Hasta La Gadget!

Much as smart TVs might seem like a recent revolution, audiences in the UK have had access to interactive, multi-window content on their boxes for over 13 years. The difference (and in many ways, the problem) is that this bonus “Red Button” material has been delivered over the old-school digital broadcast signal rather than over the web — which is why today’s launch of the Connected Red Button service makes a whole lot of sense.

Starting with the 1.2 million people who happen to own a Virgin Media TiVo box, pressing red will bring up an overlay suggesting programs from iPlayer and the radio channels, tailored by BBC staff to what they’re currently watching, plus further curated web content from BBC News, Weather and Sport. They’ll be able to read articles in overlay mode, or click on a video to throw it fullscreen. The content isn’t new of course — it can already be accessed via the multitude of apps that the BBC has for iPlayer and other services — but it’ll now be delivered through a much simpler, app-free interface that is already used by around 20 million people per month. We’ve had a play and can certainly vouch for it being straightforward — stay tuned for our hands-on video which will up in a few minutes.

Of course, it’ll only work if your TV is linked into the web somehow, which is the reason the BBC gives for initially only providing the service to TiVo customers. Starting in 2013, it’ll roll out the Connected Red Button to Freeview, Freesat, BT Vision, YouView and other connected devices — basically everything except Sky, which BBC execs say they regard as a “closed service” rather than as a “platform.” At the same time, there’ll be an awareness campaign urging the mainstream masses to get their TVs or media boxes online and thereby prepare for the inevitable.

Continue reading BBC’s Connected Red Button launches on TiVo, brings true web TV with a single click

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

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Remember the classic Pixar animated clip, Luxo, Jr.? You know, the one with the pair of articulating Anglepoise lamps playing around, and shown with the Pixar logo at the beginning of their flicks? Well, in the latest occurrence of life imitating art imitating life, some guys have actually built an animatronic lamp that moves around like the one in the movies.

Well, maybe it’s not exactly like the one in the movies – for starters, this lamp is black, and both Luxo, Sr. and Jr. were white. Plus, this lamp is designed to interact with humans, tracking faces and sounds – not bounce around on a little rubber ball. Using custom code, the lamp is able to express a personality in much the same way that the lamps did in the movie.

The robotic lamp, named Pinokio, was created by Victoria University students Shanshan Zhou, Adam Ben-Dror, and Joss Doggett using Processing, Arduino, and OpenCV. If they ever manage to mass-produce these things and then license them through Pixar, they’ll sell millions.

[via TDW via io9]

A couple of weeks ago we saw a Kickstarter fundraiser for a desktop arcade machine based on the Raspberry Pi. It turns out that hacker and tinkerer Jeroen Domburg has already made a tinier, yet also functional machine based on the same computer.

Wow. So many wonderful features in such a tiny package. I think it’s as small, if not smaller, than the Space Invader cabinet we saw a while back, but this one runs MAME so it can run tons of classic (and not-so-classic) games. It has a transparent cabinet made from laser-cut acrylic, a 2.4″ LCD screen and an itty bitty OLED display up top that displays the logo of the game being played (if available). It runs on a Li-ion battery that can be recharged via USB.

This project is definitely not for beginners, but if you have the skills Domburg has posted a thorough step-by-step on his website.

[via TechCrunch]

Apparently, the hottest way to travel these days is via trampoline. Remember the trampoline bridge concept that made crossing the river fun again? Well, now you’re about to see a 170-foot-long trampoline pathway that makes commuting fun again.

It’s called Fast Track, and while it looks pretty exciting, the whole concept seems a bit outrageous. For one, I don’t know anyone who can manage to jump all the way across 170 feet of trampoline without falling off (or heaving) at least once or twice. Second, it’s going to multiply travel time by a couple of factors because it’ll obviously take longer to bounce erratically to your destination instead of just walking towards it.

Somehow, I get the feeling that getting people to where they want to go isn’t really the point of this trampoline anyhow, as you can see from this video clip:

“Fast Track” is an attempt to create intelligent infrastructure that is emotional and corresponds to the local context. It gives the user a different experience of moving and percieving the environment.

The Fast Track trampoline was on exhibit at the recent Archstoyanie festival in the forest of Nikola-Lenivets, Russia.

[via NOTCOT and KNSTRCT via Colossal Art+Design]

There are already a handful of ways to bring – or at least replicate – your Minecraft masterpieces to the real world. But if you’re looking for a cheap route, check out this Mojang-approved iOS app made by 13th lab. It’s called Minecraft Reality and it uses augmented reality to make the two worlds meet.

I have not tried the app yet, but apparently it can even scale the objects you upload relative to the real world scenery. You can also save the location of the object(s) you place so that other users of the app can see your work and vice versa.

Minecraft Reality is already on the App Store and sells for $1.99 (USD). Sadly, it’s for newer iOS devices only. It’s not compatible with the 4th gen iPod Touch and any devices that came before it, and the developer also mentioned that “most functionality is not available on iPhone 4.” Fortunately our imagination has no such system requirements. I just placed a Weeping Angel behind you.

[via The Verge via Joystiq & Minecraft Reality]