LinnStrument multitouch music maker gets demoed on video, grasps for investors Roger Linn. Ever heard of him? He's only the man behind the modern day drum machine and the original
MPC-60, and he's also the man behind the concept you're inevitably peering at above. For now, Roger's calling this beaut the LinnStrument, and there's quite a back story to go along with it. The design began way back in 2006, with the goal being to create a full-on multitouch instrument with the ability to let one's finger dictate volume, timbre, pitch and pressure. No doubt,
many have
tried to concoct
something similar, but Roger's discovery of TouchCo enabled him to create one sans the limitations of imitators. Unfortunately, Amazon quietly
scooped up the startup in January of this year (to have this sort of technology available for the Kindle product line), and in turn, shut down TouchCo's involvement with the outside world. Now, Roger's being forced to reveal his unfinished work in hopes of attracting investors or unearthing another company that could mimic this sort of awesomeness en masse. Jump on past the break and mash play to get a better idea of what the world's missing out on, and be sure to tell Jeff Bezos "thanks" the next time you bump into him.
[Thanks, Peter]
Continue reading LinnStrument multitouch music maker gets demoed on video, grasps for investors
LinnStrument multitouch music maker gets demoed on video, grasps for investors originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 16 May 2010 11:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nissan opens all-electric Leaf pre-orders to the US public: $99 to reserve Nissan didn't hesitate to gloat about its ability to book
8,000 Leaf pre-orders in just nine days during a
pre-pre-order for those who specifically requested early access to the automobile, and now the outfit's looking to make good on plans to have 25,000 orders in place by December. If all goes well, the all-electric car will be "widely available" in 2012, with a semi-wide release slated for next Spring. Naturally, the buzz is already fueling demand, and the automaker has today opened up a public reservation system online for those unwilling to take chances on availability come 2011. If you're interested, you can actually reserve your
Leaf right now with precisely zero clothing on -- you heard right, there's no need to even visit a local dealer. Simply hand over a $99 refundable deposit and wait, but you best get your story in line before being pinged by Nissan. The
Wall Street Journal has it that pre-orderers will have to "convince Nissan they are up to the task of owning an electric vehicle based on their driving patterns, living arrangements and other factors," and if you call Nunapitchuk, Alaska home, you can bet you'll be shoved to the rear of the line. But hey, we always heard it was best to pull the trigger now and ask questions later.
[Thanks, Jim]
Nissan opens all-electric Leaf pre-orders to the US public: $99 to reserve originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 16 May 2010 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Students program Human Tetris into 8-bit microcontroller, give away schematics for free (video) Sure,
Project Natal is the hotness and a little bird tells us
PlayStation Move is pretty bodacious, but you don't have to buy a fancy game console to sooth your motion-tracking blues. When students at Cornell University wanted to play Human Tetris (and ace a final project to boot), they taught a 20Mhz, 8-bit microcontroller how to follow their moves. Combined with an NTSC camera, the resulting system can display a 39 x 60 pixel space at 24 frames per second, apparently enough to slot your body into some grooves -- and as you'll see in videos after the break, it plays a mean game of Breakout, too. Full codebase and plans to build your own at the source link. Eat your heart out, geeks.
Continue reading Students program Human Tetris into 8-bit microcontroller, give away schematics for free (video)
Students program Human Tetris into 8-bit microcontroller, give away schematics for free (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 16 May 2010 07:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mobilicity launches service in Toronto: all plans unlimited, no contracts to speak of My, talk about a breath of fresh air. Canadian wireless subscribers have
long since dealt with inhumane
three-year contracts on mainstays like Rogers and Bell, signing over their cellular soul on a whim in order to get a marginally subsidized phone and a guaranteed bill for 36 months. We've heard for awhile now that
Mobilicity was jonesing to change things up in the Great White North, and change it has. Shortly after receiving an all-important
green light from the CRTC, the company has gone live with mobile service in Toronto, with a number of other large Canadian cities to follow in the months ahead. What's most unique about the service, however, is that every single plan it sells is unlimited in nature, and there's nary a contract to be found -- you simply pick the phone you want, the plan you want, and then you pay upfront. It's most akin to the various prepaid options here in the States (Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, etc.), but still -- it's a lovely alternative to have if you're a Canuck. Unlimited calling and texting can be had for just $35 per month, while $65 per month nets you unlimited everything (including global texting, US long distance calling and data usage). The phone selection ain't half bad either, with the only major "gotcha" being that extra roaming fees can apply if you use your mobile outside of metro Toronto (or in the future, away from the carrier's specific coverage cities). Hit up the source link to get the facts straight from the
horse's moose's mouth.
[Thanks, Endi]
Mobilicity launches service in Toronto: all plans unlimited, no contracts to speak of originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 16 May 2010 04:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Litl Webbook plummets from $699 to $399, still can't catch an eye It's tough out there playing
second (or
third... or
tenth) fiddle. Just ask
Fusion Garage. Similar to
the path we saw Celio's REDFLY take, Litl's
Webbook is slowly (but surely, we're afraid) creeping towards complete and utter irrelevance, boasting a design that's too niche to gain traction in the mainstream, a hardware lineup that's too last year and a price that's still far higher than some of the more reputable netbooks on the market today. After just six short months on the market, the company's easel-styled laptop has fallen from $699 to $399, but during that same window of time, Intel has launched all new
Atoms, tablet PCs have begun their assimilation on Planet Earth and
HP has purchased Palm. Yeah, that last tidbit has precisely zero pertinence to the discussion at hand, but we bet even the engineers at Litl would've laughed you out of town had you told 'em that would happen back in November of '09.
Litl Webbook plummets from $699 to $399, still can't catch an eye originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 16 May 2010 02:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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HP's $950 TouchSmart tm2 surfaces at Amazon with Core i3-330M Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? Just a week after
hearing that
HP would soon be refreshing its
TouchSmart tm2 convertible tablet with Core i3 and Core i5 options, in flies this: an Amazon product page confirming as much. The 12.1-inch, 4.72-pound TouchSmart tm2-2050us is currently in pre-order status, rocking a 2.13GHz Core i3-330M processor, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 640GB hard drive (5400RPM), Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), a WXGA LED-backlit display, Intel's integrated graphics set, Altec Lansing speakers, a 5-in-1 card reader and gigabit Ethernet. You'll also get a brushed aluminum finish, inbuilt webcam and fingerprint reader, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, a trio of USB 2.0 sockets, HDMI / VGA outputs, audio in / out and a battery good for around four hours of use. You can get in line now in exchange for $949.99, and if we were the betting type, we'd surmise that a Core i5 version was just around the bend.
[Thanks, Daniel]
HP's $950 TouchSmart tm2 surfaces at Amazon with Core i3-330M originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 May 2010 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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ASUS Bamboo Collection laptops: now with Taiwanese pricing, more bamboo (update) ASUS has been
attaching bamboo to its laptops for
some time now, but it was only ever really for show -- though the wood itself was certainly biodegradable, adding veneer isn't exactly the greenest statement in the world. This year, however, the company's Bamboo Collection will be
completely slightly more recyclable. With
Core i5-450M processors, they should be reasonably good performers as well, and
NVIDIA Optimus switchable graphics technology gives them a factory-estimated (read: unlikely) 11 hours of battery life. The panda fodder cases will be found in Taiwan for around $40,000 NTD (approximately $1,300) next month, though US availability is yet to be announced. Check out the
gigantic ASUS PDF for additional specs while you wait, and feel free to blow Ma Earth kisses all the while.
Update: Our friends at
Engadget Chinese inform us the new U series laptops aren't 100 percent recyclable after all; they still have a sizable plastic substrate underneath those thicker bamboo panels. It seems ASUS still hasn't managed to shake its wooden façade. Get specs and first-hand pics from the event at our more coverage link.
ASUS Bamboo Collection laptops: now with Taiwanese pricing, more bamboo (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 May 2010 22:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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What the HTC EVO 4G packaging does -- but hopefully won't -- look like There are actually days when we envy those who are paid to hawk telephones. Today, for instance, we hear that certain Sprint employees have recently obtained an
HTC EVO 4G. However, our jealousy is tempered by the fact that we've already spent considerable
quality time with the superphone, and, quite frankly, by the ridiculous packaging you see immediately above. Pardon our french, but it looks like a microwavable food tub. See a pair of close-ups after the break.
[Thanks, Anonymous]
Continue reading What the HTC EVO 4G packaging does -- but hopefully won't -- look like
What the HTC EVO 4G packaging does -- but hopefully won't -- look like originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 May 2010 20:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The laser turns 50, we hope to still be that cool at that age (video)
On May 16, 1960, Theodore Maiman did something totally awesome at Hughes Lab: he fired the first functional laser and sent the future of arena rock
and the rave scene well on its way. Hughes Lab has since moved on to become the military skunkworks
Raytheon and the laser has moved into history as one of the coolest things to ever come out of a laboratory. Not a week goes by that we don't see someone
doing something amazing with the things, whether it's
blowing up ballistic missiles or just
beaming your home movies on the wall. So, to everyone involved in the creation of the laser (including the great Albert Einstein himself), we salute you with this commemorative video embedded below.
Continue reading The laser turns 50, we hope to still be that cool at that age (video)
The laser turns 50, we hope to still be that cool at that age (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 May 2010 18:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Switched On: A new spin on external hard drives, part twoEach week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
Last week's Switched On laid out the
basics behind GoFlex, Seagate's new system of interoperable connectors and docks that leverage a sturdier-than-stock SATA connector separate external storage from the connecting interface. With USB 2.0 nearly universal, Seagate has the burden of explaining why consumers should buy into GoFlex.
The system does have advantages. You can pick up a GoFlex drive assured that it will work with most computers via the bundled USB 2.0 connector cable, upgrade to eSATA or FireWire 800 for faster speed today, and then to USB 3.0 as you acquire a computer that uses that connector. Adapters start at about $20, which is what one might spend on a decent new enclosure for upgrading the old-fashioned way, and Seagate claims that separating the drive from the physycal interface will enable it to sell less expensive external drives that come without any connector. Still, by the time most people spend between upgrading their PCs, they might want to simply start over with a higher-capacity drive that will be compatible with the latest and greatest connector anyway.
Continue reading Switched On: A new spin on external hard drives, part two
Switched On: A new spin on external hard drives, part two originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 May 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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webOS App Catalog, Palm Developer Center down leaving 'install failed' messages in their wake Just a day before the
Pre Plus launches on AT&T, current Palm owners are experiencing all kinds of problems related to the App Store and their Palm Profiles. Reports indicate the problems started last night, since then users haven't been able to download new apps or update existing ones from the catalog, while those unlucky enough to have tried a reset have had trouble signing back into their Palm profile in the cloud, and have lost some information like call logs and had to resync their various accounts in webOS. The Palm Developer Website is also down, tossing a "back in a few hours" sign in the window and going out for a few afternoon mimosas. For now,
PreCentral posters recommend taking the device off of network time and resetting it to any day prior to today which will allow apps to install and update without issue. A post on the official Palm blog indicates things should be back to normal "soon" so AT&T customers can hopefully avoid any date/time trickery just to get their Foursquare checkins going.
Update: Palm says everything
should be back to normal. Phew. Thanks, Marcio!
[Thanks, William]
webOS App Catalog, Palm Developer Center down leaving 'install failed' messages in their wake originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 May 2010 16:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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44 Chinese workers sue Wintek over screen cleaner poisoning If you've got an early
Apple iPad, chances are its screen was cleaned with a banned substance called n-hexane, which releases a toxic nerve gas upon use. 2,000 workers at Wintek's East China LCD plant
went on strike in January, claiming the substance was poisoning them, and now 44 of those reportedly affected are planning to sue. According to reports, the screen cleaner was originally used because it performed better than alcohol, but Wintek has since fired the factory manager who suggested n-hexane and discontinued its use. That didn't keep 62 workers from winding up in the hospital, however.
The Guardian interviewed two hospitalized workers last week, and you'll find their stories at our more coverage link below. We're sure you'll agree these
Chinese labor violations are getting out of hand -- let's hope this lawsuit spurs government and industry to do something concrete about worker abuse.
44 Chinese workers sue Wintek over screen cleaner poisoning originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 May 2010 16:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Leaked Windows Phone 7 ROM filename suggests an HTC Mondrian? The lads and lassies at
XDA-Developers made an intriguing discovery this week: a leaked 100MB file that might be the first
Windows Phone 7 ROM actually destined for a device. What's more, it could possibly reveal details about a phone we
barely knew existed -- the filename references an "HTC Mondrian." At best, the contents might reveal wonders beyond imagination, including full specs, bundled apps, even the tools needed to
properly shoehorn WP7 onto your existing HTC handset. At worst, the community might never open the blasted file, or discover it's all a clever hoax. There's really no indication either way, so we prefer to dream. If you think you've got what it takes, try cracking the ROM yourself (registration required) at our source link.
Leaked Windows Phone 7 ROM filename suggests an HTC Mondrian? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 May 2010 14:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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