Devices Site

Since the death of hd dvd, rumors abound that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 might very well get a Blu-ray drive add on. It seems that a top Sony executive have confirmed this rumor, claiming that Sony and Microsoft are having talks right now concerning this issue. Microsoft has not endorsed this claim so far, and neither have they refuted it, so traditionally speaking, this Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360 could very well be as real as John McCain leading the Republicans this November. Does that mean one will be able to enjoy MGS4 on the Xbox 360 as well?

Posted Mar 6th 2008 6:01PM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: Transportation It looks like electric vehicle-maker Think and battery manufacturer A123Systems have each gotten a pretty big shot in the arm courtesy of GE, which has announced that it’s investing in both companies with the goal of making “electric transportation practical and affordable.” For Think’s part, it’ll be receiving some $4 million from GE, which’ll apparently be used at least in part to get its TH!NK Ox electric five-seater (pictured above) out the door (t’s already in production in Norway). A123Systems, on the other hand, has signed a commercial supply agreement with Think to supply it with Nanophosphate lithium-ion batteries, and it’s already received a hefty $20 million from GE (which it’s now doing some joint research with). That’s all apparently only part of GE’s grander plans, which it describes as nothing short of “efforts to enable global electrification of transportation.” Be sure to hit up the appropriate link below for a video of some of what Think has in store.

Read- GE Press Release
Read - DN.no, Think video

[Via Autoblog Green, thanks Gunnar]

I know there are some people who already freak out when they see a snake, but this Modular Snake Robot will definitely send them packing out of the house, shrieking and all.

This work considers two issues: snake robot locomotion and modular robot design. We achieve snake robot locomotion by designing gaits, which are cyclic internal motions that allow the mechanism to interact with the environment to propel itself forward. Our gaits enable snake robots to maneuver through a variety three-dimensional terrains and include swimming and climbing. The robots, themselves, are a modular chain of single degree of freedom units each powered by a low-cost, yet modified, hobby servo that we call the Super Servo. We have updated the internal electronics in the servo as well as created new mechanism designs so as to optimize efficiency and robustness.

The Samsung M520 is a slider phone offering a megapixel camera as well as the following features:

* 2.1″ LCD 176 x 220 pixel display
* Bluetooth
* 16MB built-in memory
* memory card slot
* music player
* EV-DO high-speed data

Via Phone Scoop.

Posted Mar 6th 2008 2:50PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: cellphones, Features, Handhelds
So with hardware accelerated 3D graphics, an integrated database API, tightly integrated performance monitoring tools, and a highly specialized version of the Cocoa framework tweaked just for the iPhone and rechristened as Cocoa Touch, the iPhone’s just-announced SDK sounds like a winner. But how does it compare to its well-entrenched competitors from Microsoft, Nokia, and the iPhone community itself? Let’s have a look.#comparechart { border: 2px solid #333; border- collapse: collapse; } #comparechart td { padding: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; vertical-align: top; margin: 0; line-height: 1.3em; } #comparechart th { font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 4px; background: #eee; } #comparechart th.mainth { border-bottom: 1px solid #333; font-size: 1.2em; } #comparechart td.red { background-color: #f08c85; } #comparechart td.green { background-color: #b3e2c4; }

Apple iphone SDKToolchainWindows MobileS60 Cost
Free Free Free; could be more depending on tools used Free; could be more depending on tools used Wide availability
June Now Now Now Native development
Yes
Yes Yes Yes Languages suppoted for native development
Objective-C Objective-C C++, any language with a .NET compiler C++ Digital certificates
Required for distribution No Available, required for some phones Available, required for some phones Retail support
Full; 30 percent Apple revenue share; free apps allowable No Limited Limited Platform maturity
Immature
Immature Mature Mature First-party support
Yes
No Yes Yes Community support
Just getting started!
Excellent Excellent Excellent App installation method
Direct (App Store), iTunes Installer.app, custom Direct, ActiveSync Direct, PC Suite Emulator available
Yes No Yes Yes Remote debugging
Yes No Yes Yes Target device variety
Poor
Poor Excellent Good Touchscreen support
Multi-touch
Multi-touch Single touch Umm… soon? App availability and variety
Poor (that will change, though)
Good Excellent Excellent Underlying architecture
Cocoa Touch / Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Windows Symbian Flash availability
No No Yes Yes Java availability
No In development Yes Yes

Posted Mar 6th 2008 12:50PM by Paul Miller
Filed under: cellphones
That sound you hear? A million rabid iphone users crying. After teasing us with mountains of glorious SDK features and apps, Apple dropped the bomb that we won’t be getting any of those features until the iPhone / iPod touch 2.0 software update, which arrives as a free update in June (for the iPhone, ipod touch users have to pay up again) and includes App Store. Selected developers will get a chance at a beta version of 2.0 to test their new applications out as of today, and we have a funny feeling somebody’s going to be putting in some hours to try and crack this thing for the rest of us. In addition to the SDK-related features, the 2.0 update brings parental controls, such as allowing parents to turn of Safari or the App Store to keep those kiddies safe, and boosts mail functionality with PowerPoint viewing and mass message moving / deleting (freaking finally).

Posted Mar 6th 2008 3:25PM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video
var Another press event, another 3G iPhone no-show. Man, just think how nice it would be to have a brand spankin’ new HSDPA capable iPhone for downloading all those fancy new apps. Sure would come in handy for syncing your massive corporate email accounts (with attachments), too. Otherwise, you iphone users will be stuck with your paltry EDGE when WiFi isn’t available. Will that all change in June with the launch of the 2.0 firmware? That’s what the rumor mill says — and it makes sense to us. What say you?

Hint: Apple’s WWDC, while unannounced, is expected to begin on June 8th.

Canon says it has perfected a solution for the mirror problems that have cause it flagship EOS-1D Mark III SLR to struggle with autofocus under certain conditions. The saga of the glitch has dragged on for months, involving a brief withdrawal from retail availability and a recall-like event or two.

Canon says that with the combination of new firmware and a few warranty-covered mechanical tweaks, "the EOS-1D Mark III AF function performed better in our tests than all previous EOS camera models." And that, supposedly, is the end of that.

Canon: EOS-1D Mark III AF woes over [Adorama]

Posted Mar 6th 2008 4:21PM by Paul Miller
Filed under: cellphones
Here’s the good news: “select” registered Apple developers won’t be the only ones with access to iPhone 2.0 beta software before the official June launch. The bad news? It still probably won’t be you. Apple is courting enterprise IT departments to test out the 2.0 beta in a new “iphone Enterprise Beta Program,” but there are quite a few restrictions and caveats, with an extensive application form and no guarantee of success. If you get into the program, you’ll get to test out all those new enterprise features announced today, and provide Apple with feedback on how awesome everything is.

Posted Mar 6th 2008 10:44AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Misc. gadgets
We can’t say with a straight face that the capital of Azerbaijan is high on our list of places to vacation at, but for Star Wars fanatics, the case could be different. Reportedly, Heerim Architects has dreamt up a couple of “lunar inspired” projects for the Asian country, one of which (Full Moon Bay) looks an awful lot like the Death Star. Granted, the building looks entirely different from varying angles, but we’re choosing to focus on the one that brings back fond memories of light sabers blazing and wookiees waltzing. Truth be told, we’ve no idea if these facilities will ever break ground, but we’re absolutely certain the powers in Dubai are already planning to recreate the entire Star Wars universe if this thing goes forward.

[Via Inhabitat]