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WristWhirl lets you control your smartwatch with hand gestures (and look mad while you do it)
It’s a funny thing: Smartwatches are supposed to be the more accessible alternative to your smartphone, but you can operate a phone with one hand, while the watch takes two. Luckily, Dartmouth researchers are on the case, and have engineered a way to use your wrist as a sort of joystick, allowing you to use your smartwatch one-handed. Read More
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U.S. Department of Transportation bans Galaxy Note 7 from all flights
In the latest instalment of Samsung’s ongoing Note 7 saga, the U.S. Department of Transportation has issued an official, blanket ban against bringing the Galaxy Note 7 on airplanes. The ban applies to all Note 7 devices, and covers both carry-on and checked baggage, as well as prohibiting anyone from carrying the phone onto a plane on their person. The ban will go into effect… Read More
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Apple will open another R&D center in Japan
Apple is on a research & development spree! The company has announced a bunch of new R&D centers over the past few months, and R&D spendings have skyrocketed. This time, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company plans to open a new center in Japan during a visit in Tokyo, according to Xinhua. This isn’t the first time we’re hearing about a new R&D center in Japan. Read More
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Tiny, levitating balls make up this weird ‘JOLED’ display
LCDs are old hat, my friend. What you need is dozens of tiny spheres levitated and spun using ultrasonics. That’s what researchers at the Universities of Sussex and Bristol have cooked up, and it’s exactly as weird as you think. Read More
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PlayStation VR is easily the winner in virtual reality right now
Consumer virtual reality has a clear new leader today, and it’s the just-launched PlayStation VR. Unequivocally, this is the best VR experience currently available outside of the kinds of high-flying, super-secret test rigs that exist out there for army training or whatever that cost millions of dollars. That includes top-of-line hardware like HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, as well as… Read More
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Brain-computer interface lets a man with a spinal injury feel robotic fingers
“Index… ring… pinky… index… middle…” Nathan Copeland is telling a researcher which of his fingers he feels a touch on. But the researcher is touching a robotic hand, not Copeland’s, whose hand hasn’t felt a thing in over a decade. Read More
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Could this be the end of Samsung’s smartphone reign?
Samsung is on the ropes. It pains me to say it but the Note 7 fiasco is probably going to hurt them more deeply than they’ll admit and I suspect we’ll see two or three quarters of slow growth thanks to Explode-gate. It’s bad. Consider the damage done to the brand. Pilots were telling users not to turn on their Note 7 phones as they taxied for takeoff. A total recall is now… Read More
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Google Pixel to benefit from Samsung’s Note 7 brand damage, survey finds
Samsung is hoping to keep its customers with incentives, including a $100 credit for Note 7 owners who stick with a Samsung device as their replacement hardware. But carriers are leaving the door open for buyers to pick whatever kind of smartphone they want instead. A new survey conducted by e-commerce agency Branding Brand suggests that a decent number may end up moving to other brands… Read More
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Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn on the future of cars
Renault-Nissan is the fourth largest car maker in the world. And yet, Tesla seems to be getting more headlines. I got the chance to interview Renault-Nissan’s CEO Carlos Ghosn to talk about self-driving cars, electric cars and the company’s recent partnership with Microsoft. This interview was slightly edited for clarity. TechCrunch: What are you going to unveil at the Paris Motor… Read More
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Add Google Assistant to your phone by tweaking two lines of code
Want Google Assistant, but don’t want to spend your allowance on a Pixel? I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is you can get it with two tiny tweaks to a single config file — the bad news is you’ll need root access, and there’s no guarantee it’ll work on your phone in particular. Read More
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Turn a DJI Phantom 4 into a search & rescue drone with the EXO 1 exoskeleton
The DJI is a fantastic all-purpose drone, but with the EXO 1 exoskeleton, it becomes a dedicated search and rescue tool. The 3D-printed add-on quickly attaches to the drone and adds a host of features key to making the drone a valuable tool for first responders. There are GoPro mounting points at various locations around the exoskeleton that can be used for cameras, lights and any number of… Read More
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These soft robotic muscles could help with physical therapy
Robotic exoskeletons are one of those technologies that tend to be associated with warfare or at least the industrial sector, but soft robotics and artificial muscles like these ones created by Swiss researchers make them suitable for more delicate operations as well. Read More
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Anker reveals details about its upcoming automotive brand, Roav
A few days ago we revealed an automotive product from Anker called Roav. At the time, it seemed the Roav was an in-vehicle heads-up display that looked a lot like the Navdy. Today, Anker reached out with additional details. Roav, when it launches in November, will be Anker’s automotive brand, with the Roav Dashtop as the flagship product. Anker tells TechCrunch the Roav Dashtop… Read More
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The Skagen Hagen smart watch keeps tabs on your minimalist life
Skagen is a Danish watch company famous for its minimalist designs and affordable prices. Now, for $215, you can add a little smarts to your minimalist wrist, a welcome bit of news for those who think the flat black slab of an Apple Watch is too flamboyant. The Skagen Hagen is basically an activity watch similar to the Withings Activite and the watches containing smart movements from MMT. Read More
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Here’s how The White House wants the U.S. to approach AI R&D
A pair of lengthy reports from the White House show that the administration is well aware of both the opportunities provided by and the obstacles holding back artificial intelligence. Its summary of the state of the art and dozens of recommendations for researchers and the government itself is well worth a read — but just in case, here are our highlights from the papers. Read More
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Microsoft starts selling its HoloLens in Germany, France, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand
HoloLens, Microsoft’s $3,000 mixed-reality goggles (or “the world’s first self-contained holographic computer” in Microsoft’s parlance), was only available in the U.S. and Canada so far. Today, however, the company announced that it will also start selling the devices in Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Preorders start today… Read More
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The Markforged Mark X lets you teleport precision custom parts from designer to printer
The promise of 3D printing has been kind of a dud. Aside from a few cool Yoda heads and some small plastic pieces, there have been no “indie” players doing much interesting in the space except Markforged. Markforged is a Boston company we featured last year that makes carbon-fiber reinforced plastic parts using traditional 3D-printing techniques. This means the objects they print… Read More
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