magnetometer
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Conductive thread stores data in clothes without built-in tech
New technology may soon enable you to get into your home or office with nothing more than your coat, wristband or tie. Scientists at the University of Washington have found a way to create smart fabric, using only conductive thread with no other added electronics.
NASA picks the scientific tools it'll use to study Europa
NASA is convinced that Jupiter's moon Europa is worth visiting, and for good reason: its icy surface could be hiding a giant ocean friendly to life. The agency is going to need the right equipment if it's going to verify its theories, however, which is why it just chose nine instruments that will go aboard a Europa mission in 2020. The tools will use a mix of imaging, magnetometry, radar and spectrometry to study the frozen world's chemical composition and learn more about what's lurking out of view. While these gadgets won't completely eliminate the need for underwater probes and other landers, they could save scientists a lot of trouble (and expense) as they search for signs of organic material.
Researchers deliver encoded messages and data through your smartphone compass
NFC, Bluetooth, WiFi, mobile data, plain 'ole voice calls. Your phone has no shortage of ways to connect with things, but that hasn't stopped a group of Finnish scientists finding a way to communicate through your smartphone's built-in compass. Just because they could. While NFC can send data up to 20 centimeters away, these magnetic messages diffuse within a few centimeters -- this limitation could help make wireless payments more secure. Researcher Kostakos Vassilis, talking to New Scientist , said that this magnetic messaging system would mean the phone exchanges nothing until it is within two centimeters (roughly 0.8 inches) of the payment terminal. When the devices get close enough, a secure code could then be delivered through a magnetic field, activating a wireless payment app or NFC connection. Through the data encoded through a varying magnetic field, the team at the University of Oulu in Finland were able to deliver web addresses (and even an anachronistic MIDI music file) from an electromagnet to the phone. At 40 bits per second, heavy data lifting isn't going to happen here, but the group says it'll outline more uses later this summer. We're hoping it'll involve Wooly Willy.
Node modular iOS sensor hands-on
With the spate of bad publicity surrounding all those Kickstarter projects that never make it beyond the funding stage, there's a certain surreality to actually holding a crowd-funded device in your hands. But here it is, the Node, a project we highlighted in its infancy, way back in February. The whole thing blew way past its funding goal, scoring $76,000 out of a requested $50,000. And now, roughly eight months later, the product has been shipped out to enthusiastic supporters all over the place, inside an unassuming white box. Since its inception, the Node's been an interesting (if not particularly easy to explain) proposition. Now that we've got our hands on one, not all that much has changed -- which is to say, in its early stages, there's a lot of potential, but its still a bit of a hard sell. Hardware-wise, the Node's a solid proposition -- the size and shape of a roll of quarters. The body is made of a white plastic, with Node logos indented on either side. Next to one, you'll find a micro-USB port for charging, and by the other, you get the power button, which also serves to turn on the flashlight module. Inside the body, you've got the battery (which should give you 12 to 14 hours with Bluetooth on), an accelerometer, magnetometer and gyroscope.%Gallery-168812%
Mosoro releases its Bluetooth LE sensors and SDK for VIP appcessory developers
Since we last heard about Mosoro's Lego-brick sized Bluetooth LE modules, they've changed their names, picked up another member and are now making their way to iOS app developers. The 3D-Motion's got an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer, while the Enviro measures temperature, humidity and barometric pressure. New to the team is Proximity, useful for triggering location-based apps and tracking motion for creating alerts. All three rechargeable Bluetooth low energy sensors have "shake-to-wake" support, an RGB "glow-cap" for notifications and a humble programmable button. They are expected to hit retail in fall 2012, but "VIP" app developers can grab them now, as well as the SDK which simplifies iOS Bluetooth integration. Got the ideas and inclination to become one of Mosoro's "rock star app-developer partners?" Then go sign up on the website and see if you make the VIP grade.
Wireless Sensor Tags alert you to movement and temperature changes, fit on your keyring
There's plenty of sensor gear around for hobbyists to play with, but not so many polished products for the monitoring-obsessed. Cao Gadgets is attempting to fill that niche with its functionally named Wireless Sensor Tags -- small devices which monitor movement and temperature, notifying you if anything's amiss. A magnetometer registers movement by changes in its orientation, and can inform you of door openings or similar disturbances, while the temperature triggers are based on upper or lower thresholds. The $15 sensors (or $12 if you want three or more) have a battery life that should last several years depending on their setup, but there is one catch -- you also need the Tag Manager hub ($50), which plugs into your router via Ethernet. It keeps in frequent contact with any subordinates in its 200-foot range, and if after several attempts it finds one MIA, a warning can be sent in case any of your home guards have walked or fallen asleep. The tags also have inbuilt beepers which can be pinged to track down any rogue possessions they're partnered with, like your keys. A lot of thought has been put into micromanaging the tags, which are customizable through web-based, Android or iOS apps, and will send out alerts via email, Twitter, or push notifications on slates and phones (text-to-speech is available if you're too lazy to read). If you're into your data, you can also access trigger statistics from the software, complete with graphs. The home monitoring kit is available now, and instead of crashing your browser with too many embeds, we've decided to point you to the source below for the half-dozen demo vids.
Mosoro Bluetooth LE iOS accessories improve your golf, if the weather's right
So far the appcessories -- yeah we said it, APPcessories -- we've seen include some good ideas, and some less so. The Bluetooth LE 3D-Sport and Weather offerings from Mosoro fall into the former category (if they make their way into a shipping product that is). The 3D-Sport is a motion capture device you attach to sports equipment. The on-board accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer beam motion data to your iOS device, where it can be analyzed by Rocky-style Russian coaches to see where your throw or golf swing is going wrong. The latter is a mini weather station that reads temperature, humidity, elevation, and barometric pressure to tell you the conditions where you are right now. More usefully, it nabs your GPS location and uploads it all to Mosoro's aptly named "Cloud" Server that presumably maps out some crazy real-time crowdsourced weather report. Both also use Bluetooth 4.0's low energy technology so they won't need to see a charger for a long time. Now we just need a company that likes collating personal data, perhaps with a weather service, to snap this one up... any takers?
Wii U WiiPad controller patent reveals magnetometer, flash memory
The Wii U's tablet-esque controller may tout its touchscreen as its main selling point, but there's a lot more than meets the eye going into every one of Nintendo's resistive-screened revolutionaries. Patent diagrams for the WiiPad's schematics list off plenty of components you'd expect (touch panel, touch panel controller, camera, etc), however eagle-eyed patent trolls have pointed out a few less common additions to the hardware, namely a magnetic sensor and flash memory. The "magnetic sensor," more commonly referred to as a magnetometer, measures your proximity to Magneto disturbances in a device's magnetic field. Magnetometers have been used in smartphones to find true north for GPS and compass applications, however the technology can also lend itself to touch-less, camera-less gesture input. Flash memory, while mentioned, is not listed in any specific quantity, which makes inferring its purpose somewhat difficult. The memory is listed separately from the onboard CPU's internal memory, however, so its applications will likely be user-oriented rather than processor-oriented. For now, all we can do is wait, imagine, and dream. How many Miis will we be able to fit on this thing? All of them? The future is so bright.
BlackBerry 7 gets an SDK, NFC, AR, other acronyms
BlackBerry 7 OS is coming soon but, to take advantage of all those fancy features like NFC and the digital compass (ok, some of them aren't that fancy), devs are going to need some new APIs -- enter the BlackBerry 7 Java SDK. Creators of BlackBerry apps can go download the beta of the new software development kit at the source link and start whipping up augmented reality browsers and 3D games, thanks to support for OpenGL ES 2.0. There's nothing mind-blowing about RIM's latest update, but we're glad to see the corporate stalwart start to catch up to other smartphone OSes, and it's only a matter of time before Layar and Quake hit the BlackBerry Bold 9900.
Arduino, magnet wire, and Android combine to create poor man's NFC (video)
Jealous of your Nexus S-owning friends and their fancy NFC chips after yesterday's Google Wallet announcement? Well tech tinkerer Joe Desbonnet has whipped up what he dubs "poor man's NFC" using an Arduino, some magnet wire, and any compass-equipped Android smartphone (which is almost all of them). By placing a coil of wire on the phone and connecting it to the DIYer's favorite microcontroller, Desbonnet was able to send data, albeit very slowly, to his HTC Desire running a special app to decode the signals. Granted, you're probably not going to see American Eagle mod their point of sale systems to talk to your phone's magnetometer, but it's still a neat trick. In fact, we'd break out our Arduino right now to give it a try, but our secret lair is strangely devoid of enameled copper wire. Check out the source link for instructions, and don't miss the video after the break.
Motorola Xoom to boast barometer, budding meteorologists have found their next tablet
To say Motorola's Xoom had a coming-out party at CES would be understating things greatly. It was easily one of the highlights of the show, and the potential that was shown was obviously just part of the story. According to Moto's developer page, there's actually a barometer included, right alongside an accelerometer, magnetometer, ambient light sensor and gyroscope. Oddly enough, a proximity sensor is left out of the mix, but seriously... a barometer? Truth be told, this is actually just an oft overlooked point that was first shown in VZW / Motorola's joint press release, but it's good to know that at least one flagship slate will be compatible with Android 2.3's barometer support. Here's hoping it'll be useful for helping you sidestep ugly weather patterns, or something of the sort.
Nokia N8 review
The first time Nokia's N8-00 popped up on our radar was way back in early February of this year. On that chilly, misty morning, we learned of a mythical being capable of shooting 12 megapixel stills, recording 720p video, outputting via HDMI, and -- most importantly -- ushering in the promised Symbian^3 touch revolution. It's been a long road of leaks, teasers, hands-ons, and previews since then, but at long last, the legend of the N8 has become a purchasable commodity. All the early specs have survived, including the 3.5-inch AMOLED display, but the key question today, as it was at the beginning, relates to that all-new software within: does Symbian^3 succeed in elevating Nokia's touchscreen experience or does it drag down an otherwise stellar combination of high-end parts? For that verdict and much, much more, join us after the break.%Gallery-103738%%Gallery-104212%
Steorn gives up on free-energy, starts charging for USB-powered divining rods
It all makes so much sense now. After conducting an elaborate infinite free-energy ruse from a rented art gallery in London, Steorn's business model becomes clear: get people talking about your name (no press is bad press, as they say) and then use that brand recognition to sell some crap. Meet the €289 (that's $400 mister) USB Hall Probe that turns your $1,000 PC into a $40 magnetometer. It's for "Hobbyist and educational experimentation scenarios," they say with a straight face. Look, we have no idea if this performs any better than the cheap hand-held gaussmeters available on-line. But considering the source, we can only offer an educated guess.[Thanks, Tekdroid]
Layar app for Android presages the augmented world of iPhone 3G S
If you caught the Copper Robot show on Sunday or any of our recent talkcasts, you may have heard me yammering at length about the possibilities for using the iPhone 3G S in enhanced or augmented reality applications. After the dynamic demo of compass-enhanced Google Street View on the Android Dream, the news of a magnetometer included with the 3G S -- allowing the phone to determine its direction with respect to the real world, along with position (GPS/SkyHook) and orientation/acceleration (accelerometer) -- starts to make geeks drool with eagerness for practical heads-up displays or browsable views of the world.Here it comes, folks. As noted over at 9to5Mac, the Layar app from Dutch developer SPRXmobile will get Android phones into the realm of science fiction X-ray specs when it comes out at the end of this month. Point your phone across the street to see what houses are for sale, which bars are offering happy hour specials, or where the nearest ATM might be. A live, animated overlay points out the key locations and moves with your camera view. It's tough enough to describe, so I've got the video in the second half of this post -- but the effect is impressive. The previously-announced Wikitude app gives a travel guide the same augmented treatment for Android.The guys at IntoMobile have given Layar a good once-over and come away quite awed. I can't wait to see this app, or one like it, make it over to the App Store. Add some social networking features from Brightkite or foursquare and iPhone users will jump all over this -- but they'll have to be careful not to walk into lampposts.[via MacRumors]
Magnetometer finding its way into next iPhone?
Add "compass" to that list of rumored features -- again -- for the next, still-unconfirmed iPhone revision, alongside video production capabilities, a slide-out keyboard, OLED display, LTE / Verizon support, and EV-DO rev. B (okay, not really that last one). Boy Genius Report has obtained two screens allegedly from an unreleased iPhone OS build that suggest a magnetometer'll be part of the new hardware. Given turn-by-turn navigation is now an option for developers, we'd say having directional support is almost a necessity. Why there's also an option for Kitchen Sink in the image we haven't the foggiest, but we're gonna go ahead and add "holographic plumbing assistant" to that wishlist.
