Xbox, Xbox, Xbox. There can be only one. The Xbox One, of course. Not the first Xbox, but the oneist, certainly. Join us remotely, won't you, as we discuss the one Xbox One to rule them all (and some other stuff, probably). All one of them.

Comments

Bay Area app developer Smule has amassed an army of mobile instruments, but really, what fun are all those music makers without a little good old-fashioned jamming? Today, the company's offering up the simply named Guitar, an app that lets you strum along to songs recorded through its equally straightforwardly named Sing. At present, the company has hand-picked a dozen or so singers, letting you play along (though expect that number to increase, as time goes on), becoming "the first pair of [Smule] apps that actually talk to each other," according to the company.

Using the app will be pretty intuitive for anyone who's messed around with Guitar Hero and its ilk, letting you know when to strum via swipe through a dynamically scrolling layout. On more advanced modes, you can choose the chord you want to play, but in Easy, it'll just do it for you. You can pick a single string with a tap and add vibrato by shaking your iPhone / iPad. We got a preview of the app during a recent visit to the Smule office for the Engadget Show, back when it went under the (arguably superior) name "Strum." Check out video of that and the final version after the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Comments

Source: iTunes

If you've navigated through the endless sea of 3D printers at this weekend's Maker Faire, you may well have caught a glimpse of the Series 1 Pro, the latest offering from San Francisco-based Type A Machines. The printer, which is still in the "engineering concept" phase, trades its predecessor's wood frame for a more solid aluminum version. The WiFi-compatible device has a build volume of about 18 liters, according to the company, and will be available in the third quarter of this year. That's the printer up top, pictured alongside Mark II, a little robot printed on the original Series One. Down below, you'll find a short press release.

Comments

There are plenty of wonderful things about train travel: the leg room, the scenery, the lack of security pat-downs. The WiFi, on the other hand, has long been the slowest thing about Amtrak. The company announced today that it's finally doing something about its frustratingly sluggish service, upgrading wireless on select trains, including the Acela express between Boston and Washington DC and a few California lines like the Capitol Corridor, Pacific Surfliner and San Joaquin. Travelers to other destinations will have to wait a bit longer for quicker load times -- Amtrak has promised that the rest of its WiFi-equipped trains will be upgraded by "late summer."

Comments

Via: Slashdot

Source: The New York Times

The XO Tablet that One Laptop Per Child was shuttling around the floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center at CES back in January wasn't quite the final version of the company's first consumer-facing device. Now, a few weeks out from its official June 1st online availability, OLPC's finally got its hands on the shipping product. It's designed by Vivitar, a price-conscious manufacturer hand-picked by retail partner Walmart, marking the first time that the educational company didn't have a direct hand in the creation of its hardware, a big change from the custom components that have traditionally gone into its XO line.

OLPC's made some tweaks to the software, which runs atop of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, taking more advantage of the swipe functionality while navigating through its "I Want to Be An..." UI, which builds the child's experience around dream jobs like astronaut, artist and doctor. It's a super simplified interface built with an even younger target audience in mind than its XO laptops (ages 3 and up, according to the company). The tablet will come pre-loaded with 200 apps (100 in English and 100 in Spanish) and 200 books (also 100 English, 100 Spanish), including selections from content partners like Sesame Street and Oxford University Press. The idea is to offer up enough content so the child can be sufficiently entertained / educated even when not online.

Gallery: OLPC XO Tablet final version hands-on

Filed under: Tablets

Comments

So much of what children are taught in the sciences amounts to abstractions. It's a shame, really -- concepts of the universe are so much easier to extrapolate when we can see them for ourselves. OLPC's looking to give the classrooms it serves more access to the very big and very small with two new attachments that we had the opportunity to check out on a recent visit to the company's Miami office. First off is a telescope that secures to the side of its XO-4 laptop with a vice grip, utilizing the device's built-in camera. There's also a microscope that sits atop a swiveling base and plugs directly into one of the laptop's USB ports. Both peripherals run on Fedora-based software designed by the company.

OLPC will be bringing these out as soon as it can get the price down through manufacturing. For the France-designed telescope, the company is aiming for $10, with a potentially lower price on the microscope. The idea is to get one of each in a classroom, rather than the one-to-one approach of its XO line.

Gallery: OLPC working on XO laptop telescope and microscope peripherals

Comments

The Smithsonian has been experimenting with 3D scanning for some time now, using tools like laser arm scanners to map models of whale fossils and other ancient artifacts. Now the museum is utilizing the technology to preserve its collection for posterity. Its "laser cowboys" Vince Rossi and Adam Metallo are working full-time to record items for future generations, as part of an extensive effort to digitize 14 million prioritized objects (a list that also includes artwork and lab specimen). After the break, check out a video of the team working to preserve a digital copy of the Philadelphia gunboat, America's oldest fighting vessel.

Filed under: Science, Alt

Comments

Love music? Sure you do -- but can you really claim to be a true music lover if you're not plunking down $1,300 for the latest MQS (Mastering Quality Sound) player from iRiver? The AK120 looks a fair bit like its predecessor, the AK100 (albeit slightly larger), and features a 2.4-inch IPS touchcreen. Inside, you'll find two digital-to-analog converters, dual Wolfson WM8740 DAC chips and 64GB of memory, which is expandable up to 192GB via two microSD card slots. The AK120 can handle a slew of formats, including WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC and AIFF, with DSD on the way. And just in case you were worried that the price tag was a bit steep, keep in in mind that it includes "the finest handmade Italian-designed leather case."

Filed under: Handhelds, Home Entertainment

Comments

Source: Astell&Kern

Not exactly earth-shattering news in the weeks leading up to E3, but Nintendo Japan announced some nice little additions to its Google-powered Wii Street U. The panoramic mapping service is getting support for the proprietary Miiverse social network, letting you share favorite locations and tag images with emotions like "amazing," "beautiful," "fun" and "scary." And for those times when you don't want to give too much away, you can set things to "spoiler." More update spoilers can be found in the source link below.

Filed under: Gaming, GPS, Nintendo

Comments

Via: Neogaf

Source: Nintendo (translated)

It's another beautiful spring Thursday here in New York City -- okay, it's actually gray and rainy, but all the more reason to curl up in front of your computer with another edition of the Engadget Podcast. Tim, Brian and Peter will be your hosts for this week's journey through the world of technology.

Comments

When the company that helped invent 3D printing asks you if you want to be turned into a Star Trek statue, the only right answer is: "how soon?" Naturally, we immediately shot off a couple of selfies (front-facing and profile) and ticked off a couple of personal details: I wanted a phaser, naturally, and poor Tim got stuck in a red shirt, to help bring out the natural Riker in that beard of his. Sadly, we only had the option of the Original Series, in the lead up to launch, so you've got to use your imagination. As for the inscription on the base, Engadget Show producer Benjamin (who you can see after the break) asked for "Peace and Long Life," in keeping with his pointy-eared Vulcan theme, and I went with "May the Force Be With You," because, let's face it, I was always more of a Star Wars guy anyway. Tim wanted the simple, but expressive "Khaaaaaaan!" but sadly didn't make it in under the wire, so he'll have to get creative with a Sharpie.

Once you send in two photos, fill out the specifics and pay the (admittedly somewhat steep) $70, someone at one of 3D Systems' fulfillment centers will convert your image into a 3D model, import it into the company's software and then print it out using the Projet 660pro. It's a rebrand of the high-end device we saw at work at Laika's Portland studios, printing out faces for the then-forthcoming stop-motion feature ParaNorman. The printer is capable of rendering objects in impressively high resolution, far more than you've been seeing on those consumer printers you've heard so much about.

Gallery: 3D Systems will turn you into a Star Trek figure for $70

Comments

Source: Cubify

We've already seen the RP-VITA in action -- and so, for that matter, has the FDA. Now iRobot / InTouch Health's telepresence 'bot is ready to take the field. The companies today jointly unveiled a list of seven US and Mexican hospitals that will be using the iPad-friendly wheeled robot. The list includes a handful of locations that helped demo RP-VITA ahead of its official release. Check in after the break for all the locations, which include half a dozen in the US and one in Mexico.

Filed under: Robots

Comments

The office is silent when our small film crew arrives at Wikimedia's San Francisco headquarters. There's none of the newsroom buzz one might associate with the operators of one of the world's largest sites. Hell, the day I started at AOL, there was a bulldog skateboarding through the halls. There are a few subtle, telltale internet startup signs, like several bottles of liquor hastily packed in a filing box on the lower floor, sitting next to a small CD mixer. While it's Friday afternoon, the company's resident mixologist is out at the moment. The celebration will have to wait.

Just to the right of the party box is Song Yingxing, a conference room named for the Chinese encyclopedist, which has more recently adopted the "Mushroom Kingdom" name, owing to a slew of gaming consoles and peripherals housed inside. It won't stay that way for long, according to Matthew Roth, the foundation's global communications manager, who's kindly devoted much of his afternoon to chaperoning us around the two floors. "No one really plays the games," he says. The hammock, too, is empty for our visit. It would be easy enough to chalk up such good behavior to the presence of a visiting media outlet, but sometimes the simplest answer is the best: Friday afternoon or not, the folks seated at these desks are hard at work.

In the lower of two levels occupied by the foundation, developers have their heads down, rushing to get the soon-to-be-released in-house Wikipedia app out the door. The project has only been on the drawing board since January, and the foundation only hired its first dedicated iOS developer in the past month. The move is the next step in expanding the site's already massive reach to corners of the world that it hasn't quite penetrated, an attempt to help the organization approach its utopian vision of free information for all. On its face, it's a simple photo uploader -- but it's more than that, really. It's a chance to open up Wikipedia editing to an even larger global audience. It's as good a reason as any to be inside on a beautiful mid-April Friday afternoon in Northern California.

Filed under: Mobile

Comments

Staples is pushing its consumer printing offerings into the third dimension. The office supply chain has begun selling 3D Systems' Cube printer through its site, as of this morning. Come the end of June, the WiFi-enabled, semi-portable printer will be hitting a select number of retail locations for $1,300. The Cube's availability follows news of some higher-end 3D printing offerings at a very select number of Staples locations. Check the source link below to pick up the Cube in one of five colors -- and if you need some enthusiastic testimonies regarding the revolutionary nature of consumer 3D printing, be sure to click through to the press release below.

Comments

Source: Staples

Barnes & Noble's refusal to open its ecosystem has long been one of our primary complaints about the company's tablet offerings. The Nook HD and HD+ are extremely nice pieces of hardware that have been held back by their own walled software offerings -- having a fast device with a nice screen only gets you so far without the proper apps. The company line up to now has been that walling off content allows for a sort of quality control, assuring that apps are developed specifically for the unique form factor of its devices. And while there's perhaps something to be said for that sentiment in the sometimes-fragmented world of Android devices, it was hard to ignore the fact that offering up exclusive access to content through your own marketplace assures better cash flow. It also, unfortunately, means that without extensive developer outreach, there are sure to be plenty of popular apps that just never make it over to your side of the fence.

With its announcement tonight, B&N acknowledges that, in this case, open is better. The company has responded directly to user feedback and will be issuing a software update to its Nook HD and Nook HD+ devices (sorry Nook Tablet and Color owners) that brings Google Play directly to the desktop. The software will come pre-loaded on new devices and will be available as an over-the-air update. If you can't wait that long, you'll also be able to download it directly from the bookseller's site. The update also brings a few other tweaks to the system, but this is far and away the biggest news. The first question we asked upon getting a quick demo: will you be able to buy content like books, magazines and movies through Play? Yep, that's coming too.

Gallery: Google Play comes to Barnes & Noble's Nook HD and HD+

Filed under: Tablets, Software, Google

Comments

Tim's back, Brian's back and Peter's back. And this week they'll be joined by a very special guest in the form of gdgt's Ryan Block, in a slightly more accommodating studio. Also, there may or may not be one very special piece of eyewear. Only one way to find out! Join along, after the break.

Comments

Facebook wants you to log in. Real bad. But the social network hasn't traditionally gone out of its way to streamline password recovery. The site's finally make things a little smoother with Trusted Contacts, a redesign and rebrand of its Trusted Friends offering. Go into Security Settings and you can list three to five e-pals, who can help you log back into the site before your farm goes belly up. Contact them and let them know you need in, and they'll get a security code and instructions to help you get back to the wall.

Filed under: Internet, Software

Comments

Via: The Next Web

Source: Facebook

Seeing as how Chef Sleeve is best know for its combo cutting board / iPad stand, the company's latest product isn't a huge leap. Sadly, the it didn't actually have a prototype of its Smart Food Scale at its booth here at TechCrunch Disrupt, but we did get a chance to chat a bit about the product, which just had its Kickstarter page open up. The device is a food scale that communicates via Bluetooth with your iOS device. Put the food on, input what it is and it will send that information to your iPhone and iPad.

The app offers up USDA nutritional information, letting you keep track of calories, fat, vitamins, minerals and other information. The company's also looking to expand the functionality of the software, to open things up to chefs and other folks who might appreciate such info. The Kickstarter page still has 29 days left to hit its $30,000 goal, and pledge of $79 or more will get you access to the scale. When it hits retail, it'll run closer to $99.

Filed under: Household

Comments

Source: Kickstarter

Granted, dogs tend to be a bit more vocal than, say, hydroponic plants, but sometimes it's tough for busy owners to know precisely when their furry best friend is getting enough activity. FitBark, yet another Kickstarter candidate showing its goods on the floor of TechCrunch Disrupt's Hardware Alley, is a bone-shaped wearable computer than hooks onto your dog's collar. The device communicates with either a home base (shaped, naturally, like a doghouse) or your smartphone. The company's got an iOS app (with Android on the way) that monitors your dog's activity, awarding the pup a "BarkScore" out of 100. That's an, um, "quantified woof," according to the company.

FitBark still has 29 days left to hit its lofty $100,000 goal, and a pledge of $99 or more will get you in on the first batch of devices. Check out a video pitch of the device after the break.

Gallery: FitBark monitors your dog's 'BarkScore,' we go eyes-on

Filed under: Misc

Comments

Plants need TLC just like any other living thing, but sadly, they're not really great at telling you what they want. Bitponics is looking to take a bit of that guess work out of hydroponic and aquaponic gardens with a WiFi base station that monitors your plant life and connects to automated accessories that help you care for them. The device ships with monitors for pH, water temperature, air temperature, humidity and light, connecting to the company's Bitponics Cloud system, so you can monitor things remotely via web browser. The system's not cheap -- it's set to run $499 when it ships, fittingly, this spring. Check out a video walkthrough of the setup just after the break.

Gallery: Bitponics personal gardening assistant eyes-on

Filed under: Household

Comments

Yet another Kickstarter success story is here on the Hardware Alley Floor at TechCrunch Disrupt. Ninja Blocks look a fair bit different than they used to, however -- the 3D-printed case has been traded up for something that looks a lot more like a final, saleable product. In fact, it looks a little like a router or an external hard drive, albeit one with color-changing ninja eyes. The company was also talking up the home automation possibilities of its platform a bit more than the straightforward sensor pitch. In a buzz phrase, the company is calling this "home automation for hackers."

Using the Ninja Rules app, you can turn lights and appliances on and off, get alerts for things like your wash and monitor your home, without writing code -- of course, knowing how helps. The whole platform is extremely open to users, and inside the case, you'll find a Beagle Bone and Arduino board, both accessible by pulling at the handy "Hack Me" tag that hangs on its side. The base system will run you $199. More information can be found in a video after the break.

Gallery: Ninja Blocks 'home automation for hackers' eyes-on

Filed under: Household

Comments

It was just about a week ago that we first told you about Siva Cycle's Atom, a pedal-powered battery charger that's currently taking Kickstarter by storm, healthily surpassing its $85,000 goal, with 21 days to spare. Lo and behold, the kinetic peripheral popped up on the Hardware Alley floor at TechCrunch Disrupt, here in NYC. Actually trying the thing out is a bit much to ask in the crowded Manhattan Center, but the company was nice enough to demo the device with a little good old-fashioned hand power.

The system is pretty minimally invasive, from the looks of it. The removable battery pack sits next to the rear wheel axle, and there's also a USB port just below the seat for charging devices more directly. Get in early, and you'll be able to pick the system up for $85. Not convinced? Check out the company's plea in a video just after the break.

Gallery: Siva Cycle Atom bike-powered battery charger eyes-on

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation, Mobile

Comments

Source: Kickstarter

This three-fingered manipulator has just about everything you could ever want in a robotic hand. It's relatively low-cost, it's powerful, it's capable of picking up objects both large and small, and it's robust. In fact, we've already seen the thing used as a tee for an aluminum bat. The hand, which was developed by researchers at iRobot, Harvard and Yale, was created as part of DARPA's ARM Hardware (ARM-H), a program track focused on the creation of inexpensive, dexterous hands. According to its creators, the key here is "function rather than trying to mimic a human hand," which helped bring down the cost of building the three-fingered grasper. Check out a video of the Ninja Turtle-esque gripper getting put through its paces -- and strengthening its core with a 50-pound kettle bell -- after the break.

Filed under: Robots

Comments

With a week left in an already successful Kickstarter campaign (approaching three times its initial $50,000 goal), the makers of the MiiPC are giving backers the chance to increase their system's memory. Add $15 before the close of the project and you'll be able to double things up, from 1GB to 2GB of RAM and 4GB to 8GB of storage -- the move comes in response to pledger feedback, according to the company. And speaking of listening, the makers of the parental-friendly Android PC are also tossing in a free built-in mic for those who pre-ordered, just for good measure.

Filed under: Desktops

Comments

We'd like to thank the Academy and all the little people who helped along the way -- but mostly we'd like to thank you, our viewers, for helping The Engadget Show win not one, but two Webby Awards this year. That's right, our plucky little show managed to pick up two of the coveted coils, and we're frankly overjoyed. We're so pumped, in fact, that we don't want the winning to end. As our way of thanking you for the support you've given the show in the past year, we're giving away a shiny new 32GB HSPA+ Nexus 7 to two lucky winners (one for each Webby, naturally), which you can use to watch the latest episode! And once you're done with that, there's an included $25 Google Play gift card to find more stuff to watch (there are plenty more free episodes for you, once that runs out).

Note: Please enter using the widget below, as comments are no longer valid methods of entry. The widget only requires your name and email address so we know how to get in touch with you if you win (your information is not given out to third parties), but you will have an option to receive an additional entry by liking us on Twitter if you so desire.

Comments