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- 158-lens camera sets new Guinness Record
- Imagine there is inter-species robot love
- The WatchKomrade show takes on the Buran Stingray
- Japanese department store offers robots that look like their buyers
- Dear AT&T: If your network is so great, why don’t you marry it?
- Nexus One, The Google Phone, Captured In The Wild (Pictures)
- EU considering limiting media player output to 85dB
- Cerevo Cam: A digital camera that automatically uploads pics to the web
- CrunchGear Week in Review: Landscape Portrait Edition
- Sunday Giveaway: Monster Miles Davis Headphone Pack
| 158-lens camera sets new Guinness Record Posted: 14 Dec 2009 04:02 AM PST
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]
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| Imagine there is inter-species robot love Posted: 14 Dec 2009 01:23 AM PST
It’s easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only a Chinese Thomas the Tank Engine knock-off. Imagine no possessions except for Optimus Prime. And then mate the two robots to get baby Thomas. Yeah. WTF. Listen: I have no idea what is going on here or why this was sent over our transom, but the thought that there are people out there who dedicate their lives to trying to mate transforming robot toys is worth a post. Happy Monday.
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| The WatchKomrade show takes on the Buran Stingray Posted: 13 Dec 2009 11:46 PM PST I’ve been lax in my coverage of Russian watches lately. Most Russians do not have, how you say, very high quality but they have lots of features and plenty of style. This “style,” if you want to call it that, came about in WWII and is very similar to the old-timey Cartier Pasha. Those bars are to keep the crystal from blowing up under water. This watch has an ETA 7750 movement modified to remove the chrono parts. Apparently this watch was made in Switzerland, a move by Buran to lend a little credibility to their brand. If you’re in the market for a watch, take a look at the Russians.
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| Japanese department store offers robots that look like their buyers Posted: 13 Dec 2009 09:41 PM PST
We all knew this day would come and we all knew this would happen first in Japan. And local department store chain operator Sogo & Seibu is ready to make it possible: You can soon buy robots who look exactly like you. Right, life-size humanoids. The company isn’t that sure about its idea though as it plans to offer just two robots for the time being. Sogo & Seibu says they’ll start accepting orders in all of their department stores in Japan as soon as early next month. But if there are three or more people interested in getting a robotic doppelgänger, buyers will be chosen by lot. The robots are made of silicone and will be able to move their upper body. In addition, they’ll be able to “speak” to some extent (with your recorded voice, needless to say). The robots will go on sale for $225,000 each. They’ll be manufactured by Kokoro, a company that caused a minor sensation with their realistic Androids that gave directions to visitors during the Aichi Expo in 2005. One of their robots appeared in a Japanese TV commercial last year. The picture above shows one of these “Actroids”, but the final design of the department store robos is unknown at this point. Sogo & Seibu’s PR stunt is part of the highly competitive sales promotion campaigns Japanese stores come up with for the winter holidays. Via Sankei News [JP]
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| Dear AT&T: If your network is so great, why don’t you marry it? Posted: 13 Dec 2009 09:37 PM PST  The Gruber does it again. In a point by point analysis of Randall Stross' article about AT&T not really sucking and actually being great, he points out a few valuable concepts. First, if the iPhone sucks so much on AT&T's network, why hasn't AT&T made Apple fix it? Unless AT&T is so afraid of Steve Jobs' hit squad that it refuses to point out that it needs better hardware, I think this is all AT&T.
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| Nexus One, The Google Phone, Captured In The Wild (Pictures) Posted: 13 Dec 2009 09:27 PM PST  Apparently, Googlers aren't supposed to be tweeting the details of the Google Phone, but they have no problem tweeting about how awesome it is. And they also apparently have no problem showing it off. And not surprisingly, pictures of the device are starting to hit the web. Without further ado, this is it. Cory O'Brien, a San Francisco-based blogger, got his hands on one tonight and tweeted out that picture. He also notes that, "Google Phone = iPhone + a little extra screen and a scroll wheel. Great touch screen, and Android."
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| EU considering limiting media player output to 85dB Posted: 13 Dec 2009 07:37 PM PST
First, they have better things to do. I know the “children are starving in Africa” argument is a tired one, so let’s be a little more specific. If you’re willing to spend so much time and money on such a silly issue, why not spend some time and money on securing consumer goods against hackers and botnets? Or organizing a task force to take down spammers? Second, if consumers are turning up the volume so high that it damages their ears, that’s their problem. Yes, it really is. Third, even if they do succeed in legislating a maximum output level from the players, the market will circumvent it instantaneously. I guarantee that if this legislation goes through, within a month or two of the first compliant players coming out, there will be tiny amps available to put on your headphone cords that simply increase the volume of the sound. And new headphones would have them integrated. This legislation will probably go through, though I’d guess 100dB will be the number they choose, just because it’s big and round. Once that’s done, a very slight adjustment to gain in headphones will make things exactly as they were today. Luckily there’s someone sane who will hopefully intervene in the proceedings: Martin Callanan, who is on the Committee considering the legislation. He says:
Thank you, Martin.
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| Cerevo Cam: A digital camera that automatically uploads pics to the web Posted: 13 Dec 2009 12:41 PM PST  An easy to use digital camera that automatically uploads pictures to various websites without using a USB cable, a memory card reader or Eye-Fi? If that's something you've always wanted, the Cerevo Cam, made by Tokyo-based startup Cerevo [JP], might be the right device for you. After months of development work (the camera was completely designed from scratch and in-house), the shoot-and-upload camera is finally available in Japan. To recap, the big idea here is to simplify the process of uploading and sharing pictures online. Cerevo Cam users can send pictures directly from the device to the corresponding photo management site (dubbed Cerevo Life), mail addresses or to a number of web services - even when the camera is turned off (a feature that Eye-Fi doesn't offer). The so-called "Networked Camera" detects Wi-Fi spots and transfers pictures automatically without you needing to take it out of your bag. You can choose at which time(s) the upload should take place or initiate this yourself from the menu. The auto upload function, probably the most important feature, worked flawlessly during my test (Cerevo gave me a sample for a few days). Alternatively, you can use a 3G modem with it (to be connected through USB).
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| CrunchGear Week in Review: Landscape Portrait Edition Posted: 13 Dec 2009 11:34 AM PST |
| Sunday Giveaway: Monster Miles Davis Headphone Pack Posted: 13 Dec 2009 10:00 AM PST
Boobledee ooh ooh woo woo ha lala! We’re coming at you with a fancy Monster Miles Davis Headphone pack. The kit includes Monster Miles Davis Tribute Jazz In-Ear Headphones, three albums, and a sassy print. Take the A train past the jump to figure out how to win.
All you’ve got to do is comment. We’ll pick a winner on Tuesday.
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