Developages - Development and Technology Blog

CyberKnet writes “Some enterprising folks over at Google have collaborated via Google Documents to create holiday art using cells in a spreadsheet as the pixels. A time delay video was taken and is available over at YouTube and the result is pretty spectacular. More info on how they did this is available behind the scenes. They’re inviting people to share their own masterpieces or post a video response over on YouTube.”

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Original post by timothy

Afforess writes “For the past two years Microsoft and Novell have been working on the ‘Moonlight’ project. It is a runtime library for websites that run Silverlight. It should allow PCs running Linux to view sites that use Siverlight. Betanews reports “In the next stage of what has turned out to be a more successful project than even its creators envisioned, the public beta of Moonlight — a runtime library for Linux supporting sites that expect Silverlight — is expected within days.” Moonlight 2.0 is already in the works.”

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Original post by timothy

Ashmash writes “Phoronix is reporting on a new Linux driver nVidia is about to release that brings PureVideo features to Linux. This video API will reportedly be in nVidia’s 180 series driver for Linux, Solaris, and *BSD. PureVideo has been around for several nVidia product generations, but it’s the first time they′re bringing this feature to these non-Windows operating systems to provide an improved multimedia experience. This new API is named VDPAU, and is described as: ‘The Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix (VDPAU) provides a complete solution for decoding, post-processing, compositing, and displaying compressed or uncompressed video streams. These video streams may be combined (composited) with bitmap content, to implement OSDs and other application user interfaces.’”

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Original post by ScuttleMonkey

Filed under: Portable Audio

Something about the image above makes it seem that the folks over at Greenhouse are up to more than manufacturing electronics. The Angel & Devil earbuds (1,279 yen or $12.65) follow on the heels of the company’s Pigbuds (which now that we mention it, may also have some sort of occult significance). What can we say about these things? They fit in your ear, they′re available in one of five colors (the angel is always white, just like the Tom & Jerry cartoons — the devil can be summoned in red, purple, pink, magenta or death-dealing black), they ship with a display stand and they′re only available in Japan. And the struggle for your immortal soul continues…

[Via Impress]

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Original post by Joseph L. Flatley

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

It’s just in beta at this point, but devs and techies far and wide are now invited to take a stab at coding up some magic for RIM’s new touch-based user interface elements, orientation control, accelerometers, and virtual keyboards that are getting proudly shown off for the first time in the Storm. There’s stuff in here for regular folk without a single programming bone in their bodies, too — namely, a full-fledged emulator that appears to have all the features and functionality you′d expect the real thing to have. It’s a gas to play with — even more fun than that semi-functional G1 demo T-Mobile has up and running — and it’s a good way to test-drive the goods without laying out the cash first. Not to say you could even if you wanted to, since the phone′s not dropping for another month at a yet-to-be-determined sticker price.

[Via Phone Scoop]

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Household

Let’s be honest — after sinking a few large on a new HDTV, a few hundies on some overpriced cables and even more on HD programming, you weren′t about to cough up another month’s paycheck for a decent TV stand. For the 48,600 customers out there who purchased one of four different King Pao Enterprise TV Stands (likely sold and distributed by Studio RTA), you now have a product known for tipping over and ruining lives. The E Series, Fierro, Madison DLP and Madison 3000 — all of which were sold at Best Buy and other big box retailers from May 2004 to August 2008 — have been deemed unstable and unfit for use in your living room, and it’s suggested that you cautiously remove your set and wait for a “repair kit” before it does the removing for you. Godspeed.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Transportation

Honda’s been trying for months now to convince you that “the van is back in style,” and while we’re still not entirely sure that line isn’t just marketing hoopla (okay, it is), at least the company is working to make the thing more technologically advanced. Starting next month in Japan, the automaker will debut a multi-view camera system for its Odyssey minivan, which will utilize the same 360-degree overhead cam tech that Nissan picked up last year. The system will give drivers the ability to see more as they prepare to back out, and the biggest boon is the ability to view ninjas adhered to parking garage ceilings prior to opening the sunroof and facing The Reaper. Unfortunately, there’s no word on when it’ll be available in other corners of the globe, but we’d guess 2009 if we had a Katana put to our throat.

[Thanks, JagsLive]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

On Friday, ASUS announced its latest entry into the highly competitive and exciting world of tweaked Windows Mobile phones, with the introduction of the 𓪨w. The full-touchscreen device boasts a speedy 624MHz CPU, a 240 x 320 QVGA display, HSDPA / UMTS radios, 802.11b/g WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 (with A2DP), 256MB of flash memory, 128MB of DDR, plus support for microSD / SDHC cards. What’s really of note, however, is the inclusion of a skinned UI utilizing a technology called “Gester,” which is controlled via slides of the finger, pinching, and flicks (think HTC’s TouchFlo). The company is tacking on a few pieces of proprietary software as well, such as “EziPhoto″ and “EziMusic,” and claims that the device has “seamless Google integration.” Clearly ASUS has backed away from that 3D interface we saw at Mobile World Congress this year, though we suspect the new UI — dubbed “Glide” — bears more than a passing resemblance to it. No word yet on release dates or prices, but you’ll know when we do.

[Via Electronista]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Storage, Networking

It’s no secret that HP MediaSmart Server owners have been having an awful time getting their device to operate correctly, er, at all since HP loosed its most recent software update on July 21st. In order to make sure owners have a solution implement its best damage control tactics, HP’s own Director of Marketing for the Connected Entertainment group has put out a statement informing users that the problems (slow console shown above) are more than a figment of their imagination. Furthermore, the so-called solution is to simply “install each update one at a time, independently,” because clearly HP cannot be bothered to fix a problem it helped create. Oh, it gets better. HP is also aware that PacketVideo (bundled with the update) “no longer supports media streaming to Sony’s PlayStation 3,” so it simply encourages owners to surf on over to a third-party website and hack up the PV database in order to get things back to normal. Jump on past the break for the patently ridiculous letter in its entirety.

[Image courtesy of Within Windows]

Continue reading HP responds to MediaSmart Server issues, offers no real solution at all

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Storage

If you′ve experienced some shockingly slow results from your Windows Home Server-based unit, we′ve one question for you: do you have Power Pack 1 and the HP add-ons installed? If so, you may not be alone in your frustrations. Apparently a number of users have seen dramatic slowdowns that have rendered their WHS devices nearly unusable. It seems that all the “bloatware” really takes a toll, as the hard drives are constantly pounded and console menus take ages (minutes, to be more precise) to appear. According to Within Windows, the only real solutions are to install more RAM and / or tweak your pagefile configurations afterwards. Anyone else raging mad about the performance issues? What are you going to do about it?

[Thanks, Bryant]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops, Networking

That nasty Windows Home Server data corruption bug might finally be a thing of the past, as WHS Power Pack 1 has gone live after a month-long beta test. Not much else to the enhancement suite: ⼠ support and support for backup to external media are along for the ride, but otherwise it’s mostly performance tweaks. Go on and grab it now, you crazy home-server admins.

[Thanks, Neal]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We don’t know what’s going on here exactly, but we’re fairly certain they need a load of these on Arrakis, ASAP. Sure, Muad’Dib may be able to summon sandworms and lead an army of Fremen into battle, but he can’t make drinkable water out of thin air, can he? That’s where the Xziex comes in. Basically, this intimidating “atmospheric water generator” siphons moisture out of the air and converts it into water — delicious, clean, healthy water. It may not actually live up to the company’s claim of “The Most Exciting Product Ever,” but if it does what they say, it’s a pretty amazing device. Honestly, the Xziex website does cause a little concern, with its calls for readers to “lock in” their “position,” and excited passages about earning potential — but hey, who can blame them for trying to make a buck?

[Via Gearlog]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Announcements, Cellphones

Yes, that’s right, one lucky Engadget Mobile reader is going to walk away with a gorgeous, ultra-limited LG Shine worth more than the combined value of, like, every phone we’ve ever had. How exactly does one get in on this action? Head on over to Mobile for the scoop!

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

We know what you’re thinking: Jeebus, not another Bluetooth adapter Engadget, slow news day? But if you check that snark for a moment, you’ll notice that this ¥2,280 (about $22) Logitec adapter is a Bluetooth 2.1+EDR + Class 1 device. That means an operating range up to 300 feet and all the goodies that come from 2.1. In other words, easier pairing and up to 5x longer battery life for like-speced Bluetooth keyboards and mice. It also supports 15 different Bluetooth profiles (9 on Macs) including your favorites for stereo audio and handsfree devices. Now that Bluetooth 2.1 is beginning to trickle out into retail, you won’t be buying 2.0 gear anymore will you?

[Via Impress]

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Cellphones

We′ve seen phones that push the boundaries of chintziness, but this newfangled MP7 phone really shows what humans are capable of when they’ve no motivation to assemble a decent product. Granted, most everything here is lost in translation, but the blatant “Blue tooth″ logo on the front pretty much sets it up for disaster. Nevertheless, this GSM handset reportedly comes in silver or black and features a 320 x 240 touchscreen display, a 1.3-megapixel camera, built-in FM tuner and support for some form of mobile TV along with the elusive “MP7″ format. Best of all, this marvelous gem of handset engineering can be had for $599.90 (or a dozen easy payments of $59.99) — we can hear the N95 cowering from here (or is that laughter?).

[Via Saporra]

 

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Original post by Darren Murph