Hasta La Gadget!

This month’s show is all about learning — but don’t worry, it’s a lot more fun than it sounds. We’ll be putting the “tainment” back in edutainment. But first, we’re kicking things off with a quick detour to Los Angeles to check out all of the explosive sights and sounds at E3 and heading over to the gadget tables to show off the Samsung Galaxy S III on AT&T, the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display and the taking the new Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 for a spin around the studio.

Next up, Tim heads to Alaska to work with a team of researchers studying the northern lights with high-tech balloons and helmet cameras. We’ve also got class visits to Northeastern University, where students are creating technology for the betterment of mankind and NYU’s ITP school, where art and technology meet. ITP’s Danne Woo and Matt Richardson will be showing of some of the school’s projects, including the kinetically-powered Circuit Board, the Descriptive Camera and the condiment-extruding Burritob0t.

Then we’ll close things out with an interview from none other than LeVar Burton, who tells us about the rebirth of Reading Rainbow and how Project Glass and the iPad are making the real world a little bit more like Star Trek. Check out the full episode after the break!

Hosts: Tim Stevens, Brian Heater
Guests: LeVar Burton, Matt Richardson, Danne Woo
Producer: Rob Samala
Director: Michelle Stahl
Executive Producers: Brian Heater, Joshua Fruhlinger and Michael Rubens

Download the Show: The Engadget Show – 034 (HD) / The Engadget Show – 034 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show – 034 (Small)

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Continue reading The Engadget Show 34: LeVar Burton, weather balloons over Alaska, Northeastern University and ITP

The Engadget Show 34: LeVar Burton, weather balloons over Alaska, Northeastern University and ITP originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony isn’t known for rolling out the red carpet when one of its phones arrives Stateside, although that’s partly because US carrier-endorsed versions are few and far between. It clearly sees the Xperia Ion as worth the five-star treatment it’s giving the rest of the 2012 Xperia line: the company is starting a rare TV ad campaign to pitch its 720p wunderkind to an American audience that might not have noticed the Ericsson badge going away. As you’d expect, the pseudo single-take spot ends up being as much a vehicle for pushing other Sony projects as it does for the Android phone in question; we hope you don’t mind getting a brand overdose. With that in mind, there’s more action and explosions per square capita than in any other smartphone ad in recent memory, so if you’re upset that other smartphone ads are just too… peaceful, click Play and get your fill of danger.

Sony kicks off an Xperia Ion TV ad campaign for the US, meets your daily explosion quota (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A research team at Keio University has built a fun haptic virtual reality system that enables you to manipulate pictures with a rolling pin. A vertically mounted Kinect takes a 3D image that is then displayed on the projection surface. Using the rolling pin, the image can be rolled over and flattened as if it was dough — with a series of motor cranks inside the implement to replicate the necessary feedback so you can feel what it’d be like to iron out your own face. It’s been designed as a modern-day update to the penny-squashing machines you found in theme parks, except with slightly more grotesqueness. You can watch the face-mashing in glorious color after the break.

Continue reading Keio University’s Kinect-based Haptic VR system lets you roll your own face flat (video)

Keio University’s Kinect-based Haptic VR system lets you roll your own face flat (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 10:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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