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Last-chance Expand ticket giveaway and congrats to our Photo Contest winner!
In celebration of Expand, our first enormous electronics extravaganza next weekend at San Francisco's Fort Mason, we're giving away 4 pairs of tickets to 4 lucky @EngadgetExpand followers. This will be your last chance to score a free pass before the big event, so be sure to join us for this one! Here's how to enter: mention @EngadgetExpand in a tweet that also includes which session in the now fully-unveiled agenda you are most looking forward to. That might not be the easiest task, since there will be a lot going on at the show: from DJ Spooky's live performance to Veronica Belmont's appearance on the Sci-Fi panel to Make Magazine's Mark Frauenfelder co-hosting the Insert Coin awards - and then some. To be eligible to enter, you must be 18 years of age and a U.S. resident (please peruse the full rules). Get your tweets in by midnight EST this Sunday night for your chance to win; we'll choose 4 entries at random to each receive a free pair of tickets. UPDATE: Our lucky winners are: Alan Tikwart Alden of South San Francisco, CA (@SeriesAPartners) Crystal Gomez of Colma, CA (@cryscrys7) Caitlin Petrakovitz of San Francisco, CA (@misscp) Kevin Lind of Walnut Creek, CA (@zedklind) Read on for our Samsung Galaxy Camera winner...
Engadget Expand agenda unveiled: Come see the full schedule for our big event!
Over the past couple of months we've been letting you know about the awesome speaker lineup for Expand, our big event that's just around the corner at San Francisco's Fort Mason on March 16th and 17th. Now you can check out the full agenda of sessions and speakers who will be gracing our stage for two days full of in-depth discussions about the frontiers of technology. From 3D printing to crowdfunding, from robots to space (and undoubtedly some robots in space) and more, you're not going to want to miss the Expand experience. And if you're looking for even more reasons to attend Expand, how about 10 of them? Go on and pick yourself up a full pass for the weekend and get a free six month subscription to Make Magazine to boot. See you at Expand! And don't forget... We now offer day pass options for folks who can't make it out for the entire weekend Join us for Insert Coin winner voting on March 16-17! If you're a company that would like to work with us on an exhibition or sponsorship level, please drop us a line at sponsors at engadget dot com (DIYers and small startups, please ask us about our Indie Corner option!) If you're a member of the media interested in covering Expand, please contact engadget at shiftcomm.com for more information.
Engadget Expand needs volunteers: Apply within!
Pssst hey buddy: want to attend Expand for free and get a chance to go behind the scenes and help us actually put on the show? Read on! We're looking for a few good volunteers to help us out on site at Fort Mason in San Francisco this coming March 16th and 17th. In exchange for free tickets, we ask you to work with us for a half day for a six hour shift from the following options (all times are PST): Friday 1pm-7pm Saturday 7am-1pm Saturday 1pm-7pm Sunday 7am-1pm Sunday 1pm-7pmRead on to find out more about volunteering at Expand...
Engadget Expand speakers, Round Eight: Nine big reasons to join us March 16th and 17th
If you've been following along with our speaker announcements for Expand, you know we've already got a lineup chock full of some of the most interesting technologists at the forefront of innovation. You'll also appreciate that this last batch is a bit of a doozy -- consider this the big reveal before the Big Reveal of the full agenda, coming very soon: Nate Mitchell: Vice President of Product, Oculus Rift Jason Parrish: Director, Lenovo ThinkPad Strategy & Planning Hod Lipson: Professor of Engineering, Cornell University Tamar Yehoshua: Director of Product Management, Google Ujesh Desai: Vice President of Product Marketing, NVIDIA Bob Heddle: Director, Kinect for Windows at Microsoft John Wilson: Vice President, Systems Product Group, Razer Corinna Proctor: Senior Research Manager, Lenovo User Research Center Jim Denney: Vice President of Product Marketing, TiVo Here's why else you need to be at Expand...
Announcing the Insert Coin: New Challengers finalists!
Hard to believe, but March is here, and with this lambing-lion of a month comes Engadget's first-ever Expand conference in San Francisco. It also marks the impending culmination of our first-ever Insert Coin: New Challengers competition. Late last year, we asked makers to submit their projects for a chance to win $25,000 in prizes. We whittled that list down to 10 semifinalists and asked you to help up get it down to a final five, which will go up in front of our all-star panel of judges on March 16th and 17th. Finalist voting closed yesterday, and we've tallied the 5 projects that will be demoed on stage. Check them out after the break, and be sure to follow our coverage at Expand for a chance to help pick the Grand Prize and People's Choice winners.
Expand Photo Contest: Win a Samsung Galaxy Camera!
Our first ever Expand event is around the corner, this March 16-17 in San Francisco. In addition to oodles of interesting speakers, there'll be shiny sights to see: robots, retro games, of course gadgets galore and a few surprises we haven't even unveiled yet. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to record said sights with your own state-of-the art camera? Show us you can shoot an awesome photo of your favorite gadget, and you could win a Samsung Galaxy Camera! We described it thusly: "Samsung's Android-powered Galaxy Camera is a bit of a wild card, marrying Google's Android Jelly Bean OS with a 16-megapixel camera - heck, it's even got a 4.8-inch 1,280 × 720-pixel (308 ppi) touchscreen display... the entire back consists of that 4.8-inch screen, edge-to-edge..." Check out our full review for all the details and specs. Want a chance at nabbing this bad boy for your very own? Step 1 is to Like the Expand Facebook page. Step 2 is to use the entry form on our Facebook page to submit a photo you've taken of your favorite gadget, title the photo and give a short description about why it's your chosen top device. Team Expand will judge entries based on creativity, style and skill. Show us why you deserve a new camera! Good luck, and may the best shot win -- you have until this coming Monday, March 4 at 5pm EST to get your entry in. To be eligible to enter, you must be 18 years of age and a U.S. resident (please peruse the full rules).
Announcing the Insert Coin: New Challengers judges!
You've already voted for your favorite Insert Coin: New Challengers finalist, right? What? You haven't yet? What are you waiting for? Seriously. The voting's nearly closed! We've already whittled the list down to 10 finalists and asked you to help us get things down to five. Of course, there can only be one big winner, and for that we're bringing in the big guns. MAKE Magazine Editor-in-Chief and Boing Boing co-editor Mark Frauenfelder will be joining us at Expand to help present the top five projects, each of whom will be getting time on our stage to convince readers and judges alike that they deserve to take home the top prize of $20,000. As for the judges themselves, we couldn't be happier -- the list includes four of the biggest names from the world of design, DIY, crowdfunding and gadget blogging. Check out the judges, after the break.
Engadget Expand speakers, Round Seven: Moon, music, media and more!
It's time for another round of additions to the speaker lineup for our big Expand event coming up in just a few weeks. You'll want to be sure to pick up your tickets so you don't miss out on these folks up on stage: Alexandra Hall: Senior Director, Google Lunar X PRIZE DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid: Artist Victor Agreda, Jr.: Editor-in-Chief, The Unofficial Apple Weblog Raghu Tarra: SVP & General Manger, Sling Media, Inc. In addition to joining us on stage, DJ Spooky will be playing a set at Expand on Sunday -- so you'll want to stick around with us all weekend at Fort Mason Center. If you can't be with us for 100% of the fun though, don't forget we also offer day passes for either Saturday or Sunday. Your Saturday pass also gets you into our Day 1 after-party, where we'll have upright cabinets and modern game consoles for retro and current-generation gamers alike to have a little friendly competition. Please join us! And don't forget... Insert Coin finalist voting is still open! Cast your vote by this Wednesday, February 27, at 3:30pm EST. If you're a company that would like to work with us on an exhibition or sponsorship level, please drop us a line at sponsors at engadget dot com (DIYers and small startups, please ask us about our new Indie Corner option!) If you're interested in speaking at the event, please contact expand at engadget dot com to inquire. If you're a member of the media interested in covering Expand, please contact engadget at shiftcomm.com for more information.
Insert Coin semifinalist: Snapzoom connects any scope to any smartphone
There are adapters out there that allow you to hook up your phone with a telescope or a pair of binoculars. Most of them, though, aren't universal. And we mean that on both sides of the equation -- they won't connect to all scopes or all phones. Snapzoom wants to be all things to those with a hankering for long distance photography, such as bird watchers or amateur astronomers. The solution is so simple that it actually stuns us that no one had thought of it before. That's not to say there isn't a lot of smart design involved, but ultimately the Snapzoom boils down to a set of adjustable clamps that provide an incredible amount of freedom. While image quality will rest largely on your choice of smartphone, there's no shortage of incredible shooters out there that you can slide into the mount. Check out the full list of Insert Coin: New Challengers semifinalists here -- and don't forget to pick a winner!
Insert Coin semifinalist: Ziphius is a smartphone-controlled aquatic drone
Who doesn't want a little aquatic drone to call their own? Azorean's Ziphius is a partially submerged device that can be controlled via iOS or Android smartphone or tablet. There's an on-board HD camera that offers up visuals to give the user a first-person view both above and below the water. Azorean plans to open the API on the vehicle and software to let developers create all manner of games and apps that'll harness augmented reality. Inside of the drone, you'll find a Raspberry Pi, an Ardunio-based plate and two differential motors. The company's promising intuitive handling and even a bit of autonomy with the Ziphius. But why talk about it, when we can play you some videos of the little guy in action? You'll find those after the break. Check out the full list of Insert Coin: New Challengers semifinalists here -- and don't forget to pick a winner!
Insert Coin semifinalist: smARtPULSE is a hackable Bluetooth oximeter
Oximeters aren't exactly the sexiest gadgets in the world, but they're definitely quite useful. Monitoring pulse and blood oxygen levels are important for patients in hospitals, athletes trying to squeeze every last drop of performance from their body and anyone making a sudden trip to high altitudes. smARtPULSE uses pretty standard photodetection technology for tracking oxygen levels, but its ability to tether to a whole host of other devices via Bluetooth 4.0 is what really sets it apart. There are free Android and iOS apps for those that just want to check their vitals and be done with it, but tinkerers can have a field day with the open-source hardware and upcoming API. At the end of the day, connecting the smARtPULSE to any computer (be it Linux, Windows or OS X) will be pretty simple, and there will even be libraries available for Arduino, Raspberry Pi and Electric Imp. With the prototyping out of the way, now the team is finishing up the API and ironing out the final design. Check out the full list of Insert Coin: New Challengers semifinalists here -- and don't forget to pick a winner!
Insert Coin semifinalist: Smart Knob brings keypad access to your front door
Keys? Who needs keys? The Smart Knob is an attempt to do away with those pesky metal things for property managers and renters, attaching a keypad to your front door's deadbolt. Owners of the property can issue codes remotely for a chosen period of time. Visitors can also get codes by calling the service's automated phone system. The Smart Knob is compatible with all standard circular deadbolts, and its creators insist that the installation process takes under a minute. The battery should last "up to two years" with daily use -- and when it gets low, a warning will let you know. Check out a video of the original plastic prototype after the break. The final version will, thankfully, be made of metal. Check out the full list of Insert Coin: New Challengers semifinalists here -- and don't forget to pick a winner!
Insert Coin semifinalist: Radiator Labs wants to help you control your heat
Just about any apartment-dwelling urbanite can tell you that radiators are a bit of a necessary evil in the world of city living. What if there was a way to control the heat to individual rental units, without relying entirely on a landlord's temperature-controlling omnipotence? The Radiator Labs team has developed a device to help realize this dream. It's essentially a housing that sits on top of an individual radiator unit, controlling heat transfer to a room. Turn it off, and the insulation hampers the heat from making a room too hot. Turn it on, and the ducted fan spreads the heat out to the room. Radiator Labs has a bit more info on its page, which you can check out in the source link below. You can also view graphical breakdown of the technology after the break. Check out the full list of Insert Coin: New Challengers semifinalists here -- and don't forget to pick a winner!
Insert Coin semifinalist: Observos serves up the internet of places
Internet of things? That's so 2012. 2013? Well maybe, just maybe, it'll be all about the internet of places. Hexagonal Research founders Loren Lang and Ronald Bynoe are betting that the next big thing will be environmentally aware computers. The pair have created Observos which combines an ATMEL microcontroller (with integrated wireless) with a host of on-board sensors. What began as a prototype built around a tower of Arduino shields is now a small first-run integrated board with spots for connecting XBee radio cards and a small LCD display. Right now the focus is on humidity, temperature and barometric pressure, though other environmental variables would be relatively trivial to tack on. While the Observos board is isn't quite ready for prime time, its already getting some serious field testing in a plant nursery, restaurant and other diverse locales. In addition to the small display, the board can be programmed to send text message or email alerts, and in the future could tie into venting or heating systems for completely automated control. There's even a rudimentary web interface for monitoring the various data coming in from the sensors. Check out the full list of Insert Coin: New Challengers semifinalists here -- and don't forget to pick a winner!
Insert Coin semifinalist: Hodu is a 'zero failure' physical therapy hardware / software combo
Hodu borrows its name from the Korean word for "walnut," a reference to the culture's use of the nut as an exercise tool in traditional medicine. The barbell-shaped device is a "zero failure" physical therapy tool, aimed at rewarding patients for even the slightest level of feedback. There are on-board pressure sensors and accelerometers for detecting activity and a series of colored LEDs that light up based on feedback levels. The team behind Hodu is also working on proprietary software to help log patients' squeezing and rotational progress. After the break is a video that should give you a bit of a better idea of precisely what Hodu is capable of. Check out the full list of Insert Coin: New Challengers semifinalists here -- and don't forget to pick a winner!
Insert Coin semifinalist: Moedls brings 3D scanning to your phone
3D scanners are kinda old hat at this point. But, while we've seen more than our fair share of Kinect hacks, we haven't come across too many phone-based systems. Moedls actually puts the power to create models like the one above in the palm of your hand... sort of. The heart of the system is either an iOS or Android app (sorry MeeGo fans), but there are actual lasers with a custom enclosure as part of the platform. Clearly, that does somewhat restrict portability, but it should all fit into a 10-inch x 10-inch x 4-inch box for storage or transportation. Creator John Fehr started the project as a way to save some of his daughter's sculptures in digital form. After trying many different component options, Fehr settled on a combination of parts that totaled around $300. That included a custom enclosure and variable speed rotating platform have been sourced. Right now the iOS app is awaiting approval from Apple and the Google-fied equivalent is currently in development. Combine this with a 3D printer (we hear you've got quite a few choices at this point) and the world becomes your playground. You can see an example of what Moedls is capable of, even at this early stage, at the source. Check out the full list of Insert Coin: New Challengers semifinalists here -- and don't forget to pick a winner!
Make Magazine offering free six month subscriptions to Expand attendees!
By now you know we really, really want you to join us at Expand this March. And if you've been waiting for Just One More Reason to attend the event, how about a free 6-month subscription to Make Magazine? Our friends at Make share our enthusiasm about independent inventors, tinkerers, and makers of all stripes driving innovation in the technology world, and we're excited to welcome them as an official Expand media partner. They'll also be joining us at the show, so look out for more fun announcements around their participation in the coming weeks. We're also thrilled to be able to offer half a year's worth of Make goodness to all of our full weekend Expand attendees if purchased in advance. When buying your ticket there will be a form where you can input your home address. If you've already bought a full pass ticket from us, don't worry -- we've got you covered too. Look out for an email coming from Eventbrite (sent to the address you used to purchase your ticket) with instructions on how to provide us your mailing address and start receiving your free subscription. See you at Expand! And don't Forget... Insert Coin audience voting is open right now! Get your votes for the best of our 10 semi-finalists in by Wednesday, February 27 at 3:30pm EST If you're a company that would like to work with us on an exhibition or sponsorship level, please drop us a line at sponsors *at* engadget *dot* com (DIYers and small startups, please ask us about our new Indie Corner option!) If you're interested in speaking at the event, please contact expand *at* engadget *dot* com to inquire If you're a member of the media interested in covering Expand, please contact engadget *at* shiftcomm.com for more information.
Insert Coin semifinalist: Make a Play is a high-tech puppet stage
The students at ITP are constantly churning out creative projects that are unafraid to walk the fine line between art and tech. So its no wonder that Gal Sasson's Make a Play wound up as one of the semi-finalists in our Insert Coin: New Challengers competition. It doesn't hurt that the concept also combines two of our greatest loves here at Engadget: toys and Arduino. The name, it turns out, is actually quite descriptive. The microcontroller-driven stage allows anyone to quickly create a piece of miniature theater using handcrafted puppets and an impressive selection of buttons, knobs and switches -- all lovingly handcrafted out of wood on this prototype. The control panel can move the actors using two motorized carts, cue lighting, playback voice recordings and even activate special electronics embedded in the puppets, such as LED eyes in the demo video after the break. Any action can be recorded and fed to a companion computer program, where tweaks can can be made to the automation. Honestly, sounds like the sort of thing we wish we had a as kids. Check out the full list of Insert Coin: New Challengers semifinalists here -- and don't forget to pick a winner!
Insert Coin semifinalist: cSpring bipedal robot wants to 'level the playing field' for university research
Check out this Mac-headed robot. It's the cSpring Biped Educational Development Kit from the folks at the similarly-named Cognitive Spring team. According to its creators, the 'bot is an attempt to "level the playing field between universities," letting students tool around with an affordable bipedal robotics platform. cSpring has 12 servos in all -- three per hip, one per knee and two per foot. It's controlled by the Cognitive Shield, a bit of technology developed by the team in order to help bring the 'bot to life. Cognitive Spring will be launching crowdfunding campaigns to bring bot of these products to life. cSpring's also got a "Kinect-like" camera on-board for sensing its environment, to help users perform what the company's CEO calls "really easy controls." Jump in after the break for a couple of videos of an early cSpring model in action, and click the source link below for more information on all of the above. Check out the full list of Insert Coin: New Challengers semifinalists here -- and don't forget to pick a winner!
Insert Coin: New Challengers voting is now open -- help us pick five finalists!
Just want to vote? Right this way! Last Friday, we announced our semifinalist pics for Engadget's first-ever Insert Coin: New Challengers competition. We're incredibly excited about the projects we selected, but had a hard enough time whittling the list down to 10. That's where you come in. As far as we're concerned, they're all winners, but we've got presentation time at next month's Expand conference in San Francisco, and we need your help knocking the list down to five finalists. It's a diverse array of entrants, including seafaring drones, bipedal robots, 3D scanners, futuristic radiators and more. Jump in after the break for links to posts about each of the candidates, and when you're done, please click here to vote on your favorite. Five winners will go on to present their projects at Expand in March, for a chance to win $25,000. You have until next Wednesday, February 27 at the same time (12:30pm PST / 3:30pm EST) to cast your vote!
