Underwater -- Engadget

underwater posts

Fujifilm's Remora flash could save those underwater family portraits

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 28th 2009 at 8:09AM

Underwater photography is tough, and, when you're dealing with something less than Caribbean-clear blue seas, finding the right lighting can be near-impossible. Fujifilm's Remora looks to make things a little easier, offering a 60 degree beam of light with a guide number of 20, so it's bright enough even for nighttime cuttlefish documentaries but can be dimmed to save the retinas of sensitive cephalopods. Four AA batteries give you 240 flashes at a depth of up to 180 feet, but at £229 (about $370) only the most serious rebreathers need apply.

LG GD900 Crystal submerged in a fish tank

by Ross Miller posted Aug 8th 2009 at 8:38AM

It's really a shame this isn't an out of box feature, but some ingenious modder has graced LG's GD900 Crystal phone -- you know, the one with the gesture-based transparent keypad -- with a custom water-resistant case that renders it perfect for swimming with the fishes. And so they did just that, dipping it into a fish tank. It'd make for one insanely hip charging dock, but we digress. Meanwhile in Russia, mobile@mail.ru has delivered some impressions on the device, with good words to say for the keypad's gestures but lamenting it's $899 suggested price tag, a figure higher than even the super sexy BL40 Chocolate. Aquatic footage is six feet under after the break, and hit up the read link below for the machine-translated impressions.

[Via Daily Mobile; thanks, Daniel]

Read - Hands-on
Read - LG GD900 Crystal in water

Continue reading LG GD900 Crystal submerged in a fish tank

Video: Cornell's autonomous robot sub wins competition, our hearts

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Aug 3rd 2009 at 3:33PM

Cornell sure seems to be doing its part to usher in a world where robots call the shots and humans spend most of their time cowering in the corners of bomb-out buildings. Researchers at the school have variously applied their brain matter (and we're guessing the occasional government check) to such sticky problems as robot consciousness, distance walking, and complications related to using robotics in zero gravity. And now we've heard that the school has just won something called the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition. The vehicles entered in the 12th annual AUVC (which was held at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego) ran an underwater obstacle course that involved bombing things, firing torpedoes, and eventually recovering a suitcase with "secret documents" (or old issues of 2600: The Hacker Quarterly, depending on who you believe). You can see the thing in action for yourself in the video after the break.

[Via GoRobotics.net]

Continue reading Video: Cornell's autonomous robot sub wins competition, our hearts

Liquid Image video camera goggles get upgraded specs, Japanese release

by Vladislav Savov posted Jul 9th 2009 at 7:15AM

Aloha, friends! Are you finding your beach holiday experience is missing that certain bit of techno je ne sais quoi? Maybe it's because your snorkeling exploits are going undocumented, in which case you may look to Liquid Image's newly unveiled UDCM310. An evolutionary improvement on the previous model, the new goggles feature a 5 megapixel CMOS sensor, software-free USB connectivity and the ability to record 720 x 480 video at 30 fps to a microSD card. Sure, it's not exactly overwhelming you with shooting options, but it also keeps your hands free for whatever underwater heroics you want to film.

[Via Akihabara News]

iPhone 3GS takes plunge in pool while shooting video... and lives to tell the tale

by Joshua Topolsky posted Jun 27th 2009 at 2:58PM

Now, we're hoping this isn't some elaborate hoax perpetrated on the kind citizens of the internet, because if it's real, it's amazing. Here's the deal: a man capturing video poolside with his iPhone 3GS somehow loses control of the device and ends up dunking the entire phone... while filming. Miraculously, he manages to fish out the handset and it's still rolling. We don't know what the lifespan was / is beyond this clip, but obviously long enough to upload the video or transfer it to a computer. Impressive stuff, though we strongly suggest you don't test this one out on your own. Check out the full video after the break.

[Via George Ruiz]

Continue reading iPhone 3GS takes plunge in pool while shooting video... and lives to tell the tale

Underwater robot has sense of touch, class and style

by Laura June posted May 7th 2009 at 10:23AM

At the Fraunhofer Institute in Bremen, Germany, a group of researchers, in conjunction with the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence DFKI, is developing an underwater robot with a sense of touch. The octopus-esque robot is equipped with a strain gauge which triggers electrical resistance changes when an obstacle is encountered. The strain gauges -- which are printed onto the robot -- which are ten micrometers wide (about half the width of a human hair), are made up of atomized nanoparticles, and are extremely sensitive. The researchers intend for the robot to be able to distinguish between actual obstacles and water currents. The robot's first stop will be a public trade show at the end of May in Nuremberg, after which it will presumably make it's way to the dark depths of the sea to meet up with Captain Nemo and the giant squid.

Ito Electronics shows off waterproof OLED displays

by Donald Melanson posted Apr 21st 2009 at 6:01PM

Details are about as light as can be on this one, but it looks like Japan's Ito Electronics has developed some sort of special "packaging technology" that can make OLED displays fully waterproof, which could be particularly used for watches, cellphones, or that fish tank home theater you've always dreamed of. Of course, there's no word on any actual products just yet, nor is there any indication of possible transparent waterproof displays -- or, at least, none that anyone has seen.

[Via OLED-Info.com]

iriver, Speedo suit up for new Aquabeat underwater MP3 player

by Darren Murph posted Apr 14th 2009 at 8:24AM

Another Spring, another opportunity for iriver Japan and Speedo to sell a few MP3 players designed for underwater use. Yes friends, the Aquabeat you've grown to know, love and disassociate with overly tight swim trunks has a successor, the Speedo LZR Racer. Design wise, you won't notice a lot of differentiation from the first, but this waterproof-to-three-meters device has twice the internal memory (2GB) and a built-in rechargeable battery good for around eight hours of continuous playback. It's said to be shipping now in Japan for ¥12,800 ($128), though we hear it won't be coming to America without first nailing down a Michael Phelps endorsement. Not that said task will be too tough or anything.

[Via Impress]

Gallery: iriver, Speedo suit up for new Aquabeat underwater MP3 player

Liquid Image's new underwater digital camera masks debut at CES

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Jan 5th 2009 at 4:52PM

Looks like Liquid Image -- those wacky underwater digicam folks -- are going to be hitting the ground running at CES with not one, but two HD underwater digital camera masks. Meant for serious professionals (and well-heeled Jacques Cousteau wannabes), the Pro HD350 shoots 720p video, sports 64 MB flash storage, supports microSD / SDHC cards (up to 32GB) and is rated to a depth of 330 feet. Taking things down a notch, the Scuba Series 320 (MSRP around $215) is the other 720p video cam. Featuring the same 64 MB internal memory and 32 GB microSD / SDHC support, this guy is rated at 115 feet. Bringing up the rear is the VideoMask 310, a 640 × 480 / 30 fps video camera, sporting 16 MB internal memory, 8GB microSDHC card support, and is rated to a depth of 33 feet. It is expected to list at $159, while the Scuba Series 320 will list for about $215. The Pro HD350 hasn't been priced just yet; all three cameras take 5 megapixel photos and will get debuted at CES this week.

[Via Helmet Camera Central, thanks Chad]

Liquid Image's underwater digital camera mask now available... in Japan

by Darren Murph posted Aug 8th 2008 at 4:59AM

What's up with Japan getting all the cool toys first? Yeah, we can claim little victories like Pleo and basketball (shared with Canada, some say), but the ~~two~~ 1.5 of those don't even come close to measuring up to Her Cuteness. Differences aside, we're thrilled to see that Liquid Image's underwater digital camera mask is available anywhere after missing its March launch date by quite a bit. These face-swallowers pack a 3.1- or 5.0-megapixel CMOS sensor, LCD screen, 16MB of built-in memory, a microSD card slot, a USB port and even a VGA video mode. It's supposedly available as we speak in Tokyo and the surrounding 'burbs for just over $100, and yes, the urge to import is extraordinarily high.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

Robofish communicate with each other, engage in synchronized swimming

by Darren Murph posted Jun 9th 2008 at 10:23PM

Traditional fish should definitely start keeping their guard up, as we've seen a noticeable influx of robotic alternatives flapping around here recently. Joining the school today is the Robofish, a robotic swimming creature developed at the University of Washington. Reportedly, a trio of the units have been built, and during a recent workshop, the bots were able to communicate with one another and successfully swim in either one direction or in different directions. Eventually, researchers hope that these mechanical animals could explore underwater caves, track moving targets or plunge beneath ice sheets, but there's still work to be done before the creature's coordination ability is up to the challenge. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

[Via Slashdot]

Grace Audio Weatherprooof Submersible Wireless Speaker does just what you think it would

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted May 28th 2008 at 7:48AM

Grace Audio Weatherproof Submsersible Speaker

Ah, summertime. Hot dogs, baseball, beer, bikinis, submersible pool speakers. Yeah, we said that. This speaker, called the Weatherproof Submersible Wireless Speaker (bonus points for creativity, guys) from Grace Audio is good for up to 9 feet of underwater music fun. The turtle-like unit connects to any music source up to 150 feet away, runs for about six hours on a single charge, and will set you back around $149 with additional speakers for $99 each. Up to ten speakers can be chained wirelessly for the ultimate sub-surface disco bash.

[Via Crave]

Sealife DC800 underwater camera goes deep, stays dry

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Apr 29th 2008 at 5:01PM

Attention wet people: Sealife has released the DC800 Underwater Digital Camera. This modular unit -- it drops into a waterproof case or will operate as an out-of-water point-and-shoot -- includes an 8-megapixel camera with 2.7-inch display, wide-angle lens, SD/SDHC card support, and 4x optical zoom. So what makes this camera diver-friendly? Its menus and modes are designed for sub-surface snappers with five underwater modes to deal with the various water bodies' muck, grime, and color. The DC800 will function at 200 feet, weighs about 17 ounces and will set you back $549. Sure, you could get another point-and-shoot and waterproof case, but prepare to suffer the ridicule of your diver friends.

Fourth undersea cable cut near UAE, suspicions rise

by Darren Murph posted Feb 5th 2008 at 11:34AM

For the fourth time in a week, an undersea communications cable has apparently been cut (or "failed due to a power outage," as some sources suggest), and while no official reports of subversion have surfaced just yet, things are beginning to get suspicious. Flag Telecom, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance ADA Group, has had two cables damaged in the span of a week -- a quandary it has never dealt with until now. As it stands, traffic from the Middle East and surrounding areas is being routed through various other cables in an attempt to remain online, but any more snips and we could be dealing with ping times eerily similar to those seen in 1993 (or much, much larger issues).

[Image courtesy of DivingCo]

Liquid Image intros underwater digital camera mask

by Donald Melanson posted Jan 2nd 2008 at 5:07AM

There's already plenty of waterproof cameras out there for those looking to engage in a little casual underwater photography, but those wanting to step up their game a bit may want to consider Liquid Image's new underwater digital camera mask, which'll let you capture those action packed moments as you fight off a shark, or pick up sea shells. You apparently won't be able to do that any deeper than 15 feet, however, and you'll have to make do without an optical zoom or most of the other features you'd expect from a regular camera. On the upside, you will get crosshairs on the googles themselves to help line up your shot, and you'll be able to capture as much VGA video as you can cram onto a microSD card (or the 16MB of internal memory). No word on a price, but you'll apparently be able to get your hands on your choice of a 3.1 or 5.0 megapixel version sometime in March.