Last year’s Kingston HyperX Cloud despite being positioned as a gaming headset was well-rounded enough for all kinds of uses. We even recommended it over the more bombastic Asus Strix Pro. Kingston has already launched an upgrade and quite unsurprisingly it is called the Kingston HyperX Cloud II.
The HyperX Cloud II has an additional USB audio control box and can simulate virtual 7.1 surround sound. We tested it with many different sources of audio including a heavy-duty gaming PC. Let’s find out if the HyperX Cloud II sounds better, and if virtual surround sound actually makes any difference.
Design, fit and specifications
The one good thing about the HyperX Cloud II is that there is absolutely no change in design from its predecessor. Kingston continues to use the tried-and-tested design of the Qpad QH-90. The HyperX Cloud II therefore still has a detachable microphone.
The standard 1m cable to has a 3.5mm audio jack, but you can plug it into the provided USB audio box which has its own 2m cable. Thus, the total length of the cable goes up to 3m. This solution is great if you want to connect the headset to a USB port on the back of your PC and also use them separately with other devices. However, it would have been nice if the main cable was detachable, because that would have allowed some flexibility. The braided fabric cables used by Kingston are pretty sturdy and can definitely handle some rough use.
The headband and the default cushions on the earcups are covered in leatherette which is really soft. Kingston provides a second pair of memory foam cushions, which are much better than the velour cushions that came with the previous HyperX Cloud model. The memory foam cushions are very comfortable over wear for long periods of time. In fact, the HyperX Cloud II has a very comfortable fit overall, memory foam or not. The rest of the headset is plastic and metal in its build. The USB audio box is all plastic. It has a button to activate 7.1 audio, and separate volume controls for the headphones and the microphone.
The HyperX Cloud II uses two large 53mm drivers with neodynium magnets, and operates in the frequency range of 15Hz to 25KHz. It has an impedance of 60 Ohms. The overall weight of the headset, including the cable and adapter, is 350g. For what it’s worth, Kingston bundles a flimsy carry bag in the box.
Performance
The sound signature of the HyperX Cloud II is not very different from that of its predecessor. However, we feel that the bass response is marginally better and the rumble sounds are more prominent.
We hooked up the HyperX Cloud II to our gaming PC, a Macbook Air, and an iPhone 6. Of course, only the PC and the Macbook Air could make use of the USB audio box. You might have to manually switch to the sound output to the HyperX Cloud II using the sound icon in the system tray as Windows needs to bypass the onboard sound hardware.
The DSP inside the USB audio box works with stereo audio input and converts it into virtual surround sound. We played through the first mission of Tomb Raider entirely to get a complete idea of different sounds in the environment; the soundscape in this game is rich and very well detailed. The detail in different sounds played back in virtual surround sound was definitely better than what regular stereo could achieve. It was absolutely delightful to hear amplification of otherwise muted sounds like crying wolves, the pitter-patter of rainfall, thunder, cawing crows, and of course Lara Croft’s heavy breathing as she ran for her life in the perilous environment. However, the soundstaging was not very good and the placement of these different sound elements didn’t really create a sense of space like we expected.
We also played Battlefield 4. Gamers will agree that first-person shooters can make most use of surround sound to accurately pinpoint the movements of enemies. Unfortunately, that didn’t really happen with the virtual surround sound on the HyperX Cloud II. However, guns sounded really heavy and punchy, and thanks to the powerful bass. Falling debris actually created a the impression of disaster.
The 7.1 surround sound worked well in movies, especially ones that were filled with heavy-duty action sequences. Surround sound emulation is not meant for stereo music. That said, the music capabilities of the headset weren’t bad either. We really liked the punchy mids, but sounds in the higher frequency range were slightly lacking.
Verdict
The Kingston HyperX Cloud II is definitely a better product than its predecessor, and virtual surround sound, even if it isn’t very accurate, is a good addition. The headset is priced at Rs. 9,999. It’s slightly more expensive than the original was, but the price difference is worth it.
The new Xperia Z3+ is sleeker, lighter but powerful than the older Xperia Z3.
Sony has released its new flagship smartphone – the Xperia Z3+, in India for Rs 55,990. This new handset retains the water proof and dust proof abilities as well as the same glass design and ofcourse offers powerful cameras.
The Sony Xperia Z3+ comes in a sleek (6.3mm) body with glass coating on front and rear panels. It weighs just 144 grams even with the 5.2 inch display and a 2930 mAh battery. The IPS display has though only full HD resolution and not Quad HD like other high end smartphones. Made with Triluminos technology, this display promises superb 700 cd brightness and with X-Reality for Mobile technology promises superb colour output.
The older Xperia Z3, which is retailing now for around Rs 40,000, too have the same size display and a bigger battery but is thicker (7.3 mm) and heavier (152 mm). The new handset though is a bit taller (146.3 mm against 146 mm of Z3) but less wider (71.9 mm against 72 mm of Z3).
The new Sony Xperia Z3+, despite having a smaller battery than its predecessor, promises better talktime (17 hours against 16 hours of Z3).
The new Sony Xperia Z3+ comes with Android Lollipop operating system that runs on 64 bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa core processor. The Z3 has Snapdragon 801 processor. But like the older one, it has 3 GB RAM, 32 GB inbuilt storage and the 128 GB micro SD card slot.
Like the Z3, the new Xperia Z3+ has a 20.7 megapixel rear auto focus camera that comes with 8X digital zoom, 4K recording, HDR, superior auto, wide angle lens, Sony Exmor R sensor, SteadyShot for video stabilisation, image stabiliser, and geotagging facility.
However this time Sony has bumped up the resolution for its front camera to 5 megapixel as compared to 2.2 megapixel resolution for the front camera of the older Z3.
The new Sony Xperia Z3+ retains all the connectivity features including 4G, Bluetooth 4.1, DLNA, NFC, Miracast, micro USB port, WiFi, WiFi Hotspot, and GPS with AGPS and GLONASS. The Xperia Z3+ also offers FM radio and comes with many sound enhancing technology like Clear Audio+, Clear Bass, xLoud, Hi-Res audio and DSEE HX.
The handset sports 32GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB). The Xperia Z3+ is backed by a 2930mAh battery, and a quick charge feature that provides up to 5.5 hours of usage time in a 10-minute charge, and a full charge in 45 minutes.
Other features on the Xperia Z3+ include an IP65/IP68 equivalent certification, which according to Sony makes the phone waterproof and dust-tight. Another USP of the device is support for high-resolution audio with LDAC compression technology.
The Sony Xperia Z3+ measures 146x72x6.9mm and weighs 144 grams. Connectivity features on the Xperia Z3+ include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi with hotspot, 4G LTE, GPS/ A-GPS, Glonass, Micro-USB, DLNA, and NFC.
Sony had during the May launch unveiled a dual-SIM version of the handset as well, the Sony Xperia Z3+ Dual, and both smartphones feature identical specifications except for support for two SIM cards.
Lenovo has launched the anticipated K3 Note smartphone in India, priced at Rs. 9,999. It will be available to buy via exclusive retail partner Flipkart in its first flash sale on July 8, and will go up for registrations from 2pm IST Thursday.
The Lenovo K3 Note supports both LTE bands in India (FDD-LTE 1800MHz Band 3, and TDD-LTE 2300MHz Band 40). It runs Android 5.0 Lollipop that’s skinned with the Vibe UI. It features a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080×1920 pixels) display with a pixel density of 401ppi.
The dual-SIM smartphone is powered by a 64-bit 1.7GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6572 processor that is coupled with 2GB of RAM. The smartphone will be offered in Onyx Black, Pearl White, and Laser Yellow colour variants.
The K3 Note packs a 13-megapixel rear camera with dual-LED flash and a 5-megapixel front facing camera. Inbuilt storage on the handset is 16GB, which is expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB).
Connectivity options on the smartphone include 4G (TD-LTE/ LTE), Wi-Fi, GPS/ A-GPS, Bluetooth, and Micro-USB. The K3 Note measures 152.6×76.2×7.99mm and weighs 150 grams.
The large-screen Lenovo K3 Note packs a 3000mAh battery, which is slightly bumped up from Lenovo A7000’s 2900mAh battery. It is rated to deliver up to 39 hours of talk time on 2G and 16 hours on 2G, apart from 11 days of standby time.
The smartphone was first launched in China back in March. The K3 Note compares well with the recently launched Meizu m1 note. While both devices have almost identical specifications, the key differentiator would be the pricing for the Indian market. The m1 note is priced at a much higher Rs. 11,999.
Speaking on the launch, Sudhin Mathur – Director, Smartphones, Lenovo India, said, “We are truly overwhelmed with the positive response from consumers for our 4G portfolio. To further enhance our consumer’s experience we are launching a device with great multitasking capabilities and unrivalled features at an affordable price. The K3 Note is certainly a disruptive offering with its futur
When you’re preparing to meet the founder and CEO of a startup that makes myoelectricprosthetics — those controlled by the electrical signals that muscles produce naturally when tensed up — you probably expect to come face-to-face with an idealist. You can almost imagine the reply when you ask the million-dollar question, “So what inspired you to help others?” Surely there’s some backstory involving a loved one losing a limb and a lifelong desire to give them back their mobility.That’s not the case for Genta Kondo, the co-founder and CEO of Tokyo-based Exiii. When Kondo entered Tokyo University’s Yokoi Lab, a testing ground for rehabilitation-focused robotics, he wasn’t setting out on some idealistic mission to make the world a better place. Back in 2008, he was solely attracted to the science behind the lab’s prosthetic hands and power-assisted mobility devices.
“I was a basketball player and loved sports since I was a kid,” he tells Tech in Asia. “I had an interest in motor control — not motor as in engine, but the motor neuron, which is how the brain controls the body. In the beginning, I wasn’t thinking about the social aspect or helping people, just the science.”
Kondo would go on to spend a year at Berkeley, eventually earning a master’s degree from Tokyo University’s school of engineering. By the end of his tenure as a hardware researcher, he was unconvinced that robotic prosthetics would be accepted by the mainstream and adopted by amputees and those born with missing or partial limbs.
After graduating in 2011, he entered ubiquitous Japanese tech giant Sony to see if there was any true potential for bringing such devices to the mass market. Konda was sent to Sony’s now-defunct research and development division in Gotenyama — an area in Tokyo once nicknamed “Sony Town.” The firm officially exited the consumer robotics business in 2006, but Kondo was hired as a robotics researcher.
Though he admits to working on a robot — and having colleagues who had formerly worked on the AIBO robot dog and QRIO bipedal robot — Kondo says that he’s still bound by a confidentiality agreement with Sony that prohibits him from discussing exactly what he did in Gotenyama.
Sony would have been a dream job for many, especially given the unusual amount of freedom that Kondo was afforded as someone who was essentially working undercover. While he enjoyed many aspects of the job, including an opportunity to work with an internal startup called the Mesh Project, Kondo’s heart remained with the prosthetics that he’d tinkered with back in school.
High costs
It wasn’t until 2014 that the entrepreneurial bug swooped in and bit Kondo. Along with two friends from Panasonic, the trio sought to produce a bionic arm that disabled people would actually want to use.
Kondo’s apathy vanished when he realized how under-utilized modern technology was in the current prosthetics market.
“According to clinicians I spoke with, about half of [arm and hand] amputees don’t use anything — they can still walk and do 90% of their daily activities,” Kondo says. “Within the other half,studies indicate that more than 90% are just using cosmetic, not functional, prosthetics.”
High cost is a major issue in the prosthetics industry, even for purely cosmetic items. The price rises exponentially when bringing sophisticated hardware into the mix, up to and exceeding JPY 1.5 million (US$12,100), according to Kondo. He realized that the burgeoning 3D printer movement was the answer.
Not only could someone print parts at home for a fraction of the cost, but repairs and upgrades would also be easier and cheaper.
Not only could someone print parts at home for a fraction of the cost, but repairs and upgrades would also be easier and cheaper.“3D printers have really accelerated the process of hardware development,” Kondo says. “When I was in the prototyping lab at Sony using 3D printers to make robotics components, I had a feeling they would change the hardware industry — and the world.”
Kondo and his team saw an opportunity to not only disrupt the prosthetics space, but to give actual movement, gestures, and handshakes back to those who’ve suffered a personal tragedy or birth defect. Their startup, Exiii, was born.
Form
IMAGE: TECH IN ASIA
Making its robotic prosthetic both functional and affordable was just one piece of the puzzle for Exiii. It also needed an appealing design. Kondo explains:
“People who’ve lost a hand or an arm generally want to hide it, that’s why most prosthetics are made to look like skin.
Our designs are different because we want people to show their disability in as positive a light as possible.
Our designs are different because we want people to show their disability in as positive a light as possible. Our designer wanted to integrate the warm feeling of a natural hand with a robotic look. If he had designed something completely robot-inspired, it would be too sci-fi for most people. He really took time to come up with smooth lines and curves that maintain a human aesthetic, without looking like Frankenstein.”The group moved fast, entering the first prototype in the James Dyson Award later that year. Out of 650 entries from across the globe, Exiii was awarded second place. Suddenly, what began as a side project (each of the three members had maintained their day jobs) was attracting international attention. DMM, a Japanese internet company that offers everything from on-demand porn to English lessons — and which also happens to run a state-of-the-art coworking space for hardware startups in Tokyo — invited Exiii to join its inaugural class in November 2014. Soon, the media were paying attention to the young startup.
DMM.make’s hardware lab.
IMAGE: TECH IN ASIA
After being featured on a nationally-syndicated television program, Exiii found its first evangelist — or, rather, the evangelist found them. Akira Morikawa, who lost his arm in an accident in 2013, contacted the team via Facebook wanting to give it a try. The team decided that SXSW in Austin, Texas, would be as good a venue as any to show their hard work to the world.
“It’s not strictly a medical device, but more of a wearable item,” Kondo says. “The Apple Watch is a wearable, but our prosthetic arm is the ultimate wearable.”
Function
There are currently five generations of Exiii robotic prosthetics, but it was the fourth version — dubbed “Coyote” — that stole the show at this year’s SXSW. Attendees queued up for a chance to shake hands with Morikawa, following him around the exhibition floor with curious eyes whenever he strayed from the startup’s booth.
Morikawa shakes hands with a SXSW volunteer.
IMAGE: TECH IN ASIA
Coyote uses six motors — one at the base of each finger and thumb and another to rotate the thumb — and uses an Arduino Fio V3 board. Juice comes from a non-rechargeable lithium battery, which gives the arm two to three hours of continuous use. The whole package weighs about 750 grams.
“SXSW was our first-year anniversary event, and the first time to test our prototype with real users,” Kondo says. “Morikawa’s response was really great, he told us it was exactly what he was waiting for. Up until then, people were skeptical. We talked to doctors, clinicians, and therapists — conservative types [when it comes to new tech] — and they thought the design wouldn’t satisfy the users on an emotional level.”
The startup’s fifth and latest version, “HACKberry,” is lighter and more compact than Coyote. It’s roughly the size of an actual human hand, and thus more appealing to female users who may have felt that previous versions were too imposing. HACKberry uses an Arduino Micro, has only three motors, and features a passive wrist joint — important when a user wants to hold a drink without spilling it. Apart from reducing weight to 650 grams, fewer motors also mean vastly improved battery life of up to 12 hours, with this iteration using a popular rechargeable and easily replaceable digital camera power pack.
HACKberry can be printed with a sub-US$1,000 consumer 3D printer, like MakerBot. The entire prosthesis can be assembled at home using roughly US$300 worth of parts.
IMAGE: TECH IN ASIA
Both models connect the prosthetic to the user via a photo-reflective sensor that attaches to the residual muscle at the end of their arm. It converts muscle contractions to finger and thumb movements, which can be configured for different situations via Exiii’s companion smartphone app. Activating the index finger only, for example, allows a user to point. Activating all four fingers and the thumb is used for handshakes or holding objects.
“Coyote can grab a full bottle of water, which weighs about 500 grams,” Kondo says. “HACKberry uses even stronger motors, and is capable of pinching tiny objects like zippers or shoelaces firmly.”
Hardware that helps people
Several other high-profile robotic arm startups were born around the same time as Exiii. California-based Not Impossible Labs made headlines for “Project Daniel” in March 2014. After reading about a Sudanese boy who lost both his arms in an explosion, Not Impossible CEO Mick Ebeling illegally traveled to Sudan to build him a robotic prosthetic and teach his village how to 3D print similar prosthetics for others.
There’s also Easton LaChappelle, the American teenager who built a brain-powered bionic arm for US$250 back in 2013. LaChappelle’s motivation came from a young girl he met at a science fair with a US$80,000 prosthesis. Because she still had many years of growing to do, the spinal-implant controlled prosthesis would have cost her family a small fortune to replace with increasingly larger sizes.
E-Nable, founded in 2013, provides free 3D-printed mechanical hands to children around the world. In the UK, Open Bionics has been providing low-cost robotic hands as an alternative to traditional prosthetics since 2014.
“None of us knew each other at first, but we all kind of appeared in late 2013 and early 2014,” Kondo says. “I think there was just a sudden trend for hardware that actually helps people.”
On June 7, Exiii embodied that sentiment when a Japanese singer (Kondo asked that her name be kept confidential for privacy reasons) took the stage with her very own HACKberry. The singer, who was born with a partial arm, used the prosthetic to wave and point at the audience — something she had been unable to do while holding the microphone in her other hand.
Open source
After a domestic crowdfunding campaign netted Exiii JPY 3.5 million (US$28,300) in late 2014, Japanese hardware incubator Abba Lab provided the startup with an undisclosed amount of seed funding this January. The startup also added an 2015 IF Design Gold Award to its mantle shortly thereafter.
DMM.make, in partnership with Abba Lab, continues to provide Exiii with office space and aUS$4.5 million prototyping facility filled with 3D printers, and testing devices.
Kondo in his office at DMM.make in Akihabara.
IMAGE: TECH IN ASIA
Realizing that monetizing such a niche product would be difficult, Exiii embraced the “service model” favored by the startup’s peers in the prosthetics space and released HACKberry’s build data on Github last month.
“The effect of going open-source has been larger than we expected,” Kondo says. “We have seen makers from around the world posting pictures of HACKberry prosthetics printed and assembled by themselves.”
In collaboration with non-profit Mission ARM Japan, the startup received JPY 25 million (US$203,000) in prize money after winning the Google Impact Challenge in March. That initiative will further the availability of Exiii’s prosthetics for those in need.
“Our goal is to increase bionic arm penetration in Japan from 1% to 20% within three years,”
“Our goal is to increase bionic arm penetration in Japan from 1% to 20% within three years,” Kondo says of the partnership with Mission ARM Japan, noting that less than 1% of Japanese people who could benefit from a functional prosthetic are actually using one. “It’s a shame that that number is so low, and many [within that figure] are still using tech from half a century ago. We want to spread awareness that [advanced robotic prosthetics] exist in the first place.”Instead of charging forward with another funding round, the startup is more interested in seeing what the world will do with an open-source HACKberry.
“I want to invite makers from around the world to improve upon [it],” Kondo explains. “After SXSW, I received hundreds of emails asking to make it open source. With a small team, we couldn’t possibly cover all the feature requests that people had made, so going open source makes a lot of sense.”
HACKberry will be entering into clinical trials in Japan to see how it holds up during daily use and how it can be tweaked for patients with different conditions. Ever the scientist, Kondo hopes to eventually publish an “Exiii thesis” for the medical and scientific community.
He may not have set out to change the world, but Kondo’s prosthetics have as good a chance as any to do just that.
Design, fit and specifications
The headband and the default cushions on the earcups are covered in leatherette which is really soft. Kingston provides a second pair of memory foam cushions, which are much better than the velour cushions that came with the previous HyperX Cloud model. The memory foam cushions are very comfortable over wear for long periods of time. In fact, the HyperX Cloud II has a very comfortable fit overall, memory foam or not. The rest of the headset is plastic and metal in its build. The USB audio box is all plastic. It has a button to activate 7.1 audio, and separate volume controls for the headphones and the microphone.
Performance
The DSP inside the USB audio box works with stereo audio input and converts it into virtual surround sound. We played through the first mission of Tomb Raider entirely to get a complete idea of different sounds in the environment; the soundscape in this game is rich and very well detailed. The detail in different sounds played back in virtual surround sound was definitely better than what regular stereo could achieve. It was absolutely delightful to hear amplification of otherwise muted sounds like crying wolves, the pitter-patter of rainfall, thunder, cawing crows, and of course Lara Croft’s heavy breathing as she ran for her life in the perilous environment. However, the soundstaging was not very good and the placement of these different sound elements didn’t really create a sense of space like we expected.
The 7.1 surround sound worked well in movies, especially ones that were filled with heavy-duty action sequences. Surround sound emulation is not meant for stereo music. That said, the music capabilities of the headset weren’t bad either. We really liked the punchy mids, but sounds in the higher frequency range were slightly lacking.
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