Toyota’s next minivan will let you shout at your kids without turning around

In an early episode of The Simpsons, Homer is asked to design his dream car. The result is a monstrosity, with a separate soundproof dome for his kids to sit where they can be restrained and muzzled. Two decades later, and Toyota’s latest vehicle will now let you scream at your kids without ever needing to turn around. The 2015 Sienna minivan uses the car’s built-in microphone to amplify your speech through the rear speakers — solving the very real problem of parents not paying attention to the road when the little ones are getting unruly. There’s no word on if this feature will come across to other vehicles in the range, but it might go well with the kiddie-customizable Camatte that we saw a month back.

Filed under: Transportation

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Via: Digital Trends

Source: Toyota

Verizon FiOS gets a speed boost: now uploads go as fast as downloads

Before Google Fiber, Verizon FiOS was the speedy internet service everyone wanted in their neighborhood. The arrival of 1Gbps connections, a slowed rollout, and an ongoing battle with Netflix that’s slowing streams to a crawl has slightly dulled the cachet, but it’s still one of the fastest providers out there. Now it’s getting even faster, but Verizon isn’t boosting download speeds again — those will stay the same as customers get matching upload speeds on every plan. On the fastest tier (previously 500Mbps down / 100Mbps up), speeds will increase by 5x to 500Mbps, and most customers will see their speeds double. New customers can get the symmetrical speeds right away, and they’ll roll out to existing customers throughout the fall. To go immediately to the front of that list FiOS subscribers can sign up for the MyRewards+ customer loyalty program, which is free, and pretty much just requires inputting your birthdate.

[Image credit: Mark Von Holden/AP Images for Verizon]

Verizon’s Chief Marketing Officer Mike Ritter tells Engadget that the change is in response to more video devices, cloud uploading in the home, and even the oft-referenced Internet of Things. The faster uploads should reach almost everyone, but about 5 percent of customers will know the truth might not be able to get them for technical reasons. We also asked about Verizon’s deal with Netflix and when the faster performance should kick in, but just heard the same, that it’s working to create peering arrangements in the network.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Verizon

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Source: Verizon

Hasbro’s new site lets you sell 3D-printed fan art

Hasbro recently opened up its toy universe by letting you sell fan fiction; now, it’s giving you a chance to make some officially-sanctioned toys of your own. The company has just teamed up with Shapeways to launch SuperFanArt, a site that lets you both buy and sell 3D-printed designs based on Hasbro’s brands. You’re currently limited to producing art based on My Little Pony, but other imaginary worlds will be allowed in the “coming months.” You know, just in case you’re not quite so fond of Pinkie Pie’s crew. No, SuperFanArt’s catalog won’t be as good as picking up an actual doll or action figure. However, it might do the trick if you’re looking for a simple desk ornament — or if your kids aren’t very fussy about their playthings.

Filed under: Peripherals, Internet

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Source: SuperFanArt

UK government weighs Tesla’s Model S for its £5 million electric vehicle fleet

Despite costing £17,000 ($29,000) per car more than it budgeted, the UK government is weighing the purchase of Model S EVs for its fleet, according to Tesla. In an effort to go green, the UK said it wants to buy 150 electric cars for government mucky-mucks, following the lead of China, which mandated that 30 percent of its fleet must run on electrons. Unfortunately, the budget is £5 million ($8.5 million) for all 150 cars, or about £33,000 per vehicle — and the Tesla Model S currently runs about £50,000 ($85,000) in the UK. That compares to about £30,000 for BMW’s i3 (excluding the gas-powered range extender), another likely competitor. However, the Tesla has one large advantage: it can run about 250 miles on a charge, where the BMW can only go 81 miles. As Bidness Etc put it, that’s at least two round trips between PM David Cameron’s country retreat and his 10 Downing Street workplace — though we imagine he’ll stick with the armored Jag anyway.

Filed under: Transportation

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Via: Bidness Etc

Source: Bloomberg

MIT’s new robot glove can give you extra fingers

Have you ever wondered if five fingers is really enough? The folks at MIT have. Researchers in the institute’s department of mechanical engineering have created a robotic glove that adds two additional digits to the standard human claw, positioning two long fingers on either side of the hand. It’s ridiculously easy to use, too. “You do not need to command the robot, but simply move your fingers naturally.” Ford Professor of Engineering Harry Asada says. “Then the robotic fingers react and assist your fingers.” The glove’s movements are based on biomechanical synergy, the idea that each finger reacts to the movements of its peers – if you try to grasp a bottle, the glove’s extra fingers will try to help.

The team crafted its synergy algorithm by outfitting a prototype with multiple positioning sensors and grasping assorted objects — manually moving the glove’s two extra “fingers” to help grab or support the object. This data was used to determined a set of specific movement patterns that the final product could use to identify what the user is attempting to do, allowing it to assume a position that naturally augments the wearer’s normal hand movements. For now, the glove has to rely on this basic algorithm, but the team hopes to upgrade it to account for the amount of force applied. Future versions of the robotic fingers may also learn actively, adapting to a specific users’ gesture style.

The prototype glove is pretty bulky, but MIT researchers are confident that it can be distilled down to a smaller, foldable size. “We could make this into a watch or a bracelet where the fingers pop up, and when he job is done, they come back into the watch,” Asada explained. “Wearable robots are a way to bring the robot closer to our daily life.”

Filed under: Robots

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Source: MIT