Arduino Yun weds Arduino, WiFi and linux at Maker Faire 2013

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/20/arduino-yun-weds-arduino-wifi-and-linux-at-maker-faire-2013/

The Arduino Robot wasn't the only interesting product the Italian company launched at Maker Faire this past weekend. Arduino Yún combines a Leonardo board (featuring Atmel's ATmega32u4) with a MIPS-based WiFi SoC (Atheros AR9331) running Limino (an OpenWRT / linux derivative). It includes everything you'd expect from a Leonardo board plus WiFi, wired Ethernet, a USB host port and a microSD card slot. The Arduino side can be programmed wirelessly and communicates with the WiFi SoC via SPI and UART interfaces using the new Bridge Library, which delegates networking to the linux side. Out of the box, the board behaves just like any standard WiFi access point with a full web interface -- it even allows SSH access. Arduino Yún is the first of a family of WiFI-enabled products and will be available late June for $69. Check out the gallery below for some closeup shots, and follow the source for more details.

Gallery: Arduino Yún at Maker Faire 2013

Filed under: Misc, Wireless

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Source: Arduino blog

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Google Hangouts Has a Weird, Fun Multi-Cam Trick

Source: http://gizmodo.com/google-hangouts-has-a-weird-fun-multi-cam-trick-508504684

So, Google's new Hangouts app keeps all of your chats in sync across all of your devices. Cool, right? But what if you're in a video call on your phone, and then open the same video call on your computer. Boop! Suddenly there's two of you, as I just discovered when chatting with my friend Bay.

You can now show two angles of yourself at the same time. Turn your head from one to the quickly for instant comedy. But why stop there? I pulled out my tablet, and yep, that worked, too. In the image above you can see there's three of me and two of him.

This may not have been an intentional Easter egg, but it's fun nonetheless. There might actually be a modicum of utility, even. You could continue to show your face, while you use the camera on your phone to show some project that you're working on. Or maybe it's so you can switch from one device to the other without having to hang up. Really, though, you're just going to use it to weird people out, and that's just fine. But watch out for audio feedback. It can be harsh.

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This 18-Year-Old's Invention Could Make Your Future Phone Instacharge

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-18-year-olds-invention-could-make-your-future-pho-508532491

While you are hanging out on the Internet (in your underwear, maybe?) on a Saturday, kids that are smarter than either of us are out there getting ready to change the world. 18-year-old Eesha Khare (left), for instance, not only invented a supercapacitor that could someday be a phone battery that charges in just a couple of seconds; she also won $50,000 for it.

Khare is one of the three big winners from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. She and 17-year-old Henry Lin (right)—who created a model that simulates thousands of galaxies—picked up Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards. Meanwhile, 19-year-old Ionut Budisteanu won the Gordon E. Moore Award and $75,000 for his AI model that could lead to a cheaper self-driving car. Khare's invention is the one with some really immediate potential though, and quick-charging phones is something we all want.

So far, the supercapcitor has only been tested to light up a LED, but it was able to do that wonderfully and the prototypes new format holds potential to be scaled. It's also flexible and tiny, and should be able to handle 10,000 recharge cycles, more than normal batteries by a factor of 10.

It's a great step in the right direction, especially since we all know that battery life is the most important feature a phone can have. But like all supercapcitor tech, it's not exactly close to commercial development yet. But hey, if an (admittedly super smart) 18-year-old can get this stuff figured out, multi-national corporations with an even bigger cash profit incentive on the table should be able to as well, right? Hurry up already. I'll take either solution so long as one comes soon. [Intel via NBC News]

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What Do You Want From Lyrics Sites?

Source: http://gizmodo.com/what-do-you-want-from-lyrics-sites-508727739

Seriously, what is the deal with allll those janky lyrics sites? You google the lyrics for Random Access Memory and you're suddenly transported to the early 2000s. It's sort of surreal. I'm not the first person to mention this by far, and yet the lyrics world just seems to stagnate.

There are new lyrics apps sometimes that are pretty, but the fact is we're all just looking to resolve an "are we human or we dancer" debate and get on with our lives. What features would you appreciate if these sites decided to actually exist in any aesthetic vaguely reminiscent of 2013? What would be value-added for you?

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Samsung plans to launch 65-, 55-inch 4K TVs in June

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/19/samsung-4k-55-65-inch-june/

When Samsung unveiled its first 4K Ultra HD TV at CES this year, it said other sizes would follow, both larger and smaller than the initial 85-inch version. Now it's apparently ready to fulfill part of that promise, announcing in Korea that 65- and 55-inch models will launch next month. Of course our next question is how these smaller models will compare to the $39,999 MSRP 85S9 UHD TV in price. Hopefully they'll follow the path blazed by Sony, which recently introduced models at that size with pricing well below the $10,000 benchmark, although we expect Seiki's 50-incher will still hold the crown for value pricing. The press release mentions they will feature Samsung's upgradeable Smart TV platform and the "micro dimming ultimate" LED lighting of their larger cousin, but the odd "Timeless Gallery" frame / stand (pictured above on the 85-incher) was not listed.

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung

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Source: Samsung Korea

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