perception

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- The first call from a cell phone was made 40 years ago today.

- The Verge interviews Marty Cooper, father of the cell phone.

- Recalling 1993: Step back 20 years in NYC's past.

- Catching up with the TV show release group responsible for recording, distributing torrents.… Read more

A new Pantech smartphone may be headed to Verizon Wireless.

Documents found on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Web site reveal the Pantech Perception, which has not been announced by Verizon.

The Pantech Perception appears to be a standard slab touch smartphone with an 8-megapixel rear camera. Additional details confirmed in the FCC filing include NFC, 4G LTE, as well as CDMA and GSM roaming. A glance through the drafted user manual also yields references to microSD expansion, DLNA, HDMI, and Wi-Fi Direct. Judging by the screenshots, the Perception will run at least Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Based … Read more

Aiming to make it easier for photography enthusiasts to evaluate photo gear, DxO Labs today announced a new method of measuring lens sharpness it hopes will make more intuitive sense.

The idea, called the perceptual megapixel, shows how much of a camera's original sensor resolution a particular lens can preserve when factors such as lens sharpness, optical defects, and sensor pixel size are taken into account.

One example the company provides: on a 21.1-megapixel Canon 5D Mark II, the Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG lens gets a score of 17.2 perceptual megapixels and the much higher-priced Carl … Read more

Since Microsoft unveiled its first Microsoft-branded PCs, the Surfaces, in late June, I've been wondering how ambitious the company's scale-up plans were.

Today at the Worldwide Partner Conference opening keynote, I got an answer. CEO Steve Ballmer told attendees Microsoft's goal is to sell "a few million Surface PCs" in the coming year. (I actually thought I heard Ballmer say "a few millions," with an "s.") Ballmer also said that according to estimates, there will be 375 million Windows PCs sold in the next 12 months. His implication was there would … Read more

Microsoft has acquired Perceptive Pixel, a company specializing in large multitouch displays.

Perceptive Pixel made a name for itself in 2008 during the U.S. presidential election after several networks used its technology to power their large touch-displays. (Remember CNN's "Magic Wall?") Since then, the company has largely been operating under the radar and improving its technologies. This year, it announced the first-ever simultaneous pen and touch technology for its hardware.

Perceptive Pixel's hardware page currently lists 27-, 55-, and 82-inch LCDs on its Web site.

Although Microsoft didn't say for sure what it has … Read more

Those with a condition commonly referred to as lazy eye may soon be assigned video game therapy, thanks to results of a new study published in the August issue of the journal PLoS Biology.

Participants in the UC Berkeley study who spent at least 40 hours playing off-the-shelf video games throughout the course of the study enjoyed better visual acuity and 3D depth perception scores than prior to playing the games. (Don't get too excited; these improvements have not been seen in people with normal vision.)

"This study is the first to show that video game play is … Read more

When it comes to the future of technology, Jeff Han literally has his finger on the pulse.

Han, best known for creating the giant touch-screen "Magic Wall" used by CNN, has been a pioneer in touch technology since his days at NYU. His 40-person company, Perceptive Pixel, is hardly a household name, but the company has carved out a niche for itself selling the kinds of touch wall systems used in defense, government, and medical-research markets.

"We're trying to understand how multitouch is useful to the knowledge worker (to) get real work done," Han told CNET. His comments come just as Perceptive Pixel has landed a new wave of funding, including an investment from products giant 3M. It's the second round of funding for the start-up, which now has offices in New York, Palo Alto, Portland, and Washington, D.C.

While Apple and Microsoft focus on the consumer and retail end, Han has zeroed in on the upper echelon of the business. His only real consumer play was a brief appearance in the Neiman Marcus holiday catalog back in 2007.

Although Han is focused largely on large-screen touch interfaces, one area he is also eyeing is the intersection between touch screens and "Minority Report"-style in-air gestures. On their own, he said, the in-air stuff is fairly imprecise, largely useful for games and entertainment--much the way Microsoft is using it for Kinect. Combine those gestures with a touch screen, though, and things get a bit more interesting, he said.… Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif.--Nvidia is making a case for the graphics processing unit, the other chip inside the PC, at the Nvision conference that opened on Monday.

In his inaugural keynote--this is first Nvision conference--Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang reminded the audience that the graphics processing unit (GPU) has come a long way. In short, the GPU has evolved from the simple fixed-function graphics accelerator (e.g., the IBM 8514 that debuted in 1987) to the modern graphics chip, a computing engine capable of almost one teraflop of processing power. (A teraflop is equal to one trillion floating point operations per … Read more

Carnegie Mellon University will upgrade its 6.5-ton robot mobile, the "Crusher," by adding advanced suspension and hybrid-electric innards as part of a $14.4 million Army grant meant to push the envelope for unmanned ground vehicles.

The project, a result of more than two decades of robotics research by the university's National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC), will demonstrate how advanced vehicle and navigation technology can solve transportation challenges like those encountered by supply convoys in Iraq, according to the university (PDF).

Onboard sensors and a program called PerceptOR allow the vehicle to perceive and autonomously navigate … Read more