Tired of Guitar Hero? Try jamming with your iPhone or iPod Touch and Shimon, an autonomous, marimba-playing, octopus-armed hipster robot.
Gil Weinberg, director of music technology at Georgia Tech, is developing Shimon as a socially dynamic band mate. He says the robot "listens like a human and improvises like a machine" thanks to complex algorithms that allow it to perceive and improvise a groove.
(Credit:
Credit: Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/CNET)
Weinberg is also behind ZOOZBeat, an app that turns your iPhone into an instrument and sequencer, letting you remix and loop your own music by shaking, tilting, and otherwise getting down with it. Beats come bundled with the app, but you can also download packs with vocals, hooks, and instruments.
If there aren't iPhone-only bands out there already, ZOOZBeat will probably start a trend. But as I mentioned in an earlier post about the exciting new Eigenharp, electronic music concerts can benefit from a more dynamic physical performance, and that's where Shimon, with its bobbing cyclops head, comes in.
As the vid after the jump shows, Shimon can take your ZOOZ loop with a Wi-Fi flick and run with it. Here, it repeats and improvises on a jazzy loop, playing in a variety of styles resembling jazz greats like John Coltrane or Thelonius Monk.
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(Credit:
Ishikawa Komuro Laboratory at the University of Tokyo)
If you've seen the film "Avatar," you may have noticed one of the characters plucking a display panel from a desktop and continuing to use it as a standalone control screen. While we probably won't witness epic wars between human colonists and sapient humanoids in the near future, the technology depicted in the science fiction film is available in our current time, albeit in unrefined form.
At the recent computer graphics event Siggraph Asia 2009, a pair of researchers from the University of Tokyo's Ishikawa Komuro Laboratory demonstrated their Volume Slicing Display, a screen prototype developed for medical use. With it, radiologists would be able to view 3D imagery from a flat X-ray plate via a calibrated projector.
The technology essentially lets users experience 3D virtual objects in a physical environment. This could mean doctors visualizing cross sections of a brain in real time while walking around an operating theater, for example.
The setup apparently comprises only plexiglass or paper, one or more projectors, and ARTookit markers that can be made with off-the-shelf hardware. While this doesn't sound as exciting as what's shown in the film, at least we know we may get there in the future. 2148, perhaps?
(Source: Crave Asia)
A month after Apple started selling its iPhone in China, the device expanded its Asian reach Saturday with a much-heralded launch in South Korea.
In keeping with the tradition of waiting in line for hours in advance of an iPhone launch, hundreds queued up overnight outside the Olympic stadium in Seoul to snag the smartphone as soon as it officially landed amid blaring music and strobe lights. The hoopla appeared to far trump the phone's more subdued arrival in China, where it launched in the October cold and rain to smaller-than-expected crowds.
(Credit:
Apple)
KT Corp, South Korea's second largest mobile carrier (after SK Telecom) and the local distributor of the iPhone, says about 65,000 people have preordered the device, which hit the South Korean market two months after the government approved its sale.
Mobile penetration in South Korea is high--an estimated 93 percent of the country's population subscribes to a mobile service--but smartphones have yet to take off there due to cost, lack of apps, and high data rates by mobile carriers.
"We're hoping that this iPhone will be a trigger point for the smartphone market in Korea," said Yang Hyun-mi, chief strategy officer at KT Corp, according to the Canadian Press. Smartphones make up just 1 percent of all cell phones in South Korea, she said.
KT is pricing the 32GB iPhone 3GS at 396,000 won ($338) for customers who subscribe with a monthly service fee of 45,000 won (about $38). Customers who subscribe with a monthly fee of 65,000 won ($55) can get the phone for 264,000 won ($225). And premium users who sign up for monthly plans based on a 132,000 won ($113) basic rate can get the phone for free.
An 8GB iPhone, meanwhile, can be had for 132,000 won for subscribers signed on the 45,000 won monthly plans.
KT projects that iPhone sales will fall anywhere 200,000 to 500,000 units, a showing that's widely expected to shake up the country's mobile market. For years, the Korea Communications Commission used technical rules to stifle competition, allowing homegrown giants like Samsung and LG Electronics to take over the market, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Indeed, in good news for cost-conscious consumers, Samsung has already slashed the price of its 8GB Omnia 2 smartphone by 44,000 won ($37.50) to 924,000 won ($788).
Watch a South Korean iPhone television spot below.
We have special guest Damian Koh from CNET Asia joining us on today's show. He answers our questions about the cell phone market in Asia, and surprisingly, he tells us he actually envies us for the phones that are available only in the U.S. We also discuss the Motorola Droid, Verizon's AT&T-bashing ads, Samsung's Bada, and more.
Listen now: Download today's podcastSubscribe now: iTunes (audio) | iTunes (video) | RSS (audio) | RSS (video)
News
Initial Motorola Droid sales look good
New Verizon ad calls iPhone 'misfit toy
Verizon reveals Casio G'zOne Brigade
T-Mobile to phase out MyFaves
Samsung launching its own mobile OS
Reviews and features
HTC Droid Eris
Nokia 3711
Samsung Flight
LG Chocolate Touch VX8575
Twitter Peek
RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700
Motorola Droid vs. iPhone 3GS prizefight
Upcoming reviews
Samsung Convoy
T-Mobile Tap
Samsung Mythic
Jabra Stone
You may have read our roundup of the Top 10 phones of CommunicAsia 2009, but nothing beats seeing these yummilicious handsets in the flesh. Watch our video.
(Source: Crave Asia)
(Credit:
Huawei)
Aside from its Android smartphone, Huawei also showcased its E583X wireless modem at CommunicAsia 2009. Other HSDPA modems are usually shaped like flash drives that you plug into a free USB port on your computer.
The E583X does it differently because it's able to send out a Wi-Fi signal that you connect to wirelessly (like at a hot spot) from your notebook. This means you can leave the device out of sight and not have something dangling from your slim, fashionable Netbook. A 1,500mAh battery powers the device, giving about five hours of wireless productivity. It charges via USB, and if you prefer, you can also use it plugged in to your notebook like regular HSDPA modems.
Now, freeing up a single USB port may not seem like a fantastic reason to pick this product over a regular USB modem. What's more, your notebook will probably consume more battery power with Wi-Fi turned on. But variations of this product will allow up to five users running a single cellular connection, perfect for situations when others around you need to share your Internet access.
Like all of Huawei's products, this one will be sold through mobile operators. It will first appear in Europe come July. Below is a quick hands-on video of the E583X.
(Source: Crave Asia)
The Blue Earth: CNET Asia gets to touch it.
(Credit: Samsung)Every June, the bigwigs of the cell phone world journey to Singapore for the annual CommunicAsia extravaganza. Though not as big as the Mobile World Congress held every February in Barcelona, Spain, CommunicAsia stills brings us plenty of cell phone goodness from the continent where so much mobile innovation happens.
While we at Crave can't make the trek across the ocean to Singapore, our colleagues at CNET Asia are braving the convention floor to scope out the newest and hottest handsets. They've make an impressive haul so far, even getting their hands on the elusive LG watch phone and the Samsung Blue Earth solar-powered phone. We're more than a little envious considering last time we saw the Blue Earth and the watch phone we couldn't touch either.
Of course, that's just a sampling of the sights in Singapore. So for the full story, head on over to CNET Asia.
A mockup unit of the Haier H7.
(Credit: Leonard Goh/CNET Asia)China electronics maker Haier on Tuesday displayed its first Android mobile phone, the H7, at CommunicAsia 2009 held at the Singapore Expo.
The H7 is probably the fourth phone we know of that's employing the Google-developed OS, besides the HTC Dream, Magic, and the Samsung I7500. It's understood that the Haier phone will definitely operate on Android OS 1.5, but the company does not dispute that it will ship the handset with OS 2.0 if the firmware is available by then.
As the unit displayed at the booth was just a mockup, we weren't able to give the H7 a try to see if it's more responsive than the HTC phones. But its specifications state that the upcoming phone has a 2.8-inch touch-screen display, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity, FM radio, GPS, and a 2-megapixel camera with onboard flashlight.
A representative at Haier's booth told CNET Asia the H7 is expected to cost about $150, and is slated to launch in France first in September.
Related story:
Huawei shows off Android phone, dubbed U823X
(Source: Crave Asia)
(Credit:
Huawei)
China-based Huawei announced its first Android-based smartphone, dubbed the U823X, at Singapore's CommunicAsia 2009. One key feature is the 3.5-inch display, which is larger than all the HTC Android devices released so far. It will also contain a 1,500mAh cell for longer battery life and connectivity features such as HSDPA, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
Huawei also mentioned on its specs sheet that the phone will come with the "Chrome Lite" browser. Google co-founder Sergey Brin mentioned last year that the Android browser could possibly bear the Chrome name, but the company has never done that officially. We checked this out with the product manager and confirmed that the U823X's browser is simply the default one that comes with Android.
The demo unit on display was not a working prototype, so we weren't able to try it out. At least it wasn't in a glass case, and we managed to shoot a hands-on video that shows the device's physical features. Like all other Huawei handsets, the U823X will be sold only through operators, so whether you will see it in your country will depend on the carriers. It's set for release later this year.
(Source: Crave Asia)
(Credit:
Leonard Goh/CNET Asia)
Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*Star) has developed a gender recognition system that could change the way advertising works in the future.
The technology uses sophisticated algorithms to differentiate facial features of males and females. However, unlike Face Detection 3.0, which is employed in point-and-shoots such as the Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR, the gender recognition system can only detect faces that are facing the camera.
The A*Star-developed system is bring displayed at CommunicAsia 2009 held at the Singapore Expo. A representative at the agency's booth told us the technology is focused on advertising, so future digital billboards can detect the gender of the person looking at it and display the appropriate advertisement. The system can also track statistics such as the duration the viewer spends in front of the display.
A*Star also has an age recognition system in the works, and its application is similar to the gender-based counterpart. However, Sony already has a similar technology for its Cyber-shot compact shooters that can detect whether the subject in the frame is an adult or child.
Right now, the gender recognition system is still in beta testing. The agency hopes to roll out a beefier version by the end of the year.
(Source: Crave Asia)
