Showing posts with label Android. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Android. Show all posts

2012-07-05

LifeWatch V: Android-based Healthcare Smartphone

LifeWatch V: Android-based Healthcare Smartphone Packed with Medical Sensors


LifeWatch AG (Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland) has presented the LifeWatch V, a feature-packed healthcare smartphone for patients and health conscious consumers. At its core, the LifeWatch V is a pretty standard Android-based phone. However, what sets it apart is the presence of a plethora of medical sensors powering seven health tests, combined with wellness-related applications and cloud-based services. The health tests are operated by placing a finger on one of the sensors, allowing users to measure, track and analyze their medical measurements, take corrective action, plan meals, activities and more.


Tests Overview | LifeWatchV

The LifeWatch V not only tests ECG, body temperature, blood glucose, heart rate, oxygen saturation, body fat percentage and stress levels (heart rate variability). It contains health tests and apps, test result delivery, historical data analysis and even physician connectivity.


LifeWatch V News, Videos, Reviews and Gossip - Gizmodo

You'll still want to keep up regular doctor visits if you are dealing with a medical condition since devices like these are usually far less accurate when compared to dedicated hospital equipment. But with full data connectivity it means you can keep your medical practitioner abreast of your condition between checkups. And more importantly, it minimizes the number of medical-related smartphone accessories you have to tote around.


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2012-06-10

Infinitec's Pocket TV Makes any TV a Smart TV

3.3″ HDMI-dongle Android Pocket TV funded within 1 week on Kickstarter | Ars Technica

Hardware startup Infinitec is building a tiny Android computer housed in an HDMI dongle that is only 3.3 inches long. The product, which is called Pocket TV, was fully funded on Kickstarter within the first week of landing on the popular crowd-funding website.

The Pocket TV: Makes any TV a Smart TV by Infinitec — Kickstarter

Convert your TV into a Smart TV

The Pocket TV is a small pocket-sized dongle that connects to the HDMI port of any regular TV (even your 5-year-old TV) and converts it into a Smart TV. It's basically a fully functioning micro-computer the size of your thumb which runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) much like today's latest smartphones. The processing power in the Pocket TV will allow you to display Android on your TV turning it into a mega-sized tablet (just imagine a 50 inch iPad). You can download apps from the Google Play Store to stream videos, play games, connect with your friends on Facebook, catch up on news, do some work or simply surf the web. You can even attach a video camera to do Skype video-calls… Yes, all that on your TV! 



Infinitec Unveils Pocket TV, an Android 4.0 Based HDMI Micro-Computer that Makes Any TV a Smart TV - The Paramus Post - Greater Paramus News and Lifestyle Webzine

The Pocket TV can be used for a number of multimedia capabilities including:
• Streaming Video: Watch YouTube, Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Videos on your TV in HD with up to 1080p resolution rather than on a small computer screen.
• Listen to music: The Pocket TV acts as a streaming device for music so you can play all of the content that’s on your computer or home network drive (NAS). That means you access not only your downloaded music but also your movies, TV shows and even your holiday pictures right on your home entertainment system.
• Gaming: You can now play thousands of games such as Angry Birds or racing and strategy games on a big screen instead of on your small screen smart phone or tablet.
• Social Media: Check your Facebook, Twitter and other social media apps on your big screen.
• News: Get CNN, BBC, Google Currents, Pulse, Flipboard and other similar news apps and access to on-demand news stories on your TV.
• Work: Edit documents, read PDFs, review PowerPoint, do video conferences and send and receive emails from a 50-inch monitor.
• Google Maps: Tired of squinting at your screen trying to find road directions? Yes we know you won’t be able to take your TV with you on the road, but the satellite imaging is insane on a 50-inch plasma!
• Web Browsing: Enjoy browsing the web with the Dolphin browser, Opera, or even Chrome and sync it with your laptop's browser.
• Thousands more apps: The Google Play store is full of apps for all types of users and most of them work on the Pocket TV.

Turn Any TV Into a Smart TV | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Going beyond the offerings by Google and Apple, the Pocket TV will turn your standard HDTV set into a veritable jumbo tablet. On top of Smart TV standards like Web browsing, Netflix, and media playback, the device runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, bringing with it the vast selection of apps in the Google Play app market.

The Pocket TV, however, won't transform your set into a giant touch screen, instead offering two options for navigating through apps and content. The first is a standard IR remote that ships with every unit, providing fairly pedestrian control options like a direction pad and playback buttons. The second is the Air Remote, which includes a gyroscopic sensor and QWERTY keyboard for a more interactive experience. The Pocket TV will also be compatible with the Google Remote TV app, transforming your smartphone into a TV remot


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2012-05-25

The APC 8750, A $50 Android PC

APC 8750, $49 energy-saving computer, wants to help people connect to the web  - NY Daily News

Taiwan-based computer chip manufacturer VIA Technologies Inc. has unveiled an inexpensive and compact computer, hoping to help drive innovation in the compact computing market.

The PC, called the APC 8750, measures just 17cm x 8.5cm (almost half the size of Apple’s Mac mini). It is designed with the main focus of getting people connected to the internet and offers an alternative to (more expensive) Windows PCs.

The APC runs a customized version of Google’s Android operating system that is optimized for keyboard and mouse input.


APC » About



$49 Android PC System

APC was not built like an ordinary PC. For openers, we started with an awareness that the purpose of a computer is to connect to the Internet. It is the Internet that now defines computing. When you begin here, magic happens.

Expensive, overpowered CPUs and bloated software are no longer relevant. With this awareness, we were able to drop power consumption to the point of making an energy-saving light-bulb jealous.

Source: APC » About



VIA announces APC 8750 Raspberry Pi competitor | bit-tech.net

Based around a WonderMedia ARM11 processor running at 800MHz - 100MHz faster than the stock Raspberry Pi BCM2835 chip - and with 512MB of DDR3 RAM - twice that of the Raspberry Pi, and faster to boot - the APC 8750 is certainly impressive at first glimpse. Additional features above and beyond that of its credit-card sized competitor include 2GB of on-board NAND flash storage, four USB 2.0 ports, microphone input as well as analogue audio output and an analogue VGA connection in addition to HDMI.

Not everything about the APC 8750 will impress Pi fans, however: for no readily apparent reason, the device is limited to 720p output (1280x720) through its HDMI port, while the Pi manages 1080p (1920x1080) or higher. The system also requires an external power supply, adding to its already sizable dimensions. Finally, the device is also more expensive, costing $49 to the Pi's $35.


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2012-02-23

Ubuntu for Android

Ubuntu Android add-on designed to replace PCs - Computerworld

Canonical has released a version of Ubuntu that can drive PC monitors from Android phones
IDG News Service - Canonical has unveiled software that will give Android smartphones the ability to run full desktop computer sessions on computer monitors and television sets.
"The processors at the heart of smartphones are approaching the power of low-end laptop processors, so we use the horsepower to power a desktop experience," said Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth. "If you link your phone to a computer monitor and keyboard, then the phone can drive a full desktop session."

The company launched the software, called Ubuntu for Android, at the Mobile World Congress, being held this week in Barcelona.

The software works as an add-on to the Android mobile operating system, which is also based on Linux. When connected to a computer screen, keyboard and mouse, the software will launch a full desktop environment based on the Ubuntu Unity shell.

Ubuntu for Android | Ubuntu


A full Ubuntu desktop, on your docked Android phone

  • Complete desktop solution for full productivity on docked Android phones
  • Easy to integrate with existing Android phones in development
  • Certified apps for business users from Adobe, Citrix, VMWare and more
  • Drives sales of multi-core phones with faster CPUs, more cores, more RAM and high-end graphics
  • Drive adoption of 4G handsets since office apps shine with low latency and higher bandwidth
  • Canonical leads in ARM Linux support, co-creator of Linaro with ARM
  • Target the enterprise thin client, and emerging market first-PC markets
  • Ubuntu and Android share the same kernel, running at the same time, accessing data and applications
  • The world’s favourite free desktop fully integrated with the world’s favourite open phone






Why Ubuntu for Android can succeed where others failed | Android Central

It's Ubuntu for Android, not Ubuntu on Android

Android runs on the Linux kernel. Ubuntu runs on the Linux kernel. We're looking at one kernel, with modules and drivers for all the hardware, and only the processes presented to the user change based on how the screen is being displayed. Plug your phone into a monitor through the HDMI output, and the processes that run to give you Android on your phone are suspended, and the processes that run to give you Ubuntu on the desktop are initialized. Make sense?
Doing it this way, your desktop experience isn't dependent on the Android OS running on your phone. In other words, it's not really Ubuntu on Android. It's Ubuntu with Android.
It's not a dual-boot solution either -- it's done dynamically and triggered when you plug in an external monitor. Because it's all running off the same kernel, you can just hop back and forth. That's the way it should be done.

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2011-12-24

SPHERES Nasa's Free-Flying Smart Spheres

Nasa tests floating robot servant for Space Station powered by Android phone | Mail Online

Floating robots are everywhere in science fiction. But the difficulty of keeping a heavy object 'floating' on earth has ensured they remain thoroughly ficitonal on our planet.

But in the low-gravity environment of the International Space Station, 240 miles up, it's a different matter.

Nasa has just completed trials of a real, floating robot - a free-flying Smart Sphere which is controlled by a Samsung Nexus phone.
A Nasa astronaut controls one of the Smart Spheres in testing on the Space Station last month: The robots can fly, navigate and record information all by themselves


The Human Exploration Telerobotics project, one of NASA's new, high-value Technology Demonstration Missions, equipped the compact, free-flying satellites -- known as Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient Experimental Satellites, or SPHERES -- with a Samsung Nexus S™ handset that features Google’s open-source Android™ platform.

Each volleyball-sized SPHERES has its own onboard power, propulsion, computing and navigational software. Adding the smartphone transforms the satellite into a free-flying robot, or "Smart SPHERES" -- complete with a compact, low-power, low-cost embedded computer and built-in cameras and sensors to enhance and expand robotic operations.




NASA - The Force is Strong with NASA's Smartphone-Powered Satellite

This close-up view shows three bowling-ball-sized free-flying satellites called Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA.

MIT undergrads flight-test a prototype droid onboard NASA's KC-135 reduced gravity aircraft. Image Credit: NASA.


SPHERES

The MIT Space Systems Laboratory developed the SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites) laboratory environment to provide DARPA, NASA, and other researchers with a long term, replenishable, and upgradable testbed for the validation of high risk metrology, control, and autonomy technologies for use in formation flight and autnomous docking, rendezvous and reconfiguration algorithms. These technologies are critical to the operation of distributed satellite and docking missions such as Terrestrial Planet Finder and Orbital Express.

To approximate the dynamics that will be encountered during these missions, the testbed consists of three small, self-contained vehicles, or "spheres," which can control their relative positions and orientations, and is operable on a 2-D laboratory platform, NASA's KC-135, and the International Space Station. SPHERES draws upon the MODE family of dynamics and control laboratories (STS-40, 42, 48, 62, MIR) by providing a cost-effective laboratory with direct astronaut interaction that exploits the micro-gravity conditions of space.

Here is a video of a recent Test Session aboard the ISS:


Source: SPHERES


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2011-11-01

Google TV Update

Google TV to get massive Android software update - CNN.com

Google announced on its Google TV blog Friday that the platform will be upgraded to Android 3.1 (otherwise known as Honeycomb) for Sony devices Sunday, with the Logitech Revue set-top box getting its upgrade "soon thereafter."

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Google is upgrading TV with Android 3.1 Honeycomb operating system
  • Android Market will open up a variety of applications, with the promise of more
  • Google also hinted at future software updates (Ice Cream Sandwich, anyone?)

The Official Google TV Blog: An Update on Google TV

Friday, October 28, 2011

Today, we’re announcing a software update for Google TV. In this release, we focused on four areas of user feedback:

1. Keep it simple
2. Make it easy to find something worth watching
3. Make YouTube better on TV
4. Bring more apps to TV

This software update will be coming to Sony devices starting early next week and Logitech devices soon thereafter. We look forward in the coming months to announcing new software updates as well as new devices on new chipsets from multiple hardware partners.


Google TV - Overview

Plays nice with the stuff you already have

  • No monthly fee for Google TV
  • Use your current cable or satellite TV service
  • Use your current home Internet connection
    (wired or wireless)

It’s always up to date

  • Google TV updates over the air
  • All updates are free of charge
  • The latest apps are featured in Android Market





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2011-05-15

Google's Android Apps for Cloud Robotics

Google aims to bridge Android, cloud computing with robotics | ZDNet


Cloud computing and robotics could create one fine mashup that preserves battery life, adds capabilities and allows robots to form groups.

That’s the high-level takeaway from Google’s I/O conference this week. Google launched rosjava, a ROS (robot OS) framework in Java that is Android compatible. The move coupled with Google’s Android Open Accessory API, which aims to connect a bevy of devices—phones, bikes, cameras, clocks and other household items highlights how it is positioning the Android operating system as a robotics tool.


rosjava - An implementation of ROS in pure Java with Android support. - Google Project Hosting

rosjava is the first pure Java implementation of ROS.

From ROS.org: ROS is an open-source, meta-operating system for your robot. It provides the services you would expect from an operating system, including hardware abstraction, low-level device control, implementation of commonly-used functionality, message-passing between processes, and package management.

Developed at Google in cooperation with Willow Garage, rosjava enables integration of Android and ROS compatible robots.


Collected from: Cloud Enabled Robots

Related
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2010-02-20

Google Shopper

Clipped from: Google Shopper for Android Goes Live

Google Shopper for Android Goes Live

Google Shopper has just been made available for Android.

The tool is a slick way to find a product you need when you have no idea where to buy it. You can search for products using voice, pictures, barcodes, or plain old text and Google Shopper should indicate the nearest place you can buy it.


Clipped from: Google Shopper for Android

Google Shopper

Shopping smarter with Google Shopper on your Android Phone.

 


Features

  • Detailed product information
  • Scan the covers of books and media
  • Barcode scanning
  • Voice search
  • Save your history and favorites
  • Share your finds with friends 




Clipped from: Official Google Mobile Blog: Shopping smarter with Google Shopper

Google Mobile Blog - New and Views from the Google Mobile Team

Shopping smarter with Google Shopper

Here's an example search based on the Effective Java: Programming Language Guide.


To see Google Shopper in action, watch this video:




Clipped from: Hands-on: Moto Milestone (Droid) multi-touch, Google Shopper | Electronista

Hands-on: Moto Milestone (Droid) multi-touch, Google Shopper

Once you do find a product, the simplicity of the design is both a virtue and a vice. Finding a useful seller, checking details and reading reviews is very fast -- but it's also all you can do. ShopSavvy, by comparison, lets you get a notice when an item falls below a certain price and create wish lists; Google will only let you see your history and star items for later. We'd also like to see a localized element that could prioritize searches by their proximity and tie into Google Maps to help find the closest shop with something in stock.

 
 


Clipped from: Google Shopper Android Application Launches | Android Phone Fans

Google Shopper Android Application Launches


What do you get when you combine Barcode Scanner by ZXing Barcode, Google Goggles and the “Shopping Tab” on Google.com? The Google Shopping Android Application which just launched on Android Market! I quickly downloaded the app and gave it a quick spin in this on-the-fly hands-on review; I literally had downloaded the application 5 minutes before.



Sources:
  1. Google Shopper for Android Goes Live
  2. Google Shopper for Android
  3. Official Google Mobile Blog: Shopping smarter with Google Shopper
  4. YouTube - Google Shopper
  5. Hands-on: Moto Milestone (Droid) multi-touch, Google Shopper | Electronista
  6. Google Shopper Android Application Launches | Android Phone Fans
  7. YouTube - Google Shopper Android Application Launches!
Related:
  1. Google Launches Google Shopper for Android
  2. Google Shopper: A Mobile Shopping Companion
  3. Hands On with Google Shopper for Android - Reviews by PC Magazine
  4. Google Shopper Android App Confuses Me: WTF Is Google Doing? | Gizmodo Australia
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2009-08-22

Cloud Telecomputers' Glass Android Desk Phone

clipped from gizmodo.com

Cloud Telecomputers' Glass Platform Puts Android in a Desktop Phone


This isn't the first Android desktop phone we have seen, but Cloud Telecomputers' 8-inch touchscreen Android Glass phone keeps the old corded handset intact and bakes in a load of communications functions.

clipped from www.popsci.com


Prototype Phone Platform Brings Google's Android to Your Desk

This concept's 8-inch screen is among the largest around for viewing Android, meaning there's more real estate for app developers to play with. The platform itself can sync with Outlook to make calls right from your contact list, and has Bluetooth connectivity to hook up your cell and an HD speakerphone.

Since Glass is only a platform and not a full-blown product right now, release dates and prices will have to wait for Cloud's partners to pipe up. In the meantime, though, the company estimates the end products will run anywhere from $600 to $800.

Hardware Architecture

clipped from www.youtube.com

Glass User Interface

clipped from www.youtube.com

Glass Call Handling

clipped from www.youtube.com

Glass CRM Integration


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Sources:
Cloud Telecomputers' Glass Platform Puts Android in a Desktop Phone - Cloud telecomputer glass android phone - Gizmodo
Prototype Phone Platform Brings Google's Android to Your Desk | Popular Science
Cloud Telecomputers
YouTube - Glass User Interface
YouTube - Glass Call Handling
YouTube - Glass CRM Integration
Related:
A desktop phone with the heart of a cellphone | DVICE
Android for landlines lands | Electricpig
Cloud Telecomputer Glass slaps Android onto an awesome touchscreen desk phone - SlashGear
Cloud Telecomputers Phone for the office desk » Coolest Gadgets
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2009-07-24

NIMble: Touch Revolution's Android Home Devices

clipped from www.forbes.com

Google's Android To Invade Homes

Manufacturers are putting the Web giant's Android software in home management devices and remote controls.

In a sign that Google's Android mobile platform has a future far beyond cellphones, San Francisco-based start-up Touch Revolution says a string of well-known companies will introduce a range of Android-powered household gadgets before the end of the year.

clipped from www.touchrev.com
Touch Revolution :: Revolutionary Touch Devices
clipped from www.touchrev.com
http://www.touchrev.com/press/images/Nimble1.jpg
clipped from www.touchrev.com
http://www.touchrev.com/press/images/Nimble2.jpg
clipped from www.touchrev.com
http://www.touchrev.com/press/images/Nimble3.jpg
clipped from www.youtube.com
clipped from www.pcworld.com

Android's Next Stop: High-Tech Remotes For Your Home

Touch Revolution tells Forbes the new Android devices will come in a variety of shapes -- some with bases for tabletop use, others with flat shapes built more for holding or wall-embedding. Touch Revolution is handling the touchscreen and Android side of the deal, while the other companies are creating the hardware and managing the branding. The gadgets, according to the Forbes interview, will be available in the United States, as well as in other unspecified countries.


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Sources:
Google's Android To Invade Homes - Forbes.com
Touch Revolution :: Revolutionary Touch Devices
YouTube - NIMble Touch Revolution - Golem.de - CES 2009 - Impressionen
Android's Next Stop: High-Tech Remotes For Your Home - PC World
Related:
Hands-on Touch Revolution’s NIMble Android-powered platform
NIMble Desk Phone-Get Ready For More Google In Your Life! - Hometone
NIMble: $300 Android Desktop Phone Designed by iPhone Engineer - Nimble - Gizmodo
Touch Revolution's household Android devices coming this year -- it's Hammer time!
Google Android Will Soon Control Your Home
iRiver Wave-Home vs. Touch Revolution NIMble: Fight! - PC World
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