CrunchGear |  |
- Full-Size, Target-Tracking TF2 Sentry Gun Installed At Valve HQ
- Navy’s “Mach 7″ Railgun Fires A Round At 33,000 Megajoules
- Help Identify A Guy Who Stole Game Consoles From A Children’s Cancer Ward
- Physical Avatars For MP3s May Be The Vinyl Of The Future
- Sony’s New Flexible E-Paper Looks A Lot Like Their Last Flexible E-Paper
- Video: Constructing A Working NES Coffee Table
- Leaked Blizzard Roadmap Shows Release Dates For… Pretty Much Everything
- Motorola Tablet Spied And Specced?
- Review: Neato XV-11 Robotic Vacuum
- Denver Post Sues Drudge Report For Copyright Infringement Of Linked Photo
- LG’s Wallet Friendly, Android-Powered Optimus One Breaks 2 Million Sales
- OH SNAP! That “Exploding” Droid 2 Totally Didn’t “Explode” At All
- Our Favorite Things: Super Mario All-Stars Special 25th Anniversary Edition
- Hacked Gingerbread ROMs Begin To Trickle Out For Rooted Handsets
- Latest Kinect Hack Takes Your Air Guitar Fantasy To A Whole New Level
- UFC.com To Stream GSP-Koscheck 2 Prelims For Free
- The Phone x Phone Docks Your iPhone With A Classic Handset
- Formula One Adds ‘Green’ Engines From 2013 Season
- Video: Deus Ex: Human Revolution Will Make Your Day Better
- My Week With The iPod Nano Watch
| Full-Size, Target-Tracking TF2 Sentry Gun Installed At Valve HQ Posted: 10 Dec 2010 07:10 PM PST
It seems Valve commissioned them to make the thing, and they’ve really come through. It’s solid metal, tracks you across the room, and makes a little noise. Or maybe it actually fires, just not lethally, since it’s just a level one turret. Now they need to order one of the Portal sentries and have it give you a guilt trip when you when you walk by. [via Technabob]
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| Navy’s “Mach 7″ Railgun Fires A Round At 33,000 Megajoules Posted: 10 Dec 2010 06:56 PM PST
We’ve seen railguns and coilguns before, of course; you can even make your own. But the muzzle velocity of those projectiles is at most subsonic, and likely much slower than that, considering the amount of power they use. The navy’s gun? Yeah, the projectile can be going as fast as Mach 7 out of the gate. That’s, what, somewhere around 5,000MPH?
The projectile itself must be made of special materials so that it doesn’t melt due to air friction. With the right targeting and prediction tools, the navy is hoping to be able to hit targets up to 100 miles away. 100 miles, guys. And it’s hugely less expensive than firing, say, a Tomahawk missile or two. AND it gets there faster! Maybe it’s a specifically masculine phallic impulse that makes us want to destroy distant objects, and if it is, I have no problem with that. Whatever makes more railguns. [via CNET]
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| Help Identify A Guy Who Stole Game Consoles From A Children’s Cancer Ward Posted: 10 Dec 2010 05:28 PM PST
If you can’t help, don’t forget that games like these are often provided by Child’s Play, so hopefully we can do a little good to counteract this guy’s actions. [via HardOCP]
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| Physical Avatars For MP3s May Be The Vinyl Of The Future Posted: 10 Dec 2010 04:45 PM PST The need for a physical representation of your media is one mainly rooted in nostalgia. For all we talk about the need to “own” a movie or piece of music, and how an actual token of it is better, the fact is we’re moving away from that world and those of us older than 20 are having trouble letting go. That’s what you call a demographic. And this C60 concept, as unlikely as it is that it will ever be made, is a great cross between the good old analog libraries we’ve loved and the convenient digital libraries we crave.
Basically you have little cards, each with its own RFID tag, and you stack or scatter them on a receiver (with a vinyl look to it, naturally) to have them added to the playlist, played now, or shuffled. It’s a great idea, although I don’t think it’ll make it to market. Right now it’s little more than a render and a prototype. But the idea is there. And I think something like this will make it, because people like actually touching their media. I’ve never liked Apple’s CoverFlow or the Zune method of browsing — a milk crate full or records, or a stack of CD cases, is an experience unto itself. [via Gizmodo]
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| Sony’s New Flexible E-Paper Looks A Lot Like Their Last Flexible E-Paper Posted: 10 Dec 2010 04:20 PM PST
It’s possible that this one is more flexible, or uses a different substrate, or is the updated Pearl e-ink display, but if you ask me, they’re just showing off the same old thing and pretending it’s new. Usually I leave that to Nintendo, heyooo!
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| Video: Constructing A Working NES Coffee Table Posted: 10 Dec 2010 03:51 PM PST
It’s quite a major project, as you might guess, since it actually plays NES games and all the buttons function. The wiring probably wasn’t that hard, but setting up the buttons with the springs and everything looks like a difficult job. In the end, it’s stunningly well-replicated. Even the back is perfect. You can actually buy this thing when it goes up on eBay on December 19th. I’ll repost it then if I remember. [via Gearlog]
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| Leaked Blizzard Roadmap Shows Release Dates For… Pretty Much Everything Posted: 10 Dec 2010 02:00 PM PST
As you can see, there are updates to Battle.net coming, including a “Map Market,” which is probably for selling extra maps as DLC. Starcraft 2 is getting its expansions and a “Phoenix” version (probably a standalone thing) in late 2011, then another in 2012. Diablo 3, as we know, is getting its release in late 2011. My god, why did they announce it so early?! And then you’ve got an expansion a year later, and a second a year after taht. WoW is getting its expansions, one a year, plus a card game (relevant) and potentially a movie in 2012. Then there’s the mysterious “Titan,” thought to be Blizzard’s next big MMO. It would coincide with the final expansion for WoW; you’ll notice there are no plans for more content after 2013. [via GamesRadar and SlashGear]
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| Motorola Tablet Spied And Specced? Posted: 10 Dec 2010 01:15 PM PST
The posts at a Chinese forum seem by someone claiming to have gotten a hands-on also drop some spec bombs. There will be a 10″ version and a 7″ version; the former is probably what we saw Rubin using, though 10″ at 16:10 looks smaller than 10″ at 4:3 for some reason. The processor is the dual-core Tegra 2 T20, not a common chip, but very capable. The model the guy looked at had 32GB of internal storage, a 2MP camera on the front, and a 5MP camera on the back. And yes, thank god, there’s a MicroSD slot. There will be UMTS, CDMA, and LTE versions of the device, apparently, which of course points at Verizon, but I’m sure there will also be a wifi-only version, and that’ll be the one I go for. [via Engadget]
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| Review: Neato XV-11 Robotic Vacuum Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:57 PM PST Short Version: Didn’t want to review the XV-11 as it’s about a year or so old by now and I found this absolutely horrible infomercial for it on their site. That’s two strikes right off the bat. But I’m here to tell you that the Neato is a pretty cool little robotic vacuum that may out-Roomba the Roomba in some respects. This $399 robotic vacuum uses “lasers” to map rooms automatically and then it creates an orderly plan for cleaning the floor, resulting in considerably faster clean times – about four times faster than the two Roombas I have. Because the Neato “knows” the shape of the room, it also creates those fancy straight vacuum lines on the rug that lets your guests know without a shadow of a doubt that you organize your toilet paper in neat little rows in your linen closet. Other than the speed, this vacuum is as good as the Roomba. It has a fairly large dirt reservoir but it does not have a bristled brush, instead depending on a comically loud fan that looks ready to suck the polyurethane off of your hardwood floors. However, because of this powerful vacuum you can get a little more dirt out of carpets than you would normally, which is excellent. We’re a Roomba family so it was hard to really fall in love with the blocky, weird upstart. However, once we saw it start up, map the room, and wend its merry way across the floor, I was a convert. The large LCD on the top is an improvement over Roomba’s UI paucity. My mom, who has been clamoring for a robotic vacuum for years, was able to start it and run it without trouble. It also took corners well thanks to its angular shape. One warning, however: you can’t move anything in the room while the Neato is doing its business because it will become confused and agitated. My mom kept on lifting it up, thinking it was like a dog that needed guidance. Other than that, it’s a robotic vacuum like all others and we’re in a sad place these days when robotic vacuums are ho-hum boring. If you need more info, BotJunkie does a good job of comparing the Neato and the Roomba. Bottom Line
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| Denver Post Sues Drudge Report For Copyright Infringement Of Linked Photo Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:45 PM PST
The Denver Post has sued the Drudge Report—still one of the best link repositories—for copyright infringement. Normally, who cares, right? Well, Drudge might care, being that he'll be stuck in the legal system one way or another for a little bit now, but us non-aligned folks? No matter. But that's not quite the case now, given the lawsuit's nature. Since when is linking to a photo copyright infringement? The Post claims that by using a photo, which just so happens to link to the article where the photo appears, Drudge willfully violated their copyright. And if that's the case, then Drudge owes quite a lot of people quite of lot of money, since that's how he does things. In fact, that's pretty much how everyone does things. I dare you to find a big site out there that doesn't regularly use other people's photos with a link. Instead you'll see something like "photo via this dude's Flickr account," etc. Perhaps more prickly for Drudge is that the company handling the lawsuit, Righthaven, has tried to seize entire domain names in the past for similar offenses. The funny thing is, I'd wager the Denver Post's site saw more traffic as a result of the Drudge link that they'd had for quite some time. And this is how they thank him!
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| LG’s Wallet Friendly, Android-Powered Optimus One Breaks 2 Million Sales Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:23 PM PST
After launching around the world and on just about every carrier in the US, it took the LG Optimus One just 40 days to crash through its 1 millionth sale. Less than 25 days after that, it’s gone and kicked things up a notch: according to LG, they’ve just sold their 2 millionth unit. Read the rest at MobileCrunch, and we’ll count to 2 million together >>
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| OH SNAP! That “Exploding” Droid 2 Totally Didn’t “Explode” At All Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:04 PM PST
Remember last week, when some dude went on FOX4 claiming that his Droid 2 “popped” next to his ear, raining a hellstorm of glass and fury that required a doctor and a sewing needle to patch back up? Remember how dubious we were? Remember how everyone on the Internet was like “LOLWHUT. That’s not how exploding phones work. Dude probably dropped it.” GOOD JOB, INTERNET! Looks like you were right! Read the rest at MobileCrunch, where cell phones only explode with free candy >>
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| Our Favorite Things: Super Mario All-Stars Special 25th Anniversary Edition Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:03 PM PST
It’s hard out there for a plumber and for 25 years Mario and his brother have been smashing turtles and taking names. While I’m not a huge fan of the modern games, All-Stars includes SMB 1, 2 and 3 as well as a special DVD/soundtrack called Super Mario History 1985 – 2010. Inside you’ll also find a booklet recapping recent Mario history plus instructions on giving yourself the same cramps you used to get when playing with original NES gamepad. Pick this up for the non-gamer in your life and spend a little time with a game that defined a generation. Plus $30 for a Wii game with limited edition DVD isn’t too bad.  
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| Hacked Gingerbread ROMs Begin To Trickle Out For Rooted Handsets Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:02 PM PST
Want to test out Gingerbread, but don’t want to wait for your carrier/manufacturer to get on the ball and push out an update? We can do that. Or, I should say, the incredibly dedicated Android hacking community can do that, largely thanks to the open-ish nature of Android. Google releases Gingerbread source, the lovely modders do their thing, and whalah! You’ve got Gingerbread on your handset, long before you otherwise might. Such is the case for the 9 different Android handsets that have gotten the Gingerbread treatment — but be warned, these are early, early days. You know your favorite feature? Yeah, that one that does all the stuff and the things? Probably doesn’t work yet. Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>
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| Latest Kinect Hack Takes Your Air Guitar Fantasy To A Whole New Level Posted: 10 Dec 2010 11:48 AM PST Forget Minority Report-type actions on the Kinect. That’s for business types. Hells no. Jamming out to some Clapton on a Kinect air guitar is where the real fun is had.
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| UFC.com To Stream GSP-Koscheck 2 Prelims For Free Posted: 10 Dec 2010 11:00 AM PST
A friendly tip to all the UFC fans in the crowd. Spike TV won’t be showing the preliminary fights from tomorrow’s GSP-Koscheck II event. But worry not! UFC itself will show the fights for free on ufc.com. Dana White has said in the past that he see Internet pay-per-view as the future (it’s already making inroads with services like GoFightLive), and this is just one more step in that direction. Note that only the prelims are free on ufc.com, and that if you want to see the main card you’ll have to cough up the $50 like everyone else. One thing I’ll never understand: why is it that HD versions of pay-per-views cost $10 more than SD versions? Is UFC still paying off the credit cards it used to buy their HD cameras? How many UFC fans, when given the choice, will actually watch an SD feed? I don’t even know what an SD UFC feed looks like anymore.
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| The Phone x Phone Docks Your iPhone With A Classic Handset Posted: 10 Dec 2010 10:30 AM PST
Well, sort of. It’s available here in a few colors, but it might be a pain getting it to the states. If nothing else, enjoy this video demo of what’s just out of your reach. via Dvice
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| Formula One Adds ‘Green’ Engines From 2013 Season Posted: 10 Dec 2010 09:30 AM PST
Formula One’s governing body, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), has committed the sport to "improving sustainability." As such, starting with the 2013 season all F1 cars’ engines will have to meet new, dare I say greener criteria. Namely, engines will shrink in size from 2.4 liters to 1.6 liters and will go down from 18,000 rpm to 12,000 rpm. All this works out to a 35 percent reduction in fuel consumption. And in non-tech F1 news, it looks like team orders are coming back in a big, big way next year. Too little, too late for Ferrari. At this point I’d mention the new Lotus team, seen here, but then no one would have any idea of what I’m talking about. I hardly understand the situation, and I’ve read article after article on the subject.
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| Video: Deus Ex: Human Revolution Will Make Your Day Better Posted: 10 Dec 2010 09:00 AM PST The game is due to come out early next year, and having seen it in person once or twice now, yeah, it should be a grand adventure. It’s about as close to the Deus Ex spirit as you can expect. The only way it could be any closer is if you watched Blade Runner for the hundredth time.
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| My Week With The iPod Nano Watch Posted: 10 Dec 2010 08:40 AM PST
When the first iPod Nano watch straps appeared on the scene in September, I was non-plussed. I’ve seen plenty of wrist-mounted MP3 players, phones, and other junk to understand that anything you wear on your wrist and still have to connect a pair of headphones to is bad news. In general, you look goofy and feel goofier. But there was something about the Nano watch. Maybe it was because Apple made it abundantly clear that this wasn’t a watch. They made it hard to read the time – you have to press a button every time you want to see the clock – and they added a clip to suggest you should strap this to your jacket and not your wrist. But by gum I wanted to try the Nano watch. Not content with the fit of that solution and not foolish enough to buy a custom iPod Nano watch band made of diamonds, I looked to some of the ready-made solutions. The first one that caught my eye seems to work the best. It comes from iWatchz and you simply slide your iPod Nano into it and lock it into place. This model has the metal actually touching your wrist, which could be a problem for some with allergies and will definitely ruin the surface over time. However, for $25 you basically have a watch that turns into an iPod and that won’t fall out while performing vigorous activity like exercising or breaking rocks in the hot sun. The TikTok and Lunatik models are similar in design except that these keep the watch safe and secure with bolts and screws. Obviously it’s hard to get these right now since they don’t exist, but they are another option.
The real question, however, is whether the iPod Nano makes a good watch. It does and it doesn’t. If you’re a watch geek, stay far away. This thing is like the the LED watches of old in that you need to press a button to see the time. If you like Tokyoflash watches however, you may be able to survive. Sadly, even when you press the button the time appears after a second or two and in analog form. To Apple’s credit, they did give the clock a sweep second hand so you can feel like you’re wearing an Omega but the face itself isn’t very readable as the pips are rather small on the chapter ring – watch nerd talk for the “dots are too tiny so you can’t tell where the hands are pointing.” I would totally pay for a “change your clock face” app, although many have made it clear that the Nano isn’t a real iOS device. Wearing the watch for a week was an unusual feeling. I couldn’t check it at night without fumbling for the button and I couldn’t shower in it like I do my Seamaster (which you’re not supposed to do anyway, but I’m a risk-taker). People loved looking at it but the joy was short-lived. If you’re trying to peacock with this, I wouldn’t. The ladies will probably consider you a big freak instead of a “cool guy with an iPod watch.” Otherwise, it’s good fun. Generally, if you want to wear a cool, high-tech watch, you could do worse. Please, however, take it off when you want to listen to music. Thanks.        
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