Google CEO spotted wearing Project Glass prototype in real life: the tech world has been abuzz with Google’s latest concept that had more fuel added to it when it’s CEO, Sergey Brin, was spotted at an event wearing a prototype version of the glasses that allow you to interact with the internet while in the real world using a tiny device that looks like a pair of glasses, minus the lenses. It does look a little dorky but no worse than your average bluetooth headset. Apparently the device is self-contained but no word on how it works, battery life, etc. No release date or pricing is currently known but it’s supposed to be coming ‘very’ soon. (via Engadget)
Miracle Worker glove helps deaf & blind people communicate: using a glove with tactile sensors and something called the Lorm Alphabet, which assigns different letters to different parts of the users hand and fingers. You can touch the various parts of the glove and the wearer can understand what you’re saying or the glove can vibrate when connected to a computer, phone (via bluetooth), etc to vibrate the appropriate parts of the glove as if someone is pressing it. Developed by the Berlin’s Design Research Lab, it’s just a prototype at this point but could become a great new way to communicate. (via Gizmodo)
SushiBot Churns Out 300 Perfect Rolls Per Hour: at the World Food and Beverage Great Expo in Tokyo, a sushi making robot was unveiled that makes a perfect roll every time, up to 300 per hour. The robot still requires a human to place the various ingredients however. (via Wired: Gadget Lab)
Every Tuesday, I discuss new and interesting technology items on News 1130 radio at 11:05am PST (live) and repeated throughout the day.
This week on News 1130 radio (live at 11:05am PST), I’ll be talking about these stories:
Flutter – Kinect-like gestures for controlling iTunes or Spotify on your Mac – using the built in camera on every Apple computer, a new app, currently in beta, will allow you to use gestures to navigate your music library without having to touch the computer at all. Gestures are customizable as well so perhaps you can ‘strike a pose’ and it will cue up your Madonna playlist for example (via BGR)
Tattoo That Vibrates When Your Phone Rings – Nokia has filed for one of the strangest patents I’ve ever heard of. It’s for a “haptic tattoo that transmits ‘a perceivable impulse’ through a person’s skin when he or she gets a phone call, text message or email alert.” (via MAKE)
Cadillac focuses on safety with vibrating drivers’ seats – not unlike the story we discussed last week about vibrating steering wheels, Cadillac is working on vibrating seats to alert drivers they aren’t in their lanes, there are vehicles in their blind spots, and even nudging you when you get too close to other vehicles or objects. Expected to be in some 2013 vehicles so you won’t have to wait long for this tech. (via Engadget)
Yes, I actually bought a non-Apple tablet (that thinks it’s a laptop). I’ll wait while you soak that in.
After seeing both Derek and Morten, in the span of about 6 hours (ironically on the release day of the new iPad), using their Transformer Prime’s, I started to think about it a lot more and did some research.
I already have a work provided iPad 2 but find that I rarely use it at home since I have a laptop (MacBook Air). The iPad was a choice I made when it came time to get a new laptop at work…I opted to go the iPad route because of what I was mostly using the laptop for at work – to attend meetings, have access to my calendar and email anywhere in the building, etc. The iPad works fantastically better for these tasks than a laptop for me at least.
So at home, I wanted something different to play with. I already had an HP Touchpad which I hacked and put Android onto but it was a little bulky (think the size of the iPad 1, inside a case) and didn’t have any external ports for memory cards. Also the Android 4 install I recently did is still considered very alpha so a number of things didn’t work or weren’t aware of the hardware I was using.
I really liked a few things about the Prime almost immediately:
the nicely integrated and detachable keyboard dock (an optional, separate $150 purchase which is actually a no brainer because of what it adds) which adds a really nice keyboard, touchpad(!), SD card slot, USB port and battery pack that extends the Prime’s battery to over 18 hours
integrated microSD card slot for additional storage. I opted for the cheaper 32gb model because I can extend this with memory cards easily thanks to the two slot option with the keyboard dock
it runs Android 4.0 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich) which is currently the best Android experience available
very speedy processor and video card that seems to rival Apple’s iPad speed. Simple things like just rotating the display always seemed laggy on my previous Android devices whereas this is very comparable
I’ve only had it for less than a day and already the frustration with the Android Marketplace (now known as the Play Store) has surfaced since unlike Apple’s App Store, there is no clear distinction between phone and tablet apps. I’ve talked about the fragmented Android marketplace before and now it’s even more obvious with a device like the Prime.
I spent a bunch of time downloading apps only to find that they are really meant for a phone display. While they still work on the Prime, it’s not the best experience.
Another interesting point is the unboxing experience. It feels like Asus completely copied Apple’s method for packaging and presenting the device. Very similar foam padding inside the box, internal user guide bundle and even the shape of the charging cable feel more than simply ‘inspired by Apple’. But that said, it is still a good experience, with minimal excess like the days of old with the huge styrofoam inserts.
My Prime is the ‘Amethyst Gray’ model…the other color option was champagne which appears to be more silver/pearly white and this grey looks more like purple or stained deep red wine than gray. Whatever.
Asus has done a great job of not mucking too much with the Android experience and really making an effort to think things through rather than simply bolt them on like in the past. I’ve noticed a bunch of little things that work like you’d expect and want (finally an integrated screenshot solution via the keyboard or onscreen button). The keyboard also has an integrated trackpad which makes using a tablet much easier for some tasks while typing on the keyboard – something I found lacking on the Apple side when using an iPad + keyboard combo, so much so that I stopped using an external keyboard.
It’s easy to see something like this could be the future of mobile computing with the software and hardware finally working together in a manner that makes sense.
Once I spend more time with the unit, I’ll post more about my experiences. So far though, I’m enjoying it.
UDPATE: First weekend with the device and I’ve seen this message far too often in the stock browser:
Google’s own Chrome Browser (which is an early beta on Android) isn’t much better with it’s crashiness.
UPDATE #2: Well, I tried for a over a week to love the Transformer Prime but in the end, I returned it. Despite having some really killer features, I found the overall performance subpar when compared to my iPad 2.
The wifi was incredibly weak – something that seems to be well documented online, due to the aluminum shell which reduces the range of the antenna. While not a main reason I bought it in the first place, the built in GPS kind of worked and Asus has even begun offering a GPS dongle for all customers due to the weak performance of the built in module (they’ve also removed the feature from the unit’s main specs).
The final straw was when I was simply browsing the Play Store (app market) trying to find tablet specific apps and this popped up:
I guess my Android friends are okay with this kind of performance…but I’m not and certainly not for a $700+ device (keyboard dock included). I wasn’t doing anything other than running a stock unit with the latest Android updates. I know I can root, unlock the bootloader, etc but I shouldn’t have to do that to simply use the browser.
I may try again with Google’s rumored upcoming 1st party tablet (which may actually be a rebranded Asus) or maybe even a Kindle Fire from Amazon which has a curated app store of apps that are optimized for that tablet.
For the past couple of weeks I’ve been doing a live ‘Tech Tuesday’ segment on Vancouver’s News 1130 radio station. It’s a weekly spot where I’ll round up what’s going on in the tech world. I even did one live from Austin during SXSW. It airs Tuesdays at 11:05am PST and portions repeated throughout the day – you can listen live on their website.
Here’s my update for this week (I only have 5 minutes so it’s pretty brief and we often don’t get through all the items):
taking a page from videogame designers, researchers at AT&T Labs & Carnegie Mellon University are working on a haptic feedback steering wheel for better turn by turn directions so that you can keep an eye on the road instead of watching your GPS screen. Using 20 different vibrating actuators inside the steering wheel, you’ll be notified of an upcoming left turn through the wheel by vibration. It might be years before this tech reaches our cars but it’s an exciting development as the technology can be used for all kinds of things beyond navigation
the incredibly popular iPhone photo app, Instagram, is finally coming to Android phones. It has a huge community around it on the iPhone so users cant wait to use it on another platform. No date when it will be available but they have a signup page at Instagr.am/android to be notified when it’s available
a new device is about to start appearing in fitting rooms everywhere. Bodymetrics Pods are currently being tested by Bloomingdale’s in the US. It’s basically 8 Microsoft Kinect’s (the same you can use with an Xbox360) that scan your body to help get the perfect fit for those new pair of jeans. The whole process takes about 5 seconds and takes hundreds of measurements to determine your true size to help get a great fit
This was my 8th year attending the annual South by Southwest Interactive (aka SXSW or SXSWi) festival and I have to say, it may be my last. It’s not because I didn’t enjoy myself, meet tons of great people and learn new things – all of which I did as I do every year. It also wasn’t because of the crappy, rainy weather that we endured for half the conference.
No, it’s because I think SXSW has outgrown Austin. Just look at this lineup for badge pickup (it’s hard to tell but it’s actually a double looped line that snakes around the entire convention centre):
Every year, more of my friends attend the conference…and they tell two friends and so on. The estimate I heard for just the interactive portion this year was 24,000+ attendees. That doesn’t include the Film folks and the Music people that start arriving towards the end. I don’t know if any city can support a conference like this, while still having the charm of Austin.
The other thing that I’ve noticed the last few years is that the people that I met early on are no longer attending. It’s for various reasons but many just don’t make it a priority anymore like they once did. I was chatting with Erica OGrady (whom I met at SXSW a few years ago) about this topic at the Bing/Cheezburger party (which was a blast – see the photo above) and she’s also questioning her future attendance for the same reasons I am. It’s just gotten too big. It used to be lineups for the hot parties. But now it’s lineups for everything.
I wanted to check out Anthony Bourdain’s panel about how his No Reservations tv crew use social media. I figured I would show up 1/2 an hour early and get a good spot to take some photos. I ended up walking past a giant line about 45 minutes early (on my way to the trade show to kill some time) and it was the line up for Bourdain. It now seems that in order to even get into an A-list panel, you pretty much have to skip the previous timeslot’s panel just to wait in a line. I couldn’t even get into a few other panels because the doors were locked and it was full…despite me being early for them. Frustrating? Hell yes!
While I did make it into the panel, I almost didn’t bother because on the way back from lunch, we actually bumped into Mr. Bourdain as he arrived for the panel and he was gracious enough to let a bunch of geeks and fans get their photo with him.
This lineup craziness also extends to the parties and other night time events. So much so that you usually need to RSVP to them weeks or months before you even get to Austin.
This year, the Bing/Cheezburger party took it a step further. You had to RSVP via Eventbrite and then you needed to pickup a wristband a few days before the party from the Bing compound if you wanted to skip the party lineup. The key difference is that their wristband actually had an RFID chip inside that would give you quick access to the party as well as when a roving photographer took your picture, you could literally swipe your wristband across a receiver that the photographer had and it would post the photo they just took to your Facebook wall. Pretty amazing…if not a little creepy. It did make for a quick entry though.
Now, I’m the first to admit that the last few years, I’ve attended fewer and fewer panels due to the fact there is so many other great events and activities happening outside the convention centre. Some friends have even gone ‘badgeless’ because you really don’t need a badge to have a great experience during SXSW (although many events do require a badge unless you have VIP status).
This year was no different.
Google previously had a huge presence on the trade show floor but this year, they opted to rent out an ENTIRE neighbourhood within walking distance of the convention centre and setup shop as the “Google Village”.
Each house was decked out in Google colors and brands along with giant map pins out front. There was the Android house, the Developer house, the Maps house, complete with a Streetview car out front and many more.
One of the coolest things I found was in the Discovery house which featured a live web cam view of a Coca-Cola machine in New York City and a terminal that you could use to send a video message (and a free coke) to whomever walked up to the machine in NYC. They could then thank you for the coke via video (and you’d get an email link). A really clever campaign that will be spreading to 20 cities around the world and you can send a free coke from your laptop anywhere.
Another fantastic event held outside the convention centre was the GE Garage. This was a complete tent city of awesome technology that people like me love: tools and toys. They had basically brought one of everything that you’d find in an epic workshop or hackerspace and set it up and let you play with it.
They had a laser cutter/engraver where you could etch any design on your iPhone:
They also had a CNC machine where they cut out molds for the injection molding machine they also had on hand where they made iPhone cases with a built in pocket on the back for a Square reader.
If you ever wanted to learn how to weld, you could do that too. They were letting anyone help weld bike racks that would be donated to the City of Austin when SXSW was over.
They also had something close to my heart, a 3D printer table complete with the new MakerBot Replicator which hadn’t actually been released yet (they just started shipping to those that pre-ordered them). They were printing SXSW themed guitar picks for anyone that wanted one:
It was very cool to get to see one up close and I was also able to chat with Matt and Keith from MakerBot.
This also lead to a MakerBot meetup later in the week…where even the MakerBots got to ride in the famous Austin pedicabs.
As usual, there was no shortage of live music at night. At the Cheezburger party, the band FUN performed:
and at one of my favorite spots to see live music in Austin, the Belmont, hosted locals Ghostland Observatory with a fantastic show at the HP Cloud party:
and for the second year in a row, Neiliyo killed it at the ServerBeach party which the whole Eh Team crew come out for:
So, as you can see, there are still lots of great reasons to attend SXSW…and I barely spoke about the panels I attended. I’ve said the last couple of years that in order for me to attend SXSWi, it needs to be a different experience. So a few years ago, I spoke on a panel, last year I drove to Austin and this year wasn’t that different other than the size of the event. Next year may have to be something special for me to attend again…maybe I’ll submit a panel idea.
I’ll likely wait until the summer when tickets go on sale to make my final decision on attending in 2013. I may even just book a badge and hotel room as a placeholder which I can always transfer to someone else if I decide not to go…something I’ve been telling people for years if they want to attend – book in late July/early August if you actually want a hotel that is walking distance from everything…otherwise you’ll be stuck with a $20-30 cab ride each way to your hotel in the boonies.
Special thanks to my friends at Roam Mobility that loaned me and the Eh Team crew some of their Liberty hotspots which were fantastic for keeping us all online when many others either couldn’t get online or incurred huge roaming charges because they didn’t plan ahead. I’m pretty sure I’m going to buy one to keep myself. They also gave us some SIM cards to give away in Austin which helped out a bunch of Canadian folks. A full review of their service will follow in a separate post now that I’ve had a chance to throughly test it.
While in Austin, I met up with the folks from the Toronto, Ontario based Jugnoo to try out their new beta service that launched just prior to SXSW. It’s a one stop social dashboard to creating, monitoring & publishing content and campaigns for social media.
I used their tool to create these short video slideshows (5 in total, which I packaged in this YouTube playlist) using my own photos which are individual daily recaps while at SXSW:
It’s a pretty slick tool with lots of options and I only really played with the video creation component which was surprisingly deep. Using my photos as the raw material, I was able to either directly upload or use links to my Flickr stream (or URL) to pull them into the tool, arrange them in sequence, add titles and choose a visual template. I was then able to add a soundtrack from their large library of music. It reminded me a lot of using iMovie except it was completely browser based. Once the video was created, you can then publish to your choice of social networks. They also have integrated analytics and monitoring for anything you produce with the tool.
My only issue with the video creation tool was that it isn’t currently possible to edit the video after you render it out (the rendered video is saved, just not in a further editable format if you want to make changes to text, layout, etc.). But as this is a beta, I provided this feedback to them and they are hoping to make this happen very soon. It’s still a very impressive tool considering it’s all done in a browser.
[Disclosure: I was chosen from a number of entrants to work with Jugnoo at SXSW and was paid a small sum to cover expenses in Austin as part of the contest.]
PS. I brought home a lot less swag this year…not because it wasn’t offered, I was just choosier. My favorite items were the HootSuite Scarf and the Magic Cheezburger 8 ball:
A coworker noticed this ship was in dry dock beside our office in North Vancouver today:
Turns out it’s the command ship for the Sea Launch mobile rocket launchpad. I’ve seen this ship on Discovery Channel but never expected to see it beside my office. Possibly the closest I’ll be to the space program anytime soon.
It’s next mission is in May 2012 for Intelsat 19, a satellite payload for cable networks in the Pacific Rim.
There’s a good chance that it will launch the satellite that carries future Canucks game in HD!
Note: you can get a pretty decent view of the Sea Launch ship from the North Shore Pier (in the foreground of the photo) at the bottom of Lonsdale Avenue or from the top of Lonsdale Quay (right under the big Q) which is where I shot this photo from.
UPDATE: Went back with my DSLR and got a few more shots:
Note the logos from the satellites previously launched:
I’ve owned a soldering iron for as long as I can remember. But I’ve never felt I’ve been very good at using it. Lately I’ve been needing to do more and more soldering (thanks to my 3d printer building among other things) so I thought I should probably get better at it.
One thing I’ve heard over and over again is to practice with a simple electronics kit. So I’ve been buying a few kits here and there and have recently been forcing myself to put one together whenever I have a little time.
Aside from being fun little gadgets to have once complete, these truly are a great way to get better at soldering. It is simple through-hole soldering but it’s something I’ve always felt sloppy at.
My soldering ‘night school’ started last week with this custom name badge from Analog Machines which I picked up recently from the MakerShed:
It’s big and bright! Perfect for wearing in a lanyard badge holder.
Next up was the TV-B-Gone kit from Adafruit Industries – one of my favorite places to order from.
I promise to not be too evil with such great power.
The latest kit I assembled is the Solder Time kit I bought from SparkFun.com (another favorite store) which is quite possibly the geekiest watch of all time.
The kit comes with a red LED segment display but I ordered a separate green one and swapped it in which is another fun thing about these kits is that you can modify them to make them your own. I had originally planned to use this ‘watch’ in my MakerBot as a visible timer (minus the acrylic case and wristband of course) for time lapse videos but I think it’s too big to fit where I wanted to use it.
It’s amazing to see the difference in my soldering abilities after the practice from putting together these extremely well documented kits. It really gives you a good idea of what the end result is supposed to look like, as well as extra tips for soldering different types of electronic components.
There is also a comic book (in PDF form) called Soldering is Easy that is a great resource for getting started with soldering.
This past weekend, I hosted the guys from our Fraser Valley RepRap group at my place so that we could actually setup our machines to print and tinker. This is something we’ve wanted to do at our regular meetings but the folks at Boston Pizza, while very accommodating, probably wouldn’t be too keen on us printing stuff on their tables during our meetups.
Brad (aka Sublime) was the first to show up with his Prusa Mendel shown here printing a part on my coffee table:
and he also brought along a nearly complete prototype of his fully printable, mini 3d printer. Look how cute it is! Note the pop can for scale inside.
Check out the super tiny hotend he made (although he is considering using a J-Head after seeing the ones we recently ordered):
Derek also brought along his Citadel Mendel prototype printer:
It was pretty cool to see so many printers in one place (my living room & kitchen counter) and that 2 of them were incredible prototype designs.
With Eugene’s help, I also got my new J-Head hotend setup:
Just need to wire it up to my Prusa and (finally) start printing.
This is definitely shaping up to be the year of 3d printing…it seems every day major media is covering different aspects of how this technology is changing the game.
UPDATE:Brad has just posted about his mini printer with a lot more details and specifications. Sounds like it is getting a lot of (justified) attention in the RepRap community.
One thing I get asked all the time about my 3D printers is where do I get the models that I print? I follow Thingiverse daily to see what others have created but sometimes you need something very specific. So you have to create it yourself.
One method I’ve used is 2D extrusion which how I made the page keeper gadget for a coworker.
Another method is called solid modelling. There is a relatively new website, called Tinkercad, that gives you the tools to create 3D objects right in your browser, for free. It is built on the WebGL platform so requires a modern browser (and in some cases, modern graphics cards) to run it…I used Chrome as Safari doesn’t currently support WebGL.
Using a number of different shapes you can add or subtract the shapes to build up your design.
You choose the height and the size of the shape using direct numeric entry or a slider.
Choosing the workplane allows you change the level or angle you’re working on.
The measure tool allows you to create a positionable ruler to assist with measurements of your design.
The top left menu item, “Print 3D”, is how you export your model. You can either export it to an *.STL file (which is compatible with other 3d software packages as well as the software I use to print with my 3d printer) or you can send it to a 3d printing service like Shapeways.com if you don’t own a 3d printer. They’ll print it for you, in a number of different material options and ship it to your door.
Here’s their quick start tutorial that should give you a better idea of how it works:
I wanted to design a mount that would allow me to attach my GoPro camera to a remote control quadcopter. I couldn’t find a design on Thingiverse so I toyed with modifying some other GoPro mounts on there for the purpose but nothing looked like it would work any better than simply duct taping the camera down.
I also didn’t want to modify the quadcopter at all so opted to use the same mount point for the battery which already has velcro to hold it in place. I did find a mount online that someone designed and printed with a 3d printer who was selling it but there wasn’t any good detail photos of it so I had to come up with my own version and used my calipers to measure everything.
It took a few iterations before I found a design that worked:
The final version (I had to print two of them):
Here’s the results of this mount attached to the quadcopter with GoPro camera installed:
Turned out pretty good! Now to design one that fits underneath the quadcopter for an unencumbered view.
Another cool thing about Tinkercad is that you are given a permalink to your design that you can share. Then others can make a copy of it and make other things with it. I did this with something I found on Thingiverse, a tool holder for my 3d printer, that was a cleverly designed mount for tools that are commonly used when operating the 3d printer. I thought the same object, minus the tool parts, would be great for mounting my webcam onto the printer. The creator of the tool holder had used Tinkercad to create it so it was easy to duplicate it and then erase the unneeded bits to make this:
So I made a couple versions, a big and small one depending on what you wanted to attach to the platform.
So far, I’ve been really impressed with Tinkercad. I’ve found it the easiest way to get designing something, without all the usual technical stuff. It did take a little getting used to and it was a little tricky to figure out the workplane stuff, but once I spent a little time with it, it got much easier. I also now have two different designs that I have successfully printed and are working great.
There’s also a newer beta version you can try out at labs.tinkercad.com.
Recently, Tassimo sent me a huge box full of new coffee flavors to try out. I’m normally a latte drinker (grande toffee nut soy or 1% milk latte) and never really acquired the taste for straight, black coffee (with or without sugar & milk).
I know some of my readers are self-proclaimed coffee snobs…I get that. I’ve made many attempts at home with too many coffee makers, espresso machines, etc to count. I like the Tassimo since it’s single serve and easy to clean/maintain. I just wish the T-discs were more environmentally friendly or at least refillable.
Anyways, after a lively chat with a coworker and our local baristas, it was suggested that I give black coffee a try. They said it would take at least a few days to get used to it and then I wouldn’t look back. I could also use a little milk or creme to ‘take the edge off’ since I’m used to sweet & milky lattes.
So I decided since I had all this new coffee to sample, might as well give it a shot.
So, since Sunday I’ve been skipping the usual $5+ latte (I even have syrup at home to make it just like at Starbucks) and give ‘regular’ coffee the good ole college try.
I’ll let you know if I’ve been converted next week.
UPDATE: Success! I’ve been converted…well, at least not loathe to try a non-latte coffee on a regular basis. I may spoil myself occasionally with one though…perhaps like my friend, Lee LeFever who likes to earn his latte during the week and save it for Fridays.
I didn’t do it strictly via Tassimo though…with some Starbucks & mystery cafeteria coffee thrown in the mix over the past week. Thanks to everyone that commented here and on Facebook…machines like the Tassimo work for me since I don’t live beside a coffee shop with a Clover machine, nor am I interested in spending the time in the morning brewing my own the conventional way. Certainly on the weekends, I’m able to spend more time but during the week, with my commute, it’s a drive-by coffee experience or none at all. The environmental impacts of this approach aren’t lost on me either (as I noted in the post above). Maybe I’ll soon be able to recycle the t-discs in my 3d printer?
and the 
for it.
