Apples In Stereo man controls his Moog… with his mind! (and you can too)

We thought that our homemade Theremin was difficult to control, but this one is in a different league altogether! The, ahem, brainchild of Apples In Stereo’s Robert Schneider, the Teletron takes a Mattel Mindflex game and uses it as a control voltage source for… well, any piece of musical equipment that has a CV input. In the video below, the musician / producer plugs it into a Moog analog synth and increases / decreases the pitch solely with his mind. At least the thing doesn’t give you an electric shock when you hit the wrong note! But enough jabberjaw out of us — see / hear it in action (and get some instructions, if you’d like to build your own) after the break.

Continue reading Apples In Stereo man controls his Moog… with his mind! (and you can too)

Apples In Stereo man controls his Moog… with his mind! (and you can too) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PS3 jailbreak adapted to Nokia N900, Palm Pre in wake of Australian ban (video)

Two weeks ago you’d have to pay an Australian importer for a specialized USB key. Four days ago open-source software let you roll your own. Today, there’s no need for any of that — you can hack your PS3 with a tethered smartphone. Working closely with the PSGroove team, hacker Kakaroto adapted the same jailbreak to the Nokia N900, and the open-source community lost no time porting it to the Palm Pre as well. If the videos after the break are any indication, both versions work just as well as the original, and you too can get your game on with downloads and detailed instructions at the source links below.

Sadly, the aforementioned Australian importer OzModChips is a casualty of this little story, with all its shipments of the PS Jailbreak dongle seized (and the item subject to injunction) by an Australian court, but we suppose knowing its product has enabled the hardware hacking community thus might somewhat soften the blow.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading PS3 jailbreak adapted to Nokia N900, Palm Pre in wake of Australian ban (video)

PS3 jailbreak adapted to Nokia N900, Palm Pre in wake of Australian ban (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Maemo.org, Exophase, BBC News  |  sourceKaKaRoTo’s Blog, PSX-Scene  | Email this | Comments

iPhone 4 gets stuffed inside Canon SLR body

While it’s far from the most practical of ideas, people just can’t seem to stop trying to make their iPhones more SLR-like. Joining that illustrious group is one Aniebres who, typos aside, has built one of the most impressive contraptions to date. We’re still waiting to see what the end results look like, but the hardware side of things looks to be surprisingly solid, with the iPhone 4 slotting in with a satisfying click, while the entire lens mechanism has been shifted over to line up with the iPhone’s camera (and make room for an Apple sticker). Head on past the break for a quick video of the rig.

[Thanks, John]

Continue reading iPhone 4 gets stuffed inside Canon SLR body

iPhone 4 gets stuffed inside Canon SLR body originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAniebres (Vimeo)  | Email this | Comments

NES controller pressed into service to Android overlord (video)

Perhaps the worst, and least repairable, shortcoming of touchscreens is their failure to act as viable game controllers. Keyboard-equipped smartphones alleviate that pain a little (particularly if you pair them with a Game Gripper), but ultimately we’d all prefer real controllers for our real games. Such was clearly the thinking behind the homebrewed setup here, which combines an HTC EVO 4G — with Android and an NES emulator inside — with an Arduino board, a BlueSMiRF Bluetooth module, and a classic NES control pad. The result might look like a mess of wires, but who cares when you can rock Super Mario 3 the way Nintendo surely intended?

Continue reading NES controller pressed into service to Android overlord (video)

NES controller pressed into service to Android overlord (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hack a Day  |  sourcesketchsk3tch (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments

Ask Engadget: best screwdriver kit for DIY computer work?

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Calvin, who needs a replacement for his recently broken Switztool 6-piece screwdriver kit. If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I’ve always used a Switztool 6-piece screwdriver for my computer work. I love how it retracts all the bits into the screwdriver. But it just bit the dust after a very heavy fall. Just want to know from other fellow readers: what’s the best screwdriver (or kit) out there for DIY computer work and electronics hacking?”

Quite an interesting question, indeed. We’d probably recommend a kit with a 00-sized Philips screwdriver for getting those laptop bolts out from the casing, but desktop-specific ones are certainly allowed. And… go!

Ask Engadget: best screwdriver kit for DIY computer work? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xbox 360 slimster made over in white, just for the hell of it

Missing your oldie Xbox 360’s bright and airy white finish? Well, Microsoft’s still not willing to sell you a slimmified 360 in any color other than black (excepting the limited edition Halo gear), but at least you can gaze upon the singular example of what a white one may look like above. This seemingly repainted Xbox 360 250GB (to give it its official, and ridiculous, name) has been lovingly put together over in China and really makes us wonder why Microsoft is depriving us of such snowy good looks. Perhaps it wanted to draw a clear between the old and the new? Either way, hit the source for the cheapest way to peek an all-white slim 360 without giving the Colorware crew a call.

[Thanks, Anthony]

Xbox 360 slimster made over in white, just for the hell of it originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cyanogen Mod 6 — the one with Froyo — hits target list of devices, first stable release

If 6.0.0 RC1 just wasn’t cutting it for ya, CyanogenMod-6.0 has released what’s being touted as the “first stable release based on Android 2.2” and has hit the target number of supported devices, which by our quick count includes EVO 4G, Slide, Nexus One, Dream / Magic, Aria, and Droid — and we might be missing a few.. You know the drill; if you need a bit of Froyo in your mobile life.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Cyanogen Mod 6 — the one with Froyo — hits target list of devices, first stable release originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceCyanogen  | Email this | Comments

Homemade Fallout 3 plasma rifle makes our post-apocalyptic future seem less bleak

The A3-21 Plasma Rifle is quite the little devastator in Fallout 3 and it doesn’t look half bad in the so-called real world either. Lovingly pieced together by one Ryan Palser, this homebrewed replica (the lower of the two in the image above) took five months to complete and involved the enrollment of his wife’s painting skills for the weathering job. The final result is enough to convince us that Fallout would be well served by a movie adaptation, if only so we can see more of these retro-futuristic rifles get their shot at corporeality. You can scope out one more image showing off the lights inside the rifle after the break, but only if you promise to hit up Ryan’s Flickr account for the full set.

Continue reading Homemade Fallout 3 plasma rifle makes our post-apocalyptic future seem less bleak

Homemade Fallout 3 plasma rifle makes our post-apocalyptic future seem less bleak originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq  |  sourceRyan Palser (Flickr)  | Email this | Comments

Dell Streak procures a hacked-up mini USB adapter, gets friendly with your dusty cables

Even if you can look beyond the SIM lock and the aging Android 1.6 OS on the Dell Streak, there’s still one irksome problem: the lack of a mini or micro-USB port (Dell clearly missed the USB party last summer). Dissatisfied with this state of affairs, John from Linux Slate decided to build an adapter for his tabletphone’s dock connector, which he confirmed to be PDMI instead of a proprietary design. The procedure was simple: John cut up his Streak’s cable plug, soldered a mini USB socket onto the board, and housed the new assembly within the Streak’s cable clip. Voilà! Until third-party USB-to-PDMI cables start to show up in the stores, it’s either this mod or cough up $20 for a spare cable from Dell. See the adapter in action after the break.

Continue reading Dell Streak procures a hacked-up mini USB adapter, gets friendly with your dusty cables

Dell Streak procures a hacked-up mini USB adapter, gets friendly with your dusty cables originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Streak Smart  |  sourceLinux Slate  | Email this | Comments

Iron Man Xbox 360 escapes Stark Industries, heads right to eBay


Halo-inspired Xbox 360? Check. Xbox 360 laptop? Seen it. Xbox 360 fused with a PS3? Yep. A Tony Stark-approved Xbox 360? Thanks to one Zachariah Perry Cruse, we can now add this beaut to the list. This here design student managed to use his summer vacation for a little more than weekend jaunts to Gary, putting an awful lot of blood, sweat and fear into his very own Iron Man Xbox 360. Naturally, it’s the older, less slimmer 360 console, complete with a 120GB hard drive and an HDMI socket. There’s a video of the LEDs doing their thing after the break, and that eBay link will get you where you need to be if you’re a prospective buyer. And let’s be honest here — you are a prospective buyer.

Continue reading Iron Man Xbox 360 escapes Stark Industries, heads right to eBay

Iron Man Xbox 360 escapes Stark Industries, heads right to eBay originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceZachariah Perry Cruse, eBay  | Email this | Comments