Technabob » parrot

Philippe Starck Zik Headphones for Parrot: Packed with Tech, But How Do They Sound?

Range — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:00:20 +0000

French über designer Philippe Starck has just revealed the Zik headphones that he created for Parrot. Crammed with modern technology, the ‘phones are optimized for intuitive control and seamless integration with smartphones.

The Zik headphones include a capacitive touch panel (holy crap!) that’s controlled by intuitive gestures. Swiping up will increase the volume, down will decrease it. Swiping forward and backward will navigate through your tunes. These headphones also feature active noise control, dialing down external noise, which is really nice to have when you are out and about in a busy city.

It’s NFC-compatible, and the headset will sync with smartphones via Bluetooth. A bone conduction sensor detects jaw movement, so the set is able to optimize sounds for clearer calls. A motion detector determines if the headset is being raised and in use, as opposed to being worn around your neck. The headphones will even deactivate Bluetooth and turn your music playback off within a second when you put them around your neck.

This all sounds pretty amazing, and while the chunky design won’t please everyone, the tech sounds quite advanced. I haven’t seen any mention on how they sound, because that is for me the number one reason why I’d buy some headphones. The audio specs sound pretty solid, though, with a frequency range of 10Hz to 20kHz and 110dB sensitivity.

Pricing and a release date for the Zik headphones hasn’t yet been announced.

[via designboom]

Parrot Asteroid Android Radio Gets a Price and Release Date

Shane McGlaun — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:43:05 +0000

We talked about the Parrot Asteroid car radio back in January when it broke cover at CES. The Asteroid is pretty cool and is a single-DIN car stereo that is powered by Android. The stereo is able to connect to the web and do all sorts of cool stuff. Parrot has finally offered up the pricing and launch date for this radio.

The Asteroid will launch in October with a MSRP of $349 (USD). The receiver has a 3.2-inch screen and gets its web connectivity from a hot spot, your smartphone, or a USB dongle plugged into the back of the radio. It also has Bluetooth technology for hands-free calling, phonebook sync, voice dialing, and a lot more.

When web connected, the Asteroid can get all sorts of data like maps and music. The stereo will launch with six apps that cover music, navigation, and a bunch of other uses. The Asteroid also supports voice searching for music and more.

Microsoft Surface Wrests Control of AR.Drone From iOS Devices

Lambert Varias — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:03:41 +0000

The Parrot AR.Drone quadricopter has one of the most expensive remote controls for a toy – iPod Touches, iPhones or iPads. But a French tech company has upped the ante, utilizing the Microsoft Surface as a remote for the drone. The funny thing is, the pricier remote is also more impractical since it’s not portable, so you can’t follow the AR.Drone around. But it does look fun to use.

The program devised by the R&D department of WinWise Tech is very user-friendly, especially due to the size of the virtual buttons. There are controls for the altitude, rotation and cameras of the AR.Drone, and a big red stop button. The app also has an altimeter and battery meter.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

To be honest, I was as surprised by the amount of noise that the quadricopter makes as by the novelty of the hack.

[via Engadget]

Parrot Ar Drone Helicopter has Streaming Video and iPhone Controls

Range — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:59:18 +0000

This new toy is so cool that I’m almost speechless. It’s a quadricopter and it’s got a camera on board!

The AR.Drone from Parrot is one amazing toy. It can be controlled via iPhone or iPod Touch thanks to WiFi and it will provide a live video stream of what it sees. How cool is that?

There is another camera facing downward to measure speed and to compensate for turbulence. In case the drone looses contact, an autopilot kicks in and lands the thing. This is kind of like having your own little spy plane, only it’s more maneuverable and stable since it’s a quadricopter.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

There’s even going to be an open AR.Drone SDK, which will allow developers to build custom applications for controlling the remote drone. Cool!

Expect the AR.Drone to hit stores sometime later this year. No word on pricing or an exact release date yet.

[via Make:]

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/01/altces_rc_heli_with_streaming_video.html

Oshaberi Oumu Puts a Virtual Parrot Inside Your Nintendo Ds: Polly Wanna Silicon Cracker?

Technabob — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:20:40 +0000

There’s one thing you can always rely on Japanese game companies for, and that’s weird games. Lots and lots of weird games.

Oshaberi Oumu for the Nintendo DS continues that tradition by putting the fate of a digital bird in your hands. It’s your job to care for and nurture your avian plaything – feeding it, giving it toys to play with, caressing it and so forth. Developed by Tokyo’s Star Fish games, there are definitely no starfish in the game, just our fine-feathered friends. And as far as I can tell from these game screenshots, there is no evidence of a hungry cat mode either. Damn.

Here’s a little video clip of the game to give you a better idea of what you can expect should you pick up a copy:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Ah, there’s nothing quite like a video game that makes you change the filthy newspapers at the bottom of a bird cage – all while listening to elevator music. Sign me up! Of course, knowing how short my attention span is when it comes to virtual pets, I’d probably end up with something more like this within the first couple of days:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Now that’s what I call a dead parrot.

The good news is that you don’t have to make your way to Japan if you want to get your hands on this strange little game. The guys over at Play-Asia are taking worldwide orders for the game now for $48.90 (USD) – newspaper and bird seed not included.

USB Parrot: Polly Wanna Laptop?

Technabob — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:03:03 +0000

Can’t get enough of the sound of your own voice? This desktop bird plugs into your PC and parrots back what it hears.

The electronic parrot offers up an array of random phrases, plucked from the words it overhears, all the while gesticulating its mechanical wings. Just plug Polly into your computer’s USB port, and your fine feathered friend will get to yackin’ and flappin’ toot sweet. You can grab these birds from Thumbs Up UK for £19.99 (appx. $39 USD).

I’d love to get my hands on a bunch of these to recreate Disney’s Tiki Room in my cubicle.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Damn, now I can’t get that song out of my head.