You are currently browsing entries tagged with the keyword device
Electronic Putting Trainer »
Finally, the ultimate putting machine has been made.
The Electronic Putting Trainer is a new device that uses infrared sensors to detect the speed and direction of each putt you send into it.
With a high-tech computing system, the machine offers you instant feedback on each putt and, thankfully, automatically ounces the golf ball back to you [...]
webOS 1.3.5 for Palm Pre starts rolling out – Still no video recording. »
Pre-toting people around the Internets have been hoping and praying that Palm would add video recording support to the Pre ever since the device launched. When Palm’s CEO Jon Rubinstein mentioned that webOS 1.3.5 would be hitting the Pre in just a few days, people started getting antsy; surely this would be the one that brought video, right? No such luck. While it does fix a handful of issues (most importantly, they’ve upped the number of apps you can have installed at once), the lack of video isn’t one of them.
Urdu, Arabic, whatever: It’s all the same to Infinity Ward in Modern Warfare 2 »
You would have been foolish to assume that Modern Warfare 2 would treat foreign cultures with any sort of reverence. First there was the rubbish accents in the Rio de Janeiro level(s). Then there was “ No Russian ,” which, well you know what happened there. Now there’s this: there’s Arabic all over the Karachi multi-player level . Why is this an issue? Oh, only that Arabic isn’t spoken in Pakistan (Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city). No, Arabic is not a main language of Pakistan. Realistically, there’s no reason why the Modern Warfare 2 representation of the game should be littered with Arabic language signs. And yet it is so! The country has two official languages in Urdu and English . Urdu, like many other languages, in written using the Arabic alphabet . You know, just like how English and Italian and Spanish and German and French are all written with the same alphabet ( the Latin alphabet ) but are completely different languages . Same thing with Urdu and Arabic: just because they both use the same script doesn’t mean they’re the same language. Not if you’re Infinity Ward, I guess. Now, is this is big deal? To most people no, it patently isn’t, but you’d think big budget games like Modern Warfare 2 would try to be as authentic as possible. How dumb would it look to be playing a game set in Paris with all the street signs in Dutch or Swedish ? I mean really. More importantly, what would we do without Wikipedia?
Nook shipments pushed back again? Nearly impossible to cancel orders? »
We just got a troubling tip from a concerned Nook buyer. I say buyer because he still hasn’t received his Nook. He ordered the Barnes & Noble ebook reader on November 12 and the device was originally supposed to ship on November 30th. But you may recall that date was pushed back to December 11th Frustrated by the delay, he successfully completed the cancellation process on BN.com only to get an email several hours later that stated his order cannot be canceled because it “has entered the shipping process” even though according to B&N’s own website, the Nook will not ship for another three days. Now that’s some bull. The Nook is hot and rightfully so with the dual-screen setup and Android hackability , but this is not the way to treat early adopters. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising and you want these people on your side. Hopefully there is a plan to compensate the folks whose orders have been constantly pushed back. Even a free e-book credit might be enough for some to forget the frustration. B&N clearly has a problem here. The last few Nook stories that have popped up have all been about delayed shipments and limited availability . The retail market will not even get the device until early next year . But we haven’t heard anything about the Kindle not shipping on time despite the device being the most popular item sold on Amazon.com. Just saying.
This Archos 9 tablet gives Win7 the finger, turns to Google Chrome OS »
Apparently someone took the very new Archos 9 tablet and installed the early build of Google Chrome OS on it. Here are the pros and cons from where I sit. Pros: The quick startup time and the bragging rights as the first one to install Chrome OS on the device. Cons: Chrome OS doesn’t support the touchscreen, nor have an on-screen keyboard so you’re kind of tied to a keyboard and mouse. [ Flicker via SlashGear ]
You’re not actually buying a star with the International Star Registry, you know »
We’ve started to receive a few e-mails from the International Star Registry saying the usual “name a star after your loved one for the holidays.” I just wanted to remind you that while naming a star after your honey bunny is cute and all, and may well make for a romantic gesture, you really ought to know that doing so is, in the eyes of the scientific community, not exactly official. There’s only one internationally recognized organization that can name stars. It’s called the International Astronomical Union . These are the guys who name all the celestial bodies, including stars. Normally the names aren’t anything flashy like “Dorothy” or “Rose” or “Blanche” or “Sophia” but rather are a combination of numbers and letters that describe their location. The International Star Registry clears up any star-ownership misconceptions you may have with this: We do not own the star, so we cannot sell it to you. This is like adopting the star. This star is associated with that special someone. It is something you can point at to know that there is something special out there for you. So paying to name a star is tantamount to pointing to a mountain or a pretty flower and telling your gal, “Let’s name this mountain Gigantor.” You literally could buy a cheap telescope, point out a random star, and say, “Hey, from now on we call that star Stephanie.” It holds just as much weight in the scientific community as an International Star Registry-named star. Fun? Sure. Actual science? Nope.
Weaponized strollers aren’t for sale… yet? »
Do you have a baby? If so, do you also happen to live in a post-apocalyptic neighborhood? I bet it’s tough to wield a machine gun with one hand while pushing a stroller with the other, huh? You may be the perfect candidate for a weaponized stroller. It’s just too bad that they’re not actually for sale but, as with most products, if there’s enough of a demand then they’ll probably make it to market. For now, though, these Rugrats-meets-Mad-Max strollers can be seen as part of an art exhibition in Milan, Italy. They were designed by Chinese artist Shi Jinsong, a man who probably doesn’t realize what a potential hit he has on his hands. shi jinsong gun shape baby carriage [Designboom via Geekologie ]
Twitter App for the Zune HD: It works, but it’s buggy and censors tweets »
Oh now this is exciting. Microsoft released a Twitter application for the Zune HD a few moments ago, and I’ve been tasked with testing it out for your edification. Spoiler: it works, it’s buggy, and I can’t see the sense in using it. Installation was not easy. Oh, sure, loading up the Zune software and navigating to the appropriate section was simple enough, and syncing the application was as expected, but my Zune HD wouldn’t connect to the Internet for whatever reason. An error message popped up saying “Disconnect your Zune HD from the computer before trying to connect to a wireless network.” To that effect, at least. (Strike one.) Well, Mr. Zune software, I’m holding the device in one hand and the USB cable in another. The Zune, in fact, is disconnected from my PC. This is not how to get on my good side, especially as I was interrupted watching Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk I to test you out. Moving on. Once the Zune HD stopped freaking out, I was greeted by a simple username and password screen. You log in there. Up top there’s four icons: a little man which gives you your timeline; an @ symbol that threw up the error “Oops, something went wrong. We can’t load this data due to an external error. Please try again shortly.” (Strike two.) It loads all the tweets that mention your name; a heart icon that I don’t know what it does because it says “Unfortunately, there is nothing to display here.” (Strike three.); and then a mail icon for all your DMs. Along the bottom there’s icons for writing a tweet, searching tweets, and for fiddling with the application’s settings. Let’s see what happens when I try to send a tweet. Well, the tweet went out, but once again I ran into the “external error” happened. (Strike four.) (External to what, by the way?) On twitter.com, all my tweets read “from Zune HD,” which links to zune.net. Usability: limited. I can’t type for beans using the Zune HD’s onscreen display, but that could well be a function of me exclusively using the device as a music player and I’m not used to it. T9 tries to help you out but it can only help so much. I don’t understand the point of the app either, other than to say, “See, we have a Twitter app!” But since the Zune HD only connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi, how is it any more useful to use the clearly glitch Zune app to tweet when you can, I don’t know, use a real computer or one of those iPhone or BlackBerry or Android apps? It doesn’t make any sense to me. Oh, and it censors tweets. (The tweet in the main photo up there is supposed to read: Bret Hart is coming back to WWE according to dave meltzer fuck yes!) No bad words to be found on the app, and there’s no setting to uncensor tweets. Why? How many little kids use Twitter (on a Zune HD, no less) that Microsoft had to go out of its way to censor tweets? Dumb. In conclusion: it’s buggy and there are far more practical ways of accessing Twitter.
Behold: The Nexus One Boots Up »
The leaks continue to hit the web about the Nexus One, aka “The Google Phone.” Here’s the latest: The booting up of the device on video. Enjoy. Also, here’s apparently the official logo.
158-lens camera sets new Guinness Record »
A camera developed at the Nagoya Institute of Technology has been certified by Guinness World Records to sport the most lenses in the world. The device has no less than 158 lenses. Associate professor Yojiro Ishino and his students built it to capture images of a swaying flame from as many angles as possible. It took the team a total of six months to finish this monster. The lenses are attached in four rows on the body of the device, which is 7.2cm high and 47cm in diameter. Each lens costs $2.10. The camera can also shoot 3D pictures of a flame by using CT technology. It received the Guinness certificate on November 24 already (but was on the news in Japan only today). Via Sankei News [JP]