Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Take Pinhole Pics with Your Digital Camera [DIY]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/xy-PlgWvx5E/take-pinhole-pics-with-your-digital-camera

Nostalgic for the good old days when a cardboard box, a pinhole, and some film meant you had a camera? The DIY junkies at weblog Make update the pinhole camera to work with your standard digital camera.

For your digital version of the pinhole camera, you'll need some black paper, aluminum foil, a rubber band, and tape. Ah right, and the digital camera. From there, the essence of the pinhole camera remains the same. You block out all the light around your camera, make a pinhole, and then set your camera to an ultra-long exposure. It may seem silly to turn your digital camera into a pinhole camera, considering that it already is a camera, but it's a fun project. If you give it a try, be sure to read through the comments for a few helpful tips on optimal pinhole size.



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Dealzmodo: T-Mobile G1 for $98 [Dealzmodo]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/bpClKG3Mjk4/dealzmodo-t+mobile-g1-for-98

Amazon has a deal today for anyone interested in the G1. Currently, they are offering the black version for $98 with a 2-year T-Mo contract—a savings of $82. [Amazon via Androidandme via andronica]



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Frost Snow Sport Car Changes Tires for Treads [Concept]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/fwlv-mP0m68/frost-snow-sport-car-changes-tires-for-treads

I don't know how fast the Th!nk Frost—an electric car that uses treads instead of tires—could go. But since it's a concept, I'd just drool over how cool it looks.

The 2-seat Frost was created by Norsk designed Anders Gloslie as a concept proposal for Th!nk, an electric car company from his country. The cracks in its surface hides the lighting system, while the rear includes massive fans for adjusting the temperature of the electric engine and the interior, as well as sensors that send precise information about weather conditions to the cockpit's screens. [Think Frost via Dvice]



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New iPod shuffle requires extra adapter for third-party headphones

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/new-ipod-shuffle-requires-extra-adapter-for-third-party-headphon/


We were wondering why the new voice-enabled iPod shuffle even has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack since it's controlled by proprietary headphones, and we just got the answer: non-Apple headphones will require a special dongle that includes the new three-button controller, and Apple says it's working with third parties to bring other compatible 'phones to market. Yes, Apple's cheapest iPod is now the most needlessly complex, and far from cost-effective if you want to use your own cans: assuming the adapter will cost between $20 and $30 like most other Apple accessories, you're looking at minimum $100 outlay for the new shuffle, and at that point you might as well pick up a $150 iPod nano, which is also VoiceOver-enabled in addition to having twice the storage, dongle-less controls, a screen, and numerous other features. We'll see if this thing is so tiny these concerns wash out when we get one in our hands, but does anyone actually feel like the numbers tip in favor of the shuffle here? We're all ears.

P.S.- Yes, we know $100 can get you any number of fine non-Apple players, we're just talking about Apple's price points. Feel free to suggest your favorite alternative, though!

Update: Apple called to clarify that the nano doesn't have the exact same VoiceOver feature, which is shuffle-exclusive; the nano does "spoken menus" but doesn't say track names as you skip around. We're getting a full list of differences between the two systems, we'll let you know if there's anything else major.

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New iPod shuffle requires extra adapter for third-party headphones originally ! appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Screen Grabs: '24' offers up OQO, Mac mini BOGO special

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/screen-grabs-24-offers-up-oqo-mac-mini-bogo-special/

Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com.


We'll be honest: we haven't seen 24 for many a season now, but, thanks to a few sweet tips, we decided to take a look at a recent episode, and bam! Right after a nefarious-looking doctor suffocates an elderly gentlemen in his hospital bed, the evil chap shoots over to the nurses' station on the down low to download some hyper-rad schematics from the terminal. So... he whips out his OQO (not the device's first appearance on Screen Grabs), plugs 'er into the nearby Mac mini (ditto) and goes about his suspicious, suspicious business. Dude, we gotta get to this magical hospital, where technology rules and the "doctors" are plotting stuff. Jack into some more evidence after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Screen Grabs: '24' offers up OQO, Mac mini BOGO special

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Screen Grabs: '24' offers up OQO, Mac mini BOGO special originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile G1 available at Amazon for $97

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/t-mobile-g1-available-at-amazon-for-97/


If you've been hoping a deal on the T-Mobile G1 was imminent, well then you're in luck: Amazon's got a sweet deal going now, whereby you can grab one for $97! Well, you'll have to be a new customer, and you'll have to sign up for a new, two-year contract, but it's still worth thinking about if you really have a hankering. You might wanna pick up a copy of the G1 for Dummies while you're there, too. Oh, by the way -- the white version in the photo? Just for show. Amazon's only offering the black one for this deal.

[Via Mobility Site]

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T-Mobile G1 available at Amazon for $97 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Packard Bell drops "dot" netbook in favor of new, unannounced model

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/packard-bell-drops-dot-netbook-in-favor-of-new-unannounced-model/


Well, it looks like Packard Bell's "dot" netbook just didn't capture that trademark Packard Bell flavor the company was looking for, as it has now officially ditched the netbook in favor of a new, as yet unannounced model. As you may recall, the dot was essentially just an original Acer Aspire One in disguise, with it packing an 8.9-inch display, an Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and an optional 3G module, among other standard fare. Unfortunately, Packard Bell doesn't seem to be saying anything at all about the new model just yet, with it only going so far as to tell Pocket-lint that there will be "some changes made to the brand."

[Via Electronista]

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Packard Bell drops "dot" netbook in favor of new, unannounced model originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fusion-io breaks out roomy, nimble ioDrive Duo SSDs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/fusion-io-breaks-out-roomy-nimble-iodrive-duo-ssds/


While it's going to be tough for Fusion-io to get its ioDrive any faster in the near term, it ain't so tough to make the world's fastest storage more capacious. Shortly after pulling The Woz in as its chief scientist, said outfit has just revealed the next-generation ioDrive, predictably coined ioDrive Duo. The PCI Express-based solution throws 160GB, 320GB, 640GB or 1.28TB of stupid fast SSD storage directly onto your motherboard, enabling it to boast sustained read bandwidth of 1,500MB/sec and write bandwidth of 1,400MB/sec. The smallest three will be available next month for prices we don't even want to guess, while the 1.28TB model is slated to ship shortly after OCZ's 1TB Z Drive in the latter half of 2009.

[Via HotHardware]

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Fusion-io breaks out roomy, nimble ioDrive Duo SSDs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cupcake Android update coming to G1 in April

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/cupcake-android-update-coming-to-g1-in-april/


Well, after weeks of speculations and false alarms, it looks like T-Mobile's officially saying the "Cupcake" Android update will hit the G1 sometime next month. That's at least the word according to the T-Mo spokeperson Pocket-lint got hold of -- who went out of his way to disclaim any connection with the upcoming launch of the HTC Magic. In any event, we're hoping all this bake time has fixed some of those bugs and lag problems, but we'll see in a few weeks.

[Via Talk Android]

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Cupcake Android update coming to G1 in April originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Viliv S5 MID detailed impressions, now with video!

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/viliv-s5-mid-detailed-impressions-now-with-video/


We got to play with the Viliv S5 at CES, and now the gang at UMPC Portal have some detailed impressions they'd like to share with the world. The haptic touchscreen device has "one of the best" on-screen keyboards this reviewer's seen, although it pales in comparison to a physical keyboard. Other minor issues include a lack of a microphone and physical mouse pointer, though you could quite conceivably get along just fine without 'em. That said, this bad boy apparently has "an overall good feeling" that makes the reviewer want to use the device more and give the touchscreen typing situation "a chance." Kudos for the "incredibly impressive" battery life, and not even the lack of 3G and an SSD prevents him from declaring it "the best pocketable UMPC," one that "raises the bar." But that ain't all -- check out the video after the break for the handheld in all its glory.

Continue reading Viliv S5 MID detailed impressions, now with video!

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Viliv S5 MID detailed impressions, now with video! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apricorn rolls out pocketable Aegis Mini 240GB 1.8-inch hard drive

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/apricorn-rolls-out-pocketable-aegis-mini-240gb-1-8-inch-hard-dri/


240GB 1.8-inch hard drives have been out and about for a little while now, but they're still a bit of a rare sight in actual products, which is something the folks at Apricorn look set to rectify with their new Aegis Mini portable hard drive. As you can see above, the whole package isn't much larger than the hard drive itself and, better still, it's available in your choice of USB 2.0 or FireWire flavors, which'll run you the expectedly premium price of $269 and $279, respectively. If that's a bit more than you need, you can also grab an 80GB or 120GB drive, which also pack the same shock protection and retractable cable as their more capacious counterpart, plus Apricorn's own Data Protection Suite software.

[Via iTech News Net, thanks Sze]

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Apricorn rolls out pocketable Aegis Mini 240GB 1.8-inch hard drive originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mitsubishi shows off "3D touch panel" display

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/11/mitsubishi-shows-off-3d-touch-panel-display/


Bothered by all the touching involved with touchscreens? Then you may want to keep an eye out for Mitsubishi's latest and greatest bit of technology, which promises to detect the distance between a finger and the touch panel to allow for a whole host of new interface options. That's done with the aid of an array of sensors that can also be used to calculate the speed at which the finger is approaching, and allow for a so-called "mouse-over function," which would essentially let your finger control a cursor without actually touching the screen -- something Mitsubishi says would be ideal for devices with small screens. Of course, it is still just in prototype form (currently a 5.7-inch capacitive VGA display), but Mitsubishi says it's based on panels that are already on the market, which should help ease development and reduce costs. Not surprisingly, Mitsubishi also says that "it will first be used for our products," although it naturally didn't say exactly what those product might be.

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Mitsubishi shows off "3D touch panel" display originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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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