Items tagged with sensor
While Apple may be grabbing the [biometric] headlines with its Face ID authentication system in the iPhone X, one company is looking to enhance existing fingerprint sensors for a new generation of flagship smartphones. Synaptics announced that it has perfected an under-the-display fingerprint scanner with what it calls Clear ID Optical Sensors. These are the world's fingerprint sensors of its kind to enter mass production for smartphones. Synaptics says that it will have branded smartphones available for demos at CES 2018 and that mass production will start with a top five OEM. The Clear ID FS9500 family is specifically designed for smartphones with bezel-free displays. The sensor...
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Over the years, we've seen numerous examples of how peripheral vendors have tried to remain competitive, and perhaps not surprisingly, many of the technologies introduced have revolved around making us better gamers. The way the promises are delivered to us, in fact, would make you think that there's only one thing stopping you from becoming a pro-gamer, and of course, it's probably that newfangled feature that the respective company is talking about. I think it's safe to say, though, that most of us have accepted the fact that we're never going to be a pro-gamer. But that doesn't mean that we can't still enjoy the features that target those who are. Take Mionix's NAOS QG, for...
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Sony's overall struggles are very real, but a few areas of the company have remained best-in-class despite huge global competition. Its gaming prowess is hard to question, with the PlayStation line killing it in terms of sales and critical response. Moreover, the company's imaging department has been delivering top-notch mirrorless cameras that largely outclass anything else in the sector. And, as cameraphone sensors become more important (and the selfie craze continues to gain steam), Sony is doubling down on image sensor perfection. The company said that it would invest $345 million to "increase production of image sensors for smartphones and tablets, as the company courts handset makers to...
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Are you browsing this very article using a notebook? If so, the trackpad you're probably scrolling with most likely has Synaptics attached in some way. The company responsible for millions upon millions of laptop trackpads has just acquired a human interface solutions company by the name of Validity Sensors. The reason? Because fingerprint sensors are suddenly popular. Years ago, nearly every enterprise notebook shipped with a fingerprint sensor, but the software controlling them was often cludgy, which led to a quick demise. Now that Apple has ushered the Touch ID sensor in with the iPhone 5s, it's clear that software has finally caught up, and that fingerprint + biometric security features...
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Researchers at National Taiwan University have developed a tiny sensor that can be embedded into a tooth cavity, dentures, or braces to stop you from lying through your teeth, in a manner of speaking. The sensor is able to detect with nearly 94 percent accuracy common oral activities such as chewing, drinking, speaking, and coughing. The end goal of something like this is to enable healthcare applications, such as fluid or intake monitoring, or to tell if a patient has been smoking. There have been other similar sensors before, but rather than being placed on the body, this one goes inside the body, right in the mouth. According to the researchers who developed the device, the advantage of this...
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Not all dreams go on to become reality, even in the world of video games. Avid gamers may recall a Wii accessory announced many moons ago -- it's the sensor you see here. The Vitality Sensor was supposed to be another step towards making the Wii the go-to fitness console. After all, the Balance Board gave gamers plenty of reasons to stand up and work out, but the Vitality Sensor has remained a ghost in the interim. Now, Nintendo is finally copping to what happened. In a new FAQ on the company's site, it states: "The Wii Vitality Sensor was under development as an accessory for Wii. We thought it would be interesting to understand how the human autonomic nerve functions while using the Wii Vitality...
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Today, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has approved an Apple patent that enables the utilization of various phone sensors to automatically adjust the output volume and turn on the device's other speakers. Sensors used could include a front-facing infrared sensor (which is already available on most phones to turn the display on when it's away from your face), passive light sensors, and even cameras. The requirement is that with whichever sensor is used, it must have the ability to detect distance. All-around, this seems to be a rather sensible patent. I envision being able to one moment have the phone next to my face as usual, then be able to place it on a table and have it automatically...
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Have you ever wondered what it would take to create a 41MP cameraphone? Nokia just did that, and they announced the 808 PureView at Mobile World Congress last week. There has been tons of hoopla going around regarding the camera portion itself, and while it isn't slated to ship to North America (sorry!), and it's only running Symbian Belle instead of Windows Phone, there's still a lot of interest here. After all, what's stopping Nokia (or anyone else) from putting this insane sensor into the next great superphone? Nokia has today unwrapped some key details behind the device, including a new name: Carl Zeiss. Well, that's not a new name in the technology universe, but a new name to this discussion....
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Sony may be most likely to be associated with their VAIO notebooks and slimmer-than-slim HDTVs, but the company's camera modules are pretty stellar. The NEX line of mirrorless cameras are giving everyone else in that market a run for their money, and now the company is unveiling a next-gen back-illuminated CMOS image sensor that's more capable of capturing more precise imagery in the same size form factor as before. This image sensor layers the pixel section containing formations of back-illuminated structure pixels onto chips containing the circuit section for signal processing, which is in place of supporting substrates for conventional back-illuminated CMOS image sensors. This structure achieves...
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Ever heard of an Optical Sensor in Pixel panel? Now you have. Samsung just announced that it began mass production of 40-inch 'Optical Sensor in Pixel' LCD panels, which feature highly advanced optical sensors, in November this year. The Optical Sensor in Pixel LCD panel detects reflected images of an object on the panel using Infrared sensors that are built into the panel. With optical sensor in each pixel of the panel, the new panel can much more accurately assess touch sensitivity compared to existing touch panels. Using next-generation image sensing technology, the Optical Sensor in Pixel panel can detect more than 50 touch points simultaneously and can display images with Full HD resolution...
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Readers probably don't need any extra encouragement to stay plopped on the couch this summer, but Microsoft is providing some anyway. The company has just launched Avatar Kinect and Kinect Sparkler this week, tucked into the Kinect Fun Labs on Xbox LIVE. Avatar Kinect captures facial expressions and voice so when users smile, nod or speak, your avatar does the same. Players may invite up to seven friends to join in on 24 imaginative virtual stages; discuss the latest celebrity gossip or news on the Talk Show Stage, try out a hysterical comedy routine on the Performance Stage, or wager who will win the big game in the Sports Party Stage. The Kinect sensor can record a session with a...
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If it's just a sensor, why would it be important? That's a good question, but with proximity sensors being used so heavily in smartphones these days, and that iPhone proximity problem that caused so many headaches during the iPhone 4 launch, you can probably understand why Silicon Labs is bragging around their new Si114x QuickSense Infrared and Ambient Light sensors. Both of these new chips enable advanced gesture control for 'touchless' human interfaces, and they're said to be the industry’s most sensitive, power-efficient and longest range proximity sensors. They're available in a 2mm x 2mm package, and they can enable proximity sensing and touchless interfaces for handsets, eReaders,...
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Tablets and 3D HDTVs have definitely hogged most of the spotlight in the gadget world throughout 2010. But a few other sectors have managed to do very well under dimmer limelight. E-readers and cameras have both had a big year, and with new classes of digital cameras hitting the market, Sony realizes that there's a giant opportunity to take the lead here. According to new reports from Japan, Sony will be investing a staggering $1.2 billion during the company's next financial year in order to double the output of image sensors and take advantage of the increasing demand for cameras and high-end smartphones with robust sensors in them. Over the past week, a deal between Sony and Toshiba was worked...
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And the megapixel race continues. In the smartphone world, anyway. Sony has just released a new sensor for cameraphones, and it's one with a megapixel count that just sounds unreal for the sector. The company's new 16.41 megapixel Exmor R back-illuminated CMOS image sensor may sound like it's designed for a next generation DSLR, but in reality, it's for phones of the future. Sony is stating that this new innovation will dramatically improve cameraphone performance, which have lagged behind in recent years despite megapixel counts that are rising. Sony is planning to launch two new lens modules equipped with these image sensors, which also include the smallest and thinnest model for mobile phones....
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One could say that the megapixel race as we know it is over, or it's at least less of an ordeal now than it used to be. Camera makers cranked up the megapixels as fast as they could for years, but now we've reached somewhat of a peak, or a plateau, maybe. But there's no question that camera makers will continue to push the megapixel envelope, and there are obvious advantages to doing so. Some medium format cameras today have sensors with over 40 megapixels, but that's beginning to sound a little small. Canon has just successfully developed the world's first APS-H sized CMOS image sensor with 120 megapixels, which is a record for that size. Compared with Canon's highest-resolution commercial CMOS...
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Microsoft's Project Natal might change gaming as we know it when it launches this holiday season, much like Nintendo's Wii did just a few years back. There's no question that a lot of technology has been involved in creating a system that could actually recognize human movements and transform them into console commands, and now PrimeSense is coming clean and saying that some of what makes Natal tick is due to their technology.This marks the first time that Microsoft has gone public about any of the technology beneath Natal, and now we know that the 3D sensing behind it is thanks to a technology developed by PrimeSense. Ilan Spillinger, vice president of Xbox 360 hardware, said the following about...
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Here's the thing--having a phone that plays music, or even an iPod, is great. And it's really great if you've got the time to establish playlists that you never need to touch once you hit "play" that first time and head out for the morning. But what about for everyone else? Everyone else is stuck fiddling with volume controls, back/forward buttons and all sorts of other tweaks in order to find musical enjoyment, and NTT DoCoMo realizes just what a hassle all of that has become.The Japanese telecommunications firm has showcased recently a new breakthrough technology that could very well change the way we listen to music on the go. Not since the introduction of the original iPod have we been able...
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Perhaps in the not-so-distant future, when Patriots Running Back, Lawrence Maroney starts acting a little daffy after running the ball one too many times "up the gut", the training and medical staff of the Pats can defer to the data collected in his helmet recorded over the last few drives up field. Sports equipment manufacturer Riddell is developing new sensor-equipped helmet technology that will flag those crushing blows to the noggin as detected by a series of on-board accelerometers. And there's some big money that could follow behind this tech, as you can imagine... "To shed light on the biomechanical causes of concussions,...
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With shrinking feature sizes, smaller and smaller form factor devices are coming to market. Imagine this little image processor coupled with bluetooth embedded in such devices as key chains, pens and other small form factor devices. James Bond would have a ball with this type of technology. I wonder what the power requirements will be? The new Micron image sensor (product number MT9M019) captures 30 frames per second (fps) at full 1.3-megapixel resolution (1,280 by 1,024 pixels) or 60 fps at VGA resolution (640 by 480 pixels), allowing for high-quality, seamless video. Additionally, another critical design factor is its small 1/5-inch form factor, allowing it to fit into applications requiring...
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