Sep 20

Ubuntu prototype uses face recognition to intelligently move UI elements (video)

Posted in: Linux, open source, opensource, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, sensor, Software, Today's Chili, ubuntu, video

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Not that we haven’t seen mock-ups before for systems using webcams to intelligently move user interface elements, but it’s another thing entirely for a company to make a public proclamation that it’s tinkering with implementing something of the sort into a future build of its OS. Over at the Canonical design blog, one Christian Giordano has revealed that the company is in the early stages of creating new ways to interact with Ubuntu, primarily by using proximity and orientation sensors in order to have one’s PC react based on how they’re sitting, where they’re sitting and where their eyes / head are at. For instance — once a user fires up a video and leans back, said video would automatically go into fullscreen mode. Similarly, if a user walked away to grab some coffee and a notification appeared, that notification would be displayed at fullscreen so that he / she could read it from faraway. There’s no mention just yet on when the company plans to actually bring these ideas to end-users, but the video embedded after the break makes us long for “sooner” rather than “later.”

Continue reading Ubuntu prototype uses face recognition to intelligently move UI elements (video)

Ubuntu prototype uses face recognition to intelligently move UI elements (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 07

Willow Garage now selling the PR2 for $400k a pop

Posted in: open source, opensource, Today's Chili

While it was fun while it lasted, it was obvious that Willow Garage couldn’t keep giving away its ultra-high-end development platform PR2 bots forever. After shipping 11 of the bots to research institutes, Willow Garage is now selling the PR2 to all comers — as long as they’ve got 400 grand in their back pocket. We’ve covered the specs before (oodles of CPU power, two highly articulated pincer arms, and high-end vision systems), along with some of PR2’s recent hijinks, and hopefully we see more of that sort of stuff now that the rugged, ready-for-adventure PR2 is on the market. If you can’t scrap together all the cash, Willow Garage will also be offering a discount $280k version to people and institutions that can demonstrate “past performance and leadership” in open source robotics software — a topic obviously near and dear to Willow Garage’s heart with ROS, the OS that powers PR2 and is slowly spreading throughout much of the world of higher-end personal robotics.

As for the high price and its generally opaque business model, Willow Garage compares the current state of its industry to high end workstations in the 70s, back when researchers were spending more money and time figuring out what their computers could do than actually accomplishing anything with them. Willow Garage isn’t planning on making any sort of killing in the business yet — they’d just be happy to have the PR2 project at a self sustaining level — but they’re working toward what they see as the “next radical shift” in productivity, a personal robotics follow-up to the personal computer revolution. This is a future similar to the one Bill Gates was talking up back in 2006, but of course Willow Garage wants its open source ROS platform to be the “Microsoft” this time around. They certainly don’t plan to corner the hardware market in the process, however: the company hopes the quasi-followup to the PR2 will actually be built by multiple companies.

Gallery: Willow Garage PR2 press shots

Willow Garage now selling the PR2 for $400k a pop originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 05

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

Posted in: hack, Hacks, homebrew, jailbreak, mod, mods, nokia, open source, opensource, palm, palm pre, PalmPre, playstation 3, Playstation3, pre, ps3, sony, Today's Chili, 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

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Sep 04

Ubuntu 10.10 ‘Maverick Meerkat’ enters beta ahead of October 10 release

Posted in: Linux, open source, opensource, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, Pre-Release, Today's Chili, ubuntu, video

Ubuntu version 10.10 is about to come out on 10/10/2010 and score a perfect 10 out of 10 with reviewers. Or so the devs hope. The successor to April’s Lucid Lynx has this week shrugged off the alpha label and stridden bravely into the world of beta software. GUI modifications are of course apparent, along with performance tweaks promising even faster boot times, but on the whole it doesn’t look to be as big a leap as there was between the Lynx and Koala versions. The default photo management program is now Shotwell, replacing F-Spot, and there’s an update to the Software Center allowing you to purchase paid-for Linux programs in an App Store-ish sort of way. Nothing’s available to buy yet, but the plan is for that feature to go live with the final launch in October. The most intriguing thing about this Meerkat for us just might be the Unity desktop interface, which is now the default for Ubuntu Netbook Edition. If you’re unafraid of beta-stage bugs (and small furry mammals), you can hit the source link to try it out.

Continue reading Ubuntu 10.10 ‘Maverick Meerkat’ enters beta ahead of October 10 release

Ubuntu 10.10 ‘Maverick Meerkat’ enters beta ahead of October 10 release originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 05:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 01

PS3 homebrew jailbreak released into the wilds

Posted in: hack, homebrew, jailbreak, open source, opensource, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sony, Today's Chili

Poor, poor Sony. First PSJailbreak splayed wide the PS3’s security model, now PSGroove has arrived calling itself the “open source PSjailbreak.” The code must first be downloaded and installed onto a $30ish AT90USBkey or a $25ish Teensy++ USB development board. After that, homebrew enthusiasts can then execute unsigned third-party apps and games on their PS3. At the moment, the ability to boot ISO files (read: pirated or “backup” games) is temporarily disabled. But we’re sure that some of the internet’s more nefarious types will find their way around that. Cat, welcome to the world outside of the bag.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

PS3 homebrew jailbreak released into the wilds originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 23

Open source Qbo bot makes the jump to ROS, the open source robot OS

Posted in: open source, opensource, Today's Chili

While the Willow Garage-initiated ROS is designed to consolidate and accelerate robotics innovation for the long term, it’s still a long ways from powering your robotic butler / life coach / best friend, so it’s exciting to see it put to use in the here and now. The folks at Thecorpora, responsible for the Qbo open source robot project, have been busy converting Qbo’s original Java API into ROS, and just announced they’re at 99.9 percent completion of that task. That means the Qbo gets instant access to some of the fun development going on in ROS, like stacking all its cameras and ultrasonic sensors into a system for machine vision, or controlling the bot with a Wiimote or a PS3 controller. (There’s a video after the break of the Wiimote in action). Don’t think Qbo will be powerful enough for you? Willow Garage just announced that it’s about to put its own ROS-powered PR2 bot on sale soon, after a few months of its (highly successful) PR2 Beta Program.

Continue reading Open source Qbo bot makes the jump to ROS, the open source robot OS

Open source Qbo bot makes the jump to ROS, the open source robot OS originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 13

Google calls Oracle Android lawsuit ‘baseless,’ says Java goes ‘beyond any one corporation’

Posted in: Android, Google, lawsuit, legal, open source, opensource, patent, Today's Chili

Oracle’s decision to sue Google for infringing its patents and copyright on Java in Android has certainly stirred up a hornets’ nest of commentary and analysis on the web today, but it’s only just now that we’ve received Google’s official statement, in which the search giant calls the suit “baseless” and vows to “defend open-source standards.” Them’s fightin’ words — and considering the Dalvik virtual machine at the heart of the Android OS is the centerpiece of this dispute, we wouldn’t expect either side to back down quietly here. Get ready for years of litigation, friends. Here’s Google’s full statement:

We are disappointed Oracle has chosen to attack both Google and the open-source Java community with this baseless lawsuit. The open-source Java community goes beyond any one corporation and works every day to make the web a better place. We will strongly defend open-source standards and will continue to work with the industry to develop the Android platform.

Google calls Oracle Android lawsuit ‘baseless,’ says Java goes ‘beyond any one corporation’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 07

DIYer constructs 4.3-inch Open SciCal graphing calculator, puts your TI-83+ to shame

Posted in: diy, Linux, open source, opensource, Today's Chili

What’s 4.3-inches diagonally, costs $200 to build and has absolutely no reception issues when held as shown in the image above? Why, the Open SciCal! Matt Stack, the genius who pieced this gem together, relied on a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU, 8GB SD card, WiFi module and a spartan web browser in order to concoct what’s likely the most desirable graphing calculator this side of Pluto. The handheld device weighs about 1.6 pounds, runs Linux as well as the statistically inclined R, and is reportedly capable of doing roughly twice as much crunching as Texas Instruments’ Nspire. Skeptical? Considering that this bad boy sucked down stock data from Yahoo! Finance and ran auto-correlation on the numbers in order to near-instantly report current trends, we’re guessing TI (or any other graphing calculator company, really) has no room to argue. Hit the source for more details, and don’t worry — that feeling of insignificance wanes with time.

DIYer constructs 4.3-inch Open SciCal graphing calculator, puts your TI-83+ to shame originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 04

DIY Graphing Calculator Is Built From Open Source Hardware

Posted in: Hacks, Mods and DIY, Linux, open source, Today's Chili

A home-brewed graphing calculator called Open SciCal promises to put a powerful machine built entirely from open-source hardware into the pockets of quant jocks and statisticians.

“This is for the alpha nerds of the geek kingdom,” says Matt Stack, who built Open SciCal. “The calculator used to be the ultimate status symbol among the nerdiest of the nerds and I wanted to bring that back.”

Open SciCal has a 4.3-inch color touchscreen and is just a little bigger than an iPhone. The device uses a BeagleBoard, a low-power, single-board computer that’s based on the same 1-GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor that drives most sophisticated smartphones today. It also has a 8-GB SD card, Wi-Fi capability and can run a web browser.

“It’s about the same weight as my Logitech G9 mouse (which weighs about 1.6 pounds),” says Stack.

A graphing calculator can take data sets and plot graphs in addition to running scientific functions on it. Many graphing calculators allow users to attach sensors to them so they can log data directly into the device. But as data sets increase in size and complexity, they are outgrowing traditional graphing calculators available from companies such as HP and Texas Instruments. Add to that restrictions on the kind of external sensors that can be attached and it makes a device built on open-source components an attractive alternative, says Stack.

Open SciCal can run Linux and R — a programming language used in statistical computing — and will let users program in C or Perl. All this for just $200.

“Texas Instruments has a calculator called Nspire that cost about as much but doesn’t do half that this calculator does,” says Stack.

To test Open SciCal, Stack used existing data to predict sunspots and understand the statistical significance of a recent solar storm.

Another task for the Open SciCal: Pull stock data from sites like Yahoo Finance and run auto-correlation on the data to discern trends in the stock.

“It’s like every hedge fund quant’s dream,” says Stack, “and I have a device in my pocket now that can do that.”

Check out more photos of the Open SciCal:

The SciCal calculator is not much bigger than an iPod.

The SciCal can predict sunspots by using existing data to create graphs.

See Also:

Photos: Matt Stack




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Jul 14

Jolicloud 1.0 demonstrated on Acer Aspire One 533, coming to your netbook soon

Posted in: cloud, Linux, netbook, open source, opensource, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, Software, Today's Chili, video

We’re always skeptical when it comes to underground operating systems whipped up for one specific purpose, but Jolicloud has managed to continually impress us with each passing build. Now, at long last, the netbook-centric OS has arrived at the magical 1.0, and our comrades over at Netbook News have managed to score an early copy. Better still, they’re showcasing it on Acer’s just-released Aspire One 533, and if the bootup speed is any indication, we’d say the two are a match made in heaven. The 1.0 version sure looks grown-up compared to those earlier builds, and while we suspect it would take a bit of getting used to before we really found ourselves comfortable in an app-driven desktop OS, we definitely like the looks of it. Feel free to hop on past the break for a lengthy video demonstration of the refaced system, and if you’re currently using an earlier version, the company has informed the world that upgrades will start slipping out as early as this week.

Continue reading Jolicloud 1.0 demonstrated on Acer Aspire One 533, coming to your netbook soon

Jolicloud 1.0 demonstrated on Acer Aspire One 533, coming to your netbook soon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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