Hasta La Gadget!

Using cassettes to create mixtapes was a fun time to spend an afternoon when you were a kid. There’s something oddly pleasing about this analog media format. Thankfully, if you’ve got a MakerBot in your shed, you can make a modern version of the mixtape, by 3D printing an MP3 player in the shape of a cassette.

The MakerBot Mixtape looks like a cassette tape, but it’s actually a 3D-printed MP3 player with 2 GB of storage. It has buttons for play, pause, forward and backward. The charge lasts four hours and a USB cable is used to charge it up. Keep in mind that its the case that’s 3D printed, and the electronic circuitry inside is most definitely  not.

If you’ve got a MakerBot, you can print it in a number of different colors and designs. You can get a kit for $25 (USD). If you haven’t got a 3D printer, then you can buy one already made up for $39.

[via DVice]

Facebook is trying to force itself into every aspect of your life, and it’s succeeding at doing so. Today the massive social networking site rolled out a new feature called the Recommendations Bar, which will pop up when you’re visiting to website to show you what your friends liked and shared from that website as well. The Recommendations Bar will pop up in the bottom right corner of your browser window – provided the website you’re visiting has put the plug-in to use – much like Facebook chat does, encouraging you to check out the stories that are popular with your Facebook friends.

When you decide to like something you see in the Recommendations Bar, Facebook will publish the like to both your profile and your friends’ news feed. Annoying maybe, but it seems to be working, as Facebook is reporting that early tests show a click-through rate that’s three times higher with the Recommendations Bar than with the more familiar Recommendations Box. Hearing that, it seems like this Recommedations Bar will only become more popular as time goes on.

The Recommendations Bar is just the latest social plug-in Facebook offers to websites. CNET counts 11 Facebook plug-ins total, so it sounds like it won’t be long before Facebook is a part of everything we do on the web. Expect to hear more about the success of the new Recommendations Bar soon, but in the meantime, be sure to check out our story timeline below for more information on Facebook!

Facebook rolls out Recommendations Bar for websites is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Neonode has today signed a deal with One Laptop Per Child that will see the affordable laptops make use of its multisense technology. The next generation of the OLPC, dubbed the XO Touch, will feature a multitouch 7.5-inch display. The screen is capable of being read outdoors under bright sunlight thanks to a dual-mode option, and the display can also fold over the keyboard so that the laptop can be used as a tablet in certain scenarios.

OLPC has partnered with Neonode in order to add touch functionality while retaining the dual-mode display and keeping the screen resolution high. The screen is said to be around 300 PPI, which is within throwing distance of some high-resolution smartphone displays. The Neonode screen also has support for multitouch gestures and has a fast polling rate of 1,000Hz. Better yet, it’s an energy efficient display, consuming only 2W under load.

There’s no word on when the XO Touch will be released, although current information suggests it will arrive later this year. The current OLPC runs around $75, and the company is hoping that the next model, the XO-3, will be able to come in under $100. There’s no word on what the XO Touch is expected to cost, however. When it does go on sale, expect alternate power sources to provide juice to the XO Touch, such as solar panels and even hand cranks.

OLPC partners with Neonode for XO Touch is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re sick of typing out all those articles, essays, and emails, maybe Nuance‘s Dragon voice dictation is the solution. The company has announced NaturallySpeaking 12 for the PC, boasting that there are over 100 new features and improvements made to the voice recognition engine. As you would expect, the NaturallySpeaking turns your voice into text, powered by Nuance’s voice recognition system famously used for Siri and the voice dictation feature in Mountain Lion.

Nuance claims that NaturallySpeaking is 20% more accurate than version 11 straight of the box, and as usual, the more you use the service the more it attunes itself to your voice, which will also increase accuracy. Nuance has added Smart Format Rules to version 12, with the voice engine adapting to the way a user presents formatting and punctuation. NaturallySpeaking still prompts users to tune the engine using their own documents and emails as well.

Email junkies will be pleased to hear that Gmail and Hotmail support are fully onboard, so actions and commands from both services can be activated simply by speaking. The support extends to Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 12 and up, and Chrome 16 and higher. Interestingly, you don’t need a swanky microphone for your PC either. Nuance has extended its Microphone app to Android, so you can use your smartphone as a microphone that connects to your PC over your local wireless network.

Pre-orders for Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 begin today, with the price set at $99.99. The digital version of the software will be available to download on August 3rd, while all other versions will start shipping out on August 13th.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 available August 3rd for $99.99 is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

As you know, we love LEGO bricks around here. There’s something just so amazing about the billions of different creative things you can do with these little modular components. Now, you can combine your LEGO enthusiasm with your iPod Touch with a single gadget – the TinkerBrick case.

The TinkerBrick is a special LEGO-compatible iPod Touch case, which allows you to integrate your iOS device into your LEGO creations. This isn’t like some of the other LEGO cases I’ve seen which just let you snap a couple of bricks on your phone. This case is specifically made so you can use your iOS gadget as a component of your LEGO builds. For instance, let’s say you want to make a strummable LEGO guitar, where the iPod Touch acts as the frets. Perfect. Simply build your LEGO guitar, snap your iPod Touch into the TinkerBrick, and then attach it to the fretboard. Voila!

The sky is really the limit. With the TinkerBrick case, you can use your iPod Touch as a screen and input device within LEGO builds, so you can create interactive creatures and gadgets with LEGO accessories.

The TinkerBrick case is available in red, black, white and yellow versions, but at this point, the TinkerBrick case is available only for the iPod Touch (4th Gen.) I’m hopeful that they’ll release the case for other devices like the iPhone and iPad, as I could see plenty of possibilities for integrating those devices into LEGO builds as well. You can get your hands on a TinkerBrick case over on Amazon now for $32.95(USD).