Electric scooter design that makes a hole lot of sense

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <h3 class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> </h3> <h3 class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQVw9g_4MXzuoGUgzZqpA3ekkEZGd3ut9xxyDe3Y1AxK6VcRKJ3APzUmi54oelUkaVYrFFwcvhsoKpKY5IbX4f2hyphenhyphenvhX782w_wdxtBLS5wQ0wWEcTAf9GB3JemVg6mCgmXSvsyIRli06c/s1600/p01cn248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQVw9g_4MXzuoGUgzZqpA3ekkEZGd3ut9xxyDe3Y1AxK6VcRKJ3APzUmi54oelUkaVYrFFwcvhsoKpKY5IbX4f2hyphenhyphenvhX782w_wdxtBLS5wQ0wWEcTAf9GB3JemVg6mCgmXSvsyIRli06c/s1600/p01cn248.jpg" width="400" /></a><u>Scooters are a firm favourite in the developing world – but they are noisy and polluting, and can be dangerously overloaded. One company has come up with a cleaner, safer option. </u></h3> <br /> <b>n many parts of the world, the scooter is one of the most popular ways to get around. City streets are crowded with the small two-wheeled vehicles, sometimes carrying one passenger, but often carrying two or more people, their children – and their cargo. Small motorcycles can be a vital form of transport for farmers to get their produce to market, or parents to get their children to school or medical care. So, drivers and their families, pets, livestock and boxes and bags often have to balance precariously on two wheels.</b><br /> <b>More and more scooters are taking to the streets of South American cities – <a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/transport/concerns-over-the-growth-of-motorcycles-in-cities">faster than new cars, in some cases</a>. In many Asian cities they’re the dominant form of transport. They can be cheap to own and operate, and they can be faster than the car in congested cities. But scooters are also a source of urban pollution, in terms of both emissions and noise. Their small engines burn a combination of oil and gasoline relatively inefficiently compared to an average modern car, and <a href="http://world.honda.com/history/challenge/1975cg125/text/01.html">routine maintenance isn’t always carried out</a>.</b><br /> <b>They are also dangerous – even deadly. A scooter is designed for one, maybe two people. If it is loaded beyond that the centre of gravity is shifted higher and balance becomes much more difficult when weaving in and out of traffic.</b><br /> <b>Lit Motors, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130630-super-shrinking-the-city-car">a small company based in San Francisco, California</a> I profiled in my last article, believes it might have a solution. By going back to the drawing board and designing an electric scooter for carrying cargo, it has come up with a design that it says should be safer, more efficient, more useful, but no more expensive. These are big goals for a small machine.</b><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <b><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nwg3Pieoms4?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></b></div> <b>The first thing you notice when you look at the new cargo scooter is actually an absence, or a gap, in the middle of the machine. Right in the centre, approximately where the engine would sit underneath the driver, there is a square hole which can accommodate boxes up to 50x50x50cm (20x20x20 inches). The driver sits on a saddle right at the back. The total cargo capacity is estimated to be up to 90kg (198lbs), not including the weight of the rider </b><br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <u><b>All in the lean</b></u></h3> <b>A key factor in the redesign was making the scooter electrically powered. The motor is placed inside the rear wheel, says Ryan James, Lit Motors’ chief marketing officer.</b><br /> <b>“That frees up the vehicle architecture to make it whatever we want it to be, and it also greatly simplifies the drivetrain making it cheaper to produce, cheaper to sell, and cheaper to the consumer,” he says.</b><br /> <b>Rechargeable batteries run along the base of the scooter, keeping the centre of gravity low, which is key to a stable, and therefore safer, ride. The batteries hold enough charge for around 50 miles, or 80km, and top speed will be around 50mph (80kph).</b><br /> <b>The other standout part of the design is two handlebars, which seem to sprout out of the top of the bike. </b><br /> <br /> <b>“We have a unique, tank-style steering,” James explains. There is one handlebar on either side, which instead of twisting around a central pivot, are pushed or pulled in tandem to move the front wheel. “Like any other two wheeled vehicle, when you’re moving you’re actually turning the front wheel very little. The turn is all in the lean.”</b><br /> <b>For the cargo scooter to have an impact, it will have to be cheap enough for people to afford it. So is it possible to get the price of an innovative electric bike that low?</b><br /> <b>“We think we can,” says James. “We went over to India a couple of years ago and conducted market research, met with three of the largest scooter and motorcycle manufacturers, and we were able to determine how much we could produce this for. We should be able to get this comparable with similar price-point scooters.” In reality that means a target price of around $5,000.</b><br /> <b>Early production will be determined by demand, according to the company. It says it is prepared to produce anywhere from 10 to a few hundred at its facility in San Francisco at first, and then increase the numbers. Longer term, the company may license the design to manufacturers around the world.</b><b>The cargo scooter is still very much in development stage, and I was shown an early prototype (see video). The company already has ambitious plans though. Their next goal is to make the scooter fold in half, so you end up with the two wheels much closer together, and the bike’s footprint halved.</b><br /> <b>“That will be really big in places like China, where the norm is not to leave your scooter locked down in the street, but to bring it up into your apartment with you,” says James.</b><br /> <b>Lit plans to release the machine later on this year – using a Kickstarter campaign, of course.</b><br /> <br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <b>       </b> </h3> </div>

Electric scooter design that makes a hole lot of sense

Scooters are a firm favourite in the developing world – but they are noisy and polluting, and can be dangerously overloaded. One company has come up with a cleaner, safer option. n many parts of t…

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WHEN INOVATION MEETS MOTHER LOVE

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Most parents would do anything to help their children succeed, whether it comes in the form of sacrificing financially so they can get a good education, or just being present with them in the small moments as well as the big ones. No parent likes to be told their children can’t (or shouldn’t) do something other children sometimes take for granted, like walking down the road or riding a bike. But, sometimes when parents are told their children won’t ever be able to do something, such as walk normally, it becomes a catalyst for them to prove the doctors wrong.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Debbie Elnatan, from Jerusalem, is the mother of a little boy named Rotem who lives with cerebral palsy. At some point when he was younger, certain doctors told Debbie that Rotem shouldn’t ever walk or even crawl. Like any parent, she didn’t like hearing that kind of medical advice, and she eventually came up with an idea that would help her son to walk. <a href="https://shine.yahoo.com/author-blog-posts/her-son-couldn-t-walk-inventive-mom-lent-184800791.html" target="_blank">That idea is now fully revealed to the world in the form of the UpSee Harness</a>.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><img alt="Mom Creates UpSee Harness To Help Her Son Walk" class="lazy alignnone size-full wp-image-14454 data-lazy-ready" data-lazy-src="http://news.filehippo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/13.jpg" data-lazy-type="image" height="454" src="http://news.filehippo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/13.jpg" style="display: inline;" title="Mom Creates UpSee Harness To Help Her Son Walk" width="708" /></b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Every Child Deserves To Walk</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>At first, she would just bend over and manually help Rotem to walk, but that just left her reeling with back pain of her own. Over time, she developed a special harness, now known as the Upsee Harness, that allows special-needs children to walk in tandem with one of their parents. Using a pair of “double sandals” along with a harness, children get to learn how to walk with Mom and/or Dad and they gain muscle memory which they otherwise wouldn’t.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><img alt="" class="lazy alignnone size-full wp-image-14455 data-lazy-ready" data-lazy-src="http://news.filehippo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Screen-Shot-2014-04-07-at-12.09.29-PM.png" data-lazy-type="image" height="483" src="http://news.filehippo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Screen-Shot-2014-04-07-at-12.09.29-PM.png" style="display: inline;" title="Mom Creates UpSee Harness To Help Her Son Walk" width="708" /></b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>After a long process, Debbie was finally able to get her UpSee Harness released to the public – she stated that because investors thought it was such a small market they were wary of investing in her product. But that’s all changed now, and kids who have never walked before are getting to experience it for the first time.</b></span></div>

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WHEN INOVATION MEETS MOTHER LOVE

Most parents would do anything to help their children succeed, whether it comes in the form of sacrificing financially so they can get a good education, or just being present with them in the small…

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MICROSCALE-3D PRINTING

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <h2> inks made from different types of materials, precisely applied, are greatly expanding the kinds of things that can be printed.</h2> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <article class="img-full"> <img alt="" height="624" src="http://www.technologyreview.com/sites/default/files/images/tr10.3d.printing.1x948.jpg" width="948" /> <aside class="box-left text-left"> <div> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>To show off its ability to do multimaterial 3-D printing, Lewis’s lab has printed a complex lattice using different inks.</b></span></div> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> </b></span></aside><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> </b></span></article><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> </b></span><br /> <div class="dropcap"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Despite the excitement that 3-D printing has generated, its capabilities remain rather limited. It can be used to make complex shapes, but most commonly only out of plastics. Even manufacturers using an advanced version of the technology known as additive manufacturing typically have expanded the material palette only to a few types of metal alloys. But what if 3-D printers could use a wide assortment of different materials, from living cells to semiconductors, mixing and matching the “inks” with precision?</b></span></div> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Jennifer Lewis, a materials scientist at Harvard University, is developing the chemistry and machines to make that possible. She prints intricately shaped objects from “the ground up,” precisely adding materials that are useful for their mechanical properties, electrical conductivity, or optical traits. This means 3-D printing technology could make objects that sense and respond to their environment. “Integrating form and function,” she says, “is the next big thing that needs to happen in 3-D printing.”</b></span><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <article class="img-left"> <img alt="" height="303" src="http://www.technologyreview.com/sites/default/files/images/tr10.3d.printing.2x622.jpg" width="622" /> <aside class="box-right text-left" style="height: 303px;"> <div> <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Left: For the demonstration, the group formulated four polymer inks, each dyed a different color. <br /><br />Right: The different inks are placed in standard print heads</b>. </span><br /> <b><span style="font-size: large;">Bottom: By sequentially and precisely depositing the inks in a process guided by the group’s software, the printer quickly produces the colorful lattice.</span></b></div> </aside> </article> <article class="img-left"> <img alt="" height="353" src="http://www.technologyreview.com/sites/default/files/images/tr10.3d.printing.3x622_0.gif" width="622" /> </article> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>A group at Princeton University has printed a bionic ear, combining biological tissue and electronics (see “Cyborg Parts,” September/October 2013), while a team of researchers at the University of Cambridge has printed retinal cells to form complex eye tissue. But even among these impressive efforts to extend the possibilities of 3-D printing, Lewis’s lab stands out for the range of materials and types of objects it can print.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Last year, Lewis and her students showed they could print the microscopic electrodes and other components needed for tiny lithium-ion batteries (see “Printing Batteries,” January/February). Other projects include printed sensors fabricated on plastic patches that athletes could one day wear to detect concussions and measure violent impacts. Most recently, her group printed biological tissue interwoven with a complex network of blood vessels. To do this, the researchers had to make inks out of various types of cells and the materials that form the matrix supporting them. The work addresses one of the lingering challenges in creating artificial organs for drug testing or, someday, for use as replacement parts: how to create a vascular system to keep the cells alive.</b></span><br /> <br />  <img alt="" height="841" src="http://www.technologyreview.com/sites/default/files/images/tr10.3d.printing.4x622.jpg" width="622" /><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/sites/default/files/images/tr10.3d.printing.5x622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <article class="img-left"> <aside class="box-right text-left" style="height: 841px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Top: Inks made of silver nanoparticles are used to print electrodes as small as a few micrometers.  </b></u></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>Bottom: As in the other 3-D printing processes, the operati</b></u>o<u><b>n is controlled and monitored by computers.</b></u></span></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <img alt="" height="293" src="http://www.technologyreview.com/sites/default/files/images/tr10.3d.printing.5x622.jpg" width="622" /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /> <u><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Left: Jennifer Lewis’s goal is to print complex architectures that integrate form and function.<br /><br />Right: A glove with strain sensors is made by printing electronics into a stretchable elastomer.</span></span></b></u></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <u><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></u></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>In a basement lab a few hundred yards from Lewis’s office, her group has jury-rigged a 3-D printer, equipped with a microscope, that can precisely print structures with features as small as one micrometer (a human red blood cell is around 10 micrometers in diameter). Another, larger 3-D printer, using printing nozzles with multiple outlets to print multiple inks simultaneously, can fabricate a meter-sized sample with a desired microstructure in minutes.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>The secret to Lewis’s creations lies in inks with properties that allow them to be printed during the same fabrication process. Each ink is a different material, but they all can be printed at room temperature. The various types of materials present different challenges; cells, for example, are delicate and easily destroyed as they are forced through the printing nozzle. In all cases, though, the inks must be formulated to flow out of the nozzle under pressure but retain their form once in place—think of toothpaste, Lewis says.</b></span><br /> <br /> <br /></div> </aside><div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <aside class="box-right text-left" style="height: 841px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>  </u></span></b></span><br /><img alt="" height="616" src="http://www.technologyreview.com/sites/default/files/images/tr10.3d.printing.6x948.jpg" width="948" /><u><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Left: The ­largest printer in Lewis’s lab makes objects up to a meter by a meter. <br /><br />Top: For such jobs, the printer uses a 64- or 128-­nozzle array to speed up the process.<br /><br />Bottom: A test sample with a layered microstructure was printed in minutes using wax ink.</span></b></u><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Before coming to Harvard from the University of Illinois at Urbana-­Champaign last year, Lewis had spent more than a decade developing 3-D printing techniques using ceramics, metal nanoparticles, polymers, and other nonbiological materials. When she set up her new lab at Harvard and began working with biological cells and tissues for the first time, she hoped to treat them the same way as materials composed of synthetic particles. That idea might have been a bit naïve, she now acknowledges. Printing blood vessels was an encouraging step toward artificial tissues capable of the complex biological functions found in organs. But working with the cells turns out to be “really complex,” she says. “And there’s a lot more that we need to do before we can print a fully functional liver or kidney. But we’ve taken the first step.</span></b>”</aside></div> </article><article class="img-left"></article></div>

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MICROSCALE-3D PRINTING

inks made from different types of materials, precisely applied, are greatly expanding the kinds of things that can be printed. To show off its ability to do multimaterial 3-D …

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Shape-Shifting Touch Screen Buttons Head to Market

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <h2 style="text-align: left;"> <u>An iPad accessory launching later this year will bring transparent morphing buttons to the device’s screen to aid touch-typing. </u></h2> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghO81FUeqtKWLKF0mkS-Zr9wH6Pnq68ya2VCvqB_5jfEGA8kGEpHYJ6K9YwAkDemMXzwopoco5hOuwXIYPyMO3FsVR41JR03Sgnt9vqkfaN2HR-5d5Z6_XArrROKosH1d7gRJ2yIzpgBHu/s1600/tactusx299.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghO81FUeqtKWLKF0mkS-Zr9wH6Pnq68ya2VCvqB_5jfEGA8kGEpHYJ6K9YwAkDemMXzwopoco5hOuwXIYPyMO3FsVR41JR03Sgnt9vqkfaN2HR-5d5Z6_XArrROKosH1d7gRJ2yIzpgBHu/s1600/tactusx299.jpg" /></a></div> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>As they peck out text on the featureless glass surface of their phone or tablet, some people still mourn the passing of the physical keyboard. Now technology is heading to mass production that can offer the best of both worlds: a featureless surface for watching video and buttons that rise out of it when you need to type.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>That technology was developed by startup <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.tactustechnology.com/" target="0">Tactus Technology</a>, which uses tiny fluid-filled channels and elastic blisters to make buttons rise up from a device’s screen and then disappear without trace when they’re no longer needed (see “<a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.technologyreview.com/demo/508106/a-shape-shifting-smartphone-touch-screen/" target="0">Demo: A Shape-Shifting Smartphone Touch Screen</a>”).</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Electronics manufacturing giant <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.wistron.com/" target="0">Wistron</a> has now modified equipment at one of its factories in China to produce touch-screen panels with the shape-shifting technology inside. Wistron is one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers; it’s made devices for brands including BlackBerry, Apple, and Acer. The company also recently became an investor in Tactus.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>The first fruit of the tie-up will go on sale later this year in the form of a protective case with Tactus technology inside for Apple’s iPad Mini. The design includes a transparent screen protector that covers the front of the device. However, sliding a mechanical control on the side of the case raises up a transparent set of buttons or guides on the screen protector, over the touch keyboard, to make typing easier. Sliding the control back will cause those buttons to melt away, leaving a clear, smooth pane of glass.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>“Users will still type on the screens as they do today, but with better performance, confidence, and satisfaction,” says Tactus CEO Craig Ciesla.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Tactus won’t reveal the exact design of the case launching this year, or of a similar one slated to launch next year. Nor will it say which brands are behind them. But it did let <i>MIT Technology Review</i> try out an internal prototype case for the iPad Mini with the same basic design.</b></span><br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYvzRpWttkvNB0oCbky6joxu6R724AG3PJ56kCFFc3GFt41KreRZwBz5w52YJX92E1E63L82Wp7NAXg2Bb0iiPV7LzepMq5DTU_N7lwAIrdOKQ-0DRSYPUFNHYY80xWBgk-icJo0T6OLQD/s1600/tactus.2x299.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYvzRpWttkvNB0oCbky6joxu6R724AG3PJ56kCFFc3GFt41KreRZwBz5w52YJX92E1E63L82Wp7NAXg2Bb0iiPV7LzepMq5DTU_N7lwAIrdOKQ-0DRSYPUFNHYY80xWBgk-icJo0T6OLQD/s1600/tactus.2x299.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <br /> <b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sliding the control on the left pushed fluid into a set of guides that rose up between keys on the virtual keyboard. That they were ever there is discernable only by a close examination of the screen protector in the right light. But the panel feels noticeably less smooth to a finger swiping the surface.</span></b><br /> <b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The guides provide physical feedback when the fingers don’t directly hit a key, something that’s lacking on a typical touch screen. In a few minutes of testing, it seemed to help my fingers learn how to hit their targets better. Tactus says it has been testing different-shaped guides but won’t say which the first products will use.</span></b><br /> <b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The relationship with Wistron could lead morphing buttons to appear in tablets and other devices. Tactus has demonstrated both a prototype seven-inch tablet with its technology fully integrated into its display and an off-the-shelf tablet modified to include the technology. When the buttons are built into a device in that way, their movements are driven by a small electric pump. On the demonstration prototypes, the buttons automatically pop up when the keyboard appears.</span></b><br /> <br /> <aside class="ad-left"> <div class="dfp-tag-wrapper" id="dfp-ad-tr_www_body_content_portrait_in_story-wrapper"> <div class="dfp-tag-wrapper" id="dfp-ad-tr_www_body_content_portrait_in_story"> </div> </div> </aside><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">“We are only at the beginning of what we expect to be a multiyear partnership, where the Tactus solution will be brought to multiple markets, starting with mobile computing,” says Ciesla. He says the two companies have begun working on the design of products and prototypes for carriers, electronics brands, and retailers. One project is a notebook-style device that has a second, morphing screen where the keyboard would usually be.</span></b></div>

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Shape-Shifting Touch Screen Buttons Head to Market

An iPad accessory launching later this year will bring transparent morphing buttons to the device’s screen to aid touch-typing.  As they peck out text on the featureless glass surface of their phone…

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Android 4.5/5: Release date, rumours, features, news and pictures

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxIB1UhvEWR3N-GN0UTkAW5L0HQcjCPrY-mtHSULLrfCSgtUa4AP9W9zLqRckcVWoUU908RfhHEmQz7s-lQzwaOfAjLGinPc-00gbUQpbUY1aZ4rRXA__aw_F4G7OmCNfRW7wR0s7BQOon/s1600/new-android-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxIB1UhvEWR3N-GN0UTkAW5L0HQcjCPrY-mtHSULLrfCSgtUa4AP9W9zLqRckcVWoUU908RfhHEmQz7s-lQzwaOfAjLGinPc-00gbUQpbUY1aZ4rRXA__aw_F4G7OmCNfRW7wR0s7BQOon/s1600/new-android-5.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><b>he next version of Google Android is nearly upon us. But will it be the long awaited Android 5, or another minor update in the form of Android 4.5?</b></u></span></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <a href="http://www.t3.com/android">Android 5</a> was expected to be released last year, but with the arrival of <a href="http://www.t3.com/android-kitkat">Android 4.4 KitKat</a>, those hopes were dashed. But will we see the next version of <a href="http://www.t3.com/google">Google</a>’s mobile operating software this year? And if we do, what can we expect?</span></b><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> <b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We’ve rounded up everything we know about the Android 4.5/5 below.</span></b></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <h3> <u><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Android 4.5/5 release date</span></u></h3> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>The current version of Android – 4.4 KitKat – was officially unveiled last September and debuted on October 31st with the <a href="http://www.t3.com/reviews/google-nexus-5-review">Google Nexus 5</a>.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>So the big question now is, when will Google launch the next version of Android? If we had to predict when Google unveil the next version of Android, we’d put our money on Google I/O in June.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Google’s annual developers conference has been used to launch new version of Android in the past. This year’s event takes place in San Francisco between June 25th and 26th.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Going on previous trends, if Google does unveil the next version of Android at the event, it could be a month before it becomes available. Which leads us nicely on to the question of which phone will it debut on?</b></span><br /> <h3> <u><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Android 4.5/5 phones</span></u></h3> <b>One of the big questions is which phone will debut the next version of Android. Currently, the only rumours going around about Nexus hardware is about a the <a href="http://www.t3.com/news/google-nexus-8-release-date-rumours-features-and-news">Google Nexus 8</a> and <a href="http://www.t3.com/Google-Nexus-10">Nexus 10</a>. We doubt Google would debut the next version of Android only on a tablet.</b><br /> <b>That brings us to the big question of which model will be updated. Will it be the Nexus 5? We simply don’t know. What we do know is that is likely to be made by HTC, so expect a smartphone based on the <a href="http://www.t3.com/reviews/htc-one-m8-review">HTC One (M8)</a>.</b><br /> <b>As for when it will appear on other smartphones, Google has made a point of telling smartphone makers to speed up deployment to their existing handsets.</b><br /> <b>Android 4.4 KitKat has seen one of the slowest adoptions of a new version of Android – despite to pushes from companies like HTC to get it out within 90 days of its release. Even Android JellyBean was ahead of the curve than were KitKat is today.</b><br /> <b>The <a href="http://chitika.com/insights/2014/android-by-device-type">latest figures from Chitika</a> suggest that only 10 per cent of Android smartphones are running Android 4.4 KitKat.</b><br /> <b>In other words, you’ll probably have to buy a new phone to get your hands on it anytime soon, despite Google’s protestations to smartphone makers.</b><br /> <h3> <u><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Android 4.5/5 features</span></u></h3> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Reports have been flying around for a while now that one of the biggest additions to the next version of Android will be Google Babble.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Android Geeks reported last year that the service would debut on Android 5.0. When Android 4.4 KitKat was announced, there was no sign of Babble suggesting that Google may have held it back.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Babble is the codename for Google’s cross-platform service that will bring together all of its chat services, including Talk, Hangout, Voice, Messenger, Chat for Google Drive and Chat on Google+.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Last year also saw a couple of image leaks that suggested that Babble was in testing. However, 12 months later, there has been no sign of the service. So could we see it arrive with the next version of Android?</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>We’d say so. Cross platform messaging is big business at the moment. Facebook’s £11 billion acquisition shows how important it is for advertising giants and Google is the biggest of the bunch.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Other features are likely to include more fitness apps and ways for developers to tie in devices. Chances are the next version of Android will launch around the same time as <a href="http://www.t3.com/reviews/google-glass-review">Google Glass</a> becomes available to the public and <a href="http://www.t3.com/news/google-reveals-android-wear-os-for-smartwatches">Android Wear</a> devices hit the shelves.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>We’d say this one’s almost a certainty.</b></span><br /> <h3> <u><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Android 4.5/5 look</span></span></u></h3> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>In the middle of April, a <a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/is-this-what-the-icons-in-the-next-version-of-android-will-look-like--1242481?ns_campaign=t3-house-links&ns_mchannel=hl&ns_source=t3.com&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0">screenshot leaked</a> purporting to be of the next version of Android. It shows a clear overhaul of the look of Android – including new icon designs.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>According to the leak, the design is being referred to as “Moonshine” within Google itself.</b></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>But is it genuine? We’ll have to wait to find out.</b></span><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">                 </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">   </div> </div>

Android 4.5/5: Release date, rumours, features, news and pictures

he next version of Google Android is nearly upon us. But will it be the long awaited Android 5, or another minor update in the form of Android 4.5?  Android 5 was expected to be released last year,…

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SAMSUNG GALAXY GLASS(A COMPETITOR OF GOOGLE GLASS)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDZSYyzDeUFbkXtgyLyL7csR4eqwCusgGnHA1J-KfdrMu3uB2zR9CUNUSnaabxQksx-2uE9MT1vNLePfM_SEASwwmRTDBoZVGsw6wtOTIoXcsRqtRNMihg2JPCS7X_Z8N8IvBzkQT6NXVM/s1600/Samsung-Gear-Glass-leak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDZSYyzDeUFbkXtgyLyL7csR4eqwCusgGnHA1J-KfdrMu3uB2zR9CUNUSnaabxQksx-2uE9MT1vNLePfM_SEASwwmRTDBoZVGsw6wtOTIoXcsRqtRNMihg2JPCS7X_Z8N8IvBzkQT6NXVM/s1600/Samsung-Gear-Glass-leak.jpg" /></a></div> <br /> <b>Earlier this year, a <a href="http://www.t3.com/samsung">Samsung</a> executive was quoted as saying "The new smart glass to be introduced by Samsung is a new concept of <a href="http://www.t3.com/wearable-technology">wearable device</a> that can lead to an exciting culture of communication.</b><br /> <b>“The smart glass will present our aim to lead the new market with proven capability.”</b><br /> <b>But does Samsung have what it takes to beat <a href="http://www.t3.com/Google-Glass">Google Glass</a>? Here’s what we know so far… </b><br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <u>Samsung Galaxy Glass Launch Date</u></h3> <b>If rumours are to be believed, the Samsung Galaxy Glass will be unveiled at IFA 2014. The massive tech fair runs from September 5th to 10th in Berlin.</b><br /> <b>According to a <a href="http://www.t3.com/news/samsung-to-launch-google-glass-rival">story ran</a> by the Korea Times, a source within Samsung said that the tech giant will show off its smart glass gadget at IFA.</b><br /> <b>However, unveiling a product isn’t the same as launching. Samsung has a habit of unveiling gadgets up to two months before they actually land.</b><br /> <b>That said, we can’t see it launching it in November; it’s likely it will want to capture as much of people’s Christmas shopping money as possible. As such, we’d guesstimate Samsung will likely launch it either late September or early October.</b><br /> <b>But an immediate launch? We doubt it</b><br /> <u><br /></u> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <u>Samsung Galaxy Glass Looks</u></h3> <b>In the middle of April, <a href="http://www.t3.com/news/samsung-galaxy-glass-glimpsed">details of a patent leaked</a>. Significantly, the patent included an image of a device now widely believed to be Samsung’s smart glass.</b><br /> <b>According to the patent, the display will be made from “a transparent synthetic resin material". In addition, it will offer “wearable augmented reality and real life experience of being able to listen to a variety of sources”.</b><br /> <b>It isn’t the first pair of smart glasses the company has filed a patent for. Last year, the company filed designed for a device that looked more like traditional eyewear.</b><br /> <b>That patent was filed in South Korea early last year, though it only came to light in October.</b><br /> <b>Dubbed “sports glasses”, they had a translucent or transparent frame, side buttons and a panel at the front that appeared to hold a camera and a heads up display.</b><br /> <b>Unlike the latest patent, the sports glasses were wired, suggesting that they weren’t a standalone device.</b><br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIenVmpZvvNV15BQW3tIXstqRdbKF51UctNWnUEL9dPNy6v03M2rL-jCxZfoWIZ0qXZrv_tV_-SRsD0uS6uGnV2KTb0F-1FkqzurQnTi7BNUMvTjVjHPxQBycT4-E8b-GTsStHDgxR_gEN/s1600/samsung+sports+glasses.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIenVmpZvvNV15BQW3tIXstqRdbKF51UctNWnUEL9dPNy6v03M2rL-jCxZfoWIZ0qXZrv_tV_-SRsD0uS6uGnV2KTb0F-1FkqzurQnTi7BNUMvTjVjHPxQBycT4-E8b-GTsStHDgxR_gEN/s1600/samsung+sports+glasses.png" /></a></div> <br /> <b> It’s currently unclear if the latest leak is a standalone device, or one that would connect to a smartphone in a similar way – albeit through Bluetooth/NFC rather than a wire</b><br /> <br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <u>Samsung Galaxy Glass Name</u></h3> <b>Quite where the Glass moniker came from, we’re not quite sure. We’ve looked around for an answer, but couldn’t really find one. Our best guess is that someone referred to it as Samsung’s Glass and the name stuck.</b><br /> <b>Chances are it won’t launch with either the word Galaxy or Glass in it.</b><br /> <b>Samsung has been slowly moving away from the name Galaxy for all of its devices aside from its tablets and smartphones. Its most recent smartwatch and fitness gadgets have adopted the name Gear.</b><br /> <b>We’d be very surprised if Samsung didn’t follow this naming convention and go with the name Samsung Gear “Glass”.</b><br /> <b>Equally, we’d be very surprised if Samsung stuck with the name Glass for its headset – if that’s what it was ever called. The reason for that is simple – if a little boring. Because that’s what Google has called its smart headset.</b><br /> <b>Personally, I think the closest we’ll see is something like Samsung Gear Smartglass.</b><br /> <br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <u>Samsung Galaxy Glass Price</u></h3> <b>How much will Samsung’s Galaxy Glass cost? The honest answer is we don’t have a clue. However, there have been hints dropped by Samsung over the last couple of months.</b><br /> <b>In the interview with The Korea Times, the <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2014/01/133_150500.html">executive said</a> Samsung is keen to get first mover advantage. It’s also likely to use a similar strategy with Google as it has with Apple – undercut.</b><br /> <b>So while we don’t have any firm – or slightly unfirm – figures, what we can do is look at what Google is likely to do with its own Glass headset.</b><br /> <b>Currently, Google sells its Explorer edition Glass headset for $1,500 (£892). It has said that it will reduce that price tag when the consumer version comes out. However, it hasn’t said by how much – only that it would be “significantly less” that what it currently sells for.</b><br /> <b>As such, we really wouldn’t be surprised if Samsung’s own version came in at an absolute maximum of £400.</b><br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;">  </h3> </div>

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SAMSUNG GALAXY GLASS(A COMPETITOR OF GOOGLE GLASS)

Earlier this year, a Samsung executive was quoted as saying "The new smart glass to be introduced by Samsung is a new concept of wearable device that can lead to an exciting culture of communication.…

Read more »