What's new on SlashGear.com |
- Is webOS 2.0 Coming to Palm Devices in Q1 2011?
- Hidden Gamepad Underneath Chameleon X-1 Mouse
- Hybrid Sweet Sweeper Allianz 4000 is World’s First
- Solar Powered Watches Updated by Casio at ECO Product 2010
- Mozilla Demonstrates Potential of HTML 5 at LeWeb via Floating Ships and Spacecraft
- Apple Attempts to Acquire Patents to Fix for Your Snapshots
- MLB At Bat Highest Grossing App for iOS in 2010
- LG E90 LED Monitor Landing in the UK Before Christmas
- Movie Review: Tron (1982)
- Coloud R2-D2 Themed Headphones Available Now for $49.90
- World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Breaks Record, Sells 3.3 Million Copies in 24 Hours
- iPhone for Verizon Said to be an LTE-Based Device, Launching Right After Christmas
- Amazon Sells Millions of Kindles in Just 73 Days, Publicly Thanks Purchasers
- Mass Effect 3 Launching Holiday 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 & PC Simultaneously
- World Darts Championship to be Filmed With 32 Cameras, Shown Off in 3D
- “Emotional” phones hold your hand, blow on you & kiss you [Video]
- What is a Chrome OS notebook?
- Intel Light Peak to debut with copper cables not fiber-optic?
- Orb Music MP-1 Review
- HALO DIY obstacle-avoidance system is low-cost radar for visually-impaired [Video]
- SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: December 13 2010
- Roku add 1080p HD to XR streamers with 2.9 firmware update
- KIN Studio shutting down as Verizon pulls plug in January 2011
- LED Christmas lights hacked into huge IM status display [Video]
- Intel pricing Huron River out of the game as Calpalla stocks won’t shift?
- Clark Griswold has nothing on the Faucher’s Christmas light show
- Google Latitude hits App Store again
- Gogo and SkyMall offer free store access on flights
- Tamron debuts world’s lightest and smallest 15x DSLR zoom lens
- Gear4 offers Angry Birds cases for iPhone 4
| Is webOS 2.0 Coming to Palm Devices in Q1 2011? Posted: 13 Dec 2010 02:43 PM PST Possibly. After having been promised HP webOS 2.0 by the end of 2010, Palm users are still having a little bit of a cry circle. If they’d like to have it, they certainly can, but going to the story to purchase a Palm Pre 2 wasn’t exactly what most Palm users were looking for. That’s bush league, man! According to Germany’s O2 Twitter account, webOS 2.0 wont be loaded to Palm devices now until the first quarter of 2011. WHYYY? I WANT IT NOW!
According to our friends over at Pre Central, Germany’s O2 timeline has always been “remarkably frank”, thusly they trust them – we’re inclined to as well. On the other hand, the people working at webOS en Castellano heard “from private forums” that current devices might never get webOS 2.0, instead simply getting an update straight to 2.1. Uh… alright! Whatever works, man! There already is a 2.0.1 out there for Palm Pre 2 that fixes some bugs, but it appears that this 2.1 is more advances than that. This 2.1 rumor has no timeline however, and is of course less credible having come third or fourth hand. Here’s hoping, though! Nothing like an update to a Palm! ALSO note that as we get pumped up about the rise of Palm and WebOS to prominence, we’re rolling out some chats about the subject over at webOS Forums – come and have a cup of tea and talk it out a bit. Maybe bring your pals, bring your pixies and your pres, bring it all. [Via PreCentral]
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| Hidden Gamepad Underneath Chameleon X-1 Mouse Posted: 13 Dec 2010 02:21 PM PST For only $55 you TOO can have a mouse under which is a totally sweet gamepad for use with all your favorite old-timey games. I suppose you could use it for some newer games too, but I think the whole world will agree that clearly the best use is for Dr Mario. This mouse is wireless, optical, has a 2.4GHz transmission band, 7 keys and 1 scroll wheel on the top of the mouse, joypad featuring 14 buttons. Interfacing with the mouse is done via USB 1.1 / Plug & Forget / Intelligent ID Link. It’s 1.5V (operational voltage), 30mA (operational current,) and weighs approximately 115g (without the battery).
Sadly, ever so sadly, this mouse will only work with Windows machines (Windows 95/ 98/ 2000/ NT/ ME/ XP/ Vista/ 7). I will be unable to use such a lovely device. For the rest of you though, the resolution of this mouse adds up to: 400/800/1000/1200/1600dpi (adjustable), samples at 125Hz, and its optical sensor is a Pixart. It’s super fancy. You’re gonna want to check it out. I’m surprised it hadn’t been thought of before. Get to playing. Available soon via [Shogun Bros] [Via OhGizmo!]
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| Hybrid Sweet Sweeper Allianz 4000 is World’s First Posted: 13 Dec 2010 01:53 PM PST Hey world, check it out, time to get green while cleaning up while saving the world. All of these things are the same thing, in a way, and now they’re all in the same vehicle. This Allianz 4000 vehicle has a top speed of 60 miles per hour and currently resides in New York City. It has a 6.7-liter Cummings diesel engine and two 12-volt lithium-ion batteries with an electric-traction drive system. How much more efficiently does it run than its non-hybrid counterparts? How does 40-45% fuel savings sound to you?
Allianz sales manager Chad Bormann says thusly of the Allianz 4000: "We have the ability to operate using a smaller single diesel engine running at lower RPMs. This alone creates savings against any street sweeper that requires an auxiliary engine in conjunction with the chassis engine to drive and operate the sweep functions. The fuel savings are extreme and the carbon footprint minimal considering that street sweepers are operated for long shifts daily all over the world." Not only does the car offer a better fuel savings than all of its predecessors, its emissions are much lower too. In fact, "This alone helps to justify any upfront additional costs that are associated with the hybrid purchase," says Bormann on how these lowered emissions help cities meet their emissions standards. All this doesn’t help with the speed of the actual cleaning though, sadly, super sadly, as identified in its clean mode which only ends up being between 3 and 7 mph. Chuggin along. [Via Wired]
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| Solar Powered Watches Updated by Casio at ECO Product 2010 Posted: 13 Dec 2010 01:23 PM PST G-Shock! OCEANUS! Both intensely well-known watches, the G-version seeming to have somewhat of a resurgence over these past few hipster-laden years. The OCEANUS on the other hand was displayed proudly and at this years ECO Product, Casio having a stand with an exploded view inside the iconic watch to show off its solar powers! The solar panel is placed directly behind the watch face, the watch requiring only 6.3W of power to provide up to 860,000 watch movements – take a peek at the video!
What a magical assortment of parts – each of them cut with precision to provide you with a greener way to display the time on your wrist. Can you imagine a future where the only thing that’d make you replace a device is a damaged part, and the only power source needed is the sun? Welcome to that future. Click here to view the embedded video. [Via Akihabara News]
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| Mozilla Demonstrates Potential of HTML 5 at LeWeb via Floating Ships and Spacecraft Posted: 13 Dec 2010 12:56 PM PST So Vince was hanging out at LeWeb last week, just eating a fine piece of bread, probably sipping on some fine wine (it’s France! I’ve been there, this happens,) when BAM! Mitchell Baker, Chairperson from Mozilla demonstrates a miraculous scene on the projector showing the capabilities of modern HTML 5. What the demonstration entails is a webpage, running in a browser, computed in Javascript real time as the audience watches. It’s on the internet, and because it’s on the internet, live content can be pulled into the scene and played on what appears to be floating cars flying over a Bladerunner-esque city. Sounds simple, but take a look, it’s quite spectacular.
On a balloon floating in this 3D scene, floating over the city are photos taken from a live photostream on Flickr – photos taken at LeWeb the day everyone is watching this video. Next they show video (not Flash,) being pulled in in real time – they hope to be able to show LIVE video on these 3D buildings by next year (exciting!) Again all of this is on a webpage, ready to go, live, built with Javascript living in the HTML 5 world. Baker makes the point that the internet matters and is capable of lots and lots of cool stuff. Neato? Neato. Take a look at the video here:
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| Apple Attempts to Acquire Patents to Fix for Your Snapshots Posted: 13 Dec 2010 12:35 PM PST Take a peek at TEN new patent applications made by Apple that aim to increase the excellence of your photos in the future. Inside these you’ll see a window into what may be for Apple, including Chroma Noise Reductions, Automatic Tone Mapping, and Continuous Image Capture. As Apple has a sort of singularity about it when it comes to features on new machines, one would hope that these camera improvements would affect all of their future devices. On the other hand, they DO tell of such magnificent features upon release of a magnificent product. Is iPad 2‘s camera going to feature all ten new items?
The patents all published within this past week by Apple are thus: • Patent Application Number: 20100309344 – Entitled “Chroma Noise Reductions for Cameras Each of these applications can be accessed publicly by searching at the US Patent and Trademark Office. Correcting blurry photos? Masking skin tones? Orientation Detectors to Implement Automatic Exposure Mechanisms? Wild. Crazy. Together, revolutionary? We’ll see. [Via Fortune]
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| MLB At Bat Highest Grossing App for iOS in 2010 Posted: 13 Dec 2010 12:31 PM PST As you might have noticed, this year’s iTunes Rewind let us know the tops of all categories as far as sales and such go. One that stuck out is MLB At Bat 2010 for iPhone and iPod touch, named highest grossing app by Apple, that’s first overall across ALL categories of paid apps in 2010. (And as a bonus, the iPad version was the highest grossing app in the sports category, but who’s counting?) Major League Baseball is counting – this game “At Bat” gave users the first full season of live video for EVERY GAME, being accessed 37 million times during the 2010 season.
The increase in access from last year to this year is monsterous: over 236 percent more people accessed the app from the 2009 season. Users were able to grab access to their MLB.TV subscriptions and watch LIVE broadcast feeds, both home and away games – all with statistical overlays and controls to rewind and pause the game. Intense! ALSO during the off-season you can grab the app for FREE in the Apple app store. Check out the full press release below:
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| LG E90 LED Monitor Landing in the UK Before Christmas Posted: 13 Dec 2010 11:32 AM PST For LG, providing the latest innovation in technology usually means combining elements, and making one ultimate device. As Si-hwan Park, the Vice President of LG’s Monitor Division put it, their new E90 LED monitor “is the result of advanced technology and beautiful design coming together in perfect alignment.” The result? The company’s slimmest monitor, ever. It has a depth of only 7.2mm, the new monitor is built for action-packed entertainment, as well as streaming video from the Internet.
The E90 LED monitor features a response time of just 2ms, making it a perfect monitor for entertainment that has a lot going on at one time. Action movies, with explosions, fast cars, or anything else that can happen in a fast-paced environment are perfect for this monitor. LG also included their proprietary Image Booster technology, which enhances the content from streaming media, like what you’ll find on YouTube. LG says that the new E90 monitor is an eco-friendly device, and has reduced the amount of hazardous materials utilized in its construction. It also features a 40 percent less power consumption rate than that of the competition, based on the CCFL-backlit LCD technology. The new monitor is going to be shown off at CES 2011, but it’s said to be made available in the UK before Christmas comes around. [via TechRadar]
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| Posted: 13 Dec 2010 11:04 AM PST In the run-up to the new Tron sequel, which opens nationwide this Friday, I decided to dust off my old copy of the original 1982 film to see what I’d forgotten, and to determine if the original movie still holds up after almost 30 years. In some ways, the original was groundbreaking. It was infamously excluded from Oscar consideration for the best visual effects category because the use of computer animation was considered cheating. But in many ways Tron is quite derivative of some of the more popular sci-fi movies of its age, most notably the Star Wars movies that had been released by then. Still, it’s a fun film to watch, and it offers an interesting preview into what the new sequel might hold.
Foremost, I had forgotten the plot of the original Tron. I remembered that Jeff Bridges’ character, Flynn, had been sucked into the computer world by a giant laser beam, and I remembered that the world was being controlled and manipulated by a huge enemy called the MCP, or Master Control Program. But I had forgotten the encapsulating story. The movie is, at heart, about a video game company. We start with Flynn trying to hack his way into a company called Encom to find evidence that the company’s best selling creation, a game called “Space Paranoids,” was actually Flynn’s idea, stolen by the company’s Senior Vice President. Actually, I’m getting ahead of myself. We really start in the arcade, where the hand of an unseen player feeds a quarter into the slot of a video game called “Lightcycle.” Then, the action fades into the metaphoric video game world, where the action is played out by programs in more or less physical representations of the games. More on that later. After a quick, brutal round of Lightcycle, we’re with Flynn, and his program Clu, who looks exactly like Flynn in a yellow Tron suit. Clu is Flynn’s program, searching the Encom database for a file that will prove Space Paranoids was stolen by the Encom exec. Clu is denied and destroyed by the giant computer overlord, the MCP, and his minions, which causes an internal investigation in Encom in the real world. Some of Flynn’s old Encom friends suspect his involvement in the hacking, so they visit him at his arcade, where he shows off his champion video game prowess and lives in a bachelor pad above the blips and bleeps of 1980s twitch gaming. These friends are quickly convinced to help Flynn break into Encom, giving him access to a terminal that will help him find the file. Of course, this terminal happens to be seated across from a gigantic laser beam that can somehow transform ordinary objects into computer programs, and back again. Oops, they probably should have warned him about that. The MCP digitizes Flynn, and the race is on. He becomes a player in the digital gaming world, then an insurgent, trying to destroy the MCP’s hold on the stored data, with the help of some other programs. These programs, of course, are actually the digital metaphors of his friends in the real world. Not quite avatars, per se, more like programs that bear the unique stamp of their owners, including their faces and likenesses. In the digital world, the programmers, or “Users,” are so godlike that the programs refer to them as deities. In fact, there is even doubt that these Users exist, and if so, are they a benevolent force with a plan, or do they even care about their creations? At times, the pseudo-theology is charming, but at other times it can be rather goofy. In fact, the entire movie can be somewhat silly. Surprisingly, the movie takes itself much more seriously in the digital world than it does in the real world. In the real world, Jeff Bridges plays the character as a hapless goof ball. In the digital world, you get the impression that there is much more at stake. In the real world, the plot is about finding evidence to sue a company for intellectual property theft. In the digital world, the plot is about freeing a society from religious persecution and restraints on basic civil liberties, especially freedom of speech. Of course, Tron was released between the Star Wars movies “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi,” and it borrows heavily from Star Wars, both in terms of plot devices and narrative structure. There are gigantic ships that fly endlessly overhead. The disc fighting in Tron is reminiscent of the lightsaber battles in Star Wars. Even the characters are similar. You have the flying-by-the-seat-of-his-pants Flynn, who is charismatic and capricious, helping out the much more boring and almost religiously focused Tron. You have little robotic characters with more personality than verbiage. You’ve got a female love interest who is ambiguously attracted to Tron and drawn to Flynn’s bad-boy attitude. You’ve got a wizened old man who guards the sacred knowledge. Oh, and the bad guys wear helmets, and converse in secret chambers with an unseen overlord whose power is unimaginable. The end battle scene involves the main character, Tron, aiming a single, precision shot at just the right spot on the gigantic evil nemesis. I could go on and on. I haven’t seen the new movie yet, but if the original borrowed heavily from Star Wars, I’m guessing the new film will borrow heavily from The Matrix. While I liked The Matrix, and I even enjoyed the sequels (though not as much), I hope the new Tron: Legacy avoids this folly. While it would seem that the movies are close cousins, with a hero who is trapped in a virtual world, in fact this isn’t exactly what Tron is about. The world into which Flynn falls is not a virtual version of our own world. It’s a metaphor of the relationship between human users and computer programs. It doesn’t need to be picture perfect, or even representative of anything real or human. It should always be outlandish, more than otherworldly, perhaps extra-dimensional. The Matrix was meant to be a stylized replacement for our own world. The world of Tron is an anthropomorphized video game. I also hope Tron: Legacy doesn’t lose all of the silliness of the original movie. Sure, the dialogue and direction were stilted and confused. But there were some moments that were clever. Useless financial accounting programs, past their prime, are forced to duel to the death in a game of digital jai-alai. The MCP started as a chess program that grew too big for its own britches. Tron even prefigures some interesting modern issues with technology. Flynn is unable to hack into Encom’s database because he does not have enough access. The real hacking he accomplishes is by gaining access to people within the organization itself. This is how the best hackers operate today. Rather than brute force attacks, driving a virtual tank up to the gates of the walled garden, hackers are much more likely to try to get information from real people first who can be used to access a system. The problem within the Tron world is that information cannot enter or leave. The world has become stagnant and dead without a connection to the outside. We’re considering the same problems with internal networks, and especially social networks, today. Is it better to cut off employees’ access to the outside world? Does it help with productivity and security, or does it just leave employees feeling isolated, perhaps looking for another way in or out? Finally, the real stakes in the game are not with Flynn’s quest for retribution. Early on, the MCP hints that it wants to gain more and more control over the world and its affairs, until it is finally making real political decisions faster and more efficiently than a human ever could. While this idea, of computers taking over the world, is echoed in plenty of stories to come later (Terminator, anyone?), it’s more subtle in Tron. It isn’t about giving a computer control over the military, it’s about giving away control over the access to information. Especially in this day and age, we’re seeing that this might be a much more powerful way to subvert authority.
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| Coloud R2-D2 Themed Headphones Available Now for $49.90 Posted: 13 Dec 2010 11:01 AM PST Coloud is a company that has grown notorious for making over-the-ear headphones interesting again, by not only providing some unique designs, but doing so with a sense of passion. While we’ve seen the company’s take on Marvel Hero (and anti-hero)-themed headphones, the company must have felt it was time to dive into another franchise. And instead of just going the easy way, the company managed to give these new R2-D2 themed headphones that bit of attention to detail we’ve come to expect.
The headphones are made to look like the top of R2-D2′s domed head. The rest of the ‘phones are meant to match the little astromech’s color scheme. And obviously you’ll get the Star Wars logo, right there where everyone can see it. The headphones feature a foldable design, for easy carrying, and also an in-line remote/microphone. That means you’ll be able to plug these headphones into your phone and use them as a headset. These R2-D2 headphones are available right now through here, and you’ll have to drop $49.90. The perfect gift for the Star Wars fan in your life. We think so. [via OhGizmo!]
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| World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Breaks Record, Sells 3.3 Million Copies in 24 Hours Posted: 13 Dec 2010 10:49 AM PST There are a few properties in the entertainment market that are expected to have huge releases. That includes the newest Call of Duty game, as well as the newest installment to the Gran Turismo franchise. Both of those games managed to sell a ridiculous amount of copies, with Call of Duty: Black Ops destroying entertainment records on its own. One other franchise is just as anticipated, and when a new game launches, everyone knows that huge numbers are going to be racked up. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm didn’t disappoint.
According to developer Blizzard Entertainment, the latest installment/expansion for the World of Warcraft series managed to sell 3.3 million copies in its first 24 hours of being on sale. That means that it broke the record for “fastest selling PC game, ever.” There’s a bit of irony in the fact that Blizzard Entertainment actually beat out the previous World of Warcraft title, Wrath of the Lich King, which sold 2.8 million copies in its first 24 hours of being on sale, in 2008. [via Joystiq]
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| iPhone for Verizon Said to be an LTE-Based Device, Launching Right After Christmas Posted: 13 Dec 2010 10:24 AM PST It’s been a little while since we heard a Verizon/iPhone rumor, so it’s good to see that the mill is still turning out quality pieces. This time around, we’re hearing more about the fact that the iPhone for Verizon, which is still not confirmed even in the slightest, is set to launch with LTE-capable technology on board. But, that’s not all of the good news. It’s actually coming sooner than most rumors had previously suggested.
While it’s widely believed that the iPhone is coming to Verizon, and, just as believed, launching some time in the first half of 2011, this new rumor suggests that the device is actually going to launch “right after Christmas.” The new rumor, which MacDailyNews reported coming from a “credible source” that they trust, goes into great length to add details regarding the device. For instance, it looks like the “right after Christmas” launch was determined by Apple, and it was the company’s last demand for Verizon. They want to get into the Christmas sales, and making sure that the device is in store in time for the end of the holiday shopping season seems to be a high priority. To make sure that’s possible, the iPhone for Verizon is apparently already landing in some Verizon warehouses. Verizon is said to be the sole body responsible for the security of the 4G iPhone, and they’re apparently going to great lengths to make sure that no information makes it to the Internet (…). There’s more. According to the source, managers at Verizon corporate locations had functioning 4G iPhones in their hands just last week, and began training for the device at the same time. The source also confirms that, the day Verizon and Apple announce the handset, it will be available for purchase. And, as anyone might guess, the 4G iPhone will be marketed as the only “LTE iPhone.” Even if there are plenty of details in there, most of which seem pretty “believable,” we’re still waiting to hear something from Verizon or Apple. Or see a picture (with Verizon branding) of this new device. Until that happens, hopefully you’ve still got that salt shaker out, and you’re adding as much salt to these rumors as necessary. [via MacDailyNews]
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| Amazon Sells Millions of Kindles in Just 73 Days, Publicly Thanks Purchasers Posted: 13 Dec 2010 10:11 AM PST You know a company is thankful to those who buy its wares when they go out of their way to post a public thank you for everyone to see. Is there a bit of bragging in there? Sure, but that should be expected. Especially when you’re able to say that you’ve sold more devices in just 73 days, then you did through an entire previous year. Amazon, who have made the Kindle wildly successful since its launch, have thanked those who have purchased the device for their support, and also touted the impressive sales at the same time.
According to Amazon, thanks to customers who have purchased the Kindle, the company has managed to move “millions” of the new device in just a matter of days. 73, to be exact. In those 73 days, Amazon has “confirmed” that they’ve managed to sell more than they did through all of 2009. And this is just the new Kindle, and not including previous versions. What that means, as far as estimations go, is that Amazon has sold at least two million kindles in just 73 days. There’s no way to actually confirm just how many Kindles Amazon has sold, as the company has always been reticent to reveal any hard numbers. But, impressive numbers to say the least, no matter how you look at it. Read the full thank you letter below. [via Daring Fireball; via Amazon] Thank You Letter
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| Mass Effect 3 Launching Holiday 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 & PC Simultaneously Posted: 13 Dec 2010 09:42 AM PST Over the weekend, the TV station Spike hosted the most recent edition of the Video Game Awards, or VGAs. While the show is all about rewarding the best games launched this year, it also has a main focus on world premieres, showcasing the epic games that will be made available to gamers all over the world in the coming months. One of the larger titles shown off was developer BioWare’s Mass Effect 3. And while the game’s announcement trailer was probably enough to get gamer’s excited for the final installment in the series, it just keeps getting better.
It has been revealed by publisher EA that the next game in the Mass Effect story arch, Mass Effect 3 won’t launch on just one console this time around. Instead, the company has confirmed that the new title will launch on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 home console, Sony’s PlayStation 3 console, and the PC, on the same day. The first game in the series has never launched on the PlayStation 3, and the second installment is set to release for the console on January 18th. In the third, and final game, it will see the main character Shepard saving planet Earth from the Reaper invasion. It’s set to launch during the holiday season of 2011, but no exact date has been confirmed quite yet. If you’re interested, you can watch the announcement trailer, which premiered at the VGAs over the wekend, below. Press Release
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| World Darts Championship to be Filmed With 32 Cameras, Shown Off in 3D Posted: 13 Dec 2010 09:08 AM PST
While 3D sweeps through the movie industry, and begins to make large in-roads into the video game industry, it is sports that has already given its own green light for the technology. But, while watching a soccer match, or football or basketball in 3D may sound like fun, there may be some sports out there that don’t necessarily need to be given the 3D upgrade. For instance, darts may not have been a sport that you’d think would get the 3D treatment, but you’d be wrong.
Europe’s Sky 3D TV network is gearing up to present the World Darts Championship in glorious 3D. The Ladbrokes.com tournament, which will be presented in 3D for the first time, has been allowed to do this, after Sky 3D tested the technology in bars across Ireland and the United Kingdom. The presentations of 3D darts was apparently so enjoyed, that Sky 3D felt that it would be the wrong thing to do to not present the world championship in 3D. The championship will be shot with 32 different cameras. That’s 10 more cameras than what would be needed to shoot each match in HD. Interestingly enough, there are going to be two specific 3D cameras that will be positioned at the dart board’s perspective. Why? So those watching can feel like they’re really there, and really getting darts tossed at their face. [via TG Daily]
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| “Emotional” phones hold your hand, blow on you & kiss you [Video] Posted: 13 Dec 2010 08:34 AM PST
Video after the cut
The grasping, kissing and whispering prototypes are intended to explore how real-world sensations can make communications more emotional. The grasping phone pulls in a handstrap during conversations, while the whispering phone blows a small amount of air onto your neck or ear. Finally, the kissing phone has a damp sponge inside, which is jabbed at your cheek when the caller kisses their handset. The project is a follow-up to Hemmert’s previous work on weight-shifting cellphones, and while none of these prototypes is really suitable for a production model, it’s another interesting approach to haptics beyond the insipid buzz of a silent call. Saying that, though, we can’t really imagine wanting a fluid exchange with most of the people in our address book.
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| Posted: 13 Dec 2010 08:29 AM PST Last week Google put a reference design notebook called the Cr-48 into the hands of many press, and excited consumers. This new notebook runs Google's Chrome OS operating system and, according to Google, represents a new type of computing experience, mainly one that takes place solely within the browser. In my column last Friday I started a debate about the fate of netbooks as I predicted the death of the netbook category. I appreciate all who commented on that column for contributing to the discussion. I ended the column pointing out that if the definition of the netbook is no longer valid, then what are we to call the Chrome OS notebook?
First of all, Google is being very intentional in not calling it a netbook. Yet, by the original definition of a netbook and by the definition held by many others, that is exactly what this device is. So why isn't Google, Intel or others who are a part of this Chrome OS notebook calling it a netbook if, by the accepted definition, that is exactly what it is? I believe the reason is for Google and many others this 12-inch notebook running Google's Chrome browser operating system represents where computing is heading in the future. This new world of computing is executed within the browser where there is no longer a need for localized software that needs to be "installed" and then executed by the OS. At the Chrome event I attended last week the point was made on stage that "everything" you can do with local software can be done in the cloud through the browser. In concept that is true to a degree and will most likely become even more true in the future. After using the CR-48 for several days and trying to accomplish normal and everyday work tasks I concluded that the entire experience is way to early to judge or to compare. So that leaves us to think about what it could be rather than what it currently is. Can it be a Notebook? Those of us who use PCs everyday are still used to relying on a handful of local applications on a regular basis. Using your email client, instant messenger, collaboration software, photo or video editor, word editor of choice, etc is all a part of how you the consumer have customized your computer to do all the things you want it to do. For this world to exist in a Chrome OS notebook, every single software application that exists today – and every future one that may be developed – would need to be available as a browser-only application as well. Let's take e-mail for example. It is absolutely correct that it's possible to check my e-mail online through the browser. That, however, does not mean that it is my preferred way to check or respond to e-mail. In fact, the online experience with my Exchange server pales in comparison to the email application I use by choice. Many of the applications I use are because I have selected them as the ones most important for my computing experience. None of those applications can be accessed or used through the browser only. Now, perhaps the point can be made that mainstream consumers do the vast majority of their computing tasks online through the browser, like e-mail etc. However, the success of a browser-only computer will come down to consumer choice being available for the applications they prefer. It will again come down to how much software or "apps" are available. Lastly, one of the more interesting things if this world comes true is that it won't be unique to Google or their Chrome OS notebook. If the browser becomes the software platform on which computing takes place, then anyone who make a browser can compete. Maybe even more importantly, the Internet becomes the platform on which computing takes place and that raises an entirely new set of interesting questions. What do you think the Chrome OS notebook is?
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| Intel Light Peak to debut with copper cables not fiber-optic? Posted: 13 Dec 2010 08:10 AM PST Intel’s Light Peak won’t actually use fiber-optics in its initial incarnation, sources are claiming, instead relying on more mundane copper connections. According to CNET‘s tipster, billed as “an industry source familiar with Intel’s plans,” when Light Peak arrives in the first half of 2011 it will have to wait until a later update to actually use light-based communications.
The exact reason for the delay is unspecified, with CNET only saying that “practical realities dictate more conventional technology” be used. It’s speculated that this could mean Intel is unclear whether fiber optic cables will have the same resilience to everyday use as regular cabling, or if careless users might accidentally crack the lightpipes. According to the source, data speeds – up to 10 gigabits per second, with simultaneous bi-directional communication supported – will not be impacted by the use of copper. Sony and Apple are tipped to be among the first companies to use Light Peak, which is being billed as a catch-all alternative to USB, ethernet, display connections and more. [via Expreview]
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| Posted: 13 Dec 2010 07:59 AM PST Whole-house audio isn’t new, and – as Sonos has shown – it isn’t necessarily complicated, but nor has it generally been all that affordable. Orb plans on changing that with the Orb Music MP-1, a $69 wireless audio adapter that – along with some free software to turn your Apple or Android smartphone into a remote control – promises Sonos-style streaming without the sky-high price tag. Check out the full review after the cut.
HardwareThe MP-1 itself is a small plastic disc 3.28-inches across, about the size of a drinks coaster, with a rubberized base and an Orb logo on the top inside an illuminated status ring. Ports and controls are minimal: a miniUSB is used for initial setup and then power, while a 3.5mm stereo output is the only way to hook up speakers; meanwhile the only hardware button is a recessed reset nub on the bottom of the unit. Inside there’s WiFi b/g/n, and in the box Orb include an AC USB power supply, a USB to miniUSB cable and a 3.5mm stereo audio cable. There’s also a brief “Getting Started” sheet and the warranty information.
SoftwareOrb rely on two different software components, each available to download rather than included in the retail box. First up is Orb Caster, the music “server” side of the system and which is currently available for Windows and Mac. It’s this app that pulls together your multimedia and squirts it out to the MP-1, and it means you’ll need to have a computer running full-time if you want to use the Orb system; there’s no standalone component. You can index local and network-shared media, including an iTunes library, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4), AAC, Lossless, WMA and WAV files are supported. Second is the Orb Controller app, which is available for iPhone/iPod touch, iPad (as a native app) and Android. This is the free remote control, and the useful thing is that you can download it to as many devices as you own: if you’ve got an iPad in the lounge and then an Android smartphone, you can have Orb Controller running on each.
Setup proved trickier than it should, with neither our PC or Mac able to see the MP-1. After some head-scratching, that was tracked down to a bent pin in the supplied USB cable, which meant the Orb Music was powered but not connected for data. There’s no way of knowing whether we bent the pin ourselves or if Orb supplied a broken cable. Once plugged in with a working cable, the Orb Caster app quickly recognized the MP-1 and allowed us to select the default WiFi network for it to connect to. After that, when powered up it showed up in the Orb Devices list – on all the Orb Caster installs, not just the one that set it up initially – after twenty seconds or so of network registration. The Orb logo on the MP-1 flashes orange while it’s finding the WiFi connection, double-flashes if it can’t find the Orb Caster server, and then lights green when it’s ready. As for the Orb Controller app, that’s available in the Apple App Store or the Android Market, and is free in each. Loaded up, and it automatically finds whatever Orb Caster servers are running; you can then choose which one you want to control, based on the server name you set during installation. The homescreen offers the core audio library along with any playlists, together with Pandora and Sirius if you have access to them, internet radio (sorted by country, genre and favourites), any internet radio you’ve recorded using Orb Caster, and the settings page. The latter allows you to reset the controller and, remotely, Orb Caster, together with triggering a rescan of the media library.
Media itself can be browsed by artist, album, genre, composer, song or folder, or alternatively you can search for a specific track. Album art is supported, though not downloaded on-demand. Using the bar at the top of the screen you can see all the MP-1 units on your network and their current activity, including pausing or stopping playback on all of them. Tapping the first track plays it; tapping subsequent tracks allows you to choose between playing them immediately, playing them next or appending them to the end of the current ad-hoc playlist. If you have two or more Orb Controllers running simultaneously, they can each control a single MP-1: you can see track changes and even volume adjustments, synchronized across all of the controllers. PerformanceAudio quality is highly dependent on the speakers you plug in, and as long as those you choose have a 3.5mm input, you’ll have no problems hooking up the MP-1. With only analog audio to choose from, rather than some sort of digital output, the Orb Music won’t be quite as good as a Sonos system with a top-notch HiFi, but that sort of setup is obviously expensive and also demands that your digital music collection is encoded at suitably high bitrates. All that considered, we had no issues with the MP-1′s audio performance.
Overall responsiveness of the Orb system is, as you’d imagine, dependent on every stage the music has to pass through; the speed is only as good as the weakest link in the chain. With the Orb Caster app pulling tracks locally and from a USB hard-drive, linked via WiFi b/g to the MP-1, playback started after a second or two of delay. Streaming music from a NAS, meanwhile, added an extra second or two into the process. As for the Orb Controller apps, the iOS version seems more polished than its Android counterpart. On the iPad it updated quickly and moved swiftly between pages, only encountering minor delays when getting long lists of albums, artists or tracks from the server. The Android app was a little more buggy, occasionally freezing and sometimes causing the device to slow down and become unresponsive altogether. These were intermittent issues, but we noticed them on both a Samsung Galaxy Tab and a Google Nexus One. Wrap-UpViewed against Sonos’, Raumfeld’s or Logitech’s systems, the Orb Music has some obvious omissions. Its remote app is more sluggish – and demands that you have an Android or iOS device to run it – and it lacks connectivity options like digital audio outputs and wired ethernet. On the flip side, a single MP-1 is $69; assuming you already have a suitable device to act as the remote, that means you can be up and running with a single-room wireless audio streaming system for a fraction of the cost of a Sonos setup.
Adding an extra room is another $69, and Orb’s recent Orb TV VP-1 adapter – at $99 – promises to do for video and photos (along with music) what the MP-1 does for audio, all running from the same Orb Caster server. Yes, you’ll need a computer turned on all the time, but the same is true with SqueezeBox, and if you’re buying into Sonos then you’re basically getting a standalone PC in their units. We’d like to see a NAS plugin, as with SqueezeBoz, to run Orb Caster from a network-attached storage device, but the target audience for the Orb Music is probably going to be able to work around leaving a computer switched on 24/7. Orb still has work to do finessing the Orb Controller app, particularly the Android version, and we’d like to see Rhapsody support (which the company says it is working on) in the US and Spotify in the UK. An open API for third-party developers would be grand, too. The company does say a wired ethernet version of the MP-1 is also under consideration, if there’s enough user demand. Still, on balance this is an affordable and flexible way to stream music without installing huge lengths of cable or spending massively on proprietary remotes and other hardware. What shortcomings there are pale considerably when you take into account the Orb Music MP-1′s bargain price.                
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| HALO DIY obstacle-avoidance system is low-cost radar for visually-impaired [Video] Posted: 13 Dec 2010 07:17 AM PST Haptics has come to mean the lackluster vibration your phone gives off when you use the on-screen keyboard, but there’s plenty more potential for the technology. Steve Struebing has come up with HALO - Haptic Assisted Location of Obstacles – a headband intended to allow blind or visually-impaired users the ability to navigate without bumping into things.
Video demo after the cut
HALO uses an array of ultrasonic sensors to figure out potential obstacles in the surrounding space, but rather than translate them into radar-style “pings” or “clicks”, it uses vibration motors embedded into the headband. The closer you are to an obstacle, the more frequent and/or powerful the vibrations are. At the heart of it is an Arduino Mega 2560 controller, and it runs off a single 9V battery. Struebing has put together an Instructable showing how the whole thing goes together, and the whole thing can be reasonable inexpensive – certainly in comparison to training up a guide dog.
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| SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: December 13 2010 Posted: 13 Dec 2010 06:57 AM PST Ruh roh! KIN Studio is shutting down as Verizon pulls plug in January 2011! That’s big tween news. Then there was some sweet stuff over the weekend and early early in the morning: Why I'm Willing to Give 3D TV A Try, a column by Don. We begin our fabulous “Week With” the L1 v2 Laser Pico Projector starting with a Hands-on and Unboxing. We’ve got a fabulous Nexus S unboxing and hands-on, and if you’re feeling like some sassy speeds hang out on our LG VL600 LTE modem review. Keep cruzin. All this and MORE on 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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| Roku add 1080p HD to XR streamers with 2.9 firmware update Posted: 13 Dec 2010 06:23 AM PST Roku has pushed out the latest firmware update for its Netflix streamers, with 2.9-b1509 bringing 1080p HD support to the older Roku XR STBs and various other Hulu optimizations that affect all models. Hulu streams should now start playing quicker, and be more resilient to higher-latency networks.
The new 2.9 firmware will automatically install on your Roku box at some point over the next few days, but you can also manually trigger the update from the Settings page.
[via Zatz Not Funny]
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| KIN Studio shutting down as Verizon pulls plug in January 2011 Posted: 13 Dec 2010 06:05 AM PST Microsoft’s KIN handsets may have scored a reprieve of sorts at Verizon last month, but it seems the carrier is still on course to shut down most of what made the tweens’ smartphones special. According to WPCentral, as of January 31 2011 the KIN Studio will close permanently; that means all of the OTA functionality KIN users have been enjoying – such as posting photos to social networks, using the Feed Reader and all the Loop sharing support – will cease to function.
Instead, the KIN devices will simply support Zune Pass over WiFi and email, finally turning them into glorified feature phones. According to the documents, Verizon will be encouraging users to backup their data and giving them their choice of a free 3G phone before March 31 2011.
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| LED Christmas lights hacked into huge IM status display [Video] Posted: 13 Dec 2010 05:33 AM PST Christmas lights can be gaudy and distracting, or they can be a force used for good; well, as long as by “good” you mean individually-programmable and capable of showing IM status. Microsoft .NET developer Andrej Kyselica discovered that, after some tinkering, he could get a FEZ embedded controller to individually manage each LED on a string of $60 Christmas lights from Costco.
Video demo after the cut
The lights themselves are the GE Color Effects GE-35, available in 36 or 50 bulb lengths. On their own, each bulb consists of three LEDs allowing for multiple color combinations, with 14 preset patterns to choose from; however, thanks to some judicious hacking of the LED data bus, they can also be addressed by your choice of microcontroller. Unsurprisingly, Kyselica opted for .NET, and his lights now show the various statuses of each of his IM friends (complete with Post-It notes labelling each individual). Of course, that’s just one potential application. Click here to view the embedded video. [via istartedsomething]
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| Intel pricing Huron River out of the game as Calpalla stocks won’t shift? Posted: 13 Dec 2010 05:23 AM PST Intel is actively discouraging sales of its new Huron River chips, according to sources at notebook manufacturers, despite machines based on the new processors expected in early Q1 2011. DigiTimes sources claim that ASUS, HP, Dell and Acer will all continue to push existing Calpella-based notebooks for the next three months, as Intel reduce Huron River discounts in an attempt to clear sixth-gen Centrino chip stock.
The sources blame underwhelming demand for recent Centrino notebooks for Intel’s excess stock, with the company apparently hoping that shifting the discounts it offers big-name vendors will help burn up some of the remaining chips. Huron River will be the seventh-gen Centrino platform, pairing 32nm Sandy Bridge low-voltage and ultra-low-voltage CPUs with Cougar Point chipsets, along with integrated WiMAX support.
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| Clark Griswold has nothing on the Faucher’s Christmas light show Posted: 13 Dec 2010 04:56 AM PST I like to put lights outside for Christmas, mostly I stick to a few strands in the bushes and a string or two on the house. Some folks really go all out. There is a house not far from us with lights that are synced to music that is pretty cool. Even that display has nothing on the Faucher family from Delaware.
These folks have a Christmas light show on their house that Clark Griswold would be proud to call his own. In fact, the light show looks like something Sparky would have crafted himself. I hate to think how long these people spend setting this up and tracking down whey all the strands won't work. The shocking part about this light show isn’t how cool it is or how long it would take to set up. The shocking part is how much power the show sucks down and how much it costs to run. HouseLogic reports that the 1 million lights used cost about $686 an hour to run and over the month of Christmas the total bill would run $82,230. You can buy a decent house for that price in my area. If they used LED lights, it would cost $89 per hour or $10,680 for the month.
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| Google Latitude hits App Store again Posted: 13 Dec 2010 04:45 AM PST Last week Google’s Latitude app snuck onto the App Store a bit early and was shortly after the sneak peek pulled. If you were sad that you missed the peek at the new app, you will be glad to hear that Google Latitude for the iPhone has hit the App Store again and apparently for good this time.
Google Latitude is an app that lets you track where your friends are in the real world and you can even use the maps to meet them wherever they happen to be. This is the perfect app for stalkers it seems. All of the friends that you agree to share location information with show up continuously on your map. This would be a great way for parents to keep up with where their kids are. The app has privacy settings that will share only city level information, hide the users location altogether, and allow the user to turn off background updating whenever they want. The app will by default share your location information down to your exact location when your device is closed and the screen is locked. The app is offered for free right now.
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| Gogo and SkyMall offer free store access on flights Posted: 13 Dec 2010 04:34 AM PST Gogo inflight internet and SkyMall, the purveyor of expensive gadgets that you can buy while on a flight have announced that they have teamed up to provider passengers with free access to the SkyMall website. The free access will be offered on all Gogo equipped flights starting this month on AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, Delta, US Airways, and United.
The free service will be offered on nearly 850 Gogo equipped aircraft just in time to buy some expensive gear at the last minute for the holidays while you are on the flight. SkyMall is also having a special where people that spend $125 in the store will get a pass good for a free Gogo session. The Gogo flight pass will let the user spend an entire flight online for free. I would bet everyone that has flown on a commercial flight before has looked at one of the SkyMall catalogs; it has always reminded me a bit of the Sharper Image with all the questionable gadgets and stuff.
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| Tamron debuts world’s lightest and smallest 15x DSLR zoom lens Posted: 13 Dec 2010 04:21 AM PST Tamron is a big name in the aftermarket lens world making lenses for just about all the DSLR cameras on the market. Tamron has announced its latest lens offering and the new lens claims to be the world’s smallest and lightest 15x optical zoom lens and is the first from Tamron to use Piezo Drive AF also known as PZD AF. The lens has 15x zoom and covers a focal range of 18-270mm.
The lens uses the piezoelectric autofocus motor and is made for DSLR cameras with APS-C size sensors. The lens has a 62mm filter diameter and has vibration compensation image stabilization. It has the first standing wave ultrasonic motor that Tamron has used for DSLR lenses. Along with the 18-270mm, focal range the lens has F/3.5-6.3 specifications and will be offered for Nikon and Canon cameras. The lens for Nikon and Canon cameras will hit Japan on December 20. Tamron will offer the lens with a Sony mount later. The Sony mount lens will not have the VC image stabilization system. The lens weighs 450g and is 88mm in length. Pricing is unannounced at this time.
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| Gear4 offers Angry Birds cases for iPhone 4 Posted: 13 Dec 2010 04:09 AM PST Angry Birds is one of those games on the iPhone and other smartphones that is a ton of fun. However, the game can be very frustrating too when the birds can’t get to all the pigs. My daughter has told me on more than one occasion how much she hates those pigs. If you are a big fan of Angry Birds, you can get some cool cases with game art on them from gear4.
Gear4 has announced that it has teamed up with Angry Birds developer Rovio to offer three different cases for the iPhone 4 that have Angry Birds characters on them. There is a red case with the basic bird from the game, a yellow case with the image of the triangular bird that can crash through things, and a green case with king pig on it. It’s cool to see gear with Angry Birds them coming for the iPhone, you can even get Angry Birds plush characters. The cases are available right now online and in Apple stores for $24.95 each. They are only offered for the iPhone 4 right now.
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You could well argue that the great thing about phones is that they generally prevent the person you’re talking to from lapping at your face during a conversation, but design researcher 
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