Computed·Blg

Via Gizmodo (Matt Novak)

-----

For today's edition of There's Nothing New Under The Sun™, we have a radio engineer who experimented with creating high-tech fashion that would be right at home amongst the 21st century's glitch art and wifi visualizations. Except that these patterns were made in 1938.

The July 1938 issue of Radio-Craft magazine featured photos of RCA engineer C.E. Burnett, turning radiowaves into patterns that could be used on clothes and furniture. Burnett was a radio and TV engineer and was inspired to turn the frequencies he saw around him everyday into practical textiles.

In an article titled "Radio Creates Amazing Fashion Patterns," we learn about this new kind of art being created with a "radio kaleidoscope." By photographing a cathode ray tube (the same kind that would eventually fill American living rooms in the form of TV after WWII) and fiddling with the voltages and frequencies, the textile designer is able to create an "electronic snakeskin" pattern.

The patterns could be used for any number of products from hats and shoes to bags and lampshades. The possibilities were endless, and imperfections were welcome, as the article noted. But it also wasn't just a guessing game. Through smart manipulation, you could get the kind of pattern you wanted.

From the July 1938 issue of Radio-Craft:

This finding of patterns through electronic means is by no means an entirely hit-or-miss affair. Research has proven that given frequencies may be relied upon to produce patterns of a certain sort. If, for example, a chain effect of linked lines is wanted, they electronic designer looks at his frequency chart, sets the controls and — presto! — a pattern similar to that used on the bracelet illustrated appears.

I have yet to find any photos of Burnett's designs out in the real world and it's unclear from the article what became of this new high-tech inspired design technique. The article notes that surrealists artists would be "frantic with envy" over this method of creating visual art, but that it would find plenty of practical applications.

Whether anyone actually took up the torch for these "electronic patterns" in 1938 is unclear, but whether he knew it or not, Burnett would prove decades ahead of his time.

Via PC World

-----

Remember when the Internet was just that thing you accessed on your computer?

Today, connectivity is popping up in some surprising places: kitchen appliances, bathroom scales, door locks, clothes, water bottles… even toothbrushes.

That’s right, toothbrushes. The Oral-B SmartSeries is billed as the world’s first “interactive electric toothbrush” with built-in Bluetooth. Whatever your feelings on this level of connectivity, it’s undeniable that it’s a new frontier for data.

And let’s face it, we’re figuring it out as we go. Consequently, it’s a good idea to keep your devices secure - and that means leveraging a product like Norton Security, which protects mobile devices and can help keep intruders out of your home network. Because, let’s face it, the last thing you want is a toothbrush that turns on you.

Welcome to the age of the Internet of Things (IoT for short), the idea that everyday objects - and everyday users - can benefit from integrated network connectivity, whether it’s a washing machine that notifies you when it’s done or a collar-powered tracker that helps you locate your runaway pet.

Some of these innovations are downright brilliant. Others veer into impractical or even unbelievable. And some can present risks that we’ve never had to consider before.

Consider the smart lock. A variety of companies offer deadbolt-style door locks you can control from your smartphone. One of them, the August Smart Lock, will automatically sense when you approach your door and unlock it for you, even going so far as to lock it again once you’ve passed through. And the August app not only logs who has entered and exited, but also lets you provide a temporary virtual key to friends, family members, a maid service, and the like.

That’s pretty cool, but what happens in the event of a dead battery - either in the user’s smartphone or the lock itself? If your phone gets lost or stolen, is there a risk a thief can now enter your home? Could a hacker “pick” your digital lock? Smart lock-makers promise safeguards against all these contingencies, but it begs the question whether the conveniences outweigh the risks. Do we really need the Internet in all our things?

The latest that-can’t-possibly-be-a-real-product example made its debut at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show: The Belty, an automated belt/buckle combo that automatically loosens when you sit and tightens when you stand. A smartphone app lets you control the degree of each. Yep.

Then there’s the water bottle that reminds you to drink more water. The smart exercise shirt your trainer can use to keep tabs on your activity (or lack thereof). And who can forget the HAPIfork, the “smart” utensil that aims to steer you toward healthier eating by reminding you to eat more slowly?

Stop the Internet (of Things), I want to get off.

Okay, I shouldn’t judge. And it’s not all bad. There is real value in - and good reason to be excited about - a smart basketball that helps you perfect your jump shot. Or a system of smart light bulbs designed to deter break-ins. Ultimately, the free market will decide which ones are useful and which ones are ludicrous.

The important thing to remember is that with the IoT, we’re venturing into new territory. We’re linking more devices than ever to our home networks. We’re installing phone and tablet apps that have a direct line not just to our data, but also our very domiciles.

Via TechCrunch

-----

A year after it revealed another attempt to muscle in on the smartphone market, Canonical’s first Ubuntu-based smartphone is due to go on sale in Europe in the “coming days”, it said today. The device will be sold for €169.90 (~$190) unlocked to any carrier network, although some regional European carriers will be offering SIM bundles at the point of purchase. The hardware is an existing mid-tier device, the Aquaris E4.5, made by Spain’s BQ — with the Ubuntu version of the device known as the ‘Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition’. So the only difference here is it will be pre-loaded with Ubuntu’s mobile software, rather than Google’s Android platform.

Canonical has been trying to get into the mobile space for a while now. Back in 2013, the open source software maker failed to crowdfund a high end converged smartphone-cum-desktop-computer, called the Ubuntu Edge — a smartphone-sized device that would been powerful enough to transform from a pocket computer into a fully fledged desktop when plugged into a keyboard and monitor, running Ubuntu’s full-fat desktop OS. Canonical had sought to raise a hefty $32 million in crowdfunds to make that project fly. Hence its more modest, mid-tier smartphone debut now.

On the hardware side, Ubuntu’s first smartphone offers pretty bog standard mid-range specs, with a 4.5 inch screen, 1GB RAM, a quad-core A7 chip running at “up to 1.3Ghz”, 8GB of on-board storage, 8MP rear camera and 5MP front-facing lens, plus a dual-SIM slot. But it’s the mobile software that’s the novelty here (demoed in action in Canonical’s walkthrough video, embedded below).

Canonical has created a gesture-based smartphone interface called Scopes, which puts the homescreen focus on on a series of themed cards that aggregate content and which the user swipes between to navigate around the functions of the phone, while app icons are tucked away to the side of the screen, or gathered together on a single Scope card. Examples include a contextual ‘Today’ card which contains info like weather and calendar, or a ‘Nearby’ card for location-specific local services, or a card for accessing ‘Music’ content on the device, or ‘News’ for accessing various articles in one place.

It’s certainly a different approach to the default grid of apps found on iOS and Android but has some overlap with other, alternative platforms such as Palm’s WebOS, or the rebooted BlackBerry OS, or Jolla’s Sailfish. The problem is, as with all such smaller OSes, it will be an uphill battle for Canonical to attract developers to build content for its platform to make it really live and breathe. (It’s got a few third parties offering content at launch — including Songkick, The Weather Channel and TimeOut.) And, crucially, a huge challenge to convince consumers to try something different which requires they learn new mobile tricks. Especially given that people can’t try before they buy — as the device will be sold online only.

Canonical said the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition will be made available in a series of flash sales over the coming weeks, via BQ.com. Sales will be announced through Ubuntu and BQ’s social media channels — perhaps taking a leaf out of the retail strategy of Android smartphone maker Xiaomi, which uses online flash sales to hype device launches and shift inventory quickly. Building similar hype in a mature smartphone market like Europe — for mid-tier hardware — is going to a Sisyphean task. But Canonical claims to be in it for the long, uphill haul.

“We are going for the mass market,” Cristian Parrino, its VP of Mobile, told Engadget. “But that’s a gradual process and a thoughtful process. That’s something we’re going to be doing intelligently over time — but we’ll get there.”