C4
Latest
Arris' cable technology teases us with 4.5Gbps download speeds
Think your cable connection's fast? Arris thinks it could be a lot faster. At today's NCTA Cable Show in Chicago, the company will demo a new system that can support download speeds of 4.5Gbps, and upload rates of 575Mbps. To achieve this, Arris devoted more of its DOCSIS 3.0 cable channels to broadband (128 downstream, 24 upstream), sourced through a C4 cable module (pictured on the left). Of course, this would leave less space for conventional TV channels, but we're guessing the accelerated streaming speeds would more than make up for it. Unfortunately, the prototype is still in the proof-of-concept phase, so it may be a while before you reap its benefits. Head past the break for the full PR.
Onkyo netbook gets covered inside and out with Miffy
Miffy (or Nijntje) is a small, Dutch, female rabbit who appears in picture books. How exactly she became a cultural hit in Japan we don't know, but we do have a good idea how she found herself plastered all over this netbook: some combination of Onkyo having a bunch of extra C4 units lying around and Namco-Bandai having a Miffy license it wasn't fully utilizing. On the hardware side this thing is particularly disinteresting (1.6GHz Atom CPU, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, etc. etc.), but its lid has been liberally covered with character silhouettes. Its Windows installation (7 or XP) has received a similar treatment, with Miffy-themed apps and wallpaper ruling the desktop thanks to that partnership with Namco-Bandai. No word on price, but predictably this one is Japan-only.
Breaking: C4 indie developer conference discontinued
C4, Jonathan 'Wolf' Rentzsch's independent Mac developers conference, is no more. First held in 2006, C4 offered a highly intense way for developers to share technology know-how with each other. It provided a bottom-up approach to improving Apple platforms from developers all the way back to Apple. In an impassioned blog post, Rentzsch has explained his reasons for shuttering C4. He writes that Apple's insistence on top-down control over its platforms (presumably more the iPhone OS than the Mac) crushes innovation and makes developers overly reliant on Apple for moving technology forward. Rentzsch explained, "By itself Section 3.3.1 wasn't enough to cause me to quit C4. I've weathered Apple lying to me and their never-ending series of autocratic App Store shenanigans." His link on 'lying to me' references the now-infamous Steve Jobs assertion that a rogue iPhone app could bring down Cingular's network. The lack of community outrage to the 3.3.1 dictate (the portion of the iPhone OS 4.0 developer agreement that forbids third-party toolkits for app development) pushed him past the edge. "With resistance to Section 3.3.1 so scattershot and meek, it's become clear that I haven't made the impact I wanted with C4. It's also clear my interests and the Apple programming community's interests are farther apart than I had hoped." C4 will be greatly missed. Responses to the conference's termination include this note from NetNewsWire dev Brent Simmons.
PSB rolls out a whole new Image-series speaker lineup
There's no shortage of quality loudspeaker brands that come to the US from its neighbor-to-the-north, and the incremental improvements to longstanding models flowing across the border usually goes without notice. But when updates are made across an entire product series, it deserves mention -- as in the case of PSB updating its Image lineup (not to be confused with its Imagine speakers). All in, there are eight new models that can blanket your HT setup: T5 ($899) and T6 ($1,199) floorstanders, B5 ($399) and B6 ($499) monitors, B4 ($299) sub-compact/surrounds, C4 ($275) and C5 ($375) center channels, and S5 ($799) bipolar surrounds. The Image lineup has always been value-conscious, so all those prices are per pair -- not the cheapest, but you've got to pay for quality. Interested? Hit that link for details.
KEF's C-Series speakers move downmarket, lose Uni-Q driver
The point source Uni-Q driver that positions the midrange concentric with the tweeter has been a hallmark of KEF speakers for a long time. But times and budgets being what they are, the company's new entry-level C-Series of speakers have ditched the Uni-Q setup, but kept some high-profile features like 0.75-inch aluminum tweeters and gold-plated terminal strips bridging the dual binding posts. There's something for everyone in the line: the C1 and C3 (pictured) are monitors at $240 and $300 per pair, respectively; the C5 and C7 ($325 and $400 each) are for floorstander fans; if you've just got to have the exact same speaker all across the front the C6LCR ($250 each) is for you; and the C4 subwoofer will fill out the bass for $400. All available in any color, as long as it's black.
C4[1] videos now being posted
Back in August famed Mac developer Jonathan "Wolf" Rentzsch organized the C4[1] conference for independent Mac developers in Chicago. The presenters included a veritable who's who of indie Mac developers and now Rentzsch is getting around to posting videos of the presentations for those of us who weren't fortunate enough to attend in person.Apparently it takes a considerable amount of time to process the video, so he's only posting one per week for the next several weeks. Nonetheless, he already has his own introductory video as well as one by Wil Shipley (of Delicious Library) on marketing hype. As you can see from the original schedule, future videos will include presentations from a bunch of TUAW's favorite devs.So, if you're interested in the Mac indie development scene you'll want to keep an eye on Rentzsch's video page over the next few weeks.
Mirror-enabled videoconferencing on the iPhone
The iPhone application community continues to amaze me-- this time, Engadget's got the heads up on an iPhone video conferencing system, made possible by not only a cool little piece of code (designed for a C4 contest) that fetches an iPhone's camera input and feeds it out to another iPhone via a webserver, but also these ingenious mirror settings that work as a little periscope around the phone, and let you both see the image on the front while the camera on the back grabs yours. Wild!The Ecamm folks are old hands, apparently, at the ingenious use of mirrors around an Apple camera, but this definitely tops anything I've seen in the past. Just an amazing hack, both in terms of software and hardware. Unfortunately, the source (for either hack) isn't available yet, but they promise that something is coming soon. In the meantime, just bask in the glow of what these iPhone guys are capable of.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
TUAW at WWDC 2007: Interview with Wolf Rentzsch
Wolf Rentzsch is another Mac developer so devoted to his craft that he comes to WWDC just for the fun of it. Wolf loves code so much, in fact, that he started C4, an "indie conference for indie developers." Scott sat down with Wolf to talk about Mac dev work, his own work, iPhone and C4.NOTE: This should be the last of the "Perpendicular Subject" series, we hope you've enjoyed the side views!
C4[1] registration open
Jon "Wolf" Rentzsch's alternative indie Mac developer conference C4 is once more upon us. Registration is open for the event which takes place Aug 10-12, 2007 in Chicago. The 3 day event costs $512, which includes meals, and features talks from the likes of Adam Engst, Cabel Sasser, Daniel Jalkut, and Wil Shipley to name a few (check out the full schedule).There are 3 student scholarships available once again this year. All you have to do, if you're a student who would like to be considered for a scholarship, is follow the directions listed here. The attendees each get three votes, which they will use to pick which 3 applicants will receive the scholarships.This conference is intentionally small, so if you're interested in attending be sure to register sooner rather than later.
Bosch unveils parking space measurement system
While Toyota already has its self-parking Prius on the streets, and Volkswagen (not to mention BMW and Honda) isn't too far behind, Citroën is joining the fold thanks to a newly-unveiled system developed by Bosch. Citing the C4 Picasso as the "world's first car to feature integrated parking space measurement," Bosch apparently hopes to get its own snazzy parking assistant on more rides in the future. The system utilizes six total sensors on the front / rear of the vehicle to gauge parking space dimesntions (and alert you of obstacles) while cruising by at up to 12.5-miles per hour, and can inform the driver if the space he / she is eying is too small, "a tight squeeze," or just right. The system initiates the measuring process when the motorist tags a button on their steering wheel, and looks to the right or left depending on which turn signal is in use. While not quite as advanced as Toyota's gig, Bosch hopes to upgrade its system to allow the vehicle itself to control the maneuvering sometime in 2008, but those not able to hold out can pick up the current rendition real soon.[Via Gizmag]
TUAW Podcast #13
This week's podcast involves Dan Pourhadi and the C4 developer shindig he attended, those exclusive Leopard screenshots we nabbed, iPod viruses and the corporate blame game, and we round off with Apple's preliminary 4th quarter earnings results. Dan and I kept things short this time around, as the podcast rounds off at just over 20 minutes and 18.6MB.As usual, you can grab the podcast via a direct link, our podcast RSS feed or in the iTunes Store podcast directory. Enjoy the show.Update: It seems there's a bug in our iTS feed preventing from getting this latest episode, though our other links for accessing the podcast are working just fine. We'll keep you posted.
C4 Tip: Drag-and-drop text in Cocoa apps
During The Grube's UI presentation at C4, he pointed to one particular example of "functional inconsistency" in Apple's software: the discrepancy in results when you drag-and-drop text in Carbon apps (TextWrangler, AppleWorks, etc.) vs. Cocoa apps (TextEdit, Safari, etc.).When you select text in Carbon applications, you're able to drag the text by simply clicking the selection and dragging it. In Cocoa apps, however, you need to click the selected text and hold the mouse button down for a fraction of a second before you're able to drag it. Your cursor changes from the text selector to the pointer. But clicking and immediately dragging results in you re-selecting the text.The Cocoa differentiation is a result of NeXT designing a way to enable both dragging and re-selecting, which was carried into OS X.It's a minor inconsistency, but has frustrated me countless times. Glad that's all cleared up.Thanks John!
The weapons of Killzone: Liberation
If you've played the demo, you got a good taste of what to expect from the upcoming PSP-exclusive Killzone: Liberation. You can only carry one weapon at a time, meaning weapons selection is pretty crucial to the strategy of the game. Thankfully, there are crates that will supply you with the necessary tools you'll need (for example: a rocket launcher before a deadly battle against two tanks). GameTrailers.com has posted an excellent video feature, covering the various weapons in the game. Their favorite? A explosive crossbow, a la Darkwatch. They reveal details on how you can purchase new weapons, use C4, command your teammates to cover you with turret fire, ride a tank, and more. Chris found the game demo to be pretty damn good, and with all these gameplay features, it seems like the full game will not disappoint (hopefully). Killzone: Liberation hits stores on Halloween.
"Wolf" Rentzsch announces C4: Chicago Mac Developer Conference
When ADHOC/MacHack went bye-bye last year, the Mac development community was aching for something to fill its Big Foot-sized shoes. Drunkenbatman threw his hat into the ring with Evening@Adler, which I thought was a huge hit.And now Jon "Wolf" Rentzsch is taking it one step further by hosting a three-day, session-packed developer conference in Chicago, with presentations from some of the Mac dev world's Most Notable (including Brent Simmons, Gus Mueller, John Gruber, drunkenbatman, and many more!).Jon has the full schedule on his blog, and you can look at the conference in more depth at its website. There are only 75 attendee spots, most of which have filled, but Jon tells me there are still a few openings: so register quick! I'll certainly be there, and will post a recap of the whole thing here on TUAW.
