Hasta La Gadget!

Can a mobile phone read a QR code created not digitally, but out of sand? This is a question that arose while communication “architects” Sinap Co. Ltd. were brainstorming new strategies for reaching customers in a world suffering increasingly from information overload. A QR code created by a natural substance, and one as fragile as sand, would make an impact, they thought. The question remained, would it actually be usable?

To find out, the Tokyo-based company launched the Sinap Summer 2009 Project, creating a human-scale QR code out of sand on a Shonan beach, about an hour away from the capital. The finished result, along with several “making-of” photos and a video, appear on the project website. To date, almost 400 readers have left comments regarding whether or not their mobiles could read the code; a cursory glance at the results shows that most phones could.

In addition to creating the sand QR code, Sinap is teaming up with the Nishihama Surf Lifesaving Club to promote beach cleaning efforts. According to Sinap, the efforts to break away from information noise pollution and to rid beaches of disposable lifestyle goods (plastic bags, foam trays…) are complementary endeavors.

We’ll admit, we’re jealous of this Sina Corporation reporter, who appears to have gotten some hands-on time with LG’s very sexy Chocolate BL40 and its 21:9 aspect ratio screen. There isn’t much said here aside from details we already knew and the occasional compliment on its form factor and display, but it is good to see this in the wild and not just in the FCC‘s secret lab facilities. Now if only we can get a better idea of its US 3G capabilities…

Filed under: Cellphones

LG BL40 caught in the wild, given brief hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 01:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Now we know why Google Voice apps were only released for BlackBerry and Android. Apple rejected Google’s official Google Voice app when it was submitted for approval six weeks ago. What. The. Shit.

Here’s the quote from the Google spokesperson to TechCrunch:

“We work hard to bring Google applications to a number of mobile platforms, including the iPhone. Apple did not approve the Google Voice application we submitted six weeks ago to the Apple App Store. We will continue to work to bring our services to iPhone users – for example, by taking advantage of advances in mobile browsers.”

This news comes on the heels of Sean Kovacs’ GV Mobile Google Voice app being pulled from the store for “duplicating features.” Even though, TechCrunch relates, Phil Schiller himself personally approved GV Mobile and called Kovacs to apologize when its initial approval was delayed months ago.

TechCrunch suspects, probably correctly, that apps for Google Voice are being rejected at least in part through AT&T’s influence, since Google Voice lets you send free text messages and delivers cut-rate international calls—on top of making phone numbers even more meaningless—making it scary to AT&T in way like Skype VoIP over 3G. Either way, it seems obvious the Google Voice service is being targeted for extinction, at least as a native app on the iPhone.

Google plans to take the same route it was forced to take with Latitude on the iPhone—web app land. It’s an interesting switch for Google and Apple on the app front, actually. Google was noted for getting away with using private APIs in its Google Mobile app to make the voice search command work. Now Apple’s rejected two of its major apps in a row, in a way validating Google’s belief that web apps are the future anyway.

It seems somewhat silly, and a bit of a reach, to insinuate the rejections are signs of brewing hostilities between Apple and Google, but you have to figure if there weren’t any behind the rejections, they’ve at least got to be causing some anxiety by now.

Whatever the reasons, it sucks, and as Jason Kincaid says, what’s really troubling about this rejection is that it appears that “Apple is now actively stifling innovation.” And the whole black box app approval process doesn’t exactly alleviate that sinking feeling either. After all, if Google doesn’t stand a chance, how does anybody else? [TechCrunch]

It’s here Sonos fans, finally. The new touch-screen CR200 controller is announced and ready for purchase. After making an appearance at the FCC on its way to being leaked in full, the new CR200 controller for Sonos’ multi-room wireless music system is everything we heard including a 3.5-inch, 640 x 480 pixel (VGA) capacitive touchscreen with on-screen keyboard, beefier processor, and relatively tiny 2.9 x 4.5 x 0.7-inch / 6 ounce footprint with scaled-down charger to match. Those changes make the new CR200 pocketable, faster, and far more useful than the CR100 ever was. Not that the CR100 was a bad device, it wasn’t, but the $399 controller (plus $40 for the charging cradle) was definitely beginning to show its age as the only dedicated handheld controller available since Sonos launched back in January 2005. What really made the CR100 archaic though, was the 2008 release of the free iTunes App Store controller for the iPod touch and iPhone. It was faster, more graphically rich, and offered an on-screen keyboard unlike the CR100.

Fortunately, the price of the CR200 has dropped a bit to $349 / €349 list, a price that now includes the charging cradle. Still, we know what you’re wondering: is it worth it when an iPod touch can be purchased new for $229, or closer to $170 refurbished? Having used the CR200 for a week now, we found that the answer’s not as obvious as you’d think. Click through to find out why.

Continue reading Sonos CR200 review

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio, Wireless

Sonos CR200 review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Looking to bolster your home surveillance setup with something sure to survive power outages, harsh weather conditions and / or zombie invasions? Then you may want to accept no less than this new All Weather Cellular Camera now available from Brickhouse Security, which promises to provide just about everything you’d expect from a surveillance system in an entirely self-contained unit. That includes a PIR body heat-activated nightvision camera (just 1.3-megapixels, but you can’t be too picky in these cases), 50 infrared flash bulbs, a built-in tactical laser to ensure it’s pointing at just the right spot, a CompactFlash card slot to store images in case the cellular network goes down, and a 6V battery that promises to last for four to six weeks (which can be doubled with an optional second battery), to name but a few features. Naturally, none of that comes cheap and, at $599, you may want to consider a second camera to keep an eye on the first.

Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras

All Weather Cellular Camera is an all weather cellular camera originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments