Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Transportation

Wipe those tears away, budding astronaut. SpaceX’s latest failure wasn’t completely in vain. According to head honcho Elon Musk, the problem came just after a “picture perfect first stage flight” when a longer than expected thrust decay transient of the new Merlin 1C regeneratively cooled engine became “just enough to overcome the stage separation pusher impulse.” You honestly may need to be a rocket scientist to digest all of that, but here’s something even the layman can understand: Musk wants flight 4 in the air as early as next month. We’re told that the long gap between flights 2 and 3 was simply due to all that engine engineering, but technologically speaking, nothing will change for the next attempt. Godspeed, Falcon 1 (v4).

[Thanks, Kenneth]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Robots

Let’s face it — we owe a great deal of gratitude to the robots that get up each and every morning to explore far reaches of the universe that we humans are just incapable of landing on. But there’s still the problem of we humans having to tell these things what to do from our humble laboratories here on Earth. The brilliantly named Wolfgang Fink, a physicist and senior researcher at the California Institute of Technology, has plans to remedy said quandary by creating autonomous spacecrafts “that will be able to analyze data about points of interest as it passes and then make quick decisions about what needs to be investigated.” In essence, he’s looking to remove the Earthlings from the equation, which would enable smart robots to explore on their own and possibly discover new pools of purified water, REEM-B’s long lost siblings or the real most innovative NES-in-a-whatever mod. 2020 folks, mark it down.

[Image courtesy of NASA]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: GPS

GPS on the moon may seem a bit far-fetched… that is, until you remember the US military’s plans to launch a WiFi router into space. The same Ohio State University researcher who developed software for the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity is now developing a GPS-like system that would enable astronauts to navigate terrain as if they were simply routing themselves through a plot of land on Earth. Because of the moon’s location (we’re simplying things here), Ron Li is having to create a similar system (read: not bona fide GPS) that relies on “signals from a set of sensors including lunar beacons, stereo cameras, and orbital imaging devices” in order to provide navigational output. Everyone involved is hoping to have it operational by 2020 (the next planned trip to the moon), but the team will be stuck testing in the Mojave Desert. Bummer.

[Via Physorg]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

If you’re a DIY’er, you’re probably familiar with the versatile Arduino platform. Well now you can shrink your creations even smaller, thanks to a rejiggered form factor called the Arduino Nano. Capitalizing on the popularity of the previous Mini version, the Nano gets further downsized, reducing the components into a layout about the length and width of a stick of gum — without sacrificing any of the functionality. Be honest, you’re brainstorming some gum-pack-sized project right now, aren’t you? Luckily you won’t have to wait long — the Nano will be available from Gravitech in June for an economical $49.99.

[Via Make]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

This week:
The Point-to-Point Circuit Robot, Soceadth Art Bikes, The Mountain Guitar, Tetris on an Oscilloscope, Plastic Model Fiber Optics, Kyaraben - The Character Bento, The Quest for Edible Baran, Flash + Gainer Seesaw, and Space Invader Mosaic Tile Street Art.

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Original post by Mike Dixon

This week:
DIY Marble Mazes, The Uda Electronic Music Instrument, Maywa Denki’s “Sound is Fun,” The Swimming Robot, A Magnetic Actuator on an Ultralight Indoor Helicopter, Mr. Rolling, Made in Japan @ Maker Faire 2008, MechaRoboShop, the Xtel Ubiquitous Content Platform, and the Contraband Chumby.

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Original post by Mike Dixon

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We know, it’s tiresome scouring the streets for an AC outlet when you’ve got oodles of sunshine surrounding you. That’s where Devotec Industries’ Solar Charger comes in. The smallest (and freshest) addition to the company’s line weighs in at under 80-grams and measures just 95- x 43- x 10-millimeters, and packed within you’ll find an 1800mAh battery. Of note, users can also juice up the device via USB or AC for when cloudy days swoop in, and it comes bundled with a slew of tips to handle the most popular handsets out there. Yeah, it does take a full day of sun (12-hours, to be precise) to get this thing fully charged (or 4-hours by AC / USB), but then again, it’ll only set you back £19.99 ($40).

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Solar Technology’s Freeloader solar charger was already a pretty attractive option as it was, but the company’s now looking to give the portable charger a bit of a boost, with its new Supercharger panel promising to cut the charging time in half. As you can see above, that’s possible in part thanks to its larger size, but it’s apparently also aided by some more powerful than usual photovoltaic cells (rated at 1.5 watts). All that should translate to a four hour charging time for the Freeloader, which can be done in any weather conditions thanks to the panel’s weather-proofing (although some weather conditions will obviously be more effective than others). If that sounds like what you’ve been looking for, you can grab the Supercharger now for £20 (about $40), or grab it as part of a new Globe Trotter bundle (including a Freeloader, a Supercharger, and a carrying case) for £50, or just under $100.

[Via SmartPlanet]

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Here’s a treat from HTC and Sprint to lighten those Monday blues: the Sprint Mogul, built by HTC, is getting a software update to bump the phone’s data connection up to EV-DO Rev. A, roughly doubling current download speeds, and really boosting uploads. This makes the Mogul the first phone in the States to hit Rev. A speeds, and should make the $199 phone quite the attractive option for modem usage when an ExpressCard would be just too darn convenient. Only problem is that when Sprint and HTC promised this update in back November, they also said GPS would be a part of the package — and just such a ROM was leaked in January. We’re not sure what happened to that feature, but we’ll try not to look a gift horse in the mouth for the time being.

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Cellphones

It looks like those eagerly waiting to get their hands on Sony Ericsson’s HTC-made XPERIA X1 can rest a little easier, as the much anticipated apparently is still on track for release in the second half of this year, and not in February 2009 as recently rumored. That word comes straight from Sony Ericsson Corporate Vice President of the Global Communications Aldo Liguori, who told the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog that “I can confirm that we will be launching the X1 product in 2nd Half of 2008, as per our announcement of 10th February.” That sure is about as definitive as you can get, though we’re guessing there’s plenty of folks out there that think any date other than tomorrow is too long to wait.

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Original post by Donald Melanson

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 is one of the most exciting Windows Mobile phones and navigation phone since the Blackjack 2 and the i-mate 9502. With a 800×480 pixel display, it is probably going to be the new reference in terms of productivity and entertainment. Users can control it the way they want: Touch screen, […]

Original post by colbert low

Filed under: Cellphones

We battled through crazy crowds — seriously, it’s a complete madhouse down there — at Mobile World Congress to spend some time and grab some shots of Sony Ericssons’ newest smart phone, the XPERIA X1. This handset is undoubtedly the finest bit of Windows Mobile — 6? 6.1? — this side of anywhere and bound to be a really hot ticket item. Hit up the read link to Engadget Mobile for a gallery just bursting with XPERIA flavor.

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Original post by Sean Cooper

Filed under: Cellphones

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Video_Sony_Ericsson_s_XPERIA_X1_Panel_Interface’; Wondering what the XPERIA X1’s magical mystery “panel interface” is? Good, us too. Now we’ve got a preview courtesy of Sony Ericsson. If it functions this quick in hand as it does in the promotional video then Sony Ericsson might just be on to something here. See what we mean after the break.

Continue reading Video: Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1 “Panel Interface”

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Basically just pre-PMA upgrades to existing models all around, Olympus just loosed nine new shooters. Almost all feature “HyperCrystal” or “HyperCrystal II” displays (not to be confused with hypercolor, dudes), facial recognition, OIS, high ISO modes, and a bunch of other stuff that every other camera company does now. Here’s the quick rundown.
FE series (February)

• FE-310 - 8 megapixel, 5x zoom, 2.5-inch LCD
• FE-340 - 8 megapixel, 5x zoom, 2.7-inch LCD
• FE-350 - 8 megapixel, 4x zoom, 28mm wide angle lens, 3-inch LCD

Mju / Stylus series (February)

• Mju 840 - 8 megapixel, 5x optical, 2.7-inch LCD
• Mju 850 SW - 8 megapixel, 3x optical zoom, 2.5-inch LCD, waterproof to 3m
• Mju 1010 - 10.1 megapixel, 7x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD
• Mju 1020 - 10.1 megapixel, 7x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD
• Mju 1030 - 10.1 megapixel, 3.6x zoom, 2.7-inch LCD, waterproof to 10m

SP series (March)

• SP-570 UZ - 10 megapixel, 20x wide angle zoom, OIS, 2.7-inch LCD

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Original post by Ryan Block

Filed under: CES, Portable Audio

It’s not like we haven’t seen MP3-playing headphones before — heck, we’ve even seen ‘em from SkullCandy itself — but the latest pair from the aforementioned firm simplifies things quite a bit. Quietly showcased at CES, the Double Agent cans sport a built-in SD slot and the typical assortment of controls on one earcup in order to take the external DAP / PMP out of the equation entirely. ‘Course, we wouldn’t recommend this to those who aren’t fond of just shuffling through their tracks, but if you’re aiming to consolidate, you can get one step closer to doing just that when this ships in March / April for a currently undisclosed price.

[Via Gadgetell]

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Original post by Darren Murph