Jun 17
Get schooled by CNET editor Jasmine France. This week: the proper way to use your cell phone in public. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12519_7-20008061-49.html” class=”origPostedBlog”MP3 Insider/a/p
Jun 17
If you’re not sold on the iPad and are tired of waiting for tablets from other PC makers to show up, try getting your hands dirty with a tablet you can build on your own.
Liquidware, an open source hardware company, is selling a $400 tablet starter kit. The DIY tablet targets developers who want to create a tablet of their dreams or write specialized software applications.
“The Beagle tablet is a portable modular open source handheld computer,” says Justin Huynh, director of product development at Liquidware. “It’s all about customizability and embedded development.”
The tablet kit contains a 4.3-inch OLED touchscreen that mounts directly on a BeagleBoard. The BeagleBoard is a single board computer from Texas Instruments that comes with a 1-GHz processor. There’s also a battery module and a 4-GB pre-formatted SD card to boot Angstrom Linux. But users can also run the Android operating system on it, says Huynh.
“Everything is modular and snaps on or mounts directly on a board so you have a very compact tablet-like device,” he says.
Since Apple iPad’s debut in April, tablets’ popularity has surged. Apple sold 2 million iPads in just 60 days of the product’s launch. That has left other companies scrambling to introduce tablets of their own. Both Samsung and Research In Motion have tablets in development. In the U.K., Dell has already introduced its first tablet called Streak, a 5-inch PSP-sized device that can also make phone calls.
But those gadgets have little appeal for tinkerers, says Huynh.
“With the iPad, you would have a hard time hacking it to read from a specialized sensor such as a temperature sensor or add your own custom hardware,” he says. “The Beagle tablet is all about innovation.”
Since the Beagle tablet doesn’t have any storage beyond the SD card, it is extremely lightweight, weighing just about 8 ounces. Users can increase the size of the SD card or plug in an external hard drive or a solid-state disk through the on-board USB port.
The battery life of the Beagle tablet can vary from three hours to six hours depending on the application, says Hyunh.
The Beagle tablet is a lot of work since you would have to load everything from an OS to different applications. But once you get it going, it could be a better conversation starter than the iPad.
See Also:
- BeagleBoard Gives New Power to Open Source Gadgets
- Build It. Share It. Profit. Can Open Source Hardware Work?
- Open Source Hardware Hackers Start P2P Bank
- Open Source Hardware Project RepRap Creates its First Circuit
- Hardware Hackers Create a Modular Motherboard
Photo: Liquidware
Jun 17
HPs Windows Tablet Appears Dead; WebOS Tablet Lives
Posted in: HP, palm, slate, tablet, Today's Chili
Oh, for those halcyon days of early January. Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer was on stage, Hewlett-Packard tablet in hand, and the iPad was still officially a rumor.
Six months later, it’s a brave new world. HP is buying Palm, the the Apple iPad is now the geek accoutrement du jour, and the poor HP Slate? Locked in a closet, if not a dustbin.
Forrester’s Sarah Rotman Epps helped host her firm’s Untethered conference Wednesday in New York City, and generated this tweet: “HP: WebOS tablet coming. No comment on Windows device.”
Phil McKinney, a gregarious sort of gentleman, was scheduled to speak at the conference, where Technlogizer’s Harry McCracken said he asked about the fate of the Slate. McKinney offered up the no comment of doom, which led Epps, McCracken and other attendees to bury the poor Slate in the grave of ignominy.
At least we know that Palm’s webOS lives.
Jun 17
Firefox Extension Allows Users To Skin GMail Without Greasemonkey
Posted in: Google, Software, Today's ChiliThis article was written on February 20, 2006 by CyberNet.
I recently decided to test out this Firefox extension called GMail Skins. It is a very cleverly designed extension that allows a user to skin their GMail account. The skins are actually the least impressive part of the extension. All of the configuration of the extension is done through the GMail settings tab and it really appears to be an integrated part of GMail.
In addition to the skinning features (which aren’t that great, I am still using the default GMail skin) they have other features that you can customize. One of the coolest features is to get rid of the attachment icon (currently a paperclip) and replace it with the icon for the file type (if it is a zip file then it will display a zip icon). Some of the other options are to remove the footer from the page and also to remove the invite-a-friend section.
Overall, I would recommend that you at least give the extension a try and see if you like it. I wasn’t impressed with the skinning abilities but you might like the skins or find some of the other features quite useful.
News Source: GMail Skins
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Related Posts:
- Gmail Redesigned 2.0 Released; Better Gmail UpdatedGet even more out of Gmail with Better Gmail’s UpdateGmail Greasemonkey APIGetting More Out of Gmail with this Firefox ExtensionAdd AJAX Capabilities To Your Normal Yahoo! Mail
Jun 17
HTC Legend with North American 3G now available unlocked
Posted in: Android, Google, HTC, Today's Chili
Sure, the Desire’s coming to a handful of regional American carriers later this year, but what if you want the smaller, sleeker, more aluminum-clad Legend? Well, there aren’t any carrier-branded options in the States — but it seems that a number of unlocked units with US 3G bands are starting to ooze out of the cracks. Negri Electronics has an 850 / 1900MHz 3G Legend in its store for a shade under $500, which means you’re not getting much of a discount over the more powerful 850 / 1900MHz version of the Nexus One — but you are getting a pretty sweet unibody shell and an optical d-pad. Any takers?
HTC Legend with North American 3G now available unlocked originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jun 17
The horn that has converted the World Cup 2010 into the [BZZZZZZZZZZZ] inside of a beehive is doing the same on Twitter. Help us all.
Jun 17
Rock Band 3 Fender Mustang Pro guitar controller and MIDI-Pro adapter eyes-on
Posted in: e3, guitar, hands-on, Music, Today's Chili
We still can’t get time with the Fender Mustang Pro guitar controller while actually playing Rock Band 3, but the gang at the Mad Catz booth were fine enough with us letting us toy around on its own, sans game. So, how does it feel just silently going through chords and scales? Sturdy as can be, sure, and the 100-plus buttons for the neck feel like they’ll stand up for a good bit of time. That said, it felt harder than a real guitar locating the strings and frets — especially a pain for faster chord changing. Also a burden? No ability to bend strings — not that you’ll be able to bend on the Squier Stratocaster either, as it turns out, but that’s a whole ‘nother issue. We also got some eyes on the MIDI Pro Adapter for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii; there isn’t much to look at for now, but if you get your kicks from plastic dongles, hey, we’ve got all the photos you need below.
Rock Band 3 Fender Mustang Pro guitar controller and MIDI-Pro adapter eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jun 17
Though there’s always a certain amount of hardware, in the form of controllers, accessories, and PCs, for the most part, E3 is a show about software, not hardware–except for this year. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-21539_7-20008099-10391702.html” class=”origPostedBlog”E3 2010/a/p
Jun 17
Are you ready for more zombie-whompin’? Take your pick of these five apps, all of which charge you with the task of sending the undead back to hell. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20008069-233.html” class=”origPostedBlog”iPhone Atlas/a/p
Jun 17
Waterfield Designs has just announced its new Smart Case for the Apple iPhone 4. Available in three different styles and six different colors, the Smart Case features a water-resistant nylon outer shell and multi-layer padding. The interior of the case is made of soft Ultrasuede and the front of the case has a rigid insert to protect the screen of your iPhone. A stretchy mesh pocket on the back of the case holds your ear bud headphones.
All of the stitching is hidden inside the case for a sleek look, while distressed brown leather sides add an urban edge. Style choices include the Slip ($39) for pocket or purse, the Flap ($45) to attach to the strap of your bag, and the Clip ($45) which is designed to clip to your belt. The available color choices, Black, Copper, Flame, Green, Pearl, and Pine, also coordinate with Waterfield’s netbook/laptop Muzetto bag and their iPad Smart Cases.
If you need something a little larger than the iPhone Smart Case but not as large as the Muzetto, the company also offers their iPhone Travel Case ($35 to $39). It comes in three sizes and has room for your charger, cables, portable speakers, and other accessories. The iPhone Travel Case is available for purchase in Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Red, and Silver.
All Waterfield products are designed and made in San Francisco. The Smart Case for iPhone 4 is currently available for pre-order at www.sfbags.com and will start shipping to customers on July 16.
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