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What's up with Engadget Expand?
We're just two weeks away from our free Engadget Expand event, taking place at New York City's Javits Center on November 7th and 8th and there's still so much to tell you about. If you can't join us in person, don't worry -- we'll keep you updated throughout the weekend with dispatches from the show floor and our livestream here on Engadget.
Engadget and JetBlue will beam you to Expand!
We're sending one lucky Engadget reader (and a guest of choice) to Engadget Expand in New York City on November 7-8, thanks to our friends at JetBlue Airways and our sponsors. What's more, if you're one of the 10 runners-up, Suitable Technologies will give you a block of time to mosey around the Expand floor remotely with its BeamPro device.
Here's what you need to know about Engadget Expand, so far
We've talked a lot about Engadget Expand so far (you know, that free event we're holding at the Javits Center in NYC on November 7th and 8th). It's time we got you caught up on who's speaking (and when), who's exhibiting on the show floor, what's up with Insert Coin and finally, the winner of our 'In The City' sweepstakes. Let's get started.
Submissions for our Insert Coin: New Challengers contest are open!
The Insert Coin competition has been a highlight of our Engadget Expand live events; a ton of great products have been demoed on-stage, and a few even walked away with piles of cash to help with funding. And with Expand NY on the books for November 2014, we're accepting product submissions today through September 26th. We're looking for the latest crop of innovative devices -- past winners include an aquatic drone and a cube for growing food indoors. Whether your project's up for funding on Kickstarter or you're just starting to show off hardware, we want to hear from you. Head here to submit your project, but not before reviewing our eligibility requirements past the break. And for those of you who'd like to attend our two-day tech fest, head to our event page for more info.
Mad Catz' STRIKE M gaming keyboard fits in your pocket, cramps your fingers
Diminutive Bluetooth keyboards? Yeah, we've seen those before, but we've never really been able to fault them for their size. These tiny peripherals are meant for light work at best, but the Mad Catz STRIKE M wears a facade that outpaces its utility. From its skewed angles, to its collection of quick keys, under its backlit keycaps and behind the highlighted WASD keys -- the STRIKE M wears the colors of a serious gaming keyboard. It isn't one. Excusing its appearance, the STRIKE M is actually a decent little HTPC keyboard. It has a suite of media keys, an embedded scrollwheel and even an thumb mousepad -- but the actual keyboard layout is just too small to match its design language. Laying hands on the keyboard's home row required us to mash our fingertips tightly together, offering a cramped, uncomfortable typing experience. These tiny keys leave no room for error, and require precision to a degree that makes the red-accented WASD seem ridiculous. Showing off the keyboard at Expand NY, Mad Catz' representative actually agreed, saying it's more of a media keyboard than a gaming one. Still, he showed us the one advantage its size offers: the device fits comfortably in a jacket pocket. It's something, at least.
Reminder: Insert Coin voting ends tonight at 11:59PM PT!
What's that? You say you haven't voted for the second Insert Coin: New Challengers? What are you waiting for -- voting wraps up tonight at 11:59PM PT / 2:59AM ET. The competition was one of the highlights of March's Expand San Francisco, and we're pumped to do it again at the Javits Center in November. You can cast your votes here, and if you need a bit of a refresher on the candidates, check out these longer writeups of the nominees. Now get cracking!
Don't miss Wikimedia, OLPC, Leap Motion, Voltaic and more at Expand NY!
We're getting more and more impatient waiting for Expand New York with every subsequent speaker announcement -- and we've got five more names to lay on you right now. This November, we'll be joined by Wikimedia's director of mobile, Tomasz Finc, Leap Motion's director of developer relations, Avinash Dabir, The One Laptop Per Child Association's chairman and CEO, Rodrigo Arboleda, founder / CEO of Voltaic Systems Shayne McQuade and Michael Carroll, a professor of law at American University Washington College of Law and founding member of Creative Commons. And, of course, we've already announced a number of folks who will be joining us on November 9th and 10th, including LeVar Burton, Reggie Watts, Ben Heck, Peter Molyneux, Ben Huh and speakers from companies like Google, Sony, Pebble, Adafruit and The Electronic Frontier Foundation -- and we've still got more to come. Check out the full list below.
Help us decide who deserves free tickets to Expand NY
Last week, we flipped the switch on our #ExpandThrowback contest from the submission phase to the voting phase, meaning the winners of our contest are in your capable hands. What is this contest about again, you ask? Simply put, we wanted to see what old technology our readers could dig up in their garages, attics, closets, glove compartments, et cetera, thus paying homage to the old as we prepare to celebrate the new at this November's Expand NY event. One lucky winner gets an all-expense paid trip to the event and four runner-ups get a $250 gift card to update their old technology.* What are some of the old gizmos found in the top 20? Here's the list, complete with WikiLinks (not WikiLeaks) to fill your thirst for knowledge on tech before we could : 16/35MM Recorder 8-Track Tape Apple Lisa Atari Video Gaming System AT&T EO Blickensderfer #5 Coleco Telstar Commodore VIC-20 Datapoint 2200 Motorola Bag Phone MS-DOS DIskette Original IBM PC Original Microsoft Mouse Polaroid Model 150 Portico Miracle PC Sega Game Gear Studer 3/4 Tape Machine Teddy Ruxpin Timex Sinclair 1000 Toshiba T3100 We'll let you hop on over to the contest and vote for your favorite, and make sure to do so by September 19th. Then, on the 20th, we'll announce the winners. You also can see the whole smattering of #ExpandThrowback submissions that didn't make it to the final round here. *Prizes mentioned in this article are bound by the official rules of the contest.
Don't miss Reggie Watts, Mark Frauenfelder, Sparkfun, Techdirt and Sol Design Lab at Expand NY!
With every subsequent post, our excitement for Expand New York grows -- and this is a particularly good one. We might go so far as saying that this is our most exciting speaker post yet, but we'll leave that for you to decide. Improvisational musician / comedian Reggie Watts will be on stage discussing and demoing his sampling setup. We'll also be joined once again by Boing Boing founder and Make Magazine editor-in-chief Mark Frauenfelder, along with Sol Design Lab founder Beth Ferguson, Techdirt CEO Mike Masnick and Sparkfun's educational outreach coordinator, Jeff Branson. And, of course, we've already announced a number of folks who will be joining us on November 9th and 10th, including LeVar Burton, Ben Heck, Peter Molyneux, Ben Huh and folks from companies like Google, Sony, Pebble, Adafruit and The Electronic Frontier Foundation -- and we've still got plenty to come. Check out the full list below.
Help pick the best retro tech for our #ExpandThrowback contest
We've received hundreds of thousands (of kilobytes) worth of submissions for our #ExpandThrowback contest and we want to thank those who valiantly opened up their closets, garages, attics, or just pivoted to the other side of their desk and snapped photos of their best in retro tech. We've gathered as a team at Engadget HQ and winnowed the pickins' down to our top 20 favorites. Now it's time to turn the decision on who wins over to you. Here's how it works. Click here to jump right to our contest page on Facebook. Peek through the pics and vote for your favorite. To keep it fair, we're only allowing one vote per Facebook account. On September 20th, come back to see who won. What will the winners get? First Prize Winner: All-expenses paid passage for you plus one to Engadget Expand in New York, including airfare, hotel room, transportation and food (ARV $3,000)* (4) Second Prize Winners: We'll give you a $250 gift card so you can finally ditch that StarTAC and pick up a shiny new phone (they even have touchscreens now!). Don't forget, if you're not already connected to all things Expand, stay tuned to our Expand hub for the latest news. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. *Prizes mentioned in this article are bound by the official rules of the contest.
Get inspired by these speakers at Expand in New York this November!
We had an amazing time at Expand SF this past March (couldn't make it? see for yourself!), and we're super excited about making Expand NY an even bigger and more spectacular show this November 9th and 10th. The tech luminaries you'll be hearing from on stage are a big part of what makes the Expand experience one you won't want to miss, so let's start filling you in on who those folks are!
Ziphius gets fully funded on Kickstarter, expected to ship in March
Now that's what we like to see. Our first-ever Insert Coin: New Challengers winner has secured full funding over on Kickstarter -- and just in the nick of time. With just over a day to go before the end of its fundraising period, Ziphius has managed to pass its lofty $125,000 goal. That means we can expect to see the cool little aquatic drone shipping to backers in March of next year, just in time for the warm weather. And we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that you too can live the crowdfunding dream. We've opened up entries for our second Insert Coin competition, as of late last month. It may not get you all the way to a final product, but with $25,000 up for grabs, it's a heck of a head start.
