, and numbers, often to music. In an interview with Creative Review Gomariz explains that despite its apparent complexity the work doesn’t take him too long.

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Emilio Gomariz makes art from OS X’s animations

Semiconducter manufacturer Micron has agreed to a deal that will see it acquire Intel’s stake in two wafer factories for approximately $600 million. The two companies have been working together on producing NAND Flash memory since 2006 with the IM Flash Technologies partnership, and the announcement appears to indicate Intel’s move away from that deal, though statements from both companies suggest the opposite. Intel says that the news — which includes a new agreement that will see Micron continue to supply Intel with NAND Flash products — will give it “better flexibility to meet growing demand for SSDs and other products” and also expands the agreement to include “emerging memory” in addition to Flash.

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Intel to sell two Flash memory factories to Micron for $600 million

You’ll be happy to know that in the 24 hours since the sixteenth Verge Mobile Podcast, Chris became fluent in “restaurant” Catalan, Dieter took a 41-megapixel Twitpic of an iPad 4, Vlad got kicked out of his first Spanish 7-11, and Nilay showed up right after a refreshing dip in the Mediterranean. Coincidence? Judge for yourself after listening and let us know in comments, and most importantly, enjoy! Continue reading…

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The Verge Mobile Podcast 017: MWC 2012 – 02.29.2012