Computer

Laptops and now tablets are essential to our daily lives – both business and leisure – but take that computer outside beyond a sidewalk café, and you'll realize this device is really out of its element. For those who work in the field, more than just a plastic or thin metal shell is required to protect their hardware. The R13C convertible computer from GammeTech has all the features to pass Military Standard 810G certification, and then some. Read More

Lenovo has unleashed a new device which falls into the HTPC or nettop PC category - the Windows 7-based IdeaCentre Q180. The book-sized computer will fit easily alongside any television set, where it can serve as an entertainment hub, given that it handles 1080p videos and optionally supports Blu-ray videos in 3D. Read More

HP announced the release of its HP Slate 2 tablet PC today. Featuring an 8.9-inch diagonal capacitive multitouch display that works with both touch and pen or stylus input, the Slate 2 throws the company's hat into the arena of the white hot tablet market, while filling a niche need for its business-oriented customers. Read More

During those important early stages of learning to play guitar, when you need to grab every possible opportunity to practice, digital teaching aids like iPerform3D and the upcoming Rocksmith can be on hand whenever the mood grabs you. There are also solutions that make learning available wherever your instrument happens to be - such as Castiv's Sidekick (along with an iPhone and the Rock Prodigy app) - and it's to this camp that the Tepoe Guitar belongs. Rather than positioning the device screen at the end of the fingerboard, inventor Michael Tepoe Nash has sliced away a section of the upper horn of the guitar and placed a small computer there instead. Read More

Using one's feet works quite well while driving, so why not use them to control computers, too? That's what Berkley-based company Keith McMillen Instruments wondered, and ended up designing SoftStep KeyWorx, a foot-operated computer interface device. It's Mac and PC compatible, and offers 10 touch-sensitive buttons and a navigation pad, along with up to 100 macros that allow for customized commands and shortcuts. Read More

On a cold morning on January 25, 1947 at the U.S. Patent Office, Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann submitted an invention that is now recognized as one of the earliest examples of the video game - the "Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device". Described it as a game of skill where a player sits or lies in front of a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) mounted in a closet, the analog device was inspired by a radar commonly used in the second World War to control missiles. Using knobs to adjust speed and trajectory, a plane was represented by a single point and the scores were assigned by hand! Read More

Renowned computer generated music innovator Max Mathews has died at the age of 84. Back in 1957 Mathews wrote the program that enabled an IBM 704 mainframe computer to play a composition lasting 17 seconds – an achievement recognized as one of the first examples of digital synthesis of music on a computer. For the next 54 years Mathews pioneered the field of digital audio research and devoted most of his life to learning how computers could aid musicians in performance. Read More

For many people with motor disabilities, the task of precisely moving a mouse cursor around a screen can be incredibly frustrating. While controlling a mouse cursor with the power of thought looks likely to be possible in the not too distant future, researchers at the University of Washington's (UW) AIM Research Group have created two mouse cursors designed to make homing in on onscreen targets much easier. Neither requires additional computer hardware and all the researchers are hoping for in return for the freely downloadable software is some user feedback. Read More

Around the time I was hoping to swap my Olivetti typewriter for one of those new-fangled Apple Macintosh things, Seiko also created the UC-2000 wrist computer. The images of the device docked onto a QWERTY keyboard strapped to someone's arm still raise a smile even now. That was decades ago, and the industry has moved forward at an incredible pace, but Eurotech's new Zypad WL1500 definitely has the look of the Seiko. Happily, the technology in the new Zypad is much more up-to-date. Eurotech says that it's faster and lighter than other members of its wearable range, and also benefits from a longer battery life and numerous communication options. Read More