Hardware Beyond the Hype
XM has announced that they have released a new satellite data information service that will provide traffic information to vehicle navigation systems.
Acura and GM have already announce that they plan to include systems which use the service in some of ttheir 2005 models.
via SpaceDaily
Motorola’s got a great looking new phone coming out that will be one of the most robust on the market. The E680 will sport a 240×320 color screen capable of both landscape and portrait modes. In landscape mode the d-pad on the left of the unit can be used for gaming and the buttons on the top simulate something like a Playstation controller. The E680 also plays back MPEGs and MP3s, and can support up to 2 gigs of memory on an SD card. The sound system is pretty unique too — it includes a subwoofer that lets you literally feel the music. Of course it’s a cell phone too, with GPRS and an integrated 640×480 camera. It’s Linux-based and supports Java/J2ME as well, so there’s lots of potential for expanded use of this happy little gadget.
removed under protest
In case you missed any of the testimony at the 9/11 hearings, the recordings are available for free from Audible. Multiple hours are available from each of the major players. Clark has edged out the lead in the reviews with a 4.4 rating, beating Rumsfeld’s 4.3 by a hair.
Video recordings of the hearings can also be found at C-Span, though they are available only in the Really Annoying and Relatively Mediocre formats.
Archos has got a great new device in the works: the AV500, which will combine the companies innovative PVR functions (playing and recording of video and MP3) with DivX playback and a new PDA functionality. The MP3/MPEG/DivX recording and playback will handled by the hardware converters and recorded on the 40-80 gig hard-drive. The PDA features will be powered by Qtopia, a full graphical interface/PIM suite that has been used on several Zaurus and iPaq modded units. No word yet on price. More details from Brighthand.
As you may have read, Gateway is closing all of their retail stores this Friday. This means awesome prices on new clearance merchandise in the stores. I just picked up their 20 gig iPod-alike for $169 (normally $299), and the Gateway Connected DVD player was only $86. All other accessories were similarly marked down – cameras, burners, PLASMA TVs, etc.
VisitorVille is a website administration tool that essentially converts your traffic data into a mini SimCity — visitors to the website arrive in buses representing the search engine that brought them to your site, buildings represent the number of pages you have and the little visitors go into the buildings as they visit different pages. Of course, there are a lot of power features as well, showing a full range of data about individual and groups of visitors. I like the idea a lot, since it communicates real-time information about your own site in a way that is as easy to understand as watching a crowd.
Someone has finally figured out how to get the Sony Playstation EyeToy to work as a webcam, and it seems to be a pretty simple process: download a driver from D-Link, modify it a bit, and plug in the EyeToy to install the driver.
Note: Make sure to read the directions. It’s a simple process, but you need to edit the files differently depending on the seriel number on the EyeToy. Read the forums linked on the mod page to make sure you get it right.
Via Gizmodo
Nice review of my book, Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Building Robots on an Aussie PC User’s Group site.
