Peg lamp lets us spend less time screwing in light bulbs, more time talking about them (video)
May 9, 2011 No Comment
We know what you’re thinking, but the Jolly Green Giant didn’t drop something on the way to hang out his laundry. Designed by Steffi Min for her industrial design senior thesis, the Peg lamp looks and functions like an oversized clothespin, directly clipping onto a standard light bulb. As you can see in the video after the break, changing a bulb takes only a second or two, and there’s almost no risk of broken glass. We don’t expect a clothes pin connector to appear as a retail product anytime soon, but if we can build our own humanoid robots , we can probably find a way to slide an oversized rubber band around two wedges of wood. Continue reading Peg lamp lets us spend less time screwing in light bulbs, more time talking about them (video) Peg lamp lets us spend less time screwing in light bulbs, more time talking about them (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 May 2011 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
If you’ve run out of beef jerky and had your free Hulu Plus trial go bust, you’re certainly not alone. Don’t get bored: more bits of new hotness are coming to your console, and they’re coming soon. An internal document leaked to our good friends over at Joystiq looks to confirm that the big Xbox 360 spring update will hit on May 19th. However, it’ll come in six “separate groups” to “ensure a high quality deployment,” so you might not get it until the end of the month, and everyone will have to wait until May 27th to get Avatar Kinect . What else is new? Well, there’ll be the slightly larger disc format and support for PayPal, opening the door to a bold new world of personal finance information able to be hacked from your console. Xbox 360 spring update coming May 19? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 May 2011 17:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Sure, we all drool over the slender lines of the latest slates , but there’s no shortage of folks in the field who dig the tablet form factor and need a more durable device than anything running Android or iOS. Enter Xplore Technologies and its newest bombproof tablet, the iX104C5. This feshly minted model follows its progenitor PCs, the C2 , C3 , and the C4 , in that it has a 10.4-inch XGA display and rugged good looks. Underneath that industrial exterior, the C5 improves upon earlier models with a 2.13GHz Intel Core i7 620UE processor and 2GB of RAM (expandable to 8GB) running Windows 7. It has dedicated GPS, Gigabit ethernet, Bluetooth 2.1, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, and a Gobi 2000 mobile broadband card to keep you flush with 3G data out in the wild. There’s also a hot-swappable 10-cell Li-Ion battery and dual SSD drive capability with RAID support, so your data is as safe as the hardware housing it. Xplore’s not telling how much the iX104C5 costs, but we do know it can survive being thermally shocked, dropped, vibrated, and generally abused. All that’s left is a snowmobiling showdown with its spiritual soulmate to determine which rugged PC platform reigns supreme. Xplore Technologies’ iX104C5 tablet PC is built for abuse originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 May 2011 17:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Comcast will open up its video on-demand to TiVo Premiere DVRs and offer them for installation
May 9, 2011 No Comment
One of the downsides to bringing your own DVR is usually giving up access to any access to your cable company’s video on-demand programming, but TiVo has worked out a deal with Comcast to bring its Xfinity VOD to retail TiVo Premiere DVRs . This isn’t entirely surprising, given the Comcast On Demand logo that snuck into the original set of screenshots at the Premiere’s debut and the other cable companies allowing VOD access like Cox , Suddenlink and RCN. It appears this is going to be a market-by-market upgrade, with the San Francisco Bay Area up first (no word on exactly when, but hopefully it won’t take as long as the whatever-happened-to-that Comcast TiVo rollout) and others to follow. If you’re not already living the TiVo lifestyle, Comcast will also start offering the Premiere alongside its own boxes and install them at no extra charge once the service is available. We’re still waiting for TiVo to scrub some of the rougher edges off of the Premiere but if you want a bigger hard drive, (partially) HD UI and access to online services all in one box without compromising access to VOD, then this should fit the bill once it arrives. Continue reading Comcast will open up its video on-demand to TiVo Premiere DVRs and offer them for installation Comcast will open up its video on-demand to TiVo Premiere DVRs and offer them for installation originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 May 2011 15:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …YouTube will add 3,000 streaming movies for renting, but won’t say which ones (yet)
May 9, 2011 No Comment
In the midst of a blog post welcoming us to “the future of video” head of YouTube Salar Kamangar confirms that starting today it will add around 3,000 new movie titles for rental in the US , along with reviews and behind the scenes extras. More details are promised to come in another post later today, but right now the video page appears to have the same list of flicks we’ve seen before so the question of which studios will bite is still up in the air. The rest of the post also mentions the YouTube Next program to push new original content on the site with “much more to come” — consider the week of Google I/O underway. YouTube will add 3,000 streaming movies for renting, but won’t say which ones (yet) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 May 2011 15:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
You don’t get to be Microsoft’s Principal Researcher without a strong sense of technology and design history, and Bill Buxton certainly has plenty of evidence to show he’s well qualified in that respect. That swath of devices pictured above is just a sample of the impressive gadget collection Buxton has amassed over the past 35 years, which he is now exhibiting in public for the first time at a conference in Vancouver, British Columbia this week. Not able to check it out in person? Then you can thankfully settle for the next best thing, as Microsoft Research has also put the entire collection online, complete with Buxton’s own notes for each of the items. Hit up the source link below to start browsing. Continue reading Microsoft’s Bill Buxton exhibits gadget collection 35 years in the making Microsoft’s Bill Buxton exhibits gadget collection 35 years in the making originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 May 2011 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
If a 7-inch photo frame is perfect for grandma, think of Framed as an art display for the rest of us. (Assuming the rest of us have sky-high art budgets.) This 40-inch giant is based on a Samsung LED HDTV and powered by a Core i5 processor and Windows 7 . Built-in 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi connects the digital canvas to a dedicated iOS app, which you’ll use to purchase static and motion art and even manipulate content for display, using a virtual touchpad. Built-in speakers aren’t a surprise, considering it’s essentially a modified consumer HDTV, but there’s also a camera and microphone — for making your own art? No word on pricing or availability, but judging by the sample spaces used in the demo video (after the break), we’re guessing that we don’t fit within the designer’s target demographic. Continue reading Framed 40-inch digiframe for galleries, cafes, the insanely rich (video) Framed 40-inch digiframe for galleries, cafes, the insanely rich (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 May 2011 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
If a 7-inch photo frame is perfect for grandma, think of Framed as an art display for the rest of us. (Assuming the rest of us have sky-high art budgets.) This 40-inch giant is based on a Samsung LED HDTV and powered by a Core i5 processor and Windows 7 . Built-in 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi connects the digital canvas to a dedicated iOS app, which you’ll use to purchase static and motion art and even manipulate content for display, using a virtual touchpad. Built-in speakers aren’t a surprise, considering it’s essentially a modified consumer HDTV, but there’s also a camera and microphone — for making your own art? No word on pricing or availability, but judging by the sample spaces used in the demo video (after the break), we’re guessing that we don’t fit within the designer’s target demographic. Continue reading Framed 40-inch digiframe for galleries, cafes, the insanely rich (video) Framed 40-inch digiframe for galleries, cafes, the insanely rich (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 May 2011 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Relax everybody, unlike its antonymous quadrocopter cousins, this six-rotor drone isn’t here to kill, only to count plants. Researchers from Oregon State University are hanging cameras from reasonably-priced RC aircraft to help nurseries track inventory — a task often performed by workers wandering the orchards and keeping tally by hand. Image analysis software automates the process and, with the addition of other sensors (such as infrared), it could one day be used to spot irrigation problems, identify diseased trees, and estimate crop yield. The machines themselves can climb to over 80 feet and stay aloft for up to 40 minutes while hauling 5-pounds of photo gear. At around $10,000 it’s a safe bet that no one will be shooting bottle rockets at balloons with this thing, but it should be well within the reach of farmers who spend that much in money and manpower to track their trees anyway. Two more photos after the break. Continue reading Six-rotor drone counts trees, not kills Six-rotor drone counts trees, not kills originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 May 2011 13:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
The heaviest of heavyweights in the all-in-one field has seen another update, another batch of new internals to liven up the aging (but still classy) chassis. Apple unveiled its latest iMac refresh last week , surprising nobody with a new selection of AMD Radeon HD graphics cards, quad-core Intel Sandy Bridge processors, and solid-state storage options, all designed to do one thing: go faster. These latest iMacs are quite naturally the speediest yet, as you’d expect, but with the right configuration they can be properly quick. Faster internals plus Thunderbolt ports on the outside turn what’s supposed to be a family-friendly and eye-catching machine into an unassuming powerhouse that might just be quick enough for professional users. There’s a more important question, though: is this $1,999 system the right choice for you? Gallery: Apple iMac (spring 2011) Continue reading Apple iMac (spring 2011) review Apple iMac (spring 2011) review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 May 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …