Hasta La Gadget!

Now that you’ve got your Windows Phone 7 device splayed open for USB mass storage use, why not make it friendly to non-Marketplace apps, too? Microsoft’s been insistent so far about keeping sideloaded apps out of the equation unless you’re a developer, but a new tool called ChevronWP7 — compatible with Windows XP SP2 and up — will “unlock” your little beast so that you can install whatever you like without going through the store. Presumably, this’ll come in handy for installing stuff Microsoft would never dream of approving — and it’s a whole lot less hacky than an iPhone jailbreak from the looks of it. Have fun and stay safe out there, folks.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Windows Phone 7 gets user-friendly hack for bypassing the Marketplace, loading your own apps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Nov 2010 11:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hacking the Xbox 360 Kinect is all about baby steps on the way to what could ultimately amount to some pretty useful homebrew. Here’s a good example cooked up by some kids at the MIT Media Lab Fluid Interfaces Group attempting to redefine the human-machine interactive experience. DepthJS is a system that makes Javascript talk to Microsoft’s Kinect in order to navigate web pages, among other things. Remember, it’s not that making wild, arm-waving gestures is the best way to navigate a web site, it’s just a demonstration that you can. Let’s hope that the hacking communinity picks up the work and evolves it into a multitouch remote control plugin for our home theater PCs. Boxee, maybe you can lend a hand?

Update: If you’re willing to step outside of the developer-friendly borders of open-source software then you’ll want to check out Evoluce‘s gesture solution based on the company’s Multitouch Input Management (MIM) driver for Kinect. The most impressive part is its support for simultaneous multitouch and multiuser control of applications (including those using Flash and Java) running on a Windows 7 PC. Evoluce promises to release sofware “soon” to bridge Kinect and Windows 7. Until then be sure to check both of the impressive videos after the break.

[Thanks, Leakcim13]

Continue reading Kinect hacks lets you control a web browser and Windows 7 using only The Force (updated)

Kinect hacks lets you control a web browser and Windows 7 using only The Force (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Nov 2010 03:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not uncommon to see Mr. Android and Sir Arduino team up in the world of homegrown robotics, but Squirt has managed to hop out of the me-too crowd with a downright charming control scheme (and even more charming looks). Put simply, this water gun robot was designed to “water plants and chase away raccoons,” but from a broader perspective, the creator was looking to demonstrate how robotics could be used in small irrigation and well systems. Better still, this is far more than just a robot that’s controlled remotely via smartphone; if you switch it into ‘guard mode,’ it’ll search and destroy — pelting anything “that moves” with a blast of water. And yeah, it can also be controlled via SMS, so even the cats can’t celebrate too quickly once the owner heads out for work. Hit the source link to find out more on how this masterpiece was constructed, or head beyond the break for a quick demo vid.

Continue reading Squirt water gun robot pesters raccoons, takes orders from Android (video)

Squirt water gun robot pesters raccoons, takes orders from Android (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 05:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What, you didn’t think the Kinect open source community would just take a break for the weekend, did you? Microsoft certainly wouldn’t want that, and after seeing how much shadow puppetry warmed our hearts, we wouldn’t want it either! Thankfully, someone in this world can now track a wooden stick to emulate a lightsaber in real time, bringing one classic meme that much closer to actuality (and the promised Star Wars Kinect game not even parsec closer to release). If that’s not enough, we also have a demo made that converts hand-waving to MIDI notes — which, as creator Ben X notes, puts him one step closer to Ableton Live integration — and a pretty pretty wild visual of body dysmorphic disorder (and a chubby cat) courtesy of the powerful open source Cinder library and a Vimeo user who goes by “flight404.” If those were appetizer and two-part entree, respectively, our post-meal coffee would be a pretty sharp critique on Kinect Joy Ride — where it seems, on at least one track, you can nab a bronze trophy by staying as still as humanly possible. All the footage you seek is after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Kinect lightsaber, and other inevitable milestones for the open-source robot eye (video)

Kinect lightsaber, and other inevitable milestones for the open-source robot eye (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink technabob, Create Digital Music, Reddit  |  YouTube (1), (2), (3), Vimeo  | Email this | Comments

Note: this is not a practical hack. It’s something to file under “mountain climbing,” as in the only reason to do it
is because you can.

All you need to do is completely fill a piece of paper with graphite pencil. This turns any sheet into a conductive surface. Then you ground your hand with an anti-static strap and allow an Arduino to convert the data into mouse coordinates.

Like I said, not the world’s most useful trackpad (in addition, it is also a bit messy). But it is a cool concept and a minor accomplishment of basement engineering. It’s also a concept that, if taken a few steps further, could create the basis for turning nearly any object into a computer interface.

Video after the jump.

via hack-a-day, afrotechmods