We can’t say we make a habit of checking out Fommy.com or Mobile City Online’s digital shelves when searching for our mobile gear, but these obscure retailers look to be the first to come out with pricing for the Atrix 4G’s HD Multimedia Dock. Fommy lists it as a straight up $59.95 charge, whereas its direct competitor is already discounting the cradle down to $49.99. Both are offering pre-orders only at this point, with no known dates of arrival, but at least we’ve got a ballpark figure to play with.
With a fantastic Bluetooth headset on the market and a pumpin’ portable speaker to blast out jams, how could Jawbone improve their product lineup? Well, we still think a stereo headset might be swell… but that’s not what the company delivered today. No, this is the Jawbone Era, the world’s first Bluetooth earpiece with a built-in accelerometer for motion-sensing apps, and plenty more improvements where that came from. There’s a new version of the company’s NoiseAssassin noise-canceling algorithms that adjusts inbound volume and equalization to let you hear better, an extra-large 10mm cone speaker with a larger range of frequencies, two processors, more memory, and an hour of extra battery life compared to the Jawbone Icon, to be specific. With only two motions currently recognized — a double-tap to begin / end / switch calls and a rapid shake to pair — the accelerometer’s a bit of a gimmick for now, but Jawbone suggests more gestures are probably on the way. In the meanwhile, the other advancements might make the Era worth the price of entry — which is $130, by the by.
We’ve spent about five hours with the headset already, listening to music and taking calls, and while the accelerometer seems almost wasted at present, there’s no discounting that new 10mm driver and the audio it can pump out. While no substitute for a set of quality dedicated earbuds, it sounded worlds better than the Jawbone Icon’s tiny, tinny drum, and playing Pandora tracks we no longer felt an overpowering desire to take it out of our ear — making a cyborg existence all the more bearable, we suppose. We’ll bring you a full review soon, but if you’re already sold, you’ll find four different Era designs on sale at Jawbone’s online store… oh, right about now. PR after the break.
The market for accessories for the iPhone and iPod is huge, but those devices that plug into the sync port on the Apple gear are expensive to make mostly thanks to the high cost of getting certified and the cost of the hardware needed from Apple. Some engineering students at the University of Michigan have found a way that power can be grabbed from the headphone port to power small sensors.
The system is called Project HiJack and it’s a hardware/software platform that allows communication between a low power and small peripherals and the iPhone or other Apple iOS device. The system uses a 22kHz signal that can be converted into power to the tune of 7.4mW with 47% efficiency.
That is enough juice to run a TI MSP430 microcontroller and any attached electronics. The device can communicate with an iOS app. HiJack is cheap too; the components needed are only $2.34 in large enough quantities. This is pretty cool and perhaps we will see new gear take this approach. There are already gadgets on the market that use the headphone port for power.
This Louis Vuitton cellphone belt buckle comes to us by way of China and brings together two things that should never be combined: fake designer belts and wireless communication. First off, we’ve all heard the warnings about a cellphone’s proximity to our baby-makers; second, we’re pretty sure that taking your belt off every time you get a call will not only lead to frustration, but some pretty weird looks on the subway; and finally, it’s a fake. Look, it’s not like we’re anti-excess here, but it seems to us like a solid gold cellphone is a far more practical investment. This rather ridiculous contraption apparently comes complete with Bluetooth earpiece and built-in camera, and supports dual card standby and TF card expansion. You know how we feel about it, but if you must, there’s a video after the jump.
While it may look similar, the Touch Mouse isn’t the same thing as the previously released Arc Touch Mouse from Microsoft. This time around, the Touch Mouse is meant to look more like a traditional mouse peripheral, but the distinction between a “normal” mouse and this one is pretty clear right off the top: there’s a “matrix of capacitive touch-sensing electrodes” right on the top, allowing for several different multitouch gestures.
For those who drop the money down to get the more traditionally-shaped Touch Mouse, they’ll be able to use gestures like pinch-to-zoom, flick, as well as have the ability to pan, right from the top of the mouse. It’s all the result of the Mouse 2.0 project.
Other features of the Touch Mouse include Microsoft’s BlueTrack technology, which means you won’t have to keep your mouse on the mousepad, but you’ll actually be able to use it on wood, or even carpet without hassle. It’s a 2.4GHz mouse, and there’s a small USB dongle that will be included in the package when it ships to retailers in June of this year. It should have a price tag marked around $79. More information in the release below.
Press Release
Microsoft Touch Mouse is the new multitouch mouse for Windows 7 that will let you click, flick, scroll and swipe so it’s easy and fun to interact with your PC.
Designed to enhance your Windows 7 usage, the Touch Mouse combines the virtues of a mouse with the rich natural language of gesture to offer a more intuitive way to navigate your PC. Touch Mouse also features BlueTrack Technology so you can track virtually anywhere, anytime.1
Behind the Scenes
Did You Know?
The Touch Mouse evolved from the Mouse 2.0 project, a Microsoft Corp. study that combined the standard capabilities of a mouse with multitouch sensing and resulted in five prototypes. Although all the Mouse 2.0 prototypes explored different touch- sensing strategies and form factors, the “Cap Mouse” was ultimately selected to become the Touch Mouse.
Multitouch Technology
The top of the Touch Mouse is composed of a matrix of capacitive touch-sensing electrodes to track the position of the user’s fingertips along its surface.
Meet Benko
Hrvoje Benko, one of the researchers behind the Touch Mouse, worked to create the technology and gestures for this new mouse. He is available for interviews if you are interested in learning more about the development of Touch Mouse.
Top Features and Benefits
- New! Multitouch surface lets you use natural gestures to snap, navigate and control content with a touch of a finger.
- New! Flick scrolling functionality lets you quickly scroll and pan through windows and documents.
- New! Improved task switching on Windows 7 gives you superior mouse performance and experience on the PC.
- BlueTrack Technology allows you to ditch your mouse pad and mouse on virtually any surface,1 including granite, marble, carpet and wood.
- Snap-in Nano transceiver gives you the option to leave the transceiver plugged into the computer or conveniently store it in the bottom of the mouse.
- 2.4GHz wireless technology gives you a confident wireless connection.
- Ambidextrous design for use with either hand.
Touch Mouse Gestures – Easy as 1, 2, 3
Touch Mouse lets you do everything you’re used to doing with a mouse, such as point and click, but also adds gestures with one, two or three fingers to amplify the Windows 7 operating system by creating simple shortcuts to the tasks you want to do most.
Shorter Shortcuts for Windows 7
With the Touch Mouse, you can use your mouse to do tasks that normally involve the keyboard.
Availability and Pricing
Touch Mouse will be available in June 2011 for the estimated retail price of $79.95 (U.S.).2 It will be available for presale starting today at Amazon.com and the Microsoft Store online.
Touch Mouse is backed by a worldwide three-year limited hardware warranty. The limited warranty and license agreement are available at http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/warranty.
Some information in this fact sheet relates to pre-release products, which may be substantially modified before they are commercially released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.
1 BlueTrack Technology does not work on clear glass or mirrored surfaces.
2 Estimated retail price. Actual retail price may vary.
LAS VEGAS, USA (AVING Special Report on ‘CES 2011′) — Mavizon Technologies unveiled the ‘Mavia’, a user-friendly way to integrate your car with your mobile lifestyle at 2011 CES Unveiled.
Mavia is the connected car solution that takes a fresh approach to vehicle safety, location services, and maintenance by putting the user in control. The device is extremely easy to install, compatible with almost any cell phone or computer, and works with most cars 1996 or newer. Mavia makes car technology accessible to everyone, allowing users to take advantage of features once only available in new cars or professionally installed systems.
Mavia offers many security features, but doesn’t require you to buy a new car to get them. For example, if you are in…
Trust us — no one on the Engadget staff wants to know what their blood pressure is right about now. For those trapped in the hurricane that is CES, there’s probably no better product to have laying around than this… but only if you’re looking to confirm your suspicions about being in a high-stress career. Withings, the company best known for its connected scales, has just revealed the planet’s first iPhone-connected blood pressure monitor, with an aim to make measuring vitals as easy as pie for iOS users. The idea is fairly simple: just plug the arm band into your iPad, iPod touch or iPhone, dial up the gratis app and start the process. All of the data is logged on the user’s secure online space, and there’s even a secure sharing feature that’ll beam your abnormally high rates right to your frightened physician. It’ll go on sale tomorrow around the globe, with the asking price set at $129 / €129.
Finding equipment for scientist’s to use in their daily tests, studies, and anything else can be a hassle, simply due to cost. But thankfully, consumer electronics have seemingly caught up with much of the equipment that scientists use. The only difference is that the devices consumers use are particularly cheaper. That’s one of the main reasons that some scientists have begun using Nintendo’s Wiimote, the controller for Nintendo’s Wii home videogame console, to measure water evaporation.
According to the process outlined in the Water Resources Research, the Wiimote is simply just a cheaper method to get the same results. Scientists have been forced to spend hundreds of dollars on pressure transducers in the past, but with the Wiimote, they don’t have that problem. The paper outlines that the Wiimote is able to track the four brightest points in a near infrared image, which allows it to track four IR reflectors that rest in a water pan.
The scientists recreated waves with the use of a generator, and made water levels change with a pump. The result, is that even with substantial waves, they were able to track the changes in water level down to a single millimeter. Additionally, the scientists may use the Wiimote’s accelerometer to measure the overall motion of the pan, which would help them even more in accuracy. These measurements, and their accuracy, can help scientists forecast weather conditions, as well as floods.
Ah, so you’ve just been given a Windows Phone 7 handset. If that’s what you’d been begging for all this time, then many congratulations; but if not, don’t hit eBay just yet — sure, WP7′s range of apps is comparatively limited with its recent 5,000 milestone, but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? Even at its infancy, WP7 has proven to be a nice alternative choice if you want to stand out from the rest of the smartphone crowd, and don’t forget its two powerful weapons: Zune and Xbox Live integration. Until WP7 gets its major upgrade early next year, our holiday guide should keep you and your new phone going for a little longer. Go ahead and read on.
LAS VEGAS, USA (AVING Special Report on ‘CES 2011′) — Phoenix Gold (www.phoenixgold.com) has long been seen as a trailblazer in the field of car audio, offering amplifiers, subwoofers and speakers that push the limits of engineering, technology and contemporary style. At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this January, the company will take that legendary reputation one giant step further with the introduction of its Innovations Award winning i-Series “OEM integration” amplifier/subwoofer kit. Designed in conjunction with the Pacific Accessory Corporation (PAC), the Phoenix Gold i-Series amplifier represents a synergy of state of the art engineering and applied technology philosophy.
Installing an amplifier into today’s technologically co…
