Hasta La Gadget!

Unless you’ve been away from the Internet over the last few days, you would’ve no doubt heard about Woz’s special appearance at the Engadget Show on Sunday. Unsurprisingly, a few websites ran with some quotes that they pulled from our interview — specifically, the highlight was Woz “confirming” that the white iPhone 4 was indeed delayed due to camera issues. Well, I don’t think this is the case at all. In fact, I’m sure there are plenty of other good reasons for why Apple’s been delaying the much anticipated flavor of its flagship smartphone, but the camera just isn’t one of them. Head right past the break and all will be explained.

Update: Our man Woz has just responded in the comments:

I said plenty to make it clear that I know nothing of Apple’s reasons for rejecting anything ever. I told how when I got my white iPhone 4 assembled I tested the flash photos and they did indeed have problems. I spoke of testing flash photos versus non-flash ones and comparing flash photos between my white and black iPhones. I don’t recall saying that it was a ‘reason’ Apple rejected the parts although I had read that.

For the last part, we were referring to 0:55 in the interview video after the break, but now that Woz has spoken, it could’ve been a joke at the time that got misinterpreted by some websites. They tend to do that with Woz. Read on!

Continue reading Why the camera isn’t the culprit for the white iPhone 4’s delay (update: Woz responds)

Why the camera isn’t the culprit for the white iPhone 4’s delay (update: Woz responds) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Modder adds FPS-style ammo counter to automatic weapon

Modder adds FPS-style ammo counter to automatic weapon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 08:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear  |  MichaelCiuffo (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments

Ever wish real life was more like the Internet? While it might be a while before your cat starts writing its own poorly-spelled captions, one enterprising Copenhagen resident decided to take the concept of email notifications to his real-life mailbox. Using a modified wireless doorbell and some electrical engineering know-how, he set up a device that alerts him on the third floor whenever anyone puts a letter into the ground-floor box. That way, he doesn’t have to run downstairs only to come back up empty-handed.

The system is essentially a switch on the mailbox, so whenever the box is opened, it trips the wireless doorbell, which then sends a signal to a box upstairs, lighting an LED. It’s a pretty cool idea, coupled to what Hack a Day called a “simple circuit”. If you check his blog, you can follow along with his instructions and make your own, if you’re the soldering type.

[via mimeproject, Hack-a-Day]

Visualized: the Power Mac G4 clock originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 01:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Justin Tyler Moore  | Email this | Comments

Apple doesn’t want you to fix your own gear–it would much rather have you walk into a Genius Bar for repair, or just buy a new gadget altogether. The company has made that painfully clear all along, with non-removable batteries and other safety guards in place to assure that you don’t open up your devices. And now it has another trick up its sleeve.

The company has begun using Pentalobe-screw heads on its devices. The screws apparently first started popping up on MacBook Pros in 2009, assuring that no one could get the pesky battery out of the thing. Next up, they began appearing on last year’s MacBook Air, keeping the whole inside of the ultraportable off limits.

The screws were in place on a certain number of international iPhone 4 units, but not any of the ones that arrived in the first shipment of US handsets. Now, it seems, Apple has begun to install them on more recent phones.

Why is Apple going through all of the trouble? Simple–Pentalobe screwdrivers are hard to come by. iFixit, those perpetual gadget fiddlers, are offering a solution–the iPhone 4 Liberation Kit. It’s basically two screwdrivers–something approximating a Pentalobe and a Phillps–and all of the requisite screws, so you can remove the old one and stick in much more easily removed versions.