Mar 23
Interactive sound installation at San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum rigs up camera, speakers, and robotic know-how to get visitors asking questions from the silly to the sublime.
Mar 23
Wristwatch turntable turns your wrist into a party for more than one
If you ever went into that teddy-bear store down at the mall, grabbed one of the recordable bears and left an obscene message on it, ready to traumatize some poor little kid, you’ll know how much fun can be had with a low-fi digital sampler.
But what about taking one of those samplers and modding it to make it even better (and potentially less damaging for poor, unsuspecting children)? That’s just what Mikeasaurus did over at Instructables, making these amazing Wristwatch Turntables.
There are two “turntables” here, each made from a talking greetings card — one recordable and one pre-recorded. Mikeasaurus wired these chips, along with their speakers, up to potentiometers and put the whole lot inside two furniture-moving disks from the dime-store.
Despite what you’d think, the pre-recorded chip is the most interesting. While the recordable one lets you grab your own samples and play them back with a few buttons poking through the disk, the potentiometer only controls volume. Twisting the disk on the other chip, though, actually does some circuit bending, allowing you to approximate the sound of scratching vinyl.
What I really love, though, is that this is a wrist-mounted instrument. This arbitrary and wholly impractical design decision turns this from a pretty neat circuit bending project into a gadget that will make you popular wherever you go. As Mikeasaurus himself points out, you can “be a DJ Hero with wristwatch turntables!”
Wristwatch Turntables [Instructables]
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Mar 23
Tunebug readies the Rumble, adds speakerphone capabilities to its SurfaceSound speakers
Posted in: bluetooth, ctia, hands-on, Today's Chili
Back at CES we took a look at Tunebug’s Bluetooth Shake and Vibe speakers, which for those that need a quick refresher, turns any surface into a speaker with SurfaceSound technology. Well, now the company has landed here at CTIA Wireless with a more mobile focused product — the Rumble. The package actually includes that aforementioned Shake (although, in this case it’s being called the TuneRing), which is the triangular shaped part that turns any surface into an impromptu speaker, but the TunePad is really the key addition. That’s the base part that you’re peering at above, and not only does it provide a surface for the Shake, but it also now has a microphone to morph the package into a Bluetooth speakerphone. We got a look at the whole shebang on display here at the show, and while we couldn’t get a handle on the sound quality in a room full of rowdy tech journalists, it did seem surprisingly loud. The $149 kit also comes with a 3.5mm to 3.5mm jack, USB to 3.5mm charging cable, and a helmet mount. Ironically, the Rumble isn’t actually ready to rumble yet — you’ll have to wait for this summer, but hit the gallery below for some hands-on shots.
Gallery: Tunebug Rumble hands-on
Tunebug readies the Rumble, adds speakerphone capabilities to its SurfaceSound speakers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mar 23
LG Optimus 3D reveals T-Mobile 3G frequencies in visit to FCC
Posted in: Android, dual-core, DualCore, LG, t-mobile, t-mobile usa, T-mobileUsa, Today's Chili, video
If you’re an AT&T subscriber, you’ll know this handset as the Thrill 4G. And if you happen to be a T-Mobile devotee (yes, those are two distinct groups until the AT&T&T-Mo merger is complete), you’ll soon get a chance to familiarize yourself with it too, as it has just slipped through the FCC with support for AWS 3G. Specifically, the FCC has cleared an LG 920 smartphone, which a helpful video from LG itself informs us is the Optimus 3D — the dual-core OMAP 4-powered Android powerhouse that’s at the root of this entire affair. It’ll probably get its own, uniquely ghastly moniker if and when it’s launched by T-Mobile, at which point every US carrier bar Verizon will have a 3D smartphone on its books. How long do you think that omission will last?
[Thanks, Christian]
Continue reading LG Optimus 3D reveals T-Mobile 3G frequencies in visit to FCC
LG Optimus 3D reveals T-Mobile 3G frequencies in visit to FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 06:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Mar 23
Pretend You’re Carrying a Laptop with iPad Travel Express Case
Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, ipad, Today's Chili
Like an overstuffed sandwich, the Travel Express will let you carry every iPad accessory you own
So you’ve dropped at least $500 on a new iPad 2, and another $40-$70 on a flimsy fridge-magnet to stick to it. What do you do when you realize that your still shiny new investment is completely unprotected, susceptible to scratches on its rear, and catastrophe if you drop it? You go look for a cover to cover your cover, that’s what.
And you may arrive at the door of SF Bags, which will take 69 more of your dollars in exchange for the WaterField iPad Travel Express. It’s a simple, padded ballistic nylon sleeve, with internal pockets for the iPad (1 or 2, with or without fridge-magnet) along with an external keyboard, power brick, cables and other sundries. It’s a lot like the old executive laptop bags in which the suits used to carry their Dells, only cooler.
There is also an optional strap and pair of D-rings so you can sling the whole thing over your shoulder. A big bag with everything in it is kind of missing the point of the iPad, but sometimes you just have to take it all with you. And WaterField’s padded nylon is light and thin, and yet still good at shock absorption (I have tried out WaterField’s civilization-destroying keyboard case and found it to be good).
So there you have it. The second best solution to money that’s burning a hole in your pocket (the first best is — obviously — fireproof pockets). Available now.
iPad Travel Express [WaterField / SF Bags. thanks, Heidi!]
See Also:
- Planet-Killing SuperDrive Case for Optical Disk Holdouts
- Protective Keyboard Case Joined By Trackpad Cover
- Protective Keyboard Cases Signal End of Civilization
Mar 23
Asus Eee PC 1015B and 1215B go on sale starting at $289
Posted in: AMD, ASUS, laptop, netbook, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 7, Windows7
It seems like just yesterday — okay, more like three weeks ago — we went hands-on with Asus’ latest additions to the Eee PC family, and now these Fusion-equipped netbooks are getting their very own price tags. The Eee PC 1015B and 1215B offer 10-inch and 12-inch displays starting at $289 and $379, respectively. For that price, you’ll get 250GB of storage, 1GB of memory, VGA, USB, and HDMI ports, and 1080p output. They grow up so fast — don’t they? Check out the source links to make one of these babies your own.
[Thanks, Daniel]
Asus Eee PC 1015B and 1215B go on sale starting at $289 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 06:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mar 23
International iPad 2 Pricing Chart. Hint: It’s Expensive
Posted in: ipad, money, Tablets and E-Readers, Today's Chili
Setteb.it’s worldwide iPad pricing chart shows just how good the U.S has it
Italian blog Setteb.it has posted up its now traditional chart of international iDevice prices. This one, of course, shows the cost of the iPad 2 around the world when it launches in 25 countries this Friday. Of those 25 countries, 18 so far have official pricing.
For you iPad-loving nerds over in the U.S, the tablet is an easy sell to your friends and family. “Sure, it starts at $500″ you can tell them. Elsewhere, it gets a little trickier. I would have to tell my mother and father that the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad costs £399, or $650. That’s double what they paid for their crappy PC.
Setteb.it’s Fabio Zambelli has put together the chart, showing all six iPad models (no stupid U.S-only, single-carrier Verizon model here). For each country, he has added local taxes and converted the result to Euros. To make the comparison fair, he has also 9.2% sales tax for the U.S prices, something which is conveniently left out of Apple’s pricing.
The most expensive iPad is in Norway, topping out at €823 or $1,168 for the 64GB 3G model. The cheapest is in Australia, with the 16GB Wi-Fi model coming in at “just” €409, or $580. This compares to the real U.S price of €390, or $545.
Will I be queueing up at my local Barcelona Apple Store this Friday at 5PM? If I were to replace my 64GB 3G iPad with the equivalent model, I would pay €799, or $1,134. That’s a $214 premium. I think I might stay at home.
I prezzi internazionali dell’iPad 2, in Oceania costa meno [Setteb.it. Thanks, Fabio!]
See Also:
- Apple's iPad 2 Likely Sold Out in First Weekend
- iPad 2 International Launch Still On Schedule, 5PM This Friday …
Mar 23
Samsung Galaxy S II shows up in Ukraine, gets a loving preview (video)
Posted in: Android, dual-core, DualCore, galaxy s ii, GalaxyS, GalaxySIi, gingerbread, in the wild, InTheWild, preview, prototype, samsung, Today's Chili, video
Where would we be without prototypes, eh? One such pre-production unit, of Samsung’s dual-core Galaxy S II, has escaped into the Russian Ukrainian wilderness, where it’s been thankfully rescued from the cold by the guys over at gagadget. Apart from squaring it up against the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 — which we can only surmise was the nearest available Android handset, it surely can’t have been the best — they also dig pretty deeply into the latest TouchWiz UI and dish up a thoroughgoing gallery of sample images from that 8 megapixel autofocus camera on the back. It’s an enlightening read, once you’ve enrolled Google Translate’s help, though the video after the break might not be too informative if English is your only language. Still, it’s a great visual tour of some yummy hardware.
[Thanks, DarkDvr]
Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S II shows up in Ukraine, gets a loving preview (video)
Samsung Galaxy S II shows up in Ukraine, gets a loving preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 05:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Mar 23
Verizon renews HTC Trophy offer for Microsoft employees
Posted in: ad, advertising, HTC, Microsoft, Today's Chili, verizon, windows phone, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone, WindowsPhone7, Wp7
“Early 2011” is rapidly passing us by — as, for that matter, is March — but we still wouldn’t rule out a Verizon Wireless launch of the HTC Trophy smartphone. You see, the carrier’s seemingly still advertising the Windows Phone 7 device inside Microsoft itself, in a likely attempt to gather preorders before the device hits shelves. We can’t say for sure when the phone will actually arrive, of course, but if we were the gambling type, we’d toss some horseshoes in the general direction of April Fools’ and pray they find a mark.
Verizon renews HTC Trophy offer for Microsoft employees originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 05:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mar 23
NVIDIA’s next flagship graphics card to be unveiled at 9AM on Thursday, bring your own popcorn
Posted in: GraphicsCard, NVIDIA, performance, teaser, Today's Chili, video
In NVIDIA’s own words, this Thursday will bring us the company’s “next generation, highest performance graphics card.” If that has you thinking GeForce GTX 590, you’re not alone. The dual-GPU solution was expected to arrive at the PAX East get-together this month but seemed to shyly dodge the limelight, though now there’s no escaping its date with destiny. Just make sure to be up nice and early tomorrow, say around 9AM US Eastern Time, for the inevitable barrage of reviews. An unsatisfyingly brief teaser video, featuring Crysis 2 slyly running in the background, can be found after the break.
Update: Whoa, Nelly! Looks like it may end up being the GeForce GTX 590, as evidenced by these leaked images here.
[Thanks, Abdulmalik]
NVIDIA’s next flagship graphics card to be unveiled at 9AM on Thursday, bring your own popcorn originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 04:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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