Month: June 2012

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From Droid Life: Turn Any Regular TV Into a Smart TV With This Kickstarter Project Called “Pocket TV”

Another handy looking Kickstarter project has caught our attention, this time taking the form of a thumb-drive equipped with an HDMI male piece called Pocket TV. Once you plug the drive into your TV, you’ll be greeted by the stock Ice Cream Sandwich interface, allowing you to download Play Store apps, and have the Android OS right on your TV. Controlling is made easy with a custom remote and there will also be an app for Android and iPhone devices that will allow control of the TV that way too.

With its 512Mb of RAM, single core 1GHz processor, and 4GB of storage, this little machine packs quite the little punch. The project is at a healthy $70,000 already out of $100,000. And with only 34 days left to fulfill the needed amount, it’ looking like this piece of tech is soon to become a nice reality.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via: Kickstarter

Cheers Victor!

from Droid Life

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From dealmac – Most Recent Deals: Belkin Bluetooth Music Receiver for $23 + free shipping

For its newsletter subscribers only, newegg offers the Belkin Bluetooth Music Receiver, model no. F8Z492-P, for $32.99. Coupon code “EMCNDNE64” drops it to $22.99. With free shipping, that’s the lowest total price we could find by $3, although we saw it for $3 less in December. This receiver connects to your stereo and pairs wirelessly with your A2DP stereo Bluetooth-enabled devices. Coupon expires June 6.

from dealmac – Most Recent Deals

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From Engadget: PowerA unveils MOGA Bluetooth controller for Android devices, we go hands-on

PowerA unveils Moga Bluetooth controller for Android devices, we go hands-on

PowerA’s best known as a company that crafts controllers and accessories for console gaming systems, but at E3 this year the firm is announcing its first foray into the mobile space: a Bluetooth controller for Android. Called the MOGA, its got dual analog sticks and shoulder buttons, along with a fold-out, spring-loaded center portion that holds phones of all sizes in place while you get your game on — not unlike Gametel’s controller we saw at CES. The front of the device is glossy black plastic, while the rear is swathed in rubber, with ribbed portions on the grips to keep it firmly in hand.

A companion app, available for free through the Google Play store, is also a part of the Moga experience. Called the MOGA Pivot app, it scans your phone for games compatible with the controller, lists them, and lets you launch them direct from the app. Not only that, it’ll periodically update the games list as new games are acquired and it’ll download patch kits automatically for existing games as they become compatible with the controller. Additionally, it’s got a store (powered by Google Play) that’ll let users download new compatible games, and titles in the Play Store will have a badge to let folks know which games work with Moga. Currently, the company has 14 games on board — including Duke Nukem 3D, Virtua Tennis Challenge and Sonic CD — and are in talks with some other big publishers, so more titles will be supported in the coming weeks and months. We got a sneak peek at the MOGA ahead of E3 and talked with the folks from PowerA about their newest bit of kit, so join us after the break for our impressions.

 

from Engadget

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From Engadget: Double-sided transparent touchscreen shown off on NTT DoCoMo prototype (video)

Double-sided transparent touchscreen shown off on NTT DoCoMo prototype

See-through displays may or may not be making a comeback, but NTT DoCoMo is at least trying to give them a different spin. Working with Fujitsu, it’s added a Vita-style extra touch panel to the rear of the screen, which works with the transparency to let the user navigate Android without ever obscuring the UI with their fingers. It also allows new types of interaction based on “gripping” objects — holding down a finger at the back to modify the effect of a swipe on the front. The prototype was actually announced a little while back, but DigInfo has a video (embedded after the break) that shows how it works in practice — just don’t expect to be enjoying Netflix on that washed-out QVGA display anytime soon.

Continue reading Double-sided transparent touchscreen shown off on NTT DoCoMo prototype (video)

Double-sided transparent touchscreen shown off on NTT DoCoMo prototype (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 08:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget

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From Engadget: Copper-nickel nanowires from Duke University could make ubiquitous printable circuits

Nanowires

Nanowires, although they’re building steam, still have to overcome the not-so-small problem of cost — they often have to use indium tin oxide that’s not just expensive, but fragile. Duke University has developed copper-nanowire films that could remedy this in style. The choice of material is both a hundred times less expensive to make than indium and is much more durable. It’s flexible, too: if layered on as a coating, the nanowires would make for considerably more viable wearable electronics that won’t snap under heavy stress. The catch, as you might suspect, stems from the copper itself, which doesn’t conduct as much electricity as indium. The nickel will keep your copper electronics from oxidizing faster than the Statue of Liberty, however. Any practical use could be years away, but further successes from Duke could quickly see printable electronics hit the mainstream power and power our dreams of flexible displays.

from Engadget

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From Ars Technica: Organic hydrogel outperforms typical carbon supercapacitors

Hydrogels come in a variety of forms, based on the materials that are mixed with water.

Supercapacitors complement batteries in energy storage and delivery schemes both large and small, as they can provide quick bursts of power. They already help Honda’s fuel cell vehicle FCX accelerate. But supercapacitors hold less energy per volume than a typical battery, so they have limited storage capacity.

Changing the electrode material can boost the capacitance, thus improving the energy density. Yi Cui and Zhenan Bao of Stanford University have made a hydrogel (water-based gel) using a conducting polymer. When used as electrodes in a supercapacitor, the new material has a capacitance about three times greater than a typical carbon supercapacitor. It’s also cheap to build and operate.

Typical supercapacitors are made from two closely spaced, porous carbon electrodes that charge and discharge quickly. Negative ions from the electrolyte collect inside the pores in the positive electrode, while positive ions gather in the negative electrode. That ion separation stores energy as a potential difference between the two electrodes.

from Ars Technica