They say necessity is the mother of invention, but this time it was actually the mother of Canadian inventor Shlomo Shwartz. When he saw her using a stool to grab something from an out-of-reach shelf, he was inspired to come up with a safer solution. And so the Shelevator—an elevator for shelves—was born. More »
They say necessity is the mother of invention, but this time it was actually the mother of Canadian inventor Shlomo Shwartz. When he saw her using a stool to grab something from an out-of-reach shelf, he was inspired to come up with a safer solution. And so the Shelevator—an elevator for shelves—was born. More »
The moon looks HUGE some nights, right? Well, yes, sort of, to you—but only because your tiny human brain contextualizes it as larger sometimes than others. It’s never actually any closer. It’s just a confluence of a few different optical illusions screwing with your head. More »
If you told me yesterday that today there would be a robot that balances on a single ball and can locomote itself around the room on said ball, I’d say you were a crazy person. Well, you’re not a crazy person. Bossa Nova Robotics, makers of the Penbo line of robotic toys, has just launched the mObi [sic], a robot that “is based on technology that allows the robot to balance on a ball and move seamlessly with a single point of contact on the ground, enabling natural omni-directional movement, slender design profiles and superior navigation in human environments.”
The robot, shown here, balances on a single ball. Bossa Nova worked with engineers at Carnegie Mellon University to get this girl rolling and apparently it will be available as a research platform first and then as an actual product in around 2013.
We’re trying to get a bit more information, but until then just imagine how fun it would be to treat this robot like a self-righting punching bag clown and then, when it got angry enough, it would lash out with razor-sharp claws.
Buffalo Japan has recently introduced a series of new wired and wireless mice optimized for Windows 8, the BSMBB10N wireless mouse and BSMBU12 wired mouse. The Buffalo BSMBB10N wireless mouse supports both Bluetooth and NFC, while the Buffalo BSMBU12 wired mouse features a USB connectivity and the touch surfaces that let you perform gestures. Both mice measure 60mm x 35mm x 100mm and weight 58 grams. The Buffalo BSMBB10N wireless mouse and BSMBU12 wired mouse are priced at 3,465 Yen ($31) and 2,089 Yen ($26), respectively.
Barnes and Noble just posted a notice informing customers that PIN pads 63 stores across the country have been tampered with. The compromised PIN pads could have recorded your PIN number. Not good. If you’ve shopped at a brick and mortar Barnes and Noble over the last couple of months, keep a closer watch on your credit card statement and maybe even change your PIN. More »
Yuri Suzuki has been traveling the world, using a dictaphone to collect local sounds of different countries since 2009. With these audio field notes, he’s turned a globe into a record that plays these sounds when it spins for a 30-minute audio tour of the world called “The Sound of the Earth.” More »
Book retailer Barnes & Noble this morning revealed that 63 of its stores have been victims of PIN pad tampering, following an internal investigation of “every PIN pad in every store” (just under 700 locations). B&N calls the tampering, “a sophisticated criminal effort to steal credit card information, debit card information, and debit card PIN numbers,” and warns customers who may have swiped their cards at affected locations to alter debit card PINs as a precaution, as well as to keep an eye on credit card statements for false charges.
B&N specifically note that its company database hasn’t been breached, and purchases made through the B&N website, its Nook e-reader, and the Nook mobile apps are unaffected. According to the company, the PIN pads were implanted with “bugs” that allowed the recording of credit card numbers and PINs. To be extra safe, B&N disconnected all of its PIN pads on September 14 and is only allowing credit card purchases directly through cash registers. For a full list of affected stores, head past the break.
Over 60 Barnes & Noble locations victims of PIN pad tampering, customer data at risk originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 10:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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What’s believed to be a promotional image of the LG Nexus 4 bearing Google’s Nexus branding has leaked, ahead of the smartphone’s expected launch next week. The image, courtesy of tipster evleaks, fits with previous leaked photos of the handset in the wild, though that last sighting didn’t include the bold “nexus” logo across the upper rear of the phone. Update: Not so fast! This might not be as legit as we hoped.
Still, that’s a last-minute addition we’d wager, and everything else is lining up for a launch on October 29. LG execs have apparently confirmed that timescale themselves, and leaks about the Monday Google press conference suggest the new Nexus will be one of the key announcements.
The LG Nexus 4 itself is believed to use a 1.5GHz quadcore Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB of RAM, with an 8-megapixel camera on the back and a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front. Inside the 9.1mm-thick chassis is a 2,100 mAh battery – fixed, not user-removable – together with either 8GB or 16GB of storage.
Up front is a 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 display, using an LCD True HD IPS+ panel rather than the AMOLED we’ve seen on other recent Nexus phones. That’s shared – like much of the Nexus 4 – with the LG Optimus 4, our review of which is here.
OS is expected to be Android 4.2, also tipped to make its official debut on Monday. There isn’t long to wait until we find out for certain; SlashGear will be with Google on the 29th to bring you back all the news.
Update: evleaks has a second shot, this time with the Nexus 4 at an angle:
Update 2: People are pointing out that the first shot includes a non-standard battery gage on the display, which certainly implies it might not be legitimate. The second shot, shown below, doesn’t use the same on-screen image.
LG Nexus 4 leaks in apparently official press shot [Update: Is it fake?] is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Star Citizen, the upcoming space-based MMO from Roberts Space Industries, has reached its Kickstarter funding goal of $500,000, and it still has 26 days left to go. Star Citizen features the work of Chris Roberts, the infamous designer behind classics such as Wing Commander and Privateer. Roberts is making a comeback into the video game industry with Star Citizen.
It’s important to note that Star Citizen’s Kickstarter campaign is merely just a secondary funding location for the development project. The game’s official website has already earned around $1.35 million from donors, meaning that the project has now earned roughly $1.85 million in total. The project’s goal is to $2 million, which shouldn’t be too hard to do at this point.
The game’s official website has 16 days left to go before they close donations, and its Kickstarter campaign has 26 days left to go as previously mentioned. Coming up with just a measly $150,000 in that amount of time shouldn’t be too much of a problem for the Chris Roberts and the rest of the development team.
Just a couple weeks ago, the funding project reached the $500,000 mark, so it’s amazing to see how much money that has been raised since then. Based on how much cash that the project has already raised, I’d be surprised if the total amount donated didn’t exceed $2.5 million or even $3 million, but we’ll have to wait and see what Roberts and the gang end up with in 26 days.
Star Citizen reaches $500,000 Kickstarter goal is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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