| Sounder launches, we go hands-on (video) May 15th 2012, 13:00  We don't know about you, but most of us Engadget editors live in a perpetual state of inbox insanity. Keeping on top of voicemails, text messages, emails, IMs, Twitter DMs, Facebook and Google+ messages -- to name just a few -- is a herculean task yet also an essential part of our every day. As a result, personal messages often get drowned out in a sea of work-related correspondence.
Sounder is an app that aims to ease the inbox pain a little by providing a simple and immediate way to speak with those people that really matter. Pick a few important Facebook friends and the app lets you talk to them directly at the push of a button via VoIP. The goal is to keep you connected to the folks closest to you with the least amount of friction by using one of the most natural and personal ways to communicate: voice. Sounder -- which launches today for free -- supports the iPhone and iPod touch, with iPad, desktop and Android versions in the works. A $0.99 in-app upgrade enables a super slick "flip-to-talk" feature which lets you reply without waking your phone -- just turn it over and speak.
After meeting founders Nancy Broden (of Twitter fame) and Michael Fortson (former Qik Director) at SXSW, we got the chance to take an early prototype of Sounder for a spin and came away impressed with how simple yet effective it is. Since our demo in Austin, the company's been busy fine tuning the app and putting in the final touches -- such as the "flip-to-talk" functionality. Want to know more? You'll find some screen shots in the gallery below and our hands-on video after the break.
Continue reading Sounder launches, we go hands-on (video) Sounder launches, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  iTunes Store | Email this | Comments | | AMD Trinity laptop review roundup: beats Ivy Bridge on gaming, but CPU lets the herd down May 15th 2012, 12:07  If you've been following AMD's game plan over the last couple of years, then you probably won't be totally shocked by what follows. That said, reviewers' verdicts of the new high-end Trinity laptop APU, the 2.3GHz quad-core A10-4600M, do include some dizzying highs and despairing lows, which are still kinda surprising in their own way. Like how? Well, HotHardware found that AMD's chip beats Intel's Ivy Bridge (with integrated HD 4000 graphics) by 30 to 50 percent in some games, albeit with a few stumbles over immature DX11 drivers. Similarly, AnandTech's handy table above shows just how far ahead Trinity is across fifteen common titles. On the other hand, most reviewers found that non-gaming CPU performance fell far short of Ivy Bridge and even Sandy Bridge mobile chips. For example, Hexus's Geekbench scores put the APU 40 percent behind last year's Dell XPS 15z, which is totally underwhelming. So, as usual, it'll all depend on what you need a laptop for -- but if you're after something that costs $699 or less, handles regular day-to-day tasks okay and can also play current games with decent frame-rates, then you'll be keen to conduct further research at the links below. Read - HotHardware
Read - AnandTech
Read - Hexus
Read - PC Perspective AMD Trinity laptop review roundup: beats Ivy Bridge on gaming, but CPU lets the herd down originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 08:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Sign language translator turns gestures into spoken letters, makes for a better world (video) May 15th 2012, 11:45  By far one of the greatest challenges of sign language has been to translate it for everyday folk that wouldn't know where to begin a conversation with the deaf. Cornell University engineering students Ranjay Krishna, Seonwoo Lee and Si Ping Wang -- along with some help from Jonathan Lang -- used their final project time this past semester to close this gap in one of the more practical solutions we've seen to date. Their prototype glove uses accelerometers, contact sensors and flex sensors to translate complex finger gestures from the American Sign Language alphabet into spoken letters: after converting hand positions to digital signals, the test unit both speaks out the resulting letters and sends them to a computer, where they can be used for anything from a game (shown in the video below) to, presumably, constructing whole sentences. Along with being accurate, the Cornell work is even designed with a mind towards how it would work in the real world, as the glove and its transmitter are both wireless and powered by 9-volt batteries. We hope that the project leads to a real product and an extra bridge between the deaf and the rest of us, but in the meantime, we'll be happy that at least one form of powered glove is being put to the noblest use possible. Continue reading Sign language translator turns gestures into spoken letters, makes for a better world (video) Sign language translator turns gestures into spoken letters, makes for a better world (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 07:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Sign Language Translation (Cornell) | Email this | Comments | | MIT's Brainput reads your mind to make multi-tasking easier May 15th 2012, 11:23  With so much information readily available at our fingertips, a multitude of devices to access it from and an increasing outside demand for our divided attention, it's easy to short-circuit on the productivity front. But there's a bright spot on the horizon as emerging research out of MIT is poised to help offload the burden shouldered by our overtaxed grey matter with a much needed and intuitive assist from human-robot systems. The Brainput project -- as the collaborative effort is known -- combines near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) with an input system designed to read changes in a user's brain state and translate those signals into an adaptive multi-tasking interface. Sounds like heady stuff, but if successfully implemented into high-stress environments like air traffic control, the low-cost, experimental tech could go a long way to boosting individual performance and reducing overall stress levels. For now, the team still has a ways to go before the system, presently capable of interpreting three distinct mental states, could make its way into end user applications. Curious for a more in-depth, jargony journey through the project's ins and outs? Then click on the source below for your daily dose of scientific head candy. MIT's Brainput reads your mind to make multi-tasking easier originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 07:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  ExtremeTech | MIT, (2) | Email this | Comments | |
