Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Eneloop Stick Booster supplies emergency power to your portable devices

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/12/eneloop-stick-booster-supplies-emergency-power-to-your-portable/

Any time a company both enables our gadget addiction and discourages wanton battery consumption we have to consider it a good thing -- and, indeed, Sanyo's wicked-rechargeable Eneloop batteries already have quite a few fans here at Engadget HQ. But what's a busy gadget hound to do on the go, you ask? Try this one on for size: the Eneloop Stick Booster ships with two AAs and can be used to charge them, via any USB source. From that point the device can be used to power your PMP for roughly 90 minutes. How great is that? To be released in Japan on December 1 for an unspecified price, and worldwide whenever the company sees fit. PR after the break.

Gallery: Eneloop Stick Booster

[Via Akihabara]

Continue reading Eneloop Stick Booster supplies emergency power to your portable devices

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Eneloop Stick Booster supplies emergency power to your portable devices originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wistron: Readius-like ereader with pull-out flexible display launching in 2010

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/12/wistron-readius-like-ereader-with-pull-out-flexible-display-lau/

We've had a soft spot for Polymer Vision in the fetid hollows of that place you call a heart ever since we pressed flesh to its Readius back in February 2008. Unfortunately, we had to let go of any hope for the bendy e-reader to ever hit the market after delays turned into bankruptcy turned into cries of noooo! the world over. Now coddled in the corporate arms of Wistron we hear from Brian Chong, head of Wistron's product planning, that a 5-to-6 inch device with a pull-out flexible e-paper display of similar design to the Readius will launch in 2010. By similar design we hope they've included Bluetooth, dual-band HSDPA, tri-band GSM / EDGE, microSD expansion and SMS capabilities of the original.

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Wistron: Readius-like ereader with pull-out flexible display launching in 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

New Manhattan Apple Store in Full View [Apple]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/y2-f65MWxrk/new-manhattan-apple-store-in-full-view

Workers removed the tarps this morning, as opening day draws closer. Pic courtesy of reader, David, who quips: "It's taken something like 14 months to create this place out of a Victoria's Secret. The Empire State building went up quicker."

Netbook Hackintosh 10.6.2 Fix Coming In "A Few Weeks," Fallen Netbooks Can Be Revived Now [Hackintosh]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/AJY59JtsNNA/netbook-hackintosh-1062-fix-coming-in-a-few-weeks-fallen-netbooks-can-be-revived-now

When Apple killed Atom processor support in the Snow Leopard 10.6.2 update, it was one of the first times they'd actively tried to stop hobbyist hackintoshing. It was also sort of a dick move! Luckily, it's not going to stick.

The (main) man behind the NetbookInstaller software, which takes care of enough of the under-the-hood tweaks to make netbook hackintoshing approachable, heard the plaintive cries of his flock, and handed down a decree from on high:

The kernel will be fixed. It'll just take a few weeks.

This certainty, combined with the flip-flopping Atom compatibility in earlier 10.6.2 builds, points to the breakage as an intentional choice, not just some incidental bug. Update: Actually, there's an interesting case to be made the 10.6.2 killed Atom in all builds of the update. Interesting. —Thanks, Eduardo!

Even better, for anyone who dove straight into the 10.6.2 update only to find themselves very suddenly without a working netbook, there's a quick fix: Downgrade your kernel! ! Using th e same instruction set you can do a partial (excluding the kernel) upgrade to 10.6.2, but you're probably just best off waiting until everything is patched up right and proper. [Meklort, MyDellMini]

Wolfram Alpha Ends Up Where It Belongs: Inside Another Search Engine [Wolfram Alpha]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/YuS06HJNK-Y/wolfram-alpha-ends-up-where-it-belongs-inside-another-search-engine

Results from Wolfram Alpha—the mathematically-inclined search engine that everybody hyperventilated about a few months ago then promptly and completely ignored—will soon be rolled into Bing searches. This is fantastic news! (If you use Bing! [Which you actually might!])

Wolfram Alpha will still live on as a standalone site, since Microsoft is just licensing their search API for Bing. And to be fair, this is what most people—including us—envisioned for Wolfram Alpha from the start:

I'm aware of the theoretical differences between the two, and I'm sure Wolfram Alpha's creators' blood would boil at the thought, but the engine's most natural home might be as a direct complement to Google, as a tab on their homepage or as a replacement for their modest current nonsearch functions.

Well, uh, almost. Maybe this'll be a good time to give Bing another shot? [CNET]

The Magic of Choose Your Own Adventure Books, Beautifully Visualized [Visualizations]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/E5uc2sSyScM/the-magic-of-choose-your-own-adventure-books-beautifully-visualized

There are two ways to look at the legendary Choose Your Own Adventure books. As reading experiences and childhood memories, they're vital. But as data sets for visualizations, they're weirdly spectacular. Observe!

Designer Christian Swinehart has parsed piles upon piles of Choose Your Own Adventure titles, and rendered them as a series of visualizations, from charts documenting how frequent "catastrophic" endings occur as opposed to "favorable" ones to animated representations of every single permutation of a given book to a full-on digital copy of Zork, which tracks your every move on a visual graph.

Continue browsing the main site, because you have no sense of whimsy/had a horrifying childhood that you'd rather not be reminded of? Click here.

See your favorite childhood books, exploded into animated data sets? Click here. [via MetaFilter]

Apple App Store Approval Process Becomes Slightly Less Inscrutable [IPhone Apps]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/SggB6JxN2HI/apple-app-store-approval-process-becomes-slightly-less-inscrutable

The shroud falls a bit further: Apple's now letting developers see where their apps are in the mysterious approval process! It's not much, but it is progress. Maybe one day we'll learn about the shadowy figures doing the approving. [Wired]

Bigshot camera kit could help turn your kid on to the dark world of the teardown

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/11/bigshot-camera-kit-could-help-turn-your-kid-on-to-the-dark-world/

Pardon us while we freely admit that we have literally no idea what's going on inside a camera -- whether it's digital or those quaint film-based ones you hear about from your grandma. Luckily, our own kids might not have to suffer as we have: a group at the Computer Vision Laboratory at Columbia University have designed and built a prototype digital camera that should demystify the devices. The Big Shot digital camera kit, if / when it hits the market, will be a box of all the necessary parts for kids to be able to build their own simple, candy-colored digital camera. While the Big Shot is still in prototype testing phase, we really hope this gadget (and more like it) makes it to the market sometime soon.

[Via Make]

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Bigshot camera kit could help turn your kid on to the dark world of the teardown originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung SyncMaster P2770HD has built-in TV tuner, sex appeal

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/11/samsung-syncmaster-p2770hd-has-built-in-tv-tuner-sex-appeal/

Remember the Samsung P2370HD monitor? Well, this is it at 27 inches. How's that for concision? Oh, you want more -- well, Samsung must've expected you to, because it's also added a TV tuner and a HDMI input to its latest Full HD display, to go along with a 5ms response time and a 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. There's also a pair of 3 watt stereo speakers that can simulate 5.1 channel sound -- good for emergencies or if you just can't stand speakers cluttering up your desktop. Filling out the goodie bag are Picture In Picture and Picture By Picture modes, which should make good use of the extra real estate on the screen by combining, for example, your desktop with a TV source. The price is set at 549,000 Won (or about $473) for Korea, though global availability looks imminent so don't rush to import it just yet.

Read - Samsung Korea press release
Read - Product page

Filed under: Displays

Samsung SyncMaster P2770HD has built-in TV tuner, sex appeal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Project Natal launching in November 2010, priced for 'impulse buy'?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/11/project-natal-launching-in-november-2010-priced-for-impulse-bu/

A supposed leak from closed-door Microsoft meetings in the UK has made its way to MCV, who has all sorts of new details on Project Natal's launch next year. Rumor is that the device will be released worldwide in November 2010 (we've heard "late next year" before), with 5 million camera units ready for day one, included in solo and console-bundled SKUs. Word varies on the price, with some saying "under £50" (about $84 USD), while others say as low as £30, about $50 USD. Apparently Microsoft is aiming for "impulse buy" territory, and it makes sense to subsidize the unit and make that money back in games sales, like a regular console launch (which Microsoft sort of sees it as, in many ways). There are supposed to be 14 games readied for launch, but no specifics on which developers that've signed up for Natal work will be among those on launch day. It all sounds about right, though we of course won't know for sure until Microsoft goes into tell-all mode, which we expect will be a decent ways down the road if they can't even confirm a silly WiFi adapter for the holidays without months of hand-wringing.

[Via Gizmodo]

Filed under: Gaming

Project Natal launching in November 2010, priced for 'impulse buy'? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Concept Enterprises reveals first Mobile DTV car tuner

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/11/concept-enterprises-reveals-first-mobile-dtv-car-tuner/

The Advanced Television System Committee just approved the Mobile DTV standard last month, and already Concept Enterprises is dishing out what looks to be the planet's first in-car tuner to support that very format. 'Course, only time will tell if this thing will actually be loved in the market; we've already seen AT&T halt its CruiseCast installations after only a few months of being ignored. At any rate, the minuscule box is engineered to work with any after-market / OEM monitor with conventional RCA outputs, and it only requires a 1-inch roof-mount antenna base along with a 6-inch antenna wire. There's no word on when the $499 box is expected to hit the market, but until your DMA becomes one of the markets where testing is going on, you're probably better off just not thinking about it.

Concept Enterprises reveals first Mobile DTV car tuner originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imation Pro WX Wireless USB hard drive reviewed

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/11/imation-pro-wx-wireless-usb-hard-drive-reviewed/

Imation was set to announce its first-ever Wireless USB hard drive a year ago, but it lost a dear friend shortly before it materialized and we'd heard nothing since then. Today Imation has returned -- holding hands with its new partner, Staccato -- to release the Pro WX 1.5 terabyte Wireless USB hard drive for both Windows and Mac. At $449.99, though, we thought to ourselves: does the Pro WX offer something extraordinary for the premium price? Or are you better off with a NAS device like Apple's infamous Time Capsule? We ran some quick tests to find out -- do read on for some juicy results.

Gallery: Imation Pro WX Wireless USB hard drive reviewed

Continue reading Imation Pro WX Wireless USB hard drive reviewed

Filed under: Storage

Imation Pro WX Wireless USB hard drive reviewed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS UL80Vt review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/11/asus-ul80vt-review/

With the release of Windows 7 has come a serious onslaught on new laptops. Great news for us, since we love choices -- but we don't really get a chance to take them all for a spin. ASUS's UL80Vt caught our eye for a few reasons. The company's increasingly attractive designs coupled with a really eye-catching price made it likely that this laptop (which is caught somewhere between a full-sizer and a netbook) could be on a lot of people's radars this holiday season. The 14-inch, CULV laptop boasts an Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 CPU and, interestingly, switchable graphics. So, we decided to give this bad boy a try for ourselves -- so read on for our full impressions.

Gallery: ASUS UL80Vt hands-on

Continue reading ASUS UL80Vt review

Filed under: Laptops

ASUS UL80Vt review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BoEye MID700 unveiled with Android OS, vaguely familiar form factor

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/11/boeye-mid700-unveiled-with-android-os-vaguely-familiar-form-fac/

BoEye -- a company we've seen from time to time in the eBook reader space -- has been recently spotted at Dubai's GITEX with its own take on the Android MID. Aside from some obvious (and, quite frankly, tedious) comparisons to the mythical Apple Tablet, we don't have too much to report: some excessively iPhone-esque features, including silver bevel, capacitive glass touchschreen, and that familiar solitary button on the bottom of the screen; a front-facing webcam; and, of course, that open source OS you crave. If you ask us, our favorite part of the affair is the rumored sub-$300 price tag -- makes this one well worth keeping an eye on, at any rate. One more pic after the break.

[Via Red Ferret]

Continue reading BoEye MID700 unveiled with Android OS, vaguely familiar form factor

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

BoEye MID700 unveiled with Android OS, vaguely familiar form factor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, Google: failing to spellcheck Android 2.0 can have 'undesireable consequences'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/hey-google-failing-to-spellcheck-android-2-0-can-have-undesir/

Add this into the December patch, won't you, Google?

[Thanks, Yosef]

Filed under: Cellphones

Hey, Google: failing to spellcheck Android 2.0 can have 'undesireable consequences' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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