Buglabs -- Engadget

Quake gets ported to the BUG, controlled by Rock Band guitar

by Donald Melanson, posted Jan 27th 2009 at 5:34PM

The folks from Bug Labs certainly represented themselves well enough at CES with a slew of new BUGModules, but we're guessing they would have attracted even more attention if they would have had this perennial favorite on hand. If you can't quite make it out, that's Quake running (rather well, we might add) on the BUG and, yes, it is indeed being controlled by a Rock Band guitar thanks to the newly developed Xpad driver, which should work equally well with a standard Xbox 360 controller if you're a little less ambitious. Head on past the break to check it out in action, and hit up the link below for all the necessary details.

Continue reading Quake gets ported to the BUG, controlled by Rock Band guitar

New BUGModules hands-on

by Ben Drawbaugh, posted Jan 8th 2009 at 5:59PM

These new BUGModules from BUG Labs aren't much to look at, but just holding them in your hands really gets your gears going about what new kinds of custom gadgets you could come up with. The new modules are really ones that open up the possibilities and make us think, "what if I want to use more than four modules?" The usefulness of the wireless adapters like WiFi and 3G go without saying, but the possibilities of having a projector in your pocket with sound could really lead to something. And last but not least, who wouldn't want the Swiss Army Knife of input and output on their custom gadget?

Gallery: BUGModules hands-on

BUG Labs throws down five new BUGmodules, including pico-projector and 3G radio

by Paul Miller, posted Jan 7th 2009 at 12:43PM

After about a year of working with its original kit, BUG Labs is going next-gen with five new modules to mix-and-match with its Lego-style DIY BUGbase kit. Most of it is connectivity, with BUG3g for 3G phone / data connectivity; BUGwifi, which does 802.11b/g WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR; and BUGbee, a 802.15.4 radio for ZigBee home automation and other "personal area network" fun. On the output front, BUGsound (pictured) provides a 20mm speaker, omnidirectional microphone and four 3.5mm jacks for audio in and out, but we're most stoked about BUGprojector, which uses Texas Instruments' DLP Pico tech to pump out a 480 x 320 image. All of these new modules work with the existing BUGmodules and that recently introduced BUGvonHippel breadboard. No word on price yet, but they should all ship this quarter. We'll have hands-on with all these goodies later this week.

Gallery: BUG Labs throws down five new BUGmodules, including pico-projector and 3G radio

BUG Labs intros BUGvonHippel, talks up big plans for CES

by Darren Murph, posted Dec 21st 2008 at 7:05PM

BUG Labs has a special place in our hearts, so it's actually kind of astounding to look back and realize that we haven't heard anything substantial from the outfit since March. Big things are in store for the new year, however, and it's getting things rolling right away with the introduction of the $79 BUGvonHippel. Named after Professor Eric von Hippel at MIT who inspired its creation, the device "further enables developers to create new and interesting 'hardware mashups' by connecting their BUG to a universe of other devices and interfaces." Also of note, there's a new community portal opening up for eager developers, and the BUG Labs team will be bringing a so-called Test Kitchen to the CES floor in Vegas to show off some of the developments we've been missing out on.

Engadget's NYC reader meetup / holiday party is tonight!

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Dec 19th 2008 at 12:00PM

This is it! The Engadget reader meetup / holiday party is happening tonight in New York City! All of the information you need is below, but we'd like to stress a few points:

The venue capacity has a limit, so make sure you get there early, and plan to wait in a bit of a line.
It is snowing like crazy in New York -- so please bundle up and come prepared for the elements! We'll do everything we can to move people inside as quickly as possible, and there's a coat check at the venue for your heavier gear.
Bring your ID! Without it, you can't get in!

And the rest of the details about the event:

We're giving away tens of thousands of dollars in gear! Including...
SanDisk 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB microSD cards for the first 200 people through the door!
Free food, and free drink tickets for the first 500 people
Live Q&A session with Engadget editors
Music for the evening will be provided by Justin VanDerVolgen (of !!! and Outhud)
The event is 18 TO ENTER / 21 TO DRINK, AND YOU MUST BRING AN ID. ADMISSION IS FREE. Sorry younger readers, but we'll do a follow-up all ages event soon!
The venue capacity tops out at a tiny bit over 1000, so you if you're coming, be sure to get there early!

When: Friday, December 19th, 7:00PM to 12:00AM
Where: Hiro Ballroom, 371 W. 16th St., New York, NY. 10011

You can discuss plans for the event on Facebook here.

View Larger Map

For media interested in attending, please ping us at: nycreadermeetup [at] gmail [dot] com
Note: space for media is very limited as this is a reader event. Readers, you're all set -- no need to email us.

Engadget NYC reader meetup, December 19th: new giveaways, more info

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Dec 18th 2008 at 12:00PM

By now you should have heard about the Engadget NYC reader meetup / holiday party taking place TOMORROW, Friday, December 19th. If you're not clued in to all the happenings, this should bring you up to speed. We'll have participation (and giveaways) from the following companies: Nokia, Microsoft (Zune and Xbox), T-Mobile, Palm, HP, SanDisk, Peek, VIA, Sling, Bug Labs, Neat Receipts, Panasonic, Livescribe, Rhapsody, and Make.

Some new additions (to the already large stack of items): VIA has just handed over an Artigo A2000, Peek is going to be flooding the event with a whopping 12 handhelds to give out (celebrating its 12 days of Peekmas), Bug Labs is offering a BUGBundle, and Livescribe has provided us with a Pulse (courtesy of Target)! And remember, those are just a few of the goods on offer.

Remember, feel free to bring any hacks, mods, or other generally awesome tech you want to show off to us and other Engadget readers -- you don't get the chance too often!

Here are some super-important details about the event:

We're giving away tens of thousands of dollars in gear! Including...
SanDisk 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB microSD cards for the first 200 people through the door!
Free food, and free drink tickets for the first 500 people
Live Q&A session with Engadget editors
Music for the evening will be provided by Justin VanDerVolgen (of !!! and Outhud)
The event is 18 TO ENTER / 21 TO DRINK, AND YOU MUST BRING AN ID. ADMISSION IS FREE. Sorry younger readers, but we'll do a follow-up all ages event soon!
The venue capacity tops out at a tiny bit over 1000, so you if you're coming, be sure to get there early!

When: Friday, December 19th, 7:00PM to 12:00AM
Where: Hiro Ballroom, 371 W. 16th St., New York, NY. 10011

You can discuss plans for the event on Facebook here.

View Larger Map

For media interested in attending, please ping us at: nycreadermeetup [at] gmail [dot] com
Note: space for media is very limited as this is a reader event. Readers, you're all set -- no need to email us.

Bug Labs' Hiro P edition BUGbase kit gets unboxed

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 17th 2008 at 11:48AM

You may not be able to get your hands on one at the moment, but those that missed out on the initial shipment of Bug Labs' open source BUGbase Hiro P edition kit can now at least make believe like one arrived on their own doorstep, thanks to the set of unboxing photos kindly provided by Flickr user finsprings. That set also helpfully includes size comparisons to a Blackberry and a first gen iPod nano (the base is bigger than both, but not by as much as you may think), and of course plenty of shots of the packing itself. Check all that out at the read link below.

[Thanks, Dave]

BUG+EDU educational discounts unveiled for little hackers

by Paul Miller, posted Mar 31st 2008 at 5:14PM

Bug Labs announced in January that it'd be busting out a BUG+EDU program for getting units into the hands of impressionable youngsters, and now that they've sold out of the first crop of units they're getting those educational discounts off the ground. Students (with relevant ID) can now purchase modules at a 10% discount, while K-12 schools and secondary education institutions can buy Bug for 25% off. K-12 schools can also participate in Bug giveaways, while undergrad and postgrad programs can develop coursework in conjunction with Bug -- long story short, some kids out there are going to get themselves some fun edumicatin'.

Bug Labs sells-out of initial inventory, founder pumped

by Thomas Ricker, posted Mar 27th 2008 at 3:03AM

The whole claim of a product sell-out is a bit dubious without any numbers to back up the boast. Was it 100 or 100,000 units sold? Nevertheless, Bug Labs has depleted its initial stock of Bugs. Those of you looking to get your hands on the open-source, modular hardware platform will have to wait until the next shipment in May. While most of the purchases went the way of tinkerers, about a third of the devices were surprisingly scooped up by corporations looking at Bug to possibly replace expensive, custom devices. At least that's how Bug Labs' founder, Peter Semmelhack spins it. Could be, or perhaps it's just the same compelling curiosity we all feel about Bug with a desire (read: R&D budget) to keep abreast of industry change? Regardless, good on ya Pete.

Bug Labs store open for business, BUGbundle unveiled for $549

by Paul Miller, posted Jan 21st 2008 at 12:26PM

We knew today was the day, and now Bug Labs has opened its doors and cautiously invited shoppers inside. Cautious because Bug doesn't really want non-developers snapping up the kit right now, since the hardware itself is pretty much useless to the proletariat at this point without any mature software, and there isn't a bunch of it go around. To kick things off, Bug Labs is also announcing the BUGbundle, which packages a BUGbase (the WiFi-free Hiro P edition), GPS, LCD, accelerometer and 2 megapixel camera for $549. Orders are limited to one per customer at this time, and educational promotions will be coming in March.

Bug Labs announces WiFi-free Hiro P BUGbase

by Ryan Block, posted Jan 18th 2008 at 5:55PM

Looks like Bug Labs is fixing to release its BUGbase in more than one version due to apparent issues related to solid, stable open source WiFi chipsets and drivers. Picking up the Hiro P Edition monicker (let's hope it doesn't snow crash), this revised first BUGbase will ship without 802.11, but adds a small joystick control, and as recompense for the wireless sacrifice, Hiro P owners will get a free BUGvonhippel module (the hardware breakout box, basically), and the option to snag a pluggable WiFi attachment on the cheap at a later time. For those who want to wait for the full, integrated-WiFi experience, Bug's not yet offering a set schedule for the "regular" base kit, but Hiro P goes on pre-sale at the Bug Labs store for the regular early adopter price this Monday.

Video: A little Bug Labs demo

by Nilay Patel, posted Jan 8th 2008 at 9:49AM

You know our nerd hearts beat deep for the just-released open-source modular Bug Labs gear, and Mahalo Daily's Veronica Belmont caught up with Jeremy Toeman for a quick little demo. We're not sure exactly why you'd want a motion-sensing camera with the lens on the opposite side of the motion detector, but hey -- let's see your iPhone do that. Check the whole vid after the break!

Continue reading Video: A little Bug Labs demo

Bug Labs announces price, release, and new BUGmodule

by Ryan Block, posted Jan 5th 2008 at 3:01PM

The moment hardware hackers have been waiting for: final price and release details of the Bug Labs BUGbase and BUGmodules. And even better for those enterprising early adopters, Bug is giving a discount to everyone who buys gear within the first 60 days. Here's the story:

Pre-orders start Monday, January 21, 2008
Gear ships by Monday, March 17, 2008
BUGbase: $299 / $349 (early adopter price / regular price when bought after 60 days)
Touchscreen LCD: $99 / $119
GPS: $79 / $99
Camera: $69 / $79
Motion/accelerometer: $49 / $59
New Von Hippel BUGmodule (adds interfaces and I/O ports for further hacking of the BUGbase)
Bug is also launching BUG+EDU, promoting to the education-market (additional details to come)

Working Bug Labs hardware hands-on

by Evan Blass, posted Nov 20th 2007 at 6:10PM

As a publication whose bread and butter is handheld gadgets, we're obviously more than a little excited about Bug Labs' upcoming LEGO-style DIY electronics kit, which allows users to affix various modules to a small, open-source computer and create such magical products as a GPS-enabled digital camera with built in 3G modem and motion detector. While we've seen the hardware before -- including the BUGbase and current BUGmodules -- founder and CEO Peter Semmelhack invited us over today to check out some of the very first working applications, including the Linux-based PIM software you see running in the photos. Apparently we can expect pricing details shortly, as well as a demo of the final system in action, all leading up to an official launch before the end of the year. Check out the gallery below for even more hands-on action...

Gallery: First shots of working Bug Labs hardware

Bug Labs BUGbase and BUGmodules hands-on

by Ryan Block, posted Nov 1st 2007 at 7:16PM

There's no doubt Bug Labs is getting closer to launching its open source modular gadget kits, but for those wondering when we'd see some physical hardware, today's your lucky day. We got a chance to check out an early BUGbase unit and the full complement of BUGmodules. While we didn't get to see it up and running, we did get to fool around with the whole experience of plugging (and unplugging) modules, and got a good feel for how things work. Some details:

The BUGbase uses a bus with four module slots. Each module has a base size of 2 x 2-inches (meaning the BUGbase itself is ~4 x 2-inches).
Multiple BUGbases can be physically conjoined and communicate wirelessly for greater than four simultaneous devices, but there is no system for bus expansion of a single BUGbase.
While it can charge via USB, there's also a backup power input should you use the USB for an external peripheral.
Bug settled on MMCmicro instead of microSD because it's open source. We're torn about this one. We get it, but really, who the hell has any MMCmicro cards laying around?
Yeah, that's a standard camera mount you see on the side. Nice addition.
The modules we looked at included a display, GPS receiver, motion detector, digital camera, and 3G radio. Obviously those are just a few listed on the site.
The LCD module apparently uses the exact same QVGA LCD panel as the iPod classic. If that matters at all to you.
The module plastics are colored according to purpose: input, output, or input-output. For example, the light blue modules are output only (like the 3G module above); dark blue modules are input-output (like a touchscreen), while white modules are input only (GPS receiver, etc.).
Yeah, they made a Hiro Protagonist reference.
Still no price / exact launch details, but we're obviously getting close.