.::REALITYRECALL::.

Scientists have been experimenting with muscles and technology to solve both human and robotic mobility issues for years. Now it looks as though researchers from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council have made a significant leap forward for paraplegics, thanks to a revolutionary microchip the team has dubbed “Active Book.” What’s notable about the chip is that it stimulates more muscle groups than existing technology without the need for external connections. This was accomplished via micro-packing and precision laser processing, which allowed tiny electrodes to be cut from platinum foil and rolled into a 3D book shape. These platinum foil “pages” close in around nerve roots, and are micro-welded to a hermetically sealed silicon chip. Once embedded into areas within the spinal canal, the chip can work to stimulate paralyzed muscles, implying patients could even “perform enough movement to carry out controlled exercise such as cycling or rowing.” A press release from the Council says the Active Book will begin trials sometime next year — we can’t wait to see the results.

Continue reading Active Book microchip provides hope for exercising paralyzed limbs

Active Book microchip provides hope for exercising paralyzed limbs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Nov 2010 02:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve been waiting and praying for the day when Japanese vocalist Hatsune Miku will sing in English, well my friends, that day has finally come.

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With temperatures in the -15C range in Saskatchewan this week, a school in the east-central part of the province is coping the best it can with a broken heating system.

The Acer Iconia! What a strange dual-screen creature. It’s clearly someone’s idea of the future of computing, but is it ready for prime time? Take a look for yourself. More »

Johnson & Johnson says it has ordered a voluntary recall of about 4.8 million packages of children’s medicines due to “insufficiencies” in the manufacturing process.

“amazing photography”

Shocker of shockers, folks — Acer’s getting into the tablet game, too. With the holidays too close for comfort, the outfit’s giving everyone pause that was considering that janky Android tablet on sale for Black Friday. All jesting aside, the flagship 10.1-incher looks quite interesting, boasting a dual-core 1GHz processor, an HDMI output and a native 1280×800 (!) screen resolution. You’ll also get a 5 megapixel rear camera, an “HD” front-facing camera for video calling and full multitouch support. Hard to say how many clams it’ll cost ya, but at least there’s an April 2011 ship date to mark down. Moving on, the 7-inch tablet (also unnamed as of now) packs the same screen resolution, a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm CPU and the same Flash 10.1 support — so far as we can tell, the “Android Tablet OS” Acer speaks of is Froyo, or Android 2.2. That one’s also coming in April of next year, and you can bet we’ll be scrounging up more details as soon as we can.

Update: PR’s live after the break, and here’s what’s new. The 10.1-incher boasts a 13.3mm thick shell, 1080p output over HDMI, a ten-point multitouch system and an inbuilt Gyroscope for gaming purposes. The 7-inch sibling seems mostly identical save for the screen size, packing a dual core CPU, DLNA technology, WiFi and integrated 3G.

Continue reading Acer introduces 7-inch and 10.1-inch Android tablets, shipping April 2011

Acer introduces 7-inch and 10.1-inch Android tablets, shipping April 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2007 was the year of the Wii. So was 2008. But 2010? Not the Wii’s year, especially when you look at the console’s decline in the United States over the course of the year. More »

Show of hands: how many of you bought an Xbox 360 in its first month or so of release, five long years ago? Alright, now how many of you still use that same Xbox regularly, with zero RRoDs getting in your way? Yeah, we thought so. The Xbox 360 has been an astounding success for Microsoft and for gamers, a particularly strong feat when you consider that it was Sony’s race to lose going into this console generation. Still, when you talk Xbox history, it’s hard not to see that huge red smudge on an otherwise stellar record. In hindsight, perhaps it was wise for Microsoft to do such a stellar job of taking the console online, beyond all the obvious reasons: the overheating hunk of plastic and silicon in our entertainment center didn’t really mean much anymore, sentiments-wise. Instead it was our Gamertags and Gamerscores and cutesy Avatars that really mattered, the true “heart” of our console.

We can’t even count how many Xboxes we churned through in the past five years, with only Microsoft’s most recent attempt finally solving some of the machine’s egregious noise issues, but most of us stuck with the Xbox all the way through because that’s where our friends were. Cute trick, Microsoft, but let’s pick a slightly less expensive way to fail for the next generation, alright? Oh, and happy birthday Xbox; we’ll meet you at 8pm with the pizza and the wine and the Black Ops… you just bring the sexy.

Want to re-live a bit of the launch day insanity? Check out this little trip down Engadget memory lane:

• Live Xbox 360 shot!
• Engadget’s live coverage of the Xbox 360 launch
• Xbox 360 hands-on preview
• Unpacking the Xbox 360
• Xbox 360 gutted!
• Engadget Podcast 053 – 11.22.2005
• Xbox 360 backward-compatibility list (1.0) released

Boy, didn’t we look young and naive back then? The world was our oyster. There were so many Halos yet to come.

The Xbox 360 turns five years old… in a purely theoretical sense originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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"Google's Chrome Operating System launch has been delayed, and the platform won't be available to launch on netbooks for at least the 'next few months'. Google CEO Eric Schmidt revealed as much to reporters in a Q&A session at the Web 2.0 Summit Nov. 15, adding that the platform continues to be targeted for devices with a keyboard. Though he didn't provide a reason for the delay, he certainly shredded the rumor that there would be netbooks based on Google's Chrome Operating System launching this month."

The rumors of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie — without any input from Joss Whedon — are true. A press release says writer Whit Anderson has an exciting new take on the character. Be very scared. More »

Samsung says it’s sold 600,000 Galaxy Tabs worldwide originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Love the awesomeness of Google Docs, with real-time collaboration and never worrying about your hard drive exploding, taking down all of your documents, but stuck using Microsoft Office? They just got together with Google Cloud Connect. More »

Many Saskatchewan Roughrider fans may be waking up with hoarse voices, including a few hundred who came to the Regina Airport on Sunday night to greet the new Western champs.