Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, December 17, 2009

ASUS says EeeBots are coming, inevitably running Android OS

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/17/asus-says-eeebots-are-coming-inevitably-running-android-os/

We've seen humanoid bots ranging from the cute to the downright insane with none of them ever coming close to commercial viability, but stick an Eee in front of their name and all bets are off. ASUS, the company that started the seemingly unlikely netbook revolution (sorry, FIC), is about to apply its golden touch to the field of consumer-friendly robotics. Intended to serve as an educational tool for young children to interact with, the EeeBot will be driven by a modified version of the aptly titled Android OS and ASUS is said to be hard at work developing a content and services ecosystem around the hardware. Teased technologies include voice, video and navigation abilities, but we'll have to wait a while before we see any of it since production won't begin for another two years.

ASUS says EeeBots are coming, inevitably running Android OS originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source

Yahoo! News | Email this | Comments

Nook hacked with Web browser, Facebook, and Twitter apps for starters

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/17/nook-hacked-with-web-browser-facebook-and-twitter-for-starters/

And here we go. With the Nook rooted and plenty of Android devs at the ready to exploit the device's free 3G data and semi-useful WiFi connection, it's officially open season on Barnes & Noble's new e-reader. Within the last few hours the Nook has been given a web browser (pictured left) to join the Pandora hack just announced by NookDevs. A trick that adds plenty of functionality to the Nook including the ability to login to public WiFi hotspots and read the news on an RSS aggregator (pictured right with Google Reader). Better yet, the rogue band of devs have already ported AndTweet and the Facebook app from the Android Marketplace. Unfortunately, the Google Maps port failed due to some missing libraries within the Nook's Android implementation. Naturally, none of this has been packaged for the everyman yet, but at this rate we might have off the shelf Nook homebrew before those January Nook orders can be delivered. Hey Barnes & Noble, welcome to the wild west of consumer electronics.

[Thanks, Scott]

Nook hacked with Web browser, Facebook, and Twitter apps for starters originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Android Guys | source

Twitter | Email this | Comments

Blu-ray 3D specifications finalized, your PS3 is ready

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/17/blu-ray-3d-specifications-finalized-your-ps3-is-ready/

In case plans by AMD and a slew of other tech vendors planning to showcase 3D Blu-ray compatible products at CES wasn't a tip-off, the updated specifications are done. The key details? First, that the Blu-ray Disc Association has chosen the Multiview Video Coding (MVC) codec to store 3D, so that even though it is now providing a full 1080p frame for each eye, it will only require about 50% more storage space compared to the 2D version, and all discs will be fully backwards compatible, in 2D, on existing players. Better than backwards compatibility, the PlayStation 3 will be forwards compatible with the new discs -- a new HDTV setup (the spec promises to work with plasmas, LCDs or projectors equally well) with IR emitters and glasses will still be necessary. According to the PR (after the break) we can expect Blu-ray 3D-stickered products in 2010, our only advice is to keep those responsible for the Cowboys Stadium abomination far, far away from it.

Continue reading Blu-ray 3D specifications finalized, your PS3 is ready

Blu-ray 3D specifications finalized, your PS3 is ready originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.!

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Hot Virtual Keyboard for Windows 7 is hot, virtual, multitouch

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/17/hot-virtual-keyboard-for-windows-7-is-hot-virtual-multitouch/

Thought that multitouch support in Windows 7 was only good for putting twice the smudges on your screen in half the time? Here's the app that makes all those blemishes worthwhile. It's the 5.0 release of Hot Virtual Keyboard, which provides the ability to do mindblowing things like hold a shift key while pressing another key to make on-screen letters bigger! Crazy, right? It offers a variety of flavors, including thumb-friendly UMPC models and even a pseudo-ergonomic one, complete with comically oversized spacebar, as apparently those with bad wrists have big thumbs. It's all hugely customizable and could make text entry on that svelte new tablet of yours a little less of a chore -- if you don't mind fronting the $29.95 entry fee.

Hot Virtual Keyboard for Windows 7 is hot, virtual, multitouch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

PRWeb |

Hot Virtual Keyboard | Email this | Comments

EyeTV iPhone app granted 3G streamability, App Store's WiFi-only club hemorrhaging members

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/17/eyetv-iphone-app-granted-3g-streamability-app-stores-wifi-only/

Happy day, iPhoners; your days of living life one hotspot at a time are over. You can now use that data plan for all its worth as more and more apps break through the WiFi-only iron curtain. Last week it was Ustream, the week before Knocking, and now EyeTV has released an updated app able to stream your own personal TV broadcast to your iPhone wherever you are. Assuming, of course, you're not situated within a "coverage gap" -- or a major metropolitan area.

Update: To be clear, this isn't actually a new App Store app, it's a webapp, available at live3g.eyetv.com via Safari and fed by an update to the service's desktop client.

EyeTV iPhone app granted 3G streamability, App Store's WiFi-only club hemorrhaging members originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Gear Diary | source

EyeTV | Email this | Comments