When my boss sent the link to Brando’s Bluetooth speaker I thought it was going to be a coffee cup that doubled as a speaker. I’ve clearly been out of touch with this wacky company. Because of course this is their take on a coffee cup speaker.
Just look at where its buttons and switches are. *slow clap*
The foam in this cappuccino of craziness is its price: Brando is selling the speaker for $52 (USD). Keep fighting the weird fight guys.
These days, there are projectors small enough that you can easily mount them wherever you want. But the Beam smart projector provides an even more convenient option, because it screws into and gets power from E26 and E27 light sockets.
The projector does have a small flat side so you can leave it on a flat surface, but it won’t be as stable as when it’s screwed into a light socket. If you do choose to mount it in a socket, you can use it to project a virtual gaming surface onto your tabletop.
Aside from its unique mounting solution, Beam’s Android-based OS lets you automate the device with if-then macros. For example, you can have it turn on at certain times, open a specific program based on who’s nearby (or at least whose mobile device is nearby) and more.
While it doesn’t have HDMI or USB inputs – which you won’t be able to reach when it’s screwed in anyway – the projector has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. It will also have iOS and Android remote control apps.
Sadly, Beam falls flat when it comes to the most important aspect. Its LEDs produce a respectable (for a pico projector) 100 lumens, but it can only project an 854×480 display and only has couple of tiny 2W speakers built in. That may change between now and when it’s actually released, but until then don’t expect this to be the center of your entertainment setup.
Pledge at least $369 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive a Beam smart projector as a reward.
[via Gadgetify]
Head-mounted displays (HMD) have been around for years, though they tend to be prohibitively expensive. Caputer Labs is touting its Seer as an augmented reality display, though it could end up simply being a cheap HMD instead.
Seer is meant to project and magnify a smartphones’ display and will work with smartphones that have screens between 4″ to 6″. Its mirror reflects the smartphones’ display onto a single lens that’s a few inches in front of the wearer’s eyes. Caputer Labs claims the view from the 100º field-of-view lens can be the equivalent of looking at a 200″ screen from 8ft. away.
Despite the enticing claims in its pitch video, Seer has no sensors of its own and relies completely on apps and the ever fragmented world of smartphone hardware for augmented reality features. On one hand, this helps drive the product’s price down and gives developers more freedom to use the tools they’re comfortable with. On the other hand, that makes Seer the Google Cardboard of augmented reality: a barebones display that has no interactive capabilities. Check out Seer’s demo videos and you’ll see what I mean:
The VR mode mentioned in the demo videos involves attaching a light-blocking plate over the Seer’s lens. In other words, Seer’s VR mode simply means making the display opaque; it’s still not stereoscopic 3D. Caputer Labs will also release a Seer variant that has a 5″ 1080p LCD display with an HDMI output, so instead of putting a smartphone in it you’ll connect it to a console or PC.
Unless millions of people buy it – turning it into a standard of sorts – Seer’s success as an augmented reality display is suspect. But if it’s well built I can see people getting one just so they can have a large display on the go. That’s well and good, but it’s hardly Tony Stark territory.
Pledge at least $99 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive a Seer headset as a reward. The Seer with a 5″ display is offered as a reward for pledges of at least $198.
[via Road to VR]
Video killed the radio star, but podcasts revived him. Roderick Mann combined his love for podcasts with the beauty and tactility of old radios in Podtique.
Podtique has the body of a 1936 Goldentone radio, but most of its guts have been replaced by modern components. Roderick used a BeagleBone Black to store and play podcasts. He also used an Audio Technica codec, a Sparkfun amplifier and a cheap 4″ speaker.
As I said, the Podtique doesn’t stream audio from podcast feeds. Instead Roderick loads podcasts as mp3 files organized into playlists on the BeagleBone Black, then “tunes in” to them using the frequency switch knob on the radio. The beauty of Roderick’s work is that he simulated the sounds of switching between radio stations. As you switch from one playlist to another, Podtique gradually reduces the sound of the current playlist, adds static noise and then gradually increases the sound of the next playlist.
Get off my lawn and head to Roderick’s blog for more on Podtique. For those interested in using a BeagleBone for a similar project, Roderick says he’s willing to make a custom cape (a BeagleBone add-on board) that has a DAC, amplifier, LED interface, power management and battery charging if he receives enough demand for it.
[via Evil Mad Scientist]
Instructables member Mister M loves to convert old gadgets into their newer incarnations. For his latest project, he turned a 1981 Sharp VC-2300H portable VCR into a media center powered by the Raspberry Pi. Thanks to its tall boombox-like shape, Mister M was able to add a 15″ HD screen on the back of the VCR.
Mister M removed most of the VCR’s components but chose to keep the tape eject mechanism intact for that old school charm. But he wasn’t planning on playing VHS tapes on it so he used an old tape to hide four powered USB ports. He also placed electroluminescent strips and the Raspberry Pi logo on the cassette.
He loaded Raspbmc on his Raspberry Pi B+ as his media center software. He then mounted the Pi on the side of the VCR where a handful of ports used to be to make it easier to remove or install.
One thing that you may have taken for granted if you’re not familiar with the original VCR is Mister M’s paint job. The Raspberry coat blends well with the gadget’s style.
Head to Instructables for more on how Mister M put this mod together.
Fuhu is known for Nabi, its brand of kid-friendly tablets. The current top of the line Nabi is the Big Tab HD 24, a 24″ tablet. But this year Fuhu is expanding the Big Tab line with 32″, 43″, 55″ and 65″ models, with the latter two equipped with a 4K display. You whippersnappers and your fancy toys.
Aside from the expected WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, the new Big Tab tablets will also have NFC, an HDMI input and up to 40-point capacitive touch. They will run on NVIDIA’s new Tegra X1 mobile chip, which is designed to handle 4K videos and “PC-like” gaming.
The tablets have a kid-friendly mode, but you can also unlock their full capabilities at any time and run them like a normal Android tablet.
In case you didn’t watch the videos, the new Nabi Big Tabs will be released later this year. The 55″ tablet will cost $2500 (USD) while the 65″ tablet will go for $4000.
[via Fuhu, Network World & Laptop Mag via Gadgetify]
Last year, Microsoft Research made headlines with its IllumiRoom concept, which extends video from a console or media player to the walls and objects around the TV. A company called Catopsys is working on an similar but theoretically much better version of IllumiRoom called Immersis.
Immersis displays videos from a computer via a DVI connection. Similar to IllumiRoom, Immersis uses a projector with a proprietary 180º fisheye lens and a projection mapping algorithm to create an immersive effect. That is, it analyzes the dimensions of the projection surface or surfaces and adjusts its projection to fit the surface(s).
But while IllumiRoom requires that videos and games be made specifically for the technology, Catopsys claims that Immersis will work with practically any game that uses a real-time 3D engine. It can also display 360º videos and 360º photos that are based on Google’s Photosphere format. That being said, Catopsys will also release plugins for Unreal Engine and Unity so that developers can tailor their games to Immersis.
Another advantage of Immersis is that not only can you use it to extend video that’s being fed to a TV, monitor, etc., you can actually use Immersis as your only video output device. This makes the projection more seamless, which is great if your TV is a lot smaller than the area around it.
Pledge at least $500 (USD) on Kickstarter to get an Immersis developer kit or at least $1,100 to get the retail version as a reward.
[via Slash Gear]
We have seen some crazy folks waiting in lines at Apple stores around the world when new iPhones are launching. Sometimes there are hundreds of folks in these lines. Recently in Japan, one Apple Store offered up some items called “Lucky Bags” that are more in line with what we would call grab bags here in the States. In other words, it’s a bag you buy for little money that might have something of value inside.
The Apple Store Lucky Bags are known for being very good deals for some folks. The bags have in the past had MacBook Airs, iPads, and other valuable items inside. They sell for about $300. When the Apple store in Sapporo, Japan announced that the bags would go on sale, lots of geeks showed up and got in line. Things started out cold, but got much worse.
These folks were sitting in line huddled in the snow by the end of the day just for the chance of landing a Lucky Bag with some goodies inside. At least the Apple Store workers rolled out hot cans of corn soup for the people waiting in line. Apparently, the worst of the Lucky Bags came packed with an iPod touch and some other trinkets, while the best ones had an iPad Air 2 or an MacBook Air. Would you wait in the snow for hours for a grab bag full of Apple gear?
[via Kotaku]
I have a couple of external hard drives that I bought just a couple of years ago. Together, they’re large enough to use as a foot rest. But now we have this. The Fasetto Link is a wireless external SSD encased in a rugged wristband that’s just a tad larger than a watch.
You’ll be able to access Link’s content via its file management and media playback app, which will be released for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android. Just like other wireless hard drives, no Internet connection is needed to access Link’s contents. Link can stream to up to seven devices simultaneously.
Fasetto claims that Link’s 2000mAh battery is good for 2 weeks on standby and 12 hours of streaming per charge. Its rubber case is UV-resistant, shockproof and waterproof up to 15m.
The Link will be available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB capacities. Pledge at least $199 (USD) on Indiegogo to receive a Link as a reward. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to try and strap my WD MyBook to my wrist.
[via Gadgetify]
With their chicken-wire like appearance, I thought that electrostatic speakers like those produced by MartinLogan were the weirdest of its kind. Until now. Behold, the Viotone M One, a speaker that pipes its sound through a violin.
The Viotone M One’s 8″ woofer and 1.5″ tweeter face upwards towards the violin up top, routing the sound through the instrument’s body and strings. Three Pascal UMAC Class D amplifiers totaling 1500W power the speaker. According to Viotone’s master craftsman Zuliang Wu, “Even to a trained musician, it will be very difficult to distinguish string music coming from the Viotone versus an actual violin being played. The sound is simply that real.”
As if that wasn’t spectacular enough, with a push of a button you can make the pedestal’s outer case open up to reveal its speaker assembly.
Viotone crafts each violin for the M One by hand using 300-year old wood. That alone takes a month to complete. Couple that with its bespoke options and you get one expensive treat for the eyes and ears. If you have $25,000 (USD) to spare and room for a huge ass block of wood with a violin on top, contact Viotone at sales@junoaudio.com to order the M One.