Sunday, August 16, 2009

HTC Hero "Sense" UI Officially Coming to the Magic, MyTouch 3G Might Be Left in the Cold [Android]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ORyICJol-GA/htc-hero-sense-ui-officially-coming-to-the-magic-mytouch-3g-might-be-left-in-the-cold

The HTC Magic is getting an official update to the Hero's overhauled, fairly wonderful "Sense" UI, but there's a catch: the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G, which is basically the same freakin' phone, probably won't get the update, for lame licensing reasons.

To be fair, we should have expected this: Back in June, there were reports that HTC representatives had been talking about a licensing issue that would keep any proprietary modifications off of phones with "With Google" branding. Sense is all HTC, and the MyTouch 3G is slapped with a Google logo, so this forthcoming update, which was announced at a press conference in Taiwan and will be available from HTC's website at some point in the near future, sounds like a distinctly foreign interest.

It's worth holding out for possible "clarifications" on this one—please, HTC, Google, or both, say something! Soothe us!—but this hemisphere's outlook isn't so great. Enjoy turning your Magics into Heroes for free, Eurojerks. At least we've got our homebrew.

Update: Another possible issue: The MyTouch 3G and Vodafone-labeled Magics have slightly less RAM than their HTC-branded counterparts, which means even the best hacked Hero ROMs don't run especially well. Yeah, not looking so great for ol' MyTouch here. [ePrice—Thanks, Taknarosh and Nick!]




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Xbox Micro makes the Wii look overweight

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/15/xbox-micro-makes-the-wii-look-overweight/

Welcome to Micro Saturday at Engadget! In the absence of hard hitting stories and shocking exposés, we thought we'd turn to the lighter -- and thinner -- side of the news. Enter the Xbox Micro, a 1-inch thick celebration of all that is good and holy about the world of DIY mods. It took six months to make, with a few clever design decisions along the way, but it looks good enough to make even the ninja-black Wii suck its gut in. Comparison pics with the original behemoth are after the break, and hit the read link to see the exposed guts of this little beauty.

[Thanks, Matt and Jesse]

Continue reading Xbox Micro makes the Wii look overweight

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Xbox Micro makes the Wii look overweight originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WD TV-2 spruces up Western Digital's already attractive media player offering

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/16/wd-tv-2-spruces-up-western-digitals-already-attractive-media-pl/

Western Digital really hit a sweet spot last year with its $130 WD TV HD Media Player. The thing pumped out 1080p over HDMI at an attractive price, and that's all most people really needed. The newly leaked WD TV-2 revisits the formula, but adds in network playback over the new Ethernet jack, DTS audio decoding, and a component video plug for folks caught in the technological no man's land between composite and HDMI. Outside of that there's a just plain silly amount of codec support, which is hard not to love. No word on price or a release date, but the leaked photos and detailed specs seem to imply this thing is ready for prime time.

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WD TV-2 spruces up Western Digital's already attractive media player offering originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 16 Aug 2009 02:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Saturday, August 15, 2009

Algae-Powered Transport Truck

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/3VMGKj1W3HU/

This is a vehicle, for the world, to transport goods around the world, with a lot less pollution! Sounds great, doesn’t it? It’s able to drive on the road, get aboard some train tracks, travel really far (on ALGAE fuel cells!), get off the tracks, and go to where it needs to be! Fun, yes?

This particular vehicle also brings into light the GPS tracking system as mapped unto railroads (which will of course become standard once all cars are rail-efficient).

The flexibility of the road and the environmentally sound capabilities of rail travel. And it transports one of those HUGE storage containers, too!

This is Chiron

Designer: Benjamin Cselley, Jupin Ghanbari, Jessica Covi, Erol Kursani

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Chiron Algae-e-motion by Benjamin Cselley, Jupin Ghanbari, Jessica Covi, Erol Kursani

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Da Balloon Light

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/pVsUlMlDJDI/

Tis a variable volume lamp, the variable volume lamp you’ve always wanted! Aïssa Logerot inflates the lighting business with this thing called the “Lampad'air.” It’s an inflating lamp on a tiny tube with an inflating device attached. The light is intense. When the lamp inflates, the triangles move away from one another. When the triangles move apart, the light that can escape from the lamp increases! Wacky.

What’s really wacky is the fact that this balloon lamp does not float… unless you modify the air pump to include helium. Another OFFICIAL thing I should mention, (ie this is really real,) is that the air pump includes a program that allows the lamp autonomous fluctuation of its volume.

Oh my goodness.

That will go very well for that lady there, who is very obviously drinking absinthe. Very very thick and non-watered down in the least… absinthe.

This particular model was realized with Matthew Marino, who is definitely the dude to see if you want to roll with new interactive designers in Paris.

Designer: Aïssa+Logerot

Lampad'air Inflating Lamp by Aïssa Logerot

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âTikk, tikk⦠tekk!â The Special Sound Of Measure

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/a3pMJJQEvkQ/

No more approximations, not even if you're blind. A reassuring sound of "Tikk, tikk… tekk", two fingers and some Braille embossed cylinders, mix them up and you got yourself the Tikk-Tekk Rainbow! It's a low-cost universal measuring tool that uses a string (ranging from 1cm to 100 cm) wrapped within the casing, and is extended between the finger tips. Kinda like how you use your hands to gesture an estimated distance; only Tikk-Tekk gives you the exact numbers.

Designers: Guopeng Liang & Yun Li

Tikk-Tekk Rainbow Measuring Instrument by Guopeng Liang, Yun Li

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Resize My Photos Batch Resizes Photos Quickly [Downloads]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/rmuUGE9ePTU/resize-my-photos-batch-resizes-photos-quickly

Windows only: Sometimes you just want to quickly resize photos without retouching or cropping. Resize My Photos aims to do just that—and quickly.

Once installed, Resize My Photos adds an entry to your right-click context menu when you click on any single photo or multiple photo selection. Once you fire it up, you can add/remove files, add/remove directories, and change options—resize method, naming method, image quality, and output directory. Choose your preferences, click start, and Resize My Photos quickly takes care of the rest.

Resize My Photos is freeware, Windows only.



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Gadgets Available Today [Now Available]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/UQ4MVEPoD0Y/gadgets-available-today

MSI's C-Series notebooks are getting an upgrade with the new CX600, CX700, CR600-017 and CR700 models. The 600 models are fairly light at 5.4 pounds, the 700 models are slightly beefier tipping the scales at a bit over 6 pounds.

Both the 600 and 700 models have 16:9 widescreens with 16" and 17" displays respectively. The CX600 and CX700 notebooks both contain the ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330 discrete graphics card while the CR600 and CR700 models pack NVIDIA's GeForce 8200M GPU. Folks looking to future proof their purchase can opt for the CR600-017 which boasts an ungraded processor and a Blu-Ray drive, the new C-Series notebooks start at $549.99. [I4U and Hot Hardware]




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How would you change Nokia's N97?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/15/how-would-you-change-nokias-n97/

It's the phone that Nokia should've used to introduce the world to Symbian S60 5th edition, but is it the "hero"-type device that it was marketed as? Nokia's N97 is undoubtedly expensive, debatably beautiful and thoroughly polarizing (as two of our own found out). While it's impossible to say the handset was introduced to go head-to-head with Apple's iPhone (the whole "only sold off contract" thing kind of hampers that), there's little doubt that this phone was Espoo's most significant attempt yet to make a name for itself in the full-touchscreen smartphone market. If you handed over the handful of C-notes required to take this bad boy home, why not tell us exactly how you feel now that you're an owner? What would you like to see changed on Nokia's next attempt? What measures up? What falls short? You've got one shot (maybe two, depending on the mood of our comment system) -- don't screw it up.

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How would you change Nokia's N97? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Aug 2009 02:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The MacBook Micro is here, also might have a camera

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/15/the-macbook-micro-is-here-also-might-have-a-camera/

Guys, the MacBook Micro has been announced. You're going to love it. It's three things: a Powebook from 1998, a student's art project, and a really short email. We hear it may boast a camera, too. Check out the gallery below to see this wonder of modern technology doing its thing... you will not be disappointed.

[Thanks, James]

Gallery: MacBook Micro

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The MacBook Micro is here, also might have a camera originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Friday, August 14, 2009

China and Portugal Agree: Next-Gen iPods Will Have Cameras [Apple]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/hhtlg6a0WZs/china-and-portugal-agree-next+gen-ipods-will-have-cameras

A Portuguese online store has let slip on two more genuine-looking cases designed for the fifth-gen iPod Nano, and third-gen iPod Touch—and their camera placement perfectly matches the legion of made-in-China cases Cult of Mac spotted recently.

A rumored September keynote (when iPods tend to be announced), apparent iTunes 9 details emerging, mounting case leaks? New iPods are a comin', and it's looking more and more like they'll have cameras. And the tablet? Not until 2010 apparently. Probability Thing-o-Meter back to 70 percent!

New: JIVO TPA Case Blue for iPod Touch 3G

New: JIVO TPA Case Blue for iPod nano 5G

One of more than a dozen case shots that Cult of Mac obtained:

[Obrigado fanático das maçãs for the store tip!]




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Shoulderbrella: Because Holding Your Umbrella Is Haaaarrrd [Accessories]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/w_JvZOaIBec/shoulderbrella-because-holding-your-umbrella-is-haaaarrrd

Just when you begin to consider the world a cold place where ingenuity couldn't exist without a touchscreen, a Japanese inventor busts out the Shoulderbrella.

Adhering to the end of any stock umbrella, the $25 Shoulderbrella is a flexible, pipe-cleaner-like accessory that wraps around your body to hold your umbrella for you while leaving your two hands free for lugging groceries, holding the hands of children or starting bare-knuckle street fights with those other umbrella jerks who are always poking you in the face. The tables have turned, haven't they Mr. Anatopistic Golf Umbrella? [Shoulderbrella via RedFerret]




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HTC Leo rendered again -- maybe by HTC, more likely by fans

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/14/htc-leo-rendered-again-maybe-by-htc-more-likely-by-fans/

So here's what we know about the Leo with some certainty: it's going to be awesomely high-end. Other than that, though, the sky's the limit; no spec is too wild, no physical design too outlandish until we actually get some official information (or at least some really solid leaks). We wouldn't call these latest renders "solid" by any stretch -- in fact, we're willing to bet it's the result of a daydreamer with some graphic design background -- but we want to believe, especially since the front is basically consistent with what we've seen previously. Imagine a rounded-off Touch HD with WinMo 6.5, a 1GHz Snapdragon, and a 5 megapixel cam accompanied by two high-output LEDs. We love the stylish "Pro.Three" branding (and we guess we're going to forgive the "lorem ipsum" gibberish beneath it since this is a rough, unbranded render), but there are a few holes in this story: for one, we still don't know how this dovetails with Firestone; two, the Touch Pro2 just came out, so we're not sure why they'd release a device with the conflicting "Pro.Three" name so soon thereafter, particularly in a different form factor; and three, this might make more sense as one of HTC's inaugural WinMo 7 devices. Given the rumored pie-in-the-sky October availability date, we'll get this sorted out soon enough.

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HTC Leo rendered again -- maybe by HTC, more likely by fans originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG X130 goes from dawn till dusk on standard 9-cell battery

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/14/lg-x130-goes-from-dawn-till-dusk-on-standard-9-cell-battery/

12 hours. That, according to LG, is the new benchmark by which all wannabe long-lasting laptops will have to measure up. Of course, we've seen similar aftermarket solutions before, but it's good to see a manufacturer stick a flag in the ground -- and a big rump on the back -- in the race for the highest endurance netbook. And boy is the X130 a netbook: 1024 x 600 resolution, 10-inch screen and the predictable Atom N270 et al. Koreans can grab one now for 789,000 Won ($639), with almost worldwide availability to follow shortly. Check out our review of the X120 for a flavor of LG's history in the market, while we go look for actual benchmarks undermining that legendary battery life claim.

[Via Trusted Reviews]

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LG X130 goes from dawn till dusk on standard 9-cell battery originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Qik Brings Video Sharing App to iPhone 3GS [Downloads]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/YQWdmU6bnDI/qik-brings-video-sharing-app-to-iphone-3gs

Qik, a streaming video app that's already shown up on Android and jailbroken iPhones, has an official app for the iPhone 3GS out. It's Wi-Fi only, and without live streaming, but the developers say that will change.

In the meantime, Qik does have at least one truly notable advantage over the native video capture tool—allowing for video captures in portrait or landscape modes. There's also location capturing for videos, and easier sharing tools for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and simple email sends. Qik can also share videos already stored on your video roll. In other words, if you've dug Qik's functionality on another platform already, and you don't mind the Wi-Fi-only and streaming limitations, you'll probably dig Qik for the 3GS. It's a free download for iPhone 3GS only.

Qik [iTunes App Store (direct link) via Gizmodo]


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