Hasta La Gadget!

We don’t do a whole lot of reporting on ancient weaponry here, because, well, it’s a little dated — but throw in an Arduino and a servo, and you’ve got our attention. Take, for example, this miniaturized trebuchet. Constructed from a series of click-in-place pieces known as Blocklets, the little launcher is basically a standalone slingshot. With the addition of the aforementioned components, however, it becomes a motorized annoyance for anyone and anything that stands in its way. The folks behind the tiny trebuchet tested its capabilities against a sculpture similarly built from Blocklets, but we prefer the challenge of a moving target. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait to get all medieval with this thing, as Blockets haven’t quite made it out of the funding stage yet.

Blocklets’ Arduino-powered trebuchet could be your cat’s worst nightmare (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 May 2011 08:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yup, it’s here — the moment all (eight) of you have been waiting for. The Apple iPad 2 finally hit the ColorWare config tool, so you can play around with that palette and make something just as hideous as we have here. And, if you feel so inclined, you can even add the thing to your cart, hand over $910 (for the base 16GB WiFi config) and wait “about 4 weeks” for your creation to arrive in the mail. While you’re at it, pick up a pair of limited edition chrome Beats. We’re shocked to see that they’re still in stock, given that modest $1,000 price tag.

Continue reading ColorWare takes the green from your wallet and puts it on your iPad 2 (video)

ColorWare takes the green from your wallet and puts it on your iPad 2 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 May 2011 17:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android users have spoken, and maybe, just maybe, Motorola actually heard — AusDroid claims to have a statement direct from the mobile phone manufacturer promising unlocked bootloaders later this year:

We completely understand the operator requirement for security to the end user, and as well, want to support the developer communities desire to use these products as a development platform. It is our intention to enable the unlockable/relockable bootloader currently found on Motorola XOOM across our portfolio of devices starting in late 2011, where carriers and operators will allow it.

Wonderfully corporate of them to pass the buck to the carriers, no? This quote comes by way of a gentleman who petitioned Moto for just such a thing, mind you, so please take it with a grain of salt, and you’ll be the first to know if we get confirmation from Motorola itself.

Update: AusDroid managed to get in touch with Motorola North Asia, and it sounds like we’re looking at the truth — let’s see if Sanjay Jha agrees when he wakes up tomorrow morning.

Motorola promises unlocked bootloaders for future Android phones? (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Good news for all iOS jailbreakers: turns out the latest 4.3.2 update is still vulnerable to the same untethered hacking method used by redsn0w for 4.3.1, so Dev-Team’s @i0n1c simply had to port his code over to the new kernel to keep the jailbreak alive. As before, the almighty iPad 2 is still not supported here, and ultrasn0w unlockers are reminded to wait for the new PwnageTool release later this week; but the rest of you can go ahead and grab the new tool at the source link.

Update: Eke! Looks like the existing build is causing issues for iPhone owners — hang tight, we’re hearing that a fixed version is on the way!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

redsn0w untethered jailbreak updated for iOS 4.3.2, still no love for iPad 2 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 21:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s plenty of folks that will sell you a so-called “consolized” Neo Geo MVS arcade system, but you won’t find many quite as impressive as this bit of kit from Analogue Interactive. Crafted from 100 percent real walnut, the console boasts a seamless design without any visible screws or nails, all the audio / video outputs you could want (for a Neo Geo, that is), and even some working dust flaps. Of course, it does come at a bit of a premium price — but $649 is actually the exact same price that SNK’s original Neo Geo AES home console sold for back in the day, and it was only made out of plastic. Check out the gallery below for a closer look, and hit up the source link below to get your order in if you like what you see — the first units are expected to ship early next month.

Analogue Interactive crafts a Neo Geo MVS from walnut, yours for $649 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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