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Fitbit faces ill-timed lawsuits over haptic feedback
Fitbit is facing hard times between slowing fitness tracker sales and a reportedly floundering smartwatch project. Unfortunately, there's more bad news to add to the pile. Immersion is suing Fitbit in China and the US for allegedly violating multiple patents (three in each country) for haptic feedback. Supposedly, devices ranging from the original Flex to the Blaze all borrow Immersion's approach to vibrating a device in response to commands and for alerts. Fitbit rebuffed "numerous attempts" to strike a licensing deal, Immersion claims, so this is considered a last resort.
The Alta Redshift MX brings electricity to the dirt track
It's been a long time since I've ridden anything motorized on dirt, but I do remember the noise. The growl of the ATC I rode as a kid, the dirt bikes that sounded like lawnmowers with the muffler replaced with a megaphone. That racket is such a fundamental part of the off-road experience that children put playing cards in their spokes to recreate the sound. But that might change, thanks to the Alta Motors' Redshift MX. The Bay Area-based company is electrifying the race track, and if you can handle the $15,000 price tag, the results are tremendous.
Japan's latest humanoid robot makes its own moves
Japan's National Science Museum is no stranger to eerily human androids: It employs two in its exhibition hall already. But for a week, they're getting a new colleague. Called "Alter," it has a very human face like Professor Ishiguro's Geminoids, but goes one step further with an embedded neural network that allows it to move itself. The technology powering this involves 42 pneumatic actuators and, most importantly, a "central pattern generator." That CPG has a neutral network that replicates neurons, allowing the robot to create movement patterns of its own, influenced by sensors that detect proximity, temperature and, for some reason, humidity. The setup doesn't make for human-like movement, but it gives the viewer the very strange sensation that this particular robot is somehow alive. And that's precisely the point.
I survived a celebrity trainer workout with Fitbit's Alta
Half-way through a grueling thirty-minute workout concocted by Harley Pasternak -- a world-renowned trainer who's worked with an exhaustive list of celebrities -- I realized I made a horrible mistake. As I looked over the New York City skyline from the Trump Soho hotel penthouse, sweat was pouring down my face, my glasses were fogging up and my freshly-healed ankle sprain was starting to buckle under the pressure. All of this, just to test Fitbit's stylish new Alta fitness band.
Fitbit's low-profile Alta tracker is up for preorders
FitBit announced on Wednesday that its newest fitness tracker, the Alta, is now available for preorder. Unlike the recently announced mid-level Blaze (which we weren't too impressed with) or top-end Surge -- both of which feature large displays -- the Alta is designed to discreetly track your activity.
