Some researchers at the Technical University of Munich have built an unassuming but no-less-remarkable mechanism for tilting and panning a small camera robotically. Designed to keep up with the eye movements of a human in gaze-tracking studies, the camera mount features three degrees of movement, and can flick around at a rapid 2500 degrees per second — our flesh-composed eyeballs max out at a mere 1000. The setup uses ultrasonic piezo-actuators, which move prismatic joints, which drive spherically-jointed rods attached to the camera, keeping the weight under 100 grams and still acting gently enough to avoid rattling on top of the wearer’s head. We’ll take two. Speedy robo-cam mimics the movements of the human eye, exceeds them originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Nissan New Mobility Concept EV seats two, looks to a more sustainable future (video)
November 2, 2010 No Comment
Nissan’s Leaf may be the company’s one-size-fits-all EV play for the mainstream market, but the company is apparently not content with just the one horse in its electric stable. Unveiled today at its Yokohama HQ, the Nissan New Mobility Concept is a teeny tiny two-person transporter that aims to solve the problems of commuting in high-density urban and tourist environments. You’ll notice there’s only one seat in the image above and videos after the break, but we’re still talking about a proposed design here rather than the finished article. Range is set at 100km (62 miles) and maximum speed is 75kph (47mph), both of which should betray the little doorless vehicle’s humble ambitions. Skip past the break to see it gliding around soundlessly inside Nissan’s vast halls. Continue reading Nissan New Mobility Concept EV seats two, looks to a more sustainable future (video) Nissan New Mobility Concept EV seats two, looks to a more sustainable future (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 22:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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This guest post was written by Peter Glatzer, film producer and founder of SHFT.com. When Adrian Grenier and I founded SHFT.COM we made a deliberate choice to be apolitical. Our mission was to position sustainable ideas and designs and … Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Does This Match Your Experience? Donald Appleyard (1928-1982) was a Professor of Urban Design at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1981, he published his research on “livable streets” and the impact that our car culture can have on the quality of life of people living near busy streets. He quantified community interactions in similar neighborhoods that had more or less car traffic, and this allowed him to uncover fundamental principles that urban planners should use to make our cities better to live in (and also greener). Our friend at Streetfilms made… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …VLC for iPhone and iPad soon to disappear thanks to GPL complaints — go get it now
November 1, 2010 No Comment
There’s always been tension between Apple’s tight control of the iOS App Store and the DRM-free license requirements of the GPL, and it seems like things are coming to a head over VLC, the open-source video player. As you’ll recall, VLC was just released for the iPad and iPhone in the past few months, but the port was done by a company called Applidium — not VLC developer VideoLAN, which holds the copyright and licenses the code under the GPL. VideoLAN now says that since VLC for iOS includes Apple’s FairPlay DRM, it’s in violation of the GPL and must be pulled — and that “concerned users are advised to look for applications on more open mobile platforms for the time being.” That’s certainly fair enough, although we do find it a bit sensationalist that the takedown notice was sent to Apple and not Applidium, since it’s technically Applidium that violated the GPL. Then again, the statement was written by VideoLAN developer R
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The story of the Galaxy Tab has been quite a saga, to say the least. In fact, it was actually back in May that we first heard rumblings of Samsung’s plans to unleash a 7-inch Android tablet much like its Galaxy S phones, but it was only after months of painful teasing — including a cruel look at just its packaging on the Engadget Show — that Sammy finally unveiled the Galaxy Tab to the world at IFA. The Tab certainly packed the specs — a 1GHz processor, full Flash support thanks to Android 2.2, dual cameras, support for up to 32GB of storage and WiFi / 3G connectivity — to put other Android tablets to shame, and our initial hands-on with it only had us yearning for more. Without pricing and availability, however, the story was at a cliffhanger. Of course, those details trickled out over the next few months, and here in the US, Samsung finally announced that all four major US carriers would be getting Tabs to call their own. Verizon then finally took the lead in announcing pricing, and revealed that its Tab would hit contact-free for $600 — Sprint followed with the same no-contract pricing along with a $400 two-year contract option. Indeed, it’s been quite a long journey, but even after all of that, some of the major questions are still left unanswered. Does the Tab provide a more complete and polished experience than all the other Android tablets out there? How are Samsung’s specially tailored apps? And ultimately, has a tablet finally hit the market that can rival Apple’s iPad ? We think it’s about time we answer those questions and finally open what might be the most important chapter of the Galaxy Tab story — the official Engadget review. We knew you’d agree, so join us after the break. Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Tab (Sprint) Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab review Samsung Galaxy Tab review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Watch Smallville S10E6: Harvest The new installment of our favorite superhero of Smallville, which is entitled “Harvest ” is the sci-fi hit TV series’ 6th episode of the 10th season that aired last 10/29/2010 Friday 8:00 PM on CW. Watch Smallville 10×6(1006) Free Online Streaming Full Episodes Replay of the Latest Season and Video Clip Download Link:
Continue reading …Watch Supernatural S6E6: You Can’t Handle The Truth The new installment of our favorite brother hunters of Supernatural, which is entitled “You Can’t Handle The Truth” is the sci-fi hit TV show’s 6th episode of the 6th season that aired last 10/29/2010 Friday 9:00 PM on CW. After some of the resident of a certain town gets killed or commits suicide when they ask for the truth, Dean and Sam goes out to investigate what is behind it. They later on realize that it is one of the ancient goddess of truth, Veritas, that have been summoned by one of the resident who is doing all this. When Dean got cursed, he takes advantage of it and asks Sam some question that have been lingering in his head for a long time now. Watch Supernatural 6×6(0606) Free Online Streaming Full HDTV Episodes of the Latest Season and Video Clip Download Link:
Continue reading …Gotta love this video of the two Presidents Bush throwing the first pitch to Nolan Ryan: How will this play with voters? Some thoughts from earlier today here. Bush 41 is looking pretty frail.
Continue reading …Interactive fiction meets interactive typewriter, pilfers the kingdoms of Zork (video)
October 31, 2010 No Comment
You are standing in an open field as usual, or perhaps you’re in the darkness, likely to be eaten by a grue, but the words aren’t etching their way into your soul from the familiar computer terminal — they’re on freshly printed paper. Like a player piano, the Automatypewriter lets you play games like Zork by automatically keying in letters via a series of solenoids and fishing line to tell you where you are, and it records your input, too; every time you type “XYZZY” in vain, it’s an Arduino board that sends signals to the text parser, which directs a hollow voice to pity your foolish word. Forget the iPad typewriter — this is old-school. See it in action after the break, or hit the source link for the schematics to build one yourself. Just be sure to install Planetfall , too. Continue reading Interactive fiction meets interactive typewriter, pilfers the kingdoms of Zork (video) Interactive fiction meets interactive typewriter, pilfers the kingdoms of Zork (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 31 Oct 2010 18:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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