What's new on SlashGear.com |
- Tangible Digital Music via C60 by IDEO
- World’s Earliest Computer Made of Lego
- Grand Theft Auto Creators Sued by Shagg for $250 Million Bucks
- Dr Dre’s Beats Headphones Go Bieber
- Wine Vending Machines in Pennsylvania
- Openleaks to be Launched by Former WikiLeaks Staff
- Skyara Sells Experience
- Blizzard China Leaks Five Year Plan, Manager Resigns
- Angry Birds Announce “Bad Piggy Bank” Functionality for Android
- Thing-O-Matic is Inexpensive Star Trek Replicator
- Microsoft Offer of $15 BILLION Rejected by Facebook
- The Netbook Category Will Go Extinct
- Google Nexus S gets unboxed at Android Community
- Gorillaz to Release FREE Album on Christmas Day, Entirely Recorded on iPad
- BlackBerry sales just 20% of Verizon smartphones as Android ascends claims analyst
- Jenga App for iOS Devices: Mini Review
- Qualcomm FLO TV rebate program unveiled ahead of service shutdown
- SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: December 10 2010
- Rock Paper Robot “Float” table is tactile bundle of magnetic cubes [Video]
- Second Windows Phone 7 update due at MWC 2011 tip developers
- Novatel sue ZTE and Franklin Wireless over alleged MiFi patent infringement
- US military force removable media lock-down to prevent WikiLeaks sequel
- DZdock was created by an 11-year-old
- Microsoft add Windows Phone 7 download reports to App Hub; pull forward royalty payouts
- Gran Turismo 5 sells like donuts at a police convention
- Apple iTunes Rewind 2010 highlights hot trends in iOS apps
- Anonymous to stop DDoS attacks and start spamming Wikileaks content?
- Patriot Memory launches Supersonic USB 3.0 drive
- GelaSkins launches skins for new MacBook Air models
- iKit unveils cool FM transmitter for iPod/iPhone with touchscreen
| Tangible Digital Music via C60 by IDEO Posted: 10 Dec 2010 02:52 PM PST If you’re like me, and people call you a hipster because you collect records and still play music on your iPod instead of on your record player which you might or might not actually own, this will interest you severely. Behold a project that was born like all sweet industrial design projects are: as a concept. Inside the book “I Miss My Pencil” there was a project that became this reality: a surface, shaped to recall the size and shape of a record (or a stack of records, rather) or a record player, called C60 (Redux). In this project by IDEO, all you’ve got to do is place your music cards (the size of cassette tapes) down on the surface and your speakers (via your computer) will play the song you desire.
Each time you put down a card, the corresponding song is added to your playlist. Your playlist is decided by how you’ve got the cards in order, starting with the first card you’ve laid down and going clockwise. If you want to stop a song, simply lift it away from the surface. All of this is done with, yes, you guessed it, RFID tags and sensors. I love love love this idea and I would love love love for someone to make it a large enough reality so that I could own one. That’s all I ask in the wooorld! Click here to view the embedded video. [Via Core77]
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| World’s Earliest Computer Made of Lego Posted: 10 Dec 2010 02:37 PM PST Oh you Greeks, you’re constantly surprising the world with everything you knew before everyone else re-discovered it hundreds of years later. Case in point: 100BCE, Greeks built a mechanical constructed a machine now said to be the world’s earliest computer, one sophisticated enough to predict lunar eclipses. This device known as “Antikythera” was originally discovered in a shipwreck in 1901CE, in 2006CE high res x-ray tomography revealed that the device was made for predicting celestial events with amazing accuracy, now in 2010CE, it’s been reconstructed fully by Apple OS X software engineer Andrew Carol.
Now there’s a mini documentary (released yesterday over at FastCoDesign,) by A Small Mammal production for Digital Science, directed by John Pavlus, and in it you can see how this device works! In an interview done for the post on FastCo, Carol had the following to say: “The Mechanism is interesting to me because people think of these astronomical predictions only being possible with sophisticated NASA computers. But to realize that someone actually built a mechanical machine to do that 2000 years ago is pretty impressive — and figuring out to to do it myself in Lego is fascinating too.” Click here to view the embedded video. Take a peek at the documentary here, and marvel at how to create a 2000 year old device, we but have to reach out our hands and pluck from a collection of read-made childrens toys to construct it. All hail the modern world. [Via FastCoDesign]
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| Grand Theft Auto Creators Sued by Shagg for $250 Million Bucks Posted: 10 Dec 2010 02:15 PM PST So you know how when you go back to your cave of video games, you open up a 2-liter of Mountain Dew, you fire up the oven to lay in some $2 pizzas or go ahead and order from some big chain like Domipapas or whatever you might call it, and you bust out the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to murder a few hundred civilians whilst stealing cars and outrunning the police? Turns out you might be living the life of none other than Michael “Shagg” Washington, a man claiming to be a backup singer from Cypress Hill. Say what?
Washington is saying he met with the game’s developers for two ours back however many years ago, answering questions about “his street life including how the teen-agers in his gang rode around on bicycles.” He says he was told by these developers that if they chose to use his likeness / his life story in the game, he’d be notified. Well guess what? Now Washington is saying the lead character “CJ” is not only based on him aesthetically, but that his storyline is a BIT too close to Washington’s own troubled youth. Now he’s filing a complaint with the Los Angeles Superior Court, asking for no less than 25% of the game’s billion dollar profit. Dat’s a lotta loot. According to MobyGames, a place similar to imdb.com but for video games, Washington DOES show up in the credits for Andreas under the Talent section. On the other hand, over at the official Cypress Hill homepage, they’ve distanced themselves from this main they say’s got nothing to do with the band at all. Who is this mystery man then really? Or is it C.H. that’s forgetting they’ve had some Shagg in their past? Either way, I bet B-Real loves him some GTA. [Via Courthouse News Service]
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| Dr Dre’s Beats Headphones Go Bieber Posted: 10 Dec 2010 01:22 PM PST Oh god, why am I reporting on such a terrifying event? The newest artist to collaborate with Dr Dre’s “Beats” line of headphones is none other than everyone’s favorite little haircut, Justin Bieber. These lovely new purple and white music blasters will bring all of Bieber’s fans the music “the way he intended it.” Oh Dre, I know you’ve got to get that money, but why? Why would you go so Bieber on everyone? Why? I’ll answer my own question by telling you how much these headphones cost: $199.95.
Those are the “Justbeats by Dr. Dre Solo Headphones” that are $200, the “iBeats by Dr. Dre Justbeats Edition” which are earplugs instead of full ear phones. Take a peek at the video below and see the tiny master work his magic in the studio with the godfather of gangster wrap, then have a look at the full press release below that:
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| Wine Vending Machines in Pennsylvania Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:20 PM PST I always knew that some day I’d be able to use that title for a post. That day has come. There are now wine vending machines in Pennsylvania, where there’s no such thing as a legal independent wine and liquor store. For real! Pennsylvania is notorious for its strange liquor laws, this Wine Vending Machine move the latest in efforts to get liquor to regular residents safely. Certainly they’ll be delivering wine strangely, with a process that might end up leading to more spreading of germs via the mouth than it does tasty glasses of red or white.
Once you approach one of these gigantic machines, (consisting of three coolers and a kiosk,) you are greeted by a screen, a breathalyzer, and a scanner. Once you’re at the machine, you’ll find yourself at the other end of the camera whose other end is in Reading, Pennsylvania, where the Liquor Control Board is located. There a REAL LIVE employee checks your face, and once you’ve scanned your drivers license makes sure you’re you. Once you’ve passed that test, you’re free to breath into what I hope is a replaceable-tipped breathalyzer that’ll see if you’re halfway in the bag or not. Once you’ve done all this, the door opens, and your particular brand of wine is yours for the taking. I like this idea, and prepose we expand it to all items. All items in vending machines, including pets! [Via WalletPop]
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| Openleaks to be Launched by Former WikiLeaks Staff Posted: 10 Dec 2010 11:54 AM PST Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter let the world know that former members of the WikiLeaks staff have quit their former jobs (they got paid? weird!) to start a new site next week called Openleaks. Dagens Nyheter reports that their action is to be in protest of their former leader Julian Assange. Why? Dagens Nyheter reports an anonymous (not THE Anonymous) member of the new group as saying: “Our long-term goal is to build a strong, transparent platform to support whistleblowers, both in terms of technology and politics, while at the same time encouraging others to start similar projects.”
The source speaking with DN continued by saying that their goal with Openleaks will be to complete the technical infrastructure and make sure that “the organization continues to be democratically governed by all its members, rather than limited to one group or individual.” Oh snap, Assange dissed. A separate source (still speaking with DN) continued, “As a result of our intention not to publish any document directly and in our own name, we do not expect to experience the kind of political pressure which WikiLeaks is under at this time. In that aspect, it is quite interesting to see how little of politicians’ anger seems directed at the newspapers using WikiLeaks sources,” This was all yesterday, today, all of this seems to be legitimized by DN in an article by writer Hans Rosén, who says Openleaks must surely be seeking protection from the law. He writes [translated]: “Openleaks calls itself the “provider”, which indicates that it intends to invoke the so-called “mere conduit” principle, in Swedish called “budbärarimmunitet.” This is a cornerstone of the laws of Sweden, the EU and many other countries.” He continues, “In brief, the providers of communications services, such as mail or internet, shall not be held responsible for the content that they convey. A person is not guilty of the drug that’s in a package he has transported. ISP is not responsible for the customer uses their connection to illegal file sharing.” Stirring up some rather disturbingly exciting ideas, mister Rosen! Do continue! He completes his article by noting “And if this works, it is no longer a lonely hacker who must be silenced. Enraged people in power will instead face a worldwide collective of editors and editors and the law that protects them. In this vision, the old media publishers also have access to new digital tools they themselves had not been able to build.” Take a look at the whois information on the openleaks.com domain name and you’ll see that it’s registered through a US group by the name of Oneanddone, (this is the image you see above.) [Via DN]
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| Posted: 10 Dec 2010 11:31 AM PST As it is the holiday season when I write this post, I suggest thinking about something like this for the person who says they want nothing, couldn’t possibly see the value in another gift, that person who you cannot possibly satisfy. How about tea with MC Hammer? You TOO can do wild and crazy things like a Trap and Skeet Shoot with the co-founder of MySpace! All of this is available (at a cost) via this fabulous new place by the name of Skyara. They’ve got the two experiences I just mentioned up for promoting this startup – other events cost anywhere from $10 to over $100.
The site’s set up so you can either be a buyer (free) or a seller (15% fee) and work your skills to make a bit of cash. More than likely the people who run the site will be less than willing to host your “escort” services, but it appears that basically anything else is up for grabs. Want a San Francisco Architecture tour for $20? Yes! Want to learn how to twist balloon animals for $120? Maybe not. Take a peek if you live in Southern California (presumably open to more areas soon), or set up a request for experiences you’d like to see for sale in the future. [Via Skyara]
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| Blizzard China Leaks Five Year Plan, Manager Resigns Posted: 10 Dec 2010 11:05 AM PST Oh dear me, looks like someone screwed up somehow or another. A five year plan for the future of Blizzard Entertainment has been leaked in China, Blizzard China’s manager Ye Weilun is looking to be held responsible, he resigning quietly as Dai Jinhe (aka Alex Tai) takes over. This “Blizzard Product Slate” includes release dates for 18 products or events, including but not limited to: a World of Warcraft movie, a new possible MMO called Titan, Starcraft 2 Phoenix, and Diablo 3 (plus two expansions!) We are sad for Weilun, but extremely pumped up about Diablo 3 being released fourth quarter of 2011. Hopefully the dates stick!
Along with the DIII release in Q4 of 2011 you’ll see the next WoW expansion set for 2012 and the WoW movie and “Titan” set for release at the end of 2013. Over at MMOGameSite, they mention “Blizzard headquarter office went berserk at the mention of the News "Blizzard Product slate leaked" and have ordered thorough investigations on the leak incident.” More than likely this means more than one person’s gonna get the barbarian axe to their career – I’d be cowering in the corner about now. [Via GamesRadar]
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| Angry Birds Announce “Bad Piggy Bank” Functionality for Android Posted: 10 Dec 2010 10:39 AM PST Today there’s been a live stream going on over at Elisa, the creators, Rovio, giving out some news points to the world along the lines of payment for the Android version of the game. Their main announcement was about “Bad Piggy Bank,” an in-game payment option for Android users that allows them to remove the ads on their otherwise free Angry Birds screens. This payment function will also allow Android users to purchase the “Mighty Eagle” update for the game which they say is on the way!
The interesting part about their newly announced “Bad Piggy Bank” function is the way it processes payment. Instead of requiring a credit card of some kind, it simply adds on to your monthly mobile phone bill. This functionality, Rovio says, will be offered to all other Android developers soon, making it extremely easy (or so it sounds) to process payments for all. Oh my goodness that seems like a rather dangerous thing for me- I’ll be spending all day long if I can’t see it. Shucks. Rovio’s Peter Vesterbacka noted that they were "not picking on Android particularly, but I think that the payment method up to now has been less than perfect." Bad Piggy Bank will launch in Finland first with operator Elisa, (same place that’s running the live stream,) and will hopefully be global next year “since it requires deals to be struck with local telcos.” Speaking with TechCrunch after the event, Vesterbacka added that Angry Birds was now at about 50 million downloads, over 10 million of those downloads being on Android. He noted also that Angry Birds would be coming to Mac and PC computers soon as well as gaming consoles, with “some new things” happening online in 2011. Also at this live event were “The Ran,” an indy band who’ve written a song for the Angry Birds series. Their song had a lot to do with birds flying through the sky via slingshots, hitting pigs, you know, the usual. Feel free to hang on over back to Elisa to see the entire event on video start to finish if you wish. Watch out for big red hoodies with bird faces on them. [Via AndroidCommunity]
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| Thing-O-Matic is Inexpensive Star Trek Replicator Posted: 10 Dec 2010 10:12 AM PST Sort of! This is MakerBot Industries’ Thing-O-Matic, a home 3D printer for just over a thousand dollars ($1,225.00). Holy crap that’s awesome. It’s approximately 12 inches by 12 inches by 16 inches and can print 3D objects that you design on your desktop “continuously for hours at a time.” This is the same sort of machine we had (probably still have) at my alma mater the Minneapolis College of Art and Design – last I checked they were using it to carve 3D replicas of human heads. All this stuff gets cut down from MakerBot ABS Plastic, which you get 1 pound of to work with for starters when you buy the Thing-O-Matic kit. Make a thousand rabbits!
The great thing about any 3D printer is not only your ability to create things you’ve modeled in a computer in a 3D realm, but your ability to create things you’d never be able to create by hand – for example, a human heart, with all of it’s inner tubes carved perfectly precisely. This particular 3D printer carves down to 0.005mm resolution. That’s heavily accurate, and so sharp you’re in more trouble of creating something that’ll collapse on itself than missing a detail. The way this printer innovates upon others is first it’s tiny size and home usability (you can buy other 3D printers and put them in your house, of course, but this one’s like comparing a bike to a car (sizewise)). Secondly, this printer works in a way very similar to your everyday average paper printer, shooting out piece after piece of printed matter without end. Other 3D printers require you to reset everything via cleaning and re-clicking. Fun! Take a peek at the full product description below, and feel free to order one on pre-sale (coming soon!):
[Via ReadWriteWeb]
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| Microsoft Offer of $15 BILLION Rejected by Facebook Posted: 10 Dec 2010 09:53 AM PST Mind you, before you start thinking “but that’s not a lot of money, right?”, you’ve got to consider that this offer didn’t come in just yesterday. News of it, however, DID just come in TODAY via LeWeb over in Paris, where at “How to get acquired,” one of the many panels held at the conference, Microsoft's Senior Director of Strategy and Acquisitions Fritz Lanman spoke in reply to a question host Loic Le Meur. The question was one concerning a rumor started in the book “The Facebook Effect” by David Kirkpatrick saying Microsoft tried several times. Turns out that’s true -at least part of it.
Replying to the rumor, Lanman noted “Yeah we tried to acquire Facebook. Facebook had a lot of similarities to Microsoft back in the day.” And went on to say that their original offer was somewhere around $15 billion around the year 2007. In the book The Facebook Effect, it’s written that Ballmer asked Mark Zuckerberg directly, "Why don't we just buy you for $15 billion?" To which Zuckerberg replied, "I don't want to sell the company unless I can keep control." The book continues by saying, "Ballmer took this reply as a sort of challenge. He went back to Microsoft's headquarters and concocted a plan intended to acquire Facebook in stages over a period of years to enable Zuckerberg to keep calling the shots. But Zuckerberg rejected all the overtures." Eventually Microsoft ended up agreeing on a $240 million small stake in the company, Facebook and they now working together in a search partnership. [Via Telegraph UK]
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| The Netbook Category Will Go Extinct Posted: 10 Dec 2010 09:39 AM PST I'm going to let you in on the inside story as to why Netbooks and the Netbook category was first created and why they will exist no longer. Nothing I am saying here is truly secret however it doesn't get talked about much. My goal in doing this is purely educational and so that we can talk more intelligently about what a Netbook is and perhaps wrestle together with whether or not it still makes sense to use the term.
If you have read my columns or analysis before here at SlashGear you know that I am a market and industry analyst and my job is to provide analysis of the markets I study to companies who request it from my firm Creative Strategies, Inc. I spend my days studying consumer markets and mostly personal computing in consumer markets. So its because of my analyst role that I am used to breaking products up into categories so we can track them. The story of Netbooks began because when they were first created we could not put them into the category of PC's. Why weren't they a PC? It was because the first Atom processors were small and lower cost than Intel's latest generation chips that many hardware makers got excited and started making devices that were smaller and lower cost than traditional PC's. The OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project really kicked this category off and no one would call that product a PC because it was too underpowered. Asus then quickly jumped in with their EEE PC and shipped their Atom based Netbook. Keep in mind however Netbooks still as a category did not exist at this time. The bottom line was that Netbooks were not a PC because they did not have adequate processing power to do the tasks those familiar with PC's were used to in the modern age. Things like flash video and multimedia were what suffered the most with Netbooks. In the early days the return rates of these devices were in the high 30-40 percent range. All because people expected them to be a traditional PC and the first ones were not. Another key reason for these early high return rates was because the first devices ran Linux. Once they started running Windows XP was when the category started to take off. Now we needed a separate category What was fascinating however in tracking this market was that even though Netbooks were less powerful than traditional PC's they taught us something very interesting about consumers in this market. That lesson was that even though these devices were underpowered many who bought second or third generation Netbooks didn't care. In essence for most consumers every day tasks, Netbooks had enough processing power. What lured consumers to these products was the form factor and the price. Why they will go extinct In essence they evolved into fully capable computing machines. If the reason we created the category was because these devices lacked the computing power to do traditional PC like tasks then that reason is no longer valid. And if the reason the category existed is no longer valid because they have evolved into actual PC's by definition then we should simply start tracking them as PC's. That is exactly what is happening as Netbook shipments and forecasts are now being lumped into the overall PC market not a sub category. Tablets are another reason and have already had a dramatic affect on the Netbook market. This is another reason Netbooks are being lumped now into the PC category and not a category separate from PC's. So in short the formerly called Netbooks are now simply Notebooks. Now this raises and interesting question which is what is the Chrome Notebook? I will address that in my next piece.
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| Google Nexus S gets unboxed at Android Community Posted: 10 Dec 2010 09:09 AM PST Google’s Nexus S has landed over at Android Community, and Ewdi has wasted no time in getting the Android 2.3 Gingerbread smartphone opened up in a video unboxing. First impressions are good, too, with the handset being sturdy – if plasticky – in its construction, and Gingerbread proving slick on the 1GHz Hummingbird processor.
Video unboxing after the cut
Ewdi, being the geek he is, marks Samsung down for omitting a microSD card slot and for not taking the opportunity to bump the processor above what’s by now the baseline for high-end Android devices. Where the Nexus One pushed the envelope in terms of smartphone CPUs, the Nexus S doesn’t even get a 1.2GHz chip like the DROID 2 Global. For more on the Nexus S, check out the full Android Community unboxing and our hands-on from earlier this week. There’s a Nexus S winging its way to SlashGear, too, so we’ll have further coverage later on today.
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| Gorillaz to Release FREE Album on Christmas Day, Entirely Recorded on iPad Posted: 10 Dec 2010 08:34 AM PST What in the world?! Gorillaz, basically the greatest cartoon band of all time, are planning on releasing an album recorded entirely on an iPad FOR FREE on Christmas day. Gorillaz real-world frontman Damon Albarn told UK music paper NME: "I've made it on an ipad – I hope I'll be making the first record on an iPad. … I fell in love with my iPad as soon as I got it, so I've made a completely different kind of record. … It's ironic, being the sort of technophobe and Luddite that I am." Super fun gifts are being released up until Christmas via an Advent Calendar on Gorillaz website.
Gorillaz co-founder Jamie Hewlett (artist and designer behind all the characters) said to Perth Now: “At the moment, we've got an Advent calendar on our website, and there is a daily door that opens to reveal a gift, … On Christmas Eve, a video for one of the new songs from the iPad album will be released. Then, on Christmas Day, fans get the whole album downloaded to their computer for free as a gift."
Damon Albarn added: “If I left it until the New Year to release it, then the cynics out there would say, 'Oh well, it's been tampered with.' But if I put it out now, they'd know that I haven't done anything because I've been on tour ever since." Hooray! Can’t wait can’t wait! [Via 9to5Mac]
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| BlackBerry sales just 20% of Verizon smartphones as Android ascends claims analyst Posted: 10 Dec 2010 08:20 AM PST RIM’s BlackBerry handset range now accounts for less than 20-percent of Verizon Wireless’ smartphone sales, according to ITG Investment Research analyst Matthew Goodman, falling from a high of over 90-percent in October 2009. The report, cited by AllThingsD, claims the dramatic fall from grace occurred shortly after the Motorola DROID launched on the network in late 2009; Android devices now reportedly account for 80-percent of Verizon’s smartphone sales.
46-percent of those Android sales, Goodman calculates, are devices from Motorola’s DROID range. Meanwhile, Verizon BlackBerry sales dropped 45-percent year-on-year in the last quarter, and that pattern isn’t expected to turn around any time soon. In fact, Goodman expects sales to drop 49-percent YoY in Q4 2010. Verizon was tipped earlier this week to be eagerly negotiating with Apple over an iPhone launch on the network, with Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu suggesting internally the carrier was uninspired by the upcoming BlackBerry 6 OS refresh. Given the minority share of the smartphone segment the handsets supposedly have, that doesn’t sound all that unbelievable. [via Electronista]
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| Jenga App for iOS Devices: Mini Review Posted: 10 Dec 2010 08:19 AM PST Welcome to the virtual reality world of Jenga. Some of you might be aware of the Jenga game in the real world, but it’s basically time to forget about that and get in to the real deal, this app for iOS devices. This game is so good that there’s not a free demo version in the world for it. You’ve just got to lay down your cash, either three bucks or five bucks, and have at it. I and we have it downloaded already and are having not just moments, but hours of fun playing inside the tiny screen of the iPod Touch. Now you TOO can play Jenga at Applebees.
I’ve got the “mini-review” tag on this post because there’s not really that much to say. This app is basically completely excellent. You choose from several ways to play Jenga, either original or points-grabbing ways in the “Arcade” version, and you go for it! Click any brick on the short side or the long side and drag it out, bit by bit, little by little. You’re timed, though, so watch out! Bottom line: this app is worth the price you pay for it all day long. Especially if you enjoy the game in its analog form, but even if you don’t. This app costs $2.99 in its regular form, $4.99 for the super fancy HD version that works only on the iPad. Take a peek at the gallery below to get a tiny taste of what to expect. Fun! Also take a look at the full official description:
             
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| Qualcomm FLO TV rebate program unveiled ahead of service shutdown Posted: 10 Dec 2010 08:01 AM PST Qualcomm has announced it will offer a partial rebate to those who have bought FLO TV devices and service plans for its digital TV service, ahead of the official shut-down on March 27 2011. According to the FLO TV rebate page, submitting a claim will automatically end your service plan with the company, with the device going dead within 72hrs.
Buyers of the FLO TV Personal Television, Audiovox Portable DVD Player with FLO TV and FLO TV Auto Entertainment devices will be eligible for rebates, which will be pro-rated depending on which hardware was bought and how much of the service plan is left. Those who bought a device but are yet to activate it will have to show proof of purchase. Qualcomm is not requesting the return of the FLO TV devices themselves, and if you bought official FLO TV accessories then you can request rebates on those as well. Applications have to be made by April 30 2011. Qualcomm has previously suggested it may use the FLO TV technology and spectrum for data-casting, offloading regular network traffic and reducing congestion. [via GigaOm]
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| SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: December 10 2010 Posted: 10 Dec 2010 07:16 AM PST Ruh roh! Looks like Notion Ink is having some troubles with pre-orders and cautious consumers thinking about buying the Adam tablet. Check it out. Then see how the US military is locking down potential WikiLeaks material – while at the same time Anonymous plans on spamming the internets with all the secret documents that’ve already seen the light in Opteration: Leakspin while a 16 year old kid is arrested for related DDoS attacks on PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard. AND there’s a sweet magnetic cube table that looks like a Rubik’s Cube. It’s ramping up to be quite an exciting day here on the R3 Media Network. Get pumped up and check out the entire SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up!
R3 Media Network Editor’s Choice SlashPhone Android Community SlashGear To see more wrap-up posts, follow the following tags: [The Daily Slash] or [SlashGear Morning Wrap-up]
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| Rock Paper Robot “Float” table is tactile bundle of magnetic cubes [Video] Posted: 10 Dec 2010 07:08 AM PST Rock Paper Robot describes its Float table as “sturdy, yet capricious”; we’d also add “potentially dangerous to your credit cards and hard-drives” to that description. The side-table is a matrix of 64 wooden cubes, using magnetism to float away from each other and a lashing of steel cable to keep the whole thing from falling apart.
Video demo after the cut
The end result is an eye-catching piece of furniture which flexes when you touch it, then bounces back magically into place. Rock Paper Robot will happily make you one in any dimensions you like, with pricing kicking off at $2,000, though the standard size uses 4.5-inch cubes. The company specialises in what it calls “kinetic furniture”, but also makes lighting and other accessories.
[via technabob]
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Second Windows Phone 7 update due at MWC 2011 tip developers Posted: 10 Dec 2010 06:51 AM PST Microsoft is reportedly readying a second Windows Phone 7 update to unveil at Mobile World Congress in February 2011, bringing with it improved multitasking support along with in-app downloads and broader customization options for end users. According to beta-testing developers talking to WinRumors, CEO Steve Ballmer will use his MWC 2011 keynote to launch the new developer APIs, themselves coming on the heels of a January update expected to delivery copy & paste functionality.
That early update has already begun seeding with developers, with a general release supposedly scheduled to go out during CES 2011 early next month. Meanwhile some developers are also testing parts of the second update, with one reporting that it “includes some great new features for developers,” and that “Windows Phone 7 apps in 2011 will certainly become more interesting.” Also tipped for imminent release are a Silverlight update to Windows Phone 7, again believed to be coming at MWC 2011, and – further down the line – a significant update to the platform’s browser. That, though, is likely to see tweaks earlier in the year, but the bulk of the changes are expected to be saved until Windows Phone 8.
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| Novatel sue ZTE and Franklin Wireless over alleged MiFi patent infringement Posted: 10 Dec 2010 06:39 AM PST MiFi manufacturer Novatel Wireless has filed a patent lawsuit against ZTE and Franklin Wireless, alleging that the rival firms have infringed five patents “related to key architecture and functionality” of the mobile hotspots. According to Peter Laparulo, the company’s chairman and CEO, “Novatel Wireless invented the MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot” and “competitors need to rely on their own inventions rather than infringe on ours.”
The MiFi was first announced back in late 2008, as an easy way to share a single 3G data connection with up to five WiFi clients. It went on to inspire a number of rival devices, including 4G variants. Most recently, AT&T announced a version of Novatel’s unit that went on sale last month. Press Release:
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| US military force removable media lock-down to prevent WikiLeaks sequel Posted: 10 Dec 2010 05:55 AM PST
While Maj. Gen. Webber’s directive concedes that “users will experience difficulty with transferring data for operational needs which could impede timeliness on mission execution,” it nonetheless insists that anybody disobeying the order “shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.” The order covers CDs, DVDs, thumb-drives and other forms of easily-transported storage. Ironically, loose-lipped Defense Department insiders claim that while there’s been plenty of talk about tightened data security, there’s been little change in daily routine. “The general perception is business as usual. I'm not kidding,” a source claims, going on to insist “we haven’t turned a brain cell on it.”
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| DZdock was created by an 11-year-old Posted: 10 Dec 2010 05:26 AM PST When I was 11, I was more interested in the cute girl next door and video games than designing any sort of product. Then again, if something as cool as the iPad or iPhone had been around when I was a kid, I might have been more interested. An 11-year-old kid named Dino Zaharakis has invented a cool stand for the iPad and one for the iPhone.
The stand was designed after Dino’s dad challenged him to design a better iPad stand with the promise of a new phone if he could do it. Dino and his pop went to a local college and worked up a 3D model of the DZDock and the rest is history. The DZDock is really cool and allows you to dock the iPad or iPhone without having to unplug the charge and sync cable. The anodized stands are offered in black, white, silver, red, pink, lime, and blue for $29.99. The dock is designed to work with just about any product out there and will work with devices in portrait or landscape modes. The normal price is $29.99, but a special code will save you $10 on that price. The code is DZPRNEWS.
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| Microsoft add Windows Phone 7 download reports to App Hub; pull forward royalty payouts Posted: 10 Dec 2010 05:24 AM PST Microsoft has moved to address Windows Phone 7 developer complaints over poor app stat tracking and lengthy waits for paid-app payouts. While Microsoft has managed to muster around 4,000 titles in the Windows Phone Marketplace to-date, developers had been left hanging over royalty payments – initially not coming until February 2011 – and uncertainty over exactly how many downloads their software had seen, and other performance figures. That’s changing, Microsoft’s Todd Brix says, with royalties being brought forward slightly and new reporting data in App Hub.
The first payouts for Windows Phone 7 sales will take place in the 4th week of January 2011, combining all sales made from the October 2010 launch through the end of December. Beyond that, payouts will be processed monthly – combining Windows Phone 6.x and Windows Phone 7 apps – assuming they exceed the minimum payout threshold limits. More imminent, though, is the new “Reports” option in the developer App Hub, which now offers graphical views of daily and cumulative downloads (together with raw data) along with aggregated and detailed views of payouts for all Marketplace applications (including sales on Marketplace for Windows Phone 6.x). Microsoft has also streamlined the submission and app-update process, to reduce the time it takes to process and make the procedure as a whole more transparent, and the Microsoft Advertising SDK for Windows Phone 7 has been updated to support ad-enabled mobile gaming apps using the XNA Framework, rather than just Silverlight.
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| Gran Turismo 5 sells like donuts at a police convention Posted: 10 Dec 2010 05:11 AM PST I don’t think anyone out there that has played the Gran Turismo series doubted for a second that the latest game in the franchise, Gran Turismo 5 would be a hit. The game has been anticipated for years now and lots of delays have had gamers up in arms.
GT5 finally hit the market with the official launch on November 24 exclusively on the PS3. Sony is now offering up some numbers on sales of the racing game for the new GT5 version and for the franchise as a whole spanning back to the May 12, 1998 introduction of the original Gran Turismo title. Since the launch of GT5, the game has sold 5.52 million units globally. The franchise has sold a total of 61.41 million titles all around the world counting a couple versions that were never offered in North America like Gran Turismo concept 2001 Tokyo*3 and Gran Turismo 4 Prologue. The best selling title in the franchise was GT3 A-spec with 14.80 million copies sold globally.
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| Apple iTunes Rewind 2010 highlights hot trends in iOS apps Posted: 10 Dec 2010 05:05 AM PST Apple has released its iTunes Rewind 2010 summary of the “hot trends” of 2010, together with the best selling apps for its various iOS platforms. A new addition to the round-up is the iPad, freshly launched to the market in 2010. Among the highlights are Angry Birds, which clinched the top position in iPhone/iPod touch paid apps, while the official Facebook app grabbed first place among the free apps category for the smaller-screen devices.
Meanwhile, over on the iPad, the top paid app was word processing tool Pages, while the top free app was Apple’s own iBooks ereading software. Amazon’s Kindle app for iPad only managed eighth place. As for trends, Apple reckons “shoot, edit, share”, “augmented reality”, “new news” and “the cloud” are all key areas for apps, among others. While it’s good to keep track of the popular titles, it’s also useful to see some curation in the bulging App Store, something that Apple has been asked to do repeatedly over the past year or so. Top 10 paid apps (iPhone/iPod touch)
Top 10 free apps (iPhone/iPod touch)
Top 10 grossing apps (iPhone/iPod touch)
Top 10 paid apps (iPad)
Top 10 free apps (iPad)
Top 10 grossing apps (iPad)
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| Anonymous to stop DDoS attacks and start spamming Wikileaks content? Posted: 10 Dec 2010 04:59 AM PST We all know you can’t believe everything you read or find online. Sometimes the things we run across are lies, misleads or just outright wrong. It’s hard to get away from the drama that is Wikileaks right now so I will assume you are all familiar with the issues around the site and the anonymous group that has been attacking sites perceived to be enemies of Wikileaks.
So far the group has attacked MasterCard, PayPal, Visa, and Amazon. A new image has surfaced online with a sort of manifesto for the plans that are coming since the DDoS attacks have only given the Wikileaks non-supporters a “black eye.” The image supposedly from one of the heads of the group Anonymous and calls for the people to read through the Wikileaks documents and find the ones that are good, but haven’t been publicized. The group is then calling for members to spam the posts everywhere. Make YouTube videos of themselves reading the posts, and to post them on forums and other places with misleading titles. The reason the image maker reasons is that the people fear exposure more than they fear DDoS attacks. For the record, I fear snakes more than exposure or spam. Via BoingBoing
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| Patriot Memory launches Supersonic USB 3.0 drive Posted: 10 Dec 2010 04:36 AM PST
The flash drive has an aluminum housing that makes the storage device robust. Patriot claims that the thing can resist shock up to 15G to protect your data. It is offered in 32GB and 64GB capacities. The drive will ship in Q1 2011. The quad channel tech in the flash drive allows the device to operate faster. Sequential write speed is promised to be 70MB/s and sequential read is 100MB/s. Pricing of the new flash drive is unannounced.
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| GelaSkins launches skins for new MacBook Air models Posted: 10 Dec 2010 04:21 AM PST GelaSkins has been making protective and cool skins for the lid of notebooks and other gadgets for a long time now. The company has been protecting the slid of MacBooks for years and has unveiled new GelaSkin offerings for the new Apple MacBook Air computers.
GelaSkins is offering skins it a huge array of styles for the 13-inch Air 2nd gen and for the new 11-inch MacBook Air as well. These skins not only help to protect your notebook from scratches and dings, but they look really cool to boot. The skins are very thin at less than 1mm thick and use 3M adhesive for installation. The skins can be removed if you want later on and will not prevent you from using any other covers or cases on your MacBook Air machine. The skins for the Airs are $29.95 each and they have some awesome designs like the Spartans one here from Frank Miller. There are tons of styles and offerings for you to choose from.
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| iKit unveils cool FM transmitter for iPod/iPhone with touchscreen Posted: 10 Dec 2010 04:10 AM PST The iPhone and iPod touch have touchscreens and the products have become some of the most popular gadgets on the market thanks in part to those touchscreens. If you have an iPod or iPhone and you want to be able to shoot your tunes over to the car stereo wirelessly and charge your device at the same time iKit has a new FM transmitter for you.
The FM transmitter is called the AutoCon and it has a touchscreen that allows you to control the device. You can play/pause, control volume, change tracks, and control other aspects of your iPhone using the AutoCon touchscreen. The device also has a wireless hands free option for using your iPhone while driving. The AutoCon comes with the iKit AutoCharge USB car charger to charge your iPhone or iPod while you use the FM transmitter. The AutoCon FM transmitter is available now for $44.95.
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