Gadgets Future

by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 16th 2008 at 12:11PM
The Phoenix lander has already proven its mettle by finding ice on Mars, and now it’s gone and shown off its quick-thinking skills by shutting down its robotic arm after receiving a command that could have permanently damaged it. The lander apparently did it’s best to find a workaround first, however, but ultimately determined that any further movement would have bent its wrist out of shape. That left NASA engineers scrambling yesterday to come up with some new instructions to send to the lander, and they’re now simply waiting to see if they meet with the robot’s approval.

[Via Slashdot]

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Filed under: Robots

Although it bears the same name as the Navigon 2100 Max which was covered in March this year, this is a totally different device altogether. With a 3.5″ screen, the maps offered are regional and include both UK and Ireland instead of the whole of Europe. It doesn’t have the Lane Assistant Pro that the 2110 Max has, which means no minor road lane assistance, but standard lane assistance will still be provided.The other features found in this device are: -

• Reality view
• Speed camera warnings
• Brightly colored POIs
• Map browser
• Route planning tool
• Map updates (for a year)

The Navigon 2100 retails for approximately $200 and has the option to support TMC traffic info. Cons consist of the occasional satellite signal drop-out and can be unreliable in urban canyons.

Just in case you thought that the Asus Eee PC was one impressive tiny wonder, along comes Gigabyte and their diminutive M528 netbook. Measuring just 152mm x 80mm x 23mm, this small device manages to pack in full PC functionality in such a small form factor. It will be powered by the impressive Intel Atom 800MHz processor and aided by 512MB RAM, and despite the fact that it runs on Linux, it is also able to drop that and get Windows XP up and running without any problems. Power consumption works out to approximately 2.8W on average, which is always a good thing.

Source: Electricpig

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Microsoft does not only dabble in software, they do have their fingers dipped in hardware as well. Case in point, the range of notebook mice as well as the Microsoft Sidewinder gaming mouse. Today we have a leaked image of a new wireless mouse known as the Microsoft Arc. Scant information is available concerning the Arc at this point in time, but we do know that it features a rear half that folds in order to ease your storage woes when traveling. You will be able to pick up this interesting looking hardware this holiday season for $59.95 a pop.

Source: EverythingUSB

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This GPS tracking device was specifically designed to help keep tabs on patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately, often loved ones stricken with this disease can become easily disoriented and can wander off. With the Keruve, tracking them down and preventing a tragic accident becomes an easier task.

The system comes with a special waterproof GPS tracking bracelet with a battery life of 3.5 days, that can only be removed by a special tool. To track a missing loved one or patient, the owner need only consult the display unit to locate them, even if they go indoors thanks to a fallback cell tower tiangulation system when GPS signals can’t reach the bracelet.

On a less serious note, I’m reminded of the wise words from Dr. Cox to J.D. on the television show Scrubs, “No matter where you go in life, always keep an eye out for Johnny the tackling Alzheimer’s patient.” Perhaps if J.D. had one of these new GPS trackers by Keruve, he would have known when to get out of the way.

Currently the Keruve GPS Tracker is being sold in Europe and has a pricetag of €850 (or approximately $1,345 US Dollars).

Read more at Navigadget via Engadget.

EA pulled a big surprise out of the bag at their E3 press conference. Rather than choosing Activision once again, id Software has decided that EA shall publish their forthcoming Tech 5 engine-powered game Rage.

The fiercely independent developer id would never have considered EA if not for the publisher’s EA Partners program. Through that, developers can utilize the best bits of EA, namely marketing, support and global reach, without having to give up any rights to their games or IP.

The decision may come as a surprise to many gamers, but it also came as a surprise to John Carmack. He commented:

I’ll admit that, if you asked me years ago, I still had thoughts that EA was the Evil Empire, the company that crushes the small studios…I’d have been surprised, if you told me a year ago that we’d end up with EA as a publisher … When we went out and talked to people, especially EA Partners people like Valve, we got almost uniformly positive responses from them.

The deal with EA is just for one title, however. id are clear on that, but haven’t ruled out further games going the same root. Doom 4 could potentially get the same deal, but the developer intends to just “shop around” when the time comes.

id can basically do what they want with their games. They self fund the development, own all their own tech and release titles when they are ready. The use of EA Partners is because it’s the best deal for them, they don’t have to give anything up in terms of rights and see it as the best path to take.

This is actually bigger news for EA. They will make a lot of money off the back of this because sales are probably going to be huge and the costs to them are minimal. It also means other developers may be more inclined to consider them as a publisher now they have Valve, Crytek and id on their books.

Read more at GameSpot.com and view the GameSpot Q&A with John Carmack, Tim Willits and David DeMartini.

EliteGroup preparing a new compact laptop Jul 16, 2008
According to vice-president of Elitegroup Computer Systems, Kvana Henry, a new compact mini-laptop models ECS G10IL should appear on sale in September this year. First country dissemination of the United States were selected.

This mini laptop equipped with a 10 - inch screen, supporting HSDPA, a processor Intel Atom, Intel 945 chipset GSE and 2 GB of RAM.

In the forthcoming sale of two modified computer - with the Linux operating system and an 8 GB SSD and Windows XP, plus the hard drive with 80 GB. ECS G10IL also has 1.3 - megapixel camera, three USB-ports, WiFi and Bluetooth modules and card reader class “1 in 4″.

According to the company’s representatives, this concept in the base instrument will cost $ 400.

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Owners of the Dell Latitude XT Tablet laptop will be happy to know their machines now have a new feature, free of charge via a patch.

Rather than wait for Microsoft to get around to adding multi-touch support to Windows, Dell has decided to implement it on their own. Latitude owners can now download and install a firmware update from the Dell support site and start using the new iphone-style interface. Better yet, it works with Windows XP and Vista.

With the upgrade applied you get a number of additional navigation features including:

• Scroll - 2-finger scroll horizontally or vertically
• Zoom – 2-finger drag to zoom in and out
• Programmable double-tap – set the XT up to do something when you tap the screen with 2 fingers e.g. blank the screen or load an application

The multi-touch is also compatible with most applications without modification. This includes web browsers, Google Earth, Microsoft Office and Outlook.

Read more at Dell.com, found via PC Pro

Matthew’s Opinion
It’s surprising the difference such a feature can make to a touchscreen interface. I think the Zoom is probably me favorite new interaction from using an ipod Touch to surf the web. It’s invaluable on a small screen when you want to quickly view detailed info and I’m sure it’s just as useful on the XT.

XT owners will be happy because they are getting new functionality for free. Some of them will have been waiting patiently for this to be implemented by Microsoft, but happily Dell has clearly got tired of waiting and given customers what they want.

The system of warning of allergic reactions from the Essential Sensix Jul 16, 2008 This device will glad everyone, for whom the word “allergy” - not an empty sound. Sensix is a monitoring system for children susceptible to serious allergic reactions. It includes three monitors, physically and aesthetically appropriate for each age group.

When allergic reaction starts, the monitor immediately notify about that parents or guardians, while showing the location of the child and injects necessary medication. Automated epinephrine injection device is more compact and efficient solution than the existing analogues.

Of course, and provided warning that the time had come to replace an injector. Also Sensix system allows to make predictions on what foods may or may not take the patient; truth, this is done by scanning special characters on the packaging product. Conceived device received the “bronze” at the International Design Excellence Award.

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