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AppToyz iPhone-controlled RC car and copter are more reasons to have fun with your phone (video)
We, like you, have looked longingly at the Parrot AR.Drone. We've had a lot of fun experimenting with its augmented reality gaming ways and spent a lot of time sighing at its $299 price. Thankfully there's now a much cheaper option -- much less sophisticated, but one that is nevertheless cheaper. It's the AppToyz helicopter, coming to retail soon and costing a (relatively) affordable £50, or about $80. It looks to be evolved from the standard, tiny, IR-controlled helicopters that are everywhere now, but this one's controlled by your iPhone or iPod touch courtesy of an attachment that clips into the headphone port, much like the suite of universal remote iPhone dongles we've seen over the years. There's also an RC car coming, somewhat more affordable at £30, though only the copter is demonstrated in the video embedded below. Go ahead and watch, and then start eagerly awaiting their release, currently slated for April.
Griffin Beacon universal remote control system hands-on
We visited Griffin's CES booth to check out the Beacon universal remote control expecting yet another Redeye clone, but instead wound up walking away impressed. Two notable features of the prototype Bluetooth to IR converter device are that it's battery powered and includes a 360 degree IR blaster. These are key since they give users the freedom to place the transmitter almost anywhere around an entertainment center. The free iPhone remote app built by Dijit was the real highlight though. The UI and functionality was incredibly intuitive, and we especially liked that the setup process doesn't require inputting device model numbers. Instead, users just pick the brand and then test a series of code cycles to see if their components respond. The TV guide and Netflix integration are also points of distinction over competitors -- since you can select shows or movies to watch directly from the app. Last but not least, your remote settings can be saved and downloaded to as many devices as you like. To give you a feel for the system, we've included plenty of shots of the app's UI in the gallery below along with more photos the device. %Gallery-113456% %Gallery-113458%
ZigBee finalizes low-power, RF standard for input devices, could finally kill off IR for good
Over the years of idle channel surfing and menu browsing you've surely developed some finely-honed IR shootin' skills, knowing which surfaces will and will not reflect the signals from your under-powered universal remote control as you try to bounce that beam around a pile of magazines and soda cans on the coffee table. Those skills are on a fast-track to obsolescence thanks to the new ZigBee Input Device standard, which finally could bring all TV remote controls to the world of RF wholesale. Well, it could, if it finds more success than the already existing ZigBee Remote Control spec has managed. The new Input Device standard builds on that, said to require less juice than IR so those tired and mismatched AAs could last even longer. It'll also work with mice and keyboards and the like, but naturally we're most optimistic for remotes, even though this comes a little too late to let us turn off our PS3s with our Harmonys.
MS applies for patent on 'light-induced shape-memory,' a touchscreen that could touch back
Touchscreens are selfish lovers, taking your gentle caresses and impatient taps without offering a hint of feedback to you. We've seen attempts to change that, like prototypes from Toshiba and Senseg that add a bit of texture to a touchable surface, but now Microsoft might be looking to bring such dynamic tactility to the one of the biggest touchable surfaces: Surface. A recent patent application entitled "Light-induced Shape-memory Polymer Display Screen" describes a technique for a display that uses infra-red light to detect touch, but also to "selectively change a topography of the topography-changing layer." In other words: to make it bumpy or smooth. Certain wavelengths of light projected on the screen can cause areas of that topography layer expand or contract, which could finally mean all our cries for attention might finally be responded to in kind.
Switched On: Stowaway from the PDA era
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Their screens lacked color and their apps lacked Internet access, but one thing the PDAs of yore had in common with the smartphones of today was text input that couldn't compare to a full-sized keyboard. The challenge, of course, is that full-sized keyboards generally aren't very good traveling companions for pocket-sized devices. In 2000, a startup called ThinkOutside addressed the issue with the first Stowaway keyboard, an ingeniously designed folding keyboard that used the dock connector of Palm PDAs to create a touch-typing experience that fit in your pocket. (Stowaway designer Phil Baker is the author of the book From Concept to Consumer, which explains how ideas become products that get built overseas and ultimately sold back here). ThinkOutside went on to create versions for PocketPCs, infrared (to accommodate incompatible dock connector standards) connections, and then finally Bluetooth. The company was eventually purchased by accessory maker Mobility Electronics, which renamed itself iGo after its flagship power adapter product, and eventually cancelled the Stowaway. At the time, PDA sales were sinking and relatively few handsets supported Bluetooth; most of those that did supported only the profiles needed for headsets and speakerphones, not keyboard input.
IR-detecting OLED film could mean cheap night vision on everything
Night vision, once the exclusive property of military special forces and dreadlock'd aliens, has over the past few years become far more accessible for the everyman -- even everymen with small pockets. But, we could be on the verge of a green-screen revolution if research taking place at the University of Florida, led by Dr. Franky So, comes to fruition. He and his students are working on OLED film that is excited by infrared. Multiple layers of the stuff convert that light into a spectrum that we can see and, if all goes well, could be inexpensively layered onto anything from glasses to car windshields. So is indicating this film could start production in 18 months, but given the accuracy of original predictions regarding monstrously huge yet inexpensive OLED displays we won't exactly be holding our collective breath over here.
HeadSLAM helps you navigate imaginary smoke in well-lit corridors
Ever crawl your way through a smoke-filled corridor to save the life of someone trapped in a burning building? If yes, much respect! If no, us neither, but if ever we do hopefully it's after donning this piece of headgear currently under development by two researchers in Germany. Two students (rockers both, no doubt) have created HeadSLAM, a helmet that uses an infrared laser-scanner to penetrate the haze and map out surroundings as its wearer wanders, correcting for inertial disturbances created by the loping, unsteady walk of a bipedal organism, shown in a thrilling demonstration video after the break. It's all very much a prototype at this point (evidenced by the "hardhat festooned with shipping tape" design), and the laptop tether is a bit unwieldy when compared to a cellphone that might manage the same trick from inside a pocket, but within a few years we wouldn't be surprised to see this tech integrated into a trucker hat or maybe even a set of ridiculous headphones. [Warning: PDF read link] [Via NewScientist]
Use a universal remote with PS3
Universal remote fans -- after trying a Logitech Harmony remote, we can't go back to one-remote-per-device -- will run into trouble on the PS3; its standard remote works over Bluetooth, not IR. So the PS3 remote gains the ability to work in other rooms, but it loses the universal appeal of IR blasting. Remote Central documents the process of adding an old PS2 IR receiver so that you can use that PS2 remote -- or a universal model -- with the PS3.The steps seems simple enough; all it takes is the PS2 IR receiver dongle and the PS2-to-PS3 gamepad adapter. The translation loses some of the functionality of the PS2 remote -- 14 common commands work, but 35 don't -- but it may be enough to watch Blue-ray movies with a universal remote.See also: Universal remotist finds fault with PS3, console lacks IR port[Via Engadget]
