Info Laptop

How robots could look more dignified

You may or may not be familiar with Arduino – the open-source microcomputer that lets you use a basic programming language to control electronic circuits.

If you’re not, that last sentence probably went whooshing over your head, so click play on the video above to see what it’s all about. Royal College of Art Animation student Tom Judd created the eyebrow hat as part of his final body of work.

Judd says: “The concept came about whilst thinking about botox users and their wonderfully emotionless faces. The eyebrow hat allows its wearer to express themselves by altering the pitch and height of each synthetic brow using the lightweight controller. The result is a dignified look that friends and family will admire”.

We agree completely, and hope that the eyebrow hat goes into production in the near future.

Read

Related links:

• News – Mr Asahi real-life robotic barman revealed
• Link – Eyebrow Hat
• Via – @ohskylab

Tags:
Gadgets Robots Dad Video

VIDEO: Arduino-based eyebrow hat developed originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:59:08 +0100

… More Info

New features mimic Google Earth

Google’s added some rather impressive new controls to its API that allows the use of 3D viewpoints and perspective. The results are pretty spectacular, as can be seen in the demo above.

Google says: “With a perspective map, the map is projected on a viewport (the screen) using a virtual point of reference in front of the screen (the camera). These three components (the map, the viewport and the camera) form a perspective on the viewport which gives the illusion of depth perception to the map”.

So there you go. Control of roll, pitch and yaw is available, and all can be employed using the mouse and combinations of shift and ctrl. Those are similar to the controls available in Google Earth, which begs the question – how long will it be until Google Earth is viewable in a browser?

There’s already a shipping simulator for Google earth. Now that roll, pitch and yaw are possible, surely a flight sim is in the offing, too?

Read

Related links:

• News – Google Maps for Mobile hits version 3.2
• Via – Insideria

Tags:
Software Online Car And GPS Google Google Maps Google Earth

Google Maps gets some perspective originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:49:29 +0100

… More Info

Switching from a desktop computer to a laptop doesn’t always mean you have to sacrifice quality speakers. In fact, if you aren’t happy with the weak performance of your notebook’s built-in speakers Altec Lansing has two impressive options for you with their new “Expressionist” series of desktop speakers. We took a close look and an even closer listen to the Expressionist Bass and the Expressionist Plus to find out whether these attractive speakers sound and good as they look. … More Info

While Windows 7 Family Pack will not be available in the UK

Microsoft has announced the details of its Windows Anytime Upgrade option for Windows 7, as well as news of a Windows 7 Family Pack.

With the netbook market an influential factor, the Windows Anytime Upgrade scheme sees Microsoft offering consumers a way to upgrade their OS to the next version up of Windows 7, so someone with Windows 7 Starter on their netbook might want to upgrade (although surely only some hardware will support more sophisticated versions of the OS?). Microsoft explains:

“Some people who purchase a small notebook PC with Windows 7 Starter may find that over time they want to have more scope for personalisation and more entertainment features, as well as the more sophisticated functionality (such as XP virtualisation and Domain Join) that they have on their main PC at home. WAU allows them to upgrade to Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate with ease”.

Making the leap from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium is priced at £69.99. Starter to Professional is £119.99. Starter to Ultimate is £139.99. Home Premium to Professional is £119.99, Home Premium to Ultimate £124.99 and Professional to Ultimate is £84.99.

In addition, the company has confirmed it is to offer a Windows 7 Family Pack that will let consumers install the same copy of Windows 7 Home Premium on three different PCs. It will be available in the US and Canada – but not in the UK.

The reason for this is down to the well-publicised EU ruling that, for antitrust reasons, from now on will not allow Microsoft to bundle Internet Explorer along with the new OS. As the family pack is a “upgrade SKU” so can’t be offered without IE, Microsoft is sticking to its guns and not even attempting to offer a lower-priced work around for UK- and EU-based consumers.

You happy with that? Have your say in the comments box below.

Tags:
Software Microsoft Windows Software upgrades Operating Systems Biz Netbooks Internet Explorer EU

Microsoft announces Windows Anytime Upgrade originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:37:40 +0100

… More Info

Modern Warfare 2 pricing unpopular

Pocket-lint readers have slammed Activision for the pricing on its forthcoming military shooter Modern Warfare 2. The company has said that it’ll be on sale for £55, but 67% of users we polled thought that this was “too much”.

Activision attempts to justify it by saying “If you look at the amount it costs to see a movie at the cinema or play a DVD, you watch it once and you’re done. A £55 game of this quality is far, far better value”, however Pocket-lint commenter Alex Clements said:

“I think marking up the price will put gamers off which could lead to more of a financial loss for Activision that if they had left the price alone. Their market largely comprises of students and parents, who I do not believe will be able to afford this much for a single game”.

Another commenter, Dale, suggested this may increase piracy: “No wonder people illegally download games. I would have been more than willing to spend £30 on this. But because of the price I will be downloading it when it’s released on a BitTorrent site”.

Codemasters board member Chris Deering told hardware website Bit-tech that it’s tricky to price triple-A games: “In order to price these games at a level where they would support an industry [as strongly as] they did ten years ago, they’d have to be sold at £70″.

“Consumers won’t spend more, but to write the game, publishers are having to spend more than ever before. That’s the key problem… there are lots of things you can get for less than the relative value of paying 50p an hour for a very high end game”.

Other developers have toyed with alternative payment strategies, such as micropayments, subscription fees and community-funded games. However, the innovation appears to be coming from the lower end of the market – indie games – rather than big budget studios.

Related links:

• News – Activison slaps high price on latest Call of Duty game
• Via – Bit-tech

Tags:
Gaming Xbox 360 PS3 Activision Statistics Polls

67% of Pocket-lint readers say £55 "too much" for games originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:28:50 +0100

… More Info