Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets

We’re going out on a limb here and assuming that the Haute Diggity Dog iBone comes jailbroken and ready to rock, or at least that’s the impression we get from checking out that heretofore unseen bevy of icons. Customized for the “tech savvy dog on the go,” this here iPhone chew toy gives dear Fido access to bark / hand-shake training, posture lessons, Washington Huskies sports updates (it’s the Clemson Tigers in all honesty, but work with us here), a mysterious fitness app and a bone application for times when supper just seems too far away. You know your pup’s worth the $11.95, you just know it.

[Via textually]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Wearables

Far from the first circuit-laden contact lens we’ve laid eyes on (ahem), researchers at UC Davis have more than bragging rights in mind with their “smart″ contacts. The devices are infused with a “pattern of conductive silver wires, which could be used to measure pressure inside the eye.” The material, dubbed polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), would boast antimicrobial properties and could enable scientists to better study glaucoma. How so? By sending pressure data to computers sans wires. Better still, the contacts also include the ability to automatically dispense medication into the eye, making this beneficial in more ways than one. The creators are expected to apply for approval to begin testing the lenses in humans here shortly, and barring any unforeseen (sorry, totally unintentional there) setbacks, we would hope these could be put to use within the next few years.

[Via medGadget]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s hard to say what kind of individual seeks out lighting instruments that even look like eyes, let alone lighting instruments with cloned details of their own eyes, but just in case you know one such person, here’s the perfect FYI for ‘em. Paris-based 5.5 designers are offering a service that enables you to send in images of your eyes (along with a very large sum of money, we presume) in order for the craftspeople to construct eyeball lamps with hints of you splashed all over. Sure gives Rockwell’s one and only jam a whole new meaning, yeah?

[Via ShinyShiny]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s hard to say what kind of individual seeks out lighting instruments that even look like eyes, let alone lighting instruments with cloned details of their own eyes, but just in case you know one such person, here’s the perfect FYI for ‘em. Paris-based 5.5 designers are offering a service that enables you to send in images of your eyes (along with a very large sum of money, we presume) in order for the craftspeople to construct eyeball lamps with hints of you splashed all over. Sure gives Rockwell’s one and only jam a whole new meaning, yeah?

[Via ShinyShiny]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Wearables

If you′re scouting the strange, the weird and the weirder, you′ll find plenty to get absorbed in over at the research facilities of NTT DoCoMo. The Japanese giant is at it once more, but this time the invention is actually somewhat down to Earth. It’s mission? To create a method for easily controlling a music interface (on a PMP or cellphone) with just your eyes. By rolling one’s eyes and jerking them from side to side, the outfit is hoping to have the corresponding music player change tracks and get louder / softer. If you’re not exactly keen with freaking out fellow citizens on the street with completely erratic eye movements, you may also appreciate a similar technology it’s working up which can detect a user’s finger tapping to achieve to same goal. Of course, said technology would be halfway useless on the smash hit-packed ZVUE Journey (no way you’re bypassing any of those tracks, son), but we guess you could check out your toes every now and then to keep from constantly staying at 11.

[Via ShinyShiny]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Although NVIDIA’s pledged to simplify its lineup for consumers and ATI’s been getting better, the current state of the graphics card market is still a pretty wild alphabet soup of model numbers and specs lists, so the crew over at The Tech Report decided to break things down using the only stat that matters: price. While the results aren’t exactly shocking (surprise: more dollars equals more FPS), what’s interesting is that multi-GPU rigs are really quite cost-effective, delivering performance on par with higher-end cards at significantly lower prices. For example, two Radeon HD 3850s run nearly as fast as a single Radeon HD 3870 X2, even though they cost a fair bit less, and two GeForce 9600 GTs can potentially outgun a GeForce 8800 Ultra. That’s always been the promise of SLI and CrossFire, and it looks like it’s paying off — any system-builders out there care to share their experiences?

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Handhelds

We’ve already seen Google’s Android mobile OS get shoehorned onto Nokia N810 tablet, but it looks like the Internet Tablet OS is about to get even more flexible with ports of Ubuntu and the Qt toolkit. Nokia is acquiring Qt developer Trolltech, so it’s no surprise the Qt is making the jump, but it looks like it’ll be mostly a third-party-targeted framework, with the ITOS interface and bundled apps still using GTK+. Nokia told Ars Technica that it’s exploring cross-platform possibilities between ITOS and Serie⴨, and that it wants to see if GTK+ and Qt can coexist on the tablets like they do on the Linux desktop. That’s pretty ambitious for a low-powered tablet, but we′re all for more flexibility — which seems to be in the cards with the Nokia-sponsored port of Ubuntu to ARM. Several pre-Hardy Heron versions have been ported and run off SD cards, if you′re feeling adventurous — we′re not sure what the advantages are, but it’s nice to know that Nokia’s keeping things wide open.

[Via Digg]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Handhelds

You know what’s great? Synergy. We’ve had an OS crush on Android ever since it was first rumored, and of course the Nokia N810 has been warming our hearts for a good while now with its mysteriously useful QWERTY-tablet powers. Put the two of them together and we’re practically beside ourselves with joy. If you’re feeling gutsy you can try it for yourself with the handy tips over at eLinux.org, but we’re content to watch this magic from the sidelines for the time being.

[Via Talk Android]

 

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Laptops

It’s just been a few short days since Nicholas Negroponte seemed to make it clear that his role at OLPC would soon be changing, but it now seems like that may not be the case, with Nick Neg telling Laptop Magazine that his role will “not be changing drastically” once a new CEO is put in place. He also went on to say that “replacement” is not the right word, and that he had never held the CEO title nor used it, adding that he’ll now go under the title of “Chairman and Foreign Minister.” With that out of the way, Negroponte also dropped word that “a Windows operating system is in the process of being fine-tuned on the XO as we speak,” and that it “should be available on the XO in less than 60 days,” which is about the firmest word of a release date we’ve heard so far.

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Features, Laptops

While everyone and their second cousin third removed had something to say about Apple’s ultra-sexy, ultra-hamstrung MacBook Air, we′ve a sneaking suspicion that folks previously eager about this week’s MacBook Pro updates will be equally vocal. For whatever reason, Cupertino faithful had February 26th pegged on their calender, and while the addition of a Penryn or two was nearly a given, the dreamers in the crowd had much higher hopes for that fateful Tuesday.

Nevertheless, the time came and went, and the re-opening of the online Apple store brought a whole heap of disappointment to many. Sure, folks still (somehow) enamored with the aging MBP design were thrilled to have access to a more potent, less scalding iteration of their favorite machine, but honestly, we’re still using the GeForce 8600M GT? Really, Apple? Needless to say, this refresh likely did little to satisfy your desire for a revamped MacBook Pro, but we’re interested in finding out exactly what it is you really wanted. An option for an SSD? What about a built-in Blu-ray drive? Would integrated HDMI make things more appealing? Or is a top-down case redesign the only thing stopping you from abusing your credit card in the name of Steve Jobs? Go on, we know you folks are chock full of good ideas, so let’s hear ‘em, shall we?

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

Uh, we figured this whole Penryn update thing was all taken care of by now, but for whatever reason, Dell has found it quite pleasing to roll out said chips to its machines on a one (or two) at a time basis. Just a day after the new processors landed in the Precision M2300 and M4300 — and merely two days since they crawled within the M6300 — the Round Rock powerhouse has seen fit to hook up the all-business Latitude D630 and D830. Effective immediately, interested consumers can snatch up one (or both, we ’spose) of the aforementioned machines with a 2.5GHz T9300 or 2.6GHz T9500, both of which include 6MB of ˺ cache. Meanwhile, prospective M1530 buyers are becoming increasingly incensed at Dell’s apparent negligence of their favorite machine.

Read - Latitude D630
Read - Latitude 𐳞

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

It’s already extended Penryn updates to its Precision M6300 laptop and a couple of Inspirons, but Dell’s unsurprisingly not done yet, and it’s now doled out similar upgrades to its Precision M2300 and M4300 models. Those are each now available with Penryn processors ranging from 2.1GHz to 2.6GHz, and for the same price as the earlier Mermom processors, although Dell warns that opting for Penryn on the M2300 may delay your ship date. Otherwise, you can load ‘em up with a max 4GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB SSD drives, but you’ll have to make do with an NVIDIA Quadro FX 360M for graphics. If that’s not too much of a compromise, you can customize your system right now by hitting up the appropriate link below.

Read - Dell Precision M2300
Read - Dell Precision M4300

[Via Electronista]

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Features, Laptops

We just got our 2.5GHz Penryn / 4GB fourth-gen MacBook Pro. Plenty of power under that hood, but the outward differences are few: it’s got the new, reorganized F-key layout (which we’re not all that fond of), and the trackpad physically the same (with the addition of multi-touch, which works just as well as it did on the MacBook Air). It’s definitely an anticipated upgrade to the flagship, but whether you think the form factor’s still got the longevity necessary to keep you coming back after, what, more than two years on the market with no major changes — well, we’ll leave that to you. We’ll have some updated benchmarks shortly.

P.S. -It includes the same model 60 Watt battery they′ve been selling on these for a while, for those puzzled about the battery life changes made to the Apple’s MBP spec page.

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Original post by Ryan Block

Filed under: Laptops

As the Penryn updates slow to a trickle, Dell is looking out for one remaining straggler by updating the potent Precision M6300 workstation. Starting today, users can select either the 2.6GHz T9500 Core 2 Duo or the drool-worthy 2.8GHz X9000 Core 2 Extreme, but curiously enough, only the T9500 is listed as an option ($370 upgrade over the base T7500) when entering the US configuration site. Nevertheless, we reckon Dell will have that sorted soon enough, and while you’re ordering, why not indulge in the 512MB NVIDIA Quadro FX 3600M, too? It’s only an extra $699, after all.

[Via Electronista]

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

We’d love to tell you that during AnandTech’s dissection of the “new″ MacBook Pros they made a shocking discovery about the internals of the systems that brought into light significant changes and / or upgrades to the computers. We’d like nothing more then to say that it appears Apple has completely reworked the architecture of these machines to be harder, better, faster, and stronger. But honestly? They’re exactly the same as the old models, save for those little Penryns, and as a result, kind of boring. Don′t believe us? Take a look at the photos — you’ll see.

 

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky