Monday, November 17, 2008
Screens
Skyla Memoir Digital Photo Frame Has In-Built Photo Scanner
11:45PM Kit Eaton | Looks like digital photo frames are beginning to move from nice-to-haves to actually quite useful: Skyla’s Memoir photo frame has an in-built 600dpi scanner so it’ll digitise your hardcopy photo archive for you. It’s got a 1GB memory, apparently good for about 200 4 x 6-inch prints (the maximum size the scanner can take). Plus it’s a respectable 800 x 600-pixel 4:3 ratio screen, and has two USB ports so you can sync the frame to your PC and plug in flash drives and the like. Not too shabby at all for $US220 when it comes out in December. [GearLog via OhGizmo] More »
Games
Modded DS Light (With a ‘G’) Shames All Others on the Disco Floor
11:30PM John Mahoney | A Japanese DIY aficionado stripped open his DS and added about 200 pieces of LED flair. The Nico Douga commenter who, amidst the sea of wwwwwwwww, suggested pairing this with the Korg DS-10 (which is now available, by the way)–I’m feeling you on that. The action starts, appropriately, at 4:20. [Kotaku] More »
Science
Indian Lunar Probe Crashes On Moon Surface
11:00PM Jesus Diaz | After a 25-minute descent, Chandrayaan-1’s Moon Impact Probe has successfully crashed on the Moon’s surface, taking images of the descent like these ones and making yet another man-made hole on the battered Earth’s satellite. More »
Gadgets
ButtKicker Wireless Kit, Because Your Couch Doesn’t Shake Yet, Does It?
10:40PM Mark Wilson | If you like your home theatre seats to rumble, chances are you’re heard of ButtKicker, the sort of subwoofer for you butt that adds a tactile component to movies and games. Now the company is announcing a new, moderately more affordable wireless bundle, Priced at $US300, you get one complete Buttkicker setup (works on one chair/couch) along with a wireless transmitter/receiver. You’ll still have to make due with a few boxes sitting on your floor, but at least you won’t have to hide the wire run. Look for it at Amazon starting Black Friday. More »
Online
TiVo Completes The Evening TV Dinner: Adds Domino’s Pizza Ordering
10:30PM Kit Eaton | Ahh…digitally controllable TV, and the chance of fresh tasty pizza: That’s what TiVo and Dominos Pizza are now offering. Broadband-connected TiVo users will be able to order pizza for delivery or pick-up (though that’d involve leaving the comforting hug of your sofa’s cushions…crazy!) and then can even track the progress all via the TiVo interface. It starts today, it’s free to broadband TiVo subscribers, and the only inconvenience is having to pay in cash when the food arrives. Press release below. AU: We know this is coming to Australia next year… just a few more months before you can literally live on your couch.
Science
G-Speak Minority Report Gesture UI Actually Made By Minority Report Designer
10:25PM Kit Eaton | Un-frickin-believable: there’ve been a few pretenders, but it looks like this new G-Speak system is really the Minority Report UI made into science-faction;it’s made by one of the guys who actually worked on advising the Minority Report movie. It even has gloves something akin to Tom Cruise’s natty controllers from the film, and it lets you do the whole arms waving in the air, drag items between screens, object-oriented interface control. More »
Phones
Asus Announces 800MHz ‘World’s Fastest’ Smartphone
10:10PM John Herrman | Asus is laying claim to the title for the fastest smartphone in the world, and there’s little reason to doubt them. The news, though, is hollow: P565 with its 800MHz Marvell processor is objectively impressive, but underneath the oppressive, unflattering veil of Windows Mobile 6.1 it’s not likely to blow anyone away. Carrying a dense 480×640 touchscreen to complement a solid range of specs — HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS and 24fps video recording to name a few — the P565 is nonetheless fighting a software war with hardware improvements. On the other hand, if you’re one of those odd folks for whom any superlative is an automatic selling point, then this may be your ultimate handset. [Reg Hardware]
Gadgets
The Government Doesn’t Need Telcos’ Help To Spy On Your Mobile Phones, Thank You Very Much
9:16PM John Herrman | The Federal Government has used the mobile phone tracking ‘Triggerfish’ gadget for years now, and sometimes with great success. That’s because its an effective, invasive piece of hardware: by posing as a cell tower Triggerfish is able to quickly glean valuable identifying data from phones. Like phone taps, this had previously been thought to have been used only with the telcos’ approval, and after law enforcement officials had found “probable cause” to monitor someone. That supposed caveat was a minor comfort to privacy hounds, but as is so often the case with these things, might have been, shall we say, slightly optimistic. More »
Gadgets
Harry Potter-ish Photos With Moving Shadows Invented
8:22PM Kit Eaton | Okay, so this new moving-photo tech doesn’t have the photo subjects actually dancing about within the frame, but it does allow for objects to have moving/reactive shadows and highlights and it’s zero-powered like an old-fashioned picture. More »
Cameras
