CRL's demo day, hardware start-ups for the love of making things

The evening of Thursday 14th of March was Central Research Laboratories demo day, once again held at U+I (one of the backer of CRL).

It was kicked off by an introduction from Matt Hunter of CRL and then Marcus Sheppard from U+I - really just the normal things about the accelerator and that applications would close shortly for the next cohort.

Then followed a panel discussion chaired by Matt with the Rob Nicoll founder of Chip[s]board (who was on the previous CRL cohort) and Arnold du Told CRL Investor in Residence.

Alice Johnson the CRL Programmes Manager then gave an introduction and to the start-ups themselves.

The first start-up up was Cosi Care and Lauren Bell who have a solution to treat eczema. It's a hardware device that has a cool surface and reduces the effects of the eczema while being easy to use.

Agile Planet presented their Bio Burner Bio which is a compost material made by processing waste wood in a special kiln. It actively removes C02 from the atmosphere, and has a range of benefits including improving plant growth. Agile Planet have created a new home burner that will enable anyone to create biochar in their own garden. Design to be released in 2019.

Nxsteps's Alecia Esson presented their Bluetooth enabled shoe inserts that can measure the pressure on various parts of the feet and with an accompanying app, analyse stresses while running and other sports.

Alex Strang presented Moment Pebble which is a stone that lights up and encourages the user to be mindful in the workplace as Mindfulness is now big business as well as helping people's mental states in the busy world.

Saving women everywhere is Y-Heels and Yaagni Patel allowing users to clip/slot off their heels so removing the discomfort without having to cary a second pair of shoes. Simple, yet sophisticated.

How do mountain biker's and other sports users protect themselves? With Hero Skin of course which is the next generation of body armour which is worn on the chest. It's flexible and comfortable and allows movement giving the user protection while they have the freedom to carry out their sport. As a mountain biker Dorota Grabkowska the Founder and CEO knows about the dangers of not using Hero Skin benefits that come with using it.

Last but certainly not least was Odin Ardagh from Brahman Design. They would have been a tough act to follow anyway. Previously they made the Høvel which is a brass pencil sharpener that uses standard pencil sharpener blades that can be replaced and rather than placing the pencil in the sharpener, it's used like a plane on pencil itself. This was made to be used by designers for designers and gifted for that bit of desk jewellery that every designer should have to show they appreciate design. The newest object is called the IRIS and it's just that, a circular brash ring with an inner iris that can be adjusted to make a small or large circle. Again it's functional, but actually just really pretty and it feels good to use.

So for once an accelerator that has start-ups that are not just IoT/blockchain/AI/etc companies - people doing hardware but things that are interesting and making beautiful things because they can

Have a phone, then protect it with a Mous(e)

Mous is a company that produces phone cases - originally for iPhones, but now for Samsung phones too. Well you've spent all the money on some shiny new hardware, you don't want to break or scratch it really.

The cases come in a variety of materials (carbon fibre, walnut, shell, leather and bamboo), though they are just a skin on the actual base material. The case is highly impact resistance and has some clever tech inside that distributes a shock wave through the case therefore avoiding the phone and reducing the chance of damage. Mous have tested their cases on real phones by dropping from the tops of buildings, ladders etc.

The back of the case also has a magnet embedded, so the phone can be stuck to various things, there's a car air vent/grill mount to allow for dashboard mounting.

This works nicely to use something like Google Maps or Waze and isn't too conspicuous so you can just glance over the phone without being too distracted.

Since the mount is also magnetic the phone stays reasonably well put (though it can dislodge if you hit a large bump or pothole).

There's another mount which uses a suction cup to stick to the windscreen. The suction is pretty good and it takes quite a bit of effort to remove the mount after use (and tends to leave a ring behind). Again the phone stays attached reasonably well (though the unit that was tested, the metal section did come out, though a blob of glue fixed that).

The phone is much more visible, though that can be advantageous depending on what kind of application is run on the phone.

Mous also make a wall mount

That is just the standard mount with a sticky back, your milage will vary depending on what surface it's being attached to and how clean it is.

There's also a card attachment, that sticks to the back of the case, allowing a couple of cards to be kept with the phone, which is useful if your going somewhere and only want to worry about carrying the phone and not a wallet (say at a festival or beach, so you can still be contacted and buy things).

A lightning charging cable is also available that has a very tough casing which is unlikely to be broken.

One last thing, if a case is purchased a hybrid glass screen protector is included (although also sold separately), which will protect your screen from nasty scratches (and a hammer if you feel so inclined).

So if you're looking for a decent case (and screen protector) that has a bunch of accessories that allow you to mount or store your phone, you can't really go wrong with Mous (don't leave the house with your shiny iPhone or Samsung without one).

Pricing for the Limitless 2.0 case is £39.99 for carbon fibre or leather and £49.99 for the wood finishes.

It's time to kerb crawl and be connected

Connected Kerb is a new start-up is trying to revolutionise the way people and more importantly councils and developers support electric cars by installing multiple charging points in the kerb adjacent to parking bays.

The kerb units are constructed from recycled plastic and have an electric charging point, however they also offer support for V2X (vehicle to vehicle or vehicle to anything) communications which can allow cars to download data back to their owners and the manufacturers (or even deals for servicing etc). In future V2X communications will also convey information back to the car for smart-city applications.

The units are also WiFi enabled, allowing localised hotspot functionality of up to 350Mb/s and can directly support IoT radio standards as well as 5G off-load in conjunction with the mobile networks to remove the notspot issues that will come with higher frequencies that 5G uses.

If that wasn't enough, the units also have air quality, proximity sensors and temperature gauges allowing accurate measurements to be taken at street level. This is especially import for air quality as some existing solutions measure the levels where the sensors are mounted at much higher points thus not giving accurate ground readings.

As well as the kerb unit, there is another version that can be mounted on street furniture such as lampposts and signage poles.

There is currently a trial running in Borough in conjunction with Southwark Council, Virgin Media and National Grid.

Last year Connected Kerb won the Mayor of London’s Award for Urban Innovation.

Hopefully more councils will adopt this technology so really allowing electric vehicle use so electric charging becomes part of the basic infrastructure and not a luxury.

It's time to Blaze ahead (well Beryl)

Beryl (as was Blaze) have started shipping their new front-facing white light/laser combo now called the Laseerlight Core. It's considerably smaller than the older Laserlight and attaches via a silicon strap that goes around the handlebars. There are two inserts for the clip that attaches to the Core to cope with differing tube widths.

The case is now plastic rather than aluminium and it's an altogether smaller design, though the light is 400 lumens along with the green laser that projects the bicycle shape on to the road.

There are 4 modes Day Flash, Pulse, 100% solid, 50% solid and the laser on or off. The battery should last for 41 hours (according to Beryl).

No idea why the iPhone made the green laser look bluefish, but it's really green.

The original Laserlight cost £125, but the new Core is a much more wallet friendly £69.99 and much smaller so it can easily be taken off the bike and put in a rucksack or bag and not take a lot of space.

Is Twitter on the menu? if not get Twizzy

The macOS Twitter client is dated and hasn't been updated for a while, it also can take up a fair bit of screen space. There are other clients out there, but many don't offer that many more features than Twitter's own.

Now there's Twizzy, it's a neat little app that sits in the menu bar of macOS and clicking it allows sending a quick tweet (can put images etc in there too). There is a window that's around all the time, which shows DMs, but that can just be minimised and kept out the way until needed too.

It's really just a quick post tool, but good to have something without distractions that allows you to post that something just when you need too.

It costs $4.99 from the Twizzy site (inc VAT).

Have a little light in your life

Beryl as was Blaze have released a new light designed for portability. It's called the Pixel.

It's quite small being an oval about 2cm long with a ring of LEDs around the edge and a single push-button in the middle. Surprisingly in this day and age it uses micro-USB to charge and not USB-C (Charging cable supplied). There's also a clear clip that the Pixel oops into. The flip can then be attached to a pocket or belt or using the supplied rubber strap attached to a bike or other mode of transport.

There's also a velcro strap which will allow the clip to attach to a helmet.

There are 4 modes that are accessed using the central button, long press and the Pixel will turn on (by default it is all white). A single press then cycles to all red, the next press goes to pulsating white and finally to pulsating red, then solid white again. A long press will turn the Pixel off. The solid white and red are pretty bright.

Beryl claim 10 hours of use on a single charge.

The Pixel costs £19.99 direct from Beryl.

Linking without Libya (well an alternative), try Poplinks

Many sites want to have short links that point to their content for use on Twitter or other social media accounts. There are quite a few sites already doing this, but do you want you link to be hijacked if the regime say changes in Libya?

There's now an alternative called Poplinks and they have some quite neat features (there's also a free plan so you can trial the service). Though the choice of .io is controversial (but probably for another post) and Poplink is moving to the pool.ink domain soon.

Poplinks allow you to enter a URL that you want the Poplink to point to, the actual link can be named whatever you want i.e. say popl.ink/mysensiblename and then this can be called form a button, an image or Mailchimp.

Custom domains can be used which point the domain to Poplink (i.e. your own domain can be used).

Once the campaigns/links have been set-up, there's a nice dashboard to track it all.

It's quite a useful service and really easy to use and much nicer than supporting the Chocolate Factory or Libya.

There's currently a promotion on which gives 70% off all plans using code POP70OFF, sign-up at Poplink.

When need you're in in need of power get InCharge

There's a lot of rubbish on crowdfunding sites and a lot of projects don't deliver. In August InCharge's campaign finished with the promise of a USB charging cable that actually looked pretty neat.

Two versions were on offer, the dual and all in one. The dual offers micro usb and lightning and the all in one micro usb, lightning and USB-C.

It's quite a clever design.

The image shows the all in one and amazingly one actually arrived today and does exactly what it promised to do. It's really compact and can fit on a keychain, the ends are magnetic to stay closed, but are easy enough to open.

They are still available on Indiegogo, though presumably they'll be available through the InCharge site shortly.

How to make 20 Easy Pies

Well actually "20 Easy Raspberry Pi Projects" is a book from Nostarch Press and takes the user through a variety of projects that can be built around the Raspberry Pi.

• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Primer

• LEDs
• Project 1: Blinking an LED
• Project 2: Pushbutton LED Flashlight
• Project 3: LED Dimmer Switch
• Project 4: A Graphical User Interface for a Multicolor LED
• Project 5: Rainbow Light Strip

• Displays
• Project 6: An LCD Reminder
• Project 7: Mini Weather Forecaster
• Project 8: Pong with a Sense Hat

• Sensors
• Project 9: All-In-One Weather Sensor Station
• Project 10: Intruder Alarm with Email Notifications
• Project 11: Gas and Smoke Alarm
• Project 12: Temperature and Humidity Data Logger

• Cameras
• Project 13: Burglar Detector with Photo Capture
• Project 14: Home Surveillance Camera

• Web Applications
• Project 15: Building Your First Website
• Project 16: Connecting Your Electronics to the Web
• Project 17: Internet of Things Control Center with Node-Red

• Games and Toys
• Project 18: Digital Drum Set
• Project 19: Make a Game in Scratch: Hungry Monkey
• Project 20: Wi-Fi Remote-Controlled Robot

• Appendix A: Raspberry Pi GPIO Pin Guide
• Appendix B: Decoding Resistor Values

All the projects are built using the Pi, some external hardware and then programming the Pi using Python or Node Red.

You don't really need to fully understand programming and in-depth Python to get the most out of the projects, the book goes through the code and explains what the various code segments do.

Node Red is more complex and also simpler as it runs on the Pi and is accessed via a web browser and then the various actions are all performed by wiring bits together. All the actual programming is done behind the scenes. Some libraries and other bits and bobs have to be installed to support various bits of hardware, but the book goes into enough details of how to do it.

Each chapter ends with some tasks that the user can extend the project and though the basic knowledge of programming in the chapter should give these enough of a background to modify/extend the code, to really extend it, it;'s probably learning Python more fully.

All in all if you want to hook a Raspberry Pi up to some hardware, access the hardware through Python (or Node Red), then this book is no doubt a good starting point. However it is just that a starting point and doing more complex things with both the hardware and Python in particular will require more in0-depth knowledge and a more in-depth programming knowledge.

Saying all that, it's a great start and easy to follow and even with a basic knowledge of Python (just basing code on examples from the book) it should be possible to build all the projects and extend most of them without too much fuss.

CRL Demo Day

It was a hot Thursday evening on the 19th of July at U+I's London HQ. The audience hushed which meant it was the started of the Central Research Labs' Demo Day.

CRL specialises in hardware start-ups and runs an accelerator in the old EMI Vinyl Factory in Hayes (which was also the home of EMI's Central Research Laboratory's where the accelerator took its name from).

There was an intro from Matt Hunter of CRL and then Marcus Shepherd, U+I’s Chief Finance Office and then Hadeel Ayoub of BrightSign and Andrie Danescu of Botsandus who presented their entrepreneurial journeys and vision for the future.

The 5 start-ups that went through the program and they were: -

• Waalflower - a smart charging solution for tablets/phones presented by Arun Thangavel
• @waalflower
• Ignius - a device to keep women safe when leaving work, mainly for the Indian market, founded by Chakshu Saharan.
• Animaro - a design studio led by Matt Gilbert making an 'animated' solstice clock.
• Gilaasi - make glasses with an LCD film that can be instantly switched from clear to dark and vice versa worn by Bukki Adedapo.
• Chip[s]board - an MDF replacement made from potato waste products and fried by Rowan Minkley & Robert Nicoll.

Some really interesting companies there and it's going to be exciting to see what happens as CRL expand to other sites across the UK.

The next generation of built-it-yourself Smart Robot is here and it's Smartibot

There are some very clever people in this world and Ross Atkin is one of them. He's more widely known from the BBC TV program The Big Life Fix (with Simon Reeve).

In the past he did a previous Kickstarter project, The Crafty Robot (now with it's own website), over 4,000 robots were sold on the campaign.

Now Ross has launched the next generation of robot, the Smartibot again with a Kickstarter Campaign.

By backing £1 you'll get a PDF so you can print your own mini Smartibot case, though for £35 (£30 earlybird) you get the main board, 2 motors, a battery box and all the components and all cardboard parts to build teabot, AI Bot and Unicorn.

£60 get you the Genius kit which also includes a LED matrix board and distance and gesture sensor.

The most expensive kit is £100 and includes 3 of everything so all 3 bots can be built and a limited edition shiny version cases (gold AI, rainbow Unicorn and silver Teabot - all numbered and signed).

The AI bot (it's not really Artificial Intelligence, but Machine Learning that runs on your phone - beware it can eat your battery) that can do nice things like track an object and follow it.

The main board can actually control up to 4 DC motors and 10 servos all controlled from an app. Microsoft is also involved which will allow Smartibot to be programmed using their MakeCode system (that can be used to program the Micro:Bit used in schools) using a block language or javascript.

Though Smartibot will launch with the two expansions boards (LED/distance) more are planned in the future.

The kits do come with cardboard (cut-out) cases, but Smartibot can be embedded in anything, including a potato. However cases can be 3D printed or even built out of Lego. Of course Smartibot can also be put into existing toys with electric motors and used to control them, so you could make your RC car and give it some smart brains and make it autonomous.

Don't delay and get your Smartibot now

Burglars around? You can now Blink outside too.

Blink for Home is a nice wireless home security system. It uses a sync module and the wireless camera modules (that record in HD). The cameras are battery powered and should last for around 2 years of normal use (it's not quite clear what 'normal' is, but assume you're not going to be burgled every day).

The cameras are only for indoor use, which might be an issue as if someone's already in your home, it's probably too late.

Welcome to the Blink XT. It's bigger than it's indoor version and it's black (though other cases are available), it's also battery powered, so no need to wire power externally and again it has a long battery life.

The biggest issue installing the camera was getting the screw into the door frame (actually positioning it to get a good signal is imperative too, initially it was installed outside where the boiler was inside - which seemed to block the signals). Once installed it just works.

Various parameters can be tuned sensitivity, how quickly it should re-check, length of clip, should audio be included etc. They are all controlled from the app.

Under the casing there's also a switch which will turn the recording LED on or off (so select that before you install the camera, as the case is watertight it can be a bit of a struggle removing it). You also need to know the serial number of the device to add it to the app, but there's also a QR code printed where the serial number is and the app can scan that rather than having to type it.

The XT also comes with a sticker saying your protected with Blink that you can attach to a window, which might be a legal requirement to let someone know they might be being filmed.

All in all it was pretty simple to install and just works. It's been up for a few days now and not detected anything, which is a good thing.

The Blink XT is available online for around £119.

It can also be purchased as part of a complete system or multipacks.

Was 8.8.8.8 your default? well there's a new server in town and it's 1.1.1.1

The DNS wars are hotting up (well maybe if there was a DNS war in the first place), but there's a new player in town trying to topple Google's dominance in the domain name serving business.

Up until now, the generic default for putting in your resolv.conf (or equivalent) was Google's 8.8.8.8 public DNS IP service, well now Cloudflare have launched their own public DNS on 1.1.1.1 and it's fast.

The service was announced on April 1st, so many thought it was a spoof, a joke (it also happened to be Easter Sunday and Pesach) but it was real and it works. 1.1.1.1 is actually under the auspices of APNIC (the regional registry for the Asia Pacific region, more specifically their research group) and many a misconfigured service has a DNS entry of 1.1.1.1 - APNIC always wanted to research what traffic was bound there, but every time it was published, traffic overwhelmed whatever network it was pointed to.

Cloudflare offered to handle the traffic and analyse it, and then use it for DNS, which they have done and done it not for commercial gain (though presumably they get a lot of insight into DNS traffic and DNS use) but for the good of a healthy Internet.

As well as supporting standard DNS queries, 2 types of transport layer security are also supported, DNS-over-TLS and DNS-over-HTTPS which are both open standards.

More info can be found at 1.1.1.1

Humax to the max with the FVP-5000T

The Humax FVP-5000T is the latest (and greatest) personal video recorder. It supports FreeviewHD+ which is basically Freeview and FreeviewHD and access to the various UK TV Internet players which currently is: -

• BBC iPlayer
• ITV Hub
• All 4
• Demand 5
• UK TV Play

There's also YouTube and Netflix - though the latter requires a normal subscription and even if you have a subscription that supports 4K, the Humax box only supports standard HD (is that a thing, maybe just HD rather than UHD?).

There are 5 tuners, so 4 programmes can be recorded simultaneously while watching a 5th.

The remote control is a bit gaudy and 'plasticky', with dedicated big buttons for Freeview+ services, Netflix and On Demand. There's also an Guide (EPG) button as well as normal buttons to control playback and recording, channels, etc.

The EPG gives access to a week's worth of future viewing (7 days).

Recording can be done through the EPG and an individual program can be recorded or there's the option to record a complete series.

For the more adventurous there's an iOS and Android app that can be used to: -

• Stream live TV from your recorder to your smart device
• Stream your recordings from your recorder to your smart device
• Set remote reminders
• Schedule remote recordings
• Access the TV guide from the myHumax portal

The actual box isn't huge (280 x 48 x 200 mm) and should fit under or next to a TV.

Looking at the rear where the connectors are, there's an Ethernet port (100Mb/s which is a good thing) though it also supports WiFi.

There's an antenna in (with a standard co-ax connector) and a loop out (to go to the TV). Then there's RCA out (CVBS/L/R), HDMI (1.4a with HDCP), optical S/PDIF and 2 USB ports (one on the rear and one on the side, USB 2.0).

The unit review had a 500GB disk which allows for 250 hours of SD or 125 hours of HD, though 1 and 2 TB versions are available too.

Accessing features is pretty instantaneous i.e. pressing the Freeview+ button or the Guide and navigation is pretty straight forward.

The system can also play content from a plugged in USB stick or over the network from a UPnP or Samba source.

Rather than review the system myself, my mother tried it (she's in her 80's) and to be honest, she has managed to use all the services, including recording individual programs, series and accessing on-demand (this is no mean feat!!!) and likes it. Having big buttons is a bonus for her.

If watching a SD channel where there's a Freeview HD version, the box will prompt you to hit OK to change to the HD channel (it pops up every now and again at the top left of the screen, so it's not too intrusive).

The only unusual; quirk is that sometimes, she has turned subtitles on, then turned them off again and after the unit is turned on sometime later, they have mysteriously turned themselves on again. Not a major problem, but I can be annoying, though easy enough to turn-off again (just entering the settings section seems to set them back to how they should have been set).

Though not tested the system can be used with the Humax H3 Espresso smart media player which can be used to access content stored on the FVP-5000T or live TV (it will use one of the available tuners).

There's also the Humax Eye which is IP-TV camera that stores its data in the cloud and that can also be watched through the PVR.

The 500GB version can be found on-line for £219.

Highly recommended (by my mother) which really is saying something as a general hater of technology.

Nokia puts the pressure on (your arm)

Nokia Health (as was Withings) has a blood pressure cuff - the BPM, though there's a newer version out now, the BPM+.

The BPM is quite bulky (the newer BPM+ looks quite a bit smaller in the cuff design) with a metal cylinder which has a power switch on the top and this connects to the white (quite stiff) cuff which you uncurl and wrap around your arm. It takes 4 AAA batteries

The cylinder is placed forward and it's recommended that you sit upright with your upper arm by your side and forearm at right angles forward (say resting on a desk).

Initially you have to go into the Nokia Heath app and add it as a device (there's a choice of the BPM and the BPM+), then in future when the cuff is turned on, the app will automatically open and offer to take a reading.

There are two modes when taking a reading, the first will just take a single reading while the second mode takes 3 readings (over 3 minutes). Both your systolic and diastolic readings are stored as well as your blood pressure.

The app can then display a record of the readings over time, to show how progress is being made (for example).

This could be especially useful if you have a medical condition (and results can also be emailed to your doctor).

The BPM costs £89.95 and the BPM+ £109.95 (though they function identically, they BPM+ uses a softer smaller cuff which means it can be put in a bag or similar and taken with you much more easily than the original BPM).

Paragon, allowing users to mount the world

Paragon Software makes software that allows users to mount disks from other operating systems. So say you're a Mac user, then you could mount a Windows disk that's formatted with NTFS and access it normally just as you would a disk that's formatted in a native macOS system. Once installed, the system should be rebooted, then external drives should appear as native drives through the file system.

On macOS Paragon support Windows NTFS and also extFS (used by Linux and supporting Ext2, Ext3 and Ext4 disks). There's also a 'value' pack which contains both and support for older Apple formats such as HFS+.

Windows users are also supported so there's support for HFS+ and Linux ExtFS.

Paragon have just announced Windows support for the new Apple File System, APFS and it's a FREE download. Again it will install so that drives are available through the Windows Explorer (and available to any Windows program). Drives will auto mount on start-up. Currently only read-access to the drive is supported.

The Mac version does work nicely and accessing an old hard disk from a Linux system was painless and fast. An added bonus is that it makes access RaspberryPi SD cards a breeze, use any of the SD card utilities to get Raspbian or other operating system on to the SD card, then access it as an attached disk and modify any of the configuration files before installing it into the Pi itself. Can save a lot of time rather than having to boot up the Pi, log into the Pi and then configure everything locally, reboot, etc.

Though not relevant to home users, Paragon also specialise in making drivers for iOS, Android and other embedded operating systems such as QNX and embedded Linux. There's also drivers for UEFI (i.e. the replacement for the BIOS on systems), so that a system, even before the operating system is loaded, can access various drives.

Embedded Linux is used in a lot of systems like Network Attached Storage (NAS) and the drivers allow the NAS to access content on external disks or SD cards in not native formats. QNX is used in a lot of system that use a Real-time OS and again the drivers allow access to non-native disks.

Pricing varies, ExtFS for Mac is £29.00, NTFS for Mac is £15.95 or the UFSD value pack (allowing NTFS and ExtFS on Mac and HFS+ and ExtFS on Windows) is $49.95 (oddly only seems available in dollars).

It's a tablet with re-markable electronic ink display that almost feels like paper

The reMarkable tablet is an e-ink device (and pressure sensitive stylus) that is meant to be a replacement for pen and paper. While it's not quite there, it actually does a pretty remarkable job. The stylus is pressure sensitive (with 2048 levels) and tilt is also detected, allowing the pencil tool to emulate a real pencil (and other tools thinner or thicker lines dependant on pressure).

The unit is well made with a aluminium back and the e-ink display (monochrome) has a special coating so the stylus does feel somewhat like pen on paper. The black and white contrast is very clear with a 1872x1404 resolution (226 DPI) on a 10.3 inch screen. The whole unit is 6.9 x 10.1 x .26 inches and weighs 350g. It also comes with a wallet that holds both the device and stylus and spare nibs for the stylus (and a tool to extract the old nib).

Battery life is pretty good and it will last a few days, though if not using it turn it off rather than putting in standby) having a capacity of 3000 mAh. It has a standard micro-USB for charging (which can also be used to connect to a computer and then access through a web browser to access the files). Internal storage is 8GB (claimed 100,000 pages) and 512MB of RAM coupled with a 1GHz ARM A9 CPU which makes the system pretty responsive. It runs a mobile version of Linux (Codex) which has been optimised to drive the e-eink display.

Though the tablet can be run by itself, it can also be used with the reMarkable web service, so documents will be automatically sync'ed and then can be made available to the desktop (macOS/Windows) or mobile (iOS/Android) clients. It's also possible to import documents into the clients, then they'll be upload to the tablet when it next goes on-line.

Currently the software understands ePub and PDF documents. A nice feature is that PDF documents can be imported, then a new layer created and then use the new layer to annotate etc. Then the document can be exported again with the annotations.

There are several ways to list documents, but in the start-up mode the tablet will have a rM (access to settings etc), then below that and My Files, then Notebooks, Documents, Ebooks and Bookmarks.

Notebooks are where you create documents., which can also be organised into folders. Each page can support multiple layers and there are several templates available (plain pages, isometric, ruled, dots, etc).

It's possible to delete Notebooks/EBooks etc from the device.

A slight oddity is with Quick sheets which is a single notebook that's always there. Multiple pages can be created and functionality is identical to a Notebook, though there doesn't seem to be anyway of deleting them, so once a page is created, though it's possible to erase the data of it, there's no way to delete the actual pages themselves.

The 3 keys at the bottom of the tablet are for navigation, left button goes back a page, middle is home and right goes forward a page.

At some point in the future there will be a system to convert hand written text to text, but that's not there yet and there's no timescales for when it will be implemented (there's been no software updates for the device since it arrived).

Should you get one? It's a really good idea and it's transportable i.e. you'd use this instead of a pad of paper. However there are quirks and the software could do with improving. It's nice to be able to annotate existing documents or use it to draw (if your writing is illegible with a pen, it will be just as illegible on the reMarkable). It is nice to be able to export straight to a PDF of JPG.

Pre-orders were heavily discounted but it's now shipping for £579

Get your SIGFOX fix, for free

SIGFOX is the the narrowband radio technology that runs in the license exempt 800MHz band (868-869MHz).

It's a closed protocol but there's lots of equipment available for it and it's being rolled out in lots of countries, a device can send up to 140 messages which have a payload of up to 12 bytes per day. Note the payload can be zero bytes, which will just indicate the device is alive. The network can send a maximum of 4 messages to devices per day and the payload is up to b bytes.

In the UK the SIGFOX network was run by Arqiva, but they didn't move very quickly and they didn't understand start-ups particularly well, so now WND UK has taken up the reigns with a very aggressive roll-out plan, with a fully funded commitment to cover 94.8% of the UK by end 2018.

Even though the roll-out is aggressive, some areas may not be covered and this may not suit someone developing a SIGFOX solution, so WND is now offering small companies who are developing IoT proof-of-concept solution a FREE SIGFOX gateway and licenses for up to 100 devices to access the network. This actually works well for WND, as every gateway added increases network coverage and even if multiple gateways cover an area, they are mainly receiving messages so the network would sort that a message is a duplicate.

With LoRa networks already springing up (generally piggybacking on generic home or business connections), this gives SIGFOX the ability to do the same and may get some customers who are still awaiting solutions from the mobile networks with their LTE-M or NB-IoT solutions slowly coming on-line.

The WND contact for a SIGFOX PoC solution is Tim Harris.

The Gemini PDA, it's as close to a Psion as you'll get (and it's real)

Before the iPhone or even Blackberry, there was a PDA made by a company called Psion, well several, eventually culminating in the Series 5. It was a clamshell design with a keyboard on one side and the monochrome screen on the other. It could run applications and it did basic things like had a calendar, calculator and word processor, all driven by a toolbar running along the bottom of the screen. It also had a 'view' screen to see what was happening throughout your life (well days/weeks anyway).

Unfortunately Psion is no more, however a company called Planet Computers is trying to change that and though the actual Psion can't be resurrected, the Gemini is born. The company was set-up by Dr Janko Mrsic-Flogel who used to resell Psion hardware and develop software and has developed a lot of mobile cloud solutions under another company (Private Planet Ltd).

The Gemini looks and feels like a Psion 5

The PDA on the left is an actual working Psion 5 and the PDA on the right the Gemini - they do look remarkably similar. It's worth noting that the Gemini is also running a view screen that emulates the Psion calendar view, giving access to what's coming up in an easy to read manner.

The next picture shows another comparison, but with a lot of test keyboards too.

The various keyboards are for testing different membrane thicknesses and how 'clicky' the keys are. The current thinking is a softer keyboard which will probably appeal more to modern computer users who are used to the light touch, while programmers would probably prefer the keyboard with a deeper travel and more 'Cherry mechanical' keyboard feel (the programmers will probably lose out). But either way, it's perfect possible to touch type on either one.

Underneath the keyboard sits a big battery (removable Li-Ion 4220mAh) giving 12 hours talk-time and a full 2 weeks in standby.

The screen is a 5.99 inch FHD (18:9) with a resolution of 2160x1080 at 403 ppi and full colour. It looks very good. The Gemini doesn't come lightly spec'ed either with: -

• CPU - Mediatek MT6797X Helio X27 with 10 cores (2 x Cortex A72 @ 2.6GHz, 4 x Cortex A53 @ 2.0GHz, 4 x Cortex A53 @ 1.6GHz
• GPU - Quad core Mali T880 MP4 @ 875MHz
• RAM - 4GB
• ROM - 64GB
• Sound - Stereo speakers (either side of display)
• Microphone - integrated behind display and external 3.5mm jack
• Bluetooth - v4.0
• GPS - GPS and AGPS
• USB - 2 USB C ports (OTG support)
• Camera - front facing 5MP
• Sensors - accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, magneto-sensor, light sensor
• SD Card slot - takes at least 128GB, may take 256GB

The Gemini comes in 2 versions, WiFi only and WiFi with 4G. The specs for the 4G model are: -

• WiFi - 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
• GSM - 850/900/1800/1900 Mhz
• CDMA - 850/1900 Mhz BC0 BC1+ EVDO
• WCDMA - 900/2100 Mhz
• LTE - 1/2/3/4/5/7/12/17/20/41 and VoLTE

The 4G models has SIM slot (under the top lid) and both have an external camera module space (for a later rear 5MP camera module). There are also 5 fully programmable RGB LEDs on the lid, which can be programmed for fun, but also to light up to indicate, say, who's calling. When the phone rings, it can be operated without ever opening the case.

The Gemini's default operating system is Android (currently 7.1) and it will run many standard Android apps, but in order to make it more Psion like, there's a toolbar at the bottom of the screen that can launch specified apps (as well as using various Psion like key combinations).

There's a dedicated voice assist button giving access to Google's voice system.

A quirk is the Gemini can also dual-boot and the second partition holds Linux (currently Debian, but Planet will open source at least enough of the Linux side so other variants can be installed). Linux can also be run as a VM under Android (yes it does work).

All Planet apps can be run locally (with no need for access into the cloud), or they can link into the Private Planet cloud service (or Google's).

There will be a range of peripherals, but on launch there's a USB-C to HDMI adapter and a USB-C hub with 3 USB-A sockets, Ethernet port (and maybe others). There's also a USB-C mains charger and a nice leather pouch.

Using the HDMI adapter, an external HD display is easily driven running video/etc.

The Gemini is currently selling 'in-demand ' on Indiegogo (the original target was for $200,000 and it's now at over $800,000).

The WiFi only version sells for $299 and the WiFi + 4G is $399 (prices are likely to go up by $200 after the campaign).

The Gemini is a very nice unit and completely usable as a mobile phone, but with a full features of a PDA with a touch-typable keyboard so allowing productivity apps and leisure apps like video to run, even at the same time and it will fit into a jacket pocket.

It's a badge of honour, that changes face

Another day, another Crowdfunded project, this time it's a Bluetooth connected connected badge (or Pin as those over the pond like to call them).

Pins Collective are the people behind the badge (which is round) is about 2 inches across and the colour display has a resolution of 300 x 300 pixels. Information is sent to the badge using an iOS of Android app (using BLE i.e. Bluetooth version 4+ so it's needs to be a reasonably recent phone). The battery lasts around 6-72h depending on what the badge has to do (animation, backlight, etc).

Currently the app is pretty basic (in iOS) allowing selection of an image and sending it to the badge (and of course pairing the badge in the first place).

The badge will display GIFs (including animated GIFs, so you can get some spiffy moving images). The app will I,port and convert various image file formats to the correct version for the badge. Images bigger than 300x300 will be cropped.

Wearing pictures of your colleagues can be quite annoying to them.

Currently they're available to pre-order through Indiegogo at $69.