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Aetho's 'Aeon' GoPro stabilizer looks slick, and so will your video
"Shoot video that's worth watching" reads one of the straplines for Aetho's "Aeon" handheld GoPro stabilizer. It sounds kinda obvious, right? But, if you've ever walked/ran/danced/dived/whatever with a GoPro in your hand/mouth/knees/whatever you'll know it's not that simple. You thought you had an oak-like steady grip, turns out you shake like a cold chihuahua -- and the GoPro does a wonderful job of translating that to your videos. Aethos's marketing copy suddenly doesn't seem so vapid, does it? Especially once you see what the Aeon can do for your footage. Which, helpfully, you can right here in this article.
Alganon opens European servers
Quest Online announced today that its free-to-play MMORPG Alganon is expanding! The game's reach grows just a wee bit longer with the launch of the Aeon server, located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Players on either continent can choose to play on either server, so there's nothing stopping North American players from throwing down with their friends across the pond. As a result of this new addition to the Alganon family, players will have a week (until July 19th) to transfer to the Aeon server free of charge. To do so, all you have to do is log into the Alganon website, choose the My Account option, and click My Transfers. Voila! The new server also comes just in time for the upcoming GM vs. Player battles taking place on July 16th and 17th. For more information, head to the official Alganon site.
Mi Casa Verde Vera review: Home automation, simplified
Home automation and jetpacks are surprisingly similar in that both of these space-age technologies have, for decades, been over promised and under delivered. Who here wouldn't love to tap a single button when exiting the house to activate the alarm, shut off the lights in the kids' rooms, lower the thermostat, and lock all the doors? That's the convenience, the promise left unfilled as we say goodbye to 2010. We live on a planet that still requires humans to manually close the blinds at the end of the day and flip on a light switch some 90 years since the commercial introduction of the incandescent light bulb. How primitive. And it's downright criminal in ecological and financial terms that we still can't easily monitor and control the power usage in our homes let alone the trickle of wattage vampired off the individual electrical sockets feeding our greedy horde of household electronics. How is this possible given all the advances we've seen? Wireless and sensor technology has advanced far beyond what's required to automate a home. Just look at smartphones, for example, that now ship standard with 3G (and even 4G) data, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS radios in addition to sensors for motion, temperature, moisture, proximity, and even direction. We don't have the answer to home automation's dilemma -- to dig into that topic we'd require a few thousand more words, at least. All we know for sure is that the biggie consumer electronics companies are reluctant to sort it out. As such, dozens of small companies are left to deal with a mess created by an industry incapable of coalescing around a set of interoperable home automation standards. One such company is Mi Casa Verde. A tiny startup that launched its linux-based Vera home automation server back in 2008 with a renewed promise to make home automation setup and control as easy for novices as it is robust for techies and enthusiasts. We've been using a recently launched second generation Vera 2 for a few weeks now. Sure, we haven't quite reached one-button nirvana, but as home automation newbies we're proud to say that we've automated a few helpful in-home lighting situations while skirting the clutches of the Dark Angel sequestered within our fuse box. Better yet, we can control it all from an iPhone -- including the Christmas tree. Click through to see how we did it. %Gallery-111569%
New Aeon visualizer from SoundSpectrum enlivens iTunes
iTunes is loaded with features - some we love and some we don't. One feature that I really like for parties is the iTunes Visualizer, the trippy light show that plays in-sync with your music. The folks over at Sound Spectrum have released a new visualization tool called Aeon. There are three versions of Aeon: Free, Gold and Platinum. The free version will run on both Mac and Windows. What you get is a set of default visualizations and the ability to customize the settings to create your own visualization. Not bad for free. The two paid versions (Gold is US$20 and Platinum is $30) come with a bunch of extras that you may or may not need. What you get is the ability to set Aeon as your screen saver, allow Aeon to run in different media players (such as WinAmp, RealPlayer and Windows Media Player) and add visualizations to live audio such as a guitar or your microphone. If you are not sure if you want to pony up for the paid version of Aeon, give the Free version a try. Your party guests will thank you.
OSXBMC becomes Plex
A while back the team behind the Xbox Media Center on OS X (which we covered a while back) announced that they were forking the Mac version from the main trunk. Now they've decided that the Mac version will be getting a new name: Plex (as in 'cineplex' or 'googleplex'). For those of you haven't tried it yet, basically Plex is a Front Row replacement media center application that grew out of the long developed XBMC (originally developed for the first Xbox).The lastest available version is 0.5.0b10 (which still hasn't been rebranded) and is a free download. In addition there is a great new skin for XBMC called Aeon, which works with Plex and frankly looks amazingly slick. [via Gizmodo]
Keepin' it real fake, part CXXII: if Nokia won't make it, China will
Don't get us wrong, Nokia's Aeon concept is beautiful. By the time you remove all the fanciful, nonexistent technology and try to come up with a dead ringer of your own, though, a certain something is lost in translation. A manufacturer -- not Nokia, trust us -- has now tried (and failed) to recreate the Aeon's magic in a retail package, dubbing it the YX-W168 and throwing in dual SIM capability, 2 megapixel camera, and that critical "invisible keyboard" lit by a handful of blue LEDs, but there's only one small problem: it looks nothing like the Aeon. Simple steps like getting rid of the "Vogue Lifestyle" label etched across the phone's edge would've gone a short way toward making it a more believable rip, but then again, not really.[Via Tech Ticker]
Robot babysitter keeps kids occupied in Japanese store
Inhuman babysitters aren't all that uncommon around the world, but a new creature recently placed in a Japanese department store is a godsend for shopaholics with rugrats in tow. Developed by Tmsuk, the 1.4-meter tall bot is employed at a Fukuoka retailer in order to keep watch over rambunctious youngsters that are dropped off by their overworked parents. Reportedly, said critter boasts an integrated projector and camera, a colorful yellow / white outfit and the ability to identify children by name based on a special tag that each kiddo wears while playing. Of course, the manufacturer isn't looking to just shove one or two of these into every store in Japan -- oh no, it's hoping to create similar robots that could one day "guide customers through the aisles of a store," fill their carts or whisper the joke of the day in a French accent into their ears.
eBay seller offers Nokia Aeon, is a flat out liar
Seem to good to be true? Yesiree, we're betting it is, too. Nokia's Aeon is a concept, not "Not even released for sale in U.S. yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!." If we weren't clear, he / she is trying to steal your money, so please don't bid. Of course, some may ask about the rather unconvincing renders that are being used to prop up this bridge of deceit, and one needs only check the dodgy shadowing and reflection to see that these just can't be real -- and are the same pics offered by Nokia. So in short, give mercerwholesaleelectroncs8888's -- with 4 feedback -- auction a peek, have a laugh, and hope that one day we'll actually be able to pick one of these up -- for less than $999.
Nokia Aeon concept phone in the flesh?
While the camera wielding crew over at Computex have shown us here in North America quite a few snazzy handsets of late, this one just may take the cake. It's not too often that you see a futuristic concept phone actually hit the production line, but if these photos are to be believed, it certainly looks like the ultrathin Nokia Aeon has gone quite a ways beyond the drawing board. Reportedly seen at Nokia's Finnish lair, the Aeon still lacks any sort of specifications, but it's worth a gander nonetheless. Click on for a couple more sneak peeks.[Via JustAMP]
Nokia's aeon "full surface screen" cellphone concept
Nokia's research and development team have kicked it up a gear with an attractive "aeon" concept phone showing up in the R&D section of the company's website. The most prominent design feature of aeon is a touchscreen that stretches over the full surface area of the phone, similar to BenQ-Siemens's Black box concept phone we saw recently. Currently mobile technology isn't quite up to realizing this fantasy, but we'll sleep better tonight knowing that at least one of the cellphone industry's biggest names shares the same dream as we do -- BenQ's dream didn't count, unfortunately.
AEON's specced-out 32-incher on a budget
The new ZG-0032LD from AEON has a Samsung LCD panel, 32-inches of screen, and a whole lot else to love. The 1,366 x 768 LCD is rated at 450 nits of brightness, has a 1200:1 contrast ratio, and manages a speedy 8ms of response time. On top of that, there are dual HDMI ports, two S-Video connectors, and a trio of composite jacks. This is all well and good, but AEON really sweetens the deal with the 129,800 Yen ($1,131 USD) pricetag. Sure, the looks could be spicier, and Samsung is always going to put their best panels inside their own displays, but for the HDTV buyer on a budget, AEON seems to have a winner.[Via HD Beat]
AEON's 32-inch LCD -- made by Samsung
Oh, how we love peering over the Pacific to see what type of HDTVs they have over there. One of the newest is an in-house branded TV for the electronics retail behemoth AEON. The LCD may appear to be just another APEX but this one is at least made by Samsung so it should be a bit higher quality. If one is to look at specs and deem the quality based on 'em, then this LCD would be up on the food chain especially if you consider the 129,800 Yen ($1,131) price. This is what we are talking about: 1,366 x 768 resolution, 450cd/m2 brightness, a contrast ratio of 1,200:1, and a viewing angle of 178 degrees. Not bad, eh? But check out these inputs too: 2 HDMI, 2 S-Vid, 3 composite, RGB, mini-stereo input, subwoofer out, and even a headphone jack. We aren't saying this is the best LCD on the market but for the low price and manufacturer, it's not too bad. We just wonder how good the built-in scaler is.[via Impress]
