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Mimo announces iMo eye9 USB touchscreen with built-in webcam
Mimo Monitors isn't exactly short on small USB monitors these days, but that hasn't stopped it from rolling out yet another new model: the 9-inch iMo eye9. As with some of the company's recent models, this one is a touchscreen monitor (resistive, as you might expect), but it takes things one step further than the rest by adding a less-than-discreet 1.3 megapixel webcam. Otherwise, you'll get a basic 1,024 x 600 resolution, plus full Mac and PC compatibility, a detachable base that allows for both portrait and landscape viewing, and a built-in stylus that will also double as a stand. Look for this one to start shipping on November 20th, and you can get your pre-order in now for $229.99.
Evigroup Paddle tablet goes Pro, gets cursor-controlling, head-tracking webcam
Some day, in the distant future, we'll be activating windows, clicking buttons, and playing Farmville with our minds. Our minds. There have been attempts to get us there, none fully comprehensive, though the Evigroup Paddle Pro tablet is taking an interesting alternative approach: using head tracking to control the cursor. Apparently its front-facing webcam detects your front-facing mug and as you look about the screen it moves the cursor appropriately. Staring rudely at any button or control for a half-second equates to a click and, while we don't yet know how you'll double-click, we'd like to think a spasmodic twitch will be required. Evigroup is also launching a curvy keyboard to go with the Paddle Pro and is promising the ability to play video and audio wirelessly courtesy of a "small station" that connects to your TV. The internals, meanwhile, are perfectly predictable: a netbook spec Atom N450 struggling with Windows 7 Home Premium. No word on price or availability.
Mobiola WebCamera: a first look at an iPhone-based webcam app
At least once a week, I use the iSight camera on my iMac act as the video source for TUAW TV Live. While it works very well, I sometimes need to add a second camera to the Mac in order to demonstrate something on an iPad or other device. That just hasn't worked out too well, since many of the cameras that I've checked out are USB and tend to conflict with the iSight. And sometimes, I've just wanted a camera that I could take anywhere around my office to capture video. SHAPE Services, the developer of a number of other iPhone apps such as Business Card Reader and Smart Scanner, has just released Mobiola WebCamera for iPhone (US$4.99). It turns your iPhone into a mobile webcam, and I happy to say that even as a "1.0 release," it works very well. To use WebCamera on your computer, you need to download a free client software package for Windows or Mac. One download contains the installers for both platforms, so if you have both a Mac and a PC, you're in luck. Once the client app is installed and running on your computer, you use the app on your iPhone to connect to the computer over Wi-Fi and beam the live video to your computer. %Gallery-107348%
Dropcam Echo review
We'd all like to think that when we leave our homes absolutely nothing happens there -- except maybe a Roomba making its solitary rounds or a pooch waiting somberly by the door. Of course that's not the case, lots of things can go wrong in your absence and if you're of the paranoid variety surely you've entertained a few of those ideas. With a camera capable of remote monitoring you can assuage some of those fears, and the models from Dropcam are about the easiest we've seen to use. But, at $199 to $279 with monthly monitoring fees ranging from $8.95 to $24.95, they sure aren't cheap. %Gallery-106364%
MindScape's Karotz continues the proud Nabaztag lineage
It's been a while since we've heard anything on the Nabaztag front. Violet, the company that built the original "ambient" bunnies, went bankrupt but was snapped up by MindScape a year ago. Now MindScape is ready to show off the latest addition to the Nabaztag family, dubbed "Karotz." The WiFi rabbit runs on Linux, with a 400MHz ARM CPU, 64MB of RAM and 256MB of storage, so it should have plenty of headroom for that vibrant hacker community that sprung up around the first two Nabaztags. Karotz can also run off batteries or be plugged in via USB, and has the same RFID reader functionality of the Nabaztag/tag. The biggest new feature is a webcam, which will purportedly have face recognition (to be paired with Nabaztag's existing voice recognition), along with allowing you to check up on your home from a smartphone app. Karotz will retail in France starting in November for €150 (about $210 US), followed by the UK in December and February in the US. Hopefully Karotz can find a bit more market success than its ill-fated predecessors. %Gallery-105157%
Webcam-spying school district settles out of court, FBI declines to press charges
Looks like the Lower Merion School District will be paying off kids who got zinged by its laptop tracking program -- to the tune of some $610,000. As you might recall, there was quite a bit of hubbub earlier this year when students discovered that their school issued computers tended to activate their webcams and shoot the photos back to administrators. Apparently the FBI has decided not to bring any charges in the case after all, and the various families of the students settled with the school district out of court. And yes, the schools have discontinued the tracking program.
Switched On: A Looxcie into lifecasting's future
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Remember those early wireless headsets, the ones that made people look like they had been assimilated by The Borg? Few would seek to return to those days for the benefit of bridging a handset and one's ears. But what if one could also bridge a handset and one's eyes? That's essentially the promise of Looxcie, a Bluetoooth headset that integrates a video camera to enable passive video capture. Looxcie's creators note that using the device requires less encumbrance than even a Flip camcorder. Still, there's no getting around it -- the Looxcie is no spy gadget. Accepting the state of the technology for what it is, the designers chose to embrace its size rather than try to minimize it. The protuberance that houses the boom mike and lens of the product swells toward an end that includes a red recording light. The extension in a glossy white, perhaps an homage to massive telephoto zoom lenses like those from Canon.
MIT Medical Lab Mirror tells your pulse with a webcam (video)
Mirror mirror on the wall, who has the highest arterial palpation of them all? If you went to MIT you might be able to answer that question thanks to the work of grad student Ming-Zher Poh, who has found a way to tell your pulse with just a simple webcam and some software. By looking at minute changes in the brightness of the face, the system can find the beating of your heart even at a low resolution, comparable to the results of a traditional FDA-approved pulse monitor. Right now the mirror above is just a proof of concept, but the idea is that the hospital beds or surgery rooms of tomorrow might be able to monitor a patient's pulse without requiring any wires or physical contact, encouraging news for anyone who has ever tried to sleep whilst wearing a heart monitor.
Logitech Revue with Google TV details: $299; free iOS, Android apps, accessories are extra
Logitech's big Google TV reveal is still ongoing, but the product page is live and allowing for preorders of the $299 package ($179 if you're on Dish Network) set to ship by the end of this month. For all of that dough you'll get the Revue with Google TV box, keyboard with integrated touch and directional pad, an HDMI cable, one IR blaster and a couple of AA batteries just for good measure. Also up for your browsing pleasure are a few screens of the free Logitech Harmony App for iPhone and Android. Other accessories have been announced and are available for preorder as well, a $149 webcam, and the Revue-specific version of the diNovo Mini controller for $129.99 the larger keyboard is available if you need a spare or buy a different brand of Google TV appliance for $99. The Logitech TV Cam, with Carl Zeiss autofocus lens and dual microphones, ties into a Logitech Vid HD app that communicates with other similarly equipped units plus PCs or Macs running the desktop version of the software. Beyond just the mobile apps, Logitech also showed off its own Media Player app that pulls in video from connected hard drives or DLNA sources. Check the gallery for a few pictures of the hardware and after the break for a couple quick video breaking down all the features of the Revue, and demonstrating video calling. A press release full of details is now also available after the break. %Gallery-104437%
Logitech's Google TV offering to also handle HD video conferencing, challenge Cisco's upcoming solution?
We're just days away from Logitech unveiling its Google TV hardware lineup, but now VP Eric Kintz is saying that's not all the company will have to show. You may remember that Logitech acquired LifeSize Communications late last year, a company specializing in corporate HD video conferencing, and now that technology will be coming to the living room. Logi isn't unveiling details yet, but whatever solution it offers will be compatible with Google TV and, given that Logitech's C910 webcam was recently granted SkypeHD compatibility, we wouldn't be surprised if there's some sort of tie-in there. Hardware cost is unknown but no monthly fee will be charged, contrasting with Cisco's rumored solution -- coincidentally also said to be unveiled on Weds. According to The Wall Street Journal Cisco's HD conferencing option will cost a whopping $600 and, on top of that, will require a $30 monthly fee. That seems somewhat outrageously priced for a one trick pony, so here's to hoping there's more to it than that.
Ubuntu prototype uses face recognition to intelligently move UI elements (video)
(function() { var s = document.createElement('SCRIPT'), s1 = document.getElementsByTagName('SCRIPT')[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = 'http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js'; s1.parentNode.insertBefore(s, s1); })(); Digg Not that we haven't seen mock-ups before for systems using webcams to intelligently move user interface elements, but it's another thing entirely for a company to make a public proclamation that it's tinkering with implementing something of the sort into a future build of its OS. Over at the Canonical design blog, one Christian Giordano has revealed that the company is in the early stages of creating new ways to interact with Ubuntu, primarily by using proximity and orientation sensors in order to have one's PC react based on how they're sitting, where they're sitting and where their eyes / head are at. For instance -- once a user fires up a video and leans back, said video would automatically go into fullscreen mode. Similarly, if a user walked away to grab some coffee and a notification appeared, that notification would be displayed at fullscreen so that he / she could read it from faraway. There's no mention just yet on when the company plans to actually bring these ideas to end-users, but the video embedded after the break makes us long for "sooner" rather than "later."
Microsoft's 1080p LifeCam Studio review
The 1080p webcam party is just getting started, Logitech kicking things off with the $99 C910 earlier this year, and now things are heating up with Microsoft making its appearance. Today the company is announcing the immediate availability of the $99 Lifecam Studio, an upgraded version of the LifeCam Cinema HD that's pushing more pixels and a few other nice features, like a threaded receiver for tripod use. Overkill, or is this the webcam you want? Click on through to find out. %Gallery-101865%
Microsoft's Kinect patent application goes public, reveals gobs of fine print
Not like it matters much now -- after all, Project Natal has had time to incubate and come out as Kinect -- but those wondering about the inner workings of the motion sensing system now have more one outlet to investigate. A patent application filed on February 23, 2009 was just made public today, describing a "gesture keyboarding" scenario where users can make gestures that are caught by a "depth camera" and then converted into in-game controls. Of course, those paying close attention could've read between the lines when we toyed with a camouflaged PrimeSense demo at GDC, but here's the fully skinny in black and white. And a bit of blue, if you count the buttons. Give that source link a tap once you're settled in. %Gallery-98933%
HD webcam 3-way shootout: SkypeHD's best take on Logitech
As we mused when we recently got a chance to try out the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910, it wasn't long ago that VGA was good enough for online chatting. No more, and with the release of SkypeHD going high-def is easier than ever. To find out which multi-megapixel movie maker you want to clip onto your display, and to see how the SkypeHD-compatible offerings stack up against Logitech's latest HD shooter, we gathered three cameras at a range of prices. Two will work with some particularly advanced TVs, while the third cam shuns Skype, offsetting that shortcoming with a middle-ground price and superior video quality. Which is your ticket to HD chat bliss, and how do they all compare to plain 'ol VGA? Find out after the break. %Gallery-96402%
Dropcam Echo streams imagery to your iPhone, sends push notifications
Oh, sure -- you've got oodles of options when it comes to webcams, particularly the security types that are meant to monitor your home, garage or underground lair. But by and large, the ones already out there are difficult to install, pricey and impossible to troubleshoot. Dropcam's aiming to make things far simpler with its barebones Echo, which is the outfit's second-ever product. Essentially, it's a wireless Dropcam (original) with audio support added in, and after you've got it mounted and streaming, you can sign up for a (partially paid) Dropcam.com service to access remote viewing via PC, iPhone, iPod touch or iPad (other devices are "coming soon"), and automatic alerts can be pushed to your iDevice whenever motion is detected. There's even the ability to review up to 30 days of footage on a timeline, and Dropcam makes it easy to generate video clips for permanent storage, too. It's on sale now for $279, representing an $80 premium over the video-only model.%Gallery-95542%
Logitech launches four HD webcams, we preview the 1080p C910
It seems like only yesterday webcams were struggling to shed their VGA roots; that megapixel cams were relying on interpolation tricks to falsely boost the pixel counts of their dinky sensors. No more. The age of the HD webcam is truly here, and Logitech has just announced a suite of the things, including the highest of the high: the 1080p HD Pro Webcam C910. It's fitting that the manufacturer behind the most iconic brand in webcams would jump straight to the top of the resolution charts, but do the extra pixels warrant the $99 price tag? Click on in to see the video proof and decide for yourself. %Gallery-94771%
PhotoFast makes iPad work with a Microsoft webcam, cats and dogs live together
We're still thinking there's an integrated camera coming for the iPad, but there's one company out there who must surely be hoping that's not the case. That company would be PhotoFast, flash storage gurus turned to iPad video chat enablers. The company's early prototype is simply a Microsoft LifeCam bodged into the dock port, but when it releases toward the end of the year will be a fully custom two megapixel webcam that manages VGA video and, supposedly, will be compatible with at least some IM apps. PhotoFast is also working on an iPad TV tuner and a dock that reads flash memory, which will also be made available for the iPhone/iPod whenever it is released. As for the cats and dogs thing, no firm date was given there, either.
iWebcamera lets you ditch your webcam for an iPhone
Drahtwerk's iWebcamera iPhone app was actually released late last week but it, ironically, only worked with a Windows-based PC. The company has now finally rectified that situation with some Mac drivers, however, which will at last let use your iPhone as a webcam for your Mac just like you've always wanted. We haven't yet had a chance to try it out ourselves, but you can grab the app yourself from the App Store right now for $4.99, and snag the Mac drivers from the company's website linked below. [Image credit: Brian]
ASUS Eee Pad official: Intel CULV processors, Windows 7, and a 10-hour battery life
Computex is really starting to ramp up now, as ASUS has taken the covers off its brand new Eee Pads. Of most interest will be the 12-inch EP121, which sports Intel's Core 2 Duo CULV processors, Windows 7, and a reputed 10-hour battery life. Sort of like a laptop sans the keyboard, you might say, which is probably why ASUS is also touting a "hybrid" dock/keyboard solution for those times when you want some more tactile feedback to your typing. The Eee Pad will also include an integrated webcam and at least one USB port. A 10-inch EP101TC is being announced today as well, though its specs are less detailed and it's set to run Windows Embedded Compact 7 -- you can see it after the break, along with the full PR. We'll be doing our best to bring you hands-on pics and video shortly. Update: ASUS has given us a $399 to $499 price range for the Eee Pads, but don't start salivating just yet. We were also told that the Eee Pad won't be out until the first quarter of 2011. Update 2: As promised, we've now got a preview of both devices, which you'll find right here.%Gallery-93952%
Frustrated by no universal video out for iPad? IPEVO P2V can help
One of the things that was a bit frustrating for me after purchasing the iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter was finding out that it doesn't work with every iPad app. It works great with apps that are written to take advantage of the adapter, but at the present time there are only a handful of apps that will pump video out to your projector or monitor. So what if you want to teach an iPad class and show your students everything that's going on your iPad? If you have a camcorder pointing at the screen, you can even demonstrate to people how you do certain things with the iPad. There's a less expensive and pretty cool little camera that seems like it was designed just for doing iPad demos. The IPEVO Point 2 View (P2V) USB camera is inexpensive (about US$70), has remarkably good resolution, and comes with a stand that is perfect for doing demos. Read along for a quick review of this sweet little tool for putting your iPad (or iPhone) on the big screen.
