Hasta La Gadget!

Google built the Cr-48 with hacking in mind, so it’s no surprise that we’re seeing other operating systems crop up. Still, it’s fun to watch, and enterprising hackers have got most of the usual suspects up and running: first Ubuntu, and now Mac OS X and Windows. It sounds like a lot of work, and we pledged that 2011 was going to be the year we sat on our asses and didn’t do anything hard, but you’re welcome to give it a shot! Just hit up those source links below for instructions, and follow after the break for video of OS X in action.

[Thanks Damian W.]

Continue reading Windows and Mac OS X make it onto the Cr-48, look great in matte black

Windows and Mac OS X make it onto the Cr-48, look great in matte black originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Jan 2011 16:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Consider the rumors quelled. Despite whispers that Apple would be starting up the Mac App Store in the final year of this decade (or the first of the next, depending on perspective), the Cupertino giant has just affirmed that it’ll be 2011 before the general populace gets to dig their hands into it. January 6th is the opening date for the Mac App Store, and unfortunately for those still humming along on OS X 10.5, it’ll be a Snow Leopard-only affair. Smack dab in the middle of CES, Apple plans to unleash the store in 90 countries, and it’ll feature “paid and free apps in categories like Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity and Utilities.” Naturally, it’ll be a free update, and it’ll work more or less exactly like the App Store does on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. As with those outlets, developers are able to set their own prices and then keep 70 percent of the revenue (provided it’s a paid app). So, who’s ready to blow a little Santa cash to ring in the new year?

Continue reading Apple Mac App Store: open for business starting January 6th

Apple Mac App Store: open for business starting January 6th originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 08:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We gotta say, the last time we were this excited about hardware hacking For The Greater Good was when people started using the Wiimote for all sorts of awesome projects. Kinect is naturally a lot more complicated, but there’s also a lot of potential here, and we can’t wait to see what people come up with. Florian Echtler took that open source driver and hooked the Kinect into his own multitouch UI “TISCH” software library (which actually supports the Wiimote as an input already, funny enough). The result is a bit of MS Surface-style multitouch picture shuffling and zooming, but it uses full body tracking instead of touchscreen input, of course. The self-effacing Florian had this to say in the video description: “I thought I’d get the mandatory picture-browsing stuff done so it’s out of the way and everybody can focus on more interesting things.” You’re still a hero in our book, man. Always a hero.

Feeling left out on all these Kinect shenanigans because you’re rocking a Mac? Well, libfreenect has also now been ported over to OS X by Theo Watson (who sounds unenthused about his accomplishment in the video embedded after the break). Also: once you’re done admiring your IR-rendered visage on your shiny Apple-built hardware, scrounge yourself up a working Linux box. All the cool people are doing it.

Continue reading Hacked Kinect taught to work as multitouch interface

Hacked Kinect taught to work as multitouch interface originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

The title of Apple’s recent Back to the Mac event turned out to have multiple meanings. The first was heralding a shift of Apple’s event focus to the product that was once synonymous with the company. But it also had a more literal connotation, that traits associated both with iPad software and hardware would now be finding their way back to the Apple’s computers. But the impact of this round trip could have different implications for hardware and software.

Apple’s new MacBook Air was cited as taking on traits associated with the iPad such as thinness, flash storage, longer battery life, and instant on. The new MacBook Air also dispenses with an optical drive, but so did the previous MacBook Air, and indeed so do nearly all netbooks and quite a few other “thin and light” notebook PCs. Most would agree that the new hardware choices produce desirable traits in an ultramobile notebook.

Continue reading Switched On: The iPadification of Mac OS

Switched On: The iPadification of Mac OS originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Nov 2010 12:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That didn’t take long, did it? The promised beta of Windows Phone 7’s Mac-friendly companion app is now available, bringing basic media sync capability — notably with iTunes and iPhoto integration — to that shiny new Microsoft-powered phone of yours. In fact, Microsoft delivered the client so fast that it beat every single American WP7 device to market — so AT&T and T-Mobile folks, you can rest easy knowing that you’ll be Mac-compatible from day one. Notably, the so-called Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac lacks any Zune functionality; Microsoft has never written a true Zune client for Mac, unfortunately, but at least this is a critical first step that makes these things usable for Mac owners that aren’t tied to the iPhone. Let us know how the app treats you in comments, alright?

Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac moves to public beta originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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