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Android Wear 2.0 debuts on two partner flagship smartwatches in early 2017
Google will debut two “flagship smartwatches” running Android Wear 2.0 in the first quarter of 2017, according to a new report from The Verge, citing information direct from Android Wear product manager Jeff Chang. The two new watches won’t be Pixel devices, as some have speculated, but will sainted carry the branding of a company that Google is working with to manufacture… Read More
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Raspberry Pi’s Pixel for PC and Mac breathes new life into old computers
Pixel is a lightweight operating system with a clean desktop UI released by the foundation behind the affordable, tinker-friendly Raspberry Pi $35 computer in September, and now it’s available for PC or Mac users who might want to throw old hardware into renewed service. The lightweight Linux-based OS now comes as a downloadable image you can either burn to a DVD or load onto a USB… Read More
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Going to CES? Join us at the official Hardware Battlefield Party in Las Vegas
There ain’t no party like a TechCrunch party 🎉 because at a TechCrunch party you can meet investors who may or may not give you a term sheet for your hardware startup 💰. That’s why we’re inviting 150 lucky readers to our event in Las Vegas to be held in conjunction with CES and our own Hardware Battlefield. Tickets will sell out soon so click here right now and… Read More
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The new Barnes & Noble Nooks come with free malware
Barnes & Noble began outsourcing its Nook e-readers a few years ago after a partnership with Samsung and their latest $50 Nook 7 android tablet, announced last month, shows us how that has worked out for them. Their latest e-reader includes ADUPS, a firmware that sends user data back to the manufacturer or an interested hacker. This is the same malware that researchers found on cheap… Read More
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Refurbished Apple Watches are now available through the official store
It was only about a month ago that Apple finally added the iPhone to its refurbished online offerings, along with iMacs and MacBooks, and now the company’s got another key addition. Starting this week, the company has added Apple Watches to its official refurbed store, with prices starting at $229 for the 38mm version of the first-generation model. That puts the watch at 14 percent below… Read More
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This guy combined an iPhone and an HTC Vive to make a virtual camera (sort of like the ones used for Avatar and Inside Out)
When a movie is more CG than it is real — think movies like Avatar or any of Pixar’s stuff, where all or nearly all of the environment is rendered — a new challenge appears: the camera. Getting a fake camera (like the one in a rendering program) to move and behave like a real camera (like the one that the camera guy is traditionally holding) can be a pain. Testing a scene from… Read More
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Artificial leaf captures light to power drug production
Drug production is generally a matter of big factories churning out millions of aspirin or ibuprofen tablets a day, but there’s a lot to be said for manufacturing common drugs on a small scale, close to where they’re used. Researchers from the Netherlands have created an efficient and simple method for doing so that uses a method much like plants have for making their own resources. Read More
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Snap Inc. has a new China tech R&D office focused on Spectacles
Spectacles seem to be a hit for Snapchat parent Snap Inc., thought their unconventional rollout via pop-up shops (including a new one at a Dave & Busters in Illinois this morning) makes it hard to judge the scale of their success. Here’s a decent indicator: Snap is opening a new research and development technology office in Shenzhen, near where Spectacles are assembled, CNN… Read More
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U.S. wearables market is doing much worse than expected
Apple may still be claiming that sales of its Apple Watch are “doing great,” but overall, the wearable device category is failing to grow at the rates forecasted earlier. According to a new report from eMarketer, wearables like Apple Watch and Fitbit were expected to grow more than 60 percent year-over-year from 2015 to 2016. However, the firm is now cutting that estimate down to… Read More
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Moth eyes inspired the design of this hypersensitive camera
If you wanted to see in the dark, you could do worse than follow the example of moths, which have of course made something of a specialty of it. That, at least, is what NASA researchers did when designing a powerful new camera that will capture the faintest features in the galaxy. Read More
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7-Eleven delivers 77 packages via drone in first month of routine service
In the most brand synergistic accomplishment of all time, convenience chain 7-Eleven has completed 77 drone deliveries during month one of its commercial service in Reno, Nevada. Yes, that’s Triple 7s in America’s Other Big Gambling Town. The drone service is operated by Flirtey, a commercial drone service provider startup that started working with 7-Eleven on a commercial launch… Read More
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Nintendo Switch could more than double its graphics power when docked
Nintendo is doing something interesting with its next console, the Switch, which is targeting a March 2017 release window. The Switch will be able to operate as a mobile game device, using its built-in 720p display, but it can also work as a home console when docked to a device that connects to your TV at home. New details have emerged based on developer hardware that suggest the Switch could… Read More
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The U.S. Navy is using drone boat swarms to keep harbors safe
The U.S. Navy is testing a team of drone boats to protect harbors here and abroad. The boats, which are basically autonomous versions of the Rigid Hull Inflatable, are connected to a AI routing system called CARACaS. In original 2014 tests the boats worked separately to protect ships in a harbor and the new routing system now allows them to swarm as a team to surround and neutralize… Read More
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SRI spinoff SuperFlex raises $9.6M to pursue ‘powered clothing’
A spinoff from the robot veterans at SRI is making a big bet on ubiquitous soft robotics: SuperFlex aims to establish a new product category with what it calls “powered clothing.” The company, which initially split off from its parent in April, hopes to have a product to show in a few months, and has raised nearly $10 million to develop it. Read More
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Samsung’s Gear S3 goes a little too big
Samsung’s never shied away from going big. Big phones, big TVs, big watches. In fact, that was one of the defining characteristics for the first few generations of the Gear line, the first few of which were really more wrist-worn tablet than smartwatch. Things thankfully mellowed out a bit last year with the introduction of the S2, a more minimalist approach to wrist-worn computing… Read More
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NASA tech could track firefighters where GPS can’t reach
In the chaotic environment of a fire or disaster area, knowing where your fellow firefighters and first responders are is of the utmost importance, but GPS and other positional tracking systems aren’t always reliable. A project from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory aims to solve this with a tracker that relies on a totally different kind of electromagnetic phenomenon. Read More
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7 good value gifts for the budget PC gamer
We’re getting down to the wire in terms of getting holiday gifts, but if you’re looking for presents for a gamer in your life with big aspirations, but also don’t want to shell out for true top-end gear, we’ve got your back. This list has options for a more modest spender. The idea is to provide the best value, so not everything on here is super cheap. Instead… Read More
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Tesla introduces fee for lazy owners who leave their cars at Supercharger stations
There’s nothing like driving your nearly-empty Tesla up to a Supercharger station for a top-up and finding every spot taken by other cars — probably all charged up and ready to go. Where are their drivers? How dare they? Tesla shares your anger and will soothe it by giving those drivers a different kind of charge. You know, the money kind. Read More
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The Everlast Notebook is filled with smart, scannable pages that are also reusable
You’ve probably seen a few of these smart paper or smart pen things over the years — write on this special paper and it gets saved to an app, that sort of thing. A new entrant to this niche space is the Everlast notebook, which obviates the necessity of restocking proprietary paper in that its pages can be wiped clean with a damp towel. Read More
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