| Harman Kardon trots out five iPhone-matching headsets, keeps you in high Apple fashion Jun 12th 2012, 21:31  There's no shortage of iPhone-friendly headsets. Not many are actually designed to match an iPhone's looks, however, and Harman Kardon is counting on that urge to coordinate to draw a few listeners into a new line of very tersely-named headphones and headsets. The more conspicuous resemblances to Apple's creation come through the wired CL on-ear headphones, the Bluetooth-equipped BT over-ears and the noise-cancelling NC over-ears, all of which share a distinctly familiar-looking leather-and-steel design. Subtler listeners will still get a trace of similarity with the in-ear NI and upgraded AE buds, although most of the iPhone friendliness at their size comes through an in-line microphone and remote. Both the BT and NC are battery-powered and last for 12 and 30 hours for their respective special tricks; they'll both keep working through a wire if you've forgotten to charge up just before that Hong Kong vacation. In step with the iPhone-heavy focus, Harman Kardon is only selling the quintet of headphones through Apple's online and physical stores, where they start at $100 for the NI and peak at the NC's $299. One caveat: we wouldn't factor the NC into any short-term trips, as it won't show until the late summer. Continue reading Harman Kardon trots out five iPhone-matching headsets, keeps you in high Apple fashion Harman Kardon trots out five iPhone-matching headsets, keeps you in high Apple fashion originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | ATLAS bimanual-rehabilitation glove system hands-on (video) Jun 12th 2012, 21:05  The Squid Shirt that we checked out earlier today at Northeastern University certainly has the potential for healthcare use beyond straight off-season workout sessions, but the ATLAS project is an even purer expression of that application. The name is an acronym for the rather unwieldy Angle Tracking and Location At home System. In short, the system is a bimanual-rehabilitation glove system, a tracking device that utilizes two gloves to monitor the hand movements of stroke victims. The "Home System," part of the name, meanwhile, signifies its creators' intention to eventually release the ATLAS as an at-home testing system, allowing users to get more regular readings than industrial versions. The system is comprised of two standard black gloves -- the first version (it's currently on version three), assistant academic specialist Mark Sivak tells us, was comprised of gold lycra gloves. The gloves have bend sensors in each finger and internal measurement sensors on the back of the hand. The bend sensors are anchored on the back of the hand, located beneath a moveable flap. They're embedded in the glove, running down each finger. The hand orientation inertial sensor is comprised of an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer located on a box strapped to the top of the glove. The bend sensors feed straight into a box with an Arduino Mega inside, while the inertial sensors first pass through their own Arduino microcontrollers before rejoining the data feed back to the PC. Continue reading ATLAS bimanual-rehabilitation glove system hands-on (video) ATLAS bimanual-rehabilitation glove system hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Mozilla Marketplace is live, lets you run web apps like desktop programs Jun 12th 2012, 20:47  An early version of the Mozilla Marketplace is currently live, offering users with the Firefox 16 Nightly build some 100-plus apps to install, including Evernote, Jolicloud and Springpad. Apps from the store can run on Mac or Windows machines, and it looks like Linux support is here, too. As Liliputing reports, rather than just providing web apps and extensions à la the Chrome Web Store, the Mozilla Marketplace offers apps that act more like desktop programs once installed: they'll show up in your list of installed programs, for instance, and they can be launched from the Windows Start Menu. Mozilla Marketplace is live, lets you run web apps like desktop programs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jun 2012 16:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  Liliputing |  Jason Smith | Email this | Comments | | Northeastern University Squid Shirt torso-on Jun 12th 2012, 20:02  It seems like everyone's got a solution for workout tracking, these days, and the undergrad students at Northeastern University are no different. We traveled to the bowels of the Boston school's Egan Research Center, to try the Squid Shirt that we saw back in February on for size. Our own Terrence O'Brien donned the garb, and while the current prototype has dropped much of the unwieldy wires and suction cups that gave the wearable its name, it's still a bit of a production, taking several minutes to put on with the aid of assistant academic specialist, Mark Sivak (who assured us that the student this specific model was designed for had gotten the whole thing down to a two or three minute streamlined process). The shirt has a total of 13 EMG sensors, monitoring data from three muscle groups: the pecs, lats and delts. Every signal requires two sensors (with one attached to the hip for ground), which are ultra cheap and disposable, meaning you can just toss them away at the end of each workout session. In addition to monitoring muscle activity, a standard Polar heart rate monitor slips into a sleeve inside the shirt to keep track of your pulse. The shirt itself is machine washable, which again is good news, if you plan on working out in the thing. This is due in part to the fact that the box -- the brains of the operation -- is removable. This also means that you can use a single box to plug into different garments, which could include things like workout pants in the future. Continue reading Northeastern University Squid Shirt torso-on Northeastern University Squid Shirt torso-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jun 2012 16:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Northeastern | Email this | Comments | |
