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Qualcomm shows off new Hanvon Mirasol e-reader, juggles video and text
Alongside the wireless goodness, and new Snapdragons, Qualcomm's pulled out a new Mirasol e-reader. Manufactured by Hanvon, we're promised that 90 percent of content will be in color, and perhaps more notably, it'll be able to juggle both text and video. The e-reader is destined for China, with 150,000 titles and over 100 newspapers to keep our Sino friends in wordage for a while. No word just yet on pricing and launch dates.
Color for Facebook iPhone app hands-on
Color failed to live up to the massive level of hype that surrounded its launch, as CEO and Lala-cofounder Bill Nguyen will be the first to tell you. So, naturally, the company went into hiding, only to relaunch as something different entirely. The fruits of that hibernation are finally starting to surface, in the form of Color for Facebook, which is now in closed beta. As its title suggests, the app is heavily reliant on Zuckerberg's social network, playing on the site's "like" feature with a gesture of its own: the "visit." As the company puts it, "the status update needs an update." The visit is a short video clip. You broadcast a 30-second, soundless live stream from your phone that your Facebook friends watch, like and comment on. This isn't UStream here, of course: it's just a way of sharing a small slice of your daily life -- something interesting or even mundane, a way to connect with friends when a pithy status update or blurrycam still won't cut it. At least, that's Color's elevator pitch this go' round. We managed to get a sneak peek at the app, and while we're still playing with it, we do have some early impressions. So is the second time the charm for Color? Meet us past the break to find out.%Gallery-140867%
Fanny Wang lets you make your headphones as ugly as you want
Making it big in the headphone industry isn't always about sound quality, sometimes you just have to be loud. The folks at Fanny Wang have that covered, offering up some wildly colored cans to help them "break through the noise," as they put it, of the headphone market. Users can customize the outfit's 1001, 2001 and 3001 model headphones on the firm's new interactive website, picking and choosing colors for seven distinct parts, including the cord. Orders take about three weeks to assemble and ship, Fanny says, giving you just enough time to snag some colorful cans before the holidays. You know, in case someone on your list is looking for something sort of like those ColorWare tinted Beats, but with a bit of actual color. You can find Fanny's fancy press release after the break.
Klipsch launches Lou Reed X10i Signature Edition headphones, vivaciousness follows
We knew good and well Klipsch was dabbling in all sorts of various paint schemes when we toured its Indiana-based headquarters in the winter of 2009, and now it seems that one of those prototypes has found a place in the market. The company has just launched the Lou Reed X10i Signature Edition headphones ("coming soon"), a glittered-up version of the X10i that we already feel head over heels in love with. Outside of aesthetics, there's nothing significant changing here, but the extra $50 will net you a purple inline remote (compatible with Apple's iOS devices), a screened Lou Reed autograph, a 360-degree mic and a sense of gratification that could only be matched by being elected president of the free world. Or, something like that. Hit the source for a full helping of specifications, but it's on you to find a safe and legal method for acquiring $399.95. %Gallery-139413%
BMW 3 Series gets 'full-color' heads-up display
If you've been hankering for some HUD action in your next auto, you'll have one more choice come next spring: the all-new 2012 BMW 3 Series. The launch will mark the first time a heads-up display has made it into Bavaria's volume seller, after debuting as an optional extra eons ago on its 5 Series. Since then, HUDs of limited hues have permeated München's high-end, splaying speed and navigation directions in the line of sight of road-going elites everywhere. However, this iteration is "full-color," which besides pleasing ROY G. BIV fans, makes it "more intuitive," as the company reasons it'll aid drivers in recognizing crucial alerts faster. That, or we're really just a generation away from über cool AR wizardry and movies on our windscreens. Of course, no word on when the 3's brethren will get the technicolor treatment, but we're betting it won't be long, given that's the dash of a 6 Series you see above. PR, per usual, is after the break.
Colorware spills its inks on your iPhone 4S, charges dearly for it
You didn't think the latest iPhone would be saved from Colorware's paint-dipped hands, did you? Lo and behold, the company's swatches are currently ready for application on the 4S. Similar to its iPhone 4 treatments, you'll be able to spice up your device -- and its earbuds -- with a mixture of glossy, metallic and soft-touch coatings (excluding mainly the front face, which remains stock black or white). Colorware'll gladly sell you a fresh 16 or 64GB model for a whopping $1,500 or $1,700, respectively, or you can mail yours in to get a Benetton-esque makeover for just $250.
The Engadget Interview: Lala and Color founder Bill Nguyen
Bill Nguyen radiates enthusiasm. It's constant and infectious, and when he attempts to sell you on his latest project, it's hard not to get excited -- this alone seems reason enough to want the guy on your team. Nguyen also has more than his share of experience heading startups -- some have even gone so far as describing the Houston native as a "serial entrepreneur," certainly not a stretch, having founded Onebox.com and Seven Networks early in his career. It was the creation of Lala, however, that really put Nguyen on the map. The service was founded in the mid-'00s, around the concept of CD swapping, users mailing physical discs to one another in little red and white Netflix-like envelopes. The site shifted gears soon after, being reborn as a streaming service. The concept was born from Nguyen's typically utopian vision of free music streaming, in hopes of spurring purchases amongst a dedicated audience -- the actual product, not surprisingly, was far more of a compromise, limiting the streams of users who didn't already have that music stored in their PC. Read our full interview after the break.
Color abandons app independence for Facebook, hopes you'll pay someone a 'visit'
Color launched to a fair amount of fanfare back in March, and it's not surprising, really -- the company was spearheaded by Lala founder Bill Nguyen, with ten of millions in backing from some top venture capital firms. The hype surrounding the photo-sharing app didn't take long to die down, however -- over the past several months, we haven't heard much from the startup. Turns out the Color team was rethinking the project from ground up. The company used f8 this week to launch a new version of the app built entirely around Facebook. The new Color harnesses updates to the social Network's Open Graph protocol to introduce the concept of "visits," a social gesture that prompts a user to request a live video feed from a Facebook friend upon seeing an interesting photo in their feeds on the social network or in the iPhone / Android app. The brief video stream can be attended by multiple users, becoming something of a mini UStream built into Facebook. The new Color is currently in a closed testing phase, though interested parties can sign up to take part below.
Sony outs trio of limited edition PlayStation 3 consoles, keeps it fresh with a few paint jobs
How do you keep selling a five-year old system? You slap a new coat of paint on it and call it a "limited edition," that's how. Which is precisely what Sony's gotten up to with three newly colored versions of its PlayStation 3. Hitting the electronics giant's homeland this November 17th are a duo of 320GB consoles, offered up in either Splash Blue or Scarlet Red, that come paired with a similarly hued DualShock controller and ¥29980 ($390) asking price. The prettiest of the bunch, however, won't be released until December 15th in Japan, and that's the Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning Edition Ver.2. Timed to coincide with the retail debut of the Square Enix-made sequel, that console (pictured above) also boasts a 320GB HDD, bundled copy of the game and a plain old black controller -- all for ¥37960 ($494). If you need to add a little spice back into your gaming life, it might be time to get your import on.
Acer's Liquid Mini gets Ferrari-fied, doesn't get any faster
Acer's Liquid Mini won't be breaking speed records anytime soon, but at least it can look like a red hot racer, now that it's received the Ferrari treatment. Following in the Liquid E's skid marks, this Liquid Mini Ferrari Edition features a vibrant red exterior emblazoned with the automaker's iconic shield, and ships preloaded with engine ringtones, racing-themed wallpaper and other apps. Under the hood, however, lies the same, Gingerbread-based handset, replete with 512MB of RAM, a 3.2-inch display, five megapixel camera and rather underwhelming 600MHz processor. No word yet on when the device will be hitting the raceway, but you can get a closer look at the source link, below.
Cyclone Display exemplifies 'multi-colored expression,' totally heading to a nightclub near you (video)
Ever heard of Yoichi Ochiai? You have now. Hailing from Japan's University of Tsukuba, this whizkid was on hand here at SIGGRAPH to showcase one of his latest creations -- and it just so happened to be one of the trippiest yet. The Cyclone Display was a demonstration focused on visual stimulation; a projector shown above interacted with a plate of spinning disks. Underneath, a cadre of motors were controlled by a connected computer, and as the rotation and velocity changed, so did the perceived pixels and colors. The next step, according to Ochiai, would be to blow this up and shrink it down, mixing textures in with different lighting situations. With a little help, a drab nightclub could douse its walls in leopard print one night, or zebra fur another. Interactive clubbing never sounded so fun, eh? You know the drill -- gallery's below, video's a click beneath. %Gallery-130394%
Fujitsu's e-reader gets a refreshed look at e-Book Expo Tokyo (video)
Fujitsu got to show off its recent color e-reader flossy flossy at the e-Book Expo Tokyo (the former Digital Publishing Fair) in Japan last week. Besting its previous market entry -- the FLEPia Lite -- this 8-inch, 157 dpi cholestric LCD module sheds both its predecessor's weight and Windows OS for a 220 gram, Linux-operated, slimmed-down profile. While the 4,096 color range remains exactly the same, it's the elimation of dithering from the display that'll be brightening up your future literary experiences. Processing speed also got a significant makeover here, translating into 0.7 second writing speeds -- a number the company promises will go down as full color capacity increases. Unfortunately, this slab of technicolor ebeauty doesn't appear to be headed for a US debut, so interested parties should start saving for that import option. Robo-Brit voice-over video demonstration after the break.
TUAW's Daily Mac App: iSplash
It's great to have lots of options of apps, and today's Daily Mac App adds to the plethora of colorization apps. iSplash is a selective color app just like Colorize and ColorWash, which we've covered before. iSplash is probably the simplest of the colorization apps we've played with so far. It's got an "open from iPhoto" dialog (although it'll open photos using Finder too), simple "Splash" painting tools (a brush) and undo/redo. There aren't any fancy fill features, or even a simple fill tool for that matter, but you can do just the same manually with a resizable brush tool that's managed with the "Splash size" slider on the tool bar. You can zoom in for precision work, and when you're finished you can export the image as a PNG. There aren't any options to speak of (you can't change the output format for instance), but iSplash will accept photos from anywhere and in PNG, JPEG, GIF, TIFF and BMP formats. If you're looking for a load of features and output options, you should look elsewhere. In fact, feature for feature, ColorWash is a better pick, especially since they're both on sale for US$0.99. It's good to have options, though, and that's just what iSplash is: another option. It'll do the job, just not as well as some others.
Razer ships $80 Orochi Black Chrome Edition mobile gaming mouse
It's an Orochi, but with 100 percent more gloss. Typically, a new hue on an old critter wouldn't do much for us, but given that Razer's oh-so-diminutive Orochi still remains our favorite travel mouse to date (for gaming, at least), we couldn't help but notice the striking young fellow above. The Orochi Black Chrome Edition is the exact same mouse that shipped last fall, but with a much more vivacious set of duds. Aside from being fully capable of sneaking into either of your front pockets, this Bluetooth-enabled unit also touts an ambidextrous design, a 4000DPI laser sensor (with tracking at up to 100 inches per second), on-the-fly sensitivity adjustments and a gold-plated USB connector for those who'd prefer to roll wired. If you've been looking to treat yourself, she's in stock now for $79.99. %Gallery-126640%
Facebook prepping a photo-sharing app for the iPhone
Leaked information provided to TechCrunch suggests Facebook is prepping a photo-sharing app for the iPhone. From the description, the app is a mixture of Instagram with some of the location information and social sharing of Path and Color. A few surprises are also supposedly thrown into the mix. The app, of course, is integrated into Facebook and ties into your Facebook account. Right now, it is a standalone app, but these features could eventually make their way into the official Facebook iPhone app. The amount of information available now is just a tease and TechCrunch promises more information will be released soon. Stay tuned.
Ricoh unveils waterproof, dirt-resistant PX camera for outdoorsy photographers
Just a few months after releasing its outdoorsy, G700 point and shoot, Ricoh has taken the wraps off yet another rugged digital camera -- the waterproof, shockproof and dust-resistant PX. This small warrior packs a 16-megapixel CCD sensor along with a 5x optical wide zoom lens and is capable of booting up in just 1.4 seconds. The device also supports subject-tracking and face-priority auto-focus features, in addition to a host of shooting modes, including toy camera, soft-focus and high-contrast black and white, among others. Most alluring, however, is its resilience. According to Ricoh, the PX can survive drops from an altitude of up to five feet, remains waterproof at depths of about ten feet, and is impermeable to dust, sand and dirt. There's also a 2.7-inch, scratch-resistant LCD on its backside, meaning you won't have to worry about casually tossing it in your backpack as you make your way along the trail. More flamboyant hikers, meanwhile, can add their own personal touch to the PX by wrapping it in a protective silicon sleeve, available in five, vibrant colors. If you're interested, you can grab a PX of your own when it hits stores later this month, for $300 AUD (about $317). You can check out some sample images from Digital Photography Review by hitting the link below, or flip through some pics of the PX in the gallery below. There's also a full PR waiting for you, after the break. %Gallery-125925%
Nintendo bringing 'Red Flare' 3DS, new Wii package to Japan this summer
Now that we're all sitting on summer's doorstep, Nintendo has decided to add a little heat to its 3DS lineup, with a new 'Red Flare' handheld, coming to Japan next month. Offering a sanguine alternative to the Aqua Blue and Cosmo Black variants, this little fireball will retail for ¥25,000 (about $312) when it hits Japanese stores on July 14th -- just in time for the release of Star Fox 64 3D. The company is also planning to unleash a new Wii bundle on June 23rd, which will package two Wii Remote Plus controllers (one in black or white, one in blue) with Wii Sports Resort software, for ¥20,000 (around $250). No word yet on whether these offers will be coming Westward anytime soon, but you can find more information in the translated press release, after the break.
Reported Motion 5, Final Cut Pro X screen shots
Earlier today Twitter user BWilks2001 posted screenshots of what is allegedly Motion 5. Motion is part of the Final Cut Studio suite and while Apple previewed Final Cut Pro X in April, it has not shown off any of the other apps from the suite -- even though Apple has said the next Final Cut Studio suite will be available for US$299 in the Mac App Store by the end of June. As for those other apps, all Apple said was "stay tuned." Judging from the screenshots, Motion 5 will offer a "rigging" feature. In addition to Motion 5, BWilks2001 said the next Final Cut Studio suite will "supposedly" feature a new version of Color, Apple's color-timing software. Interestingly, the BWilks2001 Twitter account no longer exists. Whether the user created the account just to leak the images, or if Apple had Twitter pull the account since the two companies are buddy-buddy, is unknown.
TI-Nspire CX graphing calculator now shipping, color officially 'in'
It may have been hard to believe when it was announced back in February, but you can rest assured that Texas Instruments' new color TI-Nspire CX calculator is indeed real, and shipping right now. Assuming you're ready to make the jump from monochrome, the $165 asking price will buy you a 3.2-inch 320 x 240 display, 100MB of storage, 64MB of memory, and TI's new version 3.0 operating system that comes complete with 3D graphing capabilities. Of course, TI isn't completely breaking new ground here -- Casio's had a graphing calculator with a "high res" color screen since way back in 2010. [Thanks, Michael]
Stream Hulu on your Nook Color, ditch Fitzgerald for Family Guy
In case you need still more distraction from using your Nook Color to, you know, read, now you can have Hulu's extensive video library at your fingertips, thanks to a simple 19-step process. Replacing the standard Adobe Flash Player with a modified version seems to work for the Nook and some other devices; users at Android Central have reported success on the Epic 4G, Thunderbolt, and Droid Incredible. When you're ready to trade One Hundred Years of Solitude for 1000 Ways To Die or 16 and Pregnant, hit the source link for detailed instructions, and see the tutorial video after the break. [Thanks, Alex]
