This case turns your iPhone into a night vision camera
Thermal cameras are expensive, which is why they’re mostly used by firefighters, contractors and psychotic aliens. Fortunately, that’s all about to change thanks to the FLIR One, which is an iPhone case with a tiny thermal camera stuck on the back. All you have to do is strap your iPhone 5 or 5s into the dock and, once you’ve downloaded the app, you’re ready to go. Using multi-spectral dynamic imaging, it can create hybrid images, adding extra detail to the thermal pictures, or plain-ol’ thermal pictures in the dark. When you point it at a subject, the FLIR will also give you a temperature reading of what you’re pointing the device at.
It took FLIR more than two years of research and development to create Lepton, the camera necessary to make this happen, which is smaller than a nickel. Despite its tiny size, it’s much cheaper than normal thermal lenses, which would normally set you back around $1,000. The company hopes that this will help DIYers to find the leaks in their home, outdoors types to avoid wild creatures and families to navigate dangerous areas like smoke-filled houses. It’ll be available in the spring for $350, with an Android version planned for later in the year.
Billy Steele contributed to this report.
Polar’s latest wearable wants to be more than just a sports watch
When we brought you the news concerning Polar’s V800 a few days ago, we were impressed that it would replace both a running watch and an activity tracker. But when we spoke to the company’s representatives here at CES, it seems that there’s a bigger target to aim for. Polar is currently working on an update to the V800 that would see the device produce notifications and alerts in a similar way to the current crop of smartwatches. The company is also working on an option to offer a store for customizable watch faces, and the ability to buy additional functionality as you require.
Having spent some time with the wearable, we’re still intrigued by its potential. In addition to the tracking and aforementioned features, the V800 will work out your ideal rest period from your exercise history and will even push your location to the cloud for others to track — for example, when you want people to follow your progress during a marathon. There’s a considerable heft to the hardware, standing as proud from your wrist as the Galaxy Gear, for instance. Fortunately, the stainless steel case feels tremendously solid, and we’d expect to say the same for the Gorilla Glass that covers the face. Either way, we’re looking forward to getting it onto our wrists for further examination, mostly because we’d like to try the blue-and-red edition and pretend that we’re Spider-Man.
Seattle kills Gigabit Squared’s fiber internet rollout before it even starts
We knew that Gigabit Squared’s fiber-to-the-home rollout was facing money troubles, but it’s now clear that those problems were just too much to bear. Seattle’s newly elected Mayor Ed Murray tells the Puget Sound Business Journal that his city’s agreement to launch public internet through Gigabit has fallen apart before it could even take on its first customers. The official isn’t ruling out a future deal, but he doesn’t have any alternative providers lined up. Meanwhile, hope springs eternal at Gigabit Squared — the company “look[s] forward” to speaking with Murray about future plans. Before it does, it may want to look into paying its bills.
Filed under: Networking, Internet
Source: Puget Sound Business Journal
Qualcomm to bet big on tablets and connected cars in 2014, says CEO-elect
At Qualcomm’s CES press event, CEO-elect Steve Mollenkopf took the stage to share his optimistic — and perhaps a slightly surprising — vision of 2014. The exec believes that as OSes are becoming more robust and feature-rich, phone makers like Nokia, Samsung, LG and Sony will make a second coming in the tablet market. This becomes an opportunity for Qualcomm and carriers to cash in, with the latter coming up with more innovative and creative ways to bring in more subscriptions, such as by selling the smartphone and the tablet as a pair. Mollenkopf also name-dropped the Amazon Kindle HDX and the Nexus 7 tablets, which are all powered by his company’s Snapdragon chips.
“Remember, we look at the market as a long game, so when we look at OSes and how they’re doing and how we’re progressing, we can be nothing but pleased with how we think that’s setting up long term,” Mollenkopf said.
Much like how smart wearables — including Qualcomm’s own Toq — are just becoming a trend, cars in general are also still in the phase of trying to get connected, said Qualcomm’s ex-COO. Despite its absence in the recently formed Open Automotive Alliance (which is joined by rival NVIDIA), the chip giant thinks it can bring its connectivity expertise to the automobile industry, which is what the recently announced Snapdragon 602a aims to achieve.
“The next phase is the car is going to not only get connected to the internet, but it’s going to be connected to other cars, and it’s going to be doing a lot more sensing on what’s going on in the environment, and making decisions as to what it’s going to do. In order to do that, it needs to embrace technologies that are very similar to what you have in high-end smartphones.”
Mollenkopf assured us that Qualcomm’s not done with smartphones yet, though. The exec’s still seeing rapid development in the emerging markets in terms of features, though he didn’t give an indication on when 64-bit mobile processing — as supported by the entry-level Snapdragon 410 — will become mainstream. Let’s not forget that there’s also full-on LTE deployment in China this year, which Mollenkopf said he’s keen to be a big part of.
Live from the Engadget CES Stage: OLPC VP Giulia D’Amico
Best known for its nonprofit wing, dedicated to bringing computing to developing nations and low-income communities, One Laptop Per Child made its first play in the consumer space with last year’s XO Tablet. We’ll be speaking with the company’s VP of business development, Giulia D’Amico about OLPC’s play in the consumer market at what it means for the organization.
Follow all the latest CES 2014 news at our event hub, and check out our full stage schedule here.
3D Systems shows off a $500 3D scanner that clips onto your iPad
As excited as we were to play around with the Sense 3D scanner, the first-generation consumer scanner had some shortcomings. Near the top of the list was the fact that it only worked with Windows. While the operating system has a plenty large install base, any semblance of portability with the thing required the user to own a Windows tablet — which, for obvious reasons, severely limited the device’s potential install base. Among a torrent of announcements at CES this year, 3D Systems has just unveiled a solution, right on our CES stage. It’s called the iSense. We’ll give you three guesses as to which mobile operating system it works with.
The iSense snaps directly onto an iPad, giving you the same sort of easy scanning functionality you get with its slightly older siblings. Want to see more? Us too. Tune into our interview with the company’s CEO happening right now. The iSense is set for a Q2 launch, priced at $499 — that’s a $100 premium over the Sense.
Filed under: Peripherals
ZTE crams a 1080p projector, a 4-inch display and an LTE hotspot in one Android-powered package (hands-on)
ZTE’s Projector Hotspot is exactly what its name suggests: a 1080p projector and an LTE hotspot bundled in one highly portable box. Strangely, it even has a 4-inch touchscreen display and Android 4.2 as its operating system, so you could potentially surf the web and send emails from it. The entire package is very compact, measuring only 4.72 x 4.72 x 1.12 inches and weighing in at about 400 grams. We held it for a few minutes at a ZTE meeting, and it does indeed feel quite lightweight, which will be good for business travelers who yearn to pack light. It also packs a 5,000mAh battery in case you want to project your presentations on the go. As far as the video quality goes, we thought it was decent enough from the demonstration we saw, though we’re not sure if we recommend using this for movie night (we’ll need more than a few minutes to judge that). The hotspot functionality accommodates up to eight WiFi-enabled devices. Other features include 802.11b/g/n, HDMI, a headset jack, Bluetooth and audio output. We asked a ZTE representative if you could make calls with it, and while he said there aren’t any phone capabilities, we imagine it might be possible to ring someone using Google Voice if you wanted to be completely ridiculous. The projector is set to be available sometime this year, though the price has yet to be determined.
Filed under: Peripherals
Source: ZTE
AMD’s impossibly thin nano PC prototype sits on your TV, but don’t call it a set-top box
Let’s take a moment to forget the technical nonsense. Seriously. Besides, we only really know the broad strokes about Mullins, AMD’s next-gen ultra-low voltage APU. Instead, let’s just gaze upon the tiny wonder that is the Nano PC for a bit and soak it all in. This reference design from the Sunnyvale company packs enough power to run Windows 8.1 pretty seamlessly and even get in a quick game of FIFA 14 at 1080p. Inside, in addition to a Mullins chip, is a 256GB SSD, a camera, Bluetooth, WiFI and a DockPort connector. And, it’s really not much larger or thicker than a Note 3 — it’s pretty much a marvel of engineering. It’s the last of those specs that’s pretty important, since it allows you to connect to a tiny breakout box with HDMI and USB ports. Obviously you’ll need one of those to connect it to a TV, which the Nano PC is designed to sit atop. Here’s hoping that a company or two picks up on the design and starts making absurdly thin machines of their own.
Here’s that $500 3D scanner for the iPad
That new consumer 3D scanner we told you about a little while ago? Here it is. Well, sort of. This iSense is actually a prototype, as you can probably tell from the 3D printed mold behind the camera. We asked CEO Avi Reichental if there was any possibility that the company might 3D print the casing at some point, to help future-proof the peripheral, and he certainly seemed open to the idea, though don’t expect that in the version of the product shipping in Q2. At a cursory glance, the camera and the sensor appear similar — if not exactly the same — as the ones found on the sense. Around this, you’ll find a brushed metal housing that helps the camera blend in a bit more with the iPad’s backing.
As for why this unit is $100 more than the Sense, we suspect it has something to do with the much smaller form factor, which helps make this a truly portable scanner, with a Lightning cable that plugs directly into the tablet. We couldn’t take a shot of the software, as that’s also still firmly in the beta stage, though you can expect it to be pretty similar to what you get with the Sense.
Must See HDTV for the week of January 7th: Justified, Helix and Alpha House
We’re running a bit late due to CES (tripped over a curved Ultra HD TV), but there’s still plenty to watch this week. The BCS National Championship dominated last night, but tonight we’re focused on the season premiere of one of our favorite TV shows, Justified on FX. If the Elmore Leonard-inspired story of a US Marshal doesn’t tickle your fancy, try the premiere of a new show from Battlestar Galactica’s Ron Moore called Helix. It airs Friday night, the same day you’ll be able to pick up Wii Fit U and get started on those New Year’s resolutions and when Amazon’s original series Alpha house posts its season finale episode. On Blu-ray, this week’s highlights include Riddick, Fruitvale Station and Carrie. Check after the break for our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and gaming.
Blu-ray & Games
- Riddick
- The Butler
- Carrie
- You’re Next
- Thief
- Enough Said
- The Spectacular Now
- Fruitvale Station
- In the Heat of the Night
- Don’t Starve (PS4)
- Wii Fit U (January 10th), Wii U
Tuesday
- Dads (winter premiere), Fox, 9PM
- Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (winter premiere), ABC, 8PM
- NCIS (winter premiere), CBS, 8PM
- Pretty Little Liars (winter premiere), ABC Family, 8PM
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine (winter premiere), Fox, 8:30PM
- Intelligence (series premiere), CBS, 9PM
- Boston’s Finest (season finale), TNT, 9PM
- New Girl (winter premiere), Fox, 9PM
- Ravenswood (winter premiere), ABC Family, 9PM
- The Goldbergs (winter premiere), ABC, 9PM
- The Mindy Project (winter premiere), Fox, 9:30PM
- Trophy Wife (winter premiere), ABC, 9:30PM
- Justified (season premiere), FX, 10PM
- Cougar Town (season premiere), TBS, 10PM
- Chicago Fire (winter premiere), NBC, 10PM
- Marshal Law (season finale), TNT, 10PM
- Person of Interest (winter premiere), CBS, 10PM
Wednesday
- The Middle (winter premiere), ABC, 8PM
- Revolution (winter premiere), NBC, 8PM
- Super Fun Night (winter premiere), ABC, 8:30 & 9:30PM
- Psych (season premiere), USA, 9PM
- The 40th Annual People’s Choice Awards, CBS, 9PM
- Law & Order: SVU (winter premiere), NBC, 9PM
- Modern Family (winter premiere), ABC, 9PM
- Inside the NFL, Showtime, 9PM
- The Real World (season premiere), MTV, 10PM
- Chicago PD (series premiere), NBC, 10PM
- American Horror Story, FX, 10PM
- 60 Minutes Sports, Showtime, 10PM
- NFL Turning Point, NBC Sports Network, 11PM
Thursday
- Heat/Knicks, TNT, 8PM
- Community, NBC, 8PM
- The Taste, ABC, 8PM
- The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8PM
- Parks & Recreation, NBC, 8:0PM
- The Millers, CBS, 8:30PM
- Sean Saves the World, NBC, 9PM
- The Crazy Ones, CBS, 9PM
- The Michael J Fox Show, NBC, 9:30PM
- Two and a Half Men, CBS, 9:30PM
- Parenthood, NBC, 10PM
- Ground Floor, TBS, 10PM
- Elementary, CBS, 10PM
- The Assets, ABC, 10PM
- Thunder/Nuggets, TNT, 10:30PM
Friday
- Betas, Amazon Prime Instant Video
- Alpha House (season finale), Amazon Prime Instant Video
- Bones (winter premiere), Fox, 8PM
- Last Man Standing (winter premiere), ABC, 8PM
- The Carrie Diaries, CW, 8PM
- The Neighbors (winter premiere), ABC, 8:30PM
- Hawaii Five-o (winter premiere), CBS, 9PM
- Raising Hope (winter premiere), Fox, 9PM
- Shark Tank (winter premiere), ABC, 9PM
- WWE SmackDown, Syfy, 8PM
- Grimm, NBC, 9PM
- Enlisted (series premiere), Fox, 9:30PM
- Banshee (season premiere), Cinemax, 10PM
- Dracula, NBC, 10PM
- Helix (series premiere), Syfy, 10PM
Saturday
- Atlantis, BBC America, 9PM
- Lucas Bros. Moving Company, Fox, 11PM
- Golan the Insatiable, Fox, 11:15PM
Sunday
- 60 Minutes, CBS, 7PM
- The Simpsons, Fox, 8PM
- Bob’s Burgers, Fox, 8:30PM
- Shameless (season premiere), Showtime, 9PM
- True Detective (series premiere), HBO, 9PM
- Family Guy, Fox, 9PM
- Downton Abbey, PBS, 9PM
- The Good Wife, CBS, 9PM
- Revenge, ABC, 9PM
- American Dad, Fox, 9:30PM
- Girls (season premiere), HBO, 10PM
- The Mentalist, CBS, 10PM
- Betrayal, ABC, 10PM
- House of Lies (season premiere), Showtime, 10PM
- Episodes (season premiere), Showtime, 10:30PM
Filed under: HD
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