Hasta La Gadget!

Apple’s AirPlay could end up a little more flexible thanks to Onkyo, with a new dock promising to add support for the streaming standard to existing A/V kit. The Onkyo DS-A5 iPod/iPhone/iPad Docking Station recharges your iPhone or iPad, but also acts as an AirPlay bridge between them and a variety of home entertainment kit, with the possibility of funneling your music across an ethernet network too.

Docked, and your iOS device pushes out digital sound, or you can unplug when your battery is charged and switch over to AirPlay. There’s both optical digital and analog stereo outputs, as well as a composite video output.

Those using the DS-A5 with an Onkyo receiver can use the RI (Remote Interactive) port to remotely power up the A/V kit when they start AirPlay streaming from the iOS device. It also allows the DS-A5 to be controlled by a universal Onkyo remote.

Finally, the ethernet connection hooks up to a home network, and there’s support for streaming audio from iTunes on your Mac or PC. Onkyo says it will work with the iPhone 5, though since it uses the old-style 30-pin Dock Connector you’ll presumably need to wait until you can get a Lightning adapter next month.

The Onkyo DS-A5 iPod/iPhone/iPad Dock will hit shelves in October, priced at $199.

Onkyo DS-A5 dock squeezes AirPlay into your A/V setup is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The innumerable caves, crags, and hiding spots dotting the Afghan mountains render conventional tactics useless. So rather than play reactionary whack-a-mole with insurgents, our Special Forces may soon deploy these radio-controlled, explosive-laden planes to find and eliminate targets in one deadly fell swoop. More »

Mobile gaming is a growing trend and an increasingly larger number of gamers are relying on their mobile devices to play games. However, compared to actual game-console hard-core gaming, mobile gaming can be a little awkward. Especially with no ‘real’ buttons to go with it, you may get tired of it soon.

This is precisely the riddle that MOGA Bluetooth Android controller intends to resolve. The nifty gadget docks up neatly to an Android smartphone or tablet and comes with a fair dose of your regular gaming controls. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Opera Mini for Android 7.5 browser released, Matias Duarte believes that Android’s UI is only 33% done,

Devious developers have already cooked up a way to bake Google Maps mass transit directions into Apple’s iOS 6 Maps app, though the workaround isn’t quite ready for primetime yet. Google Transit for iOS 6 is the handiwork of Simon Maddox, adding a Google Directions option to the list of third-party plugins Apple offers for alternative routing, and pulling up results in Safari.

Apple does not offer mass transit guidance in this first generation version of Maps, and instead leaves the field open for third-party developers to do so instead. Those options – such as Garmin’s newly updated Navigon and StreetPilot Onboard – show up in a Routing Apps menu after you search for directions.

However, for Maddox’s Google Directions plugin to be broadly available, it would need to be approved by Apple itself for distribution in the App Store. Right now, it’s only useful for registered iOS developers, who can deploy it to their devices using Xcode.

Maddox isn’t confident that Apple would ever approve his code, and so the likelihood of an official release seems low. Google is yet to confirm any plans for a Google Maps for iOS app distributed via the App Store, and it’s possible the company will decide to keep it as an Android perk altogether.

Update: Looks like Simon wasn’t the only person working on something along these lines. Fellow iOS developer Jesse Vincent also cooked up a Google mass transit directions plugin for Apple Maps, and has submitted it to Apple for approval.

Apple Maps hack adds Google public transport directions option is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In the realm of awesome computer peripherals, I think the new MakerBot Replicator 2 desktop 3D printer is probably the most epic of all. After all, it’s a peripheral for your computer that you can actually use to make 3D objects you can hold in your hands. It’s like an action figure creation station.

The MakerBot Replicator 2 features a 100-micron layer resolution – about as thin as a sheet of paper. That means it’s able to produce true-to-life replicas, without those ridges you’re accustomed to seeing on cheap desktop 3D printers. Plus, you can build large objects of up to 410 cubic inches in volume, so you can print something measuring 11.2-inches by 6.0-inches by 6.1-inches.

The 3D printer is optimized to use MakerBot PLA Element, which is a renewable bio plastic, available in numerous colors. That material is popular for 3-D printing thanks to its strength and its ability to make large objects without cracking or warping.

The device also comes with new and updated software to make printing easier and faster, and it works with Windows, Linux or Mac OS X. The biggest downside to the Replicator 2 is the cost, at $2199(USD) it’s not exactly something we can all have at home.