Hasta La Gadget!

In case you weren’t already convinced of a certain model of Nokia 1100’s hackability by the exponential surge in its aftermarket value, fraud investigation firm Ultrascan has successfully recreated a virtual bank heist by reprogramming one of the devices to receive another phone number’s text messages. Using this trick, shady characters in fancy suits can get your mobile transaction authentication number — provided you live in a country like Germany or Holland that use mTANs — and use it to get into your bank account and transfer funds. They’d also need your account name and password, mind you, but obtaining that data isn’t nearly as complex when there’s plenty of people clicking on the wrong emails and signing into fake website with all those deets and the associated digits. It all sounds a bit like the stuff of crime novels, doesn’t it? And before you go running to eBay with that 1100 you stashed away in a drawer years ago, please note that it only works if the candybar was produced at a very specific plant in Bochum, Germany.

Filed under: Cellphones

Investigators demonstrate Nokia 1100’s criminal potential originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 May 2009 03:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, the catalog of compatible games hasn’t been as hefty as we’d like, but Sony has done quite a bit right with its PlayStation 3 / PSP Remote Play feature. Modder Dashhacker (with special thanks to noted PSP hacker Dark_AleX, among others) has released Open Remote Play v1.1 beta, which lets you take that same Remote Play experience onto your Windows PC or Intel-based Mac. The caveat here is that you’ll still need a PSP handy to set up the application, so don’t go thinking you can bypass the portable altogether. The OS X version apparently works well, but Windows users may ample bugs — it is beta, after all. We haven’t had a chance to try it ourselves yet, but don’t let that stop you from beating us to the punch — just let us know what you think. Alternatively, you can peruse video of it in action after the break.

Read – ORP v1.1 Beta
Read – Google Code project page

Continue reading ORP beta released, brings PS3 Remote Play experience to your PC or Mac

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Laptops

ORP beta released, brings PS3 Remote Play experience to your PC or Mac originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 May 2009 04:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know what kinds of projects we especially love? The kind that save you seven hundred bucks, for starters. That was photographer and bon vivant Pete Tsai’s inspiration when he bought a $40 wireless USB dongle, a AA battery pack, and an angled USB adapter, with the idea of using it to tether his Nikon D300 to his laptop. According to the modster, Nikon’s Camera Control 2 software doesn’t seem to have any problem with the device, and the whole setup offers “very fast” transfers (about four seconds for a fine Jpeg, or eight seconds for RAW+ fine). Apparently this bad boy more than does the job of a Nikon’s WT-4a wireless transmitter, which sells at around $800. Are you a photographer on a budget? Hit that read link for all the red hot details.

[Via Wired]

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Do-it-yourself wireless tethering for your DSLR originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 May 2009 10:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At around $800, Nikon’s remote WT-4a should really be called the WT-F. The Wireless Transmitter sends images from camera to computer over Wi-Fi, useful for tethered shooting. It also lets you remote control your camera using Nikon’s (terrible) Camera Control 2 software.

But, like we said, it’s $800. Pete Tsai took a look and though “I can do that.” The other way to hook up a Nikon camera to a computer is via USB, so why not Wireless USB (WUSB)? He bought an off-the-shelf adapter and, with minimal tweaking, got full remote access. The price? $40.

The home brew solution actually runs quicker than the Nikon version, although it needed one small mod to make it useful. Pete’s adapter plugs into a 5v AC adapter, tying the user to a wall-wart. He fashioned a quick AA battery pack to fix this and is currently working on building the whole lot into a camera hand grip.

The $50 Wireless Tethering Solution [Petetek via Flickr]

Photo: PeteTsai/Flickr

After the boundless Arduino-based inventions we’ve witnessed over the years, it was really about time Arduino did a little something for itself. Guilherme printed up his own paper Arduino designs, which do away with the regular printed circuit board and substitute a colorful combination of paper, cardboard and nerdy needlepoint. It’s almost precious enough to get us to pick up a soldering iron once more, despite the horrible disfigurement caused by our last run-in with melting metal.

[Via Make]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Paperduino is like the cardboard fort version of every hacker’s favorite I/O board originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 May 2009 12:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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