IOS4 will bring many of the new iPhone’s features to older models, but it won’t add a front-facing camera. To take self-portraits, you’ll need to either guestimate the framing, or spring for the iSnapMe, which is a kind of stick-on periscope for your iPhone.
The $20 mirror has a pair of suction cups which hold it in place and reflect your handsome face into the old-fashioned 3MP, rear-facing camera found on your tired old iPhone. Because you can now stare at your own enchanting visage, you’ll get perfect framing and focusing every time.
There may even be other uses. This could function as a rear-view mirror so you can check what caused that suspicious shadow that just flicked across your peripheral vision, all without turning away from Plants Vs. Zombies, and… Well, I can’t think of anything else.
So, persons with an Oedipus complex who have no friends to take their photo, and no sense of where to point a camera, this is the perfect accessory for you. Go get it now.
This article was written on August 20, 2008 by CyberNet.
Have you ever wondered how the Internet all got started? Knowing the crowd that is reading this, some of you probably already know. For those that don’t, you’ll want to take a look at a site that the National Science Foundation put together.
What they did with the site is very well thought out and it tells the story of how we got to where we are today with the Internet. They start in the 1960s and work their way up through the decades. For each decade they show the number of computers that were on the Internet and the Baud Rate. For example, from the site we learn that in the 1960’s, there were just 4 computers on the Internet and the Baud rate was 4,000. Compare that with the 1980s when there were 159,000 computers on the Internet and the Baud Rate was 1,400,000 or the 2000s with over 1,200,000,000 computers on the Internet and a Baud Rate of 20,000,000,000.
For each decade they have additional information in the form of articles, videos, presentations, and documents from their archives of information. Looking through the site was a great reminder that it wasn’t that long ago when we didn’t have the Internet and we weren’t connected with millions of people around the world like we are today.
This is only a how-to in the loosest sense. The step-by-step instructions would read thus:
1. buy a zip-loc bag and a business-card stand from the stationary store
2. Put the iPad inside
But the surprise is just how amazingly well this combination works, alone or apart. Here’s the video:
The first surprise is that the iPad’s screen will still accept touch input through the plastic when otherwise isolated from the steam, spills and oily haze of your late-night burger-frying sessions. This will let you read, play music or do pretty much anything else as your patties sear and then rest to achieve a perfect medium-rare pink (yes, I’ve become obsessed with Serious Eats’ A Hamburger Today column, okay?)
The bag I used is a little dimply, but you could use a thinner, smoother (and free-er) invoice bag from FedEx and you’d get a better contact with the screen. At 70 cents for two, though, I’m not complaining about the ones I have.
A bigger surprise is that the sound is actually better when the iPad is safely ensconced within the bag. Well, louder at least. There is a small but easily perceptible volume boost, presumably caused by the sound booming around in the bag. This is very handy when trying to hear an audiobook over the hiss fresh-ground chuck steak sizzling in a cast-iron skillet.
As you can see in the clip, the bag is waterproof. Although I wouldn’t trust the zip-loc enough to actually submerge the package, it is clearly able to cope with spilled beverages and spitting pans (if you’re wondering, the video playing is the un-aired and frankly quite creepy pilot for Big Bang Theory).
The acrylic business-card holder cost me a little more – €7, or just shy of $9 – but it is sturdy and makes a very good and very tough iPad stand. I use it without the zip-loc bag as a desk-stand. Despite the sturdiness of its support, it has a small footprint, ideal for my little kitchen.
There’s certainly something about the iPad which encourages this kind of DIY approach to accessories, like our good friend John C Abell’s doorstop hack. Perhaps it’s that nobody has quite figured out a use for it yet, so we’re forced into custom solutions.
If you use your iPad in the kitchen, try out the zip-loc solution. No longer will you fear damaging your tablet as you melt creamy, sharp Cheddar-cheese onto a juicy pink hamburger and crack open an ice-cold bottle of beer. Is anyone else feeling hungry?
There were certainly plenty of non-KIRF products that managed to impress us at Computex earlier this month, but we have to admit that Sanxi’s Android-based iPad knockoff is also right up there with the standouts from the show, and is a strong contender for KIRF of the year (our most prestigious fake award). Still not convinced of its many charms? Then look no further than the gallery full of unboxing shots below courtesy of our pal Zach Honig, which reveals just what that $150 or so will get you and, of course, how it stacks up against the real thing. Don’t go thinking we’re done with this thing just yet, though — we’ll also have it on hand at the next Engadget Show. We hope you can handle the anticipation.
With Toshiba’s Core i7-toting Qosmio X500 series laptops starting at a bit over a grand these days, we’re not sure how excited we are about the company’s new V65 portable PC. Though the former model spun Blu-ray discs into a fine-pixeled 1080p, this new model’s SpursEngine-powered content’s been relegated to a 1,366 x 768, 15.6-inch backlit screen. While Japanese consumers do get a 2.4GHz Core i5-450M processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory, 500GB hard drive, plenty of ports and a digital TV tuner for the price, said price is an estimated ¥180,000 — or about $1,972 in hard US currency if the machine ever comes stateside. A wee bit steep, in our estimation.
We have word from an industry insider that the First Else handset running the ALP OS is in trouble. Not a surprise since Emblaze, the company behind the handset, has been dead quiet about Else ever since CES where it promised a March beta and Q2 launch. From what we hear, the software simply isn’t ready and Emblaze has been unable to sign on any major carriers as the components continue to age inside a cellphone first demonstrated in November of 2009.
We’ve also been told that Emblaze has instructed its employees not to speak to the press about First Else. And indeed, when we called the number that formerly belonged to the Emblaze Mobile marketing manager we were greeted with a very casual “hello” without any mention of the company or the person with whom we were speaking. After confirming that we were indeed speaking with Emblaze Mobile, we related the news about First Else and were promptly transfered to the voicemail of Emblaze’s legal representation. Curious don’t you think? Your move Emblaze.
Some things work when it comes to “one size fits all,” but other things don’t. Hats? Maybe. 3D glasses? Not so much. Thankfully, then, RealD is introducing sets of specs for theater goers aged eight and below — or really anyone with a kid-sized head. Like the other glasses handed out at theaters these are individually packaged to ensure they’re “clean and fresh for every moviegoer.” Because, you know, nobody likes a skanky pair of peepers. These little-sized glasses will be available for your little ones at showings of Toy Story 3 starting this weekend.
UrbanEars’ new Medis earphones come somewhere between earbuds and headphones. Using the rather scary-sounding EarClick, they manage to hold themselves inside the ear, but not in the usual canal-stuffing, gag-reflex-triggering way.
Instead, the oversized ‘buds have a pair of lugs. The fixed, bottom lug hooks into the cartilaginous antitragus above the earlobe (yes, I have a diagram of an ear on the screen to help me) and a second, removable lug snuggles under the inferior crux. You can choose from four sizes for this second lobe to precisely fit the unit into your ear.
Apparently this spreading of pressure points means you can hardly feel the Medis. You will be able to see them, however: the Medis come in an eye-scorching range of “color-ways”, and all of them are sensibly named as real colors (well, almost all. One green is called “sallad”). The cans come with a mic and in-line remote on the fabric-covered cord, and the specs on the sheet point to good sound, although only a test will tell for sure.
The drivers are a rather large 15mm, frequency response runs from 20-20,000kHZ and the sensitivity is a good-enough 94dB. I’d be interested to test these $50 earbuds: the fitting system looks like it could actually work. Available everywhere in July.
We already heard that the legacy Xbox 360 consoles would see a price cut with the introduction of the new Xbox 360 slimster. Now Walmart has sweetened the deal with a tempting Father’s Day bundle. Up through June 20th, purchasing a newly priced $149 Xbox 360 Arcade gets you a $50 Walmart eGift card (usable only on Walmart.com and Samsclub.com) on top of the two free games (Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Viva Piñata), wireless controller, and 256MB of memory already included in Microsoft’s Spring Bundle. So really, a console that cost $199 just a few days ago is now selling for $99. Not bad. ** after using your $50 eGift card on crap you’d buy anyway, like Xbox 360 games and accessories.
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