Monday will be the day that Apple brings its yearly developers conference to the city of San Francisco once again, with plenty of software updates in the wings: but what about hardware? Here in the week before WWDC 2013, several devices have been tipped or otherwise leaked, with upgrades and refreshes of devices we’ve seen
Starting Monday, Apple’s 2013 iteration of their developers convention WWDC begins in San Francisco – and there’s a lot you’ll not be seeing. It’s not that there’ll be a lot of information under the skin and behind closed doors, that’s not what this is all about. Instead, it’s all about what’s still in the wings
As Blizzard Entertainment lets it be known that their decade-long awaited title Diablo III has been optimized for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, a release date is dropped well within the ream of next-generation console detail. With September third on the books, the devil-bashing game is set to bring web-connected-only action to both consoles with
Acer has unveiled a Star Trek themed notebook that looks stunning. In fact, it looks like it came right from the bridge of the rebooted Enterprise. The Acer Aspire R7 Star Trek Limited Edition. It kind of looks like the Enterprise herself when opened up halfway.
This special edition notebook features a stainless steel Star Trek logo emblazoned on it too just so you get the point. The R7 also features a repositioned keyboard and trackpad and a high-definition touchscreen mounted on a “revolutionary ‘Ezel’ hinge” that allows it to flip, reverse, lie flat or float – though you don’t need the Star Trek edition to get this feature.
Acer has created only 25 of them and they will be auctioning a single unit off, with the proceeds going to two charities, The Mission Continues and Save the Children.
The computer comes with a Star Trek Into Darkness film poster signed by the cast, special content like wallpapers and videos from the movie, a soundtrack, a download of Star Trek: The Video Game, and Star Trek packaging.
To bid, head on over to http://www.ebay.com/theonlyone. Bidding starts on June 14th. You know your friends won’t have one, so be sure to bid.
This MK-4 tank computer is pretty sweet. After all, this thing is a… tank! The guy who built it must have been tanked after completing this. (Sorry.) This fully-functional PC is finished in all aluminum with aluminum strips cut out to form the treads of the tank. That is some nice detail.
The computer features an Intel Core i5 processor and Asus Motherboard, with 8GB DDR3 SDRAM and a 1.465 TB Western Digital hard drive. It also has a water cooling system to keep everything cool. It also has a 1GB Graphics card and Blu-ray drive.
The whole thing has been powder coated to make it scratch proof too. That is some really nice work. The only thing its missing is a turret. And working treads.
[via Casemods.RU via Damn Geeky]
Remember SmartThings, which was on Kickstarter a few months ago? It was understandably a huge hit with backers who wanted to make their homes smarter. At the end of the campaign, $1.6 million had been raised and the first batch of kits had sold out.
Now here’s a bit of news about the system that will make its 6,000-strong backers (and countless others who are interested in it) happy: SmartThings has now released their Developer and Inventor Toolkit.
Perhaps the reason why so many people are drawn to SmartThings is its promise of an open-source platform for developers. This openness makes it a flexible option, especially for those who are looking for fully-customized home automation systems. And if they know programming, then they could even build it themselves (or ask some pros to do it for them.)
This sort of technology has been around for a while, but SmartThings has come up with something novel out of it. Of course, if you want to live in an automated home now rather than later, then there are other options out there that you can try out.
People who have had a chance to work with SmartThings has come up with a bunch of pretty interesting stuff so far, and you can look out for more since they’ve already released the toolkit:
So far the open community has created a SmartThings-controlled pet feeder, a baby mobile controlled via voice sensor, a movie theater remote to dim the lights and start the popcorn, and many more. The SmartThings Developer & Inventor Toolkit includes everything needed to create and rollout new SmartThings, such as an open community at build.smartthings.com that enables collaboration with other developers and inventors around the world.
[via AllThingsD via Engadget]
Years of hunching over his laptop took its toll on James Olander. He claims that the damage on his nerves reached an extent that he was advised by his doctors to lay off laptops or he might not be able to type again. Fortunately, James is an engineer. So he designed a laptop stand that can help him and the millions of other people who have hunchedoverlaptoposis. Or whatever its medical name is.
James calls his laptop stand The Roost. There are hundreds of different laptop stands already on the market, so why would you want The Roost? It’s not on fire, but there are three things that make The Roost stand out. First is the sheer height at which it can raise a laptop:
Here’s another shot that shows just how high it raises the screen:
Unless everything else in the image above is really tiny, I’d say that the MacBook Air is at or maybe even above eye level there. The second advantage of The Roost over other stands is that it folds into a very compact shape. Finally, The Roost is made of carbon fiber and a flexible and durable plastic, making it strong enough to support up to 200lb. even though it only weighs 5oz.
Pledge at least $65 (USD) on Kickstarter to get The Roost as a reward. You can check its official website for the list of compatible laptops.
[via GadgeTell]
Stanford University alumni Josh Chan and Tarun Pondicherry invented LightUp, a modular electronics kit that’s as easy to use as LEGO blocks. The kits is designed to teach children the basics of electronics and computer programming.
LightUp simplifies the process of building an electronic circuit so that it won’t discourage children from experimenting and trying again if they don’t get the result they want. Instead of requiring children to use soldering materials or wires, the parts in a LightUp kit connect to each other using magnets. This means that they’re easy to put together and take apart. It also means that if you purchase more kits, you get more parts to mix and match.
One thing that LightUp kits have that LEGO toys don’t have is an augmented reality app. When you take a picture of a LightUp circuit on a mobile device, the app can point out if any of the parts are incorrectly connected. It can also show the flow of electricity throughout the circuit, as shown in the image above. Finally, LightUp can be programmed using Arduino code, so kids can jump right into coding if they want. I’m not sure if the kit will come with programming aids or lessons though.
Pledge at least $39 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive a LightUp kit as a reward. The reward tiers seem to have different kinds of kits assigned to them; I’m not sure if the more expensive kits will include all the items included in the cheaper ones, so choose your desired tier carefully.
On the eve of this year’s Computex international computer and technology fair, ASUS announced two desktop PCs with an optional component that can save both themselves and other gadgets. Both the upcoming G10 and M51 computers will support the ASUS Power Pack, an optional 6,000 mAh external battery pack that doubles as the computers’ UPS.
The Power Pack is the black device jutting out of the G10′s expansion bay in the image above. You can take the entire thing out and use it to charge mobile devices on the go via its 2 USB ports, then dock it back to recharge it. But as I mentioned above, while it’s docked it also pulls double duty as an uninterruptible power supply or a UPS. When power to the G10 or M51 is cut off, the Power Pack can keep those two desktop PCs alive for up to 30 minutes. That’s more than enough to save your files and shut down the PCs. Here’s a video from Engadget’s Zach Honig:
You can read ASUS’ press release to find out a bit more about both PCs. But I bet some of you are already busy thinking of ways to hack an external battery to your PCs.
[via Engadget]
While Acer is pushing forth several machines this week that take on the mantel of an entirely new design in and of themselves at Computex, the Acer Aspire S7 looks, on the surface, to be the same machine as it was earlier this year. Under the surface though is a reboot that means more than just accepting the 4th generation of Intel Core (Haswell) processors. Included in this reboot of the Aspire S7 is 2nd generation Acer TwinAir cooling, new electroluminescent (EL) backlit keyboard technology, and a new option for a display sharper than its already-1080p-wielding predecessor.
Though it seemed almost over-the-top seeing 1920 x 1080 resolution on this notebook earlier this year – see our Acer Aspire S7 review to see what we mean – this new iteration of the machine will have a 2560 x 1440 pixel option. That’s WQHD on a 13.3-inch display, using IPS LCD technology on what’s also the first display to be both WQHD and 10-finger touch for Acer.
This notebook – this Ultrabook, rather – works with an ever-so-slightly thicker body at 12.9mm (where the original was 12.5mm) and remains light enough to compete at 1.3kg. Both sides of the lid (the top and the display) are covered with Gorilla Glass 2 while the bottom bit is made with a single block of aluminum.
NOTE: Above and below you’re seeing the original Acer Aspire S7 – the reboot appears in the gallery below, and is essentially identical save its optional WQHD display.
Acer employs dual-array microphones with this machine with Acer’s own PurifiedVoice technology. This aims directly at making the computer understand, transmit, and record – where necessary – your voice for voice recognition (hello Google) and VOIP applications in as “crystal clear” a manner as Acer is able.
The display’s ability to pull back 180 degrees – flat, that is – allows for more multi-user capabilities as well. “Touch-and-show sharing” they call it, with a hotkey combination flipping the orientation of the display at will. Aside this machine’s 4th gen Intel Core processor is a RAID 0 solid state drive for silent operation and quick read/write times and wakeup from sleep.
Intel’s Haswell generation of Core processors work here to bring on Intel WiDi technology so that this machine can extend or mirror its display to a TV or otherwise big screen monitor wirelessly. Intel’s technology is also implemented here to improve battery life, coming in at 7 hours according to Acer, that ending up bringing a 33% improvement over the original.
At the moment Acer notes that this update to the Acer Aspire S7 will be available in the third quarter of 2013. Pricing and more specific release information will be appearing soon.
Acer Aspire S7 Ultrabook gets Haswell reboot with optional WQHD is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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