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Roland TR-6S review: An impressively small and powerful drum machine
Roland’s TR-6S includes digital emulations of classic drum machines like the 808, 909 and 606, as well as a quirky FM percussion engine and sample playback. It’s perhaps the most versatile portable drum machine out there. But be prepared to do a lot of menu diving.
Facebook's first AR glasses are a research project called 'Aria'
Dubbed Project Aria, these smart glasses are more of a research platform than consumer-ready face gadget. As Facebook points out, “Project Aria was designed as a way to help us innovate safely and responsibly.
Clip-on adds gesture control to Pebble Time and Android Wear watches
Aria is a small add-on that clips underneath a smartwatch band and lets you control the device with finger gestures. It's an accessory for an accessory, which sounds kind of ridiculous, but it's not like you have a lot of choices when it comes to adding gesture control to your gadget anyway. The remote control-like clip-on can access any feature you'd usually access through the touch screen or the watch dial, completely freeing up your other hand for tasks like eating, drinking or talking on the phone. Possible gestures include tapping, flicking your fingers, and closing and opening your hand -- you can configure it all through its companion app.
3 fun crowdfunding campaigns, including a "Smart deodorant applicator"
I'm not doing my usual crowdfunding roundup for a few weeks, but thought I'd give you a few fun Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns to whet your appetite for being a backer. First, here's a project that I thought was a joke when I first heard about it. ClickStick is billed as "The World's First Smart Deodorant Applicator". That's right, the product you didn't know you needed! But if you want to have deodorant automatically reordered when you're getting low and get just the right amount of BO Juice applied to your armpits with every application, ClickStick is the project to back. It's currently over 50 percent funded with over a month to go. Next, the Internet of Things is getting a thumbs-up from Aria, which is a connected indoor air pollution and radon detector that comes - you guessed it - with an accompanying app. The idea is to give you a warning if radon or volatile organic components are in too high a quantity in your air supply. Aria is only 2 percent funded with over fifty days to go, but if you're interested in keeping your personal air supply safe, you might want to keep Aria in mind. Finally, Amiko is an interesting campaign for anyone who has to take prescription medications on a regular basis. To quote the Amiko team, "It's a fitbit for your medicine packs. It fits around your medicine packages (starting with inhalers), measures how you are taking the med, when you are taking and if you need more – and sends the info to your phone (or to the phone of caregivers). Amiko addresses a mega-problem known as medication adherence which kills 120,000 people a year and costs US$290B in healthcare costs." Amiko has only 6 percent funding with about five weeks left, but if you've ever had issues knowing whether you - or a loved one - has taken medication, Amiko can let you know what's up. Making sure that you or others have taken needed medication is a huge issue these days, and it's only going to get worse with an aging population. We'll be back next week with a full roundup of exciting, useful, and just plain weird crowedfunded projects. Until then, Happy Halloween!
Successor to the iconic Roland TR-808 drum machine teased in promo video
What you see here is a leaked image that claims to be the upcoming successor to the classic TR-808 drum machine from Roland. If you're in need of a refresher, the unit debuted in 1980 and powered a truckload of iconic sounds over the past 30 years, including Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" and Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock." Heck, it's still getting plenty of use by musicians and producers today. In a video teaser discussing the heritage of the original device, Roland's Atsushi Hoshiai notes that the outfit feels "it's time to take the next step." Near the end of the video, you'll catch a glimpse of what appears to be the new drum machine -- labeled the AIRA -- that matches up well with the snapshot. A green-rimmed black unit is flashed briefly and what's shown of the button layout seems to match up with that image obtained by Attack Magazine. Details are scarce at this point, but the big question is whether the AIRA will be a brand-new digital version or a reissue that's analog like the original. It's also worth noting that Korg has gone analog with recent product launches, like the Volca synth series and MS-20 mini, so hopefully Roland will follow suit. We're just days away from NAMM 2014, so the new unit may get a proper unveiling in Anaheim... if we're lucky. The aforementioned video awaits just past the break, so you can have a look for yourself.
Pad and Quill's Aria iPad mini case: A masterpiece
In musical terms, an aria is an expressive melody usually sung by one singer. In classic opera, an aria is one incredible, soaring experience that brings an audience to its feet. For an iPad mini, an Aria (US$99.99, pre-order price $89.99) is a beautiful leather iPad mini case crafted by the artisans at Pad and Quill. Brian Holmes, aka "Mr. PQ", was kind enough to send me one of only three Aria prototypes in existence so I could give it a try. What I found upon opening the box was a symphony of wood and leather that is really quite breathtaking. The Aria, which folds into a traditional landscape-mode stand, is made of a thick full-grain American leather -- boot leather, if you will. That's quite different from the thin leather veneers that are usually used in concert with book binder's board to make a stiff cover. The leather has small embossed decorations on the cover and spine, with the cover decoration done in an "apple branch" motif. The Aria comes in three color schemes: coffee spine and onyx black cover, chestnut (lighter brown) spine and onyx black cover, and an onyx black spine with chestnut cover. The cover, by the way, has those little magnets to turn your mini on and off automatically. There's also an elastic band to hold the cover closed in transit, and a red "bookmark" ribbon to ease removing your mini from the case. Holding the iPad mini in place is one of Pad and Quill's hand-finished Baltic Birch frames, perfectly form-fitting and beautifully finished. There are large cutouts for the earphone jack, orientation lock, volume controls, speakers and Lightning port. If you've been holding off on buying an iPad mini case, there's no reason to wait any longer. I honestly don't believe that you're going to find a more stunning or well-made iPad mini case anywhere. Owners of "regular" iPads will be happy to hear that a full-sized version of Aria is in the design phase now and should be available later this year.
PSA: Fitbit Aria WiFi scale available now for $130
It's been three months since Fitbit got into the WiFi scale game, but until now Withings has remained pretty much the only option for weight watchers who actually intend to buy one. Now, though, the Fitbit Aria is finally shipping and, just like Fitbit said it would, it costs $130. That's potentially not a bad deal, seeing as how it matches the $160 Withings scale in a few key areas: it tracks weight, BMI and body fat percentage, gives you the option of tweeting your poundage, and can recognize up to eight different users. Like Fitbit, too, it allows you to access your data through a website, or an iOS / Android app. Of course, the main thing the Aria has that Withings doesn't is a fitness monitor to go with it. The Aria is designed to work with the company's Fitbit trackers, which log physical activity, calories burned, stairs climbed and, if you're diligent about data entry, the various meals you've consumed. Since all that information lives online in an alphabet soup of healthiness, it might paint a more complete picture of how fit you are. Then again, you'd have to commit to wearing the Fitbit day in and day out. And, you know, pay $100 for it. Your call.
Refresh Roundup: week of January 16, 2012
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Fitbit's Aria WiFi scale tracks weight, BMI and body fat percentage (hands-on)
We might never know the untold number of people who bought Withings' WiFi scale for tweeting their daily weigh-ins, but it must have been an impressive enough figure, as Fitbit just announced something very similar. The Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale tracks weight, BMI and body fat percentage, only instead of sending those nuggets to Twitter, it all goes straight to Fitbit's own site. For people who have never bought any of the company's products, this website will understandably be a revelation, but in fact it's the same place where Fitbit Ultra owners go to see how many calories they've burned. Even if you're a newcomer, the website happens to be quite engaging, though we suspect you'll get the most out of it if you also have a Fitbit tracker to tally your hours spent on the Stairmaster. In any case, we got some hands-on time tonight (sorry, feet-on jokes are lame), and we've got hands-on shots below to prove it.
Motorola Televation turns cable TV into IPTV streams for the whole home
Motorola's latest wares are on display at the 2011 Cable Show (we suspect the sluggish cable boxes actually in service right now are rarely mentioned) including this "Live Streaming Device" aka Televation. Functioning as a cable company provided, in-home-only Slingbox, it transcodes the MPEG-2 TV broadcasts into MPEG-4 IP streams for viewing on other devices (Android or iOS tablets, IP-connected TVs, etc) that are on the same local network at whatever bitrate or resolution they can handle. Motorola figures this cuts out legal disputes like those encircling Time Warner's TWCable TV iPad app since it uses existing TV broadcasts. Collaborating on the project were engineers from Comcast, which could make for an existing branch on its existing plans for new boxes, IPTV, and mobile apps. Sling / Echostar has been trying to crack the cable box market with its more flexible solution for years and is expected to announce the new Aria platform tomorrow, so may the best platform -- and not just the one with the cheapest / sweetest deal for the cable company -- win.
HTC Aria for AT&T gets official Froyo update
AT&T had just said in the past few days that the Aria's Android 2.2 update was in the labs... and, well, here it is. That was a pretty painless wait, right (assuming you don't count the wait since Asia got it)? The download is up on HTC's site right now, weighing in at 165MB and warning that it'll delete your text messages and your downloaded email, wipe your apps, and scare your children... so proceed with the same level of caution that you would any firmware upgrade. [Thanks, Tom]
HTC Aria gets Android 2.2 update... but not on AT&T yet
We know this isn't exactly the news you wanted to hear, AT&T customers, but it's comforting to know that the diminutive Aria has been upgraded to Froyo somewhere, isn't it? HTC's support page for Southeast Asia now reports availability of an over-the-air update to build 2.37.708.5 for the phone, which brings it up to Android 2.2 -- topped off with Sense, of course -- presumably along with all the normal benefits of Froyo like tethering, improved enterprise support, and some serious performance boosts. It's unclear when this update will take a flight across the Pacific to AT&T's version -- but if nothing else, it's good to know that HTC's officially gotten the Aria working with something newer than Eclair. Remember, the glass is half full. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
AT&T unleashes fully featured U-verse Mobile apps for Android, Blackberry platforms
While its Windows Phone 7 devices are still on deck, owners of several Android models (Samsung Captivate(TM), HTC Aria, and soon the Motorola BRAVO™ and Motorola FLIPSIDE) and the Blackberry Curve 3G should have access to the U-verse Mobile apps iPhone (& Blackberry Torch) owners have been enjoying beginning today. Remote scheduling and downloads of select TV shows are the key features to look out for. The usual restrictions apply, requiring the U300 service package or higher for downloads while all the other features are available for all customers, but otherwise just keep an eye on the Market or App World to see when they pop up. Full details are in the press releases after the break.
HTC Gratia is an Aria by another name, coming to Europe in November
It seems like launching a battalion of new handsets over the past month wasn't enough for HTC, so today the company's rolling out yet another option for European mobile phone buyers. Americans will already be familiar with the Gratia from their experience with AT&T's Aria, which looks to have made a more or less straight transition to the Old World markets. It now comes with Android 2.2 as its OS, while retaining its HTC Sense top-level skin (notably without the new "new" Sense additions present in the Desire HD and Desire Z), and is available in a pair of fresh new hues that include the deep green above and a lustrous white number after the break. Black is also an option for the more conservative among you. Look out for the Gratia on your local Euro retailer's cheap and cheerful shelves from next month.
Cyanogen Mod 6 -- the one with Froyo -- hits target list of devices, first stable release
If 6.0.0 RC1 just wasn't cutting it for ya, CyanogenMod-6.0 has released what's being touted as the "first stable release based on Android 2.2" and has hit the target number of supported devices, which by our quick count includes EVO 4G, Slide, Nexus One, Dream / Magic, Aria, and Droid -- and we might be missing a few.. You know the drill; if you need a bit of Froyo in your mobile life. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Engadget's back to school guide: Mobile phones
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we have mobile phones in our sights -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Back in our day, the only "mobile phone" at school was the one that broke off the dorm wall after our roommates got a little too rowdy, but nowadays, a capable, high-power handset is quickly becoming a must-have for students of all ages. Regardless of your budget, your parent's budget, or your little one's budget, we've got options that should help with studying, gaming, music, and maybe even the occasional call home.
HTC pulls sideload-capable Sync app for AT&T's Aria
We suppose this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, but we're still disappointed to see that HTC has pulled the version its Sync app that had been posted late last week with support for sideloading of Android apps on AT&T's Aria, seemingly by mistake. Given that the new version of Sync had never been accompanied by an over-the-air firmware update to enable non-Market app installations from the phone itself, this seems to totally confirm what had been suspected all along: it was nothing more than a mix-up, and AT&T hasn't approved any sweeping changes in its branded Android philosophy. Considering the excitement and buzz this whole thing generated, we can still hope AT&T has a change of heart, of course -- but in light of everything we know, we certainly wouldn't get our hopes up. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Confirmed: HTC Sync lets tethered AT&T Aria sideload apps
Looks like more than HTC's description was erroneous yesterday afternoon -- we've just confirmed that the HTC Sync desktop client for the AT&T Aria allows users to install third-party apps on non-rooted devices, just as promised. We ran some quick tests, and while it doesn't actually enable anything on the handset end, it most certainly does allow those of you with Windows PCs (or VMware) to sideload APKs like Swype over USB with a simple drag-and-drop maneuver. Given how quickly the company sought to correct our original post on the subject, we'd expect HTC will be issuing a rather different version of the software soon, so hit up that source link, pound in your serial number, grab the EXE, and get while the getting's good. [Thanks, Dylan]
HTC Aria update for AT&T enables mobile hotspot, sideloaded app support (update: partially working!)
Well, this is genuinely awesome: it seems AT&T is pulling back from its ban on third-party sideloaded apps on its Android devices, because HTC has just released an Aria update that enables them (either that or HTC just went rogue here, but we highly doubt it). While that doesn't have much practical implication for your typical smartphone user, it's a strong sign that AT&T might be ready to take a more reasonable stance on the openness of its branded devices that would put it inline with the attitudes Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile have all taken with their Android phones so far. Additionally, the update includes "the Mobile Network sharing function," which we take to mean a mobile hotspot app in the same vein as the one that's shipping with Froyo -- if we had to guess, it probably requires AT&T's 2GB DataPro plan plus the tethering add-on, which would put it in line with what they're charging on the iPhone. Onward and upward, AT&T. Update: We got downright excited for a second there, but an HTC spokesman just called to inform us there's been a mistake -- this download is only for the desktop HTC Sync client and doesn't actually enable anything on the phone. We're working to get more information right now, but it sounds like the sideloading ball is still squarely in AT&T's court. Update 2: HTC apologizes for the confusion, saying the update description was in error -- it was merely supposed to read that the Aria now works with the company's desktop sync client. On Monday, the text will be updated to remove every last ounce of false hope. Update 3: Sideloading works after all! Read all about it. [Thanks, Dylan T.]
AT&T explains, basically ignores criticism for locking down Android handsets
When the Moto Backflip launched we were a wee bit miffed that AT&T stuffed its ROM with what our esteemed Chris Ziegler referred to as "unremovable crapware." But, even more annoying was the handset being locked down to only accept apps installed via the Android Market, preventing users from the wealth of other goodies floating around these great internets. A few months on the situation is still the same for the HTC Aria and the company is responding directly to criticism with a statement that indicates it's all in your best interests: AT&T selected Android Market as the exclusive source for applications because it forces developers to be accountable for the apps they submit. If the Android community has issues with an app, the app can be flagged and removed. This minimizes the risk of malicious apps harming customers and provides more protection to the customer's private data stored on the phone. There, don't you feel safer now?
