Google’s Matias Duarte Reveals Design Standards for Android 4.0 at CES 2012
Android Design is a online repository for the UI guidelines and blueprints for version 4.0, which we learned would unify smartphones and tablets back at Google I/O. This set of information should make things all neat and tidy for ICS devices, keeping user interface characteristics a bit more cohesive from app to app. Here, devs will find all the basic info and elements that are native to platform in order to make the best applications possible for the OS.
Engadget

Polaroid Announces the Android-powered SC1630 Smart Camera
Polaroid shocked the Consumer Electronics Show on Tuesday when the company announced a new camera powered by Android. The Polaroid SC1630 Smart Camera is a 3.2-inch device, and it features a whopping 16-megapixel camera capable of 3x optical zoom on a 36-108mm lens. When connected to Wi-Fi, users can instantly upload their images to social networking sites and will also even have access to the Android Market.
BGR

Google Updates Search and Maps for Android in the Middle of CES
Google has taken to stealth updating Search and Maps for Android while attention is squarely placed on CES this week. The updates for Maps for Android center on improved battery life with Latitude now featuring faster refreshes for locations and adds the ability to guess location based on vehicle speed if the GPS signal is lost during a drive and offers more public transportation route options for supported public transit systems.
PhoneNews

Moneto NFC MicroSD to Bring Contactless Features to Any Android Phone
DeviceFidelity and Spring Card Systems have teamed up on a NFC-capable microSD card that will hopefully forgo the need of buying specific mobile handsets for the privilege of contactless payments. The microSD card is set to land in the next few weeks, pegged at $30. Both will be available at Moneto, with plans to support several — as yet unnamed — Android devices by Q2, rolling out further throughout 2012.
Engadget

Huawei Announce World’s Slimmest Android Smartphone at 6.68mm
Huawei has turned up to CES this year with the Ascend P1 S, which sports a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD display and enjoys a thickness of just 6.68mm. The phones runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and manages to pack in an 8MP camera with face recognition. You won’t be feeling much weight in your pocket either, as the P1 S only weighs 130 grams. The Ascend P1 S is expected to become available in April with a price point around $400.
Geek.com

Toshiba’s Waterproof Tablet Can Even Charge Wirelessly Underwater
Have you ever wanted to put your tablet inside of your fish tank? You got a waterproof concept tablet from Toshiba that was sitting at the bottom of a fish tank right on the showroom floor. And yes, the tablet was able to charge without any wires, even when it was submerged next to a bunch of fake fish.
GottaBeMobile

Android Smartphones Announced During CES
- Motorola Droid Razr Maxx [Read More at Pocket-lint]
- Huawei Ascend P1 S [Read More at BGR]
- LG Spectrum [Read More at GottaBeMobile]
- Motorola Droid 4 [Read More at Engadget]
- Pantech Burst [Read More at Phone Scoop]

Related Posts

1. Android tablet Hivision SpeedPad for $99?

PHLASH started as an Android icon designer in January 2010 when his search for inspiring HTC Magic icons came up short. A year and a half later, this prolific designer has produced more than 100,000 free and paid Android icon designs, all available for download on his website.

In our interview, PHLASH talks about his design background, his inspirations and offers some valuable tips for designers and Android fans alike. So lets jump right in.

Q: Welcome to AndroGeek, could please introduce yourself and tell us how you got started designing icons?
A: First off, thanks for having me on the virtual seat, I’m very honored. My name is ThaPHLASH…friends call me PHLASH. I’m a urban artist from Montreal Canada and started doing my icon project without really knowing where it would lead. It’s one of those things that when you start, it looks like a harmless hobby and evolves into a full blown career.

Q: Where does the name PHLASH come from?
A: In the nineties I was a very dedicated (Macromedia) Flash developer/designer, so PHLASH became a by-product of that.

Q: What pushes you to produce all of these icons?
A: Baller status.

Q: You have a history of doing street murals. Why the shift to icons and what has your experience been moving from the large to the miniature?
A: Doing giant murals will always be something I enjoy, its very physical and a magical stress reliever. Being in contact with matter and getting your hands dirty provides perfect balance in contrast to creating digital work. I recommend it to everyone.

Q: How would you describe your artistic style? How has this style developed over time?
A: I get inspired by things around me; people, nature. Although, I must admit I’ve had a strong attraction to anime and harmonious, colorful visuals since day one.

Q: What does a typical day at work involve for you?
A: It’s more like a typical night, I’m a night-crawler. When not in front of the screen typing away or scribbling with my tablet, I’m constantly brainstorming for my next design. For example, I have a icon-set called Tha Natural which is basically inspired by leaves from my garden on a rainy afternoon. I finish my shift by teaching arts at a few schools two hours a day.

Q: What is your personal workspace like?
A: Very minimalistic…the simpler the better. I work from my home in a room allocated to creation. I have multiple displays as well as the big Wacom screen tablet.

Q: The level of details in your Tha Shag collection is impressive, can you please tell us a bit about your inspiration for this set?

A: For Tha shag iconset, it was all about texture. Icons are buttons you touch with your fingers and I wanted something that communicate an emotion to the fingers. Something you actually want to touch. So I went on to make very realistic fur where every strand is dynamic, giving every icon a unique feel. They are also very hard and time consuming to do, so you won’t find anything else like it anywhere – they’re are too hard to copy!

Q: What about copying? What are your thoughts and experiences on illegal downloads of your work?
A: Piracy is rampant in icon design, but the way I think about it is that piracy is simply a competing business. They happen to sell at the price of $0, so you can’t beat them on price, but you CAN beat them on convenience and content (piracy takes awhile to get up to date unless you have a hugely popular pack which gets pirated within HOURS of release). As long as these two points outweigh the price difference, you’ll be ok.

Q: Speaking of collections. We noticed that you’ve released a new Google+ Android icon set. Where can our readers find you on Google+ if they’d like to connect?

A: I’m Phlash Tha on G+ and this is my new home where I show icon experiments and sometimes offer fun giveaways.

Q: Any advice to those who are looking to design their own Android icons?
A: Persistence means everything in the icon design field. Be ready for the long haul if you wanna leave a trace. Create nice previews of your icons, first impression count a lot. Quality is very important, create with the highest resolution possible. Find the theme you want, go for it, and stick with it consistently throughout the icon set. Start with a vector (I make mine with Adobe Flash, or/and Adobe illustrator) then import that vector in Photoshop. If you do that you’ll be ready if you need to make a bigger size later. Vectors are really crisp and infinite resolution.

Test your icons on a phone, sometimes it looks very different than on your computer screen…often its a brightness contrast issue. And finally, test the icons on black and white backgrounds since users have various wallpapers.

Q: Is it possible to make a living with icon design?
A: If you want to get into icons but are worried that the time put in will not match the amount of money coming out, this may be true. At least in the beginning. There is a preconception in this field that icons should be free, no matter how much work goes into them. If you intend to generate $ from them, be aware that its 1 paid icon pack for every 500 free ones out-there. YOU WILL HAVE TO WORK HARD!

I have seen designers make over $30,000 in 4 months, if you manage it right this could be you!

You need to be original. It’s not easy to come up with something new, yet its not impossible. Do your research before you jump in and study the style you intend to use. Its worth the effort. UPDATES? be ready for them. Listen to user requests, its your ultimate guide to what you need in the icon pack. One requested icon is worth more than 10 nobody cares about.

Q: What Android devices are you currently using?
A: Well this is typical of me…I’m still holding onto an old HTC myTouch. Is it possible to get attached to a device?

Q: Do you have any surprises for the AndroGeek community today?
A: Of course I do! I’d like to offer AndroGeek readers a 50% discount on ALL my work available from my website. Simply enter “androgeek479″ in the discount box on my checkout page to receive the discount (for a limited time). Update: Sorry, coupon code has now expired.

Thanks so much to PHLASH for chatting with us today!

Related Posts

1. Android Icon Packs basics and a list of free Icon Sets

Aldiko by Aldiko (http://bit.ly/HlloD) – Aldiko runs on any Android-based phone and allows for seamless downloading of thousands of ebooks with no need for a subscription or computer connection. Aldiko claims to bring the user access to “tens of thousands” of free ebook titles. Aldiko allows browsing of multiple online catalogs and has a powerful search tool. Once books are downloaded, Aldiko provides an easy start interface that is fully customizable for organizing and reading.

Google Books by Google (http://bit.ly/13nRY) – Google provides direct access for Android phone users to their Google Books service. This brings over 1.5 million books to U.S. users and 500,000 to those outside the U.S. All of the titles are in the public domain and works by reformatting the page layout of its regular service so that it is easier to read on mobile devices. Titles include fiction, travelogues, textbooks, business manuals, and much more.

Wattpad Mobile by Wattpad (http://bit.ly/bWJrHP) – Wattpad is popular ebook community where readers and writers can link up for access to “hundreds of thousands” of ebooks that include novels, short stories, poetry, and essays. Wattpad claims to be the most-used mobile ebook app in the world, with over 4 million downloads.

TextOnPhone by WHERE, Inc. (http://bit.ly/dlHxeq) – Although TextOnPhone has gone off and back on the Android Market a few times now, users report that it is among their favorite ebook reader for Android phones. TextOnPhone offers over 30,000 books in 50 languages. The link here provides one of the last known sites where the app is available for download.

FBReaderJ by Academy of Modern Software Engineering (http://bit.ly/e3zG2) – FBReaderJ is a freeware book reader for Android that was originally developed as a student project. Supported formats for reading include oeb, epub, and fb2. Files can also be directly read from zip, tar, and gzip files.

Reveal Reader by Jack Holt (http://bit.ly/6n68gN) – Reveal Reader is a widely acclaimed reader that is compatible with YancyWare ebooks. It is primarily for Christian and Mormon texts and scriptures, but also supports many open-format, public domain books. User reviews are overwhelmingly positive, giving it thumbs up for design, ease-of-use, and frequent updates.

iSilo by DC & Co. (http://bit.ly/6RrHir) – The iSilo ebook reader was originally made for the iPhone but soon versions were released for Palm, Windows, Blackberry, and now Android. It is hailed as being extremely versatile. The iSilo format decreases documents by 50 – 60 percent while retaining formatting and images.

Related Posts

1. Top Smartphone eBook and Book Apps for iPhone
2. Free Smartphone Apps For Winter Sports
3. Smartphone Voice Recording Apps (COP RECORDER)

Image taken via Gizmodo post

You also should check out this Google Support Forum thread ”Spotty 3G Part 2?“

Related Posts

1. Google Nexus One Phone Support Hotline [1-888-486-3987]
2. Demos of the 3D Engine on the Google Nexus One
3. HTC Nexus One vs. iPhone 3GS comparison (Video)

Image via Mobiflip

Also interesting is that Android 2.2 could be on the way with automatic-app-updates Mobiflip Blog mentioned that

“the Android is clearly a new or revised Market to see the really interesting thing is, however, the field “Allow automatic updating.

see image and more via

Of course if you root your phone then no doubt the various forums around the web will have Android 2.2 firmware builds to install. It is unclear at the moment when other Android smartphones will get these updates, but we expect over the coming months that once the update has been announced, updates to other devices will happen a few months after that.

AndroidAndMe’s tip is:

to wait till Google I/O conference starting on May 19th…

Google Nexus One owners first off followed possibly by DROID although speculation also says the N1 and DROID could get a roll out at the same time. These updates should allow developers to access better graphics capabilities specifically on the Google Nexus One.

via Engadget and Mobiflip (DE)

Related Posts

1. Modifying ‘Google Maps Navigation’ Android-app for Non-U.S.
2. Android Market: Google Earth for Android
3. Manage your Social Network with Google Android

Image via http://mobile-libraries.blogspot.com

Recent news of ebook apps now exceeding the number of games on platforms like Apple’s iPhone and iPod. According to Mobclix, there are more than 27,000 app-based books available on Apple’s App Store, with games falling behind at 25,400, and entertainment at a distant third place of 17,164.

The smartphone ebook and book application trend seems to be picking up steam, with the number of ebooks outnumbering games almost two-to-one over the last month. This trend is almost certain to continue with the upcoming release of Apple’s new iPad tablet reader and dedicated online book store.

According to Appstoreapps, the top paid books on the Apple App Store are as follows:

Dr. Seuss’s ABC (Oceanhouse Media) – A time-honored classic now comes to the iPhone platform, featuring professional narration, background audio, and enlarge scene artwork. This title is designed to promote reading in young children as well as entertain.

iReading: The Lion and The Mouse (AppleTreeApp) – This title comes packed with exquisite pictures, narration and animation from some of the best illustrators around the world. This ebook includes both new and classic fairy tales to provide children with an exciting reading experience.

Free Books (Spreadsong, Inc). – According to its publisher, ‘Free Books’ claims to offer “23,469 classics for less than a cup of coffee.” As quoted from their website, “[Spreadsong] takes 23,469 classic books, packages them up, and makes them available to download and read with [their] fully featured e-reader.” These classics all fall within the public domain, with titles such as Victorian novels, Shakespeare’s plays, and the autobiographies of Ben Franklin and Andrew Carnegie.

Classics (Andrew Kaz & Phill Ryu) – This e-book application is a collection of over a dozen hand-picked, literary masterpieces, with new additions like “Through the Looking-Glass”, “The Odyssey”, and “The Art of War.”

Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat (Oceanhouse Media) – The Dr. Seuss classic “The Cat in the Hat”, one of the top selling children’s books of all time, now comes to the iPhone/iPod Touch platforms.

Kindle for iPhone (Amazon.com) – Kindle, Amazon’s ebook format of choice, now finds its way to the iPhone/iPod platform. Using a simple, easy-to-use interface, users can shop for hundreds of thousands of books at www.amazon.com/kindlestore. Amazon delivers fairly low prices on Kindle books, including New York Times Best Sellers and most new releases going for around $9.99 each.

B&N eReader (Barnes & Noble) – Barnes & Noble, the king of brick-and-mortar bookstores in America, brings its eReader app to the iPhone/iPod platform, giving users access to over half a million eBooks, including bestselling authors like Stephen King, James Patterson, and Dean Koontz. The eReader platform offers samples of new books for pre-purchase review. Books purchased for the B&N eReader may also be viewed on Mac and PC desktop versions of the app.

Audiobooks – (Cross Forward Consulting, LLC) – Audiobook showcases over 2,800 classic audiobooks at no cost to readers. These free audiobooks provide free access to over 20,000 hours worth of audiobook content, including options like automatic bookmarking, sleep timers, and advanced searches.

101 Classic Novels – (Publish This, LLC) – This title is exactly what it claims to be, an ebook application of 101 classic novels including favorites like “Flatland”, “Little Women”, “Emma”, “Mansfield Park”, and “Northanger Abbey”

Stanza (Lexcycle) – Stanza is a revolutionary ebook application offering one of the best reading interfaces in its class. It has received outstanding reviews from Time Magazine, Forbes, and Wired. It is featured as one of the top three Apple favorites in the store’s “App Store Turns 1″ celebration. This iPhone book app offers a selection of over 50,000 contemporary titles and an additional 50,000 free classics. It even allows you to transfer other ebook formats from your computer using its desktop counterpart.

It’s a very exciting time for ebooks and their deployment on the iPhone/iPod platform. 2010 is definitely going to be a key year in the ebook application revolution.

More free book apps via top-50-free-book-apps

Related Posts

1. Top Smartphone eBook and Book Apps for Android
2. Book-related applications overtook games in the App Store (Image)
3. Smartphone Voice Recording Apps (COP RECORDER)

Softbank’s first Android smart phone will come along with Android 2.1
HTC Desire X06HT (SoftBank / HTC):

via Weekly ASCII (Japan)

Softbank X06HT Specs

• 3.7” AMOLED touchscreen with a WVGA resolution.
• 5Mpix CMOS Camera module with AL & LED Flash
• W-CDMA & GSM
• GPS, Bluetooth, HTC Sense
• 1GHz Snapdragon CPU
• 60 x 119 x 11.9mm 135g

“…the Japanese HTC Desire is the very same as its foreign brother” via Akihabara News

HTC Mobile is a Taiwanese cell phone manufacturer that has been making a lot of noise with the introduction of interesting new Smartphones in the last few years, and HTC is always good for its remarkable technical specifications such as the case of the HTC Desire.

Check this video about the

HTC Desire (X06HT) with voice search for Google Maps

Related Posts

1. HTC products at the MWC 2010 – Legend, Desire and mini
2. Magnetometer Coming to Android and iPhone
3. Android 2.1 capability for current US AnDroid phones (table)

Already in development for about 5 years, Gran-Turismo-5 is one of the most promising racing games we are waiting for.

Image via Forums Forza Motorsport

After some delays, Polyphony Digital is pushing to release Gran Turismo 5. The PS3 fans have to wait till this fall.

Gran Turismo 5 New Trailer

Sony is going to really push new technologies with their 3D gaming and their motion controller in 2010. Sony’s 3D-enabled Bravia HDTVs will also hit the market in summer 2010.

Polyphony Digital  was waiting for Sony to give the green light. Do you remember when Yamauchi said the game was all ready to go and they could “release it whenever they wished.

BTW “…the fifth installment will include visual damage as well as NASCAR racing.“

Related Posts

1. Marvel vs Capcom 2 trailer [XBox 360/ PS 3 Teaser]
2. FIFA 10 teaser trailer from EA – Official FIFA 10 Trailer #1
3. Top List of upcoming DirectX 11 games [10 Trailer]

The Korea-based company HardKernel debuts its ODROID device in September 2009, and by late October, SlashGear was reporting that the first run of developer units have already sold out at around $300.

ODROID does have a pretty snappy ARM Cortex A8 processor from Samsung clocked at 833mhz, with ample 512MB DDR2 memory, a 3.5-inch capacitive touch screen display and 720p video playback through its built-in HDMI output.

This is the first Android device with such a gaming buttons layout.

Now watch the video playing  GBA & Quake III on Android 2.1 Eclair

GBA & Quake III on ODROID

Product information : http://www.hardkernel.com
CPU : Samsung S5PC100 833MHz Cortex A8
DDR2 RAM : 512MB
System OS Storage : 2GB
Android 2.1 source code for ODROID : http://dev.odroid.com

HardKernel is shipping a developer-focused handheld game device that runs Android and offers source code, schematics, and a debug board. Especially now that both devices have multi-touch technology. But with the introduction of powerful Android devices such as Motorola’s Droid and most recently, Google’s Nexus One, gaming apps and functionality has improved on the device. The fact that the Android platform doesn’t support gaming as well as the iPhone is not new.

Phandroid wrote a post today which will answer your question, whether ODROID Android Gaming device supports Android 2.1? ”…ODROID will be available in early March, …, Phandroid points out that “this launch will also be a Developer Edition device.”

Android 2.1 on ODROID Developer Edition

Get more information about via ODROID and via developer website

What do you think about this handheld game controller?

Do we need the ODROID with all its upcoming 3D features as Phandroid points out “with the new 3D Gaming features of the Android NDK added” or should we just follow Pandora’s example?

Will the ODROID compete with the next Nintendo PSP generation?

The image at the top I’ve captured from here ‘ODROID : Speed Forge 3D Demo through HDTV‘

Related Posts

1. ‘City Stage 3D’ and three other 3D Games on my Android-phone
2. Rooting your Android with AllDroid Community Rom (video)
3. Six Android displays confronted [Video]

via large-icons.com

With the advent of new android smart-phones, you can now use and create several types of icons, and insert/download them into your application’s user interface. You may want to try out something other than the pre- packaged icons in your user interface. A number of useful icons are there that you can download in a free icon pack. These graphic icons will bring out a more professional look to your user interface and make it more attractive.

Here is a short and easy guide on how to create icons.

The primary color palette in a basic icon design is made up of white, black and gray scales. Different combinations of these colors are used to make the launcher icons, the menu icons and status bar icons. The launcher icons and certain status bar icons are given accents of bright and clear colors which match with the existing icons. You create the basic steps in these icons in the Adobe Illustrator.

You can make each icon by creating depth and shape, adding color and details. You can also create shadows by tilting the angles and a blurring effect.

Once the icons are created you can then import it to Adobe Photoshop and fit to the desired image size. For a launcher icon and the menu bar icon, you create an image size of 48*48 px, and 25*25px for a status bar icon. In Photoshop you adjust shape of the icon in a transparent background. Once the icons are done you then export the icons in its transparency enabled .png format

Launcher icons are the most basic of the 3D icons using light and shadows for defining objects. Structure wise you can place launcher icons either on the top or the front of the home screen. They are made with smooth rounded shapes to give it that friendly appearance. Menu icon bars are graphical elements that are given a flat appearance and pictured face on. They are given the debars effect to give it a “deep” look. But they are not viewed from a 3D perspective so the basic primary color palette is used. With the correct usage of light, effects and shadows you can create that “glowing” look on a menu icon.

The status bar icons represent the various notifications from your application. Though they look like menu bars they are much smaller, higher in contrast and well rounded. You can create the dialog icon, the tab icon and the list view icons in this manner but remember to use colors when necessary and to design the colors, size and length in a normal perspective. Keep the icons simple and attractive.

Similarly, if you want to get rid of an Android smart phone icon to declutter your user interface, you must first select the icon that you want to remove. By clicking and holding the icon for a few seconds you will notice that the icon becomes movable. The label is separated from the icon and you can then drag the unwanted icon to the applications tab at the bottom of the screen. This same process can be used to move the icons from one part of the home screen to the other. Once you move it to the applications tab the icon to be deleted and the applications tab will turn red then the icon disappears. The removed icon is always available if you drag the applications tab up from the bottom of the screen.

There is a free icon pack from the icon library called the Large Android Icons 2009.3 and it contains a huge collection of icons that display various space creatures, robots, crawlers and other appealing figures. You can also get icons that show their various moods and actions for full effects. These images are a boon to have in your collection of icons because gifted artists who are professionals in their field create them. These come in bright colors and well-defined edges. These icons are made in the PNG format and come in different sizes. You can download these icons at “Free Large Android Icons 2009.3“

You can download more great icon sets from various websites. Its very easy and you just have to follow their process.

The Android Developer Common Icon Set II

download

30 Free Android Menu Icons

download

Free Android 2.x Monster Icons

download

You can get a really big list of large icons at Large-Icons.com

To get some ideas on how to make your own set visit this Forum-XDA-Developers. thread.

You must visit Iconspedia and Forums Crackberry to get more sets of icon packs.

Some of the most popularly used icons in the icon pack are the Alarm Clock, Contacts, Calendar, Email, Gallery, Gmail, Google Talk, Camera, Camcorder, Messaging, Music, Maps, You tube, IM, etc. These are some of the standard icons used in the Android platform. Once you download these icons, make sure that the action you assign the icon is consistent with the action listed.

You can download the Android templates pack, which contains a wealth of template designs, filters and settings that makes your or your developer’s job of creating icons easy.

The templates pack can be accessed in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator file formats, so that when you create the icons in the Android platform, the design and layout are maintained. You can also load the files into any image editing software although the efficiency of each program varies with the type of program that you use.

The android developers suggest that you download the template pack archive before you begin your icon design.

Suggest your favorite icon packs in our comment are.

Related Posts

1. Top List Of Free Productive Android Apps For Business
2. 100,000 Icons and Counting! An Interview with Android Icon Designer ‘PHLASH’
3. Free Android-apps categorized to organize your Droid life

When you can live with small fonts and a tiny screen on your WinMo this is a geeky way to install Ubuntu on your smartphone.

Ubuntu on the HTC Touch Pro2

Video via Pocketnow

Btw this is already available for the X1 via X1BUNTU (“UBUNTU 8.04 for X1 WORKING WIFI”)

Engadget and more heads up XDA developer forum

Geeky but not usable? Please give us your opinion.

Related Posts

1. Build your own home cinema with Ubuntu 9.10 & Moovida (how-to + videos)
2. Windows Phone 7 skin for your WinMo [LeSScro Video]
3. How To Dual Boot Windows Mobile with Google Android [Video]

The website load is very slow when you compare it with more expensive Laptops, but you can buy for $65 in the Chinese factories when you order this Laptop in large quantities.

$65 Android Laptop

Specs:

• Android
• low cost and low power VIA 8505 ARM based 533Mhz processor
• with 128MB RAM
• 2GB Nand flash
• 7″ 800×480 screen
• WiFi
• SD card reader
• 3G dongle support
• run 4 hours on a 2100mah battery

Its not anywhere near as thrilling as the iPad video demo. Its just one of the cheap Android tablets there at CeBIT.

Related Posts

1. Android tablet Hivision SpeedPad for $99?
2. Microsoft’s Laptop Hunters ads makes Apple unhappy
3. Android 2.1 based T-mobile Pulse mini introduced at MWC

Kojiro is a humanoid which is built by the University of Tokyo’s JSK Robotics Laboratory.

Kojiro  musculoskeletal humanoid robot has a detailed musculoskeletal system built to mimic the human body.

via Engadget

To develop control algorithms for Kojiro, the JSK team is using an iterative learning process. This kind of system has lots of nonlinearities and is hard to model precisely.

The main drawback of using a musculoskeletal system is that controlling the robot’s body is difficult. For balance, the robot uses three gyros and a three-axis accelerometer on its head. To keep track of its posture and limb positions, they embedded joint angle sensors on spherical joints and six-axis force sensors on the ankles. To make the robot safer, the researchers built its body using mostly light and flexible materials. The results are transmitted to a computer and displayed on a control screen developed by Takanishi. A driver circuit board automatically adjusts the current fed to the motors based on temperature measurements.

Each motor unit has a rotary encoder, tension sensor, and current and temperature sensing circuit. Its brushless motors are quite small but can deliver a substantial 40 watts of output power. These tendon-muscle structures — Kojiro has about 100 of them — work together to give the robot some 60 degrees of freedom, or much more than could be achieved with motorized rotary joints. However in Kojiro, the motors are lightweight and used to pull cables attached to specific locations on the body, simulating how our muscles and tendons contract and relax. Traditional robots have limbs and torsos powered by DC motors at the joints. In one scientific paper, they wrote: ‘Currently normal humanoid robots are not suitable for working in our daily environment. The team, led by Professor Nakanishi, said this newly developed spine would allow them to manufacture lighter and more flexible robots in the future to serve in the home. Kojiro is an advanced musculoskeletal humanoid robot under development at the University of Tokyo’s JSK Robotics Laboratory, has a detailed musculoskeletal system built to mimic the human body, sporting artificial bones, muscles and tendons to create a robot that is theoretically more light and agile than your regular bot, and which moves in a more natural fashion, and bends and twists via his artificial spine.

More details at Spectrum IEEE org

Related Posts

1. How to Build Robots That Couldn’t Harm a Fly
2. Scary Boston Dynamics Robot video “PETMAN Prototype”
3. A.I. Robots are autonomous and learn by experimentation [Videos]

While its not quite as revolutionary as the iPhone, the iPad will continue this tradition by capitalizing on the fast-growing e-reader market that was forged by Amazon. And Apples string of hits continues to create new markets and to put money in investors pockets – despite one of the worst economic backdrops in modern history. However, the company and its public relations prince, Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs, have achieved near-cult-like status with the companys devout customer base. Apple essentially reintroduced the netbook, but infused it with the type of touch-screen technology that its perfected with some of its other successes, including the iPhone. The media buzz that surrounded the launch of the device – branded the iPad – was certainly overstated.

Great Kindle vs iPad Review

Kindle vs iPad Review – iPad advantages

The best way to think of the iPad is as a larger iPhone – one with a 9.7? screen. The iPad’s advantages are -

1. It does a lot of things – movies (including HD), TV, color screen web browsing, playing games (games look really good), .
2. Very good looks.
3. Larger screen size – the screen is a 9.7 inch IPS display. IPS is really good screen technology.
4. Full capacitive touch screen.
5. 1 GHz Apple A4 processor.
6. 16, 32, and 64 GB of flash storage – That’s much more storage than the Kindle.
7. 802.11n, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 in the 3G model and WiFi and Bluetooth in the WiFi model. Kindle doesn’t have WiFi or Bluetooth.
8. Accelerometer and Compass. Kindle doesn’t have either.
9. Good battery life of 10 hours. Standby of over a month. This is still much less than the Kindle.
10. iPhone Apps – iPad gets all iPhone Apps. The new SDK includes an iPad simulator.
11. Excellent for newspapers – you get color photos and inline videos and more.

(via @ireadereview) and (via @ShoppingApple)

But CES 2010 showed us that the e-Reader market is anything but slow growing. This is a comprehensive list for the categories to be compared, but not readers.

Related Posts

1. First iPad commercial at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards
2. Latest iPad commercial – “Check out these apps” [Video]
3. iPhone 4G concept in 5 colors plus motion-control? (Images)

Although this game is on Zune HD available month ago, this is a great presentation because it shows the ability to resume the same game on a different platform.

Eric Rudder Playing Indiana Jones On Stage

Think about Netflix or Windows Media Center with this functionality. If you’re watching a movie on a PC, you can pause and move it to your TV. And if you need to get on the bus, or even a plane, you can resume it on your phone.

Great

More from Tech·Ed

Microsoft Tech·Ed is the premier technical education and networking event for any technology professional interested in learning, connecting and exploring a broad set of current and soon-to-release Microsoft technologies, tools, platforms and services.

Related Posts

1. No native apps on Windows Phone 7 Series
2. Windows Phone 7 skin for your WinMo [LeSScro Video]
3. Latest Dexter iPhone stealth-game trailer [with accelerometer tech]