Sony PS2 handheld mod looks downright gorgeous, just needs a battery pack (video)
February 24, 2011 No Comment
Oh, sure — we’ve seen N64 handhelds and PS3 laptops , but how’s about a PS2 handheld ? Now that your brain is sufficiently melted, allow us to introduce you to England’s own techknott, also known as the man responsible for the gorgeous piece of playable art shown above. Apparently, this PlayStation 2 handheld was crafted for a client, and in an effort to cut down on costs, doesn’t have a built-in battery pack. That said, it’s still an awful lot more mobile than even a slim PS2 , and quite a bit more handsome if we may say so ourselves. Head on past the break for a live action video, and feel free to drop him a line in the source link if you’d love to have one of your own. No discounts promised or implied, though. [Thanks, Palmer] Continue reading Sony PS2 handheld mod looks downright gorgeous, just needs a battery pack (video) Sony PS2 handheld mod looks downright gorgeous, just needs a battery pack (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 07:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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That’s LOPES (Lower-extremity Powered ExoSkeleton) — not Lopez — and while this rehab robot can get otherwise disinclined parties to move their butts, it doesn’t resort to monotonous dance beats to do so. Researchers at the Netherlands’ University of Twente began work on LOPES in 2001 to assess motor skills and teach stroke victims how to walk again. Ten years later, LOPES — which looks like Forrest Gump’s leg braces on steroids — now sports eight degrees of freedom and automatically adjusts to fit the specific support needed per patient. LOPES’ overlords are working on a more compact and user friendly iteration, and expect a market-ready version to be available by mid-2012. In the meantime, LOPES has been enlisted in a larger EU project called Mindwalker, testing advanced control algorithms “to be used in autonomous exoskeletons.” Video of the future real-life RoboCop after the jump. [Thanks, Mike] Continue reading LOPES rehab robot gets bodies moving — no relation to JLo (video) LOPES rehab robot gets bodies moving — no relation to JLo (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 06:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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You know the routine by now: Apple’s online Store goes down, the Engadget tips inbox explodes with caring netizens informing us of that fact, and a few hours later it sprouts back up with Cupertino’s latest hardware up for sale. We don’t know for a fact that today’s downtime is due to a MacBook Pro refresh , but then we also don’t know for certain that the sun will rise tomorrow. Call it highly informed guesswork. Apple shutters online store to fill it up with new MacBook Pros originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 05:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …TomTom’s GO 2435 / 2535 PNDs get quiet teaser, we’re left wondering what’s new
February 24, 2011 No Comment
The very busy folks over at TomTom have just squeezed out two new sets of PNDs sporting touchscreens, voice recognition, and a “new, intuitive user interface,” but despite the company’s high profile on the GPS market, the GO 2435, which works a 4.3-inch screen, and the GO 2535, a 5-inch iteration, slipped out without much ado. Both PNDs come in three versions: the “T” series supports lifetime traffic updates, the “M” line offers lifetime map updates, and the “MT” edition features — you guessed it — lifetime traffic and map updates. Thus far, the basic specs resemble those of previous GO PNDs — both tout Bluetooth calling, 4GB flash storage, and 3 hours of battery life — leaving us to wonder what’s up with this “new, intuitive user interface?” Among other things, TomTom is still mum on price and availability, which means we’ll have to wait until they speak up to give you all the dirty details. TomTom’s GO 2435 / 2535 PNDs get quiet teaser, we’re left wondering what’s new originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 05:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Visualized: Android activations mapped geographically, chronologically, breathtakingly (video)
February 24, 2011 No Comment
Do you ever wish for an easier way to show your uninitiated friends what you mean when you say Android is growing ? Well, here’s the video for you: a Google-produced map of the world that throbs with Android activations over time, highlighted by some truly eye-opening flourishes in the immediate aftermath of marquee handset launches. The Google guys have even given us handy countdown timers — ” Droid launch in 3, 2, 1…” — and broken things down by continent for easier viewing. Only thing missing is a soundtrack, so just have your Tron: Legacy OST loaded up and ready before jumping past the break. [Thanks, Leo Z.] Continue reading Visualized: Android activations mapped geographically, chronologically, breathtakingly (video) Visualized: Android activations mapped geographically, chronologically, breathtakingly (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 04:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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A dark shadow has befallen the Sony NEX-3 interchangeable lens camera, the shadow of being described as “no longer in production” by its maker’s official website. Coming out in June of last year alongside its more celebrated NEX-5 brother, the NEX-3 enjoyed some decent success with critics, mostly owing to its oversized 14.2 megapixel sensor, and showed no signs of struggling commercially, however Sony has seen fit to halt production within eight months of its introduction. Reasons haven’t yet been given, though we imagine people were willing to spend the extra cash to upgrade to 1080p video recording and a magnesium alloy body on the NEX-5, which is what rendered the NEX-3 expendable. At least we know the NEX-5 and the NEX-VG10 will keep E-mount lenses going into the future, so current NEX-3 owners should have little to worry about. If anything, their camera just became that extra bit more exclusive. [Thanks, Gavin ] Sony NEX-3 discontinued, probably has NEX-5 to blame originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 03:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Verizon is bringing a nice bit of consistency to its tablet offerings today by introducing a new two-year deal on the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The 7-inch tablet was previously available only on an unsubsidized basis, however now that the Motorola Xoom has become purchasable with a $200 subsidy in exchange for a 24-month commitment, Verizon is extending the same courtesy to potential Tab buyers as well. That means you now have a choice between the $500 strings-free Galaxy Tab or a $300 version that binds you to Verizon for a good little while. [Thanks, Austin and Mario] Verizon now offering 7-inch Galaxy Tab for $300 on a two-year contract originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 02:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Back in December, CNET let loose a rumor claiming that Apple would be ditching NVIDIA in favor of Intel and AMD graphics in its future MacBook lineup. Now, here we are with a credible leak showing an entry level 13.3-inch MacBook Pro sporting a Thunderbolt port, Core i5 Sandy Bridge processor, and Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 384MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with the laptop’s main memory. Today CNET is repeating its original claim while adding that the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro models will feature an automatically switchable AMD discrete GPU that augments the Intel graphics whenever more power is required. Of course, they’ll also feature that new Thunderbolt port and 32-nanometer Core i series Sandy Bridge processors for improved performance and power savings. We’ll see soon enough, since the whole thing is supposed to get official later today. Apple switching to AMD graphics in 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 01:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Oh yes, the world’s first Android Honeycomb tablet really is here now. As Verizon announced earlier, you can snag a Motorola Xoom for $599.99 with a two-year contract, or splash out $799.99 for the just the LTE-ready device. Alas, the WiFi-only version is nowhere to be seen just yet, but maybe some will show up in the stores later if not tomorrow, so hold on to your personal hotspot devices for the time being. Either way, in case you’re still indecisive over this 10-inch goodness, maybe our review will help. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Motorola Xoom now available for purchase straight from Verizon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Microsoft details Windows Phone 7 update problem, ‘small number’ of Samsungs affected
February 24, 2011 No Comment
Redmond is opening up and offering a few facts, stats, and tips around its first update to Windows Phone 7 — an update that didn’t go smoothly for everyone — and it sounds like there are at least three distinct failure modes, two of which are pretty simple to fix. The company figures that somewhere around 10 percent of users attempting the upgrade encountered a problem, but of those, “nearly half” failed because they lacked a proper internet connection or enough disk space (turns out the update process takes a backup of the phone’s contents just in case something goes horribly awry). Most of the remainder may have been swept up in the issue affecting “a small number” of Samsung devices, an issue that the company says it’s working to fix as quickly as possible — and in the meantime, they’ve turned the update off for those models. Put simply, when you get prompted to install the update, Microsoft simply recommends that you’ve got plenty of hard drive space on your PC (you can’t do this one over the air) and a solid connection to the interwebs; some 90 percent succeeded in installing the new code, which isn’t too shabby considering this is the very first update to the platform they’ve attempted so far. Let’s just hope that brick rate is down to zero by the time the good stuff comes, right? Microsoft details Windows Phone 7 update problem, ‘small number’ of Samsungs affected originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 23:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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