Google’s Android platform is shooting for the moon.

NASA sent two Android-powered Nexus S smartphones into space with the last manned space shuttle, Atlantis, on the STS-135 mission. The duo of smartphones were used to test and investigate how humans and robots can coexist in space more efficiently.

In the mission, the phones were used to control SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites), small robotic satellites that were originally developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The SPHERES are used to do things like record video and capture sensor data, errands that once required astronauts. The phones are used to help control the SPHERES, which have their own power, computing, propulsion and navigation systems. The robotic devices have built-in expansion ports that allow a variety of additional sensors and devices, like cameras, to be attached.

Another group of researchers from Great Britain hope to send a smartphone powered satellite into lower Earth-orbit before the year’s end. This experiment differs from NASA, however, in that it’s primarily testing how well the guts of the smartphone can stand in the extreme conditions of space. And last year, a pair of Nexus Ones were sent 30,000 feet into the air as the payload of a small rocket. One was destroyed when its parachute failed, but the other safely glided to Earth, capturing two and a half hours of video footage.

In the future, the phones will be used to navigate and control the SPHERES using the IOIO board and the Android Open Accessory Development Kit.

Why Android over iOS, or another smartform platform? NASA thought an Android device would be a good fit since it’s open source. Google’s engineers even wrote a sensor logging app that NASA ended up using on the mission (and it can be downloaded from the Android Market, if you’re interested).

Check out the video below to see the Nexus S and the SPHERES in action.

It ain’t often that the hated few have a genuine change of heart, but it sounds as if the folks who founded The Pirate Bay are tired of sailing the same seas. After years of turning a blind eye to content mavens across the globe, Fredrik Neij and co. have launched what appears to be a legitimate file-sharing site — one that’s “respectful of copyrights.” For all intents and purposes, BayFiles is yet another alternative to RapidShare and MegaUpload, acting as a cyberlocker that allows anyone with a web browser to upload files to share via a unique URL. Unregistered users will be limited to a 250MB upload, while standard members get bumped to 500MB and paying ‘Premium’ members can share up to 5GB per link. According to the terms of service, content that “violates third-party copyrights” cannot be uploaded, and folks who routinely ignore said words could face account termination. Head on down to the source to get started, and if you fall in love, you can pony up €5 a month, €25 for six months, or €45 for 12 months to claim your membership.

Pirate Bay founders launch ‘copyright respecting’ BayFiles sharing site, still dream of a life on Sealand originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung has been keeping busy at the IFA consumer electronics in Berlin, with the debut of a new tablet, smartphone, and three new Bada OS handsets.

Originally posted at Dialed In

I could go on and on about the relative merits of owning a $1 LED headlamp that normally costs $20. But I feel like our programmer Chris Beidelman put the value of this thing into perspective so much better than I ever could:

I have one of them. The strap feels really shitty and plasticky, and it smells like gasoline. But it’s a dollar. Buy a couple in case you get stuck in a mineshaft.By the way, For a dollar, you can either buy a crispy chicken sandwich at Wendy’s or A FUCKING HEAD LAMP.

He blew your mind, didn’t he? He tends to do that to the Giz staff on a daily basis. But I’ll blow your mind again: for $2, you could have BOTH. You’re welcome. -AC

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Sir Jon of Strick-land is a longtime listener of the podcast, but we never knew he was fluent in Elizabethan English until today’s episode–by my troth, this should be good.

(Credit:
Jon Strickland)

Jon tells us about his adventures in cosplay at local Renaissance Faires back home in Georgia, and also gives us a preview of his costume at this year’s DragonCon–a Renaissance-themed Lex Luthor!

We’ll also hear a voice mail from a listener in Berkeley spearheading a movement to proliferate a sarcasm font called Sartalics–along the same lines as the SarcMark, but way cooler.

The 404 Digest for Episode 895

• Follow Jon Strickland on Twitter.
• Woman gets duped by thieves, buys wooden “iPad.”
• Listener “California from Maya” Photoshops the first Domino’s Pizza on the moon.
• Convey sarcasm online using Sartalics.
• Survival tips for DragonCon, a gathering of sci-fi and fantasy fans.

Episode 895

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Originally posted at The 404 Podcast