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!

Filed under: Robots

Comments

Source: Cognitive Spring

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/21/insert-coin-cspring/

Brian Heater Engadget johalputt

05:04

Along with a lot of publicity, Project Glass from Google has generated a bevy of approved patents and applications, but the latest one shows that the search giant's trying to wrap up the whole kit and kaboodle -- replete with detailed diagrams and descriptions to back it up. Specifically, Mountain View is claiming the design of the frame itself including the bridge, brow portion, transparent display, input device plus the means for affixing everything. There are detailed descriptions of how the device can be configured -- for instance, one claim states that the screen could be adjusted "normal to the focal center of the eye," and the position of the electronics placed "over a first side of the ear." It goes on to explain the need for a balancing weight "over the second side" of the same ear in the latter case, such that "a majority of the overall weight is applied" to one side, which certainly jibes with some of what we've seen. Head after the break to see more illustrations and details.

Filed under: Wearables, Google

Comments

Source: USPTO

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/21/google-glass-patent-application-diagramsi/

Engadget johalputt Steve Dent

05:04

If you've been wondering what all the Google this, Glass that fuss is all about, Mountain View's revealed what it'll be like to actually port a pair of its upcoming virtual specs with a new video, now that it's announced limited availability of the wearable computer. In it, we get to see how the search giant's integrated all its apps and functions in the upcoming device, how you're likely to use it, and what the results might be. Users say "ok, glass" to activate the device, then it's off to the races.

From there, we see a hot air balloonist and ballet dancer initiate video recording and send an email or text with a voice command, which are likely to be jobs one and two for most users. Then, a (hopefully not distracted) stunt plane flyer joins a Google hangout mid-flight and sends real-time video to other members of the group, showing the Google+ and social interaction aspects of Project Glass. Image search is shown off by an ice sculptor, who selects various perspectives of a tiger for some inspiration.

The lost and confused are shown navigating their way through New York streets, the Golden Gate bridge, an airport and a ski hill to highlight Google's latest Maps and Now goodies, while a tourist all-too-happy with his Thai meal learns the word for delicious in that language using Google Translate. Finally, there's oodles of first person video from a fencer, horse jumper, trapeze artist, ping pong player and fire juggler, to name a few. All that gives us a sneak preview of the many, many YouTube videos likely to come from the device when it arrives -- though we'd hate to drop, burn or stab it by accident, given the cost. You'll find the video right after the break.

Filed under: Wearables, Google

Comments

Source: Google (YouTube)

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/20/google-glass-how-it-feels-video/

Engadget johalputt Steve Dent

05:20

Is it possible to remember all of one's passwords without the aid of a biometric Bluetooth flash drive? Possible, sure, but it's certainly getting harder and harder as the number of services we depend on continues to increase exponentially. Arkami has been floating its solution around for a bit, showing off its progress at CES and the like, and now the company is ready to get the public involved (or, the public's money, rather) by way of a newly opened Kickstarter campaign for myIDkey. The thumb drive stores passwords across various services, letting you take 'em on the run. There's a fingerprint scanner on-board, which unlocks the device, and a microphone, which lets you search for specific ones by voice. Plug the drive into your PC and it will autofill your passwords as needed, and if you're unlucky enough to lose it, you can instantly deactivate its contents.

Peep the source link below to check out -- and, perhaps, support -- the company's $150,000 campaign.

Filed under: Peripherals, Internet

Comments

Source: Kickstarter

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/20/myidkey-kickstarter/

Brian Heater Engadget johalputt

05:04

Though patents often never amount to anything, we sincerely hope this wacky one from Samsung does. It's an approved idea for a portable music player that also contains keys and motion detectors to let it function as a "musical instrument," too. While listening to that epic jam, you could play along by pressing keys on the side of the device as if you were fingering a guitar's fretboard. You'd be able to change position on the "guitar neck" by moving the player back and forth, and a motion detector on the side would sense the fingers on your other hand as you strum chords or pluck out a solo. Your GarageBand-style noodling, along with the original music would all blare through a speaker and amp combo on the device, to the amusement / horror of your friends. That's assuming Samsung ever builds one, of course -- but if not, our John Q. Engadget will be the first name on a petition to get it to market.

Filed under: Misc, Handhelds, Samsung

Comments

Source: USPTO

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/20/samsung-music-player-patent-own-riffs/

Engadget johalputt Steve Dent

04:49

Marvell made waves last year with its 802.11ac wireless chips, but the company's looking to make a splash in 2013 with a new quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 SoC. Called the PXA1088, the new silicon's calling card -- other than those four CPU cores -- is its ability to beam 3G data to mobile devices anywhere in the world thanks to auto-roaming and compatibility with 21Mbps HSPA+, TD-HSPA+, EDGE, and WCDMA networks. In addition to those cellular radios, it also has an Avastar 88W8777 chip that brings WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and FM radio, plus it has a GPS and GLONASS location processor on board.

Worldwide connectivity isn't the PXA1088's only trick, either. It's got some serious video chops thanks to a hardware 1080p encoder and decoder, and a GPU from Vivante compliant with OpenGL ES 2.0 and 1.1 as well as OpenVG 1.1. Can't wait to get your grubby mitts on a phone packing Marvell's latest? The company tells us that several well-known OEMs will be rolling out devices with the PXA1088 in the first half of the year. Of course, we're hoping to see a few of them ourselves next week at Mobile World Congress, so stay tuned.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

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via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/19/marvell-pxa1088-quad-core-cortec-a7-soc/

Engadget johalputt Michael Gorman

05:19

It may be obvious now, but when Heliocentrism was cooked up by Nicolaus Copernicus, he was branded a heretic. The idea that the Earth orbited the Sun, conceived without the aid of any equipment, would only be proved half a century later, when Galileo built a telescope and pointed it heavenward. Fortunately, ol' Nick's contribution hasn't been forgotten, and so today's Google Doodle shows the planets all gently orbiting our nearest star.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/19/copernicus-google-doodle/

Daniel Cooper Engadget johalputt

04:49

The odds of rising from NBA stat junkie / forum poster to Houston Rockets GM like Daryl Morey did are slim, but thanks to the new NBA.com/Stats page fans have access to more data than ever before. Until now, only league and team personnel have had access to the NBA's complete official stats -- media got access last spring -- with box scores that go as far back as its start in 1946-47, individual stats for anyone who has ever played in the league plus advanced statistical breakdowns and rankings of best lineup combinations. Fan sites like Basketball Reference have filled in the gaps in the past, but this should bring a new level of accuracy and analysis to bear.

Access to these stats means we can evaluate games at a much deeper level to know precisely why the Lakers are so bad this season, or which combinations of players are giving the Knicks their best advantage. SAP announced the project back in July as a part of its marketing deal with the league, as it gets to show off its database chops building a system that can handle such a large number of requests on so much info. Hopefully other leagues follow suit and encourage this level for interaction with fans, although we suspect it would take more than a few Moneyball-esque calculations to fix squads like the Bobcats. Hit the source link below to satisfy a jones for numerics or find the perfect angle for your LeBron vs. Kobe argument, although last night's All-Star Game may have given all the ammo necessary.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Alt

Comments

Source: NBA.com/Stats, NBA Hang Time Blog

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/18/nba-statistics-database/

Engadget johalputt Richard Lawler

05:04

Google Takeout's export functions have slowly extended their reach from profiles and personal contacts to heftier material, such as all our videos. However much we've been using that data portability, Google is eliminating what few gaps are left in its coverage: the company's Data Liberation Front has expanded Takeout to preserve both Blogger content as well as Google+ Pages. Web denizens can cherry-pick just the blogs or Pages they want if a whole-enchilada backup is too much. Regardless of how large a safety net we need, the new options are ready and waiting at the source links.

Filed under: Internet, Google

Comments

Via: Android Central

Source: Data Liberation Front, Google Takeout

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/17/google-takeout-now-liberating-blogger-and-google-pages/

Engadget johalputt Jon Fingas

05:04

It's no secret that copies of Office 2013 bind themselves to a single computer, but Microsoft has now confirmed to Computerworld that the software's license can't be reassigned to another PC, as is possible with Office 2010. When asked whether a license could be transferred to another machine if the original rig was destroyed, lost or stolen, Microsoft replied with a frosty, "No comment." However, Redmond did mention that the productivity suite could be reinstalled on the same PC after a crash. Just how Ballmer and Co. will enforce the policy remains a bit murky, but it's pretty clear they hope folks who have a penchant for switching up computing environments will be enticed by an Office 365 subscription.

Filed under: Microsoft

Comments

Source: Computerworld

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/16/microsoft-confirms-office-2013-licenses-cant-be-transferred/

Alexis Santos Engadget johalputt

05:34

After a German privacy watchdog ordered Facebook to allow the use of fake usernames "immediately," an appeals court has said nein. While the protection body in the tiny state of Schleswig-Holstein argued that Facebook's ban on faux names breached the nation's privacy laws, an administrative court in the region said that those laws don't apply to the company, since its European HQ is located in less-stringent Ireland. Facebook argued that requiring the use of real names protects its users, but regulators in the region said it will appeal the decision all the same -- thus prolonging the social network's long-running German headache.

Filed under: Internet, Facebook

Comments

Via: Techmeme

Source: Associated Press

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/15/facebook-bests-german-watchdog-in-real-names-court-tiff/

Engadget johalputt Steve Dent

04:49

Knighthood, schmighthood. Apple's British design head has just picked up a golden Blue Peter badge. The show, which has been running on UK TV for over 50 years, even had their gift reciprocated, with Sir Jonathan Ive offering up a solid aluminum Blue Peter badge (above) that took over 10 hours to craft. Ive can count himself in good company, joining other luminaries like JK Rowling and David Beckham. The segment will air during a gadget special tomorrow, but you can watch the exchange between kids TV and Apple design right after the break.

Filed under: Misc, Apple

Comments

Via: TNW

Source: BBC

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/15/jony-ive-blue-peter-badge/

Engadget johalputt Mat Smith

04:49

Those in the US suffering from blindness due to retinis pigmentosa (RP) will now be able to regain some vision bionically for the first time ever, thanks to Second Sight's Argus II retinal prosthesis. The device was just approved by the FDA for sale stateside after surmounting the same hurdle in Europe almost two years ago -- though it was first launched long, long before that. RP is a rare genetic disease that inflicts 100,000 or so Americans, destroying photoreceptors in the eye while leaving other cells intact. By implanting a device on the cornea that receives a signal from the eyeglass-mounted camera, those cells can be stimulated as if receiving light, causing them to transmit an image to the brain. Due to the limited number of electrodes, patients would only be able to discern light or dark, but most have reported better functionality with the device -- being able to make out the shape of a curb while walking, or discerning between light, grey or dark colored socks, for instance. The Argus II has been certified by the FDA for "humanitarian use," meaning there's "reasonable assurance" that it's safe, and should start popping up in specialized clinics by the end of the year.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]

Filed under: Wearables, Science

Comments

Via: CNET

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/15/fda-clears-argus-ii-bionic-eye-for-sale-in-the-us-video/

Engadget johalputt Steve Dent

04:34

It seems that every time Apple introduces a new version of iOS, it creates some new method to get past the software's lock screen. A YouTube tutorial reveals the rather simple combination of button presses and fake emergency calls necessary to give you access to anyone's iDevice. You'll have to be quick-fingered, however, as you have to push the home button rapidly after getting into the iPhone's contact list. You can learn how to do it after the break, but until Cupertino issues an update, we'd suggest keeping your beloved fondlephone close by.

Filed under: Apple

Comments

Via: Gizmodo, S1riOS6 (Spanish)

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/14/ios-lock-screen-hack/

Daniel Cooper Engadget johalputt

05:04

If you've ever found yourself stuck in the only corner of a hotel room where the WiFi actually works, then Satechi may be able to get you back to the desk. Its Multifunction Mini-Router not only gives you a private WiFi access point from a hotel's wired internet, but functions as a repeater that can distribute a weak wireless signal elsewhere in the room, too. It also works as a standard home router, of course, and even has a bridge mode which lets you take an existing WiFi network and re-transmit it with a different name (and security), useful for combo networks like those in a cafe, for instance. Finally, the client mode lets you plug the Satechi box into a wired device like a Smart TV or set top box to give it WiFi capability -- letting you dodge the hefty freight of proprietary WiFi dongles often not included with such devices. That's a lot of functionality, but if we had you at "WiFi repeater," check the PR and video after the break.

Filed under: Peripherals, Internet

Comments

Source: Satechi

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/14/satechi-releases-mini-router-repeater/

Engadget johalputt Steve Dent

04:49

Last September, Wahoo Fitness' RFLKT iPhone bike computer appeared on our radar poised for a December release, but it's only just gone up for sale. As of today, the iPhone 4S- and 5-compatible device is available for $130 from Wahoo's website and is shipping out to door steps. If you're in need of a refresher, the RFLKT (pronounced reflect, if you're curious) sits on a bicycle's handlebars and displays ride information slung to it over Bluetooth 4.0 from cycling apps running on a paired device. RFLKT is expected to support a number of apps in the future, but it currently plays nice with just two: its maker's own Cyclemeter application and the Wahoo Fitness App, which monitors everything from speed to heart rate, with the help of another peripheral, of course. Cyclists can also push buttons on the contraption's side to change tracks on their iDevice's playlist. Ready to infuse your ride with at-a-glance stats? Hit the bordering source link to snap up the kit or skip past the jump to catch a video of it in action.

Filed under: Transportation

Comments

Source: Wahoo Fitness

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/13/wahoo-fitness-rflkt-bike-computer-now-available/

Alexis Santos Engadget johalputt

05:04

You know the drill (or is that screwdriver?) by now. New gadget lands at the iFixit labs, and the good folk there give it a teardown. Microsoft's Surface Pro is this week's lucky slab of silicon to hit the bench. The good news is that a removable battery and SSD will make swapping those out a charm. That's pretty much it for the good news though. The less good news is the sheer number of screws you're going to have to contend with (over 90 by iFixit's count). The bad news is that screen is a real fiddle to remove, and there are globs of adhesive to navigate (holding that battery and screen in place for example). The worst part? By our tool-weilding friend's reckoning, you'll be lucky not to sever a major cable artery just by opening the thing. All this gives the Surface Pro a repairability rating of just one (ten being the best). Best treat yours with the love and care it deserves then.

[Thanks, Chris]

Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft

Comments

Source: iFixit

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/13/ifixit-tears-down-the-microsoft-surface-pro/

Engadget James Trew johalputt

04:49

Users of the Plex media server and its suite of client apps can expect an all-new app for Android soon, rebuilt two years after its debut for a vastly improved UI and feature set. While musing about the progress of Android as a platform for users and developers alike -- a good read if you'd like a peek behind the curtain to find out more about multiplatform coding life -- a Plex blog post details everything that's added in the new version, and one major thing taken away: compatibility with any Android OS before 3.2 (retained to keep working with Google TV.) According to the devs, almost 90 percent of users are on at least Ice Cream Sandwich, and focusing on newer platforms means support for newer features like Cloud Messaging, lock screen music player controls and global search integration.

As revealed in a preview video (embedded after the break) the new "Kepler" build also lets it act as a media server, so any media stored on your Android device can be played back on other Plex clients. The company says it set out to make the "most beautiful Android app, period" -- PlexPass subscribers can get a taste of the beta when it launches in Google Play later this week, all others will need to wait until after the test period.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Mobile

Comments

Source: Plex

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/12/plex-android-kepler-beta/

Engadget johalputt Richard Lawler

04:35

Hacking Kinect might get you access to an audible air guitar, but Stephane Berscot can do you one better -- tweaking the pitch of a tangible axe via Leap Motion's virtual work space. Berscot configured a Leap tweak his guitar's pitch based on the instrument's position over the device. That's not all, either, the makeshift MIDI controller also functions as a keyboard equalizer and a set of functional air drums. Combining all three tricks together scored Berscot a pretty mean demo track, but it's apparently a lot harder than it looks. "It wasn't easy to play drums with it," he said, explaining how he had to detect beats based tracking the upward and downward velocity of the drumstick. "My method is pretty basic and still needs some work." Even so, the demo definitely shows the device's potential. Skip on past the break to see Berscot kick out the jams.

Filed under: Misc

Comments

Via: Make

Source: Gratoo (YouTube)

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/10/leap-motion-air-drums/

Engadget johalputt Sean Buckley

04:34

After missing initial shipping plans with some undisclosed delays, and despite seeing its welcome party in NYC abolished by a storm dubbed Nemo, Microsoft's finally started the process to make that long-awaited Surface Pro available to the masses. Starting with US and Canada residents, those seeking Redmond's in-house hardware and a full serving of Windows 8 can now snag a Surface Pro starting at $899 for the 64GB model, while the more spacious 128GB unit is slightly costlier at $999. And while these prices do include Microsoft's pressure-sensitive pen, they don't account for any other fancy accessories, which means potential buyers will have to shell out a little extra cash if a Touch or Type Cover are of interest -- more specifically, $120 and $130, respectively. We'll see how Ballmer and Co. cope with demand this time around, but as history would kindly note, it's probably best to be one of the first in line just to be extra, extra safe.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Microsoft

Comments

Source: Microsoft, Microsoft Store

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/09/psa-microsoft-surface-pro-available-in-us-canada/

Edgar Alvarez Engadget johalputt

05:19