Archive for: sensor
While the biggest number of megapixels doesn’t always transfer to the greatest picture, there’s something to be said abou ta 16-megapixel sensor for a smartphone camera. Renesas Technology has announced a new sensor of theirs that could allow up to 16-megapixel image capture. On top of that, the chip is said to support high-speed continuous shooting at 15fps at 13 megapixels.
The company has already started shipping sample chips to manufacturers for testing purposes, and announced via press release that commercial shipments should being in March of this year.
Many of us like to dream of flying cars, force fields, invisibility cloaks, and levitation as true signs that we’ve arrived in “the future”. But life is often full of little surprises here and there. It is those little things which go unnoticed that often make up the fabric of our everyday lives. Case in point: milk jugs. No, not the slang translation of the word meaning well gifted female chests. I’m talking about honest to goodness, straight from cow, fresh off the farm milk jugs.
How exactly can such a simple and un-techy thing be futuristic? Simple: the milk jug of the future will know when it’s good, bad, and when you shouldn’t even attempt to salvage even a small taste from it. Because, there are sometimes with the smell/taste test just won’t work.
For the jug above, a simple PH sensor gives it that special spacial awareness we’ll one day come to expect from common household items. For me, it’s just another thing to add to the list…
TechFresh > TechChee
If you ever find yourself looking at modern medical tech and thinking “This is it?”, take a gander at the “BrainPort” device fitted to Craig Lundberg’s tongue. Craig was tragically wounded when a grenade exploded near him, rending his eyesight null and void. But the BrainPort is bringing it all back. Slowly at first, but with time and development, could be the next big thing for those with little-to-no eyesight.
The BrainPort at first sounds pretty odd — a camera mounted on the person sends information to a probe fixed to an individual’s tongue. It is there that a black&white 2D image is somehow passed through the tongue and into the respective areas in the brain via electrical pulses allowing the wearer to “see” once again. It’s not perfect yet as the wearer cannot eat or speak while wearing the contraption. Anything is better than nothing though.
According to Craig, the BrainPort is like “licking a 9V battery”. Hey, if I were in Craig’s shoes, I’d lick 9V batteries all day to regain even a smidgen of my previous eyesight. Wouldn’t you?
See the BrainPort in action
Neatorama > Arboroath > BBC
Is it just me or is the Nexus One becoming more problem prone? The latest issue surrounding the uber Android device has to do with multi-touch, more specifically when two screen inputs are extremely close together the points are flipped. Such occurrences obviously happen quite frequently as the only way to type on the N1 is via the on-screen keyboard. So how do we fix it? Well, we may not be able to outside of a large scale recall.
According to Google engineer Diane Hackborn, it’s not the OS any individual software on the device meaning she’s pegging the problem on the sensor. Mind you, this same sensor is also in a slew of other Android handsets such as the G1 and MyTouch 3G just to name a couple. The DROID looks to be exempt (if it is in fact a hardware issue) because it uses a multi-touch sensor from a different manufacturer and supposedly, a “better quality touchscreen” than the affected units previously mentioned. Good for me, bad for N1/G1/MyTouch owners.
Let’s hope that whatever the real problem is — of course if it’s more than just a simple matter of screen quality — Google can fix it relatively quickly and painlessly. Having to issue a recall spanning multiple countries, carriers, and handsets would be a nightmare of epic proportions.
Anyone with a Nexus One, G1, MyTouch can check for any multi-touch issues themselves by downloading “Multitouch Visible Test” from the Android Market and giving it a shot. Leave your results below.
PhoneArena > AndroidandMe
- February 18, 2010 6:43 am
For most, when searching for a new pair of headphones, audio quality is usually somewhere near the top of the list. You know, being a device designed purely for audio reproduction, I would surely hope this is the case at least. But people have different likes and dislikes and companies cater to each and everyone. Some headphones shaped like animal heads, some actually vibrate to simulate the 18′s in the back of trunks, and even farther “out there” still, some headphones now feature brain wave sensors.
Brain wave sensors you say? Yes, a sensor that groups the unseeable waves emitting from your head. The headphones are built by Toshiba and are actually designed for consumer use. Along with the headphones, a software dubbed “Brain-wave Visualizer” hooks up to the headphones and displays the brainwave data onscreen.
You won’t see people rockin’ out in the streets with these, but for those closet geeks who’ve always wanted to know what goes on in their head — well, this is your deal.
Ubergizmo > TechOn
Looking to find that perfect significant other that will fit to you like a piece of a puzzle? There are tons of of dating sites, social networking portals, and other tools for single people to find love in this vast world. For the geeky person however, I don’t know of too many options (please correct me if I’m wrong). If you’re a geek and really want to find that other special geek that ticks the same way you do, the Promimity Sensing T-Shirt is *the* only dating tool you need.
The concept is simple, the shirt beams out a signal. Said shirt will then display via signal bars on the shirt how close you are to other persons wearing the same shirt. Pretty cool. Just imagine, finding the love of your geeky life by literally running in to someone wearing the same proximity sensing t-shirt as you — pretty neat huh?
Available in mens and womens form factors for the low low price of $19.99. Ask yourself, is twenty bucks really too much to ask for if it brings you a lifetime of geek infested happiness? I think now.
[Product Page: ThinkGeek]
Geeky-Gadgets
- October 27, 2009 10:15 am
Mobile photographers listen up, if you were looking for a higher megapixel count for your camera phone, step back, take a reality check and realize that camera’s will not replace a good digital SLR anytime soon. In reality, real photographers already know that it’s not necessarily the number of megapixels that matters most as it is the quality of the lens and algorithms/software used to shuttle physical images into “1″ and “0″ form.
With that little factoid expressed, we can get on with the program. Toshiba wants you to know, the megapixel race isn’t over yet as they’re prepping a new 14.6 megapixel beast. This photo-centric beast will be designed under Toshiba’s 65nm process and housed on 300mn slabs of silicon. Physical sizing aside, the real reason you need to be excited is because of a little feature called “back-side illumination” which is said to increase light absorption by up to 40%! Such an increase will no doubt work wonders for low light shots — something cameraphones have a heck of a time capturing cleanly and legibly.
The 14+ megapixel number may still be blurring your vision. But be careful, as stated before, just because it has the most megapixels, doesn’t automatically mean it will be the best, most useful mobile camera. If this little gem gets paired with a crappy lens and clumsy software, those megapixels will be more or less useless. We’ll have to wait until late Q4 2010/Q1 2011 to get any products in our hands as mass production isn’t slated to begin until Q3 2010. So we wait. Still interested?
IntoMobile > Engadget
- September 22, 2009 10:09 am
Beer beer beer. How I love beer. Another love which I’m also become increasingly addicted to is Twitter. What better way to show of your geeky chops than to combine the two. That’s exactly what SparkFun Electronics did. They took the company Kegerator, which was becoming increasingly difficult to monitor and keep full, and tapped (pun intended) into the real time tracking benefits of Twitter. The SparkFun Twitter account tells you such things as pull count, beer temp, and beer level giving anyone who needs to able to remotely monitor their kegs a leg up on the situation. Collecting and organizing all of the information is done with four pressure sensors (one one each leg) to monitor remaining beer, a temperature sensor (self explanatory), and a magnetic switch/sensor located by the tap handle to keep track of handle pulls.
I have definitely got to get myself a keg and try this out! If all you want is SparkFun keg updates and you’ve got nothing else to do, add @SparkFunKeg to your Twitter account. But, if you want a more in depth, “how-to” look at this shinning example of innovation and geeky beauty, SparkFun is your stop.
I didn’t think beer/Twitter could get any better or be used more interestingly. Did you?
The Awesomer > SparkFun Electronics
Whether you agree or disagree with the Chinese Government’s policies, one that should be universally condemmed is that of forcing spyware on your computer. The software in question, “Green Dam Youth Escort” filtering software is claimed to be there “for the kiddies”, protecting them from all of the trials and tribulations of the internet. Besides the reports of massive security holes in this less than legal software, it appears that the almight iron glove supports theft as CyberSitter developer Solid Oak has claimed to have found equally massive amounts of stolen code. Super! Naturally, Solid Oak wants shipments haulted and is in the process of filling out a lawsuit. Tisk tisk. Seems as if that heavy handed approach is coming back to bite them them you know where. Karma is indeed a bitch. But then again, that isn’t there thing…is it?
**Update** China has made a big 180 and doing something very un-China like due to vast amounts of criticism from various sectors public and private. Apparently the Chinese government is now stating that users can un-install the Green Dam software without facing any penalties or sanctions. +1 for the Chinese people!
Source: Engadget, BBC, Image Source
