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Nectar mobile fuel-cell power system now available for pre-order
On paper, the Nectar Power system is both awesome and ludicrous. This is essentially a keychain-dongle USB power solution for super-sized keychains. You carry it around and charge your iPhone or other USB devices as needed. Let's start with the ludicrous, which is the price. The unit is now available for pre-order from Brookstone and will retail for (wait for it...) US$300. Individual "power pods," used to generate the power, will cost $10 each. An extended warranty adds another $40 for two years, or $50 for three years. Gift wrap alone adds another $7. So why are we so ridiculously excited about this? It's simple. First, there's the technology. The Nectar is a butane-powered Solid Oxide Fuel Cell solution. It's like we really are living in the future. Each pod can supply power for about a dozen full charges, or as the product site says, about two weeks of power without outlets. Second, there's the size factor, which is impressively small. The gadget is a slick-looking chrome and black, with a satisfyingly Brookstone design aesthetic. But most important, the one thing that really makes this the device for any would-be James Bond type, is that it allows you to go completely off grid for extended periods of time without having to attach a solar grid to your backpack. Gilligan and the professor wouldn't have to make power supplies out of coconuts. The Nectar Power system looks like a sleek, slick solution for people who have the money and aren't afraid to use it as both a beautiful and practical toy. We can't wait to try it out. The Nectar ships Sept. 11, 2013.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Steal this tape
A while back, I took the opportunity to talk about things that City of Heroes would do well to steal. After all, there's no reason that you can't make an existing awesome game even more awesome, right? It was a fun article, if a bit silly, and it leads naturally into this week's outing, because I'm feeling just a little bit silly this week, and I'm looking at other games with amazement. So many of them just don't get it. Seriously. City of Heroes is approaching its seventh anniversary, and so many bits of brilliance in the design are not found in every game in the world. To be quite honest, it's ridiculous. I'm not just talking about little bits of clever design like attack tags to help differentiate defenses; I'm talking about parts of the game that just run so well and so intuitively that it's a wonder everyone hasn't copied them. So let's look at the stuff that the game gets so right that everyone ought to just use it as a standard.
FaceTime works from a plane
Loyal TUAW reader Bill G. was kind enough to face chat with us this evening. What made this especially fun was that he was in flight over Arkansas at the time. On the way to Texas via American Airlines service, Bill was able to use FaceTime with the plane's in-flight WiFi service. It was a great connection given the circumstances. Video did flake out a little towards the end of our experiment (although audio continued just fine) and might have re-established itself if we had given it a little more time. All in all, just chalk this one up to the "wow, that's so cool!" list for the iPhone 4.
hacksugar: Hiding Apple's built-in applications
TUAW reader Joe Thompson pointed us to this hint over at Mac OS X Hints that helps you hide the standard applications that ship with the iPhone, without jailbreaking. This allows you to use those spots for your preferred 3rd party alternatives without sacrificing valuable home screen real estate or messing with a lot of ugly application rearrangement in iTunes. Thompson writes, "I've removed Stocks, Weather, and Notes, as I have better 3rd party apps for all three." You'll need a Windows-based system to sync your iPhone and at least a trial copy of iBackupBot. The technique involves enabling parental restrictions and editing your springboard property list (the file that controls how your iPhone home screen behaves) to flag the application and update the icon layouts. The iBackupBot program allows you to replace that property list file on your iPhone after modifying it on Windows. The Mac OS X Hints write-up has complete directions. At this time, we haven't yet found an OS X solution to do the same for an un-jailbroken phone, although we are consulting with some of our favorite sources to see if they can come to the rescue for non-Windows users.
Found footage: Dashboard for iPhone on your lock screen
Why didn't Apple think of this? SmartScreen lets you add widgets to your iPhone lock screen, providing an interactive dashboard experience whenever you wake up your device. The software is jailbreak-only (as you'd probably expect, given its standard system-defying functionality) and will be launched in November 2009. Widget developers are currently being accepted to an invitation-only beta program. Details for the beta program and the SmartScreen product are available at the media-phone web site.Yes, this isn't the only lock-screen information system out there. Intelliscreen and LockInfo provide calendar and email updates. At the same time, SmartScreen offers a fresh new approach that's a worthy alternative. I really like the visual flair and paged presentation, and the ability to move widgets around via direct interaction.[Thanks, pytey and Steve Streza]
PowerCurl: A quirky way to wrap up your MagSafe Power Adapter
quirky is a design firm with a difference. Rather than pay a brain trust to sit around and think up product ideas, they let average Anns and Andys submit designs that are then refined and named by a community of site visitors. When designs are ready for production, quirky sets a threshold number of units to be sold to be profitable, and once that number of orders comes in, they send the design off for manufacturing. Plato said "...the true creator is necessity, who is the mother of our invention." In this case quirky community member Jeff Scholen was driven not only by the need to neatly wrap up the thin power cable and thick AC line going into his Apple MagSafe Power Adapter, but also keep the transformer "box" off of the floor or desk and give it a way to stay cool. In less than 24 hours, the design was finalized through input from Apple fans worldwide and the PowerCurl (US$9.99) was ready to roll. It comes in "quirky orange" only, but has two sizes to match the 60W and 85W MagSafe Power Adapters. The quirky community has also come up with a case design for the new iPod nano that not only protects that shiny finish, but acts as a stand and video handgrip as well. The Kickster (US$14.35) is awaiting your commitment to purchase before it moves into production.
Cool Stuff for Sunday, Volume 3
Many PlayStation fans wish Sony would open up their pockets a bit and advertise the system a bit more. S1gfrid from VGChartz created this simple, but effective, ad campaign. These posters highlight the many unique exclusives available on the PS3. For example, the poster on the left shows games that mature gamers may be interested in: Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid 4 -- while the poster on the right shows the system's more family-friendly affair. It's a simple concept that we think would work very well in a mainstream magazine. Check out all the pics here. Crysis user mod takes on Killzone Infamous: "I Am Scared" trailer Weekly Trophy Portal update PS Nation podcast - Episode 101 "We Have a LOT to Say"
Cool Stuff for Monday (aka the post-Valentine's Edition)
Monday is totally the new Sunday. Okay, we're lying. Valentine's Day got the best of this blogger, and now this feature comes in one day late. (But hey, it's a holiday today, here in the States.) We start this feature with a bloody, "homicide" themed modded PS3 from Jerry Thampan. Check out more pics here. [Thanks, Roland!] More Noby Noby Boy (it still doesn't make sense) First footage of Supercar Challenge God of War III trailer analysis PSP: Prinny has an adventure Weekly Trophy Portal update PS Nation podcast - Episode 100 "Punching Cats"
Cool Stuff for Sunday, Volume 1
Here's our new weekly feature, Cool Stuff for Sunday (a pretty straightforward name, we think). Here, we'll highlight some of the cool things we couldn't get to during the rest of the week. Hitler responds to Killzone 2 reviews (NSFW) What would Gran Turismo 6 look like? Fan-made portable PSone Killzone 2 "Super Bowl" ad Weekly Trophy Portal update PS Nation podcast - Episode 98 "Dumped"
