http://phys.org/electronics-news/consumer-gadgets/ en-us Phys.Org provides the latest news on consumer electronics, electronic gadgets and electronics. Research In Motion unveiled a lower-cost BlackBerry aimed at consumers in emerging markets on Tuesday, and said it will offer its once-popular BlackBerry Messenger service on iPhones and devices running Google's Android software. http://phys.org/news287747586.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 14 May 2013 10:53:16 EST news287747586 Back when she was in college, software developer Monica Wilkinson says, she used to dream of "being able to carry a computer in my head," instead of lugging her books and laptop all over campus. As she tried out her new Google Glass recently, Wilkinson said, it felt like that fanciful idea had become real. http://phys.org/news287310318.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 09 May 2013 09:26:22 EST news287310318 It's not a "Star Trek" tricorder, but by hooking a variety of gadgets onto a smartphone you could almost get a complete physical - without the paper gown or even a visit to the doctor's office. http://phys.org/news286778111.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 03 May 2013 05:35:24 EST news286778111 (Phys.org) —If you did not hear it from somebody else, you probably asked the same question yourself: What would I really do with a smartwatch, if it's for viewing only, when I need something for text entry too? Viewing is only half of the equation, when you need to find the location of a school or key in any urgent instruction. After all, text input on a watch screen? No way? Way. A Carnegie Mellon team has come up with a concept translated into something called ZoomBoard, a keyboard that zooms when you tap it. ZoomBoard enables text entry on ultra-small devices, such as a smartwatch screen, using what the team calls "iterative zooming" to enlarge tiny keys to a size that is comfortable for the user. http://phys.org/news286523947.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:20:01 EST news286523947 (Phys.org) —Just days after landing in the hands of developer's, Google Glass has been hacked and rooted by at least two well known "hackers." The first comes courtesy of Jay Freeman, who most know online as Saurik. He claims in a Twitter post that he was able to get root within two hours of receiving the device while having dinner with friends. Another well known hacker, Liam McLoughlin also announced he'd hacked the device. Neither development is a surprise to Google apparently, as shortly after Freeman and McLoughlin boasted about their success in circumventing Google Glasses' security measures, Google technical lead on the project Stephen Lau, posted a statement saying that Google had left the device easily hacked for the benefit of developers. Another staffer at Google, Tim Bray, in responding to news of the hacking tweeted simply, "Duh." http://phys.org/news286448406.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:20:01 EST news286448406 Consumers can expect to wait a while before they're able to lay their hands on Google's much-hyped Internet-connected eyewear, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt said Friday. http://phys.org/news286223351.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:29:24 EST news286223351 The BlackBerry has finally caught up to the world of touch-screen smartphones. It took time—six years, from the launch of the first iPhone—and it may be too late to save the company that makes it. But the BlackBerry deserves to be taken seriously again. http://phys.org/news285996878.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:34:49 EST news285996878 If you're in the market for a full-sized tablet but don't want to shell out big bucks for an iPad, Barnes & Noble's Nook HD+ is worth a look. http://phys.org/news285602959.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:30:01 EST news285602959 (Phys.org) —For those who are just plain curious if not serious about owning Google Glass, the specs are here on Google Glass. http://phys.org/news285353116.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:45:50 EST news285353116 Leap Motion's 3-D motion controllers will be included in some personal computers from Hewlett-Packard Co. this year, a move that the San Francisco startup hopes is a first step toward bringing touch-free computing to the masses. http://phys.org/news285330411.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:26:59 EST news285330411 The camera in your smartphone may soon have a new trick: depth perception. Toshiba, Samsung and Silicon Valley startup Pelican Imaging are developing image sensors and software that would allow cameras to detect the distance of objects within the scenes they photograph. http://phys.org/news284991018.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:20:01 EST news284991018 Ready for the battle of the phones? This year's crop of high-end smartphones is starting to emerge, like bear cubs crawling out of their burrows, sniffing the spring air. First out is the HTC One, a handsome, powerful animal that should do well this year. http://phys.org/news284700743.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:32:36 EST news284700743 Google's first high-end laptop, the Chromebook Pixel, is an impressive machine. It feels light and comfortable in my hands and on my lap. Its high-resolution display makes photos look sharp and video come to life. From a hardware standpoint, it's everything I'd want a laptop to be. http://phys.org/news284215067.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:20:02 EST news284215067 Amid much speculation on the future of the "smartwatch," the consensus is growing: the time is right. http://phys.org/news283939461.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Sun, 31 Mar 2013 09:30:02 EST news283939461 The BlackBerry Z10 went on sale Friday in the U.S., and BlackBerry loyalists will like the improvements that come with the new smartphone and operating system. But for consumers who are looking for an alternative to Apple's iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S 3, the Blackberry Z10 is not it. http://phys.org/news283784379.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:50:06 EST news283784379 It's back. The virtual reality headset, the gizmo that was supposed to seamlessly transport wearers to three-dimensional virtual worlds, has made a remarkable return at this year's Game Developers Conference, an annual gathering of video game makers in San Francisco. http://phys.org/news283765998.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 29 Mar 2013 08:53:28 EST news283765998 Since Windows 8's debut in October, there have been a range of hot-looking devices that try to combine elements of tablets and traditional PCs. These hybrids seem as if they would be great both for relaxing with an e-book and for writing stories when I occasionally need to snap back into work mode. http://phys.org/news283612798.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:10:01 EST news283612798 Want to play smartwatch? That's the game where you pretend to buy a big-vendor smartwatch that doesn't exist but everyone talks about nonetheless. There is the Samsung smartwatch rumor mill, the Apple smartwatch rumor mill, and, as of this week, a burning-up Google rumor mill. The Google talk was sparked by Financial Times blogger, Tim Bradshaw, this week. In his blog titled "Google is working on a smartwatch, too" he said according to "a person briefed on the project" that Google's smart watch is being developed by its Android unit, and the watch will "act as an extension to the smartphones using that operating system." http://phys.org/news283190910.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:09:06 EST news283190910 With Apple's stock hobbling and questions lingering about its ability to innovate in the post-Steve Jobs era, investors and fans are latching on to hopes that the tech giant's next big thing will be the iWatch. http://phys.org/news283147912.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 22 Mar 2013 05:12:05 EST news283147912 (Phys.org) —A security researcher, describing some of his about-me features as "mobile enthusiast" and "Linux fiddler," this week discovered a security hole on an Android Samsung phone. In a March 20 posting on his blog, Terence Eden said he found a hole that would allow hackers to gain control of a phone's apps, dialer, and settings, and, here's the kicker, even though the phone is locked with password, PIN or other security approach. Potential trouble-making by an intruder could start with the emergency dialer, with certain steps that could result in allowing the intruder to interact with the device and disable the lockscreen as well. Eden discovered the flaw on a Galaxy Note II running Android 4.1.2. http://phys.org/news283109334.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:29:09 EST news283109334 (Phys.org) —What happens when you construct an array of GoPro cameras is the question that is answered in a YouTube posting that is hard to see just once. Permagrin Films' Marc Donahue used 15 GoPro cameras to shoot a video that was posted on YouTube, where one can see him testing out the results of his arc-shaped rig in varied scenes of creatives' everyday good lives, cycling, drumming, jumping on the grass, transforming movements into acrobatic stunts. The effects are visually interesting, in the way he manages a mix of slow motion, "bullet time" moves, and free-frame effects. http://phys.org/news282933410.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:00:01 EST news282933410 The Galaxy S 4, Samsung's latest and greatest, has a cute feature we'll probably see in a lot of phones soon: You can shoot both yourself and your surroundings at the same time, using the front- and back-mounted cameras. It's a bit like having a two-camera film crew follow you around. http://phys.org/news282567732.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:02:27 EST news282567732 Samsung Electronics is ratcheting up its rivalry with Apple with its new Galaxy S 4 smartphone, which has a larger, sharper screen than its predecessor, the best-selling S III. http://phys.org/news282509602.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:53:34 EST news282509602 LED bulbs seem to be the future of home lighting: They save electricity, they're durable and they don't contain mercury like compact fluorescents. But having them produce white light like any old light bulb is like using a computer as a doorstop. http://phys.org/news282401334.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:53:09 EST news282401334 BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion will begin selling its new touchscreen smartphone to U.S. consumers with AT&T on March 22. The release will come several weeks after RIM launched the much-delayed devices elsewhere. http://phys.org/news282222906.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:15:13 EST news282222906 (Phys.org)—An iPhone 5 with a layer of man-made sapphire covering its Gorilla Glass 2 screen has been demoed at the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona. The purpose was to demonstrate how much more scratch resistant a screen with such a covering can be. Representatives from GT Advanced Technologies, a company that manufactures sapphire for industrial purposes, rubbed the screen phone with cement to prove just how scratch resistant the material is. http://phys.org/news281344064.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 01 Mar 2013 07:40:01 EST news281344064 Jimmy Buchheim is behaving oddly. On the floor of the world's largest cellphone trade show in Barcelona, Spain, he's looking at the screen of his iPod Touch, taking a few steps, and then looking again. Now and then he backtracks or turns, and looks again. Slowly, he confines his movements to a smaller and smaller area. Then he drops to his knees, and checks the screen again. He scrabbles forward. http://phys.org/news281247622.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 28 Feb 2013 04:50:02 EST news281247622 After the smartphone, the intelligent watch promises to become the latest hi-tech trend, allowing wearers to peek at messages and even take calls without touching their phones. http://phys.org/news281248145.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 28 Feb 2013 04:32:12 EST news281248145 Hewlett-Packard Co. is making a tablet computer that uses Google's Android operating system, steering clear of Microsoft's latest tablet-oriented version of Windows, the company said Sunday. http://phys.org/news280940063.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Sun, 24 Feb 2013 14:54:32 EST news280940063 Huawei, a Chinese company that recently became the world's third-largest maker of smartphones, calls its new flagship product "the fastest smartphone in the world" and wants to use it to expand global awareness of its brand. http://phys.org/news280940035.html Electronics - Consumer & Gadgets Sun, 24 Feb 2013 14:54:01 EST news280940035