Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve been waiting impatiently for OLED display to come to laptops, and that finally happened at CES 2019 with models from HP and Dell. Now we know one likely source for those, as Samsung has unveiled what it says is the first-ever 15.6-inch 4K OLED…

Are you a DOOM fan? Of course, you are. Do you own a Roomba? Of course, you do. Now you can combine two of your favorite things into one new cool thing. DOOMBA is a script written by programmer and designer Rich Whitehouse for his 3D model and animation conversion program Noesis that allows you to create playable Doom maps from the data collected by your Roomba. How cool is that?

Now your little robot vacuum cleaner is helping you in a whole new way.  Now we just need to be able to put our Roomba in the actual map that it generates so that it can play a fun game of DOOM while we watch.

I’m eagerly awaiting that Black Mirror episode. Mostly because I can’t wait to see a gun-toting Roomba going crazy on some demons. Actually, I’d like to see that turned into a product. A robot that cleans my floor and secures my home? Hell yeah! Now that’s a DOOMBA. It would be the best security guard ever.

You can read more about the process and download the program from Rich’s website HERE if you’re interested in trying DOOMBA out for yourself.

[ via Polygon via Geekologie]

I’m one of those weird people that actually enjoys the liminal spaces of travel—hotels, train stations, and yes, airports—but even I have my limits. I might be having a chill time reading a book in a food court that only smells a little like a one-thousand-year-old Panda Express, but if I hear that my flight’s been…

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If you think that the current design of Twitter is a bit too confusing and messy, then you might be interested to learn that Twitter has announced that they have begun rolling out a redesigned website. However this seems to be a test of sorts because Twitter states that not all users will be able to opt-in for this design, meaning that Twitter could still be looking for user feedback to determine when they should begin a wider roll out.

This is actually not the first time that Twitter had teased a redesign, but this announcement seems to suggest that the company is getting closer to rolling out for its users. The new design will make the website easier to navigate, where users will be able to use keyboard shortcuts to find their way around the website and certain tasks, versus clicking which can be a bit slower.

Other changes also include a dedicated emoji button, and there will also be an upgraded trend section. That being said, this seems to be a bit limited at the moment in terms of availability. If you do see the option to enable it for yourself, then you are one of the lucky few who are getting to test it out. If you don’t see it, not to worry as we’re sure that Twitter will eventually get around to making it available for everyone. In the meantime you can check out the video below to get an idea of what some of the changes you can expect.

A new https://t.co/fHiPXozBdO is coming.

Some of you got an opt-in to try it now. Check out the emoji button, quick keyboard shortcuts, upgraded trends, advanced search, and more. Let us know your thoughts! pic.twitter.com/G8gWvdHnzB

— Twitter (@Twitter) January 22, 2019

Twitter Testing Out Simpler, Redesigned Website , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

China’s Xiaomi has become the latest smartphone maker to tease a folding smartphone, dropping the below video clip of its president and co-founder, Bin Lin, fondling the device on social media today.

The twist is the tablet does not have a single center parting but rather two folds that divide it into three panels, with Xiaomi claiming in a tweet: “It is the world’s first ever double folding phone.”

The video shows Bin contemplating a tablet-sized touchscreen device before quickly turning it on its side, taking it into landscape orientation, where he performs the party trick — folding two panels of screen, one at each side, back behind the tablet to form a slightly chunky looking phablet.

The video is edited so it cuts from front view to back at the moment of the fold so the actual folding action is not seen from the front. But from the back the two folded wings go dark after being folded.

When the video cuts back to the front there’s a slight spinning of the screen, as the software appears to grapple momentarily with the new form factor, before it stablizes in portrait orientation.

The phablet form of the device resembles the bezel-less ‘infinity display’ design of a handset like the 2018 Samsung Galaxy S8. Albeit more squat looking than the tall 18.5:9 aspect ratio of the S8.

Xiaomi’s tweet teaser does not include any details about how near (or indeed far off) a market launch of the device might be. We’ve reached out to the company with questions about the prototype and any launch plans.

In recent months a handful of folding smartphone prototypes have been demoed by mobile makers, including a booklet-style folding slab from Samsung — trailed as incoming for years but finally teased officially last fall — which also appears to transforms into a rather chunky handset.

An invite to a February 20 Samsung launch event for the forthcoming Galaxy S10, sent out to press two weeks ago, also included a conspicuous centerfold in its graphic teaser. Ergo, a commercial launch looks imminent.

While, at CES, a little known Chinese OEM called Royole beat others to the punch by showing off a folder in the flesh. In tablet form the Android powered FlexPai, as the device was christened, is 7.8-inches. But once folded in half the gizmo is left with an unsightly gap between the screen pieces, bulking up the resulting smartphone.  

Xiaomi’s triptych looks to offer a more pleasing design for handling the inevitable air gap created by a folding screen by concealing the ends in the middle of the dual folded panels. Side tucks certainly look more visually pleasing.

That said, two folds could mean a higher risk of screen problems — if the folding mechanism isn’t robust enough to handle lots of bending back and forth.

It’s also far from clear whether consumers will generally take to folding phones, or snub them as fiddly and gimmicky.

In recent years smartphone design has converged around a phablet-sized touchscreen and little else. So adding any fresh mechanical complication is a bit of a risk given how smooth and hermetically sealed smartphones have otherwise become.

But a clutch of Android OEMs are going to try their luck, regardless. And with a saturated smartphone market, stalled growth and competition fiercer than ever you can see why they’re pushing the boat out — or, well, bending the screen back — to try and stand out.