Today, Fast Company featured a very smart navigational cane that uses existing technology to make the world a better place for the blind. Described in detail in the Co.Exist blog , The BlindSpot cane doubles as a smartphone and uses GPS and bluetooth technology, including location based services like Foursquare check-ins to help visually impaired people operate with more normalcy.
In addition to its smartphone capabilities, the white, sleek cane features an ultrasonic sensor that detects obstacles a normal ground-level sweep of a cane would miss. The BlindSpot cane senses it and beeps in the Bluetooth earpiece.
Its Foursquare integration is particularly nifty: When a friend checks in on Foursquare, the cane alerts the blind user to how far away the person is and how long it will take to reach them. The blind person can then call the friend, ignore the message or go find them using step-by-step directions.
The current prototype for the cane was developed by design student Selene Chew at the National University of Singapore. Check out a video below of the cane in action, produced for her NUS Industrial Design Final Year Thesis Project.
Native Instruments slims down and improves its S4 DJ controller – Meet the S2
It took me months to decide if I could live with the Traktor Kontrol S4 from Native Instruments. While most gadgets are make or break for me within minutes or seconds, the S4 has so many great points that I fought a battle against the couple of things that weren’t quite right about it.
My number one complaint about the Kontrol S4 was that it lacked a dedicated booth output, instead opting for a single solution that controlled only the main output volume. For many DJ’s, that can be a deal breaker. While it could be argued that I was being petty about a great controller having one fatal flaw, I fell firmly into that group that simply couldn’t deal with having only a single output on a DJ controller that pushed the $1,000 price point.
It seems that I wasn’t alone, either. Shortly after writing my review of the Kontrol S4 , I was emailed and tweeted by a number of DJ’s that felt the same pain and Native Instruments was quick to send me an email telling me that there was a new product forthcoming that would help to resolve my issues.
Today, that product has been announced and it is called the Kontrol S2 .
The S2 takes the proven formula of the S4, drops it down to a 2-deck system and finally gives its users access to a dedicated booth output control. Beyond that, not much as changed. It’s smaller, it should be lighter and it includes a 2-channel version of the 4-channel audio interface that is seen in the S4 so it should sound positively incredible as is Native Instruments’ claim to fame.
My only concern with the S2 is that NI chose to place the level trim control onto the back of the unit, instead of having it easily accessible from the top panel. It’s a single potentiometer that controls the trim for both the main and booth outputs, selectable by a 2-position switch. Given that it’s not in plain view, here’s hoping that people remember which level they have the switch set to control before attempting to adjust them.
Everything else about the S2 keeps with the successful methodology of the Kontrol S4, which is a smart move for NI. Having a smaller, lighter control in the company’s arsenal is key and the S2 fills that void. The only other concern that I have is the price point. NI has priced the S2 at $669 and at that level it has another very strong piece of competition in the Novation Twitch controller which retails for $499. Never fear, we’ll be reviewing very soon.
The Kontrol S2 is set to be in stores by October 2nd, and we’ll see about getting our hands onto one for a review sometime in the near future. Until then, if you’ve been looking for a smaller, lighter answer to the S4 (with a booth output, to boot) then it appears your wait is almost over.
Cisco Kills Flip video camera line
Boy, oh Boy! Its the end of an era! Cisco has just announced that they are shutting down the production of those epic, portable Flipcams .
In a press release , Cisco states that it will “Close down its Flip business and support current FlipShare customers and partners with a transition plan.”
The move is part of a wider restructuring of the company’s consumer business, moving away from directly catering to end-users. “We are making key, targeted moves as we align operations in support of our network-centric platform strategy,” John Chambers, Cisco chairman and CEO is quoted as saying in the release. “As we move forward, our consumer efforts will focus on how we help our enterprise and service provider customers optimize and expand their offerings for consumers, and help ensure the network’s ability to deliver on those offerings.”
The Flip line of video cameras was launched by Pure Digital Technologies in May 2006 – almost exactly five years ago. Cisco acquired the company in 2009 for $590 million in stock. While other players such as Sony and Kodak entered the market for handheld video cameras, Flip remained the iconic brand – the “Hoover” to everyone else’s “vacuum cleaner”, if you will.
So, why kill such a well-known brand? The wide availability of high quality video cameras built into mobile phones must surely be an important factor – limiting growth for standalone devices in a world where many users will be happy to use a camera built into their phone.