Filed under: Ask Engadget, Digital Cameras, Displays, Misc. Gadgets

Frightening though it may be, the fall semester is just around the corner. You know what that means? You'll actually have to get up at -- wait for it -- an appointed time. Carissa, being the proactive student she is, posed this question:

"Going to school in the fall, I'm looking for the ideal alarm clock to beat the late nights and what not and noticed a few digital photo frames / alarm clocks. I want a decent alarm clock that has battery backup and good resolution on the screen for viewing photos. An auxiliary audio jack would be a major plus. Which one do you guys recommend that falls under the 200 dollar mark? Thanks a million!"

Look at that -- you all even received a thank you in advance! For those who've mastered the art of waking up on time and pretending to be a real live adult, which alarm clock / digiframe hybrid have you found to be supreme? Oh, and you know that question you've been hitting the snooze on? Yeah, send it on over to ask at engadget dawt com.

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Filed under: Ask Engadget, Digital Cameras, Displays, Misc. Gadgets

Frightening though it may be, the fall semester is just around the corner. You know what that means? You'll actually have to get up at -- wait for it -- an appointed time. Carissa, being the proactive student she is, posed this question:

"Going to school in the fall, I'm looking for the ideal alarm clock to beat the late nights and what not and noticed a few digital photo frames / alarm clocks. I want a decent alarm clock that has battery backup and good resolution on the screen for viewing photos. An auxiliary audio jack would be a major plus. Which one do you guys recommend that falls under the 200 dollar mark? Thanks a million!"

Look at that -- you all even received a thank you in advance! For those who've mastered the art of waking up on time and pretending to be a real live adult, which alarm clock / digiframe hybrid have you found to be supreme? Oh, and you know that question you've been hitting the snooze on? Yeah, send it on over to ask at engadget dawt com.

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Filed under: Cellphones

We're not sure how this one got past Apple's App Store censors, but the clever kids at Nullriver have released what appears to be the first tethering solution for the iPhone. The $10 NetShare app is just a SOCKS proxy that links an ad-hoc WiFi network to the iPhone's 3G or EDGE connection -- and if we could get it to work, we'd probably think it was a fine, if hacky, solution to a major limitation of Steve's baby. As it stands, though, the instructions are pretty sparse, and while we can get the app to recognize a connection, we're not able to actually load anything. We're not sure how long this one's going to last -- anyone else willing to give it a shot before it gets yanked?

[Thanks, Zoli; Warning, link opens iTunes]

Update: Aaaaand it's offline. Shocking.

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Solar power has a lot of promise, but until recently there hasn't been an adequate way to store the energy the sun produces. Scientists at MIT have come up with a new fuel cell process that mimics the way plants store the sun's rays that is both efficient and inexpensive, not to mention environmentally sound. Without getting too technical, the system uses sunlight to separate water's hydrogen and oxygen atoms and then puts them back together in a fuel cell, providing energy. This means an almost limitless supply of clean energy might be just a few years away, though it's still too early to say when you'll have what you want: a solar powered laptop. [PhysOrg]

There. I said it. I hate it. OK, I don't really hate it. But sometimes I want to smash it against the wall. The last time was in the pit at the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's concert in Madrid. I was there, first row, center of the stage, after waiting a whole night and day outside of the stadium. That night was the most amazing and magical I've experienced in a very long time, and certainly the best rock concert I've ever been to. Only one thing failed: my iPhone's camera.

galleryPost('iphoneboss', 60, '');

I was tired, exhausted, and about to fall sleep standing up (there were no seats at the pit). The week had been hell, and I was physically and emotionally destroyed. But then, the band and the Boss took the stage and Night blasted everything away. In a few seconds, as the adrenalin kicked in, the exhaustion disappeared. Then Radio Nowhere came. And Lonesome Day. And the Promised Land. From there, he and his band made every single one of the 60,000 souls in the stadium fly.

Three hours of pure rock, with the Boss giving it all until the end, when he sung a ten-minute version of Twist And Shout, mixed with—get this—La Bamba. Not a single pause. Just music, heart and soul. I just couldn't believe this guy is almost as old as my dad. Forget Mick Jagger. Forget bloody Bono. He is the greatest rock musician alive, a true force of nature. And I'm not even—or was not, until this day—a fan.

During the whole concert, the entire stadium was under his command, jumping, singing, waving, screaming, completely in ecstasy, electricfied, everyone sweating under the hot spanish summer night. He and the band were enjoying the whole thing to no end. You could see them laughing, looking at us with real surprise in their faces, as if they weren't believing that this huge stadium just couldn't stop singing and jumping through every single one of the songs they played.

They were giving all their life away right there, and the public was returning it right back. With interest. Each of us. Mass hysteria. Crowd orgasm. Total love and dedication from Bruce, the band, and the public.

At one point—one of many in which he came to sing even closer to us—the Boss walked to the central platform and took a girl up on the stage. I knew she was the daughter of one of the spanish fans—who had been following him through the whole tour—because I met her before the concert started. She danced with her for a minute, smiling while the band played. It was just one of the many "I can't believe this is happening" moments of the night.

Right there, in the very first row, in the corner of the central platform, I could see all these moments perfectly, like I'm seeing the screen of my computer right now. We were able to actually shake his hand, as well as the hands of the band—who at the end all came to the center platform. I shouted at him at one point ("Yes! Take us up there!") and he replied looking straight into my eyes, with the biggest smile, pointing at me and saying "Yes, I'm going to take you there!" just before the band exploded with sound.

Another time, I could see him turning to Max Weinberg—at the end of Seven Nights to Rock—and whisper: "Born to Run!" And (boom!) Born to Run started to play a second later. At any time, I could turn around and see the 60,000 people in the Santiago Bernabéu—the name of the Real Madrid football stadium—singing, clapping, taken way by his power. Yes, it was absolutely breathtaking. All of it. From the very beginning I thought: "I have to share this with the people I love. I can't do this justice with my description. I have to take photos."

There was when I started hating the iPhone's camera.

Nothing, I wasn't able to take any of this magic with clarity. I'm not even talking about recording video (don't get me started on that). I'm just talking about making a decent photo with one of the most advanced pieces of technology ever developed. Only one single photo that didn't appear to be taken with a broken Lomo. By a drunk guy. Without a decent sleep in the last three days (ok, forget about the part about the drunk guy.)

Sure there was some clear pics here and there, but whatever was ok'ish, it was also completely crazy and badly framed. Some of them look nice—as you can see here, in the gallery of untouched images—but most of them need cropping and heavy Photoshop treatment.

I know most cellphone cameras are exactly the same. They behave poorly under low light conditions, they are slow, and have bad interfaces. And yes, I have to admit I like the iPhone's camera blurriness and unwanted "special effects" sometimes. I even try to get similar effects with my DSLR. But that's optional. This time I only wanted one thing: to be able to frame a good photo. Without having to hold the iPhone in a weird position. Without trying to find the stupid software interface button and not miss the shot (which I did, plenty of times).

That's what I want. I don't want more resolution, and I don't want a stupid zoom. I would be happy (HAPPY) with good lenses and a better, speedier, more luminous sensor. And of course, the physical button. In fact, scrap the rest. Just give me the physical button. As much as I love virtual interfaces—because they open the door to multi-functional devices at a low cost, with great power and flexibility—I'm afraid that there are still times when the only way to go is a physical button. So give me just that in the iPhone 3G 2.0 and I will be happy, Señor Jobs.

And since we are at it, here's a note for the Nokias, Sony Ericssons, Samsungs, and LGs of this world: stop doing the silly marketdrone race towards more megapixels and bigger optical zooms. Educate the users. Don't dazzle them with higher numbers. Give us all more quality, more light, and more speed. That's what really counts to catch the special, truly ephemeral moments you want to save forever.

Because when I think about it, even while I will always keep this concert in my—blurry as the iPhone's camera—memory, there would never be another one like it.

LG's Netflix-streaming, Blu-ray 2.0 playing BD300 made its public debut tonight, and we're impressed. The box is slim and it won't take up more space on your shelf than any other player. An LG exec confirmed a September launch for the sub-$500 player, so check out the gallery and start lickin' your chops. [LG] galleryPost("bd300", 3, "");

No matter how good the music is, musicians look kinda lame tapping out little beats on tiny samplers on stage. What is emphatically not lame though is pounding them on 16 giant pressure-sensitive pads with this 750-pound sampler rig. It was built for the Warped-tour band Family Force 5 by a musician named bwack, and it packs a 22" monitor, 10 control knobs, two pizza-sized pitch wheels and a Mac running Ableton to control the whole game. Check it out onstage at the Warped tour below. Giganto-rock!

I want to play this soo badly.
[Bwack via MAKE]

One of the most successful smartphones of the last year is the Centro from Palm. Sprint was the first carrier to sell the device, so it's no surprise that it's also the first carrier to offer a software update for the phone. The big change is the addition of location services to Google Maps, a quasi-GPS that's actually pretty useful. Other changes include updates to VersaMail for Gmail users, better Exchange support, and Bluetooth enhancements. Hit the jump for the full list from Palm's website. [Palm Update - thanks, David!]

Improved Gmail IMAP compatibility and an updated setup wizard with the new Gmail settings

Updated compatibility for Google Mobile Maps My Location feature to approximate your current location – great for directions, finding nearby restaurants or business, or checking local traffic.1

Improved ongoing delivery of email sent to VersaMail accounts using Microsoft's Direct Push Technology via Exchange ActiveSync

Bluetooth usability enhancements and updates

Sprint TV performance enhancements2

Enhanced AOL Instant Messenger performance

Improved performance when adding a contact using Mobile Voice Control

Improved email attachment handling

Changed default camera shutter sound to “ON.” Audible shutter “click” will be heard when taking photos

Allows Preferred Roaming List updates over the air

NetShare is one app we never thought would make it onto the official iPhone App Store. All it does is set up a SOCKS5 proxy for you to get your laptop/computer online through use of the 3G/EDGE connection. Does it work? Yes. Yes it does, much to our surprise. EDGE works just fine, although Mahoney says it's slow as balls. 3G impressions in a sec. Be careful of how much bandwidth you're using, since your provider probably makes a frowny face at you using their network to power your laptop, however "unlimited" your plan may be. [NetShare - Thanks Matthew and Ryan!]

Update: Having problems setting it up on my iPhone 3G. I follow the instructions and the phone seems to "connect", but that's about it. No connections shown in the NetShare app, and nothing goes through.

Gear and derailleur mechanisms in high-end bikes are among the more impressive feats of engineering around, which makes bike madman Eric Hagerman's report in Wired on Shimano's new ultra high-end all-electric gear shifters pretty interesting. While other companies have dabbled in replacing rickety lever and cable shifters with all-electric mechanisms, Shimano has taken the tech much further than most. And while it may seem like bike-dude geekery at best, hearing the pros talk about the difference makes it sound like an amazing rig to try.

Switching to servos and batteries is like moving from an automatic transmission to F1 paddle shifters, says one engineer Wired talked to. "Mindblowing—you just touch the button and it shifts," says Tour de France vet Frankie Andreau. And all in all the set is actually lighter than Shimano's current top-of-the-line components, which is a must before pros are even going to go near it. No price yet, but it's pro gear. Big bucks—well over the $2,600 you'd drop on next year's conventional Dura-Ace group. It was on a few riders' bikes at this year's Tour, and it will become available to the public in January of '09 More at: [Wired, Thanks, Joe]