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In December, I visited Parrot‘s development labs in Paris to check out the company’s newest project. While Parrot is mostly known for its Bluetooth headsets and speaker systems, the company’s newest project combines augmented reality with a remote-controlled helicopter. This helicopter – the AR.Drone – features four rotors that keep it stable and a front-mounted camera that is linked to an iPhone or iPod touch. The rig is controlled via an iPhone or iPod touch and the device’s screen can show an augmented view of what the helicopter’s camera sees.

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AR Meets the Real World

What’s most exciting about this product is how it combines a real helicopter with this augmented reality view. Instead of just looking at an augmented view of the world through the phone’s camera, you get to see the world through the drone’s camera. The iPhone takes the view of the camera (via Wi-Fi) and replaces markers with anything from walls to dinosaurs.

During our discussion with Parrot in December, we couldn’t get any information about the price of the AR.Drone out of the company’s representatives. Given how sophisticated the hardware is, however, chances are that it won’t be very cheap. The drone, for example, features two cameras. Besides the camera that feeds the video to the iPhone, the drone also features a second camera that is mounted underneath the structure and augments the drone’s autopilot.

Hands-On With the AR.Drone

We got a chance to play with a prototype of the AR.Drone in Parrot’s labs, and it took a while to get used to the controls (the app uses a combination of the phone’s tilt sensors and on-screen controls to manipulate the drone). The video on the iPhone was surprisingly clear and didn’t show any noticeable lag. Sadly, we didn’t get a chance to try out the AR features of the app, though.

Parrot will launch the AR.Drone later this year. The company plans to demo the helicopter at CES this week but the exact date of the public launch remains unclear.

A Drone for Developers

In its current iteration, the hardware and software is clearly laid out for gaming, but Parrot also released an SDK that will allow developers to use the hardware for other purposes as well. It will definitely be interesting to see what games and other tools the developer community will come up with once the AR.Drone is launched. Parrot told us that it hopes that developers will look at the hardware as a platform, and the company hopes to create an active developer ecosystem around the AR.Drone.

More Videos

Click here for more videos of the AR.Drone in action.

Disclosure: Frederic met with Parrot during a trip that was partly sponsored by Parrot.

Google has finally made the HTC Nexus official today, which means its time for a comparison between the two Snapdragon superphones.

Engadget has posted a review of the Nexus, and note the AMOLED screen is very oversaturated and washes out extremely badly in bright light, negating one of the major features of the handset. They also note the trackball, which serves to increase the height to virtually the same as the HD2, appears completely superfluous and does not contribute to the use of the device.

In the end the device does not appear to be either very ground breaking or much more super than existing devices, including the HTC HD2, and the new additions to the UI strangely serve to bring it closer to the HTC Sense and again not very groundbreaking.

What do our readers think?  Let us know in the comments below.

Filed under: Technology

The Computer Electronics Show (CES) is underway, and the first navigation item to hit the wires is this: the Garmin Voice Studio.

The software enables Nuvi owners to record their own voice for basic navigation instructions. Garmin says the PC-based application will take about 20 minutes to complete, but when you’re done you can tell yourself when to turn instead of that computer generated voice that dominates directions. While the program will allow you to voice directions like “turn right in one quarter mile” but for obvious reasons you won’t be able to voice text-to-speech for specific directions like reading street names. Additionally, Garmin is releasing an ecoRoute cable that ties into your vehicles ECU to help you tread lighter on the gas pedal and record the results. Engadget tells us that both programs will not work for 3xx and 6xx series navigation systems, but other Garmins should work just fine.

We’re guessing that the more creative types among us will find some unique ways to voice directions including some stuff that wouldn’t pass FCC guidelines. Borrowing someone else’s Garmin long enough to program your own unique version of directions could be a lot of fun, too, but that could get you into a bit of trouble. Press release after the break.

[Source: Garmin via Engadget]

Continue reading Garmin announces record-your-own-voice feature for nav instructions, green driving system

Garmin announces record-your-own-voice feature for nav instructions, green driving system originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let’s face it.

We are in something of an innovation rut.

We’ve been hearing about the promises of everything from mapping the human genome to nanotechnology to clean-green tech for the better part of a decade, without seeing very much by way of results.

The venture capital community seems torn between the feeling that there are not enough truly innovative ideas to fund and the idea that there aren’t enough funds available for innovative ideas.  In a sense both are probably true since hard to come by funding discourages innovation.

Even some of the hottest ideas in the last couple of years seem like retreads. Or, at best, old ideas that have been improved. From Dodgeball to Foursquare, from Friendster to Facebook: these aren’t so much innovations as improvements on existing models.

What’s gone wrong? Much of the lack of innovation can probably be blamed on the malinvestment that resulted from the housing boom. It’s not just that too much funding got directed into housing—too much human capital got directed into housing and finance during the boom.

This is all too obvious on Wall Street these days. Most financial firms, stung by the tech bust and investor fears of tech companies, shrank their operations in this sector while pouring talent and funds into housing related sectors. Many of the big names who might have mentored the next generation of tech oriented financial professionals were driven out by legal troubles stemming from the dot com bust or by the fact that their firm’s just weren’t interested in keeping them around.

The result is that most financial firms lack the in-house expertise to invest in innovative business ventures on any meaningful scale. The credit departments don’t know how to evaluate loans to these companies, the special executions groups don’t know how to make private equity investments, investment bankers stink at pitching acquisitions, and the capital markets desks do not know how to take companies public.
 
What’s more, there was so much money to be made in derivatives and credit—largely arising from the underlying housing boom—that many of the smartest people got drawn into these areas rather than tech innovation. Basically, we got lots of questionable financial innovation instead of technological, medical, or environmental innovation.

If all of this had worked out to make us fabulously wealthy, there might not be much to complain about. The tech, green and bio-tech communities would just sound like special interests complaining their favored projects weren’t capturing as much attention and wealth as the enthusiasts think is deserved.

But that’s not what happened. The dearth of technological innovation is largely attributable to government regulations and a loose money policy that led to massive malinvestment. Sectors of the economy unrelated to housing were deprived of needed capital and talent, while the great quicksand of the housing boom sucked down everything.

None of this is easily reversed. Economists point out that our economy is afflicted with what they call an “output gap”—a gap between the economic output we would be producing if growth was at normal levels and what the economy is actually producing. But this output gap isn’t only caused by “animal spirits” or temporary economic dislocations—it is the direct result of the prior “investment gap”—the gap between what we should have been investing our fortunes and time and what we actually invested in. In short, we can’t produce what we should be able to because we invested in the abilities to produce what we don’t need.

Is there a way out? Of course.  The bursting of the housing bubble created a great opportunity to set the economy back on course. Unfortunately, our government engaged what amounted to Shock-and-Awe war against the liquidation of past errors, locking up even more capital in the errant bubble businesses. The greatest fortune of 2009 was made by a hedge fund manager who bet that all the old failures would rise again thanks to government support.

Another couple of years like 2009 will guarantee that we keep talent and funding out of technological innovation for another generation.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Green Tech VC Activity Down Big In 2009
• Friedman: Let’s Turn The Government In To A VC Firm
• Clean Tech VC Investment Falls Off A Cliff In Q1

AARP-backed Legislation Will Provide Critical Consumer Protections

While the U.S. Congress continues to move forward on a comprehensive federal health care reform bill, Illinois has taken a positive step toward health care reform with legislation aimed at helping consumers in the private insurance market.

An AARP-backed bill, the Individual Health Insurance Fairness Act, was signed into law today by Governor Quinn.

The Individual Health Insurance Fairness Act (House Bill 3923), introduced by State Representative Greg Harris (D-Chicago), and State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago), addresses key barriers facing consumers who struggle with unfair and inconsistent industry practices.

The measure was strongly backed by AARP and a coalition of health and consumer advocates.

“At a time when Illinoisans are struggling to access affordable health insurance, this bill brings transparency to the health insurance industry and will help protect consumers in the individual market,” said Ruby Haughton-Pitts, AARP Illinois Executive Council member.

“AARP commends Representative Harris and Senator Steans for their leadership on this critical issue, and Governor Quinn for signing the bill into law.”

The Individual Health Insurance Fairness Act will allow consumers to see critical information regarding health insurance industry profits and premium increases.

It will also establish an external review process for members of PPO plans and will simplify the complex application process for both individual and small group markets by creating a standard application, making it easier for them to get the coverage they need.

“For the first time Illinois residents will have the right to an independent, outside review of insurance company decisions that deny treatment for their families. We will also be able to find out how much of our premium dollars actually go to healthcare. I salute AARP and other consumer advocates, the insurance industry and the Illinois business community for working together on this new law,” said Rep. Harris.

“In the past, the lack of oversight of the insurance industry has lead to an unpredictable, unaffordable insurance market in Illinois for small businesses and families,” said Brian Imus, state Director for Illinois PIRG.

“This new law will help fix that problem by allowing health insurance customers an opportunity to have an independent review when they are denied a claim by their insurance company.”

Nationally, over 4 million people have lost their health care since the recession began, while roughly 17 million purchase their own coverage.

In the private market, an average annual premium for a family of four has risen to nearly $5,500, while an individual premium costs $2,500 in Illinois.

A recent AARP study found that adults aged 50-64 spend roughly 10% of their income on health coverage, and paying three times as much as their peers with employer-sponsored coverage.

Joining the Honda New Small Concept and the Toyota Etios, Maruti Suzuki showed its new R3 MPV concept at the Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi. Suzuki says that the six-seater concept hints at a new multi-purpose vehicle that is being considered for the Indian market, which is changing rapidly with consumer lifestyles evolving fast.

Suzuki also showed off its SX4 Hybrid and Eeco Electric Vehicle as a part of a Indian government project that promotes hybrid and electric vehicles.

Click through for the press release for more info.

Press Release:

Suzuki Announces Exhibits for Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi

Suzuki Motor Corporation is pleased to announce that its Indian automobile production subsidiary, Maruti Suzuki India, will be exhibiting the following vehicles at Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi (to be held from 5 to 11 January 2010*): Concept model: R3

– The Indian market is changing rapidly and consumer lifestyles evolving fast.
– To cater to one such market need, Maruti Suzuki has developed a concept car, R3.
– The Concept R3 model is a Compact Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) for such people.
– Designed by Maruti Suzuki India’s Research and Development Department, it combines compact dimensions with a stylish profiling.
– The Concept compact MPV accommodates six people in three rows.
– Reference exhibits (eco-vehicles): SX4 Hybrid and Eeco Electric Vehicle

Maruti Suzuki India is taking part in an Indian government project that promotes hybrid and electric vehicles.
It will be exhibiting two prototype vehicles that Maruti Suzuki has developed for the project: the SX4 Hybrid and the Eeco (Every+) Electric Vehicle.

Production models and other reference exhibits

Maruti Suzuki India will be showing 16 other automobiles including ten production models (13 units in total) and two reference exhibits: the Kizashi and SX4 Hatchback (three units in total).

Maruti Suzuki pavilion will also be highlighting Suzuki’s two-wheel leadership by showing nine motorcycles: the Hayabusa, Intruder, and other large models; the Thai-produced Skydrive 125 scooter; and the Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter, which was last seen at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.

– By: Kap Shah

Nobody puts it in a square box, at least.

Boxee, the software that brings Internet media to your television, has been seen in the flesh at CES today.

We first heard about the Boxee Box in November, but the announcement was light on details. This time around, D-Link offered a list of specifications and media-format compatibilities at the oddly-shaped device’s unveiling.

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According to D-Link’s press release, the device will retail for under $200 and will come embedded with support for a number of web sites, including Netflix, Facebook, Pandora, Twitter and Flickr.

As for media formats, the Boxee Box will handle a majority of file formats, including DiVX, MPEG1 through 4, VOB, Flash, and most standard video and image types. Most notably missing from the mix are GIFs and QuickTime files.

The device comes prepared to handle RSS and XML feeds in order to keep its users up to date.

Discuss

Sharon Stone is joining the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. This April, the Emmy & Golden Globe-winning Casino actress will step into the role of a former cop-turned-prosecutor on NBC’s long-running crime drama.

“It is obviously a thrill and a delight to have a star of Sharon’s wattage and importance joining SVU,” Law & Order creator Dick Wolf says of Stone’s casting.

This is quite a coup — any thoughts on this casting news, SVU fans?

There are many different types of Lip Enhancement and here are a few that I believe are the most effective ways of enhancing your lips.

Injectables like Restylane which is an FDA approved hyaluronic acid filler that can enhance the fullness of the lip by injecting collagen along the lip border. This can also fill out flat areas across the vermillion border.

Fat Transfer is another type of Lip Enhancement that is very effecting because it takes fat from your own body in places like your thighs and your abdomen then is processed and injected into the lips, giving them more volume.

Implantables like Gore-tex are also very effective in enhancing your lips because the implants are surgically implanted into the lips and can last for many, many years.

For anyone wanting to learn more about these procedures more information can be found on the ifcsutah.com website.

A series of solar eclipse—on 2006, 2008, and 2009—have allowed scientist to take these beautiful images of the Sun’s corona, the first ones in history that show a phenomenon called the Iron Line.

The iron line is made of highly ionized iron, called Fe XI 789.2 nm. The iron spewing reaches an extremely far distance—an amazing three times the solar radii—and has regions in which there are more irons than in others. [NASA]

I think so. And I certainly hope so. But not many Americans agree with me according to a new Rasmussen poll. Only 38% of respondents believe that the economy will be stronger in a year. Meanwhile 39% think it will be weaker. That’s up 8% from a year ago. I find these results quite surprising and rather troubling.

I both love and hate polls. So often the results are so counterintuitive that I hardly know what to say about them. But they aren’t worthless. The thing to remember is that they’re just polls, nothing more. So what this says is just that 39% of respondents in Rasmussen’s poll believe that the economy will be weaker in a year. According to Rasmussen, this is generally representative of the U.S. population.

But what exactly does this statistic mean? Will unemployment be higher? Will home prices be lower? Will Americans be spending less? Will manufacturing output dive? Will GDP plunge? There are so many measures of economic health and stability that I can’t be sure what those respondents had in mind when they said they believe the economy will be weaker.

Yet, a general feeling of pessimism does mean something, particularly for spending. If that many Americans are still that gloomy about the nation’s economic prospects, then to me that indicates that they’re going to be very cautious with their wallets. And if spending doesn’t pick up much this year, then that could make for a self-fulfilling prophecy. U.S. GDP is very dependent upon consumer spending. Without its revival, the economy will have a hard time gaining its footing.

This also may say something about unemployment. In theory, those polled should include a representative portion of business owners and management. Although we don’t know the exact breakdown, if that subset is also pessimistic at a 39% proportion, then this confirms the idea that employment growth will be quite slow. If management thinks things will be worse in a year, then they’re not going to be doing a whole lot of hiring in 2010.

Don’t get me wrong: we can’t will ourselves into recovery. The financial crisis and the deep recession that followed exposed some real, fundamental structural flaws in the U.S. economy. They won’t be quickly fixed. But pessimism can gunk up a recovery. Psychology matters more in economics when consumers see the glass as half empty.

I have a little trouble imagining that things on a whole will be worse in a year. That would almost certainly mean a double-dip recession is in the cards. If unemployment is over 10% in November 2010, then we’re in a lot of trouble. (And Democrats are really, really in trouble.)

So count me in the more optimistic — but only slightly optimistic — 38%. I think the recovery will be slow, but I can’t believe that things will be even worse in a year. Even with mixed economic indicators, we’re seeing enough green shoots to indicate that the economy isn’t experiencing much further deterioration.

FOX has released the first promotional photos of Ellen DeGeneres as a judge on the ninth season of American Idol.

The comedienne and daytime hostess will be taking over the seat vacated by Paula Abdul, who opted not to return to the Idol judges panel in August. The new season of American Idol will feature appearances by guest judges Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris, Joe Jonas, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, and Shania Twain.

The nation’s most-watched television talent show returns Jan. 12 in a two-night, four-hour season premiere on FOX. Ellen makes her Idol debut next month.

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Contributor: “Dr. J”
Dr. J offers his irreverent, slightly irrelevant, but possibly useful opinions on health and fitness. A Florida surgeon and fitness freak with a black belt in karate, he runs 50 miles a week and flies a Cherokee Arrow 200.

I have to say, I find it frustrating to read blogs, or talk to people, who a year ago, or 10 years ago, were talking about their New Year’s resolutions to lose weight and have a healthier lifestyle, and how they were going to change this or that, and then things would be different.

However, instead of making any real changes, they kept doing what they were doing, and kept getting what they were getting, except with aging and usually putting on more weight, they got more of what they didn’t want and less of what they did. They were less healthy, less mobile, less disease-free and less happy.

These are not bad people. In fact, most of them are wonderful people. Just wonderful people heading in a very poor direction, all the while, usually this time of year, talking about how they need to be different.

The “secret” to motivation

I’m always looking for that elusive secret to motivating people to achieve success when they claim to want to become healthier and fitter in the coming year. I believe that’s one of the most common resolutions on that ever-popular list, and usually the first one to fall by the wayside on that circuitous road of good intentions.

Recently I noticed the headline of a story while looking through a well-known fitness magazine. It read, “Doctors Said I’d Never Run Again, But I Did!” Of course it’s more common to hear it expressed as “the doctor said I’d never walk again,” but this was a fitness magazine.

It seems one way to really motivate someone is to tell them that they can’t do something and that they will fail if they even try. Then, it seems, people will work really hard to prove the naysayer wrong.

I’m never quite sure what to make of this in regard to doctors, but people seem to love saying that their doctor was wrong. Perhaps this merely reflects a veiled respect of the profession couched in an oblique way. It’s not like doctors have some kind of Secret Lottery Club, where along with your MD comes a membership allowing you to bet the odds on a patient’s morbidity and mortality with the winner getting free malpractice coverage for the year. Really, we don’t like to all get together after work and compare our winnings over your losings!

I then realized that perhaps I had an opportunity in the making. Since people seem to relish doctors being wrong, and I’m a doctor, why not give them this opportunistic pleasure? Why be positive or supportive this New Years? I’m going to try another approach.

Dr. J says you can’t do it

So here goes:

You guys on a diet to lose weight, you guys trying to become healthier, eat healthier, exercise more, lower your cholesterol or blood pressure, increase your intake of fruits and vegetables. You guys listening?

You are going to fail! You are not going to lose weight. You are going to gain weight. Yup, just like a snowball heading downhill, your waist line will be a growing. As for eating better or becoming healthier, in your dreams, no way, no how!

You know how you always spell the word as “loose” instead of “lose?” Well, you may learn to spell, but none of your clothes will be getting looser!

Diets don’t work, all the research shows that. And that friend of a friend’s sister’s cousin, who you know lost all that weight, well, she gained it all back and more! If you diet, so will you!

Perhaps I can turn this into a full-time job! I could just go around and tell people that whatever it is that they have on their New Year’s resolution list, no matter how trivial or obtainable, “Forgetaboutit, you can‘t do it!” It doesn’t matter who the patient is or what the goal is, the diagnosis will always be the same, a modified version of “You’ll never walk again!”

“You can’t do it” in action

I had a 19-year-old patient who had a severe anaphylactic reaction to an IV drug I had given her. It was incredibly rapid, I had never seen anything like it before. Immediately after I had injected the medication, she looked at me and said, ”I can’t breathe,” and she was gone!

After my initiating emergency treatment and with the Code Team’s help, she was in the ICU, alive but comatose. The consulting neurologist said at the bedside that she would never recover. Perhaps she heard him? I’m happy to report she recovered completely, without any deficit, a few days later.

I suggest your first New Year’s resolution this year be to prove this doctor wrong.

I dare you! It will feel so good!

From the RSS feed of CalorieLab News (REF3076322B7)

Dr. J on proving the doctor wrong