Peripherals

STMicroelectronics’ 3-axis MEMS gyroscope gives a new level of control to your mobile

trialsoft — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:16:29 +0000

Man, talk about timely. We heard right around 11 months ago that MEMS gyroscopes would be hitting an array of handsets in 2009, and while it’s looking like that estimate will be just a touch off, you won’t catch up kvetching with “early 2010.” STMicroelectronics has just announced its new 3-axis MEMS gyroscope, which promises 360 degree “angular-rate detection for high-precision 3D gesture and motion recognition in mobile phones, game controllers, personal navigation systems and other portable devices.” The gyro is said to provide two separate outputs for each of the three axes at the same time: a 400dps full-scale value for slow motion, and a 1,600dps full-scale value to detect and measure speedy gestures and movements. We’re told that samples of the tech are available now with mass production scheduled for Q1 2010; and yeah PSP, it’s totally cool if you keep sweating. NGage is about to be back… with a vengeance!

[Via FarEastGizmos]

BrailleNote Apex claims to be the thinnest, lightest notetaker for the blind

amromis — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:05:06 +0000

We don’t know what it’s like to be blind, but we often suffer from acute blogger’s eye fatigue and would love nothing more to pound out our ramblings in a no-look manner — if only we could read them back afterward without letting all those ultra-harsh light particles and / or waves back into our brains. Well, a Braille display and Braille keyboard obviously solves that problem, and the BrailleNote Apex from HumanWare is purportedly the thinnest and lightest notetaker for the blind yet. It runs Windows CE 6, with a decent variety of accessible software, and is targeted at serious students and professionals, with 8GB of built-in flash storage, an SD card slot, WiFi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, and a trio of USB ports. No word on a price or release date, but it sounds pretty kitted out, and these things typically don’t come cheap.

Razer gets back to basics with $50 Abyssus gaming mouse

marykay — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:50:58 +0000

Razer’s been on somewhat of a tear here lately with new input peripherals, and while most of the new stuff has been somewhat radical (or extremely radical, in some cases), the outfit is taking a step back with the Abyssus. The ambidextrous wired gaming mouse is just about the most vanilla product Razer has ever slapped its name on, but that’s not to say it’s unviable. In fact, many may appreciate the normalcy in design coupled with the 3.5G 3500dpi infrared sensor and on-the-fly sensitivity switching. It’s available now in the outfit’s webstore for $49.99 (or €39.99 in Europe), while the rest of the globe should see it emerge next month.

Gallery: Razer gets back to basics with $50 Abyssus gaming mouse

Regen’s ReNu solar panel system in the flesh

solovekaaqw — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:50:58 +0000

While great in concept, solar powered gadgets just never seem to be very practical at the end of the day. Regen’s tweak on the formula might help a little, by stuffing a battery into the solar panel itself, meaning you don’t have to keep your iPod plugged in for a painfully long trickle charge or juggle multiple elements to make it work (there’s a USB plug on the side). ReNu also has batteries in its various docking accessories as well, all of which can be charged by the ReNu panel or by AC power. It’s not going to turn the emerging market on its head, and at $199 for the ReNu unit by itself it’s not cheap either, but it seems like a logical direction for sun-fueled devices — and looks pretty cool doing it.

Gallery: Regen’s ReNu solar panel system in the flesh

Vestax Spin might just be the USB-based DJ rig of your dreams, only shinier

amitg — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:50:56 +0000

Your USB-based DJ-ing options aren’t exactly all that limited these days, but there’s few rigs out there quite as eye-catching as this new Spin controller developed by Vestax and Algoriddim. Designed for Mac users only, this one packs two touch sensitive jog wheels front and center, along with a full multi-channel audio system complete with the requisite sliders, mic input (and included microphone), audio output, and of course that USB connection, which also eliminates the need for a power adapter. On the software side of things you’ll get Algoriddim’s djay 3 mixing application, plus some out-of-the-box integration with iTunes to let you easily pull tracks for your mix. Sold? Then you can snag this one right now for $250.

[Via OhGizmo!]

Emotiv EPOC human-computer interface supposedly on track to ship next month

solovekaaqw — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:19:35 +0000

Remember that Emotiv EPOC mind-controlled USB controller from last year? Well, we’ve been dreaming of controlling a game of pong with merely our thought waves ever since, and it looks like our wish might at last be granted. According Emotiv’s site, the $299 headgear will be shipping in limited quantities to US customers on December 21st, just in time for your thoughts of the holidays to coalesce into a concentrated, computer-controlling tip. The device works with 14 “saline sensors” applied to the head, in addition to a gyroscope for controlling a camera or cursor, and it comes with the “EmoKey” software to define keyboard shortcuts to be activated by your various expressions and thoughts. Will computer use ever be the same? Yes, probably.

[Thanks, Dan]

Matrox pushes eight displays with a single-slot PCIe x16 GPU

amitg — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:19:33 +0000

Matrox has been distancing itself from the consumer market for awhile now, but even we couldn’t resist this one. Hailed as the planet’s first single-slot octal graphics card, the M9188 supports up to eight DisplayPort or single-link DVI outputs, and if you’re up for getting really crazy, you can hook up a pair to drive 16 displays from a single workstation. The card itself packs 2GB of memory and supports resolutions as high as 2,560 x 1,600 (per output), which should be just enough to create the Google Earth visualization system you’ve always dreamed of. In related news, the outfit also introduced the far weaker 1GB M9128, which can drive a grand total of two displays for $259. Oh, and as for pricing on the octal guy? Try $1,995 when it ships later this quarter.

Yeti USB Condenser Mic gets certified by THX, fellow Yetis

irrannash — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:19:33 +0000

Blue Microphones, the same company responsible for the heralded Snowball, is today introducing the planet’s first THX certified microphone… or so it says. The hilariously named Yeti USB Condenser Mic ($149.99) touts condenser capsules in a triple array, four total patterns (omni, cardoid, stereo, bidirectional), a zero-latency headphone output (with volume control for direct monitoring), an adjustable microphone gain control and a mute button. As expected, the USB mic will play nice with both Mac and Windows-based systems, and if you’ve been looking high and low for a mic that gets an oh-so-coveted stamp of approval from Sir Abominable Snowman, you can finally call off the hunt next month.

OpenOffice distances itself from OpenOfficeMouse, joins everyone else

olcia1802 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:51:53 +0000

Well, the OpenOfficeMouse rightly caused a bit of skepticism when it was officially announced earlier this week, and it turns out it is something non-involved after all — just not the way you might think. Yes, the multi-buttoned mouse is still all too real (in prototype form, at least), and supposedly set for a release… sometime, but it seems that mouse’s creator got a bit ahead of himself in slapping the OpenOffice name on it. As it happens, the mouse was apparently officially presented at the recent OOoConference in Italy to judge the reaction from the OpenOffice community, but the relationship ended there, and the mouse’s creator was never given permission to market the mouse with the OpenOffice name (probably a wise move). Not one to be deterred, WarMouse now seems to simply be referring to the mouse as the OOMouse — don’t worry though, you can still call it “ugly.”

Update: The OOMouse creators have contacted us to give their side of the story, claiming that they have emails granting permission to use OpenOffice.org’s logo. In their words, “Due to the massive confusion about OpenOffice.org producing the mouse and the numerous questions about the mouse working with programs other than OpenOffice.org, we have mutually agreed with Sun to change the name of the mouse and cease using the OpenOffice.org logo.”

PowerGenix NiZn rechargeable AA batteries: finally, some cells worth buying

solovekaaqw — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:18:11 +0000

It’s rare if a month flies by without some random university or DIYer proclaiming that the next major jump in battery technology is just over the horizon, and yet, here we are — in the year 2009 — still buying overpriced AA cells from Duracell and Energizer that deplete far too quickly given the technology available. Heck, even those standard rechargeable cells have seen their performance degrade hastily in our experiences, and we’ve been longing for a rechargeable cell that was actually worth its salt for a long, long time. Frankly, we passed off the PowerGenix NiZn battery as just another slice of vaporware when it was first uncovered in late 2008, but after they went on sale this summer, we decided to really put a set through the paces. Click on to find out how we feel about ‘em after months and months of hardcore usage.
One of the major concerns with traditional NiMh rechargeables is just how weak they are, and just how quickly their longevity declines. With few exceptions, most of these cells can’t actually power a dedicated hotshoe flash for more than a few minutes (if at all), and any application that demands a serious amount of power generally asks too much from these pricey tubes. Furthermore, these batteries also have a tendency to go from fully charged to empty faster and faster as time goes on, and while we understand that said phenomenon is simply a harsh reality when dealing with devices such as this, we always felt that the performance decline was unacceptable given the price premium attached to ‘em.

Enter PowerGenix, a little known company with a lot of hustle and a pocket full of promises. The company is selling 1.6v AA Nickel Zinc rechargeables at a variety of outlets now, with the MRSP for a 4-pack sitting at $14.99; the special charger (needed for charging NiZn batteries) can be purchased along with four cells for $34.99 (again, that’s MSRP). Needless to say, both are available for less if you poke around a bit. We began using these with exceptionally low expectations, and six wedding shoots later, we’re now grinning from ear to ear. Our Nikon Speedlight SB-600 chews through standard batteries like a voracious beast, only squeezing out around 200 to 300 shots on a warm, lucky day. The PowerGenix cells, however, allowed us to fire the flash anywhere between 300 and 400 times in all conditions, and even after running them bone dry and juicing them back up for months on end, we’ve yet to see ‘em take a performance hit.

Naturally, these will also keep your wireless keyboard, mouse or remote ticking for a long, long time, but it’s their ability to shine even in high-drain applications that really impressed us. The economics of it just make these tough to ignore: a 4-pack of Energizer’s ‘Ultimate Lithium’ AA cells can be had for around $7 to $10, while the 4-pack of PowerGenix batteries cost just a few bucks more (charger notwithstanding). If you’re a power user that eats through 8, 12 or more AA cells at every stop, it’s a no brainer to make the switch to NiZn. If you find yourself buying batteries around once per year, you’re probably better off sticking with your current habits. But hey — at least there’s finally a great solution for those of us who’ve been procuring more batteries than toilet paper over the past few years.