Hasta La Gadget!

Always dreamt of a Apple notebook with built-in WWAN? Looks like today’s your lucky day: a prototype MacBook Pro just surfaced on eBay, replete with a SIM card slot and retractable antenna in tow. Expecting a nonfunctional parts machine off Craigslist, its newfound owner managed to resuscitate the 2007-esque gizmo into booting, but was unfortunately unable to coax any GSM goodness from the thing. According to the seller, regular MacBook Pros from the era contain the same (but unused) solder points for the SIM card as the proto, lending credence to the notion that Cupertino might have seriously considered a 3G variant. Either way, if you’ve got a knack for rare Apple collectibles, or feel the need to ogle and some red-colored innards, hit the source below.

Prototype MacBook Pro with SIM slot surfaces on eBay, unicorns actually exist originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 01:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.

It’s difficult to imagine what life would be like without the ability to see, but “Assistive tech junkie” Karina Pikhart is working to improve at least some aspects of life without sight. Developed while she was a student at MIT, her 6dot labeler prints Braille onto standard DYMO tape using an embossing mechanism. The 6dot was named for the six dots used in the Braille system, and includes a built-in Braille keyboard for people familiar with the writing system, and the option to connect a standard QWERTY keyboard — with characters converted in real-time, allowing the rest of us to print Braille labels as well. This incredibly practical system could literally end up being a life-saver for some blind people, who may not be able to identify pills that include only non-textured markings, for example.

Pikhart has turned to Kickstarter to fund her project, seeking $50,000 in pledges to get the Braille tape rolling. A $1,000 donation lands you one of the first available 6dot labelers, while lesser pledges will be rewarded with a variety of custom Braille souvenirs. Jump past the break to see it in action, or hit up the source link for the full scoop from 6dot.

Continue reading Insert Coin: 6dot Braille labeler (video)

Insert Coin: 6dot Braille labeler (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, let’s set the stage. You’re walking down a semi-busy street in a semi-foreign city. You’re curiously hanging close to the middle of the sidewalk. You bust out your smartphone and figure out that your so-called engagement just got “Complicated.” Your gait has an irregularity. You look up and spot what appears to be a local, eerily perturbed and somewhat flummoxed by your current position. You dodge left. So does he. You dodge right, knowing full well that it’ll only complicate matters when he follows suit. Before long, you’re tiptoeing around a stranger while a full-on traffic jam builds up behind you. You’ve just ruined the universe, and that’s not doing anyone any good. The solution? The University of Electro-Communications’s Vection Field, which hones in on large moving visual cues that “induce a sense of self-movement.” Funny enough, the lenticular lenses pathway here at SIGGRAPH actually worked — we never expected an optical illusion to solve such a monumental issue, but we’ll take it. Vid’s past the break, per usual.

Continue reading Vection Field controls traffic at SIGGRAPH, fictional cities from the future (video)

Vection Field controls traffic at SIGGRAPH, fictional cities from the future (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Telepresence, say hello to your future. Humans, say hello to the next generation of Chancellor Sutler. All jesting aside, there’s no question that Big Brother came to mind when eying Sony Computer Science Laboratories’ Face-to-Avatar concept at SIGGRAPH. For all intents and purposes, it’s a motorized blimp with a front-facing camera, microphone, a built-in projector and a WiFi module. It’s capable of hovering above crowds in order to showcase an image of what’s below, or displaying an image of whatever’s being streamed to its wireless apparatus. The folks we spoke to seemed to think that it was still a few years out from being in a marketable state, but we can think of a few governments who’d probably be down to buy in right now. Kidding. Ominous video (and static male figurehead) await you after the break.

Continue reading Sony’s Face-to-Avatar blimp soars through SIGGRAPH, melts the heart of Big Brother (video)

Sony’s Face-to-Avatar blimp soars through SIGGRAPH, melts the heart of Big Brother (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MoleTop a little too passive for you? Fret not, as a team from The University of Electro-Communications popped by this year’s installment of SIGGRAPH in order to showcase something entirely more vicious. It’s air hockey meets bumper cars, and the InteractiveTop demo was certainly one of the stranger ones we came across here in Vancouver. Put simply, it’s a virtual game of spinning tops, where users use magnet-loaded controllers to shuffle tops across a board and into an opponent’s top. There’s an aural and haptic feedback mechanism to let you know when you’ve struck, and plenty of sensors loaded throughout to keep track of collisions, force and who’s hitting who. Pore over the links below for more technobabble, or just head past the break for an in-action video.

Continue reading InteractiveTop brings tabletop gaming to SIGGRAPH, doubles as Inception token (video)

InteractiveTop brings tabletop gaming to SIGGRAPH, doubles as Inception token (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 08:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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