Hasta La Gadget!

Look, not everybody gets to be super smart. Some of us have to struggle along with our mediocre intellects and just bask in the glory of genius. Like this time: we ran into Adam Wolf at Maker Faire in New York, and while many burgeoning hackers were using their Arduino to flip LEDs on and off in vaguely interesting ways, Adam was showing off a 3D raycaster engine. It’s like witnessing some sort of alternate history where Wolfenstein 3D came out for Atari first. Just to give you an idea of the technical challenge: half of the Arduino’s memory is used up by the frame buffer alone! The game is controlled and displayed using the Video Game Shield Arduino add-on from Wayne and Layne (Adam is Wayne), which enables RCA video output and compatibility with Wii nunchucks for dual analog control. Adam actually plans to add enemies and make a full game out of his engine, just to rub it in. Need some visual proof to believe all this? Check out a video after the break. The Video Game Shield will be up for purchase on September 29 for around $22, or you can buy it at the Maker Faire this weekend.

Continue reading Crazy, beautiful human being designs 3D raycaster engine for Arduino

Crazy, beautiful human being designs 3D raycaster engine for Arduino originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Sep 2010 12:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Digg It’s been well over three years since we saw OS X hacked onto Sony’s VAIO UX, meaning that it’s just about time for yet another of yesteryear’s best tablets to receive the OS that Apple refuses to place on its own tablet. Thanks to dedicated code junkies over at xda developers, HTC’s ill-fated Shift is getting a new lease on life by proving its ability to run OS X 10.5.6. Sadly, it looks as if an upgrade to Snow Leopard is out of the question due to some file changes between 10.5 and 10.6, but the biggest killer is the current build’s inability to provide WiFi and Bluetooth support. The instructions to follow suit are right there in the source link, but good luck making good use of this without cordless access to the world wide web.

Mac OS X Leopard installed on HTC Shift, just a WiFi shy of awesomeness originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Sep 2010 10:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Avaya’s not a name you generally hear when circling the consumer electronics water cooler, and even though it just introduced a new tablet, you still won’t ever see this guy in Target, Best Buy or Walmart. Expected to cost between $1,500 and $2,000, this 11.5-inch enterprise tablet is designed primarily to be used at a cubicle, doubling as a SIP phone and tripling as an office collaboration tool. Dubbed a “Polycom killer” more than an iPad killer, this unit relies on Aura 6.0 and the newly designed Flare user interface (detailed in the video past the break), which enables touchscreen operation and supports multi-user video calling, email, web browsing and support for Android applications. Specs wise, it’s “slightly thicker than an iPad,” has a trio of USB 2.0 ports, inbuilt WiFi, 3G / 4G WWAN support and an integrated battery for those days when you simply have to clock in from the comfort of Venice Beach. Hit that More Coverage link for a live report at the device’s unveiling, and feel free to start hassling your manager to order up a few dozen of these. Or use that money for office-wide raises — whatever floats your boat.

[Thanks, Bob]

Continue reading Avaya intros business-oriented A175 tablet, shows off Flare user interface

Avaya intros business-oriented A175 tablet, shows off Flare user interface originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Sep 2010 03:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Would you believe that after months of leaks, this is the first time we’ve allegedly seen the HTC Mondrian? It’s true — though from this angle, it’s a dead ringer for the Mozart, which looks just like the Shubert, too. The above picture comes from what appear to be a pair of mostly complete ads for AT&T’s Windows Phone 7 push, which if real make the Mondrian look like it might be a flagship device. Perhaps those rumors of a 1.3GHz Snapdragon inside weren’t too far off. You won’t find real phones demonstrated in the videos after the break, but don’t let that stop you from clicking through — you do like watching oblivious folks flying through the air, don’t you?

Continue reading HTC Mondrian stars in leaked AT&T ad campaign, jump-kicks lesser smartphones? (video)

HTC Mondrian stars in leaked AT&T ad campaign, jump-kicks lesser smartphones? (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Sep 2010 02:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If the allegedly leaked slide immediately above is the real deal, it looks like the LG Optimus One is destined for T-Mobile, and it’s going to get some serious use out of that 802.11 b/g WiFi radio. We knew the quad-band GSM handset was going to have a shot of Froyo on top of some fairly middling specs, but here’s an unexpected treat: the Android handset just might be the first Android device with UMA support. If you’ve already forgotten what that particular acronym means, we don’t blame you, as Unlicensed Mobile Access hasn’t held the spotlight since the days of HotSpot@Home, but suffice it to say the tech uses a WiFi access point to make free VoIP calls, no cell signal (or minutes) required. It’d be easy to point to this move as a nefarious T-Mobile plot to free up cellular bandwidth a la the femtocell, except it apparently also works the other way, too — the Optimus One will allegedly let you share that HSDPA 7.2 Mbps connection over WiFi with your thirsty laptop.

LG Optimus One headed to T-Mobile with 3G hotspot and WiFi calls? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Sep 2010 23:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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