trace
Latest
Trace collects your kick, push, coasting metrics, shares them on social media
If you land a kickflip and no one's around to watch, did it really happen in the first place? Should ActiveReplay secure its $150,000 Kickstarter goal, skaters may never have to grapple with such existential crises again. The company, which includes a number of fairly impressive pedigrees like the former CTO of Magellan, is looking to bring a new action sports tracker to market. Trace is sort of a pedometer for skaters, surfers and snowboarders, clipping to a mount on the bottom of your board and collecting data via nine-axis inertial sensors. The info collected is transmitted via the module's built-in Bluetooth 4.0, allowing you to share tricks and other metrics via sites like Facebook and Twitter. Still need some convincing? There's a Kickstarter pitch video after the break.
Samsung announces Bada-powered Wave II, not quite a whole new Wave
We only just got our hands on the Wave S8500, but it looks like Samsung isn't wasting any time in further expanding its Bada options -- the company has just introduced the new and slightly improved Wave II. The biggest difference over the previous Wave, it seems, is a larger 3.7-inch WVGA SLCD screen, compared to a 3.3-inch AMOLED on its predecessor. Otherwise, you'll get the same speedy 1GHz Hummingbird processor, the same LED flash-equipped 5-megapixel camera and, of course, the same Bada -- although it does apparently add a new Swype-esque input method dubbed Trace. Look for this one to be available sometime in November (in Germany, at least) for a rather hefty €429, or about $590. [Thanks, Keith]
GadgetTrak retrieves 95 percent of stolen laptops, puts RoboCop to shame (video)
Want your stolen gear back? Don't call some gung-ho superhero who's as likely to blow up your small grocery store as he is to catch those perps, call GadgetTrak instead. The little startup company has grown since we last heard of it back in 2007, and is now operating a $25 per year tracking service that has delivered a statistically significant 95 percent success rate on reuniting gadgets with their owners. Available for Mac OS and Windows laptops, as well as mobile phones (BlackBerrys, WinMo, and iPhone) and even removable USB storage, the software's intelligent enough to remotely activate your webcam and ping the incriminating info back directly to you -- no data is sent to GadgetTrak. Check out some recent news coverage of the software and its implementation in local schools after the break.
Berkeley's "respectful" surveillance cameras disregard faces
While blatantly spying on us is one thing, attempting to freshen it up by suggesting a venerating alternative is bordering on preposterous. As we've seen at the Sky Harbor airport, officials are trying nearly anything they can to make forthright invasions of privacy seem a bit less offensive, and a CCTV camera developed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley is next up to bat. The so-called "respectful cameras" are aimed at places of employment, where specified workers would wear a given marker that could be recognized by the camera. After being identified, the camera would then spot out the face of the individual to provide some sort of false assurance that their identity is magically safe. The best, er, worse part, however, is that the system doesn't actually delete the face beneath the circle, as it "allows for the privacy oval to be removed from a given set of footage in the event of an investigation." So much for dodging Big Brother.[Via SciFiTech]
DS Daily: The new book?
The adventure genre peaked in the early to mid 90's. And then it crashed. Hard. As it trudged along through the years, essentially dead but for rare gems like The Longest Journey, it slowly faded from the minds of modern gamers.The point-and-click capabilities of the DS have certainly given the once-zombified genre a much-needed jolt. We've seen excellent offerings, including the superlative Phoenix Wright series, the soon-to-be-released Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Trace Memory, Lost in Blue, and a few others (let's not even mention the ScummVM homebrew project). But the DS gives these games something they could have never had in the nineties: absolute portability. It's almost as though these games compete directly with the classic novel, something which has never really been seen even amongst the myriad of gadgets anyone can go out and readily purchase.Our question is this: how does a DS adventure game compare to that of a classic book? What would you rather whip out on the way to work? Phoenix Wright 2 has had our hearts and minds in a legal grip for days on end. You may not look as smart as those punks reading Vonnegut, but that's okay. You look cooler.
Pictures, impressions of Samsung's T519 "Trace"
Been holding out for the guinea pigs to put the Trace through its paces before taking the plunge? First impressions of the ultra-thin candybar for T-Mobile are starting to filter in, and the phone doesn't come without its niggles -- it's simply a question of whether average users are going to be able to overlook them. Reader Josh tells us that the included ringtones are "atrocious" (what else is new?), the cam isn't set to its max resolution by default, the memory card and charger jack covers feel likely to break over time, and the screen seems to stay lit when on charge, making it a pain to place in the bedroom. On the upside, the speakerphone is apparently a winner, and handset sound quality is nothing to sneeze at either. Oh, and this thing is really thin. More pics after the break.[Thanks, Josh]
Samsung's T519 becomes the Trace
The official specifications and the real, non-numerical name of Samsung's T519 have been revealed on a "coming soon" page on T-Mobile's official site. From now on, Samsung expects you to refer to the T519 as the Trace, which certainly suits the handset's 0.3-inch thickness. Other specs that we weren't too sure of until now include the phone's 1.3 Megapixel camera with video capture, built-in Bluetooth, MP3 / WMA / AAC player, AOL and Yahoo! instant messaging support, and a speakerphone, on top of the microSD slot that we already knew about. Nothing special specs-wise, although we're sure the target demographic of these ubër-thin fashion phones will be happy with what's on offer.[Thanks, Phil G]
