ASUS claims Transformer is better than a generic tablet, is probably right

ASUS, you naughty tablet maker, you. Not content with giving your Eee Pad Transformer its own sitcom, you’re now coming at the US with an aggressive price and some rather eye-catching promo material to boot. Reminding the world that most tablets come without a keyboard and highlighting your tailor-made solution is all well and good, but did you have to make your “generic” slate look so iPad-ish?

[Thanks, Rob]

ASUS claims Transformer is better than a generic tablet, is probably right originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Functional Iron Man Mark V Briefcase Suit

iron-man-briefcase-suit.jpg

Uh, is that Bumblebee hiding in the corner?

I put functional in quotations because the boot-jets don’t work, it won’t stop a single bullet (or rock), and the arc reactor is just a bunch of LEDs. Oh, and the briefcase looks like a homemade bomb. Besides that though, totally legit. The suit consists of 384 individual pieces of armor, over 4,000 LEGO Technix pieces and took more than 1,200 man-hours (that’s like 2,000+ woman-hours) to design and construct. 1,200 hours — good lord, that’s 50 days. I haven’t spent 50 days making anything! Unless ‘my friends and family disappointed’ counts, in which case I’ve been at that shit for years.

Hit the jump for a video of the briefcase to Iron Man suit transformation in action (complete with dryer-vent pipe arms!)

Iron Man Mark V Briefcase Armour [cosplay] (with a ton more pics and info about the build)
via
Fully Functioning DIY Iron Man Mark V Transforming Briefcase Suit [obviouswinner]

Thanks to Mark, who always handcuffs his briefcase to himself so people think he’s carrying around some important shit. Smart thinking — if you want your arm chopped off!

Evoluce releases Kinect-based 'Win & I' gesture interface for Windows 7

We’ve already seen Evoluce toy around with using a Kinect to control Windows, but it's now taken things one step further with its new "Win & I" software, which promises to let anyone do the same with minimal effort. That comes in both a home edition that offers gesture controls for Windows 7 itself, plus Media Center and other applications (which could be particularly handy for a home theater), as well as a business edition that apparently adds some extra controls specifically tailored to Microsoft Office, and PowerPoint in particular. Head on past the break for a quick video demonstration, and hit up the link below to snag the software if you're interested — the home edition runs €20, or just under $30 (Kinect not included, obviously).

Update: Well, it looks like Evoluce already has a bit of competition. Upstart company So Touch has now also released its Air Presenter software that will let you liven up your next presentation with more gesturing and hand-waving than usual.

Continue reading Evoluce releases Kinect-based 'Win & I' gesture interface for Windows 7

Evoluce releases Kinect-based 'Win & I' gesture interface for Windows 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi now has an “estimated release date” of April 6th

When Motorola announced that the XOOM was coming to Canada they didn’t actually give a release date, they only stated sometime “mid-year”. It was Future Shop and Best Buy that revealed on their websites that the Android 3.0 tablet had an estimated date of first on April 8th, then got pushed back April 15th. With […]

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Panasonic’s first rewriteable 100GB BD-RE XL discs launch later this month

For those stuck between the flexibility of HDD storage and the archiving ease of BDXLs Panasonic is finally ready to bridge the gap with its new triple layer BD-RE XL discs, set to arrive April 15th in Japan. Being the first rewriteable BDXL is the LM-BE100J’s claim to fame, which works out since the 10,000 yen ($118 US) asking price means buying two is probably out of the question. The latest burners from Pioneer and Buffalo already support the new discs, owners of other hardware may want to double check their spec sheets before ordering.

Panasonic’s first rewriteable 100GB BD-RE XL discs launch later this month originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s Howard Stringer confirms Honeycomb tablet in US by summer (update)

Ready to taste a sweet Honeycomb tablet with a Sony twist? You’d better be — Japan’s Nikkei is quoting Sony chief executive, Sir Howard Stringer, saying that the company’s first Android 3.0 tablet will be on sale by the end of summer. Better yet, it’ll pop for retail in the US first, according to the report. This lines up nicely with the reported September launch of a PlayStation Certified Tegra 2 “S1” tablet featuring a 9.4-inch display and unique “wrap” design that we first told you about back in February. Or will it be the S2 clamshell? Who knows, Howard isn’t saying. The new tablet tattle was apparently uttered at the same event where Howard spilled the beans about Apple’s plan to use Sony sensors. Come on Howie, quit the teasing and just come out with it you saucy Welsh minx.

Update: Sony told Japanese site AV Watch that it will release the tablet before the end of this year. It’s unclear if the comment relates to the domestic Japanese model or if it’s meant to temper expectations after the company’s rogue CEO spoke out of turn. Regardless, it’s coming.

Sony’s Howard Stringer confirms Honeycomb tablet in US by summer (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 05:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kinect used to make teleconferencing actually kind of cool (video)

No matter how hard Skype and others try to convince us otherwise, we still do most of our web communications via text or, if entirely unavoidable, by voice. Maybe we’re luddites or maybe video calling has yet to prove its value. Hoping to reverse such archaic views, researchers at the MIT Media Lab have harnessed a Kinect’s powers of depth and human perception to provide some newfangled videoconferencing functionality. First up, you can blur out everything on screen but the speaker to keep focus where it needs to be. Then, if you want to get fancier, you can freeze a frame of yourself in the still-moving video feed for when you need to do something off-camera, and to finish things off, you can even drop some 3D-aware augmented reality on your viewers. It’s all a little unrefined at the moment, but the ideas are there and well worth seeing. Jump past the break to do just that.

Continue reading Kinect used to make teleconferencing actually kind of cool (video)

Kinect used to make teleconferencing actually kind of cool (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 03:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceKinected Conference (MIT Media Lab)  | Email this | Comments

Charlie Sheen disappoints in Detroit

Charlie Sheen and his “goddesses” took the stage to thunderous applause Saturday night for the first leg of his “Torpedo of Truth” tour. The 70-minute show hadn’t even ended when the first reviews were in, and they were brutal.

ABI Research: Android will have 45% of the Smartphone market share by 2016

Last week it was research firm IDC stating by 2015 Google’s Android OS would capture 45.4% of the smartphone market share. Coming in a strong 2nd place is Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 OS with 20.9%. iOS and BlackBerry will be competing for 3rd and 4th place in a few years. However, competing research firm […]

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Google and partners offering free .ca domains and hosting for Canadians

Last Tuesday, Google and several partners in Canada including RBC Royal Bank, Rogers Communications, The Globe and Mail, and the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) launched the ” Get Your Business Online ” initiative targeted at small businesses in Canada. This exciting new move offers small businesses in Canada a…

Android’s in-app billing makes a dent: Dungeon Defenders free on Android Market

Dungeon Defenders: First Wave cost $3 when it first came out. This week, the iOS version will cost you ninety-nine cents. But if you want to play the Unreal Engine-powered tower defense game today, you can have it for free — developer Trendy Entertainment is now leaning on Android’s new in-app billing system to pay for the whole thing. We can’t give Trendy all the credit, of course, as Glu Mobile’s Gun Bros and Tapulous’ Tap Tap Revenge 4 are doing the same thing, but to our knowledge both of them were free to play from day one. Free-to-play gaming has been a controversial proposition in the console and PC gaming space — most publishers would just like to sell a game once, and call it a day. On phone, however, where apps are expected to be cheap, it could indeed make more sense to charge users for items and upgrades than to have users “buy” the game. Either way, we penny-pinchers are pleased as punch with the idea. PR after the break.

Continue reading Android’s in-app billing makes a dent: Dungeon Defenders free on Android Market

Android’s in-app billing makes a dent: Dungeon Defenders free on Android Market originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 02 Apr 2011 23:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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