Those expecting Apple to introduce a new tablet computer soon may have another clue to the device's imminent arrival.
Apple has rehired Michael Tchao, one of the original developers of Apple's Newton personal digital assistant, according to a report Monday in The New York Times.
Tchao, who rejoined Apple on Monday as vice president of product marketing, most recently served as general manager for Nike Techlab, where he oversaw creation of new digital products and services for fitness enthusiasts. Tchao spent 10 years at Apple, overseeing product marketing for the Newton and reportedly persuading former Apple CEO John Scully to include the company's handwriting-recognition technology into what would become Apple's first consumer device.
Introduced in 1993 as the brainchild of Sculley, the handheld was plagued by poor reviews that pointed to the difficulty in its handwriting recognition capabilities. Beyond the initial snags, the Newton and other Apple handheld technologies never seemed to catch on, and Apple announced in 1998 that it would discontinue development of the Newton operating system and Newton-related products.
Rumors of an Apple tablet have been swirling for a couple of years, but speculation has ramped up in recent months, including reports that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been focusing intensely on a tablet device since returning to work in June after a liver transplant.
Apple representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday evening, but Apple has apparently been laying the groundwork for a tablet PC for years. The company was granted a patent in 2005 for tablet PC design, and the company was granted a patent last year for a tablet-like device that incorporated a touchscreen. Apple has also long had some of the key technologies for a tablet computer with Inkwell--a handwriting recognition feature having been in Mac OS X for some time.
Mini Road Assist is free for Mini owners under warranty.
(Credit: Mini USA/Allstate Roadside Service)Mini USA announced today that it has developed, in partnership with Allstate Roadside Services, the first official roadside assistance app, dubbed Mini Road Assist for iPhone and Blackberry.
So the next time, you need a jump start, a flat tire changed, or an extra gallon of gasoline to get your Cooper home, you can just tap an icon on your iPhone or Blackberry and your personal info, the nature of assistance needed, and your current GPS location will automatically be beamed to Allstate Roadside Services' HQ and help will be dispatched, provided that you have a cellular data connection.
After downloading the app, Mini owners will supply their VIN, name, address, and other details to confirm ownership of a Mini vehicle. The system taps into the free roadside assistance that is available to all North American Mini owners as long as the vehicle remains under warranty. Mini owners who fall outside of the warranty safety circle due to expiration can still download the free app and use the roadside assistance for a fee set by the service provider.
Mini Roadside Assist is free to Mini owners and can be downloaded from Allstate Roadside Services.
Check out the video after the jump, which details the ins-and-outs of the app in greater detail.
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I've still been sneezing like crazy and the pollen robots are nowhere to be found in the States. However, if you have other physical conditions, such as difficulty carrying yourself, hope may have arrived.
Honda announced Tuesday that it will demonstrate its prototype walking assist devices for the first time in the U.S. The demonstrations will take place at the 2009 Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress in Detroit from April 20 to 23. Prior to the Detroit event, Honda will demonstrate the devices for select media in New York.
These walking-assist devices are designed to support walking for the elderly and people with weakened leg muscles. The demonstrations are part of Honda's real-world tests to evaluate the products' effectiveness.
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(Credit:
Cyberdyne)
This is about the closest thing to a Superman suit we've seen. Put it on, say its creators, and the motorized Hybrid Assistive Limb can "expand and improve physical capability" up to tenfold in activities such as walking, standing, and climbing stairs.
Through a sensor attached to the skin, "HAL" captures faint biosignals on the skin's surface that result from messages sent from the brain to muscles when a person attempts to move. A computer analyzes how much power the wearer intends to generate, then calculates the amount of torque needed to put limbs into action.
(Credit:
Cyberdyne)
Especially noteworthy here is that the suit responds to intended motion, rather than actual motion.
"This is what we call a 'voluntary control system' that provides movement interpreting the wearer's intention from the biosignals in advance of the actual movement," explains Japan's Cyberdyne, which will soon begin manufacturing the cybernetic suits for about $4,200 apiece, possibly making it the first such wearable device aimed at civilians.
The company was formed by Sankai Yoshiyuki, a professor at the University of Tsukuba who is heading up research on HAL, which he says has the advantages of both robot and cyborg. Yoshiyuki says he was inspired by reading Isaac Asimov's "I Robot" as a child.
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Assistive tech for the disabled is an important topic people may not give much thought to, even though an estimated 54 million Americans are considered to be physically or mentally disabled. That's about 19 percent of the U.S. population.
AbledBody is a new consumer tech-focused site just for this segment. On it, news of trends and gadgets that can aid the disabled at work and home are reported on daily through original and sourced news, personal commentary, and contributors' expert opinions. It's a great idea for a tech blog and one we're happy to share.
Suzanne Robitaille, co-founder and editor
The site, which officially launched Thursday, covers not just hardware and software of interest to the disabled community, but also information on how the disabled can make general gear more accessible.
For example, the blog has a post up criticizing Amazon's Kindle 2 for not using all the text-to-speech options it could have from its partner in the technology. That's something I wouldn't have thought of, but it's the kind of thing we can expect AbledBody to cover.
Editor in chief Suzanne Robitaille--who lost her hearing at age 4 due to meningitis and now has a cochlear implant--has covered disability topics for The Wall Street Journal and is the author of a forthcoming book, "The Illustrated Guide to Assistive Technology." Other stories currently appearing on AbledBody cover a new touch technique that lets blind consumers use smartphones; Bookshare rebuilding its talking books library; and a new Apple iPhone app that manages diabetes.
The site isn't just about informing the disabled about their options, but also about the growing disability market. Many companies make their money on health care products, and disabilities are a big part of that. AbledBody tracks the innovations from both sides, which is interesting. It's a new site, but definitely one we'll be keeping an eye on.
(Credit:
Ford Motor)
A new feature from Ford Motor will allow drivers to let their car do the steering when faced with a parallel parking space, the company announced Tuesday.
This latest car gadget, which Ford calls Active Park Assist, works slightly differently than the park assist feature on Toyota's self-parking Lexus.
On the self-parking Lexus, the driver can use an interface to adjust the space the car aims for, and only maintains control over the brake while it's maneuvering.
In Ford's version the driver pulls up alongside a space and pushes a button. The car then applies ultrasonic-based sensors at the four corners of the car to detect its position and that of other street obstacles near the space. It then calculates the optimal steering angles for maneuvering into the space and prompts the driver to give the OK. After the driver pushes the OK button, the EPAS (Electronic Power Assisted Steering) then uses those calculations to automatically steer the car into the spot while the driver maintains control over the shifting, gas, and brake.
The feature will be available as an option on the Lincoln MKS sedan and MKT crossover models starting in mid-2009, according to Ford.
I'm curious to know exactly how tight of a space it's willing to maneuver a roomy Lincoln into.
We'll probably know soon at CNET, as I'm sure the gals and guys in our car review department are already making plans to test out a Lincoln with this latest piece of tech magic.
(Anyone else think it would be funny if Linkin Park sings in the commercial for this Lincoln "Park Assist"?)
The Becker Traffic Assist 100, or Crocodile, is optimized for international use. It communicates in 28 languages and, in some cases, different voices.
(Credit: Becker)If you're planning to hop on your Harley and travel the globe, you're not going to want some wimpy little GPS device attached to your hog. You're going to want something rugged and water-resistant, with a tough name like "Crocodile."
That's just the nickname of the Traffic Assist 100, from Becker. It's meant to evoke the stylized reptile skin finish on the mobile navigation system, which has a turn-by-turn view optimized for motorcycles.
The device, which Becker is unveiling this week at the IFA electronics fair in Berlin, is a rubber-coated, water-resistant version of the Becker Traffic Assist Z 201, and it shares some standard features with its precursor, such as visual or acoustic warning signals for speed limits. It also has 2GB of integrated flash memory with preloaded Navteq data for 42 European countries, and it features menus and text-to-speech instructions in 28 languages.
The 4.3-inch wide-screen color display has day and night views featuring a touch-screen graphic guidance system designed to make it easier for bikers with a closed visor to read the monitor in low-visibility conditions. For better orientation in cities, buildings are displayed as 3D models.
The Crocodile also comes loaded with more than 1,000 photorealistic 3D images of European landmarks, including the Reichstag building in Berlin.
Oh, and it has a smart-speller function, which could come in handy, particularly if you're an American roaring through the backwoods of Poland.
The Crocodile will be available in October for 300 euros (about $438).
Other rugged GPS devices:
(Credit:
Fareastgizmos)
It's nice to see Japanese scientists developing technology that can actually help the elderly help themselves for a change, rather than creating more robots that ostensibly are designed to minister to their needs but may well have ulterior motives. To wit: Honda is developing a lightweight walking assistance device that can be worn around the hip and thighs to help ease a person's gait.
The mechanism works with brushless motors that get their cues from hip angle sensors and commands from the control CPU, according to press release. Being that this is Japan, however--the land that's headed for a human-free society--a robot's influence was still key to this invention. Fareastgizmos says that the R&D that went into Asimo, Honda's celebrity "advanced humoid robot," was used in developing this automated walker.
A survey released today says the 2008 model year will yield the highest percentage of gadget-filled cars in history.
2008 BMW 5 Series: Techiest car in the world
The study, conducted by Telematics Research Group (TRG) and based on 100 cars announced for the 2008 model year, says almost 70 percent of cars for sale in North America will offer voice-activated, hands-free Bluetooth phone support. Navigation systems will come standard in 80 percent of announced MY08 models.
Portable music player support will also be at an all-time high. According to TRG's Technology Availability Index, 50 percent of cars will have direct iPod connectivity, and 90 percent will have auxiliary input and/or flash memory interfaces. (Not too long ago, those of us wanting to connect our iPods directly to our cars had to shell out around $300 for a stereo shop to install a third-party solution.) Some automakers are also taking a chance on the growing popularity of USB; 20 percent of upcoming models will offer support.
Other technology becoming more widespread in new cars includes safety systems like parking assistance; 60 percent of cars will have ultrasonic park assist as standard or optional equipment. Camera-assisted parking will be available on 30 percent of MY08 vehicles.
TRG named the 2008 BMW 5 series the most technologically advanced vehicle in world for that model year. According to the survey, it has the highest number of electronic features and gadgets available as standard or optional equipment. The German car beat out the Lexus LS-460, which led the pack in the '07 model year.
Availability of features for 2008 model year
PALO ALTO, Calif.--Despite the digitization of nearly everything else in our daily lives, the Sunday circular ad for beef and bags of baby carrots has remained. Hewlett-Packard is developing a technology to bring even the banal task of grocery shopping into the Digital Age.
At HP Labs here, researchers are developing an in-store kiosk solution called Retail Shopping Assistant (RSA) that will make shopping for food, clothes and electronics easier for buyers and make selling things easier for retailers.
HP Retail Store Assistant
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News.com)The idea is this: imagine walking into a grocery store, and instead of bringing your shopping list along, simply swiping a club card or entering a phone number. Any information you've entered online from home (milk, eggs, pretzels, ground beef, apples) will show up on your profile. There will also be special offers tailored to your shopping habits--your club card already keeps track of the fact that you prefer Diet Pepsi to Coke, and that you buy a carton of eggs every other week. The kiosk simply matches your info with retailer offers to generate the appropriate coupons.
The RSA kiosk will then create a printed list of special discounts and shopping items. On the back will be a map of the store and the location of all of the items, eliminating the need to comb every aisle of a store. And instead of fumbling for coupon clippings, a single barcode on the printout will track the customized offers and remove items from the shopping list that were purchased.
If a printed piece of paper is too cumbersome, HP says the list and information could also be transferred by Bluetooth technology to a mobile device, like a phone.
To read the full CNET News.com story on this innovation, click here.
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