By looking at the minute vibrations in high speed video, researchers at the Department of Engineering of the Catholic University of America have created a method for extracting sound data from high-speed silent video footage. From the release: The authors used a subset-based image-correlation approach to detect the motions of points on the surface of an object, capturing target images with… Read More
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New Technique Allows Researchers To Extract Audio From Silent Video
You know all that crap that’s listed on the back of your smartphone and tablet? It looks something like this: A jumble of letters and words, an FCC symbol, and instructions to not throw your electronic equipment into the trash. It’s ugly, and generally a waste of space. But luckily for us, it’s time to say goodbye to that mess. In what feels a bit like a holiday gift, … Read More
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The E-Label Act Will Remove Those Silly FCC Symbols From The Back Of Future Gadgets
Party time with the corporate tool, BlackBerry’s Passport. Sean Gallagher Specs at a glance: BlackBerry Passport Screen 1440 x 1440 pixels, 4.5 inches (493 ppi) AMOLED OS BlackBerry 10.3 (with Android compatibility) CPU 2.26 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 RAM 3GB GPU Adreno 330 Storage 32 GB internal, with microSD support up to 128 GB Networking Wi-Fi 802.11ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
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The BlackBerry Passport enigma: TCOB-machine or “worst designed thing, ever”
Specs at a glance: Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro SCREEN 3200×1800 at 13.3″ (276 ppi) OS Windows 8.1 64-bit CPU 1.1GHz Intel Core M-5Y70 RAM 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 GPU Intel HD Graphics 5300 HDD 256-512GB SSD NETWORKING Dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 PORTS 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, micro-HDMI, SD card reader, headphone/microphone dual jack SIZE 13 × 9 × 0.5″ WEIGHT 2.62 lbs BATTERY 4-cell 44.8Wh Li-polymer WARRANTY 1 year STARTING PRICE $1299.99 OTHER PERKS 720p Webcam, volume rocker, screen orientation lock button, system back-up button When Lenovo launched its first Yoga laptop, it seemed rather weird. It arrived on a wave of new Windows 8-oriented devices that tried all manner of new things to offer the best of the traditional laptop and the tablet experience. The Yoga’s premise was simple: make a hinge that bends all the way around, so you can fold the laptop back on itself to make it into a sort of chunky laptop. It skewed more heavily towards laptop usage than tablet usage—there are no compromises when using it as a laptop, unlike, for example, Microsoft’s Surface Pro range—but still offered that flexibility for those who wanted it. Although designed to let the device transform into a tablet, it is perhaps the other positions that have been the real winners with the Yoga’s hinge: what Lenovo calls “tent mode,” where the keyboard is folded most of the way back to prop the screen up, is excellent when watching movies in planes and similar cramped situations, as it drastically shrinks the footprint of the device. This flexibility made the Yoga design one of the big winners. Read 22 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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Yoga Pro 3 review: Broadwell is a mixed blessing
Android updates don’t matter anymore—or at least that’s what many people think. Back-to-back-to-back Jelly Bean releases and a KitKat release seemed to only polish what already existed. When Google took the wraps off of “Android L” at Google I/O, though, it was clear that this release was different. Android 5.0, Lollipop is at least the biggest update since Android 4.0, and it’s probably the biggest Android release ever. The update brings a complete visual overhaul of every app, with a beautiful new design language called “Material Design.” Animations are everywhere, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a single pixel from 4.4 that was carried over into 5.0—Google even revamped the fonts. 5.0 also brings a ton of new features. Notifications are finally on the lockscreen, the functionality of Recent Apps has been revamped to make multitasking a lot easier, and the voice recognition works everywhere—even when the screen is off. The under-the-hood renovations are just as extensive, including a completely new camera API with support for RAW images, a system-wide focus on battery life, and a new runtime—ART—that replaces the aging Dalvik virtual machine. Read 171 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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Android 5.0 Lollipop, thoroughly reviewed
Amazon’s connected TV plans don’t end with the Fire TV, an Apple TV-like device it launched last year – the company announced the Fire TV Stick today, a $39 dongle that resembles the Chromecast, which is only $19 for the next two days if you’re already an Amazon Prime subscriber or if you sign up as a new one. Before the Fire TV launched, we received credible reports… Read More
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Amazon’s New Fire TV Stick Is A $39 Chromecast Competitor With A Hardware Remote
Before laughing off an electric Harley, read on. BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON—On June 18, 2014, Harley-Davidson shocked the motorcycle community by announcing an electric motorcycle prototype called Project LiveWire. The Project LiveWire teaser video showed a bike screaming down route 66, emitting a sound that vaguely resembled a turbine. I could barely believe what I saw, so I immediately spent time reading comments about LiveWire—naturally, the reaction was mixed. Some gave props to Harley-Davidson for thinking outside the box; others complained “this is no Harley.” The current trend for all-electric and hybrid vehicles is to assume a “quasi-futuristic,” sci-fi-infused look that pretty much leaves convention and tradition at the curb (think Nissan Leaf). Many automotive enthusiasts don’t see a lot of “soul” or “character” in these appliance vehicles. But enter Harley-Davidson, the company known for its shaking, rumbling, chrome-clad motorcycles that go beyond machinery and extend to a lifestyle. These bikes radiate tradition, heritage, and style. A Harley-Davidson is a Harley because it has a thumping, 45-degree, v-twin, air-cooled power plant breathing through pipes that emit a signature sound. Harley power must be transmitted to the rear wheel via a rubber belt, so now the company may also offer an electric bike. Really ? The motorcycle community may need a little time to adjust. And as for my own curiosity about what it would be like to ride LiveWire, I had no idea I would find out just a few weeks later. Next-generation design The Project LiveWire engineering team uses all of the latest design, prototyping, and manufacturing expertise that Harley-Davidson developed over the last century of building v-twin motorcycles. I learned about how the LiveWire team engineered and built their ground-breaking electric bike when I talked with lead project engineer Ben Lund. Lund studied Mechanical Engineering and—as you’d expect—loves riding. He’s got multiple motorcycles spanning dirt to street. Read 14 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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Harley-Davidson goes electric
The folks at Carnegie Mellon’s Future Interfaces Group have made something really cool. Essentially, they are using small lasers to paint icons onto your skin through the bottom of a watch. The icons are touch sensitive and can be projected in any shape. The team consists Gierad Laput, Robert Xiao, Xiang Chen, Scott E. Hudson, and Chris Harrison, researchers at CMU’s… Read More
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Skin Buttons Are Working Buttons Projected Onto The Skin
Apple has a second big event planned for this fall, and it’s happening this Thursday, Oct. 16 at its own Town Hall theater in Cupertino. The event promises to deliver a few different new product announcements, likely including new iPads, and new Macs, as well as the public introduction of OS X Yosemite, Apple’s next major desktop operating system. iPad What we know so far suggests… Read More
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What To Expect From Apple’s iPad And Mac Event
Yesterday morning, Belkin routers stopped allowing users from accessing the Internet. In a statement provided to TechCrunch Belkin identified and outlined steps it will take to prevent it from happening again. “One of our cloud services associated with maintaining router operations was negatively impacted by a change made in our data center that caused a false denial of service.… Read More
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Belkin Explains Why Its Routers Stopped Working