Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Computers
Dreamcast PC Is Like a Teddy Bear Restuffed with Faeces
11:37PM Mark Wilson | Tokyo PC shop Tsukumo built this custom Dreamcast computer. Its innards gutted, the system was “upgraded” with a new motherboard, Blu-ray drive, HDMI, and 160GB hard drive. The controller ports were swapped out for USB inputs and mega-sized fan was added to the bottom. Added up, these changes represent $US1000 in hardware modifications. You can’t see much of a difference here, but check out the flipside shots: More »
Design
Eco-Friendly 360 Paper Bottle Concept Makes Tetra Paks Look So ’60s
10:51PM Kit Eaton | I tend to avoid bottled water—my tap-water’s fine and way cheaper—but since millions don’t think the same, this concept from designers Brand Image would be a way to reduce the eco-impact of all those nasty plastic bottles. The 360 is a paper bottle, molded from 100% recyclable, food-safe paper, and its simplicity makes even the venerable cardboard Tetra Pak drinks carton look outdated. These things are almost “printed-out,” they stack, are re-sealable, and look fab. These ought to be real, and when they are I hope they get the texture of the “lip” right: you don’t want fuzzy cardboardiness there. [Core77]galleryPost('360paper', 3, ''); More »
Design
Gesture-Controlled Light Switch is Like a Trackpad For Your House
10:28PM John Herrman | The hardware in Mac Funamizu’s gesture-controlled light switch would be very, very simple—after all, it’s just a trackpad. But it’s the input methods that make this exciting: just as laptop trackpads can track gestures for scrolling, this light switch would parse them to control up a roomful of lights, either together or in unison. The lights are mapped onto the pad as they are positioned in the room, and a simple sliding motion toward or away from a specific light would brighten or dim it individually. For maximum light-dimming suavity, the circular gesture function takes control of every bulb at once. galleryPost('lightpadconcept', 3, ''); More »
Peripherals
Toshiba Pops Out 16GB microSD Card, Ultra-Fast 8GB and 16GB SD Cards
9:34PM Kit Eaton | Sandisk may have a 16GB microSDHC card already a little sneakily on the scene, but now Toshiba’s announced it’s joining the game with one of its own. The card is compliant with SD memory standard version 2.00, as are the other two cards Tosh is making: The 8GB and 16GB SDHC cards with a maximum write speed of a speedy 20MB/s. All of these tiny memory units are due for production and sale over the next two to three months, so you’ll be slipping them into your mobile phones and cameras from early ‘09. [Toshiba] More »
Gadgets
Golden Shellback’s Waterproofing Voodoo Magic Now Available For Purchase
9:07PM John Herrman | Golden Shellback started circulating videos of their extraordinary gadget waterproofing treatment in action way back in July, and it took us a while (and a live demo) to really believe that it works. Well, it does, and now you can buy it. That is, if you’re willing to send the company your gadget to be treated with their mysterious “vacuum deposited film.” All of the coatings come with a warranty, but its modest 30 day duration raises some concerns about the coating’s durability. But really, warranties? Longetivity? Whatever, tell me about it on my underwater BlackBerry. Amphibian-able gadget list, with prices, after the jump. [OhGizmo] More »
Computers
HDCP Restrictions Rolled Back on New MacBooks
8:28PM John Herrman | One part of the new MacBook experience that didn’t exactly seem like much of an upgrade was the addition of HDCP for the new DisplayPort video connector, which left users unable to watch iTunes DRMed video content—HD or SD—on non-HDCP compliant external displays. This morning Apple released an update to ease the pain: protected SD content will now play on older DVI and VGA-connected displays. It’s a step in the right direction, but the real mistake here probably wasn’t including SD content under the HDCP umbrella—it was cramming the DRM tech into the laptops in the first place. [MacRumors] More »
Peripherals
Brando Clock Thermometer Has More USB Than We Know What to Do With
8:15PM Elaine Chow | I sometimes wonder if the people at Brando have a competition going to see how many USB ports they could possibly put into one gadget. This alarm clock hub comes with seven, as well as a calendar and thermometer. With seven hubs (and knowledge of your room’s exact temperature), you could charge your iPod, warm your feet, warm your hands, heat your coffee, heat your lunch, humidify your cubicle and still have a port left over. Sure, having all those things running at the same time could cause some massive electrical shortage, but at least you’ll be toasty, moisturised and you’ll know what time it is. [Brando] More »
Science
UMich VIVACE Hydropower System Makes Energy From Slow Currents
7:30PM Elaine Chow | A new hydropower prototype from the University of Michigan could end up using even slower river and ocean currents to generate energy. VIVACE, which stands for Vortex Induced Vibrations for Aquatic Clean Energy, can generate power from as little as 2 knots, making it more useful than most turbine and water mill systems out there, which need an average of 5 to 6 knots to operate efficiently. More »
Software
SE Xperia Panel Interface Modded to Work on HTC Touch HD
6:45PM Elaine Chow | Not sure why anybody would take on this project, but several modders at the xda-developers forum have gotten Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X1 panel interface to work on HTC’s Touch HD. From the look of it, X1 installs, launches and works without much of a speed difference, and the panel interface actually seems nicer on the Touch HD’s roomier screen. I doubt either company would be happy about this, but if you ever wanted X1’s interface rather than TouchFLO on your HTC handset, I guess now there’s a way to get it. [xda-developers via Engadget China] More »
Cameras
