| Sassor wants to let users know just how much electricity their gadgets are wasting (hands-on) Jun 19th 2012, 01:59  Everyone knows that their game consoles, appliances and HDTVs are energy vampires, and while Energy Star-certified products tell us which gadgets are more green-friendly than others, we still don't know just how much juice they're actually sucking down in a given day. Enter Sassor, a start-up from Japan that's created a system to monitor the electrical consumption of anything plugged into a wall outlet -- from PCs to refrigerators. It tracks power consumption using current sensors clamped onto power cords, which communicate wirelessly via ZigBee with an module (based on an Arduino design) that uploads the info to the cloud. Through the web portal, users can track energy consumption on a per-device basis in real-time, letting them figure out which gadgets are most responsible for their sky-high utility bill -- and take appropriate steps to correct the problem. Currently, it's aimed solely at businesses, but once Sassor's on its feet, funding-wise, the plan is to also put them in people's homes. The company told us it'll ditch ZigBee in favor of a WiFi solution in such future iterations, and it'll make an SDK and the system APIs available to all so that people can program for the platform and improve it in ways currently not contemplated. Alas, there's neither a timetable nor a price for the consumer version just yet, but you can see some pictures of the hardware's innards below. Sassor wants to let users know just how much electricity their gadgets are wasting (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 21:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | US military looking to create a 'universal remote' for drone fleets Jun 19th 2012, 01:16  When you've got as many different drone models as the US military, it can be hard to manage things. That's why a group inside the Pentagon is looking to help cut down on unmanned aerial fragmentation, attempting to develop a way to manage all of the different models with a universal drone controller. It's something the military has tried and failed to accomplish in the past, but this time it's taking a more smartphone-esque approach to the matter, according to Wired. The key would be to create an underlying software architecture that allows pilots to control fleets of unmanned vehicles. On top of that would be specific applications that are "down-loaded to suit individual user taste and productivity," a Pentagon official told the site. The approach would make it possible to control different models with differing functionality as a connected fleet. US military looking to create a 'universal remote' for drone fleets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 21:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Wired | Email this | Comments | | Hands-on with Microsoft Surface for Windows RT, Touch Cover and Type Cover (update: video!) Jun 19th 2012, 00:43  We're here live at Microsoft's press event in Los Angeles, where it just unveiled not just the rumored tablet you were hoping for, but two tablets: Surface for Windows RT, which has an NVIDIA chip inside, and Surface for Windows 8 Pro, which runs off Ultrabook-grade Ivy Bridge processors. (Yes, Surface here is the name of a tablet line, not software optimized for large touchscreens. Get that out of your system now.) Though the two differ slightly in dimensions, with the Pro model measuring in slightly thicker, both have a slim kickstand, about as thick as a credit card, that folds out of the backside like the tail of a photo frame. Both are made of magnesium and, perhaps most importantly, work with either of two magnetic covers that double as keyboards (one with multitouch input, and one with physical, three-dimensional keys). No word on pricing -- just that Surface for Windows RT will cost about what you'll end up paying for other Windows RT tablets, and that the Pro version will fetch similar prices as Ultrabooks. We saw Surface for RT as well as both keyboards on display at the demo area here following Microsoft's big press event. We've got a gallery of hands-on shots, as well as impressions past the break. Continue reading Hands-on with Microsoft Surface for Windows RT, Touch Cover and Type Cover (update: video!) Hands-on with Microsoft Surface for Windows RT, Touch Cover and Type Cover (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 20:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | |
