Hasta La Gadget!

The clickety-clack of manual typewriters have long been replaced by PC keyboards and even that is now disappearing with touchscreens. But for those nostalgic about old-school manual typewriters, a hack lets you update and make them compatible with PCs.

Jack Zylkin worked for nine months to create the design and schematics for a USB-based typewriter that can replace the keyboard on your PC.

“Typewriters are a lasting marvel of classic engineering and design, which are now a casualty of our disposable whiz-bang techno-culture,” says Zylkin who created this project at Hive 76, a hackerspace in Philadelphia. “I wanted to do something to make these beautiful machines relevant and useful again. I have seen machines that are 100 years old and still functional as the day they were made, why should I let them go to waste?”

Zylkin estimates it can take five to 10 hours to mod a manual typewriter, if users follow his instructions. But it seems pretty easy to do.

“Its a weekend project for when you are snowed in with no TV,” he says.

Zylkin posted the step-by-step guide to creating the USB typewriter on Instructables.com and his post is now featured as part of the site’s ongoing back to school contest.

Others have attempted the USB-typewriter hack before, says Zylkin, but those projects “involved endless jumbles of wires, a disemboweled keyboard circuit and a phalanx of momentary switches.”

The USB-typewriter hack isn’t an expensive project.

“On eBay, you can get a quality machine for anywhere between $30 and $60,” says Zylkin. “Sadly,the people who trade typewriters on ebay only want to saw the keys off and make jewelry out of them! What a waste! ”

So Zylkin suggests asking friends and family to get an old typewriter from the attic. He is offering $50 DIY conversion kits that include the printed circuit boards for the project.

But if all that’s too much work for you, Zylkin has some USB typewriters available on Etsy priced at $350 to $500.

See the short clip showing the USB typewriter at work:

Photo: Jack Zylkin

[via Hack a day]

That weekend leak of Galaxy Tab accessories was apparently not done flowing. The same source is today dishing the dirt on a pair of highly intriguing extra bits for Samsung’s upcoming tablet. Firstly, the Bluetooth pen acts both as a stylus for the Galaxy Tab and a sort of wireless remote control. It’s compatible with other devices, meaning it can be used to control voice calls you receive on your cellphone. The second tidbit is no less thrilling: a USB adapter that promises to turn the Tab’s dock connector into a standard-issue USB port. You don’t need us to explain how handy a trinket that could be for the multimedia maven on the move. It’s worth pointing out, however, that both these accessory leaks show what looks like an earlier hardware prototype of the Galaxy Tab, so we may be looking at slightly dated information. All such uncertainty and questions should be resolved come September 2.

Samsung Galaxy Tab accessories may include Bluetooth stylus and USB adapter originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Technology keeps getting smaller. With a few notable exceptions (speakers, for example), that’s just what it does. We love portability, and as we continue to carry more and more gadgets on our person at all times, it makes sense that we’d like each of them to take up less pocket real estate.

However, we’ve ultimately got to ask ourselves the question: how small is small enough? Or even too small? I wish my phone was a bit smaller (I carry a Droid) and because I’m a music obsessive and need every song ever recorded on me at all times, I’ve got an iPod Classic in a big rubber case–I wouldn’t mind shedding a few inches off of that thing.

But USB flash drives? I’ve got to say, I think I’m pretty okay with the size of USB drives. I can stick one in my pocket and forget about it–in fact, sometimes I think the things can be too small. I go through way more than I care to mention.

If, however, you find yourself overwhelmed by the sheer girth of today’s flash sticks, Moser Baer is here to save the day. The Indian accessories company has introduced what it claims is the “world’s smallest” 8GB flash drive. The drive is 2.3mm thin–which, we have to admit, does sound awfully thin.

The drive weighs 1.3 and features Chip-on-Board technology–that, apparently is what makes it so small. It comes with a lanyard, so you can hook it to your phone, et al–also, it kind of looks like a neon dogtag or a skinny popsicle. Also it’s slim. Did we mention that part yet?

IPADock. Its name may sound more like a place to keep your iRacehorses, but the curiously-capitalized accessory is probably the most useful desktop gadget ever. Plug it into a computer and you can charge and sync a pair of iPads, four iPhones, and various combinations thereof. A universal dock-port can be fitted with the adapter from any iPod, from Nano to Touch, and then things start to get even handier.

Stacked up around the back are slots for SD-cards, MemorySticks, CompactFlash cards and a three-port USB-hub. In short, pretty much anything you might want to dock on your desktop will be served by this surprisingly good-looking and compact device.

The price? $70, although you’ll be ordering it from Japan if you want one.

iPADock product page [Photofast via Cult of Mac’s John Brownlee. Thanks, Pedro!]

See Also:

• The $5 iPad Dock
• HDMI Dock for Sprint EVO 'Coming Soon'
• Warpia Wireless Notebook Dock Cuts Cable Clutter

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.

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