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HTC teases action cam launch on October 8th (update: and it looks like this)
Those claims that HTC is making an action camera just got much more concrete. The company has posted both a RECamera teaser site and a video (below) which not-so-subtly hint that the adventure-oriented shooter should launch on October 8th, the same day as HTC's "Double Exposure" media event. While there aren't many giveaways in the clip, it shows both a swimming pool dive and a wide-angle lens -- this is undoubtedly a waterproof device meant to take on the likes of GoPro. There's nothing here to confirm rumors that the camera will have a 16-megapixel sensor and wireless networking, but you'll only have to wait a couple of weeks to get the full scoop. Update: And one enterprising Redditor's found pictures of the device -- which looks like... a... periscope? The image's source has now been taken down. Darn.
Pipe exits beta, lets Facebook friends share giant files
Cloud storage from the likes of Dropbox and Google is all well and good, but let's face it -- many of our friends won't venture far beyond Facebook. Thankfully, Pipe is about to publicly launch a file transfer service built with them in mind. The company's namesake Facebook tool lets socialites send files without dedicated apps, and automatically picks a method depending on whether or not both contacts are online. If they are, they can send files up to 1GB through a peer-to-peer link; a locker will also hold on to as much as 100MB if the recipient isn't ready and waiting. Pipe doesn't go live until mid-day on June 5th, but those who want to share more on Facebook than their memories can get a heads-up on availability at the source link.
The Road to Mordor: The Professor
This past week on January 3rd, J.R.R. Tolkien celebrated his 118th birthday -- or rather, we celebrated it for him. Tolkien was born in South Africa in 1892 and lived a rich and full life, from fighting in the first World War to working on the Oxford English Dictionary to taking a position at several universities that would earn him the nickname "The Professor." He is, of course, most well-remembered for his seminal works of fantasy -- The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion -- although his writings didn't end there. Due to Tolkien's love of nature, linguistics, and mythology, his creations were born out of comprehensive backgrounds and rich histories, which he seemed to love making up just as much as the stories themselves. For years now, Tolkien fans around the world have remembered his birthday by raising a glass on his birthday and giving a simple toast, "The Professor," at 9:00 p.m. wherever they lived. Likewise, in Lord of the Rings Online, many players gathered at their tavern of choice to do the same. Today I thought I'd remember the Professor in a slightly different way by exploring the quest chain "Missing the Meeting." While it's not completely overt if you happened to come across it, "Missing the Meeting" is a tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien and his life, and it's worth going through at least once if you want to pay homage and get a nifty token by which to remember him.
TUAW's Daily App: PipeRush
PipeRush is a fun little title that we haven't yet seen the likes of (as far as I know) on the iPhone. I remember this kind of game as Pipe Dream, though you may know it by a number of different names. The idea is that you're given a queue of pieces, and then your job is to assemble them in such a way that they all match up and allow water to flow within a certain time period. PipeRush doesn't add too much to this formula (though there are some power-ups to play with as you go through the levels), but what it does bring is a nice bit of polish. There's a cute lead character in Pippa, the pipe-laying plumber, and the graphics are simple and sparkly as you go along. Achievements and scoreboards are handled by Crystal, but with star ratings to chase across the game's 15 or so levels, I found plenty to do. PipeRush is only US 99 cents on the App Store right now, and if this kind of gameplay appeals to you at all, I highly recommend you pick it up.
A DIY iPhone car mount for just $2
So, like me, you've been doing a lot of driving around with your iPhone lately, and you've come to the conclusion that just having it sit next to you on the seat isn't the best way to do things. You need an in-car mounted dock, but you're not ready to shell out a bunch of money for something with "premium" in the title. Solution? Follow these directions and make your own. For just a couple of bucks in materials, you can build what looks like a pretty worthwhile way to mount your iPhone in the car. It's basically a little PVC pipe with some foam to hold it in place on whatever extra ridges or slots you might have free in your dashboard, and some plastic coated wire at the top to hold your phone for you. Hey, you get what you pay for -- it won't pair with your iPhone, and any charging it provides will have to come from an external charging cable that you buy. But if you just want something to keep your iPhone handy and up off of the seat next to you -- or out of the cupholder, I do that one a lot, too -- this weekend project might just do the trick. [via Lifehacker]
Bottle-brush robot to clear pipelines the world over
Not like this is a new concept or anything, but Zhelong Wang and Hong Gu of China's Dalian University of Technology have created a "bristled pig" in order to clean the clogged pipes that traditional pigs simply can't. In most scenarios, unclogging devices (or pigs, as it were) are pushed through pipelines by force, though certain bends and changes in size can hamper their effectiveness. These bottle-brush styled bots can climb through portals on their own power and adjust to changes in order to make "unpiggable" pipes clean again. It's a dirty job, but something's got to do it.[Via CrunchGear]
SINTEF scientists working up pipe inspection robot
AiKo, Anna Konda -- you two had a good run, but it's time to pass the torch onto something that slithers a bit better. Cybernetics and optical measurement scientists at SINTEF are currently creating a wheeled pipe inspection robot that would "be able to climb, navigate intersections and at any given time know its location in the pipe system." Currently, the project is still stuck in the design phase (that's the Pneumosnake pictured), with some members working on a propulsion solution while others munch on snacks develop a new visual system. Just what the world needs... robots that can maneuver out of whatever holding cell we desperate humans encage them in.[Thanks, Isindil]
The plant has his time
We've played through enough Super Mario Bros. games to have learned that no pipe should be approached without caution. After a lifetime of suffering piranha plant attacks, always at the least opportune moments, we've trained ourselves to scrutinize every green tube before hopping over it. We'll sit there for up to two minutes, staking out the pipe to make sure there isn't a hidden fly trap hoping to dupe us with its delayed pattern. Sometimes, we'll even see their eyes poking out, anxious to see why we haven't jumped yet.These guys seem to pop up everywhere! In addition to their appearances in almost every Mario-related title over the past two decades, the piranha plants extended their roots to Tetris Attack and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening! They've also been spotted in last Wednesday's Extra Life comic, illustrated by the always-awesome Scott Johnson. It's a predictable punchline, but no less hilarious because of it. We implore you to check it out!
Castlevania music hits it really, really big
Our lives are officially forfeit. At a recent Video Games Live show at Yale's Woolsey Hall, classic Castlevania music was performed on a three-story pipe organ, like it was always meant to be. And we were nowhere near it. What is there to live for now? Oh, right, playing this video of it over and over again. Check out the video after the break, and gasp along with us as Vampire Killer kicks in. We feel bad for the poor pipe organ, having gotten a taste of Vania music and forced now to return to its former life.[Via Joystiq]
Wiiminder: tabbed browsing courtesy of Warp Pipe
Warp Pipe Technologies, who you may remember as the only people ever to support the Gamecube modem, ever, have turned their attentions to a Nintendo console with an actual online strategy. Now they're helping to augment the existing Wii online experience with tabbed browsing. By making the Wii Opera browser work more like the real Opera browser, they've added tabbed browsing (with nice smoke-grey transparent tabs). Just navigate your browser over to here and your browser will be ready to party like it's 2001.We are so much happier about web-based Wii browser extensions (which are already great!) when they are accompanied by such lovely logos. It's the typography that does it. It's so handsome.... what were we saying? Oh yeah. There's a video demonstrating the service after the post break.[Via 4cr]
