Hasta La Gadget!

If you asked us to drop $350 for 23 pieces of laser-cut plastic, we’d probably shoo you away, but it’s hard to resist the incredible charm of the Nanocade. Besides, designer Rasmus Sorensen’s actually selling the miniature arcade cabinet parts for just $229 right now, which makes the decision to finally build your own MAME machine a wee bit more affordable. You’ll still need to supply all the internals yourself, including buttons, an arcade stick, a monitor and glue, and even should you succeed, good luck prying guests away from your new coffee table conversation piece. Find the basic kit in your choice of Midnight Black or Arctic White at our source link.

Note: It’s a bit of a bummer, but the Nanocade website says that handsome curved control panel displayed above actually isn’t part of the initial kit — it comes with a pair of flat pieces that meet at a (seemingly) wrist-chafing angle instead.

Nanocade kit now on sale in the USA, somewhat less pricy at $229 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s proprietary dock connector may keep would-be peripheral manufacturers at bay, but if you want to build your own iOS companion devices, there’s another way. You might have noticed that the Square credit card reader uses Apple’s 3.5mm headset jack to transmit power and data at once, and gadgeteers at the University of Michigan are busy open-sourcing the same technique for all the DIY contraptions you can dream of. Project HiJack has already figured out how to pull 7.4 milliwatts out of a 22kHz audio tone, and built a series of prototype boards (including working EKG, temperature, humidity and motion sensors) that transmit data to and from an iOS app at up to 8.82 kbaud — using just $2.34 worth of electronic components. See the basic principles at work in the video above, and — as soon as the team updates Google Code — find out how to build your own at the links below.

iPhone headset socket hijacked to power DIY peripherals (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 02:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Over the years we’ve seen loads of Arduino hacks and mods — a DIY kit that lets plants tweet, a robotic iPhone, and even touchscreen GBA SP. All of these impressive, heartwarming and otherwise inspiring projects were made possible by the Arduino platform. Just in case you’re unfamiliar with what Arduino actually is, let us remind you that it’s an open source project geared toward students and other humans who wish to delve into the wild, wacky world of do-it-yourself electronics hardware and software coding. We’d encourage you to check out the documentary in full — you know, to get the skinny on the company’s inception and watch as the Arduino folks talk about their movement and its future — but we doubt you need our elbowing. Check out all 28 minutes of footage after the break.

Continue reading ‘Arduino The Documentary’ now available for your streaming pleasure

‘Arduino The Documentary’ now available for your streaming pleasure originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 19:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Got a leftover head unit sitting about? How about a PC power supply? Add a few old speakers, a oval bookshelf, a sewing machine box handle and some carefully prepared wooden panels, and you’ve got a beautiful retro radio that looks like several hundred bucks. User iminthebathroom built this one for a daughter’s Christmas present, but isn’t keeping the formula to him or herself — you’ll find a full walkthrough at Instructables if you’re in a MacGuyver mood, and a video after the break to show you what the cherry-red contraption can do.

Continue reading Oval bookshelf is the perfect case for this DIY car stereo radio (video)

Oval bookshelf is the perfect case for this DIY car stereo radio (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen a fair share of VCR hacking in our day, but this momentum scroll wheel built from an old VCR head by Instructables community member Osgeld sets a new bar for jerry-rigging dead technology. Apparently the project arose from a desire to find a 21st century-approved use for the circular part that was gathering dust after being stripped from a spare Sony VHS player. The result is a bulky, yet useful, scroll wheel that can easily be set into motion and sustained via its own inertia to keep spinning for long periods. That feature could prove useful to anyone saddled with a mountain of video editing work, or even you lazy folk just hoping to flick less while reading the web. Unfortunately, a quick glance at Osgeld’s DIY tool and part lists indicate you’ll need to do quite a bit more than ransack a tape player to get this job done right. But then, when do the good things in life ever come easy?

VCR head gets Frankenstiened into a beefy momentum scroll wheel originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 01:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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