Chrome OS for Dell Mini 10v: It's Easy [Chrome Os]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/rFDKpTIXmOc/chrome-os-for-dell-mini-10v-its-easy

A happy Black Friday present from Dell: They've compiled a version of Chrome OS that works on the Mini 10v—our favorite Hackintosh netbook—with no voodoo required on your part, just an 8GB flash drive.

Wi-Fi is a little wonky, but otherwise, it should be totally fine. Just plug the flash drive with the image into the 10v, and you should be able to boot right into Chrome OS. The usual pre-beta caveats of stuff breaking, etc., apply, of course. [Direct Download, Dell via Liliputing via Download Squad]

Rainbow Trapped for First Time, Using Convex Lens and Glass [Optical Computing]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ogbhXt62BXw/rainbow-trapped-for-first-time-using-convex-lens-and-glass

Baltimore citizens aren't just dealing drugs and installing wiretaps, some of them are busy using convex lenses to trap rainbows, which could be put to good use with optical computing—making hardware faster! Stronger! More powerful!

And pretty on the inside.

University professors coated one side of a 4.5 millimetre diameter lens with a 30 nanometre thick coat of gold film, which they then put on a sheet of glass also splashed with a helping of gold. After shining a laser beam at the space between the curved lens and the glass, a rainbow appeared trapped between the elements when looked down on with a microscope. No pot of gold appeared, but a little dancing McNulty, dressed in a leprechaun costume, could be seen under the rainbow. [Arxiv via New Scientist]

Image credit Carla216

NOVA Concept DSLR, For the Gamer/Photographer [Design]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/YpJNXV7rXn4/nova-concept-dslr-for-the-gamerphotographer

I'm not much of a photographer, but I do love me some video games. Maybe this game controller-esque DSLR concept would help bridge the gap between the two worlds.

Designer Erin Fong came up with this crazy "NOVA DSLR" design, and truth be told I like it. The folding handle idea seems especially useful for one-handed shots. Looks like it would work better than balancing the camera's weight off-center like with traditional DSLRs.

But again, I'm no photographer. I'll leave it to you shutter junkies out there to cry foul. [Erin Fong via Gizmo Watch via Geeky Gadgets]

Get Even More Cashback From Bing [Dealzmodo]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JU0sgJVuoFE/get-even-more-cashback-from-bing

Miss out on any Black Friday deals? Roll your own with Bing. The basically-free-money service has upped cashback rates until December 2. Check out the participating gadget sites below, and keep 'em in mind for Cyber Monday:

Highlights:
AT&T — 35% cashback (iPhone excluded, unfortunately)
T-Mobile — 35% cashback
Dell — 20% cashback
HP — 20% cashback
Lenovo — 20% cashback
Walmart — 15% cashback
Overstock — 15% cashback

The Rest:
Sears — 8-13% cashback
Circuit City — 8-12.2% cashback
Tiger Direct — 8—12.2% cashback
eBay — 8-10% cashback
Best Buy — 5-10& cashback
Buy.com — 5% cashback

Keep in mind it takes up to 60 days until your money is available, but hey, free money later is better than no free money at all. [Bing via Cheap Ass Gamer]

Acer to unveil 8 to 10 phones next year, show more love to Android

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/27/acer-to-unveil-8-to-10-phones-next-year-show-more-love-to-andro/

Acer's far from being a major player in the smartphone space, but to call it irrelevant would be grossly inaccurate. Up until now, however, the outfit has relied largely on Microsoft's mobile OS to power its phones, though even it seems shocked by the warm reception the Android-powered Liquid has received. According to the company's own Aymar de Lencquesaing, Acer recognizes that "there is definitely momentum behind Android," and he continued by stating that "the pace is faster than most would have anticipated one year ago." He went on to proclaim that the company was apt to pump out 8 to 10 phones in 2010, with next year's lineup being "much more balanced" in terms of the amount of Windows Mobile vs. Android handsets. Look out, world -- Google just might take over another huge portion of your life while you're fixated on the next great Black Friday deal.

Acer to unveil 8 to 10 phones next year, show more love to Android originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nissan's Scratch Shield paint coming to cellphones, invisibleSHIELD feels threatened

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/28/nissans-scratch-shield-paint-coming-to-cellphones-invisibleshi/

Remember Nissan's Scratch Shield paint technology? You know, that stuff we first heard about some four years back? According to a release straight out of Yokohama, the automaker has agreed to license that very tech to Japan's own NTT DoCoMo for "mobile phone application." In theory, at least, the flexible clearcoat will enable certain light scratches to actually heal themselves over time, and the paint itself is tougher to scratch to begin with. There's no specific mention of the who's and when's involved, but we're hoping to see this idea spread to other portable devices in the near future. After all -- who isn't sick of shelling out for some clear skin to protect each and every handheld they own?

Nissan's Scratch Shield paint coming to cellphones, invisibleSHIELD feels threatened originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spin polarization achieved at room temperature, elusive miracles now less elusive

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/28/spin-polarization-achieve-at-room-temperature-elusive-miracles/

Spintronics -- much like Cook-Out milkshakes and cotton candy for all -- seems like a pipe dream at this point. We've been beaten over the head with theoretical miracles, but we're getting to the point where it's put up or shut up. Thankfully, a team of Dutch boffins are clearly in the same camp, and they've been toiling around the clock in order to achieve spin polarization in non-magnetic semiconductors at ambient temperature. The amazing part here is that "temperature" bit; up until this discovery, spin polarization was only possible at levels of around 150 K, or at temperatures far, far cooler than even your unheated basement. If spintronics could effectively be enacted at room temperature, all those unicorn-approved phenomena we mentioned earlier would have a much greater chance of sliding into the realm of reality. Here's hoping they get this stuff ironed out prior to 2012.

Spin polarization achieved at room temperature, elusive miracles now less elusive originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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QiGi's Smartbook is more like a WinMo 6.5-powered MID

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/28/qigis-smartbook-is-more-like-a-winmo-6-5-powered-mid/

We're going on the assumption here that the lads and ladies over at QiGi haven't actually heard that "smartbooks" have a vaguely defined look and feel, as the outfit's latest handheld definitely looks nothing like the smartbooks that we've seen emerge over the past few months. In fact, the Windows Mobile 6.5-equipped device looks more like a MID than anything else, boasting a 5-inch 800 x 480 display, only a few face-mounted buttons and 1GB of memory. Hit the read link if you're interested in a poorly translated review, and good luck finding one of these in the open market (at least with an English-language operating system).

QiGi's Smartbook is more like a WinMo 6.5-powered MID originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos releases developer edition firmware for Internet Tablets

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/28/archos-releases-developer-edition-firmware-for-internet-tablets/

According to a press release dated this morning, Archos is making proof-of-concept "developer edition" firmware available for its ARCHOS 5 and ARCHOS 7 Internet Media Tablets. Based on the Angstrom Linux distribution, this is by no means a commercial distro (no multimedia software) but since you're taking it upon yourself to code the next great multimedia / social networking / productivity / time travel app anyways, you don't really want to be bogged down by such pedestrian fare. According to the PR, the company "eagerly anticipates seeing its hardware platform used as a foundation for creating exciting new usage models and applications that the developer community brings." And so do we! Read all about it after the break.

Continue reading Archos releases developer edition firmware for Internet Tablets

Archos releases developer edition firmware for Internet Tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nova DSLR concept reminds us that cameras need not be boring

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/28/nova-dslr-concept-reminds-us-that-cameras-need-not-be-boring/

Despite the distant memory that is film for most people, most DSLRs have plenty in common with their film-based ancestors, at least when it comes to form factor. Not this Nova DSLR concept. Conceived by Erin Fong, the idea is to allow for all sorts of hand holds thanks to the dual movable arms, and the controls at the fingertips seems surprisingly convenient. We're sure there are all sorts of technical limitations holding something like this back, but after suffering severe kitted-out DSLR fatigue on multiple occasions, we could really get into something that makes a bit better use of how we regularly hold our non-imaging devices. Now if someone would just clean that lens already!

Continue reading Nova DSLR concept reminds us that cameras need not be boring

Nova DSLR concept reminds us that cameras need not be boring originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chrome OS hacked for Dell's Mini 10v, WiFi and all

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/27/chrome-os-hacked-for-dells-mini-10v-wifi-and-all/

If you've got a Dell Mini 10v and you've been hankering to take Chrome OS for a spin in its proper environment -- a netbook, that is -- today just got a lot more interesting. One helpful tinkerer over at Dell has hacked up a USB-bootable version of the as-yet unfinished (and still quite rough) Chromium iteration of Google's OS with a working WiFi component. As you'll recall, in our tests wireless wasn't happening, but that's all changed now... for 10v owners at the very least. It looks like there are still some kinks to be worked out, and you'll be cruising into the OS on a Dell Gmail account, but at least you'll be able to walk around your house while screaming "I'm using Chrome OS!" unburdened by pesky wires or meddlesome sanity. Check out all the info at the source, and prepare for a crazy Friday night of netbooking.

Chrome OS hacked for Dell's Mini 10v, WiFi and all originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA Tegra tablet prototype hands-on

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/27/nvidia-tegra-tablet-prototype-hands-on/

Hey, remember that mystery tablet NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang was pimping a mere couple of weeks ago? Well, it's made its way to London, and woe betide the Engadget editor who didn't get a hands-on with such an exclusive piece of hardware. So what we're looking at here is a Windows CE-powered, resistive touchscreen display spanning somewhere around 15 or 16 inches, with the same Tegra internals as may be found in the Zune HD or one of them smartbook devices. As we reported earlier, the company behind the machine is ICD, and this particular unit was built to try and entice T-Mobile into placing a few orders.

Being a prototype, the device on hand was quite literally rough around the edges, but what we saw was appetite-whetting. The overall construction is under an inch thin, 720p video playback was excellent, and there's even a terrific-looking wireless recharge station cum base accessory -- think of Palm's Touchstone, only enlarged and magnetized to the point where it can support the whole tablet in an upright position. If somebody marries all that hardware potential with the Stantum multitouch firmware and a more finger-friendly OS, this thing just might make the whole Apple tablet brouhaha utterly irrelevant. Video after the break.

Gallery: NVIDIA Tegra tablet prototype hands-on

Continue reading NVIDIA Tegra tablet prototype hands-on

NVIDIA Tegra tablet prototype hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to Disable the New Google Search [Google]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/lUSPCmXo0cg/how-to-disable-the-new-google-search

Oh you people are never happy. I give you a way to try the new Google Search yesterday, and now you are asking about how to go back to the old one. Fine! Be that way! Here's how:

Yesterday's method only set a cookie in your browser, asking Google to serve a different page layout to you. However, this will affect other Google pages in the wrong way. Googlepedia, for example, renders a very narrow search results page.

To go back, go to your browser preferences and look for the Cookies section—this is generally under Privacy or Security. Now you have three options.

• The brute way: Delete all the cookies.
• The less-brute way: Search for your Google cookies, and delete them all.
• The picky way: Search for your Google cookies and look for this

javascript:void(document.cookie="PREF=ID=20b6e4c2f44943bb:U=4bf292d46faad806:TM=1249677602:LM=1257919388:S=odm0Ys-53ZueXfZG;path=/; domain=.google.com");

and delete it.

Once you are done, go back to Google Search and enjoy the old. [How to Try the New Google Search]

You Don't Need a TiVo Anymore [Rant]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/z-GqzW6GWzI/you-dont-need-a-tivo-anymore

This chart of TiVo's slipping subscriber numbers may be surprising, seeing as TiVo is the television recording device (and it's so good), but it's something we've seen coming for a while. We love you TiVo, but you're fast becoming obsolete.

The typical TiVo user is a person who just wants their TV recordings to work, regardless of the monthly fee. They may or may not be tech savvy, but chances are TiVo was their first DVR—since we've found, anecdotally, people gravitate back to the first DVR interface they use. So why is their marketshare down to 2004 levels? The answer is simple: cheap DVRs from providers are eating TiVo from the low end, and everyone else can now use Windows 7 and a tuner to act as a DVR just fine.

Cheap DVRs from Comcast, or Time Warner or your satellite provider have gotten good—or rather, less shitty—enough to make them actually viable options for home recording. Even I couldn't turn down only paying an extra $5 per month to have a recorder that works well enough to watch stuff with, even if you don't have show recommendations, and fast forwarding barely functions well enough to stop where you want. But it's $5. $5. Five. Dollars. And that's without having to pay upfront for the box. You can rent three of these for the price of one TiVo subscription.

As for the big reason why you don't need a TiVo anymore, in the future, you can thank Microsoft and Windows 7. Just take a look at that Windows 7 PC you have. Yeah, the one in your office. That can be your DVR. CableLabs finally took off their ridiculous OEM restriction on who can install CableCARD tuners—the device that actually takes a digital cable signal and turns it into something your computer can understand and record—so you can go and get one of these yourself for about $200. So for $200, with no future fees except for your normal cable bill, you can have yourself a home DVR that's arguably as good as TiVo. And, much easier to expand and augment, both storage and functionality-wise, than a set top box.

And if you don't want a computer in your living room (you need that thing in your office anyway), all you have to do is get an Xbox 360 and extend it. Multiple Xboxes mean streaming to multiple rooms, something that's not even possible on a TiVo.

Of course there's going to be a core group of TiVo users who really enjoy TiVo functionality, really appreciate their interface and can't imagine using something else. But is that enough to sustain a business when so many other options are cheaper and just as good? The numbers say no.

DroboPro RAID array causes reviewer to fall madly in love (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/25/drobopro-raid-array-causes-reviewer-to-fall-madly-in-love-video/

Data Robotics' RAID solutions have always been a cut above the rest -- and a little more expensive, and better looking, for that matter. As one clearly ecstatic reviewer at PC Perspective will attest, the DroboPro even does you one better, sporting eight bays of storage, extremely effective cooling, and support for FireWire, USB and Gigabit Ethernet connections. Of course, no product is perfect -- and here the lack of eSATA and nearly $1,500 price tag leave something to be desired. Your inner gadget hound (sadist) will surely delight in the insane amount of torture testing this device endured for this appraisal, and you'll be pleased to know that the array came out on top. Hit the read link to get started -- but not before you check out the video after the break.

Continue reading DroboPro RAID array causes reviewer to fall madly in love (video)

DroboPro RAID array causes reviewer to fall madly in love (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Inbrics announces Android MID, promises 'inspirational moments' (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/25/inbrics-announces-android-mid-promises-inspirational-moments/

Inbrics, a company known in Seoul for its VoIP solutions, looks set to rock your world with an Android MID early next year at CES. All we have for you at present are the barest of specs, machine translated Korean PR that declares "a full convergence of the future," and one of those vague, uplifting videos that demonstrates the myriad of ways that its one platform can dramatically change your life -- without ever really telling you what it does. The device itself is a QWERTY landscape slider that features an AMOLED touchscreen, GPS, compass, WiFi, and an ARM Cortex A8 800MHz processor. Experience the inspirational moment after the break.

Continue reading Inbrics announces Android MID, promises 'inspirational moments' (video)

Inbrics announces Android MID, promises 'inspirational moments' (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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