Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Limited edition Lego Mindstorms NXT brings back a decade of memories originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Robots
Sudo robot begrudgingly makes sandwiches on command originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Feb 2009 20:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We reported the Author's Guild's litigious anger about the Kindle 2's text-to-voice feature, claiming it violates audio book copyrights. It's an arguable position, but Amazon has gone ahead and caved to the literate man.
Amazon has backed down for the Guild's comfort rather than for any legal motivation, since it's pretty clear that a robotic reading isn't the same as an audio book. "We strongly believe many rights holders will be more comfortable with the text-to-speech feature if they are in the driver's seat," Amazon said.
But instead of removing the feature, Amazon has simply made it optional, so publishers can decide for themselves what's best for their property. That means it's unlikely the much-advertised (though not necessarily much-loved) feature is going to be too useful for Kindle 2 owners. We're not thrilled, since the Guild has no real legal leg to stand on and seems to need Amazon more than Amazon needs them, but then again, we're not fancy-pants authors. [CNET]
If you're looking for a quick and dirty free image host for fast image sharing, Imagebam makes it extremely easy to get your photos out there.
You can upload as many images as you want—the only restriction is 3MB per file and the images must be in JPG, GIF, or PNG format. Alternately, you can bulk upload by sending a zip file, limited to 100 files and 100MB total size. Besides your uploaded images, there is a BBCode for inserting the image into forums, an HTML link, a direct link, and a link that will remove the image—an interesting, helpful take on privacy and file deletion. If you're looking for more functionality, free registration gives you access to image management tools, as well as a flash-based bulk uploading tool.
We're wondering—what's your own no-hassle, quick-sharing photo solution?
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Curious ELPA remote sports built-in speaker originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Open That Bottle Night is a celebration invented by two wine connoisseurs sick of seeing people leave bottles to gather dust instead of enjoying a great vino. Liberate your wine from the cellar tonight!
Photo by Hans Vink.
This year is the tenth anniversary of Open That Bottle Night, created by Dorthy Gaiter and John Brecher of the Wall Street Journal. As columnists for the Tasters food and wine column, they'd received thousands of letters from people asking about wine, many of them pondering when the best time to drink such and such wine would be.
Just this month, Lee Hanson of San Francisco wrote: "We have been given many bottles of nice wine over the years which we have mistakenly held onto for too long, waiting for the perfect occasion. We are now trying to drink them down, with mixed results."
The production, storage, and aging of wine might be be a fine science, but it's a wash and an insult to the vineyard if the bottle is never enjoyed. On the matter of choosing the bottle of wine, they suggest:
You don't necessarily need to open your "best" wine or your most impressive wine, but the wine that means the most to you, the one that you would simply never open otherwise. Doug and Celia Kamerow of Chevy Chase, Md., put it in their invitation to friends for their first OTBN celebration this year, quoting one of our columns from the past: "The point is not to show off with a great bottle or necessarily open the most prestigious bottle in your house, but to uncork a wine that holds cherished memories, the bottle that — admit it — you will never open otherwise."
To this end, I commit to opening a bottle from the Ravenswood vineyard in California. Short of a spontaneous reason for opening it, just as they suggest it might well turn to dusty rot over nothing more than sentimentality. For great tips and even better stories about wine, check out the full write up of the tenth anniversary of Open That Bottle Night at the link below. If you're planning on liberating a bottle from the dusty recesses of your cellar, we want to hear about it! Photo by dittaeva.
Asus' out-of-nowhere P835 smartphone is packing some pretty decent specs, from an 800x480 touchscreen to HSPA support for lightning-fast downloads, but it's still packing Windows Mobile 6.1. Still, it's worth a look.
Here's the rundown:
• HSPA (DL: 7.2Mbps, UL: 2Mbps), UMTS 900/1900/2100
EDGE/GPRS/GSM 850/900/1800/1900, Class 12
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1
• 3.5" WVGA (800x480), no word on resistive or capacitive
• 4 GB internal storage plus MicroSDHC slot
• WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0
• Push email is supported
• 5 MP camera
• Looks like it's packing Flash support
• 1100mAh battery, which sounds a little underpowered
It's a pretty nice-looking piece of kit, and there's no word on a US carrier or price yet, but we'll keep an eye on it. [Wireless and Mobile News]
Continue reading Cooler Master's 5-CPU monstrosity has your craptop cowering in a corner
Filed under: Desktops
Cooler Master's 5-CPU monstrosity has your craptop cowering in a corner originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A Nokia phone found its way into a bag of Clancy's Ripple Potato Chips, where it surprised Wisconsin nosher Emma Schweiger. The phone, which didn't work, was slathered with "greasy potato-chip film" and looked like it once lived on a belt clip. The chip's distributor, Aldi, pulled all other Clancy's chips with the same batch and expiration date and, by way of apology, offered Schweiger a free bag of chips. She isn't biting...
"You kind of don't want chips for a while" after something like that, she said.
Schweiger contacted the Madison office of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and an official there told her to hang onto the bag for an investigation, she said.
FDA officials could not be reached for comment Friday.
Schweiger isn't sure what she'll do next but hopes the FDA can track down the owner of the phone.
She's glad she found the phone and not a child who might have put it in his or her mouth, she said. She's also glad the phone wasn't in a product she would have heated, she said.
Schweiger doesn't know when she'll have an appetite for potato chips again, but when she does, she'll do things a little differently.
"I will never, ever eat chips out of a bag again," she said. "They will be dumped in the bowl."
Local woman finds unpleasant surprise in her potato chips [The Janesville Gazette] (Thanks to Rob!)