Jan 31
Forget 4K displays. Artist Chris Shen has different ideas about how a TV should look—so he built a display from 625 linked remote controls to produce images using their infrared bulbs. More »
Jan 31
Doctor Who Dalek R/C Watch
Posted in: Today's Chili
Doctor Who fans, listen up! Now is definitely not the time to back out from what is one of the cooler and more affordable Doctor Who merchandise. Heck, if you think that your other half might appreciate this a whole lot more compared to the umpteenth tie that you are getting him for this coming Valentine’s Day, then perhaps it would bode the both of you well to pick up the $34.99 Doctor Who Dalek R/C Watch.
Other than tell the time (which some would claim that this is its secondary function), the Doctor Who Dalek R/C Watch sports a detachable mini blue-colored Dalek that when placed on a flat surface and is within range of the digital watch, it can be controlled remotely using the buttons located on your new timepiece. Whenever not in use, make sure your favorite exterminator will remain attached to the watch or to a keychain.
This does seem to be quite a novel idea, and kids might just fall for it despite us being in the iPhone age at the moment. Who knows, it might just be as popular as those calculator watches with remote control capability from Casio all those years ago?
[ Doctor Who Dalek R/C Watch copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Jan 31
Microblogging service and teen-favorite Tumblr has quietly scaled up its iOS app age warning, giving the latest version a 17+ recommendation in what appears to be a preemptive defense against Apple’s latest porn witch hunt. Tumblr for iOS was updated overnight to version 3.2.4 [iTunes link], but in addition to “small bug fixes” the refreshed app also demanded users confirm they are 17 or over.
The nature of the Tumblr service – following multiple other users, who either post or reblog images, text, video, audio, and links – means that the sort of content you see depends largely on the sort of people you follow. However, there’s plenty of adult content to be found, something which may have prompted Tumblr to take a more cautious approach to its app rating.
Apple has had a crack-down on erotica-filled apps in recent weeks, first yanking apps by 500px from the App Store after they were found to contain x-rated material, and then triggering a flurry of activity over at Twitter-run Vine which inadvertently made a sexual image an “editor’s pick.” Twitter blamed human error for the mistake, though the Vine app [iTunes link] is still rated at 12+ in the App Store.
Tumblr is yet to comment publicly on the decision to reclassify the app’s age rating, but it’s worth noting that the Android counterpart to the iOS software is still considered “low maturity” in Google’s Play store. Whether Tumblr’s move will be sufficient to avoid Apple’s ire this time around remains to be seen.
[via CNET]
Tumblr makes iPhone app 17+ over porn potential is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jan 31
When smartphone cameras are increasingly the go-to snapper of choice, you have to do something unusual to stand out, and Bonzart’s oddly retro Ampel certainly does that. Styled – and in fact named – after German traffic signals, the odd twin-lensed camera looks like it should be a toy, but does something for its $199 price tag that most cameras would demand specialist lenses for: native tilt-shift photos and video.
We caught up with the Bonzart (GDC) team at the CP+ camera show in Japan this week to have a look at the Ampel, which is available in the US, Japan, and UK. Styled and operated like a twin-lens dual reflex camera, the Ampel has a flip-up panel on top revealing a color display, as well as dedicated mode dials on the side for each of the lenses.
One of those lenses shoots normal images – albeit with the choice of either 4:3 or 1:1 (i.e. square) aspect ratio – while the other shoots tilt-shift images, making everything look like a miniatures scene. Up to 5-megapixels images can be captured, or up to 720p HD video, and there’s a 4x digital zoom though no optical zoom.
What you can do is snap on a magnetic wide-angle lens, which fits to either the regular or tilt-shift lenses. If the unusual aspect ratio isn’t enough for you, you can also apply some integrated effects: there’s standard, vivid, B&W, sepia, and “refreshing” to choose between. Storage is courtesy of a SD card up to 32GB.
It might not be the first camera you reach for to take wedding photos, but for a party the Ampel is certainly unique enough to stand out. Plus, with dedicated tilt-shift lenses running at around $300, the $200 Bonzart camera is practically a bargain.
Bonzart Ampel hands-on: The twin-lens retro camera Instagram wishes it was is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jan 31
When Google staffer Paul Wilcox started throwing pebbles at his girlfriend’s office window, he never expected to be confronted by an angry giant Android made out of chrome. But crazy things happen at Mountain View all the time and Wilcox was quick to recover his composure.
“What have you done with my girlfriend?” he cried. And then, “why, of all things, are you made out of chrome?!”
Eventually Wilcox realized it was just a statue, recently put up in the mostly-green robot’s honor, and that his girlfriend was safe and well. (Honestly, we just invented the whole girlfriend thing for dramatic effect, and we don’t know where she works.) Anyways, the question remains: why this particular metallic finish? Is it to mark the constant updates to the Chrome browser on Android devices? Possibly. Or could it be, as MobileGeeks suggests, some oblique reference to Android apps running in a Chrome browser on some other OS? We don’t know, but imagine this: an Android app running in a Chrome browser running as an Android app running in a Chrome browser… Freaky, right?
Filed under: Cellphones, Misc, Internet, Google
Via: MobileGeeks (German)
Source: Paul Wilcox (Google+)
Jan 31
Turns out BlackBerry’s proud claim that the new BB10 phones are launching with 70,000 bespoke apps was a bit of a lie—with one of the company’s own men admitting that up to 40 per cent of these are frantic Android port jobs. More »
Jan 31
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Nah, it is neither, but rather, chances are your neighbors and kids in the vicinity would be looking at the $14.95 Spaceman VFO Hand Sensor Electric RC Helicopter UFO. I am not quite sure just how true the claim of this being “the most advanced RC toy ever” is, but basically, it will be able to float around in a stationary manner just like that of a UFO as depicted in popular culture.
Well, the Spaceman VFO Hand Sensor Electric RC Helicopter UFO does not need you to have any kind of piloting credentials, as all you need to control it around would be the up and down movement with the IR transmitter. Of course, as its name suggests, you too, will be able to erly on the palm of your hand to control it, where placing your hand under the hovering helicopter in ‘sense mode’ will see some kind of modern day magic at work.
If you are feeling rather adventurous, then just turn off the lights when dusk falls, and you will be treated to a light show. Those who do not know that you own the Spaceman VFO Hand Sensor Electric RC Helicopter UFO might actually call the cops and say make a report of a UFO being in the neighborhood! It runs not on an alien energy source, but rather, will rely on old school AA batteries to keep it going.
[ Spaceman VFO Hand Sensor Electric RC Helicopter UFO copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Jan 31
With the high-end Sony Xperia Z unveiled at CES 2013, we expect that Sony will also be unveiling additional low-mid ranged devices that will cater to those shopping with tighter purse strings and according to entries on Indonesian certification site, Postel, devices with the names Xperia SP and Xperia L have been revealed, and with MWC 2013 taking place next month, we expect Sony could be using the event as a platform to launch these new devices.
The Xperia SP is also known as the HuaShan (C530X) which was spotted several days ago in an alleged leaked photo. The Xperia SP is expected to be a mid-ranged device and based on its rumored specs, it will sport a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU with a display resolution of 1280×720. The Xperia L (C210X) on the other hand will be an entry-level device with a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus chip. Both devices are expected to run on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. Additional specs remain unknown but hopefully more details will surface prior to MWC 2013, but if they don’t there is a good chance that they will be revealed at MWC itself, so check back with us then for the details.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Twitter Outage Being Worked On, Bing Apps For Office Hopes To Increase Productivity, 
Jan 31
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is probably one of the most highly anticipated handsets of 2013 and so far rumors have been flying around regarding its possible specs and release date. It can be confirmed that at the very least, the Galaxy S4 will not be making an appearance at MWC 2013, so when can we expect it then? Well according to the folks at PhoneArena, they have received photos of an internal raffle document for a New Zealand mobile retailer who states that winners of the raffle will be given a free Samsung Galaxy S4 device. Considering that the raffle will run until the 8th of April, it has been speculated that the Galaxy S4 should be launched sometime around that date as well.
This combined with rumors that suggest that Samsung will be holding an Unpacked event in the US on the 22nd of March seems to further solidify those speculations as well. Either way as is the case with all rumors, they’re best taken with a grain of salt, but we’ll definitely be keeping our eyes peeled for more information so do check back with us at a later date for the details! In the meantime what do you guys think the chances are that the Galaxy S4 will be released in April?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple Job Listing For A Plastics Tooling Engineer Coincides With Low-Cost iPhone Rumors, 8 Samsung Devices Rumored For MWC 2013 Unveiling, 
Jan 31
Keyboards are more or less the same and it’s quite hard to “improve” on it, apart from ergonomics which some might disregard over features like macro buttons, mechanical keys and etc., which basically means that it really boils down to the preference of the user. However wouldn’t it be somewhat of a novel idea of the keys on our keyboards were actually dynamic in the sense that they could change depending on what we are typing or what kind of software we are running? If you said yes to that, then this concept keyboard with e-ink keycaps might be worth taking a look at, and could leave you actually wanting the product to be made.
This concept was cooked up by designers Maxim Mezentsev and Aleksander Suhih who envisioned a keyboard featuring e-ink keycaps that would change depending on the situation at hand. For example if you were surfing on a foreign website like a Japanese or Korean website, maybe the keys could change to Japanese or Korean characters, and switch back again to English later. Or maybe it can even be mapped out to show Photoshop keyboard shortcuts or display symbols that one might not typically find of normal keyboards. It’s a pretty novel idea but it has some potential – what say you?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Smartphone Dock Bowl Helps You Slurp Ramen While Keeping Your Eyes On Your Phone, iFlex flexPhone Concept Has Flexible Display, 
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