UrtheCast to stream live HD footage of Earth from ISS, like Stickam for space
June 25, 2011 No Comment
Space nerds, get your browsers ready — UrtheCast will soon be streaming HD video of Earth straight from the ISS . The system will actually consists of a pair of cameras, one still and one video, that will be mounted on the Russian arm of the station. The still shots will be very wide, covering about 30 miles with a resolution of 18-feet per pixel. Much more exciting will be the three feet per-pixel stream of 3.25fps video that will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You probably won’t be able to see yourself waving as the ISS passes overhead, but you should be able to spot your cardboard box fort house. The feeds won’t be your typical boring NASA fare either — you’ll be able to search, rewind, and tag objects or events, and UrtheCast is providing APIs for developers to build upon the service. The project won’t be launching until June 28th, so bide your time by checking out the video and PR after the break. Continue reading UrtheCast to stream live HD footage of Earth from ISS, like Stickam for space UrtheCast to stream live HD footage of Earth from ISS, like Stickam for space originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 09:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …AutoWed vending machine concept offers marriage of convenience, nuptials at $1 a pop
June 25, 2011 No Comment
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to introduce to you perhaps the most outlandish concept we’ve seen all year. Looking something akin to a Moroccan Barbie accessory, and sporting a small portrait of Jesus Christ, the AutoWed Wedding machine has blasphemy written all over it. Pop in a dollar or a pound, depending on your location, and in moments you’re served with a pair of plastic wedding bands and a personalized certificate, (unofficially) sealing the deal. And to think we ever raised a brow at that live crab vending machine . AutoWed vending machine concept offers marriage of convenience, nuptials at $1 a pop originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 09:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …New phase-changing alloy turns waste heat into green energy, exhibits spontaneous magnetism (video)
June 25, 2011 No Comment
Looks like harvesting waste heat is all the rage in 2011. Yet another team of researchers — this time at the University of Minnesota — has found a way to harness energy from our hot castoffs. The group has apparently created a brand spanking new alloy that spontaneously creates energy when its temperature is raised by a small amount. Future uses for the material, known as Ni 45 Co 5 Mn 40 Sn 10 , include charging a hybrid car’s battery with the help of waste heat from its exhaust. So what’s the trick? Well, this wonder material is a phase changer, meaning it can go from non-magnetic to magnetic in moments, when the temperature rises. When that happens, the alloy absorbs heat, and bam! You’ve got electricity. The team is also collaborating with chemical engineers to create a thin film version of the material that could be used to convert waste heat from computers. If phase changing gets you all hot and bothered, check out a video demonstration of the alloy’s sudden magnetism after the break. Continue reading New phase-changing alloy turns waste heat into green energy, exhibits spontaneous magnetism (video) New phase-changing alloy turns waste heat into green energy, exhibits spontaneous magnetism (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 08:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …WiFi Baby 3G review, or: How we learned to stop worrying and love a surveillance camera
June 25, 2011 No Comment
Obsolescence. Its avoidance is the biggest problem facing any gadget nerd. This affliction, this curse that disables so many would-be tablet and smartphone buyers, only intensifies for those of us who somehow manage to procreate. See, newbie reproducers, temporarily insane from an overblown sense of paternal concern, will pay just about anything for products promising to make their new baby healthier or happier, regardless of the product’s potential lifespan. Come on, parents, admit it. Just look at that $100 bottle sterilizer you’ve already replaced with a more convenient pot of boiled tap water. Or how about that $380 hands-free breast pump that went idle after 6 months of occasional use or that $1,000 euro-exotic stroller that turned out to be too bulky to regularly transport by car? Your well-meaning, but irrational ways made you an easy target for the baby-care industry that places your ilk on the sucker-side of the consumer savviness scale. Just look at the extortionary prices of the typical babycam. You can easily spend between $200 and $300 for a so-called “top-of-the line” monitor that’s plagued by radio interference, poor range, and shabby video quality. To make matters worse, these single-purpose cameras lose their usefulness once baby is grown. So what’s a rational, resourceful parent to do? Easy, use an IP-based surveillance camera as a baby monitor instead. Not only do you get a superior wireless camera for about the same price (or less), you have the option of repurposing it for inclusion in your home automation or security system after baby is grown. That’s what we’ve been doing for several weeks now thanks to WiFi Baby. And you know what? We’ll never go back to traditional baby monitors again. Click through to find out why. Continue reading WiFi Baby 3G review, or: How we learned to stop worrying and love a surveillance camera WiFi Baby 3G review, or: How we learned to stop worrying and love a surveillance camera originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Well, fancy that — a teardown of last week’s refreshed Time Capsule has revealed a regular, non -enterprise drive lurking within. Curious, as Cupertino’s website lists a “Serial ATA server-grade hard disk” as standard equipment on the device’s official spec sheet. It’s generally assumed that for a drive to be qualified as “enterprise,” it must sustain a mean time between failure — MTBF for short — in excess of one million hours. So what’s the MTBF for the Western Digital’s WD20EARS ( Caviar Green ) in HardMac ‘s Time Capsule? Conveniently, the hard drive maker wouldn’t say. Of course, we guess the definition here is up for interpretation, but given past experiences with the wireless backup gizmo, we’d certainly hope this improved revision fares better . Continue reading Updated Time Capsule opened, server-grade hard drive nowhere to be found? Updated Time Capsule opened, server-grade hard drive nowhere to be found? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 06:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Mountkestrel DuoPod turns your shaky shoulders into a DSLR steadicam (video)
June 25, 2011 No Comment
So you’ve got an expensive new DSLR that can shoot video, and you’ve seen all of the press about people using the things to make movies and music videos. But really, you’re not going to become a DIY Kubrick without the proper accessories. The Mountkestrel DuoPod is a pretty solid looking option if you’re looking to do the steadicam thing with your DSLR, slipping over your shoulders for on-the-go shots. It’s a little unwieldy compared to a lot of consumer camera stands, but that’s pretty par for the course for these sorts of rigs. As its name suggests, the DuoPod also doubles as a two-legged stand for those times when your shoulders need a break. Check out a fittingly shaky video of the stand in action after the jump. Continue reading Mountkestrel DuoPod turns your shaky shoulders into a DSLR steadicam (video) Mountkestrel DuoPod turns your shaky shoulders into a DSLR steadicam (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 04:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Most of us can get by with occasionally frequently checking our rear view mirror, but many bigger vehicles don’t offer quite the same visibility. Hence the market for bumper cams in general and for Magellan’s new Wireless Back-Up Camera in particular. The $150 add-on exploits the 7-inch LCD on your RoadMate 1700 or 9055, thereby avoiding the clutter of an independent system . The waterproof and dustproof camera fixes to your license plate and connects to a transmitter in your trunk, which then beams the feed to a receiver attached to your GPS. The system activates automatically when you go into reverse and boasts a 120-degree field of view, 45-degrees of vertical angle adjustment and a 45-foot range. The PR with full details is just a click away. Oh, and it helps if you remember to brake . Continue reading Wireless Back-Up Camera for the Magellan RoadMate checks your six Wireless Back-Up Camera for the Magellan RoadMate checks your six originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The retro X100 brought out all our kleptomaniacal tendencies when we first went hands-on , and it has since impressed virtually every other lucky soul who’s come into contact with its build quality and groundbreaking integration of a big APS-C sensor within a compact body. But, just as you often find in extremely beautiful humans, the camera’s brains were slightly haywire: in particular, it tended to forget or confusingly alter crucial ISO, dynamic range, macro and drive settings when shifting between shooting modes. Fortunately though, many of these niggles can now be nuked by downloading firmware update v1.10 at the source link. The update promises a total of 22 fixes and modifications, which are listed in full in the PR after the break. Of course, some annoying issues will remain outstanding with this $1,200 shooter, including slow focus-by-wire MF and strangely buried menu settings. We don’t know if they’ll ever be fixed, but the next time we get hold of one it’ll still be a morality-pounding wrench to give it back. Continue reading Fujifilm X100 gets firmware update, 22 tweaks make the best even better Fujifilm X100 gets firmware update, 22 tweaks make the best even better originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 12:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Visually editing audio files isn’t exactly a new idea, of course, but Divide Frame’s new Spectral Layers application looks to take things to an even more Photoshop-style extreme than other tools. While still in the alpha stage and not available to the public just yet (though both Windows and Mac versions are promised), the software does appear to be fairly complete, including the ability to use multiple layers, work with multi-channel audio, and extract individual voices, instruments, or any other noises. Perhaps just as notably, the actual process of editing seems to be a kind of weird mish-mash of otherworldly visuals and disjointed sounds– something that we could easily see leading to some unexpected and interesting results. See for yourself in the video after the break. Continue reading Spectral Layers promises to let you edit audio Photoshop-style (video) Spectral Layers promises to let you edit audio Photoshop-style (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 02:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Good news for Palm Pre 2 owners of the Big Red variety, the endless breath-holding can finally stop — webOS 2.1 is finally making its way to your handset. Released back in March to the global unlocked masses, this update to HP’s platform brings along voice-dialing, email and security fixes, messaging backup (sorry, no MMS), and a Sense 3.0-like charging display that’ll float your photos, agenda, or simply keep the time. That should be enough to tide you over until the Pre 3 hits VZW’s stores, no? Die-hard Palm OS fanatics, chin up, your Classic emulator’s now only ten steps away . Verizon Palm Pre 2 gets its webOS 2.1 wings originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 01:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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