Hasta La Gadget!

Even though I’m not a fan of current wireless charging technology, I’m still impressed by YouTuber tanv28, who modified his iPhone 4S to support wireless charging. Pair this with the wireless syncing feature in iOS 5 and you can ditch your charge and sync cables. If you can pull off the mod, that is.

As tanv28 warns in the video, this is not an easy project and it will void your warranty. Such is the price of convenience. You’ll need soldering tools, a thin gauge wire, a spare charger port assembly, a spare iPhone 4S back cover and the wireless charging receiver and circuitry from Powermat. You can skip to about 1:00 in the video for the steps:

Proof that Apple runs in his blood, tanv28 even made a commercial for his customized iPhone:

Tanv28 didn’t mention if his iPhone can’t be charged via a cable anymore, but judging from his thorough guide I’m betting that it the dock connector still works, otherwise he would’ve mentioned it. Now all he needs to do is make his iPhone float.

[via Ubergizmo]

Is it possible to manufacture a sophisticated wireless-capable device entirely in the United States? That’s vaguely the suggestion of Google’s jet-black orb, launched last week at the search (and now hardware) giant’s I/O event in San Francisco. Now, the Nexus Q is just dying to get undressed, and that’s exactly what our iFixit friends have done, revealing each component’s country of origin. Perhaps one of the most notable items, the Samsung 16GB moviNAND Flash Memory module, may have been made stateside (Austin, TX), but could also have been produced in Hwaseong, South Korea. Some parts, such as the Ethernet port (China) or optical-out connector (Japan) could only have been imported, as iFixit points out, though others are certainly domestic (a photomicrosensor made in California or Illinois). Ready to dive in yourself to verify those findings? You’re not going to want to open this thing up on your own — there’s a bevy of capacitors inside, including one with output in the 400-volt range (a warning label alerts would-be trespassers). You can, however, poke around a bit more at our source link below.

iFixit tears down the Nexus Q: made in the USA, and possibly somewhere else originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 09:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ok, I definitively have to get one of these! Here you are Pioneer Japanese latest and coolest Speaker yet, with the XW-SMA3-K and XW-SMA1-K.
Designed to be every Geek’s best friends these two portable speakers comes fully compatible with Apple AirPlay and DLNA, but also features. WiFi G/B, Ethernet, USB, Optical In and Audio In. Both models are technically identical with the exception of the XW-SMA3-K and its splashproof IPX2 casing and its internal battery capable to offer up to 4h of …

How many engineering students does it take to build a floating light bulb? Just one. University of Queensland student Chris Rieger combined magnetic levitation and wireless power transfer like peanut butter and jelly to create a fancy floating sandwich. And by sandwich I mean light bulb.

Watch the magic happen in the video below:

Rieger says he’s working on a much better version of the bulb, one that will have a built-in dimmer and height control. Drop a comment on YouTube if you’re interested in buying that improved model to help Rieger decide if it’s worth making multiple units.

[via Chris Rieger via Hack A Day]

The same technology that allows airport staff to laugh at your genitals could soon allow dentists to check your wisdom teeth without first irradiating you with X-rays. Silicon-based terahertz range emitters and detectors, however, could shrink the airport scanner tech down to 45nm CMOS scale, according to research at the Texas Analog Center of Excellence at the University of Dallas, EETimes reports. In collaboration with Texas Instruments, they’ve come up with an on-chip antenna that could eventually find its way into a compact X-ray alternative machine suitable for medical professionals.

Causing headaches – metaphorically – so far has been sufficiently stabilizing the frequency of the terahertz waves, with TI and the Dallas team building on research funded earlier in 2012 by Semiconductor Research Corp. into CMOS detectors. TI uses a phase-locked loop to stabilize at around the 390GHz point, “the highest frequency ever demonstrated for a phase-locked loop” according to TI design engineer Brian Ginsburg.

Future iterations will see that number climb, however, with targets of 600GHz or higher for TI’s 45nm processes. Boosting the output power is also on the agenda, with the current prototype mustering 2.2 microWatts.

As well as the health benefits from reducing potentially cancer-causing X-ray exposure, terahertz alternatives could also be more flexible in how they are implemented. Optical components such as lenses could be used to reflect and direct the waves, potentially making for more compact equipment.

[via Slashdot]

Naked scanners zoom on your teeth in TI research is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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