Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Archos 32 Internet "Tablet" hits the FCC, pictures and manual in tow

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/11/archos-32-internet-tablet-hits-the-fcc-pictures-and-manual-in-t/


It was just last week the Android-powered Archos 32 spontaneously burst into existence with a premature sale, and thanks to the FCC we can say today that we also know what it looks like. As you can see in the picture above, the "minidroid" appears to be a completely capacitive affair, with dedicated buttons and directional controls surrounding that 3.2-inch screen. The full filing also reveals built-in GPS, a 3.5mm headphone jack and Archos' trademark kickstand alongside Bluetooth and WiFi. While it does have a microphone as originally reported, there's strangely no mention of a camera in the user's manual, which actually suggests that circle on the back of the device may be the integrated speaker. (Here's hoping we're proven wrong.) On the connectivity front, ARCHOS seems to have the usual host of accessories planned including a 720p-capable DVR dock, but frustratingly the unit also requires a proprietary connector to transfer data and charge. Should the original leak be accurate, expect to see this one at e-tailers in the coming months for a penny under $150, an excellent price should the build quality equal the company's codec support.

Archos 32 Internet "Tablet" hits the FCC, pictures and manual in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 06:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Wireless Goodness, Liliputing  |  sourceFCC  | Email this | Comments

Read More...

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

A Web Surfing Contest With No Keyboard and No Google Allowed [Hyperlinks]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5608658/a-web-surfing-contest-with-no-keyboard-and-no-google-allowed

A Web Surfing Contest With No Keyboard and No Google AllowedOK, so-called web surfers, listen up. You might be able to ride from page to page with your speedy search engines, sure, but could you make it from Amazon to the Pirate Bay only clicking links?

That's right—just you, your mouse, and a whole sea of hyperlinks.

That was the challenge leveled to participants of Trailblazers, a web browsing competition that recently held its inaugural contest in Stuttgart, Germany. Participants were challenged to "Surf the classic way from amazon to pirate bay."

From a chart posted on the Trailblazers site (which is designed, we'll say, in a "neo-classical" web style), it seems as though an individual named "tobi" earned the old-school surfer crown.

A Web Surfing Contest With No Keyboard and No Google Allowed

The next Trailblazers competition will take place on September 3 at Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria. Make sure your peripherals are regulation ahead of time. [Trailblazers via TodayandTomorrow via The Atlantic]

Update: Thanks to honorary web surfing champion of the evening, commenter Justin, for finding these pairs, which were apparently the actual challenges for each successive round of the competition. I guess "amazon to pirate bay" was just their tagline?

1. [www.apple.com]
http://get.adobe.com/de/products/flashplayer/
(I think this one is pretty funny)

2. [web.mit.edu]
http://icanhascheezburger.com/

3. [imdb.com]
http://thepiratebay.org

4. [www.4chan.org]
http://www.scientology.org/

5. [brockhaus.de]
http://de.wikipedia.org/

6. [www.bundestag.de]
http://www.bigbrotherawards.de/

7. [pleaserobme.com]
http://polizei.de/

Read More...

These Minimal TMA-1 Headphones from Aiaiai Have Me All Hot Under the Collar [Headphones]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5608906/these-minimal-tma+1-headphones-from-aiaiai-have-me-all-hot-under-the-collar

These Minimal TMA-1 Headphones from Aiaiai Have Me All Hot Under the CollarI'm constantly searching for The Pair of over-ear headphones, so I'm pretty chuffed that after months of stunning teaser photos the TMA-1 'phones by Aiaiai have finally gone on sale—for $170*.

They hail from Denmark, and adding further weight to the idea that Scandinavia is the king of design, they've been created with help by a tidy list of electronic acts, like 2 Many DJs and Hot Chip.

Supposedly taking inspiration from the sound quality of Sennheiser's HD 25 'phones, Aiaiai wanted to create a more durable and robust pair with minimal branding according to this interview they did with Slamxhype.

The headphones have a 1.7m cable, 6.3mm stereo plug converter, and include the following specs:

Transducer Principle: Dynamic, closed
Driver Unit Size: 40 mm
Impedance: 32±15% Ohm
Load Rating: 0.1W
Frequency Response: 20 to 20.000 Hz
Total Harmonic Distortion: <0.3%
Sensitivity: 110±3dB Weight w/o
Cable: 190 Gram

On sale now Dkk 1,400, which converts to about $250 / 180 Euros. *

OR pick them up at The Ghostly, where they cost $170 as an introductory price for US residents. [Aiaiai via FutureBlog]

These Minimal TMA-1 Headphones from Aiaiai Have Me All Hot Under the Collar

Read More...

A Rubik's Cube Can Always Be Solved In 20 Moves Or Less [Puzzles]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5609032/a-rubicks-cube-can-always-be-solved-in-20-moves-or-less

A Rubik's Cube Can Always Be Solved In 20 Moves Or LessUsing 35 years of Google-donated CPU time, a team of researchers found that every possible configuration of the Rubik's Cube can be solved in 20 moves or less. Personally, I've almost got all the yellows on one side.

That's right: every one of the Rubik's Cube's 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible positions can be solved in 20 moves or less.

That figure—the maximum number of moves it takes to solve the Cube using the most efficient algorithms possible—is called God's Number. In 1981, it was thought to be as high as 52. By 2005 it was at 28. And now, using a program that can solve the Cube in 20 seconds over 35 CPU-years of idle computer time donated by Google, it's been proven to be exactly 20.

Of course, for the true Cube-heads, there's plenty of interesting math behind the discovery. For the rest of us, there's just the nagging knowledge that we've gone about 400 rotations too far. [Cube 20 via Slashdot]

Image credit M. Christian

Read More...

Amazon Kindle DX Graphite review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/09/amazon-kindle-dx-graphite-review/

Just over a year ago, we reviewed Amazon's jumbo-sized Kindle, the Kindle DX. And just a few weeks ago, Amazon outed a new, $379 Graphite gray version of the DX. This time, it's got the new Pearl display from E Ink, which supposedly boasts a much higher contrast ratio and a faster page refresh rate over its predecessor. Other than that, you're looking at pretty much the same unit as before, and if you like a large e-reader, that's probably a good thing. Read on for our full impressions of the device.

Continue reading Amazon Kindle DX Graphite review

Amazon Kindle DX Graphite review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Read More...