With the Consumer Electronics Show only a few days away, we can expect an array of smart home appliances to make their debut on the showroom floor. However, most of them will be a new generation of previously seen devices and only a few consist of genuine innovation. Among these, you can count GeniCan and Eugene as the world’s first smart trash can devices.

As much as we like to disregard our garbage, it plays an important role in our lives. An analysis of a person’s garbage can tell a lot about a person, their lifestyle, and diet. The way we deal with our trash, whether we recycle it or not is just as important. Thanks to GeniCan and Eugene, all these tasks can be easily managed.

GeniCan is a Wi-Fi enabled device which can be easily attached to the side of your trash can or recycling bins. If features a barcode scanner so that when you’re about to discard the package of a certain product, you can allow GeniCan to scan it and add it to your shopping list. The device even has a microphone for voice recognition, so you can easily add a product which doesn’t have a barcode.

The device is managed through an Android or iOS app. This is where you can find your shopping lists, which can be shared with anyone in your family. The app even allows the device to order items automatically using Amazon’s Dash Replenishment program. GeniCan will be released in early 2017, at a price of $150, with pre-orders available now at $125.

Another new smart trash device similar to GeniCan is Eugene. It has mostly the same functions as GeniCan, with one more extra functionality developed for environmentally-concerned people.  Eugene is developed by Uzer and its another Wi-Fi enabled scanner that reads your trash. However, when it does so, besides adding to a shopping list, it also informs you if you can recycle that specific container. The mobile app of Eugene will inform you of how much energy you’ve saved by recycling.

The developers of Eugene have stated that the device will be released in the US and the UK by the end of 2017 at a price $99.

Image source: GeniCan

The Eye Tribe was acquired by Oculus, the VR technology from Facebook. This is a great acquisition for Facebook which realized that for better VR they need an eye tracking company like the Eye Tribe.

The first rumors about this acquisition were made public in a Facebook post by Robert Scoble. This acquisition was also confirmed by a spokesperson from Facebook. The terms of this deal were not made public yet.

The Danish startup, The Eye Tribe was launched in 2011 by 4 students from the IT University of Copenhagen. The startup was created in order to make eye tracking accessible to the masses. This is why Facebook acquired them for Oculus.

The eye tracking technology that is provided by The Eye Tribe is a great fit for Oculus because it offers a simplified and enhanced user experience. The eye tracking devices for computers have a small price of $99. This is another advantage for Facebook.

Many people are wondering how Oculus is going to use the technology that the eye tracking company is developing. The company already produced special technology for VR that generates perfect graphics that can save computational power.

The technology for VR is named The Eye Tribe Tracker Pro and it allows every user to connect a device to another computer machine so that it can monitor eye movement when a person is reading a sheet music or scrolling down a page.

This is a great step for Oculus and it is going to make it even better. The eye tracking tech is important for Oculus and is going to be a great partnership for both of the companies. The Danish startup has taken a grant from The Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation of $2.3 million.

This acquisition is great for Oculus and it is certain that the Danish startup is going to benefit from this too. Let’s wait and see what new features is going to have Oculus after it starts using the eye tracking tech too. 2017 is going to be a great year for technology.

What is your opinion about Oculus? Are you interested in the VR technology?

Image source: Flickr

A large part of fiction involving robots portrays humans able to pilot large mechanized suits, or more commonly known as mecha, as the term was popularized by the famous Japanese manga Gundam.  Scientists were able to create a manned robot which has a similar function to a mecha portrayed in various works of fictions, including the movie Avatar.

A team of engineers from the Hankook Mirae Technology company in South Korea has built a 13-feet tall manned robot named Method-2. The robot is controlled by a human pilot located in the cockpit inside the robot and can take several steps just like a human. However, it can be quite a hazard as weighs around 1.5 tons.

The Method-2 manned robot successfully completed its initial tests conducted by a team of 30 engineers from the robotics company during the afternoon of December 27. The Hankook Mirae Technology chairman, Yang Jin-Ho issued a statement claiming that the company’s robot is the first and only bipedal manned robot in the world. Method-2 was built with the purpose of working in conditions such as extreme hazards, where humans cannot go without adequate protection.

The manned robot closely resembles the military robots seen in the movie Avatar, when the pilot was placed inside the machine so that it can pilot it. The current Method-2 manned robot is still far from other giants manned robots, as it does even have the same functionality as the robots in Avatar who are lighter and respond more quickly to commands allowing the pilot for a greater flexibility.

Nonetheless, the Method-2 is able to mimic the pilot’s limb movements, despite its arms weighing around 286 pounds each and it around two times taller than the average height of a man. Due to its excessive weight, every time the robot takes a step the ground shakes and its many motors produce a loud whirring sound.

The manned robot costed around $200 million to develop since 2014, money invested by Yang as he wanted to his childhood dream of building a robot become a reality. The project was not without its challenges, as the size of the robot was at an unprecedented scale and they had no reference point in building it. Further research and development are still required on its power and balance systems.

Image credit: Hankook Mirae Technology

Fitbit fitness trackers are very popular among exercise and sports enthusiasts. Although Fitbit is in the process of finalizing the deal regarding the acquisition of Pebble, that doesn’t mean the company doesn’t have time to freshen up their line of Charge 2 fitness trackers with new features. The added functionality comes through a new software update released on Wednesday.

The Fitbit Charge 2 is the company’s flagship fitness tracker. When it was released back in September, it didn’t make much of splash on a market already overcrowded with smartwatches and other wearable devices. However, thanks to a new software update, Fitbit Charge 2 owners will receive a few new features, some of which have long been requested by users.

One of the most notable and long-requested features for Fitbit’s fitness trackers is the ability to pause and resume workouts. You can’t and you shouldn’t continuously exercise without a proper short-break. Until now, users had no way to pause their workouts, which seems like a simple function but one that took Fitbit quite some time to implement. The feature will allow you to track only the time when you are actively exercising.

Another new feature is the heart rate zone visualization which will show your exact heart rate zone during a multisport activity. This allows users to know exactly what they need to do get into the next zone.

Among the most overdue features which only now has been implemented is the battery indicator. Before the software update, users could only see the exact battery life of their Fitbit Charge fitness tracker through their smartphone app. Now, the device itself will include a battery indicator.

If you weren’t always able to synchronize your training with your pattern of breathing, then the new Fitbit Charge 2 feature can help you out. The device will produce a light buzzing sound when you need to inhale and exhale. This will allow users to focus more on the exercise. This feature is also complemented by a new do not disturb mode which will block all notifications.

Finally, the Fitbit Charge 2 will now display the time in hours, minutes, and seconds all the time, so you will have precise data regarding your training regiment.

Image source: Fitbit

Google has announced it has signed a new deal on Monday with Cuba’s state-run telecommunications firm in order to move a few of its server on the island nation. This will speed up the internet access to Cubans who will access YouTube and various other Google sites and products.

Google has made some strides in Cuba as the Obama administration worked to re-open diplomatic relations with the country, after their Cold-War dispute. Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO was present in Havana this Monday in order to sign the Cuba deal with Mayra Arevich Marin, which is the president of the country’s State Enterprise Telecommunications. The company, also known as ETECSA, handles all the phone and internet services in Cuba.

The Cuba deal will lead to Google’s deployment of its Global Cache service to the island nation. This will reduce the time it takes content which requires high-bandwidth content to load. It’s able to speed up internet access by storing data on servers placed in secure centers on the island. Google has previously made available to Cubans their Chrome browser as well as the Google Play music service.

Despite improving the internet speed of Cuban internet users for Google services, this deal won’t actually expand the number of internet users in the country. Freedom House estimates that between 5 to 30 percent of Cuba’s population have access to the internet. The country is among the most restrictive when it comes to providing the service to its population.

ETECSA has launched several wi-fi hotspots around Cuba’s largest cities. The state-run telecom company is also experimenting with providing internet access directly into the homes of Cubans. The service has only started this year and there have been reports that it costs a few hundreds of dollars a month.

Nonetheless, Google’s Cuba deal lays the foundation for an expansion of the country’s internet infrastructure, which will eventually lead to a drop in price as well. This, in turn, will allow for a greater percent of the population to benefit from having internet service. However, Cuba has been somewhat reticent about the intentions of US companies, fearing that they will threaten the country national security.

What do you think about Google’s Cuba deal?

Image source: Wikimedia