Hasta La Gadget!

You know, there are times when you have to part ways with your adorable kitties at home, and you might not be so keen on getting a cat sitter in case he or she touches your precious game consoles (even if it’s an old granny). We’ve seen the lazy man’s solution before, but Britain’s Mathew Newton has brought us a new DIY internet-enabled cat feeder just in time for a new decade. Rather than using a CD-ROM tray to push-release unknown quantities of cat food, Mathew’s version has a motor-driven cereal dispenser controlled by signal from port status LEDs on a Cisco switch — an ingenious way to avoid expensive Ethernet relay units. When it’s feeding time the user logs onto a web interface to choose the dispensing quantity, or you can also have an automatic feed schedule set up if you trust the system — Mathew said he “can rely on it 100%,” and his cats do appear to be healthy. Fortunately, you can always check the live video stream just in case you have doubts. All is explained in the video after the break.

Continue reading DIY cat feeder now enabled by a Cisco switch, streams food and video

DIY cat feeder now enabled by a Cisco switch, streams food and video originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP yesterday announced plans to purchase 3Com in a move that’s being seen as a direct challenge to Cisco Systems. HP will pay $7.90 per share for a total of around $2. billion. Both HP and 3Com’s board of directors have already approved the deal.

“We wanted to create a powerhouse in the networking industry,” HP senior vice president Marius Haas said of the multi-billion dollar deal. Asked to comment on the deal, Cisco managed to find a way to pat itself on the back, stating, “While Cisco has a healthy respect for all of our competitors, acquisitions in our industry only validate the fact that networking is becoming the platform for all forms of communications and IT.”

3Com made $1.3 billion last year, with more than half of its profits coming from China.

Let’s face it, stealing office supplies is really a gateway to more serious crimes. It starts with pens and staplers; the next thing you know, you and your spouse are being arrested for stealing $23 million from your corporate employer.

A North Carolinian couple have been arrested over a scheme that defrauded Cisco’s SMARTnet to the tune of $23 million. According to the company, Mario and Jennifer Leigh Harmon Easevoli concocted a scheme to ship replacement parts to businesses in eight states.

Using fake names, the couple allegedly filed fake claims for the parts, later selling them to other businesses. Jennifer Leigh Harmon Easevoli then reportedly bragged about the claim via Classmates.com, writing:

For those of you who knew me and doubted me – I made it, and I made it big … I am bigger and better than you thought I could be. I am more successful than I could have dreamed and I have had a great time all the while.

Maybe it’s time to update that profile again.

A brand spanking new filing with the FCC shows a Flip Video-branded RF remote control, produced by Foxconn, which frankly raises more questions than it answers. Looking at its robust size, which is comparable to that of the Flip Ultra Video HD, we can be pretty sure this isn’t meant to remotely control anything that’s out at the moment. Head honcho Jonathan Kaplan has already expressed a definite interest in expanding the brand, and Cisco’s acquisition of Pure Digital was said to be “key” to its strategy of expanding its presence in the “media-enabled home.” So, given the parent company’s somewhat unsuccessful history of building media hubs, and the simplified control scheme that just screams for an on-screen menu, this may well be the prelude to a new Flip-branded whole-home DVR setup, an idea that Cisco discussed over the summer. Or it could be something entirely different — we just know it’s something.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals

Flip Video remote control shows up at FCC — bigger things to come? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For those who missed the torrent of 3G MicroCell news yesterday, here’s the long and short of it: the Cisco-built device is now on sale, but only in Charlotte, North Carolina. One fortunate Charlottean managed to scoop one up, but rather than keeping the experience to himself, he decided to bang out a full review for the rest of the world to see. By and large, Jason’s experience with the femtocell mirrored our own with Sprint’s AIRAVE. Installation and setup was a breeze, and once it was booted up and operational, it worked like a charm. Before picking this up, he was seeing one bar of EDGE (if he was lucky); afterwards, his entire house was blanketed with five bars of 3G. Not surprisingly, he noted that the before and after difference when fielding calls was “night and day,” but he did take the opportunity to bark at the lofty $150 price tag. But hey, those desperate enough will cough up anything to actually use their phone, right?

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

AT&T’s 3G MicroCell tested and reviewed by Charlottean: yes, it works originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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