Ah yes, the future! It’s nice when it arrives on your front doorstep… or on your iPod. It’s even nicer when you ask for something and then you get it: a few months back, we drooled over Dentsu London’s light extrusion tech demo and humbly demanded its App Store release. Now, app in hand, we’re busy running around our houses trying to become some sort of half-baked Jenny Holzer. It’s called Penki, and it takes your text / symbol input and turns it into 3D-flavored imagery via long-exposure photography. Sounds bodacious, right? But, as we all know, the future isn’t perfect — read on for the full account of our shiny journey into the third dimension. Gallery: Penki light painting for iOS Continue reading App Review: Penki light painting for iOS App Review: Penki light painting for iOS originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …PeeWee PC netbook moves to 2.0, rated to take the worst your tot can deliver
December 2, 2010 No Comment
Little fingers can dish out big pain for gadgets, and unless your little one is beefy enough to lug around a Toughbook you’ll be wanting something small and durable for them. Enter the $449 PeeWee Power 2.0, the latest revision to the company’s series of kid-friendly computers. This netbook is said to survive drops with aplomb, but only has a “water resistant” keyboard, so don’t toss those sippy cups just yet. It also comes loaded with security software to hopefully keep your kids from finding the worst the ‘net has to offer, but with only a 1.6GHz N270 Atom processor on tap, 1GB of RAM, and a mere 30GB of HDD storage, we’re guessing it could also be a good tool to teach them all about patience. Gallery: PeeWee Power 2.0 Continue reading PeeWee PC netbook moves to 2.0, rated to take the worst your tot can deliver PeeWee PC netbook moves to 2.0, rated to take the worst your tot can deliver originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 14:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …NASA discovers arsenic-born organisms, search for life gets broader parameters
December 2, 2010 No Comment
If you were hoping NASA was going to announce the very first tweet from an extraterrestrial being, sorry to break your heart — it is astrobiological , but the findings are actually borne of this rock. Researchers in Mono Lake, California have discovered a microorganism (pictured) that uses aresnic instead of phosphorous to thrive and reproduce. The latter, as far as human life is concerned, is a buildng block of life along with carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur, integral to DNA and RNA. Arsenic, meanwhile, is generally considered toxic to life as we know it. In other words, NASA’s proven that life outside of Earth can be made with components different than our own. That sound you hear is a thousand light bulbs popping up as science fiction writers everywhere conjure up brand new super villains. The press conference is still going on, we’re listening in and will let ya know what else we hear. NASA discovers arsenic-born organisms, search for life gets broader parameters originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 14:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Over the counter, spray-on stem cell treatment could heal burns on the go
December 2, 2010 No Comment
Research at the University of Utah could lead to burn treatment on the go that makes use of your body’s own cells. Surgeons Amit Patel and Amalia Cochran are researching the use of stem cells in conjunction with several chemicals as a spray-on jelly which has, in early testing, shown to accelerate the healing process of burns. While the team is starting with small burns, its goal is to be able to provide fast and effective, actual regeneration of a patient’s own cells to be grafted onto large area burns. Video of the project is after the break. Continue reading Over the counter, spray-on stem cell treatment could heal burns on the go Over the counter, spray-on stem cell treatment could heal burns on the go originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 13:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …GameString demos its streaming, custom World of Warcraft UI by raiding on an HTC Desire (video)
December 2, 2010 No Comment
We’re still not ready to apply the label “Gaming 3.0″ here (or to anything, for that matter), but despite its boasts, GameString’s making a compelling case for cloud-based play time. We’ve already seen the company bring World of Warcraft to Google TV , but now the company’s showcasing its take on a challenge we’ve seen a few times before — streaming a playable version of WoW to a mobile phone. (Gotta get ‘em out of the house somehow.) The trick here is a streamlined UI overlay that makes for a every touch-friendly experience; there’s translucent “thumbstick” spots and larger buttons for spells. The setup in question here is its Adrenalin Host Server from approximately 80 kilometers away (geographically) and an HTC Desire running over a home network that’s 2Mbps down / 2Mbps up. And while there’s some notable lag and parts of the interface that’s still too tiny to really use, it’s still an Alpha build that seems functional for all but the most intense of moments. See it for yourself after the break. Continue reading GameString demos its streaming, custom World of Warcraft UI by raiding on an HTC Desire (video) GameString demos its streaming, custom World of Warcraft UI by raiding on an HTC Desire (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 13:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Rambus files ITC complaint against just about everyone, wants to stop sale of just about everything
December 2, 2010 No Comment
Rambus , which modestly describes itself as “one of the world’s premier technology licensing companies,” has meekly asked the International Trade Commission to block import and sale of an amazing array of products from companies including Broadcom , Freescale , LSI , MediaTek , NVIDIA , and STMicroelectronics — the latter of which was sued by Caltech only yesterday. But wait, there’s more! Rambus also indicates that other “companies whose products incorporate the accused semiconductor products” have also been named, selling things like “personal computers, workstations, servers, routers, mobile phones and other handheld devices, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, motherboards, plug-in cards, hard drives and modems.” That should just about cover 95% of what’s available at your local electronics store, and certainly puts our holiday wish lists in legal limbo. This is a follow-up to earlier disputes involving the company, particularly with NVIDIA , which will continue via patent infringement lawsuits filed in US District Court against those corporate entities mentioned above. Beyond that, Rambus is hoping that the ITC stops import and sale of any and all infringing products post-haste. That seems awfully drastic, but for its part Rambus indicates it has been trying with all its might to negotiate licenses with these supposedly dirty dealers and that it was told “the only way they would get serious is if we sued them.” So, place your bets because here we go. [Thanks, Antonio] Continue reading Rambus files ITC complaint against just about everyone, wants to stop sale of just about everything Rambus files ITC complaint against just about everyone, wants to stop sale of just about everything originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 13:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Android Gingerbread officially teases you in Google’s voice search video tutorial
December 2, 2010 No Comment
Sure, we’ve already gorged ourselves on plenty of Gingerbread by way of Mr. Blurrycam and even Eric Schmidt himself, but it’s only now that Google’s officially (or accidentally) given us a tour around the next Android release. In a recent voice search video tutorial from Google Hong Kong, eagle-eyed peeps have spotted many tell-tale signs of Gingerbread on what appears to be a Nexus One . As you can see above, said firmware sports the previously-seen black status tray with its new icons, along with a subtly tweaked launcher bar at the bottom of the home screen. A quick peek in Settings also reveals the restyled buttons, as well as a new tab called “Related” in Market’s app description page. Help yourself to some more spicy goodness before it’s too late — the video’s right after the break (from 0:47). [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Gallery: Android Gingerbread officially teases you in Google’s voice search video tutorial Continue reading Android Gingerbread officially teases you in Google’s voice search video tutorial Android Gingerbread officially teases you in Google’s voice search video tutorial originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 12:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide ! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today’s bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the holiday season. Technically, you can toy with just about anything, so the items that follow aren’t necessarily the ones you’ll find on the shelves of your average toy store, though there’s certainly a few of those too — mostly, they’re items that we thought were simply too awesome to escape your notice this year, but didn’t make it into our standard categories. Read on! Continue reading Engadget’s Holiday Gift Guide: Toys / Neat Stuff Engadget’s Holiday Gift Guide: Toys / Neat Stuff originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 and AMD Radeon HD 6870 square off in dual-card showdown
December 2, 2010 No Comment
Whether you’re an NVIDIAn calling it SLI or a Radeonite referring to it as CrossFireX , a multi-card graphics setup is nowadays almost a prerequisite for experiencing the best that PC gaming has to offer. It’d be negligent of us, therefore, not to point you in the direction of the Tech Report crew’s latest breakdown, which takes an investigative peek at dual-card performance on NVIDIA’s latest and greatest GeForce GTX 580 and naturally compares it to a wide range of other alternatives on the market. AMD’s latest refresh, the Radeon HD 6870 , is among those options, though it’s worth remembering that the company’s real high-end gear isn’t due for another couple of weeks. All the same, most people will be buying their holiday rigs right around now, and if you want an exhaustive guide as to what’s what on the graphics front, the source link is your best, um… source. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 and AMD Radeon HD 6870 square off in dual-card showdown originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Hornblower Hybrid ferry relies on eco-friendly trifecta: hydrogen, solar and wind power
December 2, 2010 No Comment
Plan on visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island via ferry next year? If so, pay close attention to the vessel you board, as it just might be the world’s first to rely on hydrogen, solar and wind power for motorization. Currently, the New York Hornblower Hybrid (not to be confused with the San Francisco Hornblower Hybrid ) is under construction in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and if all goes well, it’ll reach completion in April. The 600-passenger boat be equipped with Tier 2 diesel engines, hydrogen fuel cells, solar panels and wind turbines, with power coming from a proton exchange membrane fuel cell that turns hydrogen into electricity. We’re told that the diesel rigs will only kick in to cover “additional energy needs,” but it’s hard to say how often they’ll actually be used. The eventual goal, however, is to do away with emissions altogether in the ferry process, and it seems that the technology is already capable of being scaled for use in other hybrid ferries, hybrid yachts and even hybrid tugs. Continue reading Hornblower Hybrid ferry relies on eco-friendly trifecta: hydrogen, solar and wind power Hornblower Hybrid ferry relies on eco-friendly trifecta: hydrogen, solar and wind power originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 11:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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