Sprint announces via its Twitter account that it will update the HTC Hero and Samsung Moment straight to Android 2.1 in the first half of 2010. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-10418242-251.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Android Atlas/a/p
Ask any home audio enthusiast and they’ll tell you: there’s nothing quite like precisely adjusting settings via a giant knob. However, they can’t all be huge or our living rooms would be covered by the things. Enter the Puck: a wireless RFID reader that also contains an accelerometer, controlled by an Arduino Mini and created by Eric Gradman along with Tyler and Brent Bushnell. RFIDs mounted to walls or other surfaces tell the PUCK what function to control, and then the accelerometer serves to increase or decrease the value as it’s turned, truly turning it into a virtual knob. If you’re done snickering, there’s a video after the break showing one Puck controlling three separate light colors individually, perfect for dialing in the perfect mood or concert lighting — if only it could dial down the amplitude of dude’s fauxhawk.
Update: We received a note indicating a grave factual inaccuracy in this post. We’ve been told that the hair depicted in the video below is, indeed, a genuine mohawk. We’ve yet to receive photo confirmation of this fact (the mood lighting in the demo is a bit too dark to tell), but in the interest of accuracy we’re providing this update just the same.
Update 2: Photo proof received; mohawk confirmed. And a quite impressive one, too.
Continue reading Puck makes any surface interactive, probably even Surface (video)
Puck makes any surface interactive, probably even Surface (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The FCC has this week signaled its intent to snoop around set top boxes and how they may be improved. Prompted by “a lack of competition and innovation in this market,” the regulator will look into ways it can encourage the proliferation of broadband internet access provision as well as stimulating further advances. One potential solution may involve compelling cable and broadband providers to supply “bridge” network interface devices that’ll allow users to hook up their set top box to a modem and get groovy online. Whatever the final proposals are, and they’ll take more definite shape in February, we’re pleased to see the FCC take a proactive approach toward an industry it perceives to be stagnating. Our idea? Boxee Boxes for everyone!
FCC ponders opening set top boxes to broadband connections, greater competition originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The Leica X1 is a lovely little camera and, as we’ve seen, it can take some stunning shots. Now it’s been given a full examination in a review big enough to match the thing’s decidedly over-sized asking price of $2,000. Over 28 pages dpreview attempts to verify that this machine has the performance to match that MSRP, and the news is not particularly good. The Leica does well enough, particularly when it comes to delivering high-quality images even at high ISO settings — a major stumbling block for most compacts — but it didn’t deliver performance that significantly trumps the Panasonic GF1, which costs less than half as much and has the added bonus of capturing HD video. Value proposition? Hardly, but a solid performer if your disposable income and aesthetic needs greatly outweigh your common sense.
Leica X1 review digs deep, can’t find value originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
I have mixed thoughts about Hammacher Schlemmer’s Airplane Seat Back Valet. On the one hand, it looks completely perfect for a long haul flight, keeping everything to hand without taking away precious knee-space, and looks like it could be easily rigged to hold a media-player in front of your eyes for some non-censored in-flight entertainment.
On the other hand, it is monstrously dorky, and spreading out all of your belongings for your fellow travelers to see is akin to traveling with your pants off, a kind of physical TMI.
We like that it has slots for memory cards, iPods, cellphones, books, tickets and even a netbook, and while the inclusion of a hidden money-pocket with six credit card slots seems superfluous at first, when you learn that the $40 piece of nylon folds into a shoulder bag for use off the plane, it makes more sense. It should be on sale aboard every plane in the Sky Mall magazine.
I won’t be buying one, as I like to take the aisle seat, jerk the seat back as far as it will go and then load up the flip-down table in front with all my in-flight essentials. Then, when my row-mates need to get up, I first stare at them in irritation, then tut under my breath, clearing the empty whisky miniatures and electronics slowly away before letting them out.
The Airplane Seat Back Valet [Hammacher Schlemmer]
From now until Christmas, we’ll be giving away a prize a day on Crave (except for weekends and holidays). Today’s prize: A Vizio VO320E 32-inch LCD TV.
It’s been a long time coming, but the Archos 9 is finally being unleashed wholesale upon the world. The 9-inch tablet has been delayed and had its price hiked, but if you haven’t leapt off the hype train yet you’ll be interested in watching the unboxing and initial impressions video after the break courtesy of UMPCPortal. The 60GB device contains a mere 1.1GHz Atom processor and has been unfortunately crippled with Windows 7 Starter Edition, lacking the cool tablet features that you might have wanted to use on a tablet device. A few times during this video the Archos is likened to the Joojoo, which will almost surely face some delays of its own before receiving a similar berth months from now. Overall it’s looking like a nice machine if you have the bank — and don’t want to do anything particularly processor intensive.
Continue reading Archos 9 tablet and its Windows 7 Starter Edition unboxed (video)
Archos 9 tablet and its Windows 7 Starter Edition unboxed (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
BMW will offer a turbocharged six-cylinder engine in its 7 Series luxury sport sedan in the spring for drivers who find 315 hp more than adequate and who wouldn’t mind more fuel economy. The 400-hp V8 BMW 750Li and BMW 750i remain in the lineup, as does the 535-hp V12 70Li. Specifics weren’t in BMW’s initial release. It’s possible a six-cylinder BMW 740i would get 25 mpg in highway driving and a 500-mile cruising range and might see 20 mpg overall. Expect a bit lower for the long-wheelbase 740Li. As for price, if BMW’s 5 Series provides a guide (it has both sixes and V8s), the entry price for the 740i might be a shade over $75,000, a savings of $7,000. The announcement makes the biggest, bulkiest BMW sedan look a bit greener with hybrid and six-cylinder versions arriving in 2010.
We wanted to introduce you some personal favorites amongst the plethora of videos that came out over the year.
The first is this awarding-winning music video for Denki Groove’s “Fake It”, made by Hideyuki Tanaka.
Next comes this extraordinary video by Taijin Takeuchi, composed by filming seemingly infinite numbers of photos placed chronologically on surfaces inside a home…Just see what I mean below!
And “White Box” by Makoto Yabuki makes design work look far too easy…
We know, Intel’s pretty much on a mission to confuse the heck out of us, what with its forthcoming Arrandale chips straddling different numerals in its Core i-something branding scheme, but the important thing here is that one of the beastlier models will soon be coming to a Fujitsu tablet near you. Expected to be identical in size and external design to the currently available LifeBook T5010, the T900 seems set to juice up the internals and leave the rest well enough alone. That might not be such a terrible idea, mind you, considering the original was a popular convertible tablet that eventually gained multitouch and integrated AT&T 3G skills. If you ask us, January can’t come soon enough.
Fujitsu sneaks Arrandale-based Core i7 tablet into FCC, gets us all excited originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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