cord
Latest
Is Spotify about to get a lot more social?
With over 20 million subscribers and more than 75 million users, Spotify has helped redefine how people access and listen to music. Its streaming apps are functional, but in a world where lots of people are WhatsApping, Snapchatting and Tweeting, Spotify's own social presence is a little lacking. The company appears ready to do something about that, though, as it's just announced that it's bought two new companies, Cord Project and Soundwave, which both happen to have a focus on messaging and sharing.
How to create your own coiled iPhone charging cord
Apple's official iPhone and iPad charging cords are nothing special. Like any straight wires, they have a tendency to tangle in a bag and they don't look particularly neat laying across your desk or nightstand. But there's a way to give your official power cords some added style and functionality with just a pen, some tape, and a blowdryer. Here's your starting point. It's functional, but ugly and a bit of a pain to wrap up and take with you if you're in a hurry. Take any old pen you have lying around and wrap the cord around it, taping each end so it remains coiled without you holding it. Now, take a hairdryer and apply heat. This can be a bit tricky depending on the hairdryer you're using, but in general a good 90 seconds on each side should be sufficient. Don't melt the cord -- if you get it too hot, there's a good chance you'll melt the insides together and the cord may be rendered useless. I take no responsibility for you overcooking your fancy Apple cord. Let the cord cool down and then unwrap it from the pen. You now have a self-coiling cord!
Smart Cord may be the simplest app on the store, it's an on/off switch
Bombarded by CES news? This won't take long to read. The Smart Cord app is basically just one button, designed to control a simple but clever Bluetooth power cord. If you have an outdoor fountain that you like to turn off at night, or anything that needs a remote-controlled on/off switch, Smart Cord is actually pretty neat. The app is free, but the 3-foot cord will set you back $39.95. The ZMote folks are planning a few other remote-controlled switches and cords, but those won't be available until later this year.
Worlds first elasticated USB cables invent bungee jumpering (video)
Recall those stretchy transistors and bendy silicon circuits? Now you can plumb them together with these Roboden elasticated cables. Asahi Kasei corporation came up with the idea while trying to create cords flexible enough to power up humanoid robots. Thanks to its work with Spandex, the company knew human skin can stretch by a factor of 1.5, and a cable with similar properties would be ideal for juicing up them 'droids. USB leads are planned, among other types, meaning you could make it all the way to the fridge in your heated slippers without unplugging. Check out the video below and you'll see why we're already designing next year's Tron costume for Halloween.
Kanex's MHL HDMI adapter brings your smartphone content to an HDTV near you
Want to get content from your Samsung Galaxy S II to your HDTV, but don't want to shell out for the fancy new Toshiba Regza? Shortly after yesterday's announcement of the Australia-only WL800A, Kanex unveiled its $29 adapter, letting users connect their MHL-capable handsets to HDTVs via the HDMI port. The adapter is available now -- full PR after the break.
SNES controller and N64 console turned into iPad docks
Etsy user Geekunique sent along some links to these great pictures of old school Nintendo gaming units turned into iPad and iPhone docks. Above, you can see a Super Nintendo controller fashioned into a working iPhone 4 dock, and he's also got a Nintendo 64 console (though unfortunately it's the green translucent one, not the best looking, if you ask me) turned into an iPad dock. Pretty funny -- not only does the build look pretty good from the pictures, but of course Nintendo is probably the game juggernaut most threatened by the rising field of iOS games, so it's ironic that you've got an iOS device using Nintendo hardware as a stand. Geekunique is selling these (and only a few of them, so they'll probably be sold out by the time you read this), but it seems easy enough to cut a slot into one of these old devices and put an iPhone charger cord in there. If you have an old piece of hardware sitting around and do eventually hack it into an iOS stand, be sure to send us a picture!
3 Pin British Plug: go ahead and yank it
Yanking cords out of sockets is a terrifically satisfying way to take out your aggression on electronics, but it's not very safe. This British-only concept solution seeks to change all that, with some internal fortification and an external ball attachment to show you where to grip. Why not make a ritual out of rebellion?
Nunchuks turning pink?
The nunchuks in our house (both for combat and for our Wii) have stayed the original color at which we purchased them. No fading, no problems with them on our end. We didn't leave them sitting on a window ledge or something for 95% of their lifespan, so we're confident they're still the same as they were on day one.And, these nunchuks pictured above aren't as old as ours, recently purchased before the Christmas holiday. But, as the peripherals were played with for hours on end by the lucky recipients, they started to change color. Interesting. And, more people over at the Nintendo forums are reporting the same thing.Any of you having this problem yourselves?[Via TGR]
CoRD and RDC Menu
Some people complain about things, whilst others go about trying to fix them. Commenters on my last RDC post have pointed out a few things that will make my life easier (one I knew of, the other I did not).First off, Movieboy suggests RDC Menu, a menubar application that lets you open multiple instances of MS's RDC client quickly and efficiently. This is still more of a hack than I would like, but it sure does make the hack easier to do.Jean-Francois reminds me of CoRD, a Cocoa variant of rdesktop (I don't want to run things in X11, call me old fashioned). CoRD looks very promising as it has the lickable look of a Cocoa application, as well as supporting concurrent connections to servers in one window (sweet). Keep in mind that CoRD is only a 0.2 release though, so I'm not sure if I can recommend it for mission critical purposes.Read on for some CoRD screenshots.
Nintendo to release Ethernet Kit
The Wii is gloriously Wi-Fi enabled right out of the box, a lovely addition to the console. But, alas, not all of us are high tech money-throwers with advanced router setups in our third floor libraries. Well, we are (though it's in the fourth floor media-viewing room), but for everyone else, Nintendo has announced an Ethernet kit that will (presumably) take a standard ethernet cord and run it through one of the two USB slots on the back of the console. Another option is the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB dongle, an option made available for DS users without a router. However, the limited availability and relatively high price have been a bit of a barrier, so it's nice to see that Nintendo is offering a hardwired option. Plus, wired speeds and connection stability are still generally superior to any wireless network, so some of us you rich boys might want to pick one up regardless. [Thanks, Probot!]
