What If Your Entire Desk Were a Touchscreen? [Video]

Big touch surfaces are nothing new, but we like the approach taken here. A familiar form factor—the traditional sitting desk—mixed with the (now) ubiquitous tech of touchscreens. Is the BendDesk what your office will look like someday?

The prototype doesn't use the most sophisticated guts—relying on cameras and clunky projectors instead of an actual capacitive touch surface—but looks pretty snappy from the video demo. It may be chunky, but the results are slick. As well, the bottom part of the BendDesk can be used as—gasp!—an actual desk. Which is pretty great, really, as it would free up room for low-tech work, with plenty of screen real estate left over for pinching and pushing digital stuff. Right now the BendDesk is confined to the labs of Germany's RWTH Aachen University, but we hope this kind of clever design slinks its way out of academia. [Core77 via Engadget]

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How To Make Google Translate Your Own Personal Beatboxer [Beatbox]

Google Translate's helpful for so many things! Well, one thing, really. Until, that is, you re-purpose its Rosetta Stone prowess towards beat boxing. Here's how it works, in four simple steps.

Step One: Head on over to Google Translate.
Step Two: Set both your "From" and "To" parameters to German (naturally).
Step Three: Copy and paste this into the text box:

pv zk pv pv zk pv zk kz zk pv pv pv zk pv zk zk pzk pzk pvzkpkzvpvzk kkkkkk bsch

Step Four: Click "listen," get funky, repeat.

The trick was first posted by Redditor harrichr, and there are lots of tips on how to optimize your experience. The possibilities—by which I mean the fresh beats—are limitless. [Reddit]

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Nook Color Rooted, Hello $250 Android Tablet [Nook Color]

XDA is making steady progress unlocking the full potential of the Nook Color as a cheap Android tablet. Angry Birds is just the first step. [XDA, Thanks Jeremy!]

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Google Earth Now Has 80 Million Beautiful Trees [Video]

Say Hello to Google Earth 6, complete with 80 million freshly planted 3D-modeled trees. I never really pay much attention to real life trees, but for some reason this strikes me as indescribably awesome.

I really can't put my finger on it, why exactly I'm so impressed by all the new plant life in Google Earth—the updated software has roughly 80 million ofin 50 different species in San Francisco, Tokyo, Athens and other cities—but impressed I am. The buildings and streets and topography of Google Earth—all those things are pretty essential, I'd say, when you're trying to recreate our planet. But something about mapping nearly 100 million trees seems delightfully superfluous, Google at its most obsessive and weird and awesome.

Anywho, Google Earth 6 also lets you dive seamlessly into Street View mode, further blurring the line between the real world and the one Google has meticulously recreated with pixels.

Google Earth 6 is available for download now. And what can we expect after all of these trees? Probably leagues of 3D-modeled conservationists. [Google via TechCrunch]

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Safretti's back with Double Vision hanging HDTV / fireplace combo

Nothing quite says "the holidays" like warming up to an artificial fire in a spacious, well-appointed apartment while watching a DVD of generic snow-filled landscapes. Unless you're in our family, in which case "the holidays" is more about drunken egg nog brawls and recrimination. Either way, it looks like the kids at Safretti have improved their hanging, portable fireplaces the only way, really, that it could be improved upon: by adding an HD LCD TV to the mix. We're not sure what the Netherlands-based company is charging for this, but seeing as how this purveyor of ultra-expensive home furnishings doesn't even have an office in the states (the closest is in Mexico, and the one in Liechtenstein refuses to answer our emails) we're pretty sure you can't afford it anyways. It comes in two sizes, featuring either a 37-inch or 47-inch TV. Get a closer look after the break.

Continue reading Safretti's back with Double Vision hanging HDTV / fireplace combo

Safretti's back with Double Vision hanging HDTV / fireplace combo originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 08:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo teases S800 phone with translucent color display, won't let anyone touch it

Step aside, Sony Ericsson, your Xperia Pureness has been beaten at its own game by an enigmatic new handset that Lenovo has been showing off over in China. The above images come from a Beijing fashion event, where Lenovo chose to debut its S800 featurephone with a color translucent display. It looks to still be at the concept stage, one that not many of these luxury items seem to ever exit, but lest you think it's not for real, the models showing it off at the show were photographed backstage using the lustworthy piece of glass to do whatever it is that models do with their phones. Check out the links below for more.

Lenovo teases S800 phone with translucent color display, won't let anyone touch it originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mouse Computer's Lm-mini30X nettop gets D525 processor and SSD, costs a lot of cheese

What would you pay for a netbook without a screen? How about one that's rocking a dual-core, 1.8GHz Intel Atom D525 processor, NVIDIA ION graphics, and an 80GB SSD? Mouse Computer is hoping your answer is somewhere around $600, because that's roughly what its new, 49,980 yen Lm-mini30X will cost along with 4GB of RAM, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, HDMI output, and a 64-bit copy of Windows 7 Home Premium. If that's a bit too rich for you, there's the slightly lower-spec Lm-mini30S, which drops you to 2GB of RAM, 320GB on platters, and lowly 32-bit Windows. That'll set you back 37,800 yen, or about $450 -- still a good amount for a little PC, but given neither are likely to see a release on these shores there's no point in getting too worked up about it.

Gallery: Mouse Computer Lm-mini30X nettop

Mouse Computer's Lm-mini30X nettop gets D525 processor and SSD, costs a lot of cheese originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 10:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fonera SIMPL router now on sale for $49, moving quickly to telcos

Still holding tight to the "Sharing is Caring!" mantra? Not afraid in the least of handing out a few kilobytes to lost tourists down below? If so, you're a prime candidate to own a Fon router; for those unaware, Fon's goal is to equip the world with its 802.11n routers, and then distribute WiFi through them for all to enjoy. The device creates two WiFi signals (SSIDs), one private and one public, and for anyone who knows the pain of being desperate for just a single open hotspot, it's a product (and mission) worth supporting. The Fonera SIMPL was introduced way back at Mobile World Congress, and while the company said it had an order for 400,000 then, that figure has risen rather significantly since. Today, it's revealing that two million of these guys have been sold to telecommunication companies around the globe, with British Telecom, MTS-Comstar Russia, SFR France, SoftBank Japan and ZON Cable Portugal named in particular. The general idea is to provide these to customers in order to lighten the overall load for everyone else, but those looking to buy in sans help can finally do so -- the SIMPL's going for $49 / €39 right now directly through the outfit's website and we're confident that you'll do the right thing.

Continue reading Fonera SIMPL router now on sale for $49, moving! quickly to telcos

Fonera SIMPL router now on sale for $49, moving quickly to telcos originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zalman's SandForce-based N Series SSD drive gets reviewed, patted on the back

Zalman's making an SSD? You betcha, and it's embedding a SandForce SF-1222 controller in its N Series line. That controller has proven to be the go-to one for loads of solid state drives, but Zalman's joining the party a touch late. Unfortunately for it, the MSRPs affixed to the 64GB ($169) and 128GB ($289) versions aren't exactly class-leading, but the benchmarking gurus over at Legit Reviews took it upon themselves to test a 128GB model anyway. After running the gauntlet, the conclusions drawn were fairly predictable: scores were right in line with every other SandForce drive they had tested in recent months, with words like "speedy, resilient, and reliable" detailing the drive. Reviewers did point out that the pricing situation would likely hinder adoption rates, and it's still unclear if a company more closely associated with cooling accessories and cases can stake a claim in the storage realm. Hit the source link for the full skinny if you're edging closer to pulling the trigger.

Zalman's SandForce-based N Series SSD drive gets reviewed, patted on the back originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft announces 2.5 million Kinects sold in first 25 days

Points for style, Microsoft, crossing the 2.5 million Kinect sensors sold mark a convenient 25 days into your global sales of that ever-so-hackable / sometimes-cool-for-gaming item. This number factors in Black Friday sales from this past weekend, and has us really curious as to how well Sony has been doing of late -- Sony's been mum on Move numbers since it announced 1 million units shipped about a month ago. Microsoft says it's on pace to sell 5 million Kinect units through this holiday, which leads us to wonder: what sort of 3D video extravaganza could we pull off with 5 million Kinects in tandem?

Microsoft announces 2.5 million Kinects sold in first 25 days originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 19:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Vostro V130 updated with more ports, fancy 'Hyperbaric' cooling

Back when we reviewed the Dell Vostro V13 we had a few complaints, including the fact that it lasted less than three hours on a charge and lacked an HDMI port. Well, Dell's gone and taken care of at least one of those issues with its new Vostro V130. The original thin and light chassis has been kept in tact, which means there's still the same old battery issues, but Dell's freshened up the 13.3-inch magnesium alloy laptop with an HDMI port, extra USB socket, a SIM card slot, new Core i3 / i5 ULV processor options, and some new Intel "Hyperbaric Cooling" technology. We don't know much about that new cooling stuff, but apparently it will help the .65-inch thick system stay cool and quiet. Oh, and did we mention it now comes in that bright red hue?! The small business machine still starts an impressive $429 and is available today. If you're looking for more details hit the break for the full press release and the gallery below for some glossy shots.

Gallery: Dell Vostro V130

Continue reading Dell Vostro V130 updated with more ports, fancy 'Hyperbaric' cooling

Dell Vostro V130 updated with more ports, fancy 'Hyperbaric' cooling originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sandisk, Sony, and Nikon propose 500MBps memory card with more than 2TB capacity

While the CompactFlash Association scoots along at a maximum transfer rate of 167MB per second under its just released CF6.0 specification, Sandisk, Sony, and Nikon are already looking to the future. The trio have just officially proposed a new memory card format that switches from PATA to the PCI Express serial interface to achieve data transfer rates of up to 500 megabytes per second with a potential to extend maximum storage capacities beyond 2 terabytes. The proposed set of specifications hints at the high performance requirements we'll soon face as DSLRs and camcorders are updated to capture continuous burst shooting of massive RAW images and ever higher definition video. Naturally, the spec also enables photogs to transfer their troves of data more quickly to computers for post processing and combines high-speed transfer with a scaling system to extend battery life. The CompactFlash Association has already announced a new workgroup to study the proposal. Canon's Shigeto Kanda, CFA chairman of the board, had this to say about the proposal:

Future professional photography and video applications will require memory cards with faster read/write speeds. The development of a new high-performance card standard with a serial interface will meet the needs of the professional imaging industry for years to come and open the door for exciting new applications.

Sounds like tacit approval to us. And really, anything that brings Sony and Sandisk together on a future storage format should be seen as a positive step. Unless, of course, you're the SD Card Association or anyone who recently purchased a CFast card.

Continue reading Sandisk, Sony, and Nikon propose 500MBps memory card with more than 2TB capacity

Sandisk, Sony, and Nikon propose 500MBps memory card with more than 2TB capacity originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 01:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Star shows up again, flexes its Tegra 2 muscle for the camera

That high-end Android smartphone from LG seemingly destined for release early next year has made another appearance -- and this time, the UI's in full view and showing us a few tricks. Looks like the so-called Star will be running a variant of LG's usual Android skin, for better or worse, and the particular device shown off in Phandroid's forums here is loaded with Froyo -- a strange choice for a 4-inch beast launching in 2011 with Gingerbread around the corner, perhaps, but we certainly wouldn't put it past 'em. The owner (who actually claims to have two in his possession) was kind enough to run it through Quadrant, producing a score of 1759 -- fantastic for a stock device, and a score that'll undoubtedly go through the roof once hackers get their hands on these things and start trimming the fat. Between this, the LU3000, and that unnamed LTE device for Verizon, these guys could be a serious Android force in '11, couldn't they?

LG Star shows up again, flexes its Tegra 2 muscle for the camera originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 02:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cowon 3D is the 1080p-playing, 4.8-inch PMP that just jumps out at you

As far as 3D goes, we can still take it or leave it, but what's really got us intrigued about Cowon's latest effort is the promise of full 1080p video playback. Ally that to a HDMI output and up to 64GB of flash storage and you've got yourself a pretty potent portable media station. The Cowon 3D PMP offers an 800 x 480 resolution on its own 4.8-inch display -- which is touted as the world's first 3D visualizer on a PMP that doesn't require glasses -- plus a battery rated to last for 10 hours of video, 45 hours of audio and up to 300 hours on standby. And, in an upgrade from the recent X7, this new device also has WiFi connectivity! Launch is scheduled for December 10th in Cowon's backyard of South Korea, with prices coming in at KRW499,000 ($431) for the 32GB-equipped 3D PMP and KRW589,000 ($509) for the 64GB version.

[Thanks, Kunal]

Cowon 3D is the 1080p-playing, 4.8-inch PMP that just jumps out at you originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 03:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple forces PhotoFast to abandon 256GB upgrade kit for MacBook Airs

Remember that peppy aftermarket 256GB SSD upgrade from PhotoFast that easily smoked (on paper anyway) the SSD found in Apple's latest MacBook Air? It's been halted upon Apple's request before it ever went on sale, similarly to those HyperMac batteries before it. 9to5Mac first reported the news based on a source close to the company and we just confirmed it directly with the PhotoFast GM2_SFV1_Air product manager. The risk of losing access to Apple's product licensing program was just too grave a threat to ignore. So, enjoy your 160MBps max SSD transfer rate and 128GB top-end capacity MBA 11 owners, you'll get that storage and 250MBps sequential read/write speed bump only when Apple's good and ready to provide it themselves -- possibly sooner, we're told, if PhotoFast is given the green light to start sales after Toshiba's SSD modules (Apple's MBA partner) are available for purchase.

Apple forces PhotoFast to abandon 256GB upgrade kit for MacBook Airs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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