Friday, December 5, 2008
Peripherals
iPhone Barf Bag Mod is Perfect for Airsick MacGyver
11:40PM Mark Wilson | Anyone can fashion a piece of cardboard to hold their iPhone at home, but who has a pile of old boxes and a spare sharpened implement on a plane? (Not you, hopefully.) More »
Networks
AT&T Wants All Its Smartphones Running the Same OS, Eventually
11:20PM John Herrman | AT&T plans to run a single mobile OS on all of its branded smartphones, citing the “support nightmare” of maintaining multiple platforms at once. Curiously, this announcement was made at a Symbian conference. Updated 13:05 EST. It’s not entirely clear what AT&T means by this announcement, but one question was addressed right off the bat: the iPhone, which the company described as “a third-party device” that generally isn’t supported or interfered with by the company, is immune. Such a consolidation would push all but one of Microsoft, RIM, Nokia or even Google out of AT&T’s stable, which might be construed as brash. Even more bizarre are the implicit expectations for phone manufacturers. Would RIM, assuming their phones aren’t deemed “third party products”, be expected to adopt a new OS? Will Nokia phones be excluded from AT&T’s lineup unless they run Windows Mobile? Simultaneously stating that the plan would only include AT&T branded smartphones (of which there are few) and that it would be a “dramatic restructuring”, the company has left the scope of this initiative a mystery. As for which OS would be chosen, the location of the announcement and mentions of a preference for an “open” platform are all we have to go on. I could imagine these statements raising a few eyebrows around the industry, so don’t be surprised to see some kind of clarification issued in the next few days. [Yahoo] UPDATE: Although it is possible some quotes in the original story came from a post-speech interview with AT&T’s Roger Smith, commenter Sinecure saw the presentation and took away a completely different message: I sat through the entirety of Roger Smith’s presentation at the Symbian show yesterday and I did NOT come away with that impression one single bit. Methinks some Yahoo reporter just got a little over-excited for an interesting headline. I’m calling major BS and misinterpretation on this one. Frankly it makes me even more suspect of some of the reporting on technical subjects out there. Bottom line: I heard this supposed “announcement” first hand and I did not hear him say anything approaching what the reporter is saying. More »
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Sony’s Enormous Bravia Zoetrope Caught Zoetroping
8:38PM John Herrman | As reported yesterday, Sony’s new Bravia ad will feature the world’s largest zoetrope, a 10m tribute to those Olde-Tyme Rotational Animation Dee-vices displayed in local children’s museums. You know, with the horses? Here’s a video. More »
Cameras
Samsung Webcam Sensor Handles 720p, Fits Inside Your Laptop Bezel
7:50PM John Herrman | It’s not the the advent of 720p webcamming that we’re seeing here—it’s just a change that means that it won’t have to look like this, and will probably come built into mainstream notebooks. More »
Science
Brain Surgeons Give Mute Man Second Chance to Speak
6:00PM Elaine Chow | Brain surgeons at Boston University have enabled a mute man to speak again by implanting an electrode into his brain. The electrode senses when he’s thinking about vowels and reproduces them using a speech synthesiser. More »
Vehicles
17-Month Trip In Solar Taxi Ends At UN Climate Change Talks in Poland
5:00PM Elaine Chow | After 17 gruelling months, Swiss adventurer Louis Palmer’s around-the-world trip in a solar-powered car is finally over. Altogether, he traveled 51,500km and across 40 countries. More »
Gadgets
Homebrew iPhone App Lets You Reward Sparky From Afar
4:00PM Andi Wang | Wonder what your pets are doing when you’re not home? Here’s a simple homebrew iPhone app that’ll allow you to spy on your dog, and shower him with treats, no matter where you are! More »
Cameras
3:30PM Nick Broughall | If you’re a surfer / jetskier / snowboarder / sailor / kayaker / speedboater / any sport that involves water who’s been ruing the lack of a wearable, waterproof camera that you can take with you to video your crazy water-based adventures – you’re in luck! The Predator VX360, which claims the mantle of “first wearable waterproof video camera” has been available in the UK for a little while, but it’s coming to Australia in January for $1199. More »
Predator VX360 Is World’s First Wearable Waterproof Video Camera
3:30PM Nick Broughall | If you’re a surfer / jetskier / snowboarder / sailor / kayaker / speedboater / any sport that involves water who’s been ruing the lack of a wearable, waterproof camera that you can take with you to video your crazy water-based adventures – you’re in luck! The Predator VX360, which claims the mantle of “first wearable waterproof video camera” has been available in the UK for a little while, but it’s coming to Australia in January for $1199. More »
Science
NASA Scientists Give Up on Phoenix Resurrection
3:20PM Jesus Diaz | It may be extremely difficult but, even after its dead, NASA scientists have been trying to resurrect the Phoenix Mars Lander at all costs. Sadly, they gave up last week. Happily, there is hope. More »
Phones
