Aug 04

@iPhoneHater INQ Mini 3G and Chat are now posing for photographs, lol #hands-on

Posted in: qwerty, skype, social networking, SocialNetworking, Today's Chili, twitter

While you’d expect the first hands-on shots of INQ’s new sociable Mini 3G and Chat to emerge on Twitpic, it’s TechRadar doing the honors. Both of these featurephones are fairly attractive in their own right, with each being suitably slim and chock full of status updating power. In fact, we’d say the Mini 3G’s red and black QWERTY keypad is amongst the sexiest we’ve seen. Why not judge Like[TM] for yourself by giving those read links below a look?

Read – INQ Mini 3G hands-on
Read – INQ Chat hands-on

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@iPhoneHater INQ Mini 3G and Chat are now posing for photographs, lol #hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 04

Zune HD dock and remote hands-on

Posted in: feature, Features, hands-on, remote, Today's Chili, zune, zune hd, ZuneHd

Glossy black gadgetry lit only by the very table on which it rests isn’t exactly an ideal situation for photography, but when it’s our first sighting of the Zune HD video dock, we’ll do our best. Microsoft had a small booth set up at tonight’s gdgt launch party in San Francisco, where they were showing off the device (no shots of the UI allowed, even if it’s largely unchanged since our last handling a month back). The dock was connected to flat-panel screen via HDMI and output 720p. A separate remote is provided for navigating through your videos from the comfort of your couch while leaving the media player docked, but once we got our hands on that, it was at this point that a rep made us put the camera away. Bummer. Hopefully we can get a better glimpse soon, but for now, images in the gallery below.

Gallery: Zune HD dock and remote hands-on


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Zune HD dock and remote hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 04

Toyota robot gets antsy, starts to run

Posted in: Today's Chili

And the robot arms race continues.

Toyota's robot has dropped fiddling and taken up running.

Toyota's robot has dropped fiddling and taken up running.

(Credit: Toyota Motor)

Toyota has enhanced one of its Partner Robots to make it run at 7 km/hour, slightly faster than Honda’s Asimo, which learned to run at 6 km/hour …

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Aug 04

Sunflower robot doesn’t need sun

Posted in: Today's Chili
The Himawari robot sunflower senses hands.

The Himawari robot sunflower senses hands.

(Credit: Anderdesign)

Japan loves its baroque, impractical machines, with Honda’s zillion-dollar humanoid robot ASIMO being the acme example.

Others include the beautiful and haunting robot mannequins designed by Tatsuya Matsui. And let’s not forget that 60-foot-tall Gundam robot erected in a Tokyo

…

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Aug 04

Fraunhofer Institute’s fruit checker device tracks optimum ripeness so you can stop sniffing those melons

Posted in: germany, research, science, Today's Chili

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed a small device that can be used to check the freshness of fruit, telling the interested parties whether it’s ripe or not. Based on previous technologies which measure, for example car emissions, the device measures the volatile gases emitted by the fruit and analyzes its makeup to determine the state of freshness. The team already has a working prototype, and sees the device, which would cost somewhere in the thousands of dollars range, as having widespread application for businesses that supply food to grocery stores. So far the device has only successfully been used to test the freshness of fruit, but researchers see possible future applications in testing meat as well.

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Fraunhofer Institute’s fruit checker device tracks optimum ripeness so you can stop sniffing those melons originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 04

Apple keyboard gets hacked like a ripe papaya, perp caught on video

Posted in: Apple, firmware, firmware update, FirmwareUpdate, hack, hacking, keyboard, security, Today's Chili, video

As far as Apple is concerned, the Black Hat 2009 hackers conference didn’t end soon enough. Having promptly patched the iPhone vulnerability, Cupertino is facing another security hole, this time in its keyboards. A hacker going by the pseudonym of K. Chen has come up with a way, using HIDFirmwareUpdaterTool, to inject malicious code into the keyboard’s firmware. While it’s not yet possible to perform this hack remotely, the fact it occurs at the firmware level means no amount of OS cleanser or anti-virals will remedy it — which might be a bit of a bother to MacBook owners who can’t simply swap to an uninfected keyboard. Panic is hardly advisable, as Chen is collaborating with Apple on a fix, but if you want to be freaked out by his simple keylogger in action, hit up the video after the break.

[Via OS News]

Continue reading Apple keyboard gets hacked like a ripe papaya, perp caught on video

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Apple keyboard gets hacked like a ripe papaya, perp caught on video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 04

Zune HD hands-on, impressions, tears of joy

Posted in: Today's Chili

Photo of the Microsoft Zune HD mp3 player.

Do you believe in miracles?

(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET Networks)

I’ll admit right off the bat that I’ve been a pretty big fan of the Zune ever since I bought my first one back in 2007. I’ve also had some disappointments, which I haven’t been shy about sharing–and last year’s half-hearted Zune hardware refresh had me losing faith that Microsoft would be able to steer this one out of the ditch.

Well, having just geeked-out with a pair of Zune HDs for about an hour, I am tentatively reaffirming my faith in Microsoft. This thing was worth the wait, folks. Mind you, it’s not going to crush the iPod Touch–a product that for all intents and purposes is more mobile computer than media player–but it’s safe to say that the Zune finally has the power to make good on the promise of delivering one of the richest music experiences on a portable device.

Zune HD hands-on

How are they going to do it? Let’s start with hardware. The Zune HD feels expensive, solid, and sexy. The metal enclosure is a little more angular than the curvy chrome of the iPod Touch, but feels just as nice and has the advantage of laying flat instead of teetering around. The body is just a little thicker than the iPod Touch, and not nearly as wide (as seen in this photo). …

Originally posted at MP3 Insider

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Aug 04

Console hacker arrested, faces up to ten years in jail

Posted in: legal, Today's Chili, us, wii, xbox, xbox 360, Xbox360

Just when you thought it was safe to get out your soldering irons, Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants you to know that its agents are still out there, on the lookout for for even more mod chip-wielding nogoodniks and their non-DMCA compliant consoles. According to the AP, a 27-year-old CSU student named Matthew Crippen was recently arrested for “modifying Xbox, PlayStation and Wii consoles in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act” and released Monday on $5,000 bond. The dime was dropped on this perp by the Entertainment Software Association, and the raid conducted by Customs agents sometime in May. He will be arraigned on August 10th, and if convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison. Let this be a lesson to you: while the ICE may have its hands full with human slavery, drug trafficking, transnational gangs, and stolen artifacts, there is always time to make an example out of a man that knows his way around the inside of a Playstation.

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Console hacker arrested, faces up to ten years in jail originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 04

Updated FiOS Twitter and Facebook widgets add onscreen keyboard, not friends or followers

Posted in: Today's Chili, twitter, verizon

Just a few weeks after debuting its Twitter and Facebook widgets, Verizon is refreshing them by giving viewers an onscreen cellphone-style keyboard to mash out their own tweets and Facebook status updates from the remote. Though we wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to just use ones actual cellphone to spread your inane viewing habits amongst those unlucky enough to count you as a friend, the services have apparently been quite popular so far, with millions of Tweets and Facebook photos viewed since it was released. As usual, the free apps can be found in the Widget Bazaar, where Verizon CIO Shaygan Kheradpir will be looking for more tools that “engage viewers” once the SDK is released later this year. Not close to your TV (or an area with FiOS TV service?) check out a few screens of the new functionality below.

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Updated FiOS Twitter and Facebook widgets add onscreen keyboard, not friends or followers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 04

Pour At Your Leisure

Posted in: Today's Chili

Table%20Tap.jpg

Springwise: Offering a self-service system that can be retrofitted anywhere is the TableTender by TableTap.

The TableTender system, available in Britain and the United States, is designed and built for each specific venue. There’s a tap (or several) located at each table, which allows patrons to pour at their leisure—to a point. The system is designed to comply with drinking regulations, shutting off after dispensing around 11 pints of beer and only resuming once a waiter has checked the table. The amount dispensed is displayed on a meter at the table, as well as recorded on the proprietor’s database to monitor sales and consumption by hour, day, month and table.

More Self-service Bars:A Tap At Every Table [Springwise]

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