Hasta La Gadget!

What does it take for a gaming classic to survive in a world ruled by titles like Portal 2 and Homefront? A Kinect hack, a Wiimote, and some electronic elbow grease, apparently. Trinity College student Keysosaurus — as he’s know to his YouTube pals — has used a bit of C#, XNA, and OpenNI coding to play 3D augmented reality Tetris using Kinect body controls and a Wiimote. The Kinect gestures do most of the work, rotating the board, zooming the camera in and out, and moving the pieces into place, while the Nintendo controller is used to rotate. Video’s after the break, but beware, the familiar strains of “Korobeiniki” have been replaced by smooth guitar jazz, so turn the volume up at your own risk.

Continue reading Augmented reality Tetris game uses Kinect hack, Wiimote, smooth jazz (video)

Augmented reality Tetris game uses Kinect hack, Wiimote, smooth jazz (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So you got all excited after seeing HTC’s latest UI on the Sensation, but were dismayed to discover your hoary handset wouldn’t be getting the same Sense 3.0 love? As usual, the folks at xda-developers have just the tonic for what ails you… as long as you own a Desire HD. Yup, a clever fellow by the name of capychimp took the Sensation’s ROM and ported it to yesteryear’s HTC European flagship phone. The port isn’t perfect — those who dive in will lose camera support and the images need some resizing to properly fit on the HD’s 800 x 480 display — but brave souls who hit the source link for the download still get all those mellifluous movements that Sense 3.0 provides. See all the smooth scrolling in action after the break.

Update: XDA-developers have also given the HTC HD2 a quick Sense 3.0 hug, along with Android 2.3.3 in a similarly incomplete custom ROM.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Desire HD tries on Sensation’s Sense 3.0 suit, needs some tailoring for it to fit

Desire HD tries on Sensation’s Sense 3.0 suit, needs some tailoring for it to fit originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, after all the talk of TROs, tweets, and YouTube user info, it seems that the SCEA vs. Geohot litigation has come to a rather uneventful conclusion. According to Sony’s Playstation Blog, the case has been settled, and Hotz has agreed to a permanent injunction preventing him from distributing his PS3 jailbreak hack ever again. Of course, while this settlement has cowed the man who did the initial distribution deed, the jailbreak genie’s out of the bottle, and no court order can ever put it back.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

SCEA vs. Geohot: Sony wins a not-quite flawless victory originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 12:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Meet any seasoned techie, and they’ll likely spin whimsical tales of computing’s early days, and the challenge of finding a practical use for a device with seemingly limitless potential (you know, like feeding your cat while you sleep). A new product from SparkFun promises to bring this old-school awesomeness into the smartphone age: introducing IOIO (pronounced yo-yo), a breakout box that enables any Android 1.5+ device to control electronic circuits from within Android’s applications. Designed in collaboration with Google, Spark’s PCB connects to your phone over USB, working its magic through a Java library that hooks into your apps. This DIY paradise will begin shipping in a few weeks, and can be yours for $49.95 on pre-order. We’ve already witnessed some clever mods with IOIO, and when it sent a real alarm clock ringing, we couldn’t help but smile. Crack one yourself after the break.

Continue reading SparkFun intros IOIO for Android, a hack-free breakout box to get your mind spinning

SparkFun intros IOIO for Android, a hack-free breakout box to get your mind spinning originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Apr 2011 04:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hackers have cracked opened the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system to install unauthorized apps on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Available from the famous Dev-Team jailbreakers, the iOS 4.3.1 exploit will work on most iOS devices, excluding the Verizon iPhone and iPad 2. That includes:

• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 4 (GSM/AT&T)
• iPod Touch, third-generation and fourth-generation
• iPad, first-generation
• AppleTV, second-generation

Most customers primarily jailbreak their iOS devices to install Cydia, an underground app store serving unauthorized software. Especially popular in Cydia are utilities to enable free tethering to share an iOS device’s 3G internet connection with other devices. However, be forewarned that AT&T recently started cracking down on free tethering users, warning them that they will be charged if they don’t sign up for a legitimate tethering plan for at least $20 per month.

Owners of the Apple TV 2 will probably be jailbreaking their devices to install XBMC, an app that enables playback of almost every type of media file, including 1080p high-definition Blu-Ray rips. XBMC also enables customers to install add-ons for widgets, so it’s basically a mini app store for the Apple TV.