Hasta La Gadget!

Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today’s movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dot com.

The iPhone was indeed the handset to supplant the well-loved RAZR as America’s favorite, but we’re not so sure its messaging interface ever made it onto Motorola’s slim clamshell. That hasn’t stopped Fox’s Traffic Light from rewriting history, however, as last night’s episode featured a RAZR receiving a “smiley-faced emoticon” text message encased in an all-too-familiar grey speech bubble. Catch this crazy new invention on video after the break.

[Thanks, OMGitsShan]

Continue reading Screen Grabs: iPhone messaging app spotted on a RAZR in Traffic Light

Screen Grabs: iPhone messaging app spotted on a RAZR in Traffic Light originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Workers in factory assembly lines could be rubbing elbows with the FRIDA Concept Robot. Photo: Geeky-Gadgets

Manufacturers and factory owners needn’t worry about pesky human workers for too much longer.

ABB has introduced FRIDA, a half-humanoid robot designed for the industrial life.

Although FRIDA could easily replace a horde of human workers, it’s actually designed to work side-by-side with its mortal counterparts. The robot features a human-like torso with padded arms that are capable of a wide range of motion, a flexible gripper for handling small components, and cameras for identifying and locating parts.

FRIDA’s humanoid build makes it easy to be interchanged or inserted between human workers. It has a convenient handle placed where a head would normally go, which makes the worker bot easy to carry while eliminating that nasty uncanny valley problem.

FRIDA, a “harmless robotic coworker”, has already left the research stage, with prototypes currently being tested in pilot applications.

Perhaps FRIDA will be the one putting together the components of your next smartphone or tablet.

FRIDA Concept Robot [ABB via Geeky-Gadgets]

Just when we thought T-Mobile was about to rock the world by offering bring-your-own-phone customers an insanely cheap unlimited plan, we’re hearing that the company has strangled the $60 unlimited version of Even More Plus in the crib — TmoNews snagged a supposed internal communique that claims the plan was canceled at the last minute. We just reached out to T-Mobile ourselves, however, and were told the reality is nothing of the sort:

T-Mobile did not officially announce any rate plans yesterday, and the company doesn’t comment on rumors or speculation. Today, T-Mobile officially announced a new, single-line unlimited plan that is available starting today for just $79.99 per month, with an Even More plan and a two-year contract.

In other words, T-Mobile says it never sent out the previous press release (also originally obtained by TmoNews) at all. We’re not sure who’s telling the truth here, but either way, one thing’s for certain — there still won’t be an $60 unlimited Even More Plus plan starting tomorrow morning. You’re more than welcome to dry your tears with the $80 on-contract plan right now, though. PR after the break.

Continue reading T-Mobile cancels Even More Plus unlimited plan on eve of launch?

T-Mobile cancels Even More Plus unlimited plan on eve of launch? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s spring. Time to get outdoors, take pictures … and deal with all those rain showers with a rain cover for your digital camera. They cost $25 to $250. Yes, $250 for an industrial strength cover for a long telephoto lens. Most work similarly: a generously sized shroud for the camera body with a snout for the lens, a ring-shaped fastener that secures the snout to the lens shade, two elasticized openings you stick your hands in, and clear plastic in back so you can look through the viewfinder.

At its “Spectacularge” press conference today Sharp announced its new 70-inch LC-70LE732U is the largest LCD HDTV on the market . It sports Quattron four color pixels, full LED backlighting, Netflix, CinemaNow, Vudu Apps and DLNA access among its list of features, but no 3D. That will be remedied by one of the three additional models of 70-inch LCDs Sharp says it will ship this summer but in the meantime we’re just enjoying a throwback to the heady days of 2006 when consumer LCDs were last found in this size range. Interested parties with enough green to cover the $3,799 MSRP should be able to order these at their local retailers, while the rest can gawk at the specs in the press release and hands-on shots. Oh, and as for those adjectives you’ll see just past the break — a preview of Sharp’s marketing campaign, whose target customer has an “emotional” connection to the word big — well, somewhere Freud is having a field day.

Continue reading Sharp’s new 70-inch LCD HDTV is definitely bigger than the one your friend just bought

Sharp’s new 70-inch LCD HDTV is definitely bigger than the one your friend just bought originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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