Video Camera, Sensor Detection Glasses Helping Partially Sighted People

If you were to go to this year’s Royal Society Summer ScienceExhibition there would be so many things to see. But from our point of view the one thing that caught our imagination is the set of glasses that has inside the technology you normally see in devices like smartphones and some of thegame consoles. I think from this description you can see why we are so focused on this subject.

In fact if we think a little better about this exhibition we do realize this isn’t a presentation about the latest technologies that are launched by Apple or what Android version was just released the other day. In the glass sector we are speaking about a simple and yet complicated pair of glasses with only one purpose: to help those who have a poor vision and give them a more normal life that you and I enjoy.

When we normally associate a pair of glasses with technology found in smartphones and things that involving gaming you can realize the element between these two can only be composed of different video cameras, tracking software, some type of face recognition, position detectors and last but not least some depth sensors. The people at Oxford have managed to implement all these things in what everybody normally uses and that is a pair of glasses. These glasses can be used by people who suffer from impartial blindness and have some vision left or their view is cloudy or blurry and can’t process things at 100%.

This pair of glasses is appropriate when it comes to common types of visual impediment composing of things like age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. In a research made by the same institute they have found that around 30% of people what are 75 years old or older have some early signs of blindness caused by age-related macular degeneration. Also, when we speak about this segment of people, around 7% of them have presented a more advanced form.

This is where the glasses will come very handy because of the video cameras mounted at the corners, cameras that will capture the thing that the owner is looking at. Also the information received from the cameras will be displayed in form of some tiny lights embedded in the see-through lenses of the glasses which will offer some extra feedback about the targeted object.

The recognition of the object can be traced back to smartphone technology. I think you already tried different apps that when you take a photo for example recognize where you are or what you do and at the same time give information about the targeted object. This information when it comes to glasses will offer a nice aid when trying to navigate in a room. It will pick the most relevant things and will offer information to people.

This happens because as we already know when having a conversation eye contact is one of the most important things to establish a relationship with the other person. Also I think we all realize that wearing a ridiculous pair of glasses in public may make the wearer a little uncomfortable.

The ability for other people to see through display will make a better communication why on the other said of the glass different colored lights appear, giving much information to the owner. Like for example you can have different colors for people or object while the brightness of things can inform you about how close or far are the object you could interact with.

Also with the progress made Dr. Stephan is pretty sure we will reach a point where things like reading the news headlines will be possible. He has named this ability as optical character recognition, a feature that will allow knowing a computer headline and realizing this is different from a video image for example. Also the pair of glasses will have on them earphones that will explain information and will make the wearer aware of dynamic things. Also in most smartphones there are barcodes reader implemented. A similar system could be implemented at some point, a thing that will make buying normal products an everyday thing.

But with so much technology the price is not cheap. To be the proud owner of such a product you will have to pay around £500. But if you make a comparison, in order to train a guide dog people have to pay around £25-30,000. So I think the difference is obvious.

Although many could consider the information will be too hard to learn especially by older people studies have demonstrated the capabilities of the brain. Also the doctor said that same as physiotherapy, the pair of glasses need to be tailored for individual players in order to improve at the full potential the vision of members.

People will have at their disposal a giant screen with video images of the exhibition floor itself will show all the required information. Also there is a small display added to the lens, a display that will offer people the needed information to find their way and make the required tasks they want. Also for people to actually see things in work there is an early prototype of transparent LED array for the eventual glasses will also be on display.

Last but not least, all of this is still at an early stage and we can call this project still a prototype. But at the same time this is one of the main focus points at the Royal Society’s exhibition. The funds for this project come from the National Institute of Health Research and some actual studies have shown the product will have some real person testing later this year.

GOOGLE LATEST UPDATES

Google Updates Android Market For Smartphones With Books And Movies

If you are an Android user, then you probably know that theapplication from which you download all your apps from is called “Market.” I know, you all love it, even when it downloads the applications twice even though you choose single download (it happens on older versions of Android firmware).

Today, Google brings good news for all you Android fans. No, they are not launching Android Ice Cream Sandwich… Google launched an major update for the Android Marketservice, which is now looking less like Apple’s App Store and more like Windows Marketplace, at least in terms of design.

The new Android market place now allows its users to buy books and rent movies.

All smartphones powered by Android 2.2 Froyo or any other newer versions can access the new Android Market, and the users in US can now rent thousands of movies, with prices starting at $1.99. The videos sections inAndroid Market now allows you to rent movies, whether you have an Android phone, tablet or even from a PC, by using the web browser and navigating to Market.

When compared to other services of its kind, the newAndroid Market lets you watch the movie anytime, even though you are not connected to Internet. Both the books you buy and the movies you rent are synced with your Google account, so you can access them from any terminal the user sings in with his Google Account, without having to transfer or download it again.

As about the design changes, Android Market is now a lot more accessible and offers more room for the most interesting downloads of the week. Once you update to the new Android Market you should be able to spot the new panel called Staff picks and Editor’s Choice.

Summing up, good move Google, but you should’ve make it look less like Windows Marketplace

Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft Office 2010 (also called Office 2010 andOffice 14 is a productivity suite for Microsoft Windows, and the successor to Microsoft Office 2007. Office 2010 includes extended file format support, user interface updates, and a changed user experience. A 64-bit version of Office 2010 is available, although not for Windows XP or Windows Server 2003.

As with offers, is now available for Service Pack 1(SP1) for Office 2010. To the delight of users, accessible language versions of SP1 for all supported editions of the package.


While the download link allows you to download Microsoft Office 2010 SP1 x86, you can download the 64-bit version over here (439.9 MB).

MICROSOFT LAUNCHES WINDOWS 8 TABLETS

LATEST UPDATION BY MICROSOFT

It seems that Microsoft wants to enter on the tablets market. And this not only by providing their operating system to the companies manufacturing such devices, but also developing their own tablet.

Of course we all expected the revolutionary operating system, Windows Phone 7, to a arrive on tablets, too, so Mr Andy Lees, made an announcement, the President of Windows Phone division, bringing light into the subject.

At Windows Partners Conference event, Mr Lee, said thatthe tablets running on Windows Phone Mango do not coincide with Microsoft’s vision over the subject, as the company wants to offer this a complete operating system to this kind of devices, transforming them in realcomputers.

Basically, Microsoft sees the tablets like some portable PCs, so they will focus on integrating the new Windows 8 on them.

The users of the future Microsoft tablets will have nothing to loose, as Windows 8 borrows the best from Windows Phone 7, like the Tiles-based user interface. In addition, Windows 8 will be a complex operating system, which, besides other features, will offer extended support for networking and printing.

The tablets market will become even more crowded, as we’ve already seen the Androids tablet wanting to offer an alternative solution for iPad. So, Microsoft decided to join the battle, and once the presented their new OS they hope to climb up the ladder of the tablets market.

The goal of creating such a tablet is not hard to rich for the American company, but if they wait and launch it in the same time with the new Windows 8, this means in 2012, it will be too late. Microsoft has the ability to create top products in terms of functionality and quality, but to enter a market with a three years delay? It will be hard for them to attract new customers.

Apple’s iPhone 5 Available

A recent report by analyst ChrisLarsen says that the next-gen iPhone will be available on all four major carriers in the US including T-Mobile and Sprint. The iPhone 4 which was launched last year, has become the first iPhone to run on the 3G networks of two carriers in the US when Apple released a Verizon version earlier this year. Now a new iPhone is getting ready for its release and it seems like we will get only one iPhone that’s capable of supporting all carriers in the US.

Piper Jaffray’s analysts said that the current Qualcomm chipset responsible with the GSM / CDMA support is compatible with all the frequency bands of AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint therefore it would be logical for Apple to release an iPhone for all carriers.

Currently, the US market is dominated by Android smartphones which have a 38% market share, while iOS devices have a market share around 25%. If Apple finally decides to unveil an iPhone that would be compatible with all networks, then the company will have access to the same amount of subscribers like Android devices therefore the market share will definitely increase.

Analysts say that nobody can be sure about the specs of the next iPhone that might be called iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S. People familiar with the matter have said that both the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S will be released this year, the former will be a high-end handset, while the latter is a middle-entry mobile phone.

Even though the specs haven’t been confirmed, we can assume that the iPhone 5 will be powered by a dual-core up to 1GHz Apple A5 processor, iOS5, 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video recording, a 4-inch touchscreen, and 32GB / 64GB built-in flash memory.

The Piper Jaffray analyst wanted to remind everyone that the upcoming iPhone will definitely be a global aka a world’s smartphone which practically confirms the fact there will be only one iPhone for all carriers. This would explain why Apple will not allow users to restore SHSH blobs meaning that they won’t be able to downgrade and that all iPhones will be unlocked.

Sadly the report doesn’t specify whether the iPhone 5 will support 4G LTE, WiMAX, or HSPA+ networks of the carriers therefore we can only think that it won’t. The iPhone 5 release date is probably September 2011 during the annual Apple iPod event.

Zen Style M300

Product: Creative Zen Style M300
MRP: Rs 3499 (4 GB); Rs 4999 (8 GB)


Let's get something out of the way. I have always had a soft corner for Creative MP3 players. I've found them to deliver in terms of audio quality and functionality quite consistently. In fact, when I received the M300 to review, I was looking forward to a familiar sound, one that I had grown up with.

The package was simple; the tiny player sat at the centre while two compartments held the user manual, stock earphones, and USB cable. The player is really small with a 1.45" TFT screen, surrounded by touch controls. Honestly, I thought it was a piss-poor design. MP3 players today look slick - even the tiny ones. This one just looked like a single bathroom tile: square, plain, and prehistoric. It reminded me of when I was a young boy trying to make meth in the school lab, a time when I thought baggy pants that dragged on the ground were cool, and sending porn clips to girls was funny. All of these above issues were fixed by my dad and his leather belt. But I digress.

Product: Creative Zen Style M300
MRP: Rs 3499 (4 GB); Rs 4999 (8 GB)


Let's get something out of the way. I have always had a soft corner for Creative MP3 players. I've found them to deliver in terms of audio quality and functionality quite consistently. In fact, when I received the M300 to review, I was looking forward to a familiar sound, one that I had grown up with.

The package was simple; the tiny player sat at the centre while two compartments held the user manual, stock earphones, and USB cable. The player is really small with a 1.45" TFT screen, surrounded by touch controls. Honestly, I thought it was a piss-poor design. MP3 players today look slick - even the tiny ones. This one just looked like a single bathroom tile: square, plain, and prehistoric. It reminded me of when I was a young boy trying to make meth in the school lab, a time when I thought baggy pants that dragged on the ground were cool, and sending porn clips to girls was funny. All of these above issues were fixed by my dad and his leather belt. But I digress.

Let me clarify at this point that I am not trying to sound like those elitist audiophiles who turn vigilante and stab people who listen to MP3s. I'm not even talking like the snobbish audio professional that I really am, awesome at my job and all that. I would never let a friend buy this. I feel a bit bad trashing the product like this, but I'm not even trying here. This is purely the sound of my disappointment.

latest tablets update | amazon tablets | tablets threats for google

Last September, we got a tip from a source that Amazon was preparing a tablet that would run Google’s Android operating system. The source was a good one — they had also correctly called Amazon releasing their own Android app store. It took a while, but it looks like they nailed this news as well. Today, The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon plans to release an Android-based tablet by October.

Of course, this news has been rumored for much of this year. No less than Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has hinted at the possibility in recent months. But today’s report brings some tangible details for the first time. And that’s why the conclusion (and title) WSJ has drawn is surprising. “Amazon to Battle Apple iPad With Tablet”, is the headline. But as I read it, this tablet — at least the first iteration — won’t be much competition for the iPad at all. Instead, it could step in and own a market that Google has failed to secure: Android tablets.

Let’s consider the information out there. Amazon will enter this space for the first time this fall. Their tablet will apparently have a 9-inch screen (comparable to the iPad’s 9.7-inch one) and will run an un-specified version of Android. It apparently won’t have a camera. And it won’t be designed by Amazon. Instead, they’ll outsource both the design and manufacturing. In other words, it’s probably going to be cheap — at least in build quality, if not in price.

Why is Amazon outsourcing the entire development? Likely because they wanted to get the tablet done as quickly as possible. WSJ also reports that Amazon is working on another version that they’re designing themselves, but that will not be ready until next year. So this first version will be a sort of placeholder until their own version is ready.

The only way this sounds like it can compete with the iPad in any way is if it’s extremely cheap. Like $299 or less cheap. But can Amazon really make a 9-inch multi-touch screen color tablet for that cheap? Unless it’s an absolute piece of crap, that seems unlikely. There’s a reason why all other tablet manufacturers are having problems getting their tablets down to even the key $499 price point. Apple can do this because they have years of experience — and most importantly, component deals — thanks to the iPod, iPhone and other devices. Others do not. Amazon does not. Sure, they have the Kindle. But a full-fledged tablet is a whole different ballgame.

So either Amazon releases a tablet that is around the same price as the iPad — and potentially more expensive — or they sell each one at a huge loss. As they’ve proven with their digital content stores, such as the MP3 one, they’re willing to do this. But in hardware, they haven’t done this with the Kindle. Margins are thin, but the device still generates revenue. To beat the iPad in price, I have to believe that Amazon would have to take a large loss on each device sold.

Maybe they are willing to do that. After all, Apple and Amazon are in many ways the opposite. Apple pushes digital content in order to sell devices. Amazon could now be pushing devices to sell digital content. But if that really is the battle, Apple has the winning hand there. The margins are much better on Apple’s hardware sales than on Amazon’s content sales. Amazon would not be able to afford subsidizing their hardware indefinitely.

But even if Amazon is able to release a relatively cheap tablet this fall, the major question will remain: why would I buy this instead of an iPad? Amazon’s tablet will have access to the same apps that current Android tablets do — and very few of those are optimized for, or work well on tablet devices. And what happens if Apple surprises everyone with a “Retina” display iPad before the end of the year? We first reported on this being Apple’s plan back in February. The latest word is that such a device may be delayed a bit by manufacturing issues, but it’s still in the plans for this year. We’ll see.

They key point is that Amazon’s first tablet, any way you slice it, sounds like just as much of a threat to the iPad as all the other Android tablets have been so far. That is to say, no threat at all. Instead, it will likely be more of a threat to their own Kindle device (it’s hard to make the “this device is no good for reading” argument out of one side of your mouth while saying the opposite out of the other). And much more so, it will be a huge threat to Google.

Back in March, when Amazon released their own Android Appstore, I made the case for why Amazon now had to release their own Android-powered devices. Simply put, the process to install the Android appstore is way too complicated, Amazon needs devices they can ship with the store pre-installed. And more importantly, their stores pre-installed. As in, any device they ship is going to be filled with Amazon to the brim. That includes the ability to sign in to your Amazon Prime account the buy things with one click.

When that happens, Amazon will have an Android tablet that is more compelling than any other Android tablet on the market on day one. There are plenty of whispers of Google planning their own “Nexus” tablet for later this year when the Ice Cream Sandwich variety of Android is ready to go, but the consumer ease-of-use that Amazon can offer will likely trump anything Google puts out there.

That’s why Google should be scared shitless of this Amazon tablet. Thanks to the “openness” of Android, Google has handed Amazon the keys to the Android kingdom. Amazon is going to launch a tablet that runs Android, but it will be fully Amazon’d. It will use Amazon’s Appstore, it will use Amazon movies, it will use Amazon books, it will use Amazon music, etc. Google will have no control over this, even though it will be the seminal Android tablet. That would be terrifying for any brand.

Sure, you could argue that an Amazon Android tablet will still benefit Google because it will lead to more Google searches. But who says that will be the case? If I were Microsoft, I’d go all-in when negotiating with my Seattle technology neighbor to get a Bing search deal done for this new tablet.

Google has been able to control Android so far while keeping it “open” because they offer carrots to partners to stay with them for most services. Those carrots are Google apps, Google branding, early access to new Android builds, etc. But Amazon likely won’t care about those things. They could be the first major player to use Android that Google has absolutely no control over.

This is going to be fascinating to watch. All I know is that if I were Apple, I wouldn’t be too concerned by this Amazon tablet. Next year, maybe. But not now. But if I were Google, I’d put down those Android carrots I’ve been offering up and go find my stick.