As I blindly played Wii Sports from the kitchen the other day—the TV completely out of sight—I couldn't help but wonder why many remotes still implement hindering line-of-sight IR to work properly. Enter the RF Point Anywhere.
Developed by AT&T, the Anywhere uses RF tech to control your various home entertainment baubles from anywhere in the room. Behind a couch; with the cable box behind an opaque cabinet door; or even from the dark basement dungeon you set up for when the AT&T U-verse guy shows up late for his ambiguously defined 9-5 appointment window (yes, it's back lit!).
We've covered RF remotes before, most notably the recent Loop Remote, which controls TVs using a mix of Wii-like wonder, some pointing, and plenty of kitsch. The RF Anywhere is perhaps a bit more practical, but again you need to be a U-verse user to enjoy it.
The remote will cost U-verse customers $50 (slightly more than the one they get with service), and that includes the RF dongle. After that's paid up, you're free to change channels blindly from the pooper at your convenience. [AT&T via Engadget]
The Orbis is only half as big as the Segway that spawned it, but don't let that fool you. The thing's easily twice as cool, especially if you happen to be Woz playing Segway polo.
I mean come on. Facts are facts. Smaller footprint. Easier maneuverability in the tight spots. Folds down for easy storage in the closet when that hot date comes over for a digestif. Brisk 13 mph top speed. Completely portable. Battery powered. This is assuming, of course, you give two shits about the Segway to begin with.
Negatives? Blatantly obvious balance issues abound, sure, but the designers can work those our with Woz's money help, right? Otherwise what's stopping you from falling like a tree when you come to a standstill?
Too bad it's just a concept at the moment; a mere whiff of a hipster's passing dream. This will change though. Segway culture demands it be so. [James Dyson Award via Design Blog]
The first football game to *officially* grace the brand spankin' new Dallas Cowboys stadium was in fact rendered for all to see in glorious 1080p high definition.
The game played out on the stadium's 160ft. x 72ft screen—the world's largest 1080p HDTV—as part of a fan appreciation day sponsored by EA and PlayStation. More than 10,000 were expected to attend.
Driving the game as it unfolded high in the air was a humble (in comparison) PlayStation 3. [Kotaku]
Lifehacker takes on the best of the best in video players this Sunday. In the interest of continuing the "best" theme, the best part of all is there's no middleman—This list is generated by glorious Readers Like You. [Lifehacker]
You name it, we've got it: Sexy search tools! Google Voice! Upstart app stores! Maps, with stuff on them! Radio! Emulators, from the future! Fresh new browsers! It's all in a day's month's work for Windows Mobile.
HandMarket App Store: Handmark's mobile client for their ample Windows Mobile app market has left beta, and by all counts, it was ready to: Navigation is easy, there are a fair number of free apps, and they've snagged some big names, like Skyfire and EA games. Waiting for Microsoft's official store is for chumps, I say.
Skyfire: Speaking of SkyFire (unnecessary abbreviation: "SkyFi"), they've updated their start page with new content. This may not sound like much, but anyone who's used the browser can attest to the start page's usefulness as a launch pad. Previously it featured Twitter, Facebook and others; now, there's search history, Gmail—awesome—and Facebook album previews. Free.
Terrestrica: A crowd-sourced geotagging/tourism app, Terrestrica just got a fair bit more useful with the addition of direct, location-tagged Picasa uploading and Twitter integration. The user-contributed map data is still a little slim, though.
Google Maps Layers: If you like your map overlays a little more, shall we say, filled out, Google Maps has just updated their excellent WinMo app with support for user layers, just like the desktop version has. It's had Latitude support, too, for a while now, which is more than can be said for, ahem, some other mobile platforms.
iDialer: I appreciate when my mobile apps have a sense of humor, and I can't help but think iDialer does: At first glance, it looks like an iPhone dialer ripoff—the kind of pathetic app that makes Windows Mobile users cringe, and iPhone fanboys feel warm and smug inside. But there's a minor detail that you shouldn't overlook: it's a seamless, easy to setup Google Voice client, too. Ha. It's donationware, so be generous.
SPB Radio: A tidy little radio app from a company that makes some of the more polished Windows Mobile apps out there today, SPB radio has a healthy directory (around 1,500 streams) of radio content and a slick, finger-friendly interface. The stations are free—it's a shame the app isn't. $10.
Windows Mobile 6.5 Emulator: It's a stretch for an app roundup, but everyone seems pretty curious about what Windows Mobile 6.5 is going to be like, so here you go: If you're not venturesome enough to install one of the many betas floating around to tubes onto your primary phone, have a go with Microsoft's free desktop emulator. You're in for a pleasant surprise, actually.
Office Communicator R2: Suits: Your preferred corporate communication app has been upgraded, and now you can log into your office's private branch exchange from anywhere, VPN-style. Neat, right! No? Just click next.
Bing: Microsoft has released a full, dedicated mobile app for its Bing search engine, which brings fuller phone integration, map searches and easier local listings compared to the regular mobile web interface. It's like all those Google search apps you've seen elsewhere, except decidedly Bingier.
Dorothy: WebKit has become the de facto mobile browser engine—it's the heart of the iPhone, Android and Symbian browsers—but Windows Mobile has been sadly neglected. Iris browser works, strictly speaking, but it's a little slow, and awkward to use (though development seems to have picked up as of late). Hopefully Dorothy, which is still in a closed private beta but looks fantastic, can fill the void.
This list is in no way definitive. If you've spotted a great app that hit the store this month, give us a heads up or let us know in the comments. Have a good rest of your weekend, everybody!
Ready for some mystery? The answer is... we don't know!
It's true. We (being astronomers and people far smarter than I) really don't know. But we do know where this mysterious event took place: One million kilometers away, in Saturn's F ring.
The pic was snapped by a school bus sized gadget we call Cassini. It's been orbiting Saturn since 2004, and the wealth of data, photos and knowledge beamed back to us in that timeframe is nothing short of amazing.
But this latest snapshot is an enigma. Something punched through the F ring, violently spewing a plume of dust, ice and rock out into the nothingness—but what?
Even more mysterious is the bright spot left in the object's wake. Icy crystals laid bare for the Sun's rays? A new material? A cosmic mooning from some alien prankster? Possibly, but whatever it is, it's yet another reminder of how violent and unexpected space can be.
Desperate to see more of the Zune HD UI before the player drops in the fall? Then check out this video, taken all spy shot-like at the recent gdgt launch party during an interactive demo.
As we all know by now, the browser got some good press on Friday, when CNET gushed over how well it did what browsers do. Our own Zune HD hands on a while back was impressive too.
Microsoft's Very Big Deal for the holiday season, indeed. [YouTube - Thanks, Alf]
A purportedly reliable tipster has just leaked the pre-launch list of all upcoming AT&T phones:
Topping the list are some notables from BlackBerry, Garmin and HTC, including:
- BlackBerry 9700 (charcoal) - Garmin Nuvifone G60 - HTC Tilt 2, HTC Tilt 2 w/o camera - HTC Pure
No definitive release dates are given, but this list of confirmed phones is rumored to encompass releases ranging from two weeks to three months or more from today. [BGR]
MAKE brings up a good point this weekend. Burning Man is coming soon, and things get dusty there, amongst many other things. I have a friend going this year, so I may just make her a pair of these:
They're post-apocalyptic and cool and remind me of that Tim Burton CGI flick 9 coming out this fall. They also look easy enough to do in the short time I have before she heads off into the dusty Nevada wilderness for music, parties and unspeakable debauchery. These will surely help fend off the the dust. As for the rest of the event's festivities, well, that's what the clinic is for. [Windfire DesignsMAKE]
And FYI: In case you missed it, the headline was inspired by this classic Simpsons moment:
Don't look now but the stumbling Tesla Motors, the electric car company recently on the receiving end of a $465 million government loan, has turned a profit for the first time in its six-year history.
The numbers broke down to about $20 million in revenue and $1 million in profit. That $465 million is set to fund development of the company's first sedan offering, the $50,000 Tesla Model S. Not stumbling anymore, it seems. [CNN]
September 3 is looking to be an OK day for Sprint/HTC fans, as we received word today that the HTC Touch Pro2 is set to launch for the carrier on that very day.
This launch date is a few weeks later than when T-Mobile's HTC Touch Pro2 is slated to make a mid-August appearance. Also making an appearance September 3 is the Instinct S50, an aesthetic update to Samsung's previous phone of the same name. The phone's 3.2-inch touchscreen will be paired with a 5MP autofocus camera.
In related news, the Touch Pro2/S50 rumor arrives on the heels of last month's revelation that Sprint would land the HTC Hero in October. [Phonearena]
Asking price with two-year contract is an astounding $1,270 because tired, overdone Dick Tracy fantasies and allusions by gadget bloggers are anything but cheap. The presser says this is the "starting price" so the one-year contract might actually be more (that's admittedly a guess on my part, as additional contract subsidizing details are not given).
As we reported in July, the phone will be exclusive to Orange in France for the time being. Global distribution, hinted at before, is still unclear. [France TelecomOhGizmo]
Holy Geezuss-roller-blading-in-a-tutu-christ. The next gadget-ridden Iron Man movie looks absolutely amazing. I mean, it would be amazing anyway just by the blinding presence of Pepper Potts alone, but these five minutes of footage have got me by my iron jewels.
What you're watching is "JRefleX93" playing Mr. Crowley in Guitar Hero on expert. With his elbow. While he does this, there are going to be two Rubik's Cubes entering the frame. By the end of the video they are solved.
He doesn't hit every note, sure, but he hits most of them, including the majority of those intense guitar solos. By the end he has a 77% rating and the hearts of geeky middle school gals the world over are his for the taking.
Money shot proof comes at the end, alongside a fade to black groan at about 6:15 that immediately destroys whatever geek cred this kid just spent six minutes of his life trying to create. [YouTube via Geekologie]
What do a Black & Decker cordless drill, smoke detectors and even Speedo's controversial record-breaking LZR swimsuit have in common? Here's a hint: Look up.
Way up. The answer? They were all the direct result of NASA products and research initially conducted for space travel.
The drill, for instance, was created in 1971, when NASA tapped Black & Decker to build a cordless, battery-power tool for lunar voyages and space walks. The smoker detector, on the other hand, was installed on Skylab in the 1970s to warn astronauts of mission- and life-ending fire. Finally, the LZR, long an antagonist to anyone racing against Michael Phelps in an Olympic pool, was created using materials developed by NASA to fight chafing on space walks and certain high g-force situations.
Radar magazine has a cool list of eleven more where that came from, including braces, swipe cards and even a rose-scented perfume. When you wear underwear for a month straight, things get stinky. [Radar via Neatorama]
Following its big reveal in Singapore last month, the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic is available now, as the accompanying unboxing video and pics will reveal.
The 5530 is, in effect, a smaller, cheaper 5800, and features a 2.9-inch widescreen display, 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash and a 4GB memory card.
And one last thing to remember: If you do enjoy the look of this phone, know that there is no 3G, only GSM/EDGE (although it does do wi-fi). [Daily Mobile, YouTube via Engadget]
Astromech droids calculating biplane hyperspace jumps in World War I? AT-ST's storming the beaches in Normandy? Nefarious TIE Fighters sinking battleships in the Pacific. It all happened. Well, at least in the photo chopping minds of the folks at If Star Wars Was Real. May the Force, and Gen. Eisenhower, be with you. [io9]
When mere mortal men gaze upon the playground jungle gym, they see the unhinged tomfoolery of their youth. When Chinese farmer Wu Zhongyuan sees one he says, "I can make that fly." Updated
And he did, to an incredibly impressive 2,600 feet before Chinese authorities grounded him for "safety reasons."
The rig, comprised of metal bars, a motorcycle engine and wooden rotors, cost him a mere $1,600. He has no formal aviation training, but still managed to assemble the rickety beast using a recollection of middle school physics courses and "relevant knowledge [found while] surfing the Internet via my mobile phone." As a blogger, I can relate. Update: Correct, fair commenters. In the original article it's stressed he "claimed" an altitude of 2,600 feet. Shenanigans until we see a video, I agree.
While we doubt the loud sex is the real reason for CERN's LHC-related woes, we are certain of one thing this morning: The "world-ending" LHC (citation: ill-informed ignoramuses) LHC will restart at half-strength in November.
The reasons floated for the collider's foibles are many as of late, from faulty hoses to un-magnetic magnets to the aforementioned libidinous couple who've been assaulting coworkers' ear drums with wanton abandon.
Nevertheless, pressure from scientists have forced CERN to start the LHC up in November, where it will then smash atoms at half power until next year—when it will have to be shut down again.
Meanwhile, this may all be moot, at least for now, as many scientists (publicly and privately) have turned their eager eyes to other colliders around the world, like Fermilab's Tevatron, for use with similar experiments. [MSNBC]
A program called MoonBots will allow children to simulate the conditions of Google's $30 million Lunar X Prize—get rover to the moon, snap HD pics, kick ass—but turns up the quirkiness (and the cool factor) by incorporating Lego.
Now, these inventions—all powered by the Mindstorms robotics kit—won't actually see the barren lunar landscape up close, like their Lunar X Prize cousins. They will however see simulated terrain, and will be asked to complete similar tasks.
One task, demonstrated by Giz reader Tim, involves autonomously navigating the "Lunar surface" without bumping into moon rocks, secret aliens, or Apollo mission film sets. In Tim and his kids' case, the "Moon" is a covered pool:
Aside from the fact that that poor little guy was probably wetting himself over being a mere inch from certain doom beneath the cover, he did pretty well. But, Tim, can you and your kid send that sucker to the moon? [YouTube, MoonBots]
As I blindly played Wii Sports from the kitchen the other day—the TV completely out of sight—I couldn't help but wonder why many remotes still implement hindering line-of-sight IR to work properly. Enter the RF Point Anywhere.
The first football game to *officially* grace the brand spankin' new Dallas Cowboys stadium was in fact rendered for all to see in glorious 1080p high definition.
Topping the list are some notables from BlackBerry, Garmin and HTC, including:
What do a Black & Decker cordless drill, smoke detectors and even Speedo's controversial record-breaking 
Following its 
Aside from the fact that that poor little guy was probably wetting himself over being a mere inch from certain doom beneath the cover, he did pretty well. But, Tim, can you and your kid send that sucker to the moon? [
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment