Radio Shack ad confirms Xbox 360 price cuts?
in Engadget, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:16:00 GMT
Filed under: Gaming
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Hardware
Plano, TX gripes to FCC after police radio signals disrupt sprinklers
in Engadget, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:41:00 GMT
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
We've seen the boys and girls in blue disturb the peace on occasion, but this is just downright bizarre. It's bruited that the city of Plano, Texas has complained to the FCC about a powerful new police communications system that's being testing in Cedar Hill, DeSoto and Duncanville. The signals have the ability to reach some 30 miles away, and they're driving the radio-controlled sprinklers that Plano uses at parks and road medians absolutely crazy. The whole ordeal has made for some pretty interesting conversation amongst those involved, with one Tim Smith, managing director of the Southwest Regional Communications Center, asserting: "Which comes first: watering plants or protecting police and fire?" If anyone catches grown men fighting about this, do us a favor and send in the video.[Thanks, Travis]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
ZTE's AWS-packin' C79 now on MetroPCS
in Engadget Mobile, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:54:00 GMT
Filed under: Handsets, Others, CDMA
New get a Mac ad: Off the Air
in The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:30:00 GMT
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Apple
Tonight, Apple released a new "Get a Mac" ad. "Off the Air" shows PC, Mac, and a Mac Genius. Mac tries to win people over on the fact that the Geniuses will transfer your files from your old PC to your new Mac. A mad PC then announces that his "frustrated" customers don't need to hear about that and that "fear of switching is the foundation of customer loyalty for PCs." PC proceeds to shut off the commercial by pulling a curtain down.
This commercial isn't as funny, in my opinion, as the last set that came out earlier this week. You can watch all of the Get a Mac ads by visiting the Get a Mac website.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Colorizing technology highlights cancerous tissue
in Engadget, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:23:00 GMT
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
In operating rooms today, cancer surgeons are essentially forced to operate without any definitive way of determining whether or not 100% of the diseased tissue has been removed. Thanks to a radical invention by researchers in Massachusetts, that huge limitation could soon be a thing of the past. A new system, dubbed FLARE (Fluorescence-Assisted Resection and Exploration), involves a near-infrared (NIR) imaging system, a video monitor, and a computer. These tools are used to see special chemical dies (christened NIR fluorophores) that are crafted to "target specific structures such as cancer cells when injected into patients." When these dyes are exposed to NIR light, the cancer cells light up, giving doctors an easy look at what they have left to remove. The team is gearing up to showcase the technology at the American Chemical Society national meeting in Philadelphia -- here's hoping it can be put to good use in the very near future.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Preview of Facebook for iPhone 2.0: More Like Real Facebook [Facebook]
in Gizmodo, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:00:00 GMT
Facebook has posted a huge preview of the next version of its iPhone app. Due in September, Facebook for iPhone 2.0 will look and feel a lot more like the real Facebook. The News Feed will be exactly the same and profiles will use tabs and the combined Wall/Mini-Feed from the site's latest redesign. Perhaps more importantly, the functionality will be much closer.
You'll be able to search for people outside of your friends, make/approve/ignore friend requests, and search your inbox and sent folder, for starters. Notifications will also arrive in real time while the app is running. The version of iPhone for Facebook after this will deliver them to you even if the app isn't running using Apple's push notification service. Overall, it's pretty excellent, check it out. [Facebook]
Japan's Ply Concept a Multilayered Fantasy Phone [Concepts]
in Gizmodo, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:25:32 GMT
This phone, inspired by the multiple layers of wooden sandwich in plywood, is of multiple slider design. Inside, and separated by tabs, are a printer, projector, gamepad and sliding downward, a dialpad. It's as cool as it is impossible to build, and so KDDI labs should feel proud for making an imaginary device with so much character. [KDDI via Cscout]
Guitar Hero DS hack lets you shred on a full-size guitar
in Engadget, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:53:00 GMT
Filed under: Gaming
Like many others, Eric Ruckman found that the DS controller add-on for Guitar Hero: On Tour left a bit to be desired but, unlike most folks, he didn't just go back to playing on his console of choice -- he actually went all out and pieced together a full-size rig out of a PS2 Guitar Hero controller. As you can see above, that includes a special housing for the DS itself (it's still used for strumming), and even a built-in FM transmitter with its own screen, which lets him pump the audio through his home sound system. Still not impressed? Head on past the break to see it in action.
Continue reading Guitar Hero DS hack lets you shred on a full-size guitar
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Silver Motorola Q9h for AT&T, anybody? Anybody?
in Engadget Mobile, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:30:00 GMT
Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, ATT, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS
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Retail Supplies for iPods Dwindling Ahead of September Refresh?
in MacRumors, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:21:59 GMT
AppleInsider claims that iPod retailers are starting to get signals of an impending iPod refresh. Target's iPod inventory has reportedly had a change in status from "Active" to "Discontinued" while UK retailer Argos is prepping to cl...
Comcast's New Network Management Will Slow Down Heavy Users for Up to 20 Minutes [Comcast]
in Gizmodo, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:57:47 GMT
While Comcast's new network management scheme—to slow down heavy bandwidth users' entire connection—started back in June, we're just getting some of the grislier details. People hitting their pipe hard—whether it's watching a boatload of streaming video or FTP or whatever—will see their top speeds cut for 10 to 20 minutes at a time.
Under the setup, Comcast claims it will figure out "in nearly real time'' who's causing congestion and if "in fact a person is generating enough packets that they're the ones creating that situation, we will manage that consumer for the overall good of all of our consumers,'' says Mitch Bowling, Comcast's senior vice president and general manager of online services.
The real time comment is interesting, because Comcast said the same thing about their targeted P2P slowdown technique, calling it "surgical" in its precision, but FCC Chair Kevin Martin said that wasn't true and that their system was "not even capable of knowing when an individual ... segment of the network is congested." So let's hope they've upgraded.
Either way, all indications show that this is likely just a first step toward overall usage caps, which appear to be an inevitability. What that means for the future of the internet is still unclear, but for now, heavy downloaders or people living in crowded houses might wanna look at alternate ISPs (if they're even able to). [Bloomberg via All Things D, Image via Biscuitsmlp]
Intel's UrbanMax concept device demonstrated on video
in Engadget, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:51:00 GMT
Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops, Tablet PCs
Continue reading Intel's UrbanMax concept device demonstrated on video
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Man Commits Suicide and Streams it On Webcam [Death]
in Gizmodo, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:05:08 GMT
A man in Utah shot himself in the chest with a hunting rifle and died while his ex-girlfriend watched over a webcamera. Watching a loved one hurt themselves has to be terrible, but watching over the internet, helpless to stop it, has to be a lot worse. Terrible. [KSL]
UnsTable Is a Perfect Place to Keep High-End Gear, Funerary Urns [Home Decorating]
in Gizmodo, Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT
By surrounding its thin (and hopefully sturdy) steel legs with movable blocks, the somewhat cleverly named UnsTable creates the illusion that it's on the verge of collapsing. The effect of the table depends almost entirely on what you're keeping on it. For example, the UnsTable as a baby changing table = Funny! The UnsTable as your workspace = stressful! The novelty would probably wear off pretty quickly, and the table doesn't have a great deal of mileage as a prank device. I mean, you've got to lure someone to your weird yellow desk, sit them down and have them scatter important, delicate items across its surface, just so you can sort of kick one of the legs to the side and make them think, for just a second, that their stuff would be broken. A more practical use? Putting it in your office to show everyone that you take needless risks on a daily basis, just like a real man. Check out the animation below to see the the unsTable in "normal" and "oh no!" modes. [Core77]
T-Mobile Android HTC Dream Launch Details: Oct. 13, $199 W/ 2-Year Contract Only [Rumor]
in Gizmodo, Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:50:00 GMT
Following up on rumorage that pre-sales for the HTC Dream/G1 would start Sept. 17, TmoWorld says they've got the full skinny on T-Mobile's Android debut party: Supposedly, pre-orders will be online only for eligible post-paid customers—lasting through Oct.3—who will get the phone on Oct. 13, the public launch day. TmoWorld says the subsidized price will be $199 w/ a two-year contract (no one-year option).
Price seems to be the blurriest bit of info, possibly because it isn't totally set yet. For instance, TmoNews, who has a more proven record, says it might be $150 for upgraders. (One scenario: It's $150 for pre-orders, $200 for eligible people with new two-year contracts. But that seems a little overly complicated.) Monthly plans will be $35 w/ unlimited data/messaging or $25 for unlimited data/400 messages. Most of this sounds about right—not too far off the mark, anyway. [TmoWorld]
