Tag: Google

Phonebloks Unlocked: Google Backs Modular Mobile Phone

[ By WebUrbanist in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

More than the sum of its parts, the conceptual swappable-piece mobile phone design that went viral but is now being backed by Google-owned Motorola and is suddenly much closer to becoming a reality. Instead of recycling your cell, imagine switching in new pieces as needed to customize, repair and upgrade the same device indefinitely.

Dutch design student Dave Hakkens set off a chain reaction when he released his initial concept video online featuring Phonebloks, a simple but powerful idea for future-proofing mobile phones and creating an open ecosystem around such devices.

Motorola, meanwhile, was already working on a free, open-hardware device (think: Android for physical objects) along similar lines, and have now teamed up with this suddenly-famous designer. Like app makers in the digital marketplace, developers of physical components can make their own puzzle-piece parts for the devices.

Thunderclap helped Hakkens reach a huge audience quickly, with fans lending their social reach to promote the idea. Engineers, technicians and designers around the world showed interest in Hakkens’ design immediately as he racked up tens of millions of video views. He then began shopping around for partners to work on the project.

For its part in the partnership, Motorola brings technological research, experimentation and expertise to the table. In turn, Hakkens has built a huge fan following, showing his ability as innovator, designer and marketer.

Project Ara, Motorola’s name for the overarching and ongoing project, will be deployed along the same lines as Google Glass to beta testers. The first Phonebloks will be released to a limited audience who will in turn provide suggestions and feedback on the devices.

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Borrowed from Libraries: Mobile Shelving for Modular Rooms

To save space, libraries employ a rolling stack system that allows access to only one or a few aisles needed at one time. How about the same in homes or …
Click Here to Read More »»

Cooking Lean: 13 Mini, Mobile, Modular & Motorized Kitchens

Designed to fit into the smallest of spaces, these 14 super-compact, ultra-efficient kitchen designs pack lots of function into a tiny footprint.
Click Here to Read More »»

Walky Talky: 12 Concept Mobile Phone Telephone Booths

These 12 concept mobile phone telephone booths recapture the isolation old public phones provided while enhancing the experience of conversing in the city.
Click Here to Read More »»

[ By WebUrbanist in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]

WebUrbanist

November 8, 2013
Phonebloks Unlocked: Google Backs Modular Mobile Phone

[ By WebUrbanist in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

More than the sum of its parts, the conceptual swappable-piece mobile phone design that went viral but is now being backed by Google-owned Motorola and is suddenly much closer to becoming a reality. Instead of recycling your cell, imagine switching in new pieces as needed to customize, repair and upgrade the same device indefinitely.

Dutch design student Dave Hakkens set off a chain reaction when he released his initial concept video online featuring Phonebloks, a simple but powerful idea for future-proofing mobile phones and creating an open ecosystem around such devices.

Motorola, meanwhile, was already working on a free, open-hardware device (think: Android for physical objects) along similar lines, and have now teamed up with this suddenly-famous designer. Like app makers in the digital marketplace, developers of physical components can make their own puzzle-piece parts for the devices.

Thunderclap helped Hakkens reach a huge audience quickly, with fans lending their social reach to promote the idea. Engineers, technicians and designers around the world showed interest in Hakkens’ design immediately as he racked up tens of millions of video views. He then began shopping around for partners to work on the project.

For its part in the partnership, Motorola brings technological research, experimentation and expertise to the table. In turn, Hakkens has built a huge fan following, showing his ability as innovator, designer and marketer.

Project Ara, Motorola’s name for the overarching and ongoing project, will be deployed along the same lines as Google Glass to beta testers. The first Phonebloks will be released to a limited audience who will in turn provide suggestions and feedback on the devices.

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Borrowed from Libraries: Mobile Shelving for Modular Rooms

To save space, libraries employ a rolling stack system that allows access to only one or a few aisles needed at one time. How about the same in homes or … Click Here to Read More »»

Cooking Lean: 13 Mini, Mobile, Modular & Motorized Kitchens

Designed to fit into the smallest of spaces, these 14 super-compact, ultra-efficient kitchen designs pack lots of function into a tiny footprint. Click Here to Read More »»

Walky Talky: 12 Concept Mobile Phone Telephone Booths

These 12 concept mobile phone telephone booths recapture the isolation old public phones provided while enhancing the experience of conversing in the city. Click Here to Read More »»

[ By WebUrbanist in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]

WebUrbanist

November 6, 2013
Google+ reaches out to photographers with new imaging features

Google is reaching out to photographers once again by announcing a bevy of forthcoming features on its social networking site Google+ that will be a boon to photographers: full-resolution photo backups for iOS users, improved search through advanced photo recognition software, and better image editing tools. See what else is new on connect.dpreview.com.

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

October 30, 2013
Google+ gets improved Raw-to-JPEG conversion

Google+ has introduced improved Raw-to-JPEG conversion for a number of cameras with some help from Nik Photography. As before, Raw files may be uploaded to Google+ for storage, and are automatically converted to JPEGs for previewing. The conversion from Raw has been fine-tuned for about 70 cameras, including high-end models like the Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Nikon D800 and D800E. Click through for the full list of cameras and see how it handles a Raw file from the Sony RX100.

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

September 27, 2013
Google+ Releases Advanced New Photo Editing Tools

Today Google+ released a whole new enhanced online photo editing suite of tools. I’ve been playing around with them for the past few hours and am impressed with what you can do with them as an online editor. While they won’t replace my more traditional desktop tools (i.e. Lightroom, Photoshop, Nik, FX Photo Studio Pro, etc.), I think a lot of more casual users will love them.

The online editor does a lot of the basics of editing (contrast, brightness, shadows, cropping, sharpening, structure etc.), but it also comes with some pretty slick vintage and what they call retrolux editing. These new tools allow you to customize your photos in a lot of the more popular faux photo styles currently hip with the Instagram crowd. While G+ offers some quick filters, they also give you more granular control over how much of each sort of effect you want.

The new editor also includes spot editing tools, which allow you to adjust only parts of a photo that need it and some interesting spot focusing tools, including tilt shift editing.

I edited the photo at the top of this post using the new G+ tools. It’s great to see Google continue to invest and innovate in the online photo sharing space. Below are some screen shots of some of the tools in action.

You can find more information about the new tools here and in the embedded post at the bottom of this post.

Thomas Hawk Digital Connection

September 12, 2013
Beyond Google Glass: 13 Real-Life Wearable Tech Inventions

[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

Once thought to be a dystopian dream of the distant future, the merging of technology and the human body is already well underway, and it could help us avoid injuries, diagnose disease, and even control gadgets with our minds. Google Glass is just the beginning – wearable technology gives us a vast array of incredible, unprecedented capabilities with everything from tiny ultrathin electronic ‘tattoos’ to clothing that translates our movements into computer commands. These 13 inventions are either already available to the public, or well on their way.

MIDI Controller Jacket Turns Your Body into a Synthesizer

Convert your body movements into music with Machina’s MJ v.1.0, a jacket that integrates a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) controller with flexible motion sensors so you can operate digital music instruments and computers by modifying the position of your body. It’s so complex, including flexible membrane potentiometers to monitor finger position, it can’t be mass-produced just yet; it has to be hand-made by a master tailor. Other than the placeholders, the sensors are totally invisible, so the jacket looks like any ordinary piece of clothing.

Air Waves Pollution Mask by Frog Design

A smart device that monitors air quality in real time and shares the data to smartphones could help combat the negative health effects of extreme pollution in China. The AirWaves mask is a combination of wearable tech and an app that guides users to areas of the city with better air quality, and enables them to track air quality over time. So far it’s just a concept, but an intriguing one that could help raise awareness and give people a little bit of power over a frustrating problem.

MYO Band – Control Gadgets Using Gestures

Rather than external sensors that ‘see’ your movements, like those used by the Nintendo Wii and XBox Kinect, this gesture-reading system for gadgets measures your actual muscle movements. MYO is a band that fits around your forearm, sensing movements similar to those you’d use on an Apple trackpad, like scrolling, flipping and zooming. It uses Bluetooth, so it could theoretically connect to virtually any mobile device, like smartphones, tablets and televisions. It’s currently available for preorder.

Robotic Exoskeleton Could Help Paraplegics Walk

NASA produced this robotic exoskeleton to help astronauts maintain muscle health in space, but the 57-pound X1 device could also help regular people here on Earth. Compared to the Iron Man suit by NASA, the X1features ten joints with multiple adjustment points that help astronauts in zero gravity avoid muscle atrophy. Its more mundane uses could include increasing the range of movements possible in people who are disabled in various ways, including walking across varied terrain or stairs.

Wearable Solar by Pauline van Dongen

Fashion designer Pauline van Dongen and solar panel specialist Gertjan Jongerden teamed up to join solar power and couture with ‘Wearable Solar.‘ The line consists of a leather and wool coat and dress featuring a series of solar-powered flaps that unfurl to soak up rays of sunlight, folding away ‘invisibly’ when not in use. The modules contain up to 48 flexible solar cells, which is enough to charge a smartphone 50 percent after an hour in full sunlight.

Next Page:
Beyond Google Glass 13 Real Life Wearable Tech Inventions

[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]

WebUrbanist

September 11, 2013
2,500 Kick Ass Photographers on Google+

Over the past 2 years I have been super active on Google+. Google+ has emerged as the best community on the web for photographers. Photos look great there, but photos look great a lot of places on the web today. More significantly, Google+ is a positive, visually oriented community where photographers can meet, talk, get to know each other and develop and maintain friendships.

I’ve met more photography friends on Google+, than any other social network.

As Iv’e gotten involved with Google+ I’ve shared my circles of photographers. When Google+ first started out and I built my photographers circle up to 500, I shared it, then 1,000, then 1,500, then 2,000. Last week my photographers circle on Google+ hit 2,500 and I shared it again.

If you want to see some of the best photography being published on the web today, check out some of these photographers.

Part 1-5 (A-Da)
Part 2-5 (Da-Ho)
Part 3-5 (Ho-Mi)
Part 4-5 (Mi-Sh)
Part 5-5 (Sh-Z)

Thomas Hawk Digital Connection

September 7, 2013
Last Day to Update Your RSS Reader! RIP Google Reader
After today, Google Reader’s officially gone.

It’s a sadface situation (Google Reader was there for you day-in, day-out!), but you know what’s even more sadface?

Not being able to keep up with all of the best Photojojo stuff! Like our DIY projects, guides, photo inspiration, and new store goodies.

Good thing it’s an easy fix! All you have to do is switch to a new reader.

What other readers are out there?

Digg just made an awesome new reader.

Feedly‘s a good one, too.

Both will automatically switch your entire Google feed in one click.

How do I add Photojojo to my RSS feed?

To do it manually, log in to your reader. You’ll see an “add” or “+” button.

Simply click on that button. Then copy & paste this URL: http://www.photojojo.com/content/feed

If you’re using Feedly, just hit this button! Now wait for confetti to fall from the ceiling.

Wait, what’s an RSS feed/reader?

It’s a way of staying informed with updates happening on Photojojo’s site (and other sites).

Just list which websites you want to keep an eye on, and your RSS reader will show you the most recent posts from those sites all in one place.

You can get fancy and categorize them, or keep it simple and have them in one steady scroll. Read more about RSS.

Related posts:
1. Lightning Strikes the iPad SD Card Reader Everybody be cool! No iPads have been harmed. We’re just…
2. How to Make Tiny Planets
  in Google Street View Hackers do more than type fast and indiscriminately hax0r the…
Photojojo
July 2, 2013
Photojournalist gives new perspective on Google Glass

What happens when you give Google Glass to a skilled photographer? Richard Koci Hernandez is a San Francisco Bay Area-based photojournalist and prolific iPhone photographer who’s recently been trying Google’s new wearable technology to capture his surroundings. See how his style translates behind Google Glass, today on connect.dpreview.com.

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

June 26, 2013
Vertically Cropped Photos Facebook Vs. Google+

Thomas Hawk Digital Connection

June 23, 2013