This is the final hardware for Scanadu Scout: a real, functioning tricorder

It’s been a long time coming, but a real, functioning tricorder is almost here, and we got to see the final hardware for it today at CES. Scanadu Scout is its name, and in case you aren’t familiar, we’ve been tracking the little hand-held human health tracker since its inception in late 2012. Since that first glimpse of a prototype, the device has gotten a new design, been funded to the tune of more than $1 million on Indiegogo and the two devices you see above are the versions that’ll be shipping out to backers at the end of March. The devices themselves are tightly crafted, with uniform seams around the chrome bits, and while they feel solid, they are still quite lightweight.

Getting to this point hasn’t been easy, however, as Walter de Brouwer, Scanadu’s founder and CEO, tells us that the toroidal design he and his team dreamed up has proven exceedingly difficult to manufacture. Despite that fact, the tooling up has begun, and rest assured; the devices that make their way to the public will look like the ones we saw. And, should you like to live vicariously through us, you can see more of Scout in our gallery below, along with a few screenshots of the still-in-development companion app, too.

Filed under: Handhelds, Science

Comments

Live from the Engadget CES Stage: The Engadget Podcast

We’re kicking off this year’s Engadget CES podcast with a couple of old friends. Brian will be joined by Tim Stevens and Darren Murph to discuss the week to come.

Follow all the latest CES 2014 news at our event hub, and check out our full stage schedule here.

Comments

OLPC shows off its two new kid-friendly tablets (hands-on)

OLPC’s Giulia D’Amico swung by our CES stage a little while ago with the organization’s two new tablets in tow – so, naturally, we kindly asked her to stay behind a while, so we could spend a little quality time with the devices. The 7-inch XO-2 looks nearly identical to its predecessor, the company’s first-ever consumer-facing device. It’s still a bit chunky and the rear has that same plasticky dimpled design. There’s also that great Yves Béhar-designed silicone slipcase. The really significant changes are all inside the slate, including a quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of stage and built-in GPS and Bluetooth. The custom Android software will remain largely the same, as well (built this time on top of KitKat), though the company is added more content to its offering.

The 10.1-inch XO-10, meanwhile, shares most of the same internals as its little brother, but brings a truly sleek industrial design that puts the little one to shame. There’s a green metal back (the final color has yet to be determined, though we like the fact that it matches the company’s other offerings) and a much slimmer profile. Of course, the thinner design calls into question just how rugged the bigger model will ultimately be.

Filed under: Tablets

Comments

Making Engadget’s Best of CES trophies (video)

As we began putting together our awards proposal for the CEA, we knew we had to blow things out. It was important to make every aspect of the awards uniquely Engadget, with processes that embodied the forward-thinking technology that has come to define our coverage and the annual International CES event. The awards ceremony itself is naturally a big part of that process — as are the trophies we’ll bestow on each of the winners.

But how does one make a trophy with a technological bent? Flashing lights? WiFi? Animatronics? The answer was simple: 3D printing. The space virtually exploded at last year’s CES, with big reveals from a number of the technology’s top players, and it would no doubt only continue to be a major presence for many CESes to come (little did we know then that 2014 would see its own devoted 3D-printing area, due to the influx of companies presenting at the show).

The question of which 3D-printing company to approach with such a task, however, wasn’t readily apparent. New companies and technologies are springing up seemingly every day, with prices dropping, ease of use increasing at a rapid clip and the line between the consumer and industrial spaces beginning to blur. That line is still present, of course, and what we really needed was a company with a large consumer presence that also possesses the infrastructure and technology that come with pro-level devices.

It’s a balance that 3D Systems maintains nicely. The company helped usher in rapid prototyping nearly three decades ago. More recently, it has embraced the consumer space, through products like the Cube and CubeX that are firmly targeted at the ever-expanding world of desktop 3D printing. For its part, the company happily accepted, agreeing to assist in the creation of the trophies and offer up some on-site printing at CES. It was a solution that allowed us to be flexible in design and customization as well as being a lot speedier than more traditional trophy-manufacturing processes.

For the design itself, we turned to Engadget Editor Emeritus Ryan Block, who recently helmed our site redesign. “This one thing I kept coming back to was the idea of unboxing a product, and how it represents the moment where the waiting is finally over and it becomes a reality,” Block said. On the top is the Best of CES Awards seal and the familiar Engadget logo. Open the box and you’ll see an engraved quote from iconic computer science pioneer Alan Kay:

The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Invent it. — Alan Kay

To help make the vision a reality, we brought in Harry Hamill, a Colorado-based 3D modeler, who has been working in the Computer Aided Design world since the mid-’90s. “I work primarily in the jewelry industry specializing in sculptural organic pieces,” Hamill said. “I started working in 3D because I used to hand-carve all my work in metal under magnification and I reached the limit to the level of detail I was able to achieve.”

With the models designed, Block and Hamill took their work to 3D Systems. “We worked closely with [them] in the production process, going through multiple iterations of the design,” Block adds. “The visible material of the trophies is printed using a process called selective laser sintering, which allows us to use a unique aluminum-impregnated nylon composite material that has the slightly metallic appearance of an aluminum casting. The seal itself is printed in a smoother composite plastic, and hand-painted for maximum detail.”

The result is what you see above. The trophies will be printed on site here at CES, customized with the names of the winners. To paraphrase a quote I once saw on the inside of a box, “the best way to predict the future is to print it.”

Filed under: Meta

Comments