Mar 01
Here are the best stories on Gizmodo today. Enjoy them! More »
Mar 01
CNET’s Jessica Dolcourt shows you three ways to back up your Gmail in-box online and on the computer–or most other Web mail messages, at that.
Mar 01
The new technology delivers a wider color gamut of about 1.3 times and “drastically” improves red vividness, according to the company.
Mar 01
Gadget Lab Notes: Desktop Lighting Goes 2-D
Posted in: Laptops, lenovo, Miscellaneous, Panasonic, Today's Chili, verizon
The Looksoflat Lamp has an almost two-dimensional appearance
Gadget Lab Notes is an eclectic roundup of gadget news briefs and intriguing products that catch our eye.
Looksoflat Lamp is Like A Flattened Version of Pixar’s Luxo Lamp
The Looksoflat Lamp looks like it’s been flattened by a steamroller. It sheds a thin, rectangular area of light using LEDs (the only light source slim enough to fit inside its frame). Not too much else known about the lamp, except that it’s “coming soon.”
Looksoflat [Looksoflat via Oh Gizmo!]
Lenovo and Tobii Team Up To Create The World’s First Eye-Controlled Laptop
The forward-looking thinkers at Tobii and Lenovo envision a future where hand-swiping based motion controls are just too much work. Solution: Notebooks with built in eye control sensors. Twenty Windows 7 running prototypes were developed, and although the technology won’t be appearing in homes for at least a few more years, the eye control-based experience is already extremely accurate and well developed.
World’s First Eye-Controlled Laptop [Tobii via Engadget]
Panasonic Debuts Blu-Ray 3-D Home Theater Systems and Slim Bar Speakers
Today, Panasonic introduced three new Blu-ray 3-D home theater kits, the SC-BTT770, SC-BTT370 and SC-BTT270, which feature iDevice docks and use Cinema Surround Plus technology for optimal movie theater-style surround sound. And to make sure you’re comfortable with your 3-D viewing experience, a 3-D Effect Controller lets you adjust image depth. The SC-HTB520 home speaker system is encased in reflective, stainless black mesh that’s dust and fingerprint resistant. It supports Stream Out for 3-D image signals, is Audio Return Channel (ARC) compatible, and comes with a wireless Down Firing Subwoofer.
Panasonic 3D Speaker Bar and Blu-ray 3D Home Theater Kit [Slashgear]
Verizon CFO Says It’ll Switch To Tiered Data Plans As Early As This Summer
Fran Shammo, Verizon’s CFO, said that Verizon will be implementing a tiered data plan in the not-too-distant future—as early as this summer. The plans will be based on speed, consumption, or a combination of both. The company waited to initiate this plan because it didn’t want to scare off potential iPhone 4 buyers.
Verizon Will Move to Tiered Data Plans This Summer [BGR]
Teeny Tiny Brando Wireless Router Fits Into Your Pocket
Measuring 6 cm long and 1 cm high, Brando’s EagleTec Nano Size Wireless N-Router makes even your iPhone look fat. It can provide a 150 Mbps data transfer rate for multiple users. It also supports auto IP address assignment for devices and 64/128-bit WEP, WPA and WPA2 wireless data encryption.
EaglTec Nano Size Wirless N-Router [Brando via Crunchgear]
Folding Mobile Phone Concept Awkwardly Combines Smartphone and Tablet
The 360 Compact Folding Mobile Phone Concept reminds me of one of those foam play mats from preschool, except with touchscreens on each face. Theoretically versatile, this dual jointed flip phone could lay flat with all 3 screens displaying information, or be propped up to provide an angled viewing and typing surface.
360 Compact Folding Mobile Phone Concept [Yanko Design]
Mar 01
Ferry services go moe for younger passengers
Posted in: MARKETING IDEAS, Today's Chili, TransportationAnother day, another anime-themed promotional campaign. It still sometimes surprises me how the so-called moe and otaku (geek) “subcultures” have now become so suffused into the Japanese mainstream. I’m not convinced it is a wholly healthy thing for marketing — from the point of view of vibrancy and variety — since the imagery has become so ubiquitous these days, but if it is attracting new customers to troubled services, who am I to argue?
Two ferry companies shuttling passengers between the main island of Honshu and the fourth largest Japanese island, Shikoku, have turned to similar methods for pushing up passenger numbers. Both Kokudo Ferry and Nankai are producing merchandise with female moe cartoon imagery to attract younger customers and, judging at least by the sales of the products, it seems to be working.
The ferries have seen business decline, aggravated by the government’s highly publicized highway toll discounts for encouraging people to get in their cars and drive to regions around the country.
[Images via Asahi]
Kokudo’s slightly racy Utakakarin-chan was created by Akira Yamato; initially available as two stickers from spring last year, she sold out in a month. The company added another girl over the summer as a t-shirt and this also sold out in two months. (Unfortunately, it’s not known how limited the production numbers were.) The latest female character came out in January this year, forming a set of three sisters promoting the ferry service’s fiftieth anniversary.
The Nankai characters were two fictional high school girls brought up locally respectively at the two ports the ferry serves, designed by an illustrator from the region.
Apparently there was also a successful use of similar characters for packaging on rice from northern Akita Prefecture in late 2008, with the result that in sales of rice in three months equalled that usually sold over three years, according to J-Cast. The organizers then followed that up with using the moe motifs on bottle labels for shochu from the region.
[Image via Gigazine]
With the government highway toll nationwide discount scheme set to kick in again from April, the real battle between the re-animeated ferries and the roads is about to begin…
Mar 01
preGame 42: Dragon Age II
Posted in: Today's ChiliToday on preGame we demo just a fraction of what there is to experience in the epic sequel from BioWare, Dragon Age II! Tune in to see how the improved combat system plays, and check out the advanced automation features that are available.
But first, we’ll talk about last week’s Nintendo 3DS sell-out debut in Japan and whether we think the 3D portable system will have similar success here in the States. Also, we’ll try and make sense of the European PS3 seizing that has begun because of a patent infringement claim filed by LG.
Right before our Dragon Age II demo, we’ll quickly take a look at de Blob 2, the sequel to 2008’s Wii-exclusive cult hit. Does the multiplatform follow-up deliver? Find out on today’s show!
Want to be a part of our live taping? Make sure you head to http://cnet.com/live/pregame every Tuesday at 4 p.m. EDT.
Got an idea for preGame? E-mail us! pregame [at] cnet [dot] com.
Be sure to subscribe to the show: RSS (video) | iTunes (video)
Mar 01
What To Expect at Today’s Apple Event [Rumors]
Posted in: Apple, ipad, ipad 2, rumors, Today's Chili, top We know it’s happening. Apple’s made it obvious that new iPads will materialize, in expectedly grand fashion, today, March 2nd. So what do we know about the Second Coming—and what else might pop up at Apple’s shindig? More »
Mar 01
Older TiVo Series 3 / HD boxes will work with the iPad remote app soon
Posted in: app, Apple, dvr, ipad, tablet, tivo, Today's Chili
The companion app for TiVo Premiere DVRs worked out well when we reviewed it, but ZatzNotFunny points out it could get even better soon when it will feature “limited support” for Series 3 / HD boxes, along with TiVo DVRs offered by cable providers like RCN and Suddenlink. This “coming soon” info was included in an update yesterday that added a new DVR selection screen to the setup process, ability to run in the background plus assorted performance enhancements and bug fixes. Of course, we now know that TiVo’s “lifetime” offers won’t last forever (ten years, give or take) but for users who would prefer to stick with their existing hardware instead of upgrading to a Series 4, there are still a few new features coming down the pipe.
Older TiVo Series 3 / HD boxes will work with the iPad remote app soon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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ZatzNotFunny, iTunes, TiVo Community | Email this | Comments
Mar 01
Tomorrow’s iPad event might be as much about Apple’s cloud services…and that would be a great thing indeed.
Mar 01
Prospero the robotic farmer robotically plants seeds, makes humans even more lazy (video)
Posted in: robot, Robots, Today's Chili, video
Let’s face it — humans are lazy, yet incredibly industrious. We’ve seen everything from a self-making bed, to a channel-changer to even a touchless keyboard. And now, we’re blessed with a robot that plants seeds for us. That’s right, the image you see above is of a five-legged machine that has the ability to complete all of the necessary steps to grow a plant. Thanks to a Parallax Propeller chip that’s mounted on a Schmart Board, Prospero is able to autonomously navigate in any direction and avoid obstructing objects. There’s a sensor that lies under its body that senses where seeds have been deployed. If the robot detects that the ground is in need of a seed, it’ll dig a hole, drop the seed, move the soil back over the hole and then spray paint the ground white to note that the process was successful. The belly of the bot is also equipped with fertilizers and herbicides, and Prospero can ‘talk’ (via infrared) to other robots in order to maintain crop-creating efficiency. You can check out a 48-second clip of the planting process after the break. Or, if you’re a harvest-enthusiast, hit the more coverage link for 5 minutes of glorious green thumb action.
Prospero the robotic farmer robotically plants seeds, makes humans even more lazy (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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PC World | Trossen Robotics | Email this | Comments
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