Techoids

Category: Better Technology

  • LIX 3D Pen – Now you can draw in the air!

    LIX 3D Pen – Now you can draw in the air!

    The progress in 3D printing is not only in reducing its cost, there also has been extensive improvements in miniaturization . A new development called LIX incorporates 3D printing to something as simple as drawing with a pen, allowing the user to create different objects directly with their hands , without supports or limitations.

    Although virtual reality and augmented reality are emerging to shape the next technological revolution, personally I’m much more excited about the 3D printing . The idea of printing your own commonly used objects, ornaments and spare parts in the comfort of your home is fabulous and I can not wait for it to become popular. Instead of exploring an advanced design provided by a 3D printer industry, what we have here is the ability to draw freehand physical objects .

    It’s name is LIX , and as expected, it takes the form of a pen . A USB cable(for providing 5Volt ), a plastic filament PLA or ABS, and pressing a button is all it takes to create three-dimensional drawings . Its length is just over 16 inches while its weight does not exceed 35 grams, so LIX should be relatively comfortable in the hands of the user. The speed with which the plastic comes out is not so quick. So, most likely, a bit of patience is needed to draw with the LIX pen .

    If you’re interested, this device will be available soon through a pre-order. The price posted on the official website is 139.95 dollars , although no details about the international shipping costs or availability is mentioned. Anyway, it’s time for LIX to reach Kickstarter , where we can obtain the missing data, and access (in theory) to different offerings. Some of the test designs are stunning, and you can see thousands of people hoping to develop a new kindof art with this pen.

  • Google Releases Project Ara Module Developers Kit

    Google Releases Project Ara Module Developers Kit

    After an year of rumors about Project Ara,Google have officially announced their first Project Ara Module Developers Kit. This kit is currently available only for developers. The project was originally started by Advanced Technologies and Projects team in Motorola,when Google owned it. Although Google has sold some of Motorola’s share to Lenovo,the have retained the team from Motorola who would be working under the Android Division for this project.

    The design for Project Ara consists of an endoskeleton  and modules.  The endoskelton is the structural frame that holds all the modules in place. A module can be anything, from a new application processor to a new display or keyboard, an extra battery, a pulse oximeter–or something not yet thought of. The required modules can be added to the endoskeleton.  In other words,we can build a smartphone of our exact needs. This would also make the maintenance and upgradation of the phone simple.

    Currently,there are two sizes available-Mini and Medium,while Large has been confirmed. Google will be the sole provider of skeletons,as per now. A number of developer’s conference has been planned by Google throughout 2014. And an estimate 4000 developers have been registered for the conference on 15th and 16th of April.  It’s commercial release is expected in the first quarter of 2015. If you are one of the developers interested in it,kindly inform the officials via mail/forum here or register for the upcoming conferences here.

  • Land Rover’s Transparent Bonnet technology to see what’s under the hood!

    Land Rover’s Transparent Bonnet technology to see what’s under the hood!

    At first glance, mixing augmented reality with cars may not seem to be a good idea, but a new concept from Land Rover might change that opinion. It’s name is Transparent Bonnet , combining a series of chambers with a HUD (head-up display) to make  a transparent hood, allowing  the driver to observe the road conditions below.

    There is plenty of treacherous roads, and a little extra knowledge can be the difference between a relatively safe trip and spending hours in a sunken trench (that being optimistic) . Of course, a good vehicle can offset some of the problems that arise in a complicated route, but we cannot expect to solve everything. Technology is trying to lend a hand, and with this I do not mean the construction methods applied on the car, or the integrated information systems. We’ve seen things like sensors that help maintain a safe distance from other vehicles, and motion detectors to avoid impacts. In a less experimental aspect, the use of cameras is ever expanding, especially in countries with high levels of corruption and fraud. What we have here today fully qualifies as a concept, and calls for nothing less than the augmented reality . Adding elements in the visual field of the driver could be counterproductive, however, but in this case, it seems to be a very good idea.

    The official name of this project is Transparent Bonnet . The translation for “bonnet” is nothing more than hood, so we already have a good idea of its function from the name. The plan is to use cameras at the front of the car, which transmit images to a HUD display. The result is the feeling of a transparent hood , which helps to visualize the state of the road under the vehicle , and the position of the wheels. According to the words of Land Rover , the main applications for Transparent Bonnet would be for maneuvering in tight spaces and in difficult terrains. The system also can play additional information , such as speed and angles.

    The company has not said anything about the arrival of Transparent Bonnet  in the market, but the New York International Auto Show is just around the corner (April 18) , and it has been confirmed that the technology will be present there. On one hand, I agree that it does not seem to be a very useful application of augmented reality on a traditional car, and on the other, I must not forget that this is Land Rover . Their vehicles have challenged hard roads for decades, and with that in mind,Transparent Bonnet would not be a bad idea.

    You can read the official announcement here

  • New smartphones may recharge the battery in 30 seconds!- Storedot

    New smartphones may recharge the battery in 30 seconds!- Storedot

    It would be like the “Holy Grail” between mobile devices. The battery life combined with the charging time is one of the most frustrating points on any smartphone or tablet , however, just came a battery prototype developed by the Israeli company StoreDot , with the help of a special charger promises a total restoration in just 30 seconds .

    Yes, my smartphone is charging up as I write. And the only thing I hate about my smartphones,camera,tablet and my laptop is that its battery capacity is too low and it takes a lot of time to get charged up.I should either have a battery which stays charged for atleast a month of heavy use or it should get charged up instantly.The loss of autonomy among the new devices is felt at every moment, and we must be constantly surrounded by things like emergency chargers and laptop batteries . Technology should have a definitive answer to solve this problem. One option considered by experts is the supercapacitor , and although their recharging speed is very fast, it does not contain sufficient energy. In essence, what is needed is the best of both technologies , battery and supercapacitor. A company located in Israel called StoreDot , seems to have the perfect combo.

    During the conference ‘Next Think’ that Microsoft held in the city of Tel Aviv, StoreDot conducted a demonstration of a battery that only needed 28 seconds to fully charge a Samsung Galaxy S4 . StoreDot has focused on nanodots , bio peptides -organic chemical synthesized with the ability to optimize the electrolytic performance and the capacitance of the electrodes. This led to the development of a new “Multifunction Electrode” , with one side acting like a supercapacitor, and the other acting as a lithium electrode with slow download. By modifying the electrode with nanodots, developers dramatically increased their effectiveness, and all this without using toxic materials .

    The prototype has an estimated 2,000 mAh capacity, more or less what you can expect from a traditional smartphone (although small for a S4) , but StoreDot recognizes that technology needs more development. First, the special charger must be miniaturized (currently it is as big as the phone itself) and the next plan is to adapt it so it can be used in cars . It is estimated that the first commercial version of the battery and charger will be available in 2016, at a price that is double the current batteries. For 30 seconds recharge, I think we’re willing to pay the difference.

  • Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon 810 and 808

    Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon 810 and 808

    Qualcomm have announced their next generation mobile processors-Snapdragon 810 and 808 on April 7th.These are the highest performing chipsets manufactured by the company to date.Both 810 and 808 have 64 bit processors and use cortex A5 series.

    The Snapdragon 810 features four cortex A-57 cores and four cortex A-53 processors.It also has the newest Adreno 430 GPU,which results in about 80% power increase over the current GPUs.It can have a screen resolution upto 4k.It also adds the support for bluetooth 4.1 and usb 3.0.

    The Snapdragon 808 features four cortex A-57 cores but only two cortex A-53 processors.This one too has a new GPU-Adreno 418,and can have a screen resolution upto WQXGA (2560×1600).

    The new Snapdragon 810 easily outclasses it’s previous best chipset-Snapdragon 805.The processors are anticipated to begin sampling in the second half of 2014 and expected to be available in commercial devices by the first half of 2015.