At the spring arts ITP show the other day, designer Christian Cerrito had a demonstration which will have had bristlebot designers everywhere smacking their foreheads in a “My god, that’s obvious!” manner. He used a big tray, a bunch of the simple and strangely lovable DIY bristlebots and a few gobs of paint and voilà: new artworks were created. There’s even some science in there: the random walk of the bots is affected by the viscosity of the paint, so as the painting gets bigger, it gets more complex, in an interestingly chaotic manner. More interesting than Jackson Pollock’s splattery art? Well… maybe, if you’re a robot geek. [ITP via Bot Junkie]
It is a truth universally acknowledged that girls are good at multi-tasking, but one has to wonder what Aving USA’s Grace Won was thinking about when she wrote about DZone’s SATA hard-disk-drive cradle. [Aving USA]
With its yellow-gold body and webbing camera strap, Sony’s limited-edition A350 is available in Japan and will cost you the equivalent of US$850. The camera, which came second in Wilson’s entry-level DSLR Battlemodo last month, looks pretty spanky in champagne, doncha think? Check it out in the extensive and gorgeous gallery below. [Impress]
Yesterday I was angry with Motorola – when I left home to go to a meeting in the morning, my Motorola Q said it had a full battery. On the train I received a phone call, and after four minutes the phone started beeping at me like a bitter ex-wife that its battery power was dangerously low.
Fortunately I happened to bump into some of the lovely folks at Motorola at a PR event last night and after telling them my plight, they introduced me to the Moto Q’s extended battery.
While they couldn’t tell me the cost (never fear, Gizmodians – I am chasing that up now), they did tell me that it’s available now. I’m also trying to track down some stats on the battery – you know, like talk time and standby – so we can all make an informed decision about whether or not the extra bulk (it adds about 5mm depth to the battery compartment) is worth it.
For me, considering how thin the Q is anyway, I don’t think I’ll mind the 5mm Quasimodo hump for a big boost to battery life. But what about you guys? Would you be interested in a chunky battery for longer talk time on your mobile (even if it’s not the Q)? Let us know in comments. UPDATE: Motorola have informed us that “Motorola is currently offering an extended battery with any purchase of the MOTO Q. This is a limited time offer, while stocks last. Extended battery valued at $44.95″.
The OLPC initiative has come to Australia, and they’re holding a special Techfest day for anybody interested in learning more about the XO, or those who just want to get their greasy hands all over one. There will be demonstrations, workshops and developer tutorials for both the hardware and software.
It’s completely free, and could be a fun day out on a Sunday for anybody looking for something to do on June 1. It’s being held a St Ignatius College, Riverview between 9:30am and 6:00pm.
For a full rundown on the day’s planned events, or to RSVP (for catering purposes), head on over to the OLPC Australia website.
[OLPC.org.au via Lifehacker AU]
For everybody who’s been hanging out for the local release date and of “the world’s smallest Full HD camcorder” from Sony, we’ve got the details here.The HDR-TG1 is available now for the bargain price of $1,599.I had a little play around with this camera the other day – one of the coolest features is the ability to automatically bookmark people’s faces as you film, so when you’re playing back on the camera you can select a face and playback will start from the point in time their face was registered.Stay tuned for a more detailed look at this impressive little camera soon.[Sony]
BlackBerry’s been everywhere recently, with their upcoming Bold phone to take on the iPhone and their Touchscreen Thunder also rumoured for a release later this year.
But if you’re after a HSDPA-enabled Blackberry and don’t want to wait for either of those models to launch, you could always download BlackBerry Connect onto a Motorola Q9h.
Motorola has very recently made the Blackberry Connect service available for download from their website, giving your Q the ability to receive push email from BlackBerry Enterprise Server, plus BlackBerry’s desktop software for syncing details between your PC and phone.
It’s a free download, although you do need to have a BlackBerry Connect Data plan added onto you phone plan.
[Motorola]
The Northern Territory Government is a little bit screwed at the moment – turns out that a 27 year old hacker got into their network and shut down the servers for the health department, Royal Darwin Hospital, Berrimah Prison and the supreme court up there.
On top of that, he deleted the independant user accounts of over 10,000 public servants.
The man accused moved to Darwin in February as a service engineer to update and maintain the NT governments online system, but resigned in April.
The report had no word on a motive for the attack, although it’s rumoured that his defence will involve dingos using his laptop to do the hacking.
This isn’t the final official version of the Sprint Mogul Windows Mobile 6.1 firmware update—which probably means that it shouldn’t be called “official”—but it has been leaked on WinMo dev sites. New features are Sprint TV, a larger Start Menu, speedier response and of course, Windows Mobile 6.1. If you’re really dying for new features on your phone you can download and install it now, otherwise we’d wait until the final version is available within the next month or so. [PPC Geeks via WMExperts via Boy Genius]
Every year, millions of plastic CD and DVD cases and unrecyclable plastic spindles are thrown into landfill. It’s a tragic prctice that will single-handedly create the downfall of the human race, unless something is done about it.
TDK know this, so they’re now releasing their recordable CDs and DVDs in environmentally friendly, 100% recyclable cardboard filing drawers, which not only save the planet from plastic landfill-related end-of-the-world scenarios, but can be used as an easy-access filing method for your discs.
The only downside is that this is actually a limited time promotion – although if its successful, TDK will consider saving the world all the time, not just at the end of the financial year.
A 100 pack of CDs will set you back $35, while recordable DVDs (both +R and -R) will cost you $50.
[TDK]
