Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Prada Transformer Is Four Buildings In One, Thanks to Massive Cranes [Architecture]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/5Lxpv-ycuLY/prada-transformer-is-four-buildings-in-one-thanks-to-massive-cranes

The Prada Transformer is a huge four-sided open-air building whose floor can be any one of its radically different sides. Massive cranes rotate it into place, leaving the other three to compose its ever-changing ceiling.

This isn't some neat concept, it's an actual construction, penned by Rem Koolhaas and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, and built by Prada with help from LG and Hyundai Motor. It's framed out of steel and covered entirely with a "smooth elastic membrane" and it will be situated in Seoul, Korea, where it will be used for concerts, fashion shows and other cultural events.

I think the best illustration of it is this piece from Freshness Mag, when the Transformer was only in the planning stage:

As you can see, the hexagonal side is flat, and the square has some bleachers, so it works for "cinema" mode. The circular side has a giant cylindrical platform in the middle of it, which houses a projector when it's in the air for cinema mode, but then is used as a performance stage when it's flat on the ground in "special event" mode.

Shot from the air and as yet unpainted, it doesn't look like much, and reminds me less of the robotic Transformers of the 1980s than it does of the Dungeons & Dragons dice from roughly the same epoch. The question is, how in hell do you ma! ke sure that the thing is on level ground? And while we're talking, who has to hose all the mud off of it when it gets rotated to a new position? And most importantly, who gets to drive the crane? Ooh ooh, me me! [Dezeen]



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Sixth Sense Technology May Change How We Look at the World Forever [The Future Now]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/IqzgO4g4L2U/sixth-sense-technology-may-change-how-we-look-at-the-world-forever

I can't really describe Sixth Sense in a line. Sure, it is a system that projects information about what surrounds you over objects' surfaces, but it's also much more. You just have to watch it:

(If you have the time, you can go through the whole video and Pattie Maes' explanation. If not, go to minute 3:10, where the cool demonstrations begin. There, Pranav Mistry—the MIT student who has implemented Sixth Sense—shows how it works)

Basically, Sixth Sense is a mini-projector coupled with a camera and a cellphone—which acts as the computer and your connection to the Cloud, all the information stored on the web. Sixth Sense can also obey hand gestures, like in the infamous Minority Report.

However, instead of requiring you to be in front of a big screen like Tom Cruise, Sixth Sense can do its magic—and a lot more—everywhere, even while you are jumping hysteric over Oprah's sofa.

The camera recognizes objects around you instantly, with the micro-projector overlaying the information on any surface, including the object itself or your hand. Then, you can access or manipulate the information using your fingers. Need to make a call? Extend your hand on front of the projector and numbers will appear for you to click. Need to know the time? Draw a circle on your wrist and a watch will appear. Want to take a photo? Just make a square with your fingers, highlighting what you want to frame, and the system will make the photo—which you can later organize with the others! using y our own hands over the air.

But those are just novelty applications. The true power of Sixth Sense lies on its potential to connect the real world with the Internet, and overlaying the information on the world itself. Imagine you are at the supermarket, thinking about what brand of soap is better. Or maybe what wine you should get for tonight's dinner. Just look at objects, hold them on your hands, and Sixth Sense will show you if it's good or bad, or if it fits your preferences or not.

Now take this to every aspect of your everyday life. You can be in a taxi going to the airport, and just by taking out your boarding pass, Sixth Sense will grab real time information about your flight and display it over the ticket. You won't need to do any action. Just hold it in front of your and it will work.

The key here is that Sixth Sense recognizes the objects around you, displaying information automatically and letting you access it in any way you want, in the simplest way possible.

Clearly, this has the potential of becoming the ultimate "transparent" user interface for accessing information about everything around us. If they can get rid of the colored finger caps and it ever goes beyond the initial development phase, that is. But as it is now, it may change the way we interact with the real world and truly give everyone complete awareness of the environment around us.

Or just make a few people look like dorks. It can go either way, really. Whatever it is, I want to try it. [TED]



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The Draganflyer X6 UAV Police Edition [Spy Drones]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/h6l3TeZIcTQ/the-draganflyer-x6-uav-police-edition

The Draganflyer X6 has been around for a bit now, but only recently have Canadian law enforcers begun using it to serve and protect. Here's the first look at these flying UAVs in uniform.

The X6 is a spy drone with wireless video and still cameras (in hi-def, infra-red and 0 lux flavors) that can fly autonomously, or as a remote-controlled bot. It has 11 sensors (including gyros, accelerometers, barometers, magnetometers and GPS) and is so easy to pilot, a Wii gamer could do it. Now it will be used by the Ontario Provincial Police and the Saskatoon Police to patrol crime scenes and help gather evidence.

At it's core, this is the same Draganflyer X6 we've come to know and love in the past, but now with a shiny police badge and a healthy distaste for crime. Canadian perps, be afraid. Be very, very afraid. [Draganfly]



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iPod Touch 2G Fully Jailbroken, Kicks the Tether [Jailbreak!]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/SdSr_77L7PU/ipod-touch-2g-fully-jailbroken-kicks-the-tether

For most, jailbreaking isn't very daunting, provided you have the right instructions. Unfortunately, iPod Touch 2G owners have been stuck with lame, tethered approaches that most wouldn't bother with—until now.

When I say that the prior jailbreak methods left your iPod "tethered", I don't mean it in the internet sharing sense. For the iPod, "tethered" means that you have to connect your jailbroken iPod to a computer just to start it up, or with the best solutions, to boot into the jailbroken mode. This new method throws off that dependency, leaving you with a properly jailbroken device. It requires a little work and it's no QuickPWN, but it gets the job done. But really, get used to it—given Apple's posturing on the issue, I don't think we'll be reliving those halcyon days of 2007 when you could jailbreak by visiting a website. At least, not anytime soon. [iPodTouchFans—Thanks, Hemal]



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Mitsubishi '3D Touchscreen' Knows How Far Away Your Finger Is, Prevents Sneaky Pokes [Displays]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/B7UQg7rJZHw/mitsubishi-3d-touchscreen-knows-how-far-away-your-finger-is-prevents-sneaky-pokes

You know how some capacitive touchscreens seem to twitch when fingers are hovered near them? Mitsubishi has stretched that ability to the extreme, creating a magic(ish) touch panel that can track depth, too.

That someone has accomplished 3D motion tracking isn't the news here—it's that they've done it in single panel, without extra cameras or sensors and with a very high level of precision. How high? It measures your finger distance in steps of about .08mm, up to a distance of 20mm, and does so quickly enough that it can accurately guess its approach speed. Because of its short range, Mitsubishi says this tech will be most useful for mobile devices, which could add an extra method of interaction—hovering—to devices.

What's really exiting is to imagine how this could change interfaces. Mitsu has a few examples already, but the possibilities are endless. Consider a plugin for your phonebook that senses apprehensive hovering and gives relevant advice? ("What are you doing? SHE BROKE YOUR HEART?") or, more realistically, right-click-like controls for touch-only devices like the iPhone, which could display additional information like link URLs, file previews, extended contact info.

Though they haven't given a clue as to when they'll bring this tech market, they did say that "it will first be used for our products," and, promisingly, that it took "only a few changes" to a currently available panel to achieve the effect, and shouldn't significantly increase costs. [Tech-on]



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Reuters' Source Confirms Apple 10-inch Touchscreen Order for Third Quarter [Rumor]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/QlLIJSJRxxw/reuters-source-confirms-apple-10+inch-touchscreen-order-for-third-quarter

Reuters is also confirming the rumors from the Commercial Times about Apple ordering 10-inch touchscreens for third quarter.

They are quoting an unnamed source. This may just be what others have reported already or maybe Reuters actually did some original reporting and this is a new source from the touchscreen manufacturer. Whatever it is, now I'm excited. [Reuters]



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SmartQ 5 gets peeped, for reals

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/smartq-5-gets-peeped-for-reals/


We've been hearing all about the SmartQ 5 PMP / MID for a little while now, but someone's finally gotten their hands upon a real live device, and it's looking pretty cool. We still don't know a ton in the way of specs -- it's got a 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 touchscreen and built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, plus four actual hardware buttons -- nor do we know when it's going to be available, or how much it'll cost... but it definitely appears to exist now! Check two more shots after the break, and hit the read link for a bunch of them.

[Via The MP3 Players]

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SmartQ 5 gets peeped, for reals originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HABEY intros Atom N270-powered mini HTPC, makes it crunch 1080p

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/habey-intros-atom-n270-powered-mini-htpc-makes-it-crunch-1080p/


An Atom N270-powered rig that can handle 1080p content? Say it ain't so! The relatively unknown HABEY has stepped forward with a minuscule media PC that includes a fairly weak CPU and a potent hardware decoder that can supposedly handle 1080p content and even Blu-ray flicks. The BIS-6550HD is meant to be one of the most energy efficient machines on the planet to adequately play back 1080p material, with the entire system sucking down under 13 watts. Complementing the 1.6GHz processor is a single SODIMM slot for carrying up to 2GB of RAM, wireless / HDTV tuner options, a slew of video outputs, multicard reader, gigabit Ethernet and four USB 2.0 sockets. Unfortunately, pricing and availability both remain undisclosed, but we get the feeling you'll be paying dearly for the chance to see 1080p sans stutter on a machine this tiny.

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HABEY intros Atom N270-powered mini HTPC, makes it crunch 1080p originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo's VAIO P Reserve Edition?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/lenovos-vaio-p/

What you're looking at is a genuine Lenovo device taken by a trusted source from inside of a showroom within IBM's Beijing headquarters Lenovo's Beijing office. The details sent to Engadget Chinese are brief so we can't tell you if it's a working model or not. Nevertheless, it bears all the hallmarks of a ThinkPad Reserve Edition with just a tad of VAIO P thrown in for taste... so to speak. A few more hurried shots at the break.

Update: Tipster clarified that the pics are from a showroom inside a Lenovo office, not IBM's Beijing HQ.

Continue reading Lenovo's VAIO P Reserve Edition?

Lenovo's VAIO P Reserve Edition? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 04:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia outs 5730 and 5330 XpressMusic and 5030 XpressRadio handsets as expected

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/nokia-outs-5730-and-5330-xpressmusic-and-5030-xpressradio-handse/


Yup, All About Phones nailed it as Nokia just announced its 5730 XpressMusic QWERTY, 5330 XpressMusic slider, and lowly 5030 XpressRadio candybar bringing up the tail. The trio of handsets spread across different price-points should make access to the Nokia Music Store (now available in 15 countries) that much easier. The top-end 5730 (available Q3, €280) is Nokia's first QWERTY device optimized for both music and gaming with dedicated audio and N-Gage keys. The 5330 slider (Q3, €260) steps up the design with illumination effects while adding a 3.5-mm jack and 26-hours of audio. The 5030 XpressRadio (Q2, €40) is Nokia's first with an internal FM radio antenna thereby eliminating the need for a headset or external speakers. With that as its major selling point, you've probably already guessed that it's heading to emerging markets.

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Nokia outs 5730 and 5330 XpressMusic and 5030 XpressRadio handsets as expected originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UMID M1 mbook now less close to US release

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/umid-m1-mbook-now-less-close-to-us-release/


Less close, further away -- take your pick. The bottom line is that the UMID M1 mbook that we've been secretly swooning over for weeks now may be further away from a US release than any of us Yanks would like. According to new intel gathered by Pocketables, a Stateside release of the MID is still planned, but it's apt to ship later than previously expected. Furthermore, the units already prancing about in other corners of the globe aren't likely at all to support US 3G bands, so importing one won't fill that hole in your soul the way a WWAN-enabled MID should. Better hurry up and deliver the goods UMID, else we'll be forced to buy a rivaling unit and hack it up to suit our needs. Don't say we won't.

[Image courtesy of UMPCPortal]

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UMID M1 mbook now less close to US release originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia continues to hemorrhage Smartphone market share to RIM and Apple

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/nokia-continues-to-hemorrhage-smartphone-marketshare-to-rim-app/


Rough morning for Nokia. After having its trio of new music-oriented handsets leaked, Gartner goes and releases a set of unflattering sales figures related to Nokia's beleaguered smartphones. While smartphone sales overall increased 3.7% in Q4, Nokia's share slid from 50.9% to "just" 40.8% on 15.6 million units. While many, including Samsung and HTC gained, it was RIM and Apple that made the biggest advances. RIM increased its share of the lucrative market to 19.5% (7.4 million units) from 10.9% while Apple more than doubled its share, up from 5.2% to 10.7% (4.1 million units). Keeping things in perspective: smartphones accounted for only 12% of all mobile device sales for the quarter. There's a method to Nokia's mid- to low-end handset madness.

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Nokia continues to hemorrhage Smartphone market share to RIM and Apple originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Linpus demos uber klein mystery netbook

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/linpus-demos-uber-klein-mystery-netbook/

Linpus demos uber klein mystery netbook
Like a little intrigue with your morning Joe? Check out the video below of this sleek little unidentified netbook on display at CeBIT last week at the Linpus booth, found by the same excitable bloke who brought us a glimpse of the company's Linux Lite OS. The hardware sounds to fit the standard Atom-based mold as the rest, adding 3G wireless for true portability, and is said to be built by Quanta, the company rumored to be on tap to build Apple's supposed netbook. Does that mean it could look something like this? We doubt it -- but wouldn't be surprised if it, too had a glossy screen.

Continue reading Linpus demos uber klein mystery netbook

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Linpus demos uber klein mystery netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 07:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple's redesigned iPod shuffle hits 4GB, talks to you (updated with video!)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/apples-ipod-shuffle-hits-4gb/


Bam, another Apple rumor vindicated. Apple just doubled the capacity of its iPod shuffle to 4GB while ditching the control wheel entirely. The new design keeps the clip and adds VoiceOver -- a new feature that gets around the lack of display by telling you which song is playing and who performs it at the touch of a button on the earbud cable. It'll also call out your playlists and let you navigate to others. Available in black or silver for $80 and your claim to what Apple calls the "world's smallest music player." Check the video tutorial after the break.

Update: VoiceOver in English, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.

Fraunhofer's new security device turns your window into a motion detector

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/fraunhofers-new-security-device-turns-your-window-into-a-motion/


The brain geniuses at Fraunhofer are back on the scene with a security device that takes the window alarm to the next level. The Vigilant window sees the ol' glass panel coated with a nanoparticle material which converts light into fluorescent radiation. When the system is switched on, a UV lamp is aimed at the window, which is outfitted with sensors along its edges. As long as the lamp is unobstructed, everything is goldie. However, if a cat burglar should come by in his trademark all-black out fit and obstruct the beam, the alarm is activated -- sending your elite security team into action. If you don't have an elite security team, perhaps you can send your T-34 to snare him in its net. Either way, it's clear they messed with the wrong folks this time. A prototype already exists, no word yet on when this will become available.

[Via Oh Gizmo!]

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Fraunhofer's new security device turns your window into a motion detector originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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