Tag: touch

Categories
Television

HUBI Stick marries Android and your TV for big-screen bliss

With all this talk of the new Apple TV, it’s easy to forget that he Android platform is blessed with an unending amount of content made specifically for its many variations. While sheer variety is always a good thing, it’s not the best for the device ecosystem.

The result is a fragmented experience that the team behind the HUBI Stick wants to address. The device is a small HDMI dongle that comes in 8GB and 16GB varieties. By plugging it into a supported television, it gives users access to the entirety of the Google Play store. So all manner of internet TV apps—smartphone or tablet versions—along with the dizzying number of games are all fair game. Any smartphone and their embedded sensors (even iPhones) open up the opportunity to have a Wii-like experience when playing video games.

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Categories
Input

Sensel Morph force-sensitive input pad pushes past keyboards and trackpads

The keyboard and trackpad are cornerstones of mobile productivity, but they take up a lot of room. We’ve already seen one crowdfunding approach to combining them but the combination isn’t necessarily greater than the sum of their parts.

The Sensel Morph is a Bluetooth touch input device that’s sensitive to pressure — so sensitive, in fact, that it can pick up the bristles of a paintbrush with its 20,000 embedded sensors. The company is taking advantage of its versatile surface by making available a series of magnetic overlays that have raised surfaces. Some of the first are a DJ control pad, a typing keyboard, a music keyboard, a drum pad and game controller.

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Categories
Music

Whiplash your way to MIDI stardom with the Jambé electronic drum

Most MIDI controllers come in the form of a piano because of the flexibility the instrument provides. While electronic, MIDI-supported drums exist to satiate those who’d rather create beats with something more tactile, such devices can be pretty large and prohibitively expensive.

With the Jambé, Sensorpoint is hoping to ensure that everyone can enjoy a compact and robust drumming experience. This MIDI-supported drum sports ten sensor zones akin to the panels on a soccer ball. The zones are sensitive enough for fingers but durable enough for sticks. The product’s digital nature allowed the company to trade in an obtrusive assortments of knobs for an iOS device instead. With the device’s fully functional iOS app, users can fully configure all aspects of their Jambé experience, from switching kits to downloading additional ones through the device’s in-app store. Two pedal inputs are also present to round out the drumming experience, enabling users to create sounds as chill or as hardcore as they want.

Early birds can grab their own Jambé for $499, while everyone else will have to plunk down $599 for their own. Sensorpoint wants to get Jambé out to backers by August 2015 provided its campaign of $100,000 is reached by April 28.

Novel approaches to MIDI interfaces have long been a popular niche in the crowdfunding world, and those interested in what the Jambé brings to the table should also take a look at Keys and Skoog.

Categories
Input

Type on the go with ease with Qii’s full-sized, rollable, and extremely portable Bluetooth keyboard

The big problem with most smartphone and tablet keyboards is that they are too difficult to type on for very long. Ultimately, a Bluetooth keyboard is required for writing anything substantive in length. Unfortunately, though, many Bluetooth keyboards are poorly designed and not very portable.

Qii solves that dilemma with a clever solution. Qii is a full-sized QWERTY keyboard that can be rolled up and stored in a user’s pocket. The keyboard is versatile insofar as its compatible with Apple, Android, Blackberry, Windows and Palm mobile devices. The keyboard was designed using nanotechnology and organic electronics, according to its Indiegogo campaign video. It costs $99 and is scheduled to ship in October. Its maker is hoping to raise $890,000 by April 3.

Qii could be appealing to many consumers thanks to its portability and compatibility with multiple mobile device operating systems. Its rollaway design makes it a superior portable solution than other foldable keyboards such as the Flyshark or TextBlade. Still, it’s a bit hard to tell from the video how easy Qii will be on users’ fingers.

 

Categories
Video Games

ZRRO Android console supersizes your favorite mobile games on your HDTV

Google’s Android platform is an absolute powerhouse, especially when it comes to gaming. With over one million games to choose from, a lack of choice is never a problem. Even so, the small screen sizes of both smartphones and tablets can’t compete with the gaming experience offered by a full sized HDTV.

patent-claimedThe ZRRO Android 4.4-based gaming console connects to any television and incorporates a proprietary, capacitive touch enabled controller capable of directly translating finger positioning onto the big screen. The controller’s zTouch technology detects fingers from up to 1.2 inches away from the screen, reflecting that positioning with circular cursors on the television itself to better guide users. This eliminates the problem of using a smartphone as a controller and inevitably having the user’s eyes glued to the wrong screen.

ZRRO is powerful machine, sporting a quad core processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and 16GB of storage that can run the full gamut of Android apps with ease. Having access to the entirety of the Android app store from the outset makes it a far superior product to something like the Ouya, even if that access comes at a premium. Android enthusiasts looking to take their mobile gaming up a notich will certainly find ZRRO a compelling product. The $199 ZRRO is expected to ship in September of 2015 provided its campaign reaches its $200,000 goal by March 31, 2015.

 

 

Categories
Lighting Music

BROOGS Smart Lamp charges devices, plays music, and lights the way with portable lantern

The beauty of the new, connected world slowly being forged is the transformation of ordinary parts of the home that are taken for granted into dynamic, living devices that can be interacted with in so many new ways. With this in mind, BROOGS has taken the humble lamp and pumped it full of interesting ideas.

The BROOGS Smart Lamp is minimalist and elegant in every way. The use of touch controls on the slickly curved device itself eliminates the presence of protruding buttons, while the portable LED lantern docked within gently lights surroundings. USB ports on its side allow users to charge their devices, and hiding within is a Bluetooth speaker that can interface with an iOS or Android device to stream music. It doesn’t only use the Bluetooth connection for sound, but also to push notification alerts from a device to the lamp, expressing them with the more than 16 million colors and the limitless combinations they that the lamp can create. A white BROOGS Smart Lamp is now $150, which is $49 off what it will be priced for retail.

The BROOGS Smart Lamp is a sleek addition to any home. The quantity of color combinations is mind boggling, and those who like reading before bed will find the gentle light much more soothing the harsh light of a ceiling light or tablet screen. Other interesting takes on smart lamps include the LIVING Room Lamp and LumiSmart, the latter being almost an assistant in the way it recognizes a routine after some time. When compared to other offerings on the market, the BROOGS Smart Lamp has looks, but lacks other factors that could truly separate it from everything else.

The $50,000 campaign is looking to raise its funding by March 13, and expects to ship the product in May of this year.

Categories
Input Technology

101touch keyboard gets rid of manual typing; uses touch instead

One drawback of traditional computer keyboards is that there are a significant number of keys some users need to use on a regular basis that are not easily accessible. Another negative is the huge number of shortcuts that must be learned on a traditional keyboard for each new software program.

The new 101touch keyboard from the Czech Republic-based company of the same name addresses those issues by replacing the traditional keyboard with a completely touch-screen based solution. The keyboard allows the user to shift around keys to whatever positions they want them to be in and add frequently-used functions so that they no longer require any shortcuts to reach them. Playing a computer game will be easier with the 101touch because of the keyboard’s customizable intuitive controls that do away with the need to use a mouse to look through menus or memorize short-cuts and hidden functions. Although it was built using Android, the keyboard is compatible with any computer operating system, including MS-DOS, Windows, Linux, OS X and BIOS. New keyboard layouts can be installed quickly, the company claims, whenever the user shifts to a new program. To help parents limit the amount of time that their kids are spending on a computer, there is a time lock feature that sets how long the keyboard will be active for and when that time is up, the keyboard shuts down and cannot be reactivated without a password.

The keyboard uses an emulator that makes it possible for users to connect the 101touch to a computer and have it immediately start working, without any installation. Keys that computer users don’t use regularly have also been replaced with the most commonly-used computer functions, including open, save, save as and print.  Although the keyboard presented in photos at the Kickstarter campaign website has two screens, that is only a prototype and the final version of the device will have only one display. Backers who pledge £99 (~$154) will get the keyboard when it ships in November. The company is looking to raise £180,000 (~$279,400).

One drawback of a touch-based keyboard is that the user doesn’t get the tactile feel of a traditional keyboard each time a key is pressed, unless the 101touch’s makers can come up with a way to duplicate that experience. Gamers and other computer users who want to get some of the same benefits of the 101touch, but without the touch keyboard, will find the customizable Optimus Maximus keyboard a more appealing option.

 

Categories
Input

Flow wireless controller streamlines your workflow with gesture, touch

In the physical world, our hands are the tools with which we feel and manipulate the world around us, having evolved over time to be regions of intense sensitivity and masterful precision. Our leap into the digital realm hasn’t been as smooth, though. While the keyboard and mouse combo has admirably pulled its weight over the years, the increasing complexity and changing functionality of the programs we use daily have plainly shown that another way of controlling is possible. With the Flow wireless controller, Senic shows that it’s thinking of a future where the digital can be as easily controlled as anything physical.

Flow is a stylish, aluminum puck-shaped device that offers gesture, touch, scroll, and haptic control all in a tiny package. With it, users will be able to access a larger ranger of precision not offered by traditional mouse inputs and the shortcuts that make work much easier. Programs like Spotify and Photoshop let users change what each input does, so what a pass of the hand will do in one will do something entirely different in the other, eliminating hunting after specific options in menus. It’s also freely programmable, so any program not currently supported can be addressed by the Flow community. Puzzlingly, Flow is Mac only for now, but the rest of the major platforms are in the works. The $99 Flow is expected to ship in July 2015. Flow is looking for $50,000 in funding.

New input technologies are always risky business as the companies pushing them are essentially asking people to incorporate foreign actions into their very established processes. Most of the time, though, these inputs are laughably difficult and don’t do much to make things easier. Flow seems to be very straightforward and easy to use. It works as a complement rather than a proposition to replace everything, and that’s a far lower bar to present to those who may be interested.

Categories
Input

Tiny Swiftpoint GT mouse offers touchscreen gestures without screen touching

The introduction of the touch-centric Windows 8 and the impending advent of its big brother, Windows 10, have given manufacturers headaches in trying to figure out how to best design a computing system comfortable enough to take advantage of their features. Trying to reign its many tiles along with getting the start menu under control with an ordinary mouse just doesn’t cut it. Although trackpads have fared OK, even touchscreen laptop combinations have come up short.

The Swiftpoint GT is a extremely compact mouse with the ability to use natural touch gestures in a non-touch environment. Its ergonomic design has a point-and-click mode with which all the standard mouse functions are available, but the magic begins with a light press of toggle at its front. A comfortable pen-like grip facilitates natural touch screen gestures like scrolling and flicking with natural motions of the wrist, so as to avoid the dreaded crab claw that results from long periods of mouse use.

It sports a Bluetooth LE connection for up to several weeks use, and a separate USB dongle should the computer it’s used with not be equipped with it which doubles as its rapid charger: just 30 seconds of charging time gives user one hour of use. The Swiftpoint GT goes for $93 and should the campaign reach its $25,000 goal, backers should receive their very own December 2014.

The Swiftpoint GT can also be used with an iPad or Android device as well, but the former exists only more as a portal to Windows than anything else. In addition, learning an entirely new manner of input may actually might make using Windows more difficult for some, especially since left-handed users are left out in the cold. Still, the Swiftpoint GT seems like a must have for Windows users who can grasp its benefits, and probably is a bit easier to swallow than the ThumbTrack — fellow hardware manufacturers should take note.

Categories
Connected Objects Wearables

Magnet provides a touch of reassurance to remote lovers

While we can’t be with our loved ones all the time, we can still say hi to them through e-mail, text or phone calls. We can see them with the help of Skype, Google Hangout or FaceTime. However, we can’t touch them when separated. Magnet offers the next best thing. Worn as either a wristband or necklace, Magnet lets you communicate with your partner through touch. Each person wears their Magnet and connects to the accompanying app. Using Bluetooth LE technology, you can touch your Magnet in a certain pattern, say three short taps. That same pattern is then transmitted to its partner, lighting up and vibrating in the same sequence.

With Magnet, you can send little coded messages to whomever you’d like and it’s just like you’re touching them. This product comes in four different colors with the choice of different kinds of necklaces or wristbands to go with it. While Magnet seems like one of those sentimental items that some of us may scoff at, it’s actually a very sweet idea, capturing the beauty of an intimate relationship from far away. For $138, any couple can get a pair of Magnets for estimated delivery in July 2015, provided the creators reach their $60,000 goal on Kickstarter.