Stan Horaczek
Articles by Stan Horaczek
Netflix to release set-top box by the end of the year?
We've been hearing about Netflix's plans to deliver movies via the web for quite a while now, and it turns out they might be doing it through a proprietary set-top box before the end of this year. During a panel discussion at an Independent Film & Television Alliance meeting, Netflix's VP of original programming, Eric Besner, reportedly revealed plans for a device that will enable customers to add movies to their queue and download them overnight, presumably to an internal hard drive. An official statement from the movie rental powerhouse to the SEC suggests, among other things, that nothing has actually been decided yet, and that if the box is real, it will only be part of a much larger plan to deliver downloaded content. It looks like we'll have to wait a while for details -- like if download-and-burn will become a reality -- but a report is apparently on the way in early 2007, describing what the company has come up with after investing somewhere between five and ten million dollars in research this year alone. So sit tight and enjoy your new Vongo subscription or wait patiently for Steve Jobs to lock down the iTunes movie store and we'll give you a heads up when we have more info. [Via Zatz Not Funny]
SenTAG helps prevent drowning, wirelessly
Swimming is fun, but drowning, most certainly, is not. The makers of SenTAG know this, and have developed a system that monitors swimmers' depth and motion, alerting them, with a series of alarms and LEDs, if they might be in danger. The set-up, which is designed mostly for public swimming holes, consists of radio/ultrasound transmitters (worn around swimmers' wrists) and a base station that alerts rescue personnel if someone isn't responding to the alarm. No building modification is required for installation, meaning there won't be any wires running through or around the water and operating cost is kept relatively low. The most exciting part for us, though, is that the whole rescue process is now one step closer to being completely electronic. Eventually, the SenTAG could be used to signal a Strider robot, which could drag the victim back to land where the CPR bot could be applied. But, don't worry lifeguards, that day is still a long way off.
Samsung's new i320N in the wild
It turns out our paranoia hunch was correct last week when we thought we spotted an alternate version of Samsung's Q-killing i320. The re-designed GSM device rocks a different keyboard shape than the original, but boasts similar specs, including a 1.3-megapixel camera (with flash), QVGA screen, stereo speaker, Bluetooth and EDGE support. Still no info on pricing or availability on this Windows Mobile powered hotness, but we've got our fingers crossed that this makeover won't drive the price tag through the proverbial roof. With all these Q knocks (like TechFaith, for one) making it out though, we imagine competition in price is gonna be pretty stiff.
Xbox 360 mod sports fully-internal water cooling
There are a few ways to remedy the Xbox 360's heat problem, but none of them are as impressive as the all-internal water-cooling system created by Dano2k0 on the Xbox-scene forums. Somehow, he's managed to squeeze a Zern GPU block, a Koolance GPU-180-H06 block, a Tank-o-Matic mini reservoir, a 12v thermaltake pump and DD fill port into the 360's already crowded interior. The mods don't stop on the inside, as the box itself is customized with blue LEDs, plexiglass windows, some slick blue paint and, best of all, no huge water pipes that look like they came from a pool filter.
New robot does the worm, for real
Sure, we've seen plenty of robot snakes in the past, but none like this robot earthworm being developed at Chuo University in Japan. The same research department that showed us the incredible Strider bot, is now demonstrating a machine that can move on open land and along narrow passageways, using the same method of peristalsis as the average night crawler. Each section of the body expands and contracts in a specific order, thus enabling the rubber-gripped bot to move inside of a tube with almost no lateral motion, even when crawling straight up. We can see how this technology, which NASA is also working on, could be used in fields like geology, robofishing and medicine, even though watching the videos on the site and seeing the word "catheter" in the article made us more than a little uneasy.
BenQ's Joybook R55 boasts 16ms response time
We're still digging out from under the avalanche of technology that was the 2006 Computex show, and in our efforts we stumbled across AVING's encounter with the latest BenQ Joybook we've been hearing about. The R55 sports a Core Duo processor, Bluetooth 2.0 and NVIDIA's 256MB GeForce Go 7400. What makes it noteworthy, though, is the 16ms response time (many laptops range in the '20s), which they claim is the "world's fastest" when it comes to 15.4-inch WXGA laptops. This R55 uses the UltraVivid technology, which includes a brightness-boosting Display Brilliance Enhancement Film to improve visibility and greatly reduce the dreaded LCD ghosting effect. We know it's still nowhere near the quickness of a faithful CRT, but that's no reason to frown little girl. It is, after all, called the Joybook.
RIAA establishes Master Ringtone Sales Award
The big wigs over at the RIAA have established a new reward system, much like the one they use for traditional albums, called the Master Ringtone Sales Award. They're keeping track of how many times a song has been downloaded as a ringtone -- it has to be the original recording, not some clunky midi version -- and once that number hits 500,000 it's considered to have gone Gold. One million sales merit Platinum status and two million marks the start of the ever-expandable Multi-Platinum category, into which the Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps" and three others have already climbed. Check the link for a list of all 128 songs honored -- including some Mariah Carey recorded for Pepsi -- at the inaugural ceremony held in NYC. Rumor has it that next year's event will have a lifetime achievement award for the late Crazy Frog. [Via Slashphone]
USB teddy bear holds data, scares children
Generally, when someone makes a teddy bear-themed gadget, his/her intention is to overwhelm bystanders with cuteness. But whoever created this little guy, whose head has to be removed in order to access the internal USB drive, must have watched one too many Tim Burton movies. No word on how much it holds or if there are any plans to make these available for purchase, but with your own bear, a thumb drive, some thread and a closet full of skeletons, you can probably make your own without too much effort.
Keepin' it real fake, part XXVIII: Another Nokia 8800 imposter
Despite Nokia's best efforts, it looks like the 8800 has gotten the fake treatment once again. The latest knock-off, which some were speculating to be the 8800's successor, sports a shiny metal exterior and a 2 megapixel camera, but still doesn't slide. It's certainly not as slick as the high-priced genuine models, or the classy 8801, but for the $200 this thing is allegedly costs (presumably out of suitcases and car trunks) you get what you pay for.
Robot Strider walks on water and, eventually, land
We know you're still reeling from the awesomeness that is the robotic panda and other more aquatically-inclined robots we've seen in the past, but the Strider is actually as useful as it is impressive. From what we gather from a trail of liberally translated links is that this radio-controlled bot, which is being developed at Japan's Chuo University, uses 6 legs to propel itself across the water like the ones MIT and Carnegie Mellon have been developing for a while. The outer legs are made of buoyant resin to keep it afloat, while the middle legs provide the driving force. Eventually the developers are hoping it will be able to move flawlessly from the water onto land, making it a valuable tool for aquatic rescues, especially when equipped with a camera. Even if it never gets that far, the videos on the source link suggest it would make a pretty killer pool toy.[Via Robot Watch]
Dicota Link does USB 2.0 PC-to-PC data transfer
What happens if your hip new pre-N network is on the fritz and you need to transfer more data than your Micro Vault can handle? The solution would be simple if you had Dicota Korea's Link handy. This little device offers simple 480Mb/s PC-to-PC networking in a nifty little Plug & Play package. No word on a US release, but from what we can tell the Link is Windows-only and sports blue LEDs that let you know when a connection has been made. And don't let the picture scare you, the approximately €20 price tag includes a cable extension so you won't need to keep the computers too close for comfort. [Warning: source link not in English][Via AVING]
Dell to start shipping pre-N enabled laptops in Q3?
We've already seen plenty of routers, and even one laptop, embracing the pre-N standard, but industry rumblings would suggest Dell has made a large order for compatible devices that will ship in some of their third quarter lappies. Most of the time we're all for early adoption, but embedding devices that might end up being incompatible with the final version of the N standard seems awfully risky to us. Then again, we aren't billionaire business tycoons, either.
Blackberry 7130v coming to the UK and US in July?
Even though Cingular has already brought us the Blackberry 7130c, we've still been itching to get our hands on the other versions, including the slick new 7130v, ever since we caught the FCC pictures of them a few weeks ago. Thankfully, it looks our wait might finally be coming to an end. The same forum that has been surprisingly accurate when it comes to blowing up RIM's spot in the past is reporting that the "enterprise friendly" devices will be hitting the UK on T-Mobile and Vodaphone in July, with the T-Mobile US version hitting around the same time. We think waiting another month for our fix of EDGE, Bluetooth 2.0 and the ever-addictive SureType is far too long. Our Treo, on the other hand, is keeping its fingers crossed for an indefinite delay.
Asus W3J 14-inch Centrino Duo laptop reviewed
It might not be as fancy as the high-class Lamborghinis our pals at Engadget Chinese saw at Computex, but according to this review, the 14-inch Centrino Duo W3J is a winner. Weighing in around 4-pounds, it fits right into the ultra-portable category, but doesn't skimp on specs including a Core Duo processor, 1GB DDR2 RAM and an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 that maxes out at 512 MB when the HyperMemory kicks in (256MB onboard and 256MB shared RAM). It even has the Bluetooth 2.0 that its cousin the A8Jm was so tragically missing – at least here in the States. All that, plus Asus' signature brushed metal styling and a battery life of about 2.75 make this machine sound like a champ, but we still can't help but think about the slick Q35 we could buy with the £1029 asking price.
NES controller cellphone and "Zack Morris" Bluetooth headset mods
While mobile companies are doing their best to make cellphones as sleek and futuristic as possible, retro junkies keep taking them apart and turning them into ironic, yet functional, pieces of art like these. The first mod, from Grooveking.com, makes an old Motorolla DynaTAC 8000X or "Zack Morris phone" into a Bluetooth headset, that'll get 8-times the juice of a normal battery. The second project, from DIYHappy.com, takes an old NES controller (which has already gotten the Bluetooth treatment in the past) and fills it with the guts of a Nokia 3200 – yes, the American Idol phone. You need a little technical know-how to make these for yourself, but after you get the hang of it, all of your gadgets might end up crammed into NES controllers. Sadly, the Nokia 3200 doesn't have Bluetooth so you won't be able to use these two devices together, but we look forward to the future when our Xbox 360 controllers and Treos are turned into seemlessly-integrated retro kitsch.[Thanks Zack and Sam]
Robot shortstop in development at Arizona State
Robots have taken yet another step toward their goal of dominating humans in just about every sport, this time setting their digital sites on America's favorite pastime, baseball. Thomas G. Sugar, a robotics engineer from Arizona State University, has been developing robots designed to play the field for more than six years, and his latest model is pretty impressive. The yet-unnamed (might we suggest eRod?) bot uses a motion-sensing camera to determine when a ball is put into play, and an on-board computer system that calculates trajectory. Using that information, the cyber-fielder hurries to gather the ball with a foam pad -- a glove is a feature to be added in the future. Its four-wheel drive transmission allows it to reach speeds of about 30 feet per second, which is almost as impressive as its estimated .750 fielding percentage. Sadly, it can't swing a bat, but luckily there are other robots for that.
DIY cable release and serial cable for Canon Digital Rebel
While DSLR prices are dropping, the prices for accessories are not, so the folks over at Make have come up with a way to make a cable release and serial-port cable out of electronics you might already have laying around. The cable release, which helps to prevent camera-shake during long-exposures, requires a 2.5-mm stereo phone plug, some flexible wire and a switch. The serial-port cable, which allows you to make "bulb" exposures with the Remote Capture software included with the camera, requires a few more parts and some coding knowledge, but the reward could be well worth the effort for astrophotographers or people who want more cred at the next Maker Faire.[Via Make: Blog]
Sony's E Series displays for the Post-It addict
Until the entirety of the corporate world finally comes around to modern utilities like Outlook reminders and Google Calendar, those little yellow Post-Its will continue to dominate desktops across the land. Apparently Sony Europe has chosen to facilitate this environmentally irresponsible practice, by adding a special panel for the increasingly-obsolete sticky notes below the screens on their new E series LCD monitors. The panel also boasts a "handy groove which is ideal for holding pens" so you'll never miss a message in case, you know, you forget you're sitting right in front of a computer. Both the 17-inch and 19-inch models max out at 1280 x 1024 resolution and sport an average response time of 8 milliseconds, so we'll be interested to see how many extra Euros a run-of-the-mill monitor costs when it has a piece of plastic slapped on the front that may or may not disable screen angle and height adjustability.[Via Gadgetizer]
Mitsubishi's PK-20 PocketProjector
It has been a good couple of weeks for projector enthusiasts – there has to be at least one of you out there – and now Mitsubishi is making it even better with an upgrade to their PocketProjector line. With a 550:1 contrast ratio and a native resolution of 800 x 600, the PK-20 still isn't a great choice for someone looking to make their own home theater, even with the new built-in SD card reader. But its small size (4.85-inches x 1.85-inches x 3.85-inches), optional battery pack ($199) and weight of only one-pound should make it attractive to the well-traveled business man with expense accounts that'll cover the $899 price tag.
Zfang portable gaming keyboard reviewed
If you're looking to give your fingers a break but don't want to replace your regular keyboard with one of Ideazon's fairly large and generally graphics-laden Zboards, you might be interested in adding their compact new Zfang to your repertoire. Extremetech's review is generally positive, complimenting its ergonomic design and extensive customizability, citing only minor negatives like plastic construction and the $35 price tag. Other features, like buttons on each side to accommodate lefties, multimedia controls, and 11 weapon-specific keys, make the Zfang seem like just the thing to help us in our transition from FPS-player to real-life killing machines.