Floating Cranes Are Unnatural, Physics-Defying Monstrosities [Heavy Machinery]

Those coolhunters over at Oobject have uncovered another gem of engineering: the floating crane. Because the cranes require a massive superstructure and a relatively shallow hull, designers have to approach them pretty much the opposite way they approach typical ship design. They weigh many thousands of tons, and yet somehow manage to lift thousands of tons, too—engineering that truly borders on magic. There are two more insane crane shots below; feel free to hit up Oobject for all the crane porn you’ll ever need. [Oobject]


Clearwire and Sprint close deal to combine WiMAX businesses

This one’s been a long time in the making, but the deal is finally done. Clearwire and Sprint Nextel have gleefully announced that the transaction to combine their next-generation wireless internet businesses is complete, and beers are on the two of ’em this evening. On the real, the agreement dictates that Sprint hand over all of its 2.5GHz spectrum and WiMAX-related assets (including XOHM) to Clearwire; additionally, Clearwire has received a $3.2 billion cash infusion from Comcast, Intel, Time Warner Cable, Google and Bright House Networks. Details beyond that are scant, though we are told that the terms “originally announced on May 7, 2008″ are the ones being abided by, and the new company will retain the Clearwire name and its Kirkland, Washington headquarters.

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Clearwire and Sprint close deal to combine WiMAX businesses originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Linux hits the iPhone!

We knew this day would eventually come, but somehow we’re still misting up a little — Linux has been ported to the iPhone and iPod touch. Dev Team member planetbeing is the mastermind in charge of bringing everyone’s favorite open-source OS to Apple’s handhelds, and while it’s a little rough around the edges (read: no touchscreen drivers, sound, or WiFi / cell radio support), it’s definitely the first step on the road to hacking nirvana. The team is hard at work, and it even sounds like they’re thinking about porting Android in the near future (!), so hit the read link to try it out and lend a hand if you can — or just head on past the break for a quick vid of the port in all its text-scrolling glory.

[Via iphone-dev.org; thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Linux hits the iPhone!

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Linux hits the iPhone! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Harmonic Generator Should Be Renamed Seuss-a-Phone [Musical Instruments]

A crazy site appropriately named Oddmusic has revealed a totally new musical instrument called the Harmonic Generator. Its 64 piano strings are tuned into 32 chromatic notes (so just shy of 3 octaves’ worth). The strings are stroked by bristle brushes attached to motors that are activated by the standard piano keyboard. Lest you thought the mechanical paint brushes were weird, read on.

No, even more bizarre are the guitar pickups: The device uses 12 of them, focused on each of the 12 notes in the musical scale, feeding back what they hear to a speaker transducer positioned at one end of the massive “resonance hull.”

Unfortunately, Oddmusic doesn’t yet have sample tracks from the Harmonic Generator, which was created by a guy named Isac Zal and was not, as I had initially imagined, a joint effort of Tim Burton and the late Dr. Seuss. The site does at least describe the sound, calling it “a symphony inside the belly of a whale.” Somehow, I think that would make ole Theodore Geisel proud. [Oddmusic via Make]


Black Friday Giveaways (part 6): Zune 120 and premium earbuds

Don’t be crazy alright? Just get your comment in below, because if you win this one, you’re walking away with a totally boss Zune 120 plus a sweet pair of those premium earbuds. You’d have to be crazy, stupid, or some lethal combination of both not to jump at this one. Now here’s how it’s done.

We’ll put up a gadget on the site, and you can only enter it until the next gadget lands (usually within a couple of hours). If you miss your shot, sorry, we’re moving on to the next gadget. Good luck! Oh, and don’t forget the rules. (Yeah, there are always rules.)

  • Leave a comment below. That’s it! Who loves you, baby.
  • You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) You can enter different giveaways in today’s Black Friday giveaways, but you can only enter this one once.
  • If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  • Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers or US contest laws if you have to be mad.
  • Winners will be chosen randomly.
  • Entries can be submitted until the next contest goes up. After that we’re all done. Good luck!
  • Full rules can be found here.

Last round’s winner: hammerhead_12! (Remember, winners are selected at random.)

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Black Friday Giveaways (part 6): Zune 120 and premium earbuds originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI unveils a slew of new netbooks and one lonely nettop

It looks like MSI has been pretty busy lately. We got a good look at the MSI Wind U120 about a week ago, and now the company’s back with a slew of new machines and we have plenty of details for you to savor. Most notably, the U115 is a 10-inch netbook featuring the Intel Atom Z530 processor, 1-2GB memory, and a hybrid SSD / hard drive storage system. The solid state drive (being smaller and theoretically faster) is meant to contain the OS while the hard drive is to be used for data. The U110 is basically the same as the U115, except it only ships with 1GB memory and there is no SSD included. Also introduced were the U150 (sadly enough with no specs, besides the fact that it also ships with both HDD and SSD storage) and the WindBox, an Atom N270-based nettop designed to be VESA-mounted to the back of your monitor. The WindBox should be available Q1 2009 for around €300. Keep reading after the break for a complete rundown of all the specs.

Read – MSI WindBox Revealed
Read – MSI unveils new netbooks, unusual storage systems

Continue reading MSI unveils a slew of new netbooks and one lonely nettop

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MSI unveils a slew of new netbooks and one lonely nettop originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Uber Tuber: The Instant French Fries Bazooka System [Dyi]

For some reason, Ted Goessling and Zach Gens think that creating a French fries machine using a potato gun—a compressed-air bazooka that fires potatoes—, a wire screen, and a large pot with hot oil is a good idea. I don’t agree. I think their instant French fries maker—or Uber Tube, as they call it—kicks some serious Mr. Potato ass. Now I challenge them to make them curly. [Makezine]


Black Friday Giveaways (part 5): Universal Remote’s URC Digital R50 over at Engadget HD!

Our main cats over at Engadget HD are getting into the Black Friday giveaway game with us, and they’ve got a button-festooned R50 up for grabs! If you’re down to get some more free stuff, truck on over there and get your comments in.

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Black Friday Giveaways (part 5): Universal Remote’s URC Digital R50 over at Engadget HD! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Energy Sistem rolls out 4040 Touch PMP

As far as PMPs off the beaten path go, Energy Sistem‘s always seem to be a slight cut above the rest, and it’s new 4040 Touch looks to be no exception, with it packing some reasonably high-end features into a bargain-priced but not too cheap-looking package. That includes a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen, 16GB of storage, a microSD card slot for further expansion, a built-in microphone, an FM tuner, support for most of the usual audio and video formats, and even support for Microsoft’s PlayFX, all for a fairly reasonable €120, or about $150. If that’s more than you need, the company apparently also recently rolled out its 5020 and 5021 models, which drop the touchscreen and cut the storage down to 4GB, and the price down to €85, or just over $100. Just don’t be too surprised if they wind up looking slightly less polished that Energy Sistem’s photos.

[Via PMP Today]

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Energy Sistem rolls out 4040 Touch PMP originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Black Friday Giveaways (part 4): Archos 5 and DVR Station

Now come on, this is some seriously sweet stuff. The multi-function Archos 5 (now with updated firmware which the company says addresses a handful of issues we had) is a choice deal unto itself, but toss in that DVR Station, and we think it’s clear just how serious we are about holiday cheer. If you don’t throw your hat in the ring for this one, you may just be faking a love of gadgets. Want to make this happen? Here’s how it works.

We’ll put up a gadget on the site, and you can only enter it until the next gadget lands (usually within a couple of hours). If you miss your shot, sorry, we’re moving on to the next gadget. Good luck! Oh, and don’t forget the rules. (Yeah, there are always rules.)

  • Leave a comment below. That’s it! Who loves you, baby.
  • You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) You can enter different giveaways in today’s Black Friday giveaways, but you can only enter this one once.
  • If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  • Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers or US contest laws if you have to be mad.
  • Winners will be chosen randomly.
  • Entries can be submitted until the next contest goes up. After that we’re all done. Good luck!
  • Full rules can be found here.

Last round’s winner: Curt! (Remember, winners are selected at random.)

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Black Friday Giveaways (part 4): Archos 5 and DVR Station originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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