gizmos vs gadgets: July 2012

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Richard Branson confirms Virgin Galactic's first space tourism flight will launch next year with him on board

Published on Engadget | shared via feedly

Richard Branson has long said that he'd be on board Virgin Galactic's first commercial space tourism flight, and he's now confirmed that will take place sometime next year with his two adult children along for the ride (a bit of a delay from the company's original 2011 target). That trip will of course be made with the company's SpaceShipTwo craft, which has already completed a number of test flights, and which is capable of flying 100 kilometers (or just over 60 miles) above the Earth for a planned two and a half hour flight with five minutes of weightlessness. As the AP notes, some 529 people have already signed up for the $200,000 per person rides into space, each of whom will have to take part in a week of training prior to their trip. Booking's can still be made on Virgin Galactic's website.

Filed under: Transportation

Richard Branson confirms Virgin Galactic's first space tourism flight will launch next year with him on board originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Jul 2012 16:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Verge | source

AP (Yahoo News), Virgin Galactic | Email this | Comments

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Gloves Turn Sign Language Gestures Into Speech With App

Published on Mashable! | shared via feedly

Three Ukrainian students invented sensory gloves that work with an app to turn sign language into automated speech. The Enable Talk project won first place at Microsoft's Imagine Cup 2012 this week in Syndey, Australia.

Students on the winning Team QuadSquad -- Anton Stepanov, Anton Posternikov, and Maxim Osika -- beat out 350 students from 75 countries for the gold. Their Enable Talk glove gives deaf and hearing-impaired individuals the ability to communicate with those who don't know sign language.

"A while ago, in the supermarket we saw a cashier having difficulties understanding a speech-impaired person and we thought how useful it would be to have a device to overcome this c…
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More About: Gadgets, apps, gloves

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Kouziro crafts wired-only, 21.5-inch Android 4.0 mega tablet, makes us think it's compensating for something

Published on Engadget | shared via feedly

We're wondering if Kouziro saw the ASUS Transformer AIO and developed a little Freudian envy. That would certainly help explain the company's FT103 tablet, which at 21.5 inches is one of the biggest devices running Android 4.0 without veering into full-size TV territory. If you're having sudden flashbacks to the Toshiba Excite 13 and dreading the thought of lugging around all 11 pounds of this slab, you'll breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Kouziro doesn't make any pretenses surrounding portability: there's no battery, and a kickstand keeps it upright on a desk rather than crushing your lap. The lackluster 1GHz TI OMAP 4428 processor and 8GB of storage certainly won't do much to draw attention, though. All the same, the HDMI input and 1080p screen resolution could make it a very clever secondary display for another device, and the extra-extra-extra-large size lets it stuff in two full USB ports and Ethernet along with the usual front camera and mobile expansion. The late July release in Japan and the ¥34,800 ($437) price aren't outlandish for what's in the box -- just brace yourself for psychoanalysis from friends and family after taking the FT103 home.

Filed under: Peripherals, Tablet PCs

Kouziro crafts wired-only, 21.5-inch Android 4.0 mega tablet, makes us think it's compensating for something originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 03:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mobility Update | source

Impress Watch (translated) | Email this | Comments

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Japanese group transmits electricity through 4-inch concrete block, could power cars on roads

Published on Engadget | shared via feedly

The decision to invest in an electric vehicle would be much easier to justify if the car in question offered unlimited range. That appears to be the concept behind a Toyohashi University research group's wireless power prototype, which can successfully transmit electricity through a 10 centimeter-thick concrete block. During a demonstration in Yokohama, Japan, the team sent between 50 and 60 watts of power through a pair of concrete blocks to two tires, which then juiced up a light bulb (you can see the rig just above). The project is called EVER (Electric Vehicle on Electrified Roadway), and could someday be used to keep cars moving along a highway without any need to pull over for a recharge, thanks to a constant stream of electricity coming from below the road. There are some serious obstacles to overcome before EVER can get some wheels turning -- namely, a need to pump nearly 100 times the current maximum load through concrete that's twice as thick as what they've managed today, not to mention improving undisclosed efficiency levels -- but the group reportedly said that it's up to the task, making us fairly optimistic that such a solution could one day get us from A to B without petrol. Until then, you'll probably want to plan out a pit stop or two before you leave the garage.

Japanese group transmits electricity through 4-inch concrete block, could power cars on roads originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 00:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TechOn, The Verge | source

Toyohashi University of Technology | Email this | Comments

Friday, July 6, 2012

HTC reveals Q2 2012 financial results: 57.8 percent net profit drop blamed on customs issues and weak sales

Published on Engadget | shared via feedly

HTC has reported a substantial drop in its quarterly profits, with unaudited results for Q2 2012 totaling T$7.4 billion ($250 million), down from T$17.52 billion this time last year. While it marks an improvement compared to the company's dire first quarter of this year, HTC's been troubled by weaker-than-expected European sales, while customs issues have hampered US sales for high-end devices like the One X. Despite the continued global roll-out of the One series, sales continue to stall, with consolidated sales for last month totaled T$30 billion, unchanged from May and 33.4 percent less than June 2011.

HTC reveals Q2 2012 financial results: 57.8 percent net profit drop blamed on customs issues and weak sales originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 04:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reuters, HTC (PDF) | Email this | Comments

Monday, July 2, 2012

Leaked Windows Phone Keyboard: Curved For Your Typing Pleasure

Published on TechCrunch | shared via feedly

Microsoft is on a hot streak. The company has never been cooler, pushing out hot new start screens (both desktop and mobile), excluding early-adopters from major upgrades (pulling a Google), and snagging the up-and-coming Yammer enterprise social network for a cool $1.2 billion. But sometimes people can get carried away.

So is the case with this image of an alleged future Windows Phone keyboard, which curves out of the bottom right-side of the phone into an arc for one-thumb typing. As you can see, the image doesn't look very well put-together. But WMPowerUser claims that this image was leaked from an internal presentation, so it's entirely possible that it's a render.

What really makes me hesitate is that skewed orange text on the top. It's unclear whether or not WMPowerUser put it there or not, though I'm leaning toward the latter since the blog's watermark is nice and aligned. At the same time, there's a bit of evidence to suggest that this type of keyboard has been in the works for a while.

This whiteboard was spotted in a video (below) featuring Dr. Victor Bahl, Director of Mobile Computing Research, Microsoft Research, and shows the words "one-handed input," "Apollo," and what appears to be "soft keyboard."

We've seen plenty of cool keyboard innovations of late, particularly RIM's predictive soft keyboard, but it's a tough jump for the mind to make. Multiple letters on the same key and the curved nature in general seem weird, but perhaps we just need to see it in action. That is, of course, if it's even real.