Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve seen some pretty tortuous fitness wares in our day, but few are as cringe-worthy as this. The conceptual Dancepants Kinetic Music Player is a rather vanilla looking pair of exercise pants, but the internal energy makers generate juice only when the wearer is in motion. In other words, kinetic energy is used to power the connected MP3 player, and so long as you keep hustling, the tunes will keep flowing. Not like you’ll really notice that Mambo #5 has stopped right in the middle of the bridge when you’re laying on the ground nursing a wicked cramp, but hey…

[Via Ecoterre]

Dancepants: the music stops when exhaustion sets in originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Using a laptop computer in a car can be uncomfortable, but no more. The Laptop Steering Wheel Desk hooks on to your wheel to give you a convenient place for the computer, your lunch, or whatever else you’re working on.

Clearly there are great uses for this product, but it’s also easy to imagine some dangerous abuses–especially considering all the recent hubbub about problems with people using cell phones and even texting while driving. And we’ve all heard stories of people shaving, putting on makeup, doing crossword puzzles, you name it.

You just know that someone will try to use their computer while they drive now that they have this table. Probably on a highway where the turns aren’t so sharp. It’s this image that inspired some of the hilarious user reviews and submitted pictures on the Amazon.com page for this product (check one out, after the jump).

Amazon.com seems to be the main place to buy the Laptop Steering Wheel, although the manufacturer, Mobile Desk, makes a wide variety of computer mounts and other work tools for cars. And the average police car these days seems to come with a computer designed for the driver to use.

Just as awareness of the dangers of distracted driving are increasing and laws are being developed all over to penalize users who phone or text while driving, the industry pushes the envelope more and more. Please keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel.

While we were busy looking into external speaker problems on the Droid, it would seem Moto was itself hard at work remedying a separate issue with the device. A number of users on support forums have complained of the Droid’s camera failing to focus and giving them “red corners” when attempting to take pictures, but now — suddenly and without warning — their ailment has gone away as if touched by the hand of an omnipotent being (or, alternatively, a silent firmware update). This particular autofocus problem was mentioned in Verizon’s 5-page treatise on known issues with the Droid, though the planned resolution was an official update by December 11. The fix seems to have been delivered early, as green corners are sprouting up all around, but this silent update conduit sounds a bit nefarious, no?

Update: Sure enough, we can confirm from testing one of our own Droids that the issue has been resolved. The endless quest for the green focus box is over, and you can now finally begin scanning all your discount cards into Key Ring.

Update 2: And things have turned surreal. Dan Morrill, from Google’s Android team, has confirmed that there’s a date-related bug in the Droid’s camera software that leads to it having cycles of good and bad focus that depend on the date. Our own testing confirmed this, as backdating to the 11th of November returned those red bars of failure. Apparently, the cycles last 24.5 days, meaning that you’ll have good focus all the way to December 11, when the real fix is expected to drop. So breathe easy, Gotham, there are no phantom updates, just an oddly date-sentient camera.

[Thanks, AlexL and Kaiser]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Motorola Droid camera autofocus fixed in secrecy? (Update: it’s a date-related self-correction) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve picked eight stinkers from tech history that teased and twisted the minutest grains of plausibility into epic tales of technological wonder and horror.

Burglars over the weekend robbed a warehouse in Antwerp, Belgium, making off with $3 million worth of Apple’s popular iPhone, according to reports in the Belgian press.

The thieves reportedly used a fire ladder to climb to the roof of a warehouse, where they cut a hole to gain access to the goods. They pilfered nearly 4,000 brand new iPhones, according to De Standaard [Google Translation]. Police are investigating the robbery.

U.S.-owned transport company Ceva Logistics was holding the iPhones for Mobistar, Apple’s exclusive Belgian carrier. A Mobistar spokeswoman said the serial numbers of the stole iPhones would be blocked so they cannot be used. However, Fortune’s Philip Elmer De-Witt noted in his report that Belgian iPhones ship without a SIM-lock, meaning thieves will be able to circumvent Mobistar’s block by using the phones on another carrier’s network.

3,000 to 4,000 unlocked iPhones, huh? Keep an eye on eBay for an explosion of new, unlocked iPhones shipping from overseas.

See Also:

• Geek and Thief Come Face to Face Thanks to ‘Find My iPhone …
• Tracking Software Rescues Stolen iMac after Two Weeks

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com