Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Gadgets
OpenStomp Coyote 1 is Hackable Open Source Effects Pedal For Real Guitar Heroes
11:45PM John Mahoney | Anyone who is a fan of 1960s-era guitar idol mythology knows that crazy custom circuitry and effects pedals are nothing new. But the OpenStomp Coyote 1, the “world’s first open-source guitar pedal” updates the trend for today’s slightly more nerdy shredders, who can recreate the crazy circuit bending of yore in a custom software package that visually edits effects patches. On top of that, all aspects of the hardware–including the added LCD screen, 80MHz Propeller processor, microUSB and RJ11 interfaces–are documented, too, so feel free to open ‘er up. It’s shipping now for US$350. [OpenStomp] More »
Entertainment
This Week’s Blu-ray Releases
11:30PM Mark Wilson | Giz Pick of the Week: The Nightmare Before Christmas AU: Sorry folks, I think this schedule is US only – but I still hope the digital file version is available on the Region B releases… More »
Gadgets
Shapeways Allows You to Materialise Any 3D Object, Star Trek Style
11:00PM Jesus Diaz | While visiting the Philips research lab here in Amsterdam I came across a company that is getting the Star Trek replicator closer to everyday life. Imagine being able to create any 3D object you want–a World of Warcraft avatar, a chess set, a lamp, a Lego piece you are missing, a house for a train model, or a fully articulated astromech droid–print it remotely, and have it delivered to your house in just 10 days, even without knowing any 3D software. This is exactly what Shapeways does. Not next century, but right now, today. More »
Design
Shooter Fire Extinguisher Adds a Little Nerf-iness to Battling Blazes
10:45PM Kit Eaton | Were the humble, boring old fire extinguisher to be reworked in the style of this concept design, dubbed Shooter, they’d be grabbed from the wall and used inappropriately in offices waaaay more frequently. Because, as its name suggests, the device is meant to behave like a friendly Nerf-style grenade launcher, aiming plastic pellets of CO2 into the flames. This has the advantage of keeping you away from the fire, with a better range than throw-style pellets, and less complication than a standard sprayer version. And more fun/danger at the office Christmas party too. [Yanko Design] More »
Phones
Palm Treo Pro Sized Up Against Competition
10:30PM Mark Wilson | Most of us can size up the functionality of a phone from its spec sheet, but a phone’s practicality, usability and enjoyability falls to a whole other series of factors. Form factor is a biggie. In this clip, you’ll see the Treo Pro literally sized up against the smartphone competition (including the Palm Centro, Motorola Q9H, the BlackBerry Bold, the iPhone 3G, the HTC Touch Diamond and more. If you’re at work and can’t play the audio track, just turn it off and you’ll still get most of the effect. [CrackBerry]UPDATE: Video after jump: More »
Cameras
Canon’s E1 Digital Camera is Shiny, Curvy, in Baby Pink and Blue
9:12PM Kit Eaton | Canon’s clearly trying to add a certain girly appeal to some of its latest digital cameras, since compared to the gruff, black 50D the upcoming E1 is particularly curvy and comes in vanilla, powder blue and baby pink. It’s no optical slouch though, despite its simple looks, with 10-megapixels, 4x optical zoom and optical image stabilisation, macro mode, ISO80-1600 (with 3200 scene mode) and a 2.5-inch TFT display. It also takes AA batteries for convenience and weighs just 158g. Available in September for around $200. [Canon] More »
GPS
Navigon 7200T GPS Has 3D Landmarks, Free Live Traffic Info
9:00PM Kit Eaton | Navigon’s upcoming 7200T GPS unit has some pretty high-end features: voice destination entry, photo-realistic 3D views of roads with lane guidance icons and 3D landmarks built-in. But its niftiest feature is free real-time traffic info updates with no subscription fees, for life. That’s just got to be handy, and comes over an FM receiver from Clear Channel’s Total Traffic Network. The 3D road rendering is designed to stop you making the mistake I made last night: mistranslating a GPS display onto the complicated road interchange I was trying to cross because the two looked different. The Lane Assistant feature even tries to give you advance warning of which lane you’ll need to be in before a junction. It’s due in October for US$449. Press release below. More »
Cameras
Russian Astronaut Uses ISS to Take Photos of Ossetia Invasion while NASA Looks to the Other Side
7:37PM Jesus Diaz | According to the NASA International Space Station status report, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko used a digital camera with 800mm telephoto lenses and a video camera to take images of the “after-effects of border conflict operations in the Caucasus.” In theory, this seems to have violated the non-military use clause of the station, but Russia has claimed “humanitarian motives.” More »
Phones
HTC’s S740 is a Bit Touch Pro, a Bit Touch Diamond, With Windows
7:22PM Kit Eaton | HTC’s certainly hitting the market with many a new phone at the mo, and here’s yet another: the S740. It’s a slider like the Touch Pro, with similar styling to both the Pro and the Diamond, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and US 3G aboard. It’s also just 16.3mm thick, so it’s skinnier than the Pro and almost exactly the same depth as the upcoming Dream. It’ll run Windows Mobile Standard 6.1, apparently, on a 2.4-inch QVGA screen. There’s quad-band support, a 3.2-megapixel cam. Full specs below. More »
Phones
