Posts Tagged ‘into’
Dell’s Project Ophelia will turn any HDTV into an Android computer this May
Author: Buck Howard
Dell introduced Project Ophelia to the world at CES back in January, and now it’s revealed shipping timeframes for the Android-powered MHL stick. Ophelia will ship in May to developers, with cable providers and telecoms able to buy it in July. A consumer release will follow shortly thereafter. When it does ship, the tiny device (about the same size as a portable USB stick) will convert any HDMI-ready display into an Android computer. Naturally Google Play is built right in, so you’ll have access to your entire library of Android software. Essentially, Project Ophelia is what you make of it; it can act as a portable gaming console much in the same vein as Ouya. Or you can go the set-top box route and stream content from Netflix, Hulu, and…
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Insert Coin: Connectify Switchboard bonds all your internet connections into one
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In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.
When we last saw Connectify, it had brought their Dispatch internet combining software to Kickstarter and proceeded to double its goal and launch the product into market. However, customers using it said they wanted more the the web browsing and BitTorrent streaming speed-ups it provided, and were looking for so-called connection aggregation tech that’d allow quicker video streaming, VPN access and Skype calls, too. As a result, it has just launched Switchboard, a cloud based app that combines all your connections but appears as only one IP address.
To realize that, the company needed to build new software from scratch and put together a network of cloud servers across the world. The result is a “channel bonding” system that Connectify claims will speed up all your online activities: Dropbox or SkyDrive uploads and downloads, Google Hangout video conferencing and video streaming from the likes of Netflix and Vimeo. A quick test on our end showed that it worked fairly seamlessly despite the apparent complexity of the system as a whole, requiring just a simple software installation and two or more internet connections. We also noticed that our IP address appeared as that of the server we were connected to instead of our local address, which could be a bonus for those trying to access their US internet from abroad. The company’s goals are a bit loftier this time around, as it’s looking for $ 100,000 over the next month or so, with early adopters able to opt in starting at $ 50 per year. If you’d like to see if you can finally grab those HD options on YouTube, hit the source for more info.
Filed under: Networking, Internet, Software
Source: Connectify (Kickstarter)
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AK-47 Turned Into Fully Functional Golden Guitar
Author: Stacey Cook
This is the AK-47 that guitar maker Jimmy DiResta turned into a fully functional guitar for Wycleaf Jean. It carries a powerful message. One about…Haiti? Okay so maybe I don’t know what the message is, or if there even is one. Not everything has to make some sort of social or political statement you know. I like how there’s a little mini-guitar on the gun’s magazine, that was a nice touch. The gold paint? That was a Midas touch. HAHA, SOMEBODY COME SMASH MY F***ING HANDS WITH A HAMMER SO I CAN’T TYPE ANYMORE.
Hit the jump for a worthwhile time-lapse of Jimmy building the guitar — it really is pretty impressive.
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Insert Coin: $250 Casetop turns your smartphone into a laptop (video)
Author: Tech Blogger
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.
We keep hearing about how handheld devices are replacing laptops, so how about doing it literally? Casetop just launched a laptop-style dock on Kickstarter that you can plug your smartphone into, turning it into the processor, graphics engine and trackpad of a “laptop.” In return, the dock will give you an 11.1-inch 720p display, full-sized keyboard, stereo speakers, HDMI input, MHL video input, dual-mode MicroUSB, audio output and “always-powered” USB for charging other devices. Unlike similar offerings such as the still-unshipped Clambook (or Motorola’s ill-fated Lapdock) the Casebook uses the handset as a trackpad, and the creators say that it won’t be device-specific, working instead with a large number of smartphones from Apple, Blackberry, Samsung and others. Of course, it needs to meet the lofty $ 300,000 funding goal for all that to happen, but if you’re optimistic, hit the source to plop down your $ 250 minimum pledge.
Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops
Source: Casetop
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Swatch Automates Movement Assembly, Pushing Watchmaking Into The Third Quarter Of The 20th Century
Author: JohnnyBells
While I kid a bit in the headline, this is actually pretty cool: Swatch, the largest manufacturer of mechanical watch movements in the world, has created a movement that is assembled entirely using automated systems. Why is this important? The watch industry was originally gutted by the rise of cheap quartz watches, making this piece quite ironic, and this means that more people will be able to own higher quality mechanical watches from a trusted brand.
The movement, called the Sistem51, is made of 51 simple parts and has a weight that winds the mainspring. It is made of a copper, nickel and zinc alloy called ARCAP and is anti-magnetic. It’s completely sealed inside the case (making it impossible to service) but a fact that ensures it can stay out of moisture and dust. Another cool thing? Quoth Hodinkee, who got a hands on, “instead of a regulator the special escapement is set by a laser during production and never needs to be touched again.”
Sure, the Sistem51 is basically a plastic watch that costs a little over $ 100 and will be sold at airports around the world. However, it is an impressive step forward for the company at a time when mechanical watches are making a resurgence. Swatch has been making mechanicals for a while, to be clear, but this is the first time they’ve reduced the price, manufacturing cost, and maintained quality in this way. While it’s easy to get much cheaper movements online (a tourbillon for $ 24, anyone?) it’s far harder to find a solid, high quality mechanical movement from a trusted brand.
It’s great to see some affordable watches come out of Basel this year and this is definitely step forward in terms of nanomechanics.
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Lumu Is A Digital Light Meter For Photographers That Plugs Into Your iPhone & Tells You What Camera Settings To Use
Author: Jade Kim
Meet Lumu: a digital light meter for photographers that plugs into the iPhone’s headphone jack as a smaller and smarter replacement for traditional analogue light meters. It’s used in conjunction with Lumu’s app — being demoed in prototype here at hardware alley at Disrupt NY – to help photographers figure out the best camera settings for their current location.
Lumu is not going to help you take better photos on your iPhone — it’s a tool for standalone cameras that have ISO, aperture and shutter speed parameters that can be manually set. The startup, which hails from Slovenia in Europe, plans to kick off a Kickstarter funding campaign in about a month. The Lumu device will cost $ 99.
“It’s the world’s smartest light meter,” says co-founder Benjamin Polovic. “The existing light meters are large, bulky and very expensive. With Lumu, the main processing is done on the iPhone, so we use the iPhone’s power. It also doesn’t use any batteries, it’s powered from the iPhone.
“You take your iPhone or your iPod and plug it in and it’s going to recognise it, and it sets all of the parameters for your unique environment. So you put in your ISO that you use in your film or your digital camera, the aperture you want to use and then it calculates the time.”
The photographer then needs to manually input the suggested settings into their camera but Polovic says the group is thinking about making a Bluetooth dongle so settings can be wirelessly sent to a digital camera. “We’re excited to get some ideas from Kickstarter when the campaign launches,” he added.
As well as showing the light level and exposure value for the current lighting conditions, the app lets users store pre-sets for individual geotagged locations so they can easily revisit them later. It will also include an auto mode, and a filter-style feature that will tell users how to achieve effects such as bokeh (background blur).
Polovic said Lumu’s hope is to inspire more people to start digging down into their camera settings. ”We love photography, we want to make it better, we want to introduce it to people who don’t necessarily know how to use cameras because they are quite complex. We want to make it simple,” he says.
The startup has been developing Lumu for about four to five months, according to Polovic. Down the line, it plans to launch an SDK so developers can create other apps using the light sensor — giving the example of an app that wakes the iPhone’s owner when it starts getting light, for instance.
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European M-Payments Startup SumUp Partners With Revel Systems, An iPad POS Provider, For Its Push Into Europe
Author: Stacey Cook
SumUp, one of the many European mobile card reader startups targeting small businesses — and taking advantage of Square’s continued absence to acquire users and build out a business — has taken another step designed to expand its reach by announcing a partnership with Revel Systems, a maker of iPad POS software.
Revel Systems provides iPad-based tills to more than 1,000 chain stores and restaurants throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia and Saudi Arabia but it’s aiming to expand into Europe, hence the tie-up with SumUp. After launching last August, SumUp has now rolled out to 10 European markets.
Revel Systems will be using SumUp’s API, which it made available in fall last year, to process debit and credit card and cash payments in Europe. In other markets the company uses payment gateway USAePay, and says it can also integrate directly into Mercury Payment Systems.
In Europe the SumUp mobile payments app will come pre-loaded on Revel Systems tills and users will also get SumUp’s black card reader — which plugs into the iPad to take card payments. The partnership won’t bear instant fruit for SumUp on the customer acquisition front but as and when Revel Systems builds up its customer base in the region, SumUp will also make gains.
Commenting on the tie-up in a statement, Lisa Falzone, CEO of Revel Systems, said it chose to partner with SumUp to offer flexibility to its retail customers — but did not specify what it offered over and above other European mobile payments startups such as iZettle and Rocket Internet’s Payleven.
“SumUp’s technology is aligned with ours because it’s lightweight, secure, and speedy. SumUp is a natural partner for us,” she said. “We’re always looking to forge new partnerships with those businesses that aim to enhance the overall customer experience. Our users are also certain to appreciate the easy SumUp sign-up process and pay-as-you-go billing. We’re looking forward to working with SumUp as we expand to new markets.”
As with the myriad mobile payments players targeting small businesses, SumUp does not charge a monthly fee to businesses using its system but rather takes a 2.75% per card reader transaction charge. SumUp accepts Visa, Mastercard and recently added support for Amex in the majority of its markets.
The Revel Systems tie-up is not SumUp’s first b2b partnership aimed at building out its business. The company has previously announced partnerships with German taxi hailing app Taxi.de and an odd job software platform provider.
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Microsoft’s latest Office 365 ad campaign turns Forbes magazine into a Wi-Fi hotspot
Author: Markus Smith
One major benefit of cloud storage is that you’re able to access your data and documents from just about anywhere. And with its latest print ad campaign for Office 365, Microsoft is going to extremes to illustrate that point. Tucked (glued?) inside select issues of this month’s Forbes magazine is a Wi-Fi hotspot that offers readers 15 days of web access courtesy of T-Mobile. The included battery is only capable of providing about three hours of continuous browsing, but Microsoft helpfully allows you to recharge the unit with a micro USB cable. Sure, the company would likely prefer you spend some of that time looking into its “office in the cloud” and we can’t exactly blame them considering the likely bill for this sort of promotion. But…
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Insert Coin: Lightpack turns your computer display into an ambient backlight (video)
Author: Stacey Cook
While Philips did eventually bring its Ambilight technology to PC monitors, it wasn’t before others had decided to roll their own. Now you can add ambient backlighting to any computer display without any of the attendant soldering and Arduino-wrangling, thanks to the folks at Woodenshark. The team has built Lightpack, an Ambilight-esque system that’ll connect to a Windows, OS X or Linux PC and project the display’s colors onto the area surrounding the screen.
Plug the hockey puck-sized device into your computer, attach 10 LED modules to the back of your display and install the open-source software and you’re good to go. Once ready, you can even set up custom alerts to measure CPU temperature or email volumes, and even control the lighting with your smartphone or tablet. The team has asked for the unusually specific figure of $ 261,962 in order to fund an initial production run of 5,000 units, with early backers able to snag one of the units for $ 50 instead of around $ 90. Interested to watch it in action? There’s a video after the break, friends.
Source: Kickstarter
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YES: Ceiling Fan Modded Into Helicopter Ceiling Fan
Author: Laura Clark
This is the ceiling fan modded into a much sweeter HELICOPTER ceiling fan by Redditor ScumbagJanitorGuy for his son. It just goes to show, you can’t always judge a book by their username. Scumbag later plans on painting the ceiling to look like the sky. Awesome! The only thing that could make this cooler if it was in my room instead of his son’s, plus I had a race car bed.
Thanks to grego, who informed me the ceiling fan in his bedroom wobbles so bad he’s afraid it’s going to fall on him in his sleep. Oh man, I used to have one like that.
