recognition
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Vocal Joystick Makes Everyone Go Aaaaaah Oooooooh Ka-Ching!
9:00PM Jesus Diaz | I know this video shouldn’t make me laugh because the Vocal Joystick—a software that allows you to control your computer mouse using eight vowel sounds and the “sounds k and ch simulate clicking and releasing the buttons”—is amazing for people with disabilities. But I can’t help it, I just find it hilarious. Its developers at the University of Washington have now came up with a version that controls a robotic arm to further help people with serious mobility problems. More »
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Medion GoPal P4425 SatNav has Fingerprint Recognition
9:57PM Addy Dugdale | Given that SatNav systems are one of the hottest items to steal these days, Medion’s latest GoPal might go some way in redressing the balance. Its P4425 model boasts fingerprint recognition for extra security, meaning that not only will thieves be unable to use it, but might find it that little bit harder to find out where you live &mdash unless, of course, your car is parked in your driveway when they break into your motor and steal it. More »
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That Ekon fingerprint reader we tested on …
4:17AM Jason Chen | That Eicon fingerprint reader we tested on Windows now has a Mac version of the software that works with Keychain, locking/unlocking your computer, faster user switching and logging on. [UPek via OhgIzmo] More »
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Sennheiser VMX100 Bluetooth Headset Has VoiceMax Voice Distinguishing Technology
9:20AM Jason Chen | Sennheiser’s latest Bluetooth headset, the VMX 100, has on-board technology that distinguishes the human voice from background noise in order to provide a clearer outgoing sound during conversations. We’re unsure how well the headset will distinguish background noise when the background noise is actually human conversation, but at least it’ll have five hours talk time and 100 hours standby. The thing looks absolutely gigantic with the Borg attachment fitting over the ear, but we suppose that’s where the voice distinguishing technology lives. [CNET] More »
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ThePudding.com Phone Service Listens to Your Calls, Makes You Watch Ads
12:29AM Wilson Rothman | It sounds like a double-whammy of a bad idea: a free phone service that determines which ads to target to you by applying speech-recognition to all your conversations. To make things worse, the home page of ThePudding.com insults potential customers by saying it’s “a breakthrough technology that makes your phone calls interesting.” Hey, my phone calls are a thrill a minute. More »
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A1Pro Keyboard Has Handwriting Pad With Character Recognition
4:00AM Jason Chen | This A1Pro keyboard isn’t that useful for us, who can type just fine with the standard QWERTY keys, but is incredibly useful for, say, Chinese people who want to write characters the way they’re used to writing on paper (typing takes a lot longer to learn). The keyboard looks normal on the left, but instead of a numpad, it has a smallish glowing tablet. If we ever wanted to write in Chinese—which we haven’t done in about 14 years—we’d pick up one of these for $25.48. [Dealextreme via Crave via Gearfuse] AU: Looks like it shuts out us sinister handed folks… -SB More »
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Sony’s T200 Cybershot Photographs Smiles Automatically
7:00AM Mark Wilson | In addition to a Carl Zeiss 5X zoom lens, 3.5″ wide/touchscreen LCD, Sony’s Cybershot T200 features a smile sensor that will automagically snag shots when your family and friends are pretending to enjoy your company. In this demonstration, the potential gimmick seems to actually work. Though you’ll notice that the sensors have a tough time detecting profiles. More »
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Appian Technology Stinger Reads License Plates, Calls Police
8:06PM Seamus Byrne | Appian, the company behind much of Britain’s surveillance madness, has released a new camera that will no doubt be top of the shopping lists of Big Brothers throughout the world. The Stinger is able to recognize license plates from any country thanks to its choice of IR wavelengths: 810; 870; and 940 NM. Then, ensuring that There Is No Escape For The Wicked, it can compare them to ones on a “hot list” stored on its internal 20GB hard drive. If it finds a dodgy plate, it contacts the police via either Ethernet, Wi-Fi or GSM/GPRS. Full stats and pricing after the jump. More »
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Samsung i85 Camera is Personal Media Player Too
10:00PM Seamus Byrne | Samsung today announced its new i85 camera too, which includes a personal media player to really make use of its big 3″ touchscreen LCD. The camera itself is an 8 megapixel with a 5x optical zoom lens and face recognition technology which automatically focuses on any faces that are in shot. The i85 will retail at $349 and should be appearing at the end of August. [Photography Blog] More »
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