Hasta La Gadget!

Tweet your radiation levels with Scosche’s RDTX iPhone dongle

In Japan, it’s probably safe to say there’s a gadget for everything. And given a somewhat disastrous year, safety gadgets are likely getting more popular. Nope, there’s still nothing that can reliably predict an earthquake, but at least careful (and paranoid) Japanese can watch out for errant radiation — using their iPhones.

Two new detectors have just been launched by Scosche, the RDTX and the HRDTX. The RDTX requires no calibration, and measures background radiation. The detectors plugs into an iPhone and feeds its findings to a free companion app, from where you can share your radiation levels on Facebook and Twitter. More useful is Google Maps integration, letting you upload data.

Less flashy, but more useful, is the HRDTX, a standalone monitor which plugs into a wall outlet like an air-”freshener” or smoke detector. Instead of having to hook it up to a phone to take a reading, it works away in the background, using LEDs and beeps to warn you. Green means safe, yellow (with beeps) means watch out and red (with a screaming 105dB alarm) means PANIC. NOW!

Both units are available in Japan right now. The iOS-friendly RDTX costs ¥21,000 ($270) and the standalone HRDTX will be an as-yet-unannounced amount more.

RDTX product page [Scosche. Thanks, Mark!]

HRDTX product page [Scosche]

See Also:

• Tsunami Warning System Counts First Coup
• Tech Companies Respond to Japan Quake With Resources …
• Study Reveals How Much Cellphone Radiation You're Getting …

The next version of XBMC isn’t ready for prime time yet, but the team behind it is already talking about what’s being added and tweaked in v11.0, a.k.a Eden. This is the first major release since the media player app added iPad, iPhone and Apple TV support and as such improved touchscreen support is high on the list. We can also expect a new “Files” view in the video library, a different default skin, improved CPU / GPU efficiency, customizable home screens and other UI tweaks as seen above. Now that the list of features is pretty much locked down we’ll be expecting a beta, and eventually final release, but you can hit the source link to dive in early and help test everything out.

XBMC teases new features coming in 11.0 ‘Eden’ release originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like we weren’t the only ones shooting video at today’s ‘Let’s Talk iPhone’ event. Apparently Apple had some folks there with cameras as well. Cupertino has posted video of the event, so between that and our liveblog, you can relive the magic — or disappointment — again and again. Check out the action in the Source link below.

Apple’s iPhone 4S event video now online originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, that was fun. If you wanted to read along with the liveblog, but couldn’t hang with all of those words, or if you just need some help processing all of the Cupertino-based iPhone 4S-related excitement, stay-tuned. Tim Stevens, Darren Murph and a number of guest Fraggles (schedules pending) are live on the scene to help you wade through the deluge of news from today’s Apple event.

Update: And we’re done! Check out video of the broadcast after the break!

Continue reading Apple’s ‘Let’s Talk iPhone’ post-event live broadcast!

Apple’s ‘Let’s Talk iPhone’ post-event live broadcast! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not an iPhone mini or anything, but it’s the first iPhone with Siri. And that has to count for something, right? Right? While it’s no iPhone 5 (not even close, really), the iPhone 4S is far from being “last year’s iPhone,” and the greatly enhanced camera, bolstered A5 dual-core processor and inbuilt voice command should provide plenty of reason for folks to upgrade if they’re near the end of their contract. Furthermore, having the option on Sprint — despite Apple almost announcing it as an afterthought — is bound to make folks already entrenched on the Now Network think twice about what their next phone will be come upgrade time.

We were able to spend a few quality moments with the refreshed iPhone 4 here at Apple’s campus, the Sprint flavor no less, and as you might expect… it’s an iPhone 4. But S-ier. Much in the same way that the 3GS improved the overall experience of the 3G, the 4S does likewise compared to the existing 4. The dual-core A5 chip is a laudatory improvement, and whisking about pages, loading the camera application and launching — well, just about everything — just feels zippier. As it should. The other major change, the antennas, weren’t readily different at a glance, but as Mr. Cook stated, you’d have to be iFixit to notice (and we’re sure they will).

The most impressive part was the demo of Siri, the new assistant that lets you do just about anything you can do on your phone — but with your voice. We tried to psych it out with a bunch of random requests, including the history of Chester, Vermont (a lovely town) and the best Ramen places in San Francisco. Siri never faltered, never missed a beat. It worked as well as Scott’s demo up on the stage. There’s nothing better to say than that. We even sent ourselves a few text messages, which Siri transcribed to a T. Of course, the lady on the other end still sounds eerily robotic, but we’re hoping for smoother responses from the alien within in a future update.

The 8 megapixel sensor doesn’t look any different from the outside, but we’re trusting that Apple’s re-engineered the interior. We snapped a few photos in the demo room to test and not a one came out as great as the retina-bursting contrasty pictures of balloons and flowers we saw in the demo, but then again, we didn’t have any balloons or flowers to capture.

As for weight and feel? Just like the old king. We’ll be updating this post with our impressions live from Cupertino, and are working to get you some better pictures to look at. Hang tight — they’re coming!

Update: Sorry, guys, but this time around Apple isn’t allowing anyone to take photos or videos of the new iPhone in the hands-on area at its event. But don’t worry, we’ll give you all that and more when we review it in the coming weeks!

Relive the announcement in our liveblog right here!

iPhone 4S hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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