Metaio Releases Mobile Augmented Reality SDK

Yesterday Qualcomm released QCAR SDK 1.5 Beta, and today Metaio announces its Mobile SDK 3.0 for augmented reality application development on Android and iOS. The metaio Mobile SDK brings with it patented gravity-awareness and visual tracking technology for 2D and 3D objects, now three times more robust than the previous version. These features combined will ensure AR experiences that are more natural, more intuitive, and more realistic, says the company. Metaio recently announced formal collaborations with ARM, ST-Ericsson and Texas Instruments to fully take advantage of the GPU hardware provided by those companies and the Mobile SDK is optimized for ARM Mali GPU (both graphics and compute), ST Ericsson Nova and NovaThor mobile processors and TI OMAP processors. The metaio Mobile SDK also includes its own 3D rendering engine – now with advanced shader support – and a plugin to make use of Unity3D (3D game engine). You can watch […]

Archos Is Working on a 300 Euros Asimo-like Robot

Archos is known for its Android Tablets and MP3 player. But Henri Crohas, Archos’s CEO, would like to release a human robot with the height of a child for 300 Euros, a bit like a small version of Asimo, the Honda human robot. In an article about Henri Crohas, published by Liberation (French Newspaper), it is mentioned “No, Crohas rejoices when we mention the evolution of Archos advances: thinner and thinner tablets and on the domotics (Home Automation) side, a robot of the height of a child sold for less than 300 Euros”. Archos has since then confirmed to PC World France, they worked on this type of products, but would not provide further details at this point. But such robot could be used as a toy or it could be programmed to do some simple tasks. Rumours are that they work with another French company, Alrebaran Robotics, which designed […]

Demo of Archos 101 G9 Turbo 1.5Ghz Powered by OMAP4460

After Android ICS Preview on Archos G9, Charbax has uploaded another video showing the new Archos 101 G9 Turbo with TI OMAP4460 clocked at 1.5GHz running Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) and comparing it to the Archos 101 G9 Classic (OMAP4430 @ 1.2 GHz). The quadrant score is about 38% percent faster for the Turbo version (2176) compared to the Classic version (1576). He then does some side by side web browser benchmark comparison between the Archos 101 G9 Classic and Turbo and the Turbo version appears to be much faster. However, the web browser tests were done with sites hosted on the internet (amazon and cnn sites), so there are a quite of lot of factors than can affect the loading times and these types of benchmark are better performed in the local network. Archos plans to release the Turbo version (at 1.5Ghz) in January 2012 for a recommend retail price […]

Qualcomm Releases Augmented Reality SDK 1.5 Beta for Android

Qualcomm has just announced the availability of QCAR SDK version 1.5 Beta 1 for Android. is now available for download. The Key features and improvements in this version of the QCAR SDK include: Video background texture access: The SDK now provides a simple and streamlined way of accessing the video background texture. Developers can now write custom special effects using powerful shaders resulting in far more exciting application experiences. Swapping datasets at runtime: If your app needs to augment more than 60 images, you can now create multiple datasets – using the web-based Target Management System (My Trackables tool)- and load the appropriate dataset at runtime. You no longer have to upgrade your app to change the target dataset, and you can now build AR experiences that work on a large number of images. Improved tracking performance: The new SDK features several enhancements that reduce jitter in the augmentations, speed […]

Use Your Desktop Computer to Control Your Android Device

AirDroid is a free application that allow you to control your Android smartphone (or tablet) with your computer via WiFi. You simply need to install the app on your smartphone and to connect to the interface with your desktop web browser. You’ll then be able to manage your files, pictures, contacts.. or send SMS with your computer keyboard. You can watch the video below for an overview of AirDroid features: You can download this application at http://market.android.com/details?id=com.sand.airdroid Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

Android 4.0 on Archos G9

Archos has been working on porting Android 4.0 (ICS) to Archos G9 Series Android Tablet (Archos 80 G9 and 101 G9) and have released a video demo (via Charbax). Archos G9 tablets are powered by OMAP4430 and OMAP4460 (Turbo version) so the port should have been pretty smooth as it is the default SoC used by Android 4.0. Archos still have to complete video hardware acceleration, Samba/Upnp and 3G stick support as well as all other Archos-specific features. The offical Android 4.0 release for Archos G9 should be available by Q1 2012. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

99 USD Android 4.0 Tablet (Novo 7) Powered By MIPS Processor

MIPS has just announced the Novo 7 a low cost Android ICS tablet powered by Ingenic’s JZ4770 mobile applications processor that leverages a MIPS-BasedTM XBurstTM CPU running at 1GHz. The new tablet is available with a 7″ capacitive multi-touch screen. 8″ (Novo 8 ) and 9″ (Novo 9) form factors will be available soon. All versions include support for WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, USB 2.0, HDMI 1.3 and microSD, as well as 3D graphics with the Vivante GC860 GPU, 1080p video decoding and dual front/rear cameras (2 MPixel). The XBurst processor’s power-efficient architecture provides extended battery life-the 7″ tablet draws less than 400mA during active web browsing. The Ingenic JZ4770 SoC inside of this (ultra) low cost tablet is one of the first MIPS-based systems-on-chips (SoCs) targeted for mobile devices that delivers 1GHz+ frequency. The JZ4770 SoC is powered by a MIPS32 compatible XBurst CPU designed by Ingenic. The XBurst CPU […]

Ronetix announces Five New Atmel SAM9 CPU Modules

Ronetix announced 5 CPU modules based on Atmel AT91SAM9 series: SAM9G35-CM – populated with AT91SAM9G35 SAM9G25-CM – populated with AT91SAM9G25 SAM9G15-CM – populated with AT91SAM9G15 SAM9X35-CM – populated with AT91SAM9X35 SAM9X25-CM – populated with AT91SAM9X25 Those 5 mew modules correspond to the 5 New Atmel processors and Devkit announced in August 2011. All modules offer 400MHz performance, 128MB to 256MB DDR2 SDRAM, 256MB NAND flash and 4MB to 8MB SPI flash. Here’s a comparison table of the different features available on the 5 modules / processors. Features SAM9G15 SAM9G35 SAM9X35 SAM9G25 SAM9X25 EMAC – RMII RMII MII MII + RMII ADC channels 12 12 12 7 7 CAN – – y – y 5-wires touchscreen y y y – – LCD y y y – – ISI – – – y – additional USART3 – – – y y The modules support the operating supported by SAM9 processors namely Android, […]

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