Hasta La Gadget!

You’ll forgive us for frontloading this informational post about Doodle3D — a simple sketching software tool, complete with hardware dongle, that’s being Kickstarted — with superlatives like “totally rad,” but it’s difficult to feel otherwise. The software is very accessible, enabling 2D drawings done on a computer, tablet, or smartphone to be wirelessly sent to a hardware dongle attached to a variety of 3D printers. Just like that, drawings are magically turned from crude 2D images into physical 3D objects; this principle is demonstrated in the group’s Kickstarter video (below the break), which features a variety of non-techie folks using the application to thrilling results. More importantly? Not a single companion cube!

If you’d like to contribute, several tiered options are available. The early bird special affords 100 lucky folks a Doodle3D WiFi box for just $88, but that’s quickly running out. The box will otherwise run you (at least) $99, and the team is expecting to ship them sometime in September — should the project reach its $50,000 goal, that is. With 35 days to go and just over one fifth of that goal already funded, it’s looking like that won’t be an issue.

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Handhelds, Household, Peripherals, Tablets, Wireless, Software

Comments

Via: Twitter – @tha_rami

Source: Kickstarter

Tired of that not-so-fresh-looking Outlook.com app on your Android device from all the way back in December 2012? Despair no longer, as Microsoft updated its Outlook Android app today, pushing new features and that distinctive, minimalist Windows Phone 8 aesthetic to its flagship mail program. And not just any new features, but hallmarks like “conversation threading, filters for unread and flagged mail, as well as the ability to mark messages as junk.” The update is already available in the Google Play store, and works with Android OS versions 2.1 to 2.3.3 and 4.0 to 4.1.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Microsoft

Comments

Source: Google Play, Microsoft

Apparently Nokia’s interested in Microsoft’s tablet cover slash keyboard market, filing a patent application today with the US Patent and Trade Organization for an “apparatus cover with keyboard.” The description is what gives us that distinctly Surface feeling, which calls the “apparatus” a “cover” with two sections, one of which “has a keyboard thereon.” Said cover is “pivotally connected” to a “display” (read: tablet device).

The concept is a bit different visually — at least in drawings, as seen above — than where your brain may be going. It seems to be more of a stand device than just a cover, and it apparently includes a stylus as well. Of course, all of this is still very much in concept-ville, as it’s just a patent application and not even the granting thereof. So keep your salt shakers nearby and all that — this could end up never materializing.

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablets, Mobile, Nokia

Comments

Source: USPTO

On Sony’s upcoming Xperia SP mobile handset, you’ll be able to control various PlayStation Mobile titles using the PlayStation 3’s ubiquitous DualShock 3 controller. Sure, it seems a bit strange to us that you’d want to carry a full game console controller with you, but then it’s also a much better option for games with virtual buttons. And hey, Sony’s not the only one employing such strange logic, so who are we to judge?

Anyway, the controller functionality seems locked to Sony’s Xperia SP phone for now, but it’s likely to head elsewhere before too long (at very least to the rest of Sony’s Xperia line, if not all PlayStation Mobile-enabled devices) — we’ve asked the company for more info, but have yet to hear back. Since the DualShock 3 connects via Bluetooth, pairing the DualShock 3 with the Xperia SP is a snap; simply connect via USB, pair the devices, and you’re off the races (or the shooting, or whatever game you’re playing). After doing so, you’ll be able to reconnect without wires in subsequent uses by holding down the PlayStation button in the middle of the DualShock 3. For a quick walkthrough of how it works, head past the break for a snazzy video showing off just that.

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Handhelds, Peripherals, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Sony

Comments

Via: Xperia Blog

Source: Twitter – @djnermal

In each issue of Distro, editor-in-chief Tim Stevens publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.

There’s a good chance 2011’s HTC Status, with its portrait QWERTY layout and dedicated Facebook button, never found its way into your social network. That last attempt at the mythical Facebook phone failed to garner much praise, but if social networks gave up so easily, well, we’d all still be using MySpace. HTC and Facebook are at it again, this week launching the $99 First, exclusively on AT&T in the US.

Yes, it’s a name every commenter could love (or hate).

Yes, it’s a name every commenter could love (or hate), a title cheekily reminiscent of the HTC One. This, though, is a rather different device, aiming more toward the mid-range and relying on some serious social integration to make it stand out. It’s the first phone running the Facebook Home interface, which will be available on many devices starting on April 12th. It delivers a far more comprehensive Facebook experience than the previous apps have managed, and intriguingly Zuckerberg himself said that Home is “the next version of Facebook.” The end of the web? Stay tuned.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Transportation, Internet, HTC, Facebook

Comments