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Zepp's tennis sensor now includes a highlight camera
Unless you've got a professional coach on hand, it can be tricky to determine how good your tennis skills really are -- simply not slamming the ball into the net doesn't count, unfortunately. But for those looking to up their game, sport sensor creator Zepp has a new gadget that could help you serve your best match yet. The Tennis 2 Swing and Match Analyzer, which looks not unlike a tennis ball, fits on the bottom on your racket and measures stroke type, spin, ball speed, ball spin and accuracy, then relays the info to its iOS or Android app via Bluetooth.
EVE Evolved: Archaeology and Hacking in Odyssey
EVE Online's Odyssey expansion is set to land in just over a week's time, kicking off the game's second decade with a focus on exploration, immersion, and resource rebalancing. Developers plan to shake up nullsec by redistributing the value of various moon minerals and buffing player-owned outposts, and lowsec will become a more tempting place to visit with the addition of valuable new tags to asteroid belt NPCs. But what's in it for highsec players? In addition to new navy issue battlecruisers and immersive new jump and death sequences, players from all corners of EVE will find new exploration content in their back yards. A big part of the new exploration system is a complete redesign of the Hacking and Archaeology mini-professions, which have been in EVE for as long as I can remember and have remained relatively unchanged. Odyssey will add new sites for both professions and replace the boring old chance-based system with a new minigame that emphasises co-operation with other players. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the history of Hacking and Archaeology in EVE and what the new system brings to the table.
NEC shows 2014-era portable DNA analyzer that could outpace your favorite crime drama
NEC gave us promises of truly on-the-spot forensics when it unveiled its first portable DNA analyzer back in 2007, although the reality hasn't been quite in line with the dream: its current system takes an hour to get a result and won't win any awards for sleekness. From what we're seeing of a next-generation analyzer due in 2014, those expectations are more likely to be met. The new version puts the full DNA extraction, amplification and separation processes on a newer chip that meets NEC's original goal of producing output in 25 minutes -- faster than a short cop drama, if you include the commercial breaks. Few beyond the police will be casually tossing the analyzer around given its 70.5-pound weight and $120,000 price, but a much slicker design at least gives it the profile of a small, rolling suitcase. The upgrade could be vital for identifying suspects and victims in record time; if our only worry is that NEC takes all the mystery out of our favorite TV shows, we'll be more than satisfied.
Daily iPhone App: MyTunes Pro makes your music sound better
MyTunes has been on the App Store for a little while. It's developed by SRS that uses that company's patented sound enhancement algorithms to make music sound "better." It's not completely clear what the algorithm does (as SRS wants to keep it secret), but basically, the tech boosts and lowers certain qualities in audio to make it clearer and more listenable. MyTunes Pro is the new version of MyTunes. I saw it in action at CES earlier this year, and it's now available for the iPhone and the iPad (here's the HD version). The biggest update is that you can use AirPlay directly with the app. This lets you push your iTunes library through MyTunes Pro's enhancer, and then kick it out to an AirPlay system. You'll also find new controls for a system called "TruSpeed," which will speed up or slow down your audio without changing the pitch (so you can listen to more podcasts in less time). A new "workout mode" lets you gather songs by tempo (BPS). The interface of the app has been updated as well. Unfortunately, it's still pretty laggy (and doesn't really feel like a native interface), but it is a little easier to navigate and use than earlier versions. MyTunes Pro is free to try, so if you just want to hear what it does to your music, you can download it and give it a try (you get 10 minutes a day, unless you pay an in-app purchase of US$6.99). It's an app that's of somewhat limited use, because you can only listen to music in your iTunes library. iOS doesn't let audio from services like Pandora or Slacker get processed. Still, if you listen to music coming off of your iOS device all day, and would like it to sound even better (or just want to have a really capable EQ to use on it), MyTunes Pro should do exactly that.
