This hat is how we roll. And we beat down any fools wearing this Optimus Punkass cap:
Toy Fair is the annual event where we get to completely regress back to childhood and check out all of the awesome toys coming out for the rest of the year. And well, we love toys.
There are things Man was meant to do and there are things Man wasn't meant to do. Putting a spycam inside a Barbie, for instance? Such can only unbalance the subtle harmonies of nature in perverse ways.
Essentially a Flip cam shoved into an adiposeless torso cavity, the Barbie Video Girl Doll can record up to 30 minutes of footage through her concealed necklace before playing it back through an LCD embedded in her trapezius. Meanwhile, a mini USB hub, fit in Barbie's lower back, creates what's most likely the closest rendition to an anatomically correct Barbie we've seen yet.
Barbie Video Girl Doll will run $50 when she's put on sale this July. Tragic hilarity will follow from later summer into fall. [ChipChicklets via OhGizmo!]
Note: The headline was compliments of intern David Chaid.
Before Windows Phone 7 was even an embryo of a concept, Windows Mobile was king: It powered nearly half of smartphones in use, a led the industry in features. Then, in 2007, things started to go wrong. Very, very wrong.
Silicon Alley Insider has charted Windows Mobile's platform share, which is to say the proportion of users who were using it at a given time, over the last four years. For showing decline, figures like these are more telling than sales—they mean that, for years now, people haven't been buying Windows Mobile phones nearly as fast as they've been ditching them.
More interesting than what it shows is what it projects: Windows Mobile 6.x phones have been collectively kneecapped by Microsoft's announcement yesterday, and rendered spectacularly unbuyable outside of enterprise circles. In other words, that line—the one that dragged down past RIM in 2008, and that dropped past Apple last year—is going to keep plunging for the rest of this year, until Windows Phone 7 tries to haul it back up. And until then, it's only going to get steeper. [Silicon Alley Insider]
We've seen Segways built partly from Legos before, but a Segway built entirely from the Legos in a standard NXT 2.0 set? That's something special.
What's particularly cool about the NXT Segway is how it balances itself: instead of using a gyro sensor, it leans on the NXT Color Sensor in light sensor mode to detect its angle relative to the ground. It's controllable via Bluetooth, and has that certain Wall-E-esque feel that makes me feel all fuzzy inside. Complete instructions to make your own are riiiiiggghhhht here. [NXT Programs via The NXT Step via Make]
I'm not one of those people who ever figured out the secrets of the original Rubik's Cube, so it was with some trepidation that I tried out the Rubik's Slide, the newest take on the classic toy. It was hard.
Instead of a cube, the Techno Source Rubik's Slide is a thick slab with only one face. You'd think that reducing the number of blocks to keep track of from 54 to 9 would make things easier, but the slide provides its own unique challenges: the top of the slab can be slid up, down, left, or right to nudge the colored blocks in that direction or it can be twisted to rotate the blocks into a new orientation. When blocks get nudged over the edge, they pop back on the other side, like the tunnels in Pac Man.
It's confusing when you try to explain it with words and only slightly less so when you see it demonstrated in action:
To play, you press a "check" button that displays a solution and then try to rearrange the blocks into that configuration. Not all of the blocks are lit at once—the less you're managing the easier—and you can play against the clock or just see how many solutions you can rack up. As they're solved, the puzzles give you more blocks to slide into the correct place.
My spatial reasoning isn't the strongest, and even though my brain didn't understand exactly what I was doing, I still managed to figure out a couple of the easiest puzzles after only a few seconds of playing with the toy.
Whereas last year's Rubik's TouchCube seemed like all of the frustration of the original with none of the tactile satisfaction, the Slide's sliding feels pretty pleasing in your hands and keeps you wanting to fiddle even when your mentally spent.
The Rubik's Slide packs over 10,000 puzzles and will be available soon for $17.99 [TechnoSource]
Toy Fair is the annual event where we get to completely regress back to childhood and check out all of the awesome toys coming out for the rest of the year. And well, we love toys.
Oh Saturn, you keep being the prettiest planet of them all. Even while Cassini crosses your orbital plane, and your rings become proportionally thinner than a razor blade.
The photograph was discovered by Spanish amateur Fernando García Navarro, from the raw stream of images sent by the Cassini spacecraft in 2005. Awesome, in the actual meaning of the word.
Windows Phone Series 7 is here, and it's like nothing we've seen from Microsoft—or anyone else—before. But how does it measure up? And where does every other smartphone OS stand?
If you want to skip the gallery format, click here.
The third major release of the iPhone's software, and the second since the platform got its App Store, iPhone OS 3.x has succeeded on the strength of simplicity, intuitiveness and a tremendous selection of applications. It serves as the basis for the OS that will ship with the new Apple iPad.
Available: June 2009
Open Source/Free: No
Multiple Handset Manufacturers: No
Multitasking: No
Multitouch Interface: Yes
Browser/Engine: Safari/WebKit
Video Recording: Yes
Upgrades: Sync/Patcher
Syncing Software: Yes
App Store Size: 100k+
App Sideloading: No
Jailbreaking/rooting: Yes
Flash Support: No
In just over a year, Google's Linux-based Android OS has gone from a rough-edged software experiment to a smartphone powerhouse, running atop some of the most powerful hardware available. Version 2.1 is the software platform for Google's own first phone, the Nexus One. Android phones vary in both hardware configurations and software versions, but are generally increasing in popularity.
Available: October '09
Open Source/Free: Yes/Yes
Multiple Handset Manufacturers: Yes
Multitasking: Yes
Multitouch Interface: Yes
Browser/Engine: Chrome/WebKit
Video Recording: Yes
Upgrades: Over the Air
Syncing Software: No
App Store Size: 20k+
App Sideloading: Yes
Jailbreaking/rooting: Yes
Flash Support: Within six months
Palm's webOS represented a complete reboot for the company, whose aging Palm OS found itself outpaced by more modern, finger-friendly offerings from Apple and Google. At the core of the OS is a novel multitasking system, with which users can cycles through apps, or "cards." Another webOS selling point is the deep integration of social networking directly into the OS, and an emphasis on messaging.
Available: June '09
Open Source/Free: No/No
Multiple Handset Manufacturers: No
Multitasking: Yes
Multitouch Interface: Yes
Browser/Engine: webOS/WebKit
Video Recording: Coming soon
Upgrades: Over the Air
Syncing Software: No
App Store Size: 1400+
App Sideloading: No
Jailbreaking/rooting: Yes
Flash Support: Within six months
RIM is known for issuing frequent updates for its mobile OSes, but they are minimal, and at heart, BlackBerry OS 5 is deeply similar to its early, decade-old predecessors. BlackBerry OS is inclined towards messaging—its inboxes feature prominently—with web browsing and apps as secondary focuses. RIM's recent success with the consumer (as opposed to enterprise) market shows they've taken pains to improve the usability and aesthetics of the OS, though its corporate roots still show through.
Available: November '09
Open Source/Free: No/No
Multiple Handset Manufacturers: No
Multitasking: Yes
Multitouch Interface: No
Browser/Engine: BlackBerry/Proprietary (WebKit forthcoming)
Video Recording: Yes
Upgrades: Sync/patcher/over the air
Syncing Software: Yes
App Store Size: 3k+
App Sideloading: Yes
Jailbreaking/rooting: No
Flash Support: Within six months
Windows Mobile 6.5 is the last predecessor to Windows Phone 7 Series, and it will coexist with WP7 for the foreseeable future, as a bridge for corporate customers. Its basic design and codebase harks back to the early 2000s, and while it featured multitasking, copy and paste and a significant number of 3rd party apps well before the iPhone or Android did, WinMo failed to keep up with its competitors. Even with version 6.5, which added new, finger-friendly interface elements and an app marketplace, success was not to be. Despite its successor's seemingly related name, this is the end of the road for the WinMo OS.
Available: October '09
Open Source/Free: No/Licensed
Multiple Handset Manufacturers: Yes
Multitasking: Yes
Multitouch Interface: No
Browser/Engine: Internet Explorer/Trident
Video Recording: Yes
Upgrades: Sync/Patcher
Syncing Software: Yes
App Store Size: Under 500 1000+, depending on handset
App Sideloading: Yes
Jailbreaking/rooting: No
Flash Support: Yes
Windows Phone 7 Series is a total revamping of Microsoft's mobile strategy, drawing more on design philosophy of the Zune HD than of Windows Mobile. The interface is designed primarily for touch input, and eschews icon grids and menus for a series of paneled hubs. The unreleased OS features deep integration with Xbox and Zune services, as well as a completely new app store.
Available: Holiday '10
Open Source/Free: No/No
Multiple Handset Manufacturers: Yes
Multitasking: No, probably! (With possible exceptions.)
Multitouch Interface: Yes
Browser/Engine: Internet Explorer/Trident
Video Recording: Yes
Upgrades: TBD
Syncing Software: Media
App Store Size: TBD
App Sideloading: TBD (Unlikely)
Jailbreaking/rooting: TBD
Flash Support: TBD (Probable)
The Star Wars universe is basically infinite, but out of thousands of stories, the original trilogy is still the heart. So I'm really excited Hasbro's 2010 toys focus on Empire for its 30th anniversary, down to vintage figure packaging.
None are quite as epic as this hulking AT-AT, but the Boba Fett helmet and vintage Vaders are gems.
HASBRO STAR WARS'™ 2010 TOY LINE CAPTURES THE EXCITEMENT AND ADVENTURE OF POPULAR STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS ANIMATED SERIES
Hasbro Also Celebrates 30th Anniversary of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK? with Dramatic Re-Imagining of Iconic AT-AT VehiclePAWTUCKET, R.I. (February 12, 2010) - The FORCE remains strong at Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) which continues to bring all the action, battles and fantasy of STAR WARS to life with a full array of toys and games. In 2010, STAR WARS fans can celebrate the launch of the third season of the highly-rated STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS animated series with toys that replicate the battles between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. This year, Hasbro also commemorates the 30th anniversary of fan-favorite Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back with toys, special packaging and promotions that recreate the excitement fans experienced when the film stormed into theaters "a long time ago."
2010 is the year of the LIGHTSABER! Kid-favorite villain GENERAL GRIEVOUS, introduced initially in the live-action films and prominently featured as the villain in the STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS animated series, has put his own twist on the noble weapon of the JEDI by spinning multiple LIGHTSABERS simultaneously. Utilizing completely new technology, the new STAR WARS GENERAL GRIEVOUS LIGHTSABER allows kids to have the power of the dark side warrior's signature move by spinning two LIGHTSABERS in one hand.
Stomping onto the scene in 2010 is the new STAR WARS AT-AT (All Terrain Armored Transport), which captures the size and power of this seemingly impenetrable Imperial vehicle prominently featured in Episode V. Hasbro's design team packed this vehicle with a mind-blowing array of features! Large enough to hold up to 20 action figures (sold separately) inside, the exceptionally detailed vehicle features LED lights, authentic movie phrases, projectile-firing cannons, a deployable speeder bike, and even a retractable zip-line in its belly to recreate one of LUKE SKYWALKER's signature scenes from the movie. Despite YODA's declaration in the movie that "size matters not," fans will agree that this largest-ever ?AT-AT vehicle is a great way to bring home the action from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
The mysterious Boba Fett played a key role in the original STAR WARS trilogy, firmly establishing him as a favorite villain for generations of fans. For the first time ever, kids can pretend to be this legendary bounty hunter with the new BOBA FETT HELMET, which features key phrases from the STAR WARS trilogy and includes a light-up tracking scope.
STAR WARS BOBA FETT HELMET
(Approximate Retail Price: $34.99; Ages: 4 & up; Available: August 1, 2010)
Show off your bounty hunting skills like Boba Fett, the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy, with the
STAR WARS BOBA FETT HELMET. Impressively designed and styled, the STAR WARS BOBA FETT HELMET allows children to pretend to be their favorite bounty hunter as featured in both the movie THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and the new animated series STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS. The helmet also features electronic sounds and phrases and a light-up tracking scope!STAR WARS R/C MILLENNIUM FALCON?(Approximate Retail Value: $49.99; Ages: 8 & up; Available: Fall 2010)?Han Solo once bragged that the Millennium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs…and now fans can give it their best shot with the all-new STAR WARS R/C MILLENNIUM FALCON! For the first time ever, the MILLENNIUM FALCON – the most beloved and iconic STAR WARS ship of all-time – is available as an indoor flying remote control vehicle. Measuring an impressive 11 inches long and 8 inches wide, the largest flying STAR WARS R/C to date is highly detailed, easy to fly and includes a charging controller and vehicle battery for up to five minutes of flying time.
STAR WARS HAILFIRE DROID R/C VEHICLE
(Approximate Retail Price: $59.99; Ages: 8 & up; Available: August 1, 2010)
A Separatist droid's value in battle is based on two factors: firepower and aggression. And with the
STAR WARS HAILFIRE DROID R/C VEHICLE, you have both! The first STAR WARS R/C vehicle to be offered in the 3 ¾ inch scale, this powerful droid vehicle is armed with 18 projectile-firing cannons that can be fired from the handheld remote to take on opponents from a distance. Sensitive remote-controlled handling makes this droid great for flips, stunts and taking down the 3 ¾ inch clone army. Between its versatile maneuverability and high-fire power, no galactic army should be without it! 3 ¾ inch CLONE TROOPER action figure included.STAR WARS GALACTIC BATTLE GAME
(Available: August 1, 2010)
STAR WARS fans, prepare to battle your friends in head-to-head action and unlock the hidden powers of your favorite action figures. In 2010, a wide selection of Hasbro's STAR WARS 3 ¾ inch action figures will include the all-new STAR WARS GALACTIC BATTLE GAME. Each figure is packaged with a competitive gaming base, a unique battle attributes card and a die to play the game, allowing kids to interact with their STAR WARS action figures in a whole new way. Game on!Fans can collect the GALACTIC BATTLE GAME components with STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS 3 ¾ inch ACTION FIGURES, STAR WARS SAGA LEGENDS 3 ¾ inch ACTION FIGURES, STAR WARS
DELUXE FIGURE AND VEHICLES and STAR WARS BATTLE PACKS.STAR WARS 3 ¾ INCH VINTAGE ACTION FIGURES
(Approximate Retail Value: $7.99; Ages: 4 & up; Available: August 1, 2010)
In 2010, Hasbro is taking STAR WARS fans back to "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" with 28 STAR WARS 3 ¾ inch VINTAGE ACTION FIGURES. The selection includes all-time favorite characters from throughout the six-film Saga, such as LUKE SKYWALKER, 4-LOM, DENGAR and HAN SOLO. Each of the figures in this assortment will feature the exceptionally accurate design and superb articulation customary to Hasbro's action figures, and they will be offered in packaging reminiscent to that of the original 1978-1984 STAR WARS packaging!Additionally fans are also encouraged to collect five of the marked figures in the new vintage lineup to send away for their very own "Rocket Firing" BOBA FETT action figure, identically styled after the 1980 mail-away figure.
GALACTIC HEROES AT-AT PLAYSET
(Approximate Retail Price: $39.99; Ages: 3 & up; Available: August 1, 2010)
The youngest STAR WARS fans continue to enjoy action figures inspired by the Republic and Empire thanks to Hasbro's wildly popular GALACTIC HEROES lineup. And now, children can celebrate the 30th Anniversary of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK with the GALACTIC HEROES AT-AT PLAYSET! The largest vehicle ever introduced in the GALACTIC HEROES toy line features electronic lights and sounds, poseable legs, a speeder bike and AT-AT DRIVER figure.STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS R2-D2 IS IN TROUBLE GAME
(Approximate Retail Price: $14.99; Ages: 5 & up; Available: Spring 2010)
Usually C-3PO needs help and R2-D2 comes to the rescue, but this time, the roles have been reversed with the R2-D2 IS IN TROUBLE GAME. This is the classic game of TROUBLE featuring a new fun STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS twist and R2-D2 is in the pop-o-matic bubble. Includes authentic R2-D2 electronic sounds.
Toy Fair is the annual event where we get to completely regress back to childhood and check out all of the awesome toys coming out for the rest of the year. And well, we love toys.
Windows 7 Media Center and Boxee each has its own strengths, and now the Boxee Integration App gives you access to both with minimal hassle.
It's a Windows Media Center plug-in that's simplicity itself to use. Just click on the Boxee option in the WMC main menu to close WMC and open Boxee, and when you're done watching your content just close out to automatically bring up WMC again. Even better: the switch can be made with your remote, so you never have to leave your La-Z-Boy.
You can get it as a free download now from here, but know that it's only compatible with Windows 7 and, sadness, won't work on your Xbox. [Boxee Integration App via Lifehacker]
Over the last several months, Wired has been reimagined with depth and motion for tablets in a new digital product called Wired Reader. Here's a demo of the experience, and it's a definite feast for the eyes/fingertips.
Teaming with Adobe, Wired built this new rendition of their magazine (due this summer) through Air, which offers compatibility to both Android and Apple mobile platforms as well as Macs and PCs.
Well, sort of.
The catch, of course, is that while Wired Reader can be packaged into its own Air runtime app to load on the iPad, Apple doesn't have to allow it (for reasons of security, stability or, well, whatever grumpy reasoning Apple comes up with). Also, the demo you see here is seamlessly smooth, and this fluidity is a huge flavor component to this visual candy. Whether or not the content will be so jitter-less on either the iPad or any stock Android tablet is still an unknown (especially as some iPad animations tended to stutter during our hands on, without any Air go-between).
Those caveats aside, I do think Wired Reader looks fairly exciting. So which magazine do you prefer, the paper version or the tablet version? [Wired via Business Insider]
What happens when a dude gets kicked in the hangin' brains by an MMA fighter and American Gladiator? Well, when he's a crazy "combat expert" who's taken hundreds of nutshots, not what you think.
Apparently, this Roy Kirby guy has been hit in the balls so many times that they've toughened up and also given up on telling his brain that it hurts. Good for him? It was all worth it for them to be able to show that kick about 200 times in a five minute video. [GammaSquad via Gawker]
For this week's Photoshop Contest, I asked you to come up with more derivative services Google had in its pipeline. And here's hoping Googmodo becomes a reality; I want to eat at the Google Cafeteria!
First Place—Zacqary Adam Green
Second Place—Cliff De Roode
Third Place—Eaton Jonah
Next month, nine Verizon smartphones with accompanying 3G plans will be able to make unlimited Skype-to-Skype calls, as well as call out to regular phones internationally at a reduced rate. UPDATE
UPDATE: However, it appears the service is pretty gimped as you can't call Skype out to regular lines domestically in order to save minutes. Even on AT&T (of all carriers), the fring iPhone app allows Skype-out calling (even though the Skype app still technically does not). When Verizon allows domestic Skype-out, we'll celebrate in full.
VERIZON WIRELESS AND SKYPE JOIN FORCES TO CREATE A GLOBAL MOBILE CALLING COMMUNITY
New Skype Mobile Product for Verizon Wireless Smartphones Brings More Value to U.S. Mobile ConsumersBARCELONA, Spain; BASKING RIDGE, N.J., United States; and LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg – At the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Verizon Wireless and Skype today announced a strategic relationship that will bring Skype to Verizon Wireless smartphones in March. The new Skype mobile™ product enhances Verizon Wireless' smartphones for users who have data plans by offering a new way to call around the globe, while also giving hundreds of millions of Skype users around the world the opportunity to communicate with friends, family and business colleagues in the United States using Verizon Wireless.
The two companies have created an exclusive, easy-to-use Skype mobile offering for 3G smartphones. Verizon Wireless 3G smartphone users with data plans can use Skype mobile to:
· make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype user around the globe on America's most reliable wireless network;
· call international phone numbers at competitive Skype Out calling rates;
· send and receive instant messages to other Skype users; and
· remain always connected with the ability to see friends' online presence.
Initially, Skype mobile will be available on millions of best-selling Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones with data plans, including the BlackBerry® Storm™ 9530, Storm2™ 9550, Curve™ 8330, Curve™ 8530, 8830 World Edition and Tour™ 9630 smartphones, as well as DROID by Motorola, DROID ERIS™ by HTC and Motorola DEVOUR™.
John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless, said, "Skype mobile on Verizon Wireless changes the game. For Verizon Wireless' more than 90 million customers, Skype mobile adds great value because we're effectively giving customers with smartphones and data plans the option to extend their unlimited calling community to hundreds of millions of Skype users around the globe. And you're not limited to using a single type of phone; we'll have nine smartphones ready right at launch in March."
Josh Silverman, chief executive officer of Skype, noted, "People want to take their Skype conversations with them wherever they go, whether it's on a PC, TV or increasingly mobile phones. Verizon Wireless will give U.S. consumers the best Skype experience on mobile phones and will truly change the way people call their friends and family internationally."
Customers interested in learning more about Skype mobile for Verizon Wireless smartphones can visit http://www.verizonwireless.com/skypemobile. Additional information about the service will be available next month.
Visit http://www.verizonwireless.com for more information about Verizon Wireless or follow the company at http://twitter.com/verizonwireless. Learn more and download Skype at http://www.skype.com or follow the company at http://twitter.com/skypemobile.
The Sony Dash reminded us mostly of a really nice Chumby when we got to play with it at CES. Now when Dash launches in April, it'll be a really nice Chumby that streams Netflix from your Queue.
The device has a 7-inch touchscreen and provides access to over 1,500 apps from the Bravia Internet Video platform and from Chumby. Today Sony also announced that eHow, Golflink, and Livestrong.com will be providing content for the Dash, but the big news is the streaming of Netflix movies and TV shows. Just touch the Netflix icon on the display and you'll be taken to your Queue, from which you can select your content of choice.
A Personal Internet Viewer ain't a tablet on the order of the iPad or Notion Ink Adam, but having Netflix on board does make the Dash an appealing content-delivery device—especially for its $200 price tag.
Sony 'dash' Personal Internet Viewer to Feature Movies and TV Episodes Streamed Instantly from Netflix
eHow, Golflink and LIVESTRONG.COM also join Sony's growing dash platform
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ — Sony today announced that its new dash™ personal Internet viewer will feature a dedicated application for Netflix, allowing Netflix members to instantly watch thousands of movies and TV episodes directly on the unit.
Additionally, Demand Media, Inc. has confirmed that its service offerings, eHow, Golflink and LIVESTRONG.COM will be added to the expanding content lineup.
Sony's dash personal Internet viewer wirelessly delivers the real-time Internet to any room of the home or office by providing always on, sequential display of over 1,500 apps from Sony's Bravia™ Internet Video platform and the chumby industries, inc. personalized content channel.
Further, the new dash device has the ability to stream online music videos, television, or film content on-demand. It features a vivid 7-inch color touch screen and multiple viewing angles: upright, ideal for a table or nightstand; and tilted, perfect for a countertop, keeping its users connected, informed, and entertained without the need for a PC.
"We're continuing to develop innovative products that bring online music, news, video and more into our customers' homes in real time," said Brennan Mullin, senior vice president of Sony Electronics' personal imaging and audio business. "By adding content from Netflix and Demand Media to our dash product, Sony is giving consumers a new, convenient way to enjoy some of the highest quality entertainment and most useful information available on the Internet today."
Movies and TV episodes streamed instantly from Netflix can be easily accessed through a Queue-based user interface, in which choices from a Netflix member's Queue will be automatically displayed when the Netflix icon on the device is touched.
From Demand Media, eHow is a leading how-to resource with a thriving online community dedicated to providing people with the ability to research, share and discuss solutions for life's everyday projects. eHow brings thousands of instructional, professional and high-definition videos to the dash platform.
Designed to help golfers of all ages and skill levels improve their game, Golflink provides hundreds of its valuable instructional golf videos from world class coaches such as Hank Haney and Jim McLean as well as hole-by-hole golf course flyovers.
LIVESTRONG.COM is a partnership between Demand Media and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF), and is home to 2.1 million registered members who share a passion to lead a healthy, active lifestyle. The channel offers hundreds of videos from topics such as healthy food choices and treating injuries to instructional videos on sports and fitness.
Sony's dash personal Internet viewer will be available this April for about $199 at http://www.sonystyle.com, Sony Style® retail stores and a variety of authorized dealers nationwide.
Almost a year after the FCC first announced their National Broadband Plan, some new details have started to emerge. Specifically: A "100 Squared" plan to give 100 million households 100Mbps broadband. Just for starters.
Of course, there's only so much of that process that's actually in the FCC's control, which is why the agency's chairman gave Google a shout out in his presentation for their plan to deploy 1Gbps fiber internet to 500,000 lucky souls. But there are some steps the FCC can and will take to encourage broader, faster broadband adoption:
· A recommendation for improving the highly successful E-Rate program — which made Internet connections in America's classrooms and libraries a reality — so that kids and teachers can have a 21st century educational experience that is the envy of the world.
· A recommendation to modernize the FCC's rural telemedicine program to connect thousands of additional clinics and break down bureaucratic barriers to a telehealth future.
· A recommendation to take the steps necessary to deploy broadband to accelerate a smart grid.
· A recommendation to develop public/private partnerships to increase Internet adoption, and ensure that all children can use the Internet proficiently and safely — with programs like NCTA's new A+ program playing a helpful role.
· A recommendation to free up a significant amount of spectrum in the years ahead for ample licensed and unlicensed use.
· A recommendation for lowering the cost of broadband build-out — wired and wireless — through the smart use of government rights of way and conduits.
· A recommendation for creating an interoperable public safety network to replace the currently broken system.
If that seems general and vague and imprecise, well, that's because it is. Getting US broadband up to speed is going to be a huge undertaking, and it's not going to happen any time soon. But just seeing the intent there is an incredibly important first step. Now it's a matter of implementation. [FCC via Electronista]
I can think of a thousand reasons why I'd want to transform my car into a Russian tank and only one why I wouldn't (that, for some reason, my car was already a Russian tank). [Automotto via DVICE]
While the piano is pretty straightforward as far as instruments go, it won't teach you how to read music. The Noteput makes written music tangible, as you just place the note you want to play.
The Noteput powers on automatically when you place the treble clef on the table (sorry bass clef fans), and simple playback controls allow you to hear your creation once or loop it for a better understanding of the measure. Instead of touch-sensitive controls, the Noteput employs simple camera-based marker tracking, which identifies each wooden note as well as its position on the staff.
Yeah, it's nothing that can't be done more space efficiently with any PC midi software, but using a mouse is so much less fun than playing with toys. [Noteput via Likecool]
HP has developed an inertial accelerometer that's so sensitive, it can detect a change in the position of its center chip of less than one-billionth the width of a human hair.
The sensor is part of HP's unfortunately named CeNSE (Central Nervous System for the Earth) program, whose aim is to build a "planetwide network" of tiny sensors to measure anything and everything about the environment. It's the first prototype in the CeNSE project, and it's safe to say they're starting off on the right foot:
Hartwell's device is sensitive enough to "feel" a heartbeat. The source of that sensitivity is a 5mm-square, three-layer silicon chip. A portion of the center wafer is suspended between the two outer wafers by flexible silicon beams. When the chip moves, the suspended center lags behind due to its inertia. A measurement of that relative motion is used to calculate the speed, direction and distance the chip has moved.
While the larger CeNSE project may have environmentalist overtones, the first practical application is going to be from oil behemoth Shell. They'd like to use the sensors to detect pockets of oil, allowing them to drill more efficiently. Eventually, HP hopes to move to "city-level" projects that digitally capture what the five senses do—and in some cases, what they can't. And when they finally stuff that sucker in a Wiimote, Super Smash Bros. will never be the same. [HP via Fast Company]
Technology does so much to bring us together, it'd be a shame to let language keep us apart. VoxOx is the first to overcome that hurdle, with a free real-time translation tool that lets you chat seamlessly in dozens of tongues.
The VoxOx Universal Translator is basically a social Babel Fish, built into VoxOx's communications software. As you can see in the demonstration video, if you input the language of the person you're communicating with over SMS, IM, email, or select chat services (such as Facebook), VoxOx automatically translates both ends of the conversation for you.
Only one person needs to be using the service for it to work, so you won't have to convince your new friends in Minsk to download random software. In fact, you can pretty easily convince them that you're a native speaker as well.
It's one of those services that seems so inherently useful, it's a wonder that it's only just now a reality. But since it is, buena suerte making friends around the world.
VoxOx First to Introduce Real-Time Language Translation for SMS, Chat, Social Media and Email in One Interface
VoxOx Universal Translator instantly and seamlessly breaks down language barriers in mobile and electronic communication
BARCELONA (MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS) and SAN DIEGO – February 16, 2010 – VoxOx® by TelCentris®, the first and only free consumer service that unifies today's key communication channels - voice, video, IM, text, social media, e-mail, fax and file sharing - into a single user interface, today announced the launch of the VoxOx Universal Translator™, the first translation service to be natively built into a communications software, enabling seamless, real-time conversations. The VoxOx Universal Translator is also the first service in the industry to provide instantaneous foreign language messaging translation across four major communication channels – text messages (SMS), chat (IM), email and select social media networks. The service supports dozens of major languages, and only one person has to be using VoxOx to have a two-way translated conversation.Announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the new free service makes it easy for two people who speak different languages to instantaneously communicate back and forth via SMS, IM and email. VoxOx users can also automatically translate and broadcast their Twitter @replies (public messages directed to specific users), as well as hold two-way translated chat conversations with social networking friends on Facebook and MySpace. Users simply opens up their VoxOx Universal Messaging Window (chat window within VoxOx client), select their language as well as their contact's language, and then begin sending text and chat messages, emails or Twitter @replies to anyone in the world. The Universal Translator instantly translates the messages for both parties in dozens of major languages. All language settings are customizable by individual contact and automatically stored in the cloud for future conversations. The service is completely interoperable with major instant messaging services, including Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live, AIM, ICQ, Skype and GoogleTalk.
"Never before has it been so easy for people of different languages to communicate instantaneously," said Bryan Hertz, CEO of TelCentris, the creator of VoxOx. "We expect this innovation to help friends, relatives and business colleagues better communicate and connect with each other."
VoxOx is the first service of its kind to fully address the instant communication needs of international audiences. Consumers previously were required to cut and paste messages using online translation web sites and translation "bots," or download clunky, client-specific plug-ins that both parties have to install. Translation has been particularly challenging in two-way SMS conversations, especially for older phones without an Internet connection or applications. With its built-in live translation option spanning four communication channels, VoxOx has advanced its relevance within the international community, while providing a seamless user experience.
"The VoxOx Universal Translator breaks down language barriers and has important business implications as well – for example, providing better customer support, or communicating with colleagues, partners and business contacts in another country and another language," said Michael Faught, president of TelCentris. "We look forward to the global feedback on this service. We are very excited and proud to launch this new capability for our users worldwide at such an international venue as the Mobile World Congress."
The VoxOx Universal Translator is just one capability of the overall VoxOx service, which Computer Shopper recently named the Best Software / Service at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Currently in beta, VoxOx also provides users with a free phone number; two-way texting; video conferencing; integrated social networking and chat; fax and file sharing capabilities; a free personal assistant for helping answer, manage and screen calls; and much more.
For more information on the VoxOx Universal Translator, please visit http://www.voxox.com/whats_new.php. To download the free VoxOx software, please visit http://www.voxox.com.
Boys love three things: sports, spies, and cryptozoology. At least that's what Fisher-Price is banking on with their new remote control Big Foot, an expressive monster that can sleep, somersault, and stomp with the best of 'em.
Big Foot comes with a foot shaped remote that controls its movement as well as its emotions, including buttons that make him happy, angry, or sleepy. Each button has several routines, so Big Foot won't always be the same kind of angry when you mash on the big, kid-friendly angry button. His different states of contentment are displayed with grunts, shrugs, and movable facial features including his nose, eyes, and eyebrows.
Some of the functions can even be stacked; you can make Big Foot sleep—he lays down on his back with his big feet up in the air—and then press "angry" to give the monster a bad dream. When it's time for him to wake up, his long arms allow him to himself up with a backwards somersault.
Big Foot will be available in June for $100, if he doesn't go back into hiding.
Toy Fair is the annual event where we get to completely regress back to childhood and check out all of the awesome toys coming out for the rest of the year. And well, we love toys.
