Developages - Development and Technology Blog

According to tree-hugging journalist Lori Bongiorno, the Wii is a great choice for anyone looking to cut down on the electric bill. Here are the key points of her article:

Sony Playstation 3 is the most power-hungry model. For the 2007 version, you’ll spend about $12 a year if you turn the console off when you’re not using it, compared to about $134 if you leave it on all the time.

Microsoft Xbox 360 ranks a close second. If you shut it down when you’re not playing a game or watching a movie, it costs about $11 to operate annually. Leaving it on continuously will cost you $103.

Nintendo Wii uses significantly less energy than the others. It costs about $3 a year if you turn it off after use, compared to about $10 if you don’t.

Then again, as the obnoxious commenters of Lori’s article point out, who the heck leaves their gaming console on the whole day?!

(image from Yahoo! Green)

Tags: gaming consoles, Microsoft XBox 360, nintendo wii, PlayStation 3, power consumption

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Original post by Rico

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Transportation

Way back in 2005, we got wind of a Bluetooth-based telematics systems for cars dubbed Carwings. Now, Nissan is gearing up to launch two safety pilots which will rely on — you guessed it — Carwings HDD navigation systems. First up is the slip-hazard alert, which marries data from the ITS (Intelligent Transport System) and ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) in order to warn drivers of slippery road conditions. In addition to that, the recently concocted road-cam service can “enhance the effectiveness of the alert service by offering drivers a visual image” of surroundings. The company will make the slip-hazard alert and the new road-cam service available to all Carwings customers (in Japan) beginning next month, with the latter hitting first (in November) and the former second (in December). Oh, and did we mention the upgrades will be completely gratis? Because they will be.

[Via Wired]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

Hey, it’s not like you really expected Nokia to ride the coattails of its N95 / N96 forever without adding in a dash of innovation, right? At a recent Nokia event held in New Delhi, Devinder Kishore (the director of marketing for Nokia India) was quoted as saying that “We will have lots of touchscreen phones coming up, including an N-series device very soon.” Granted, it’s not at all shocking to hear that the engineers in Espoo are already conjuring up touch-friendly N-series handsets, but at least you know there’s a fingertip-lovin’ Nokia coming for you if the XpressMusic 5800 just ain’t rubbing you the right way.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

Given that most of the world won’t see Nokia’s 5800 XpressMusic until 2009, you may be better off just forcing yourself to overlook this here review until you can snag one without importing. If you’re just too impatient for all that, however, you should know that an early critique of the affectionately dubbed Tube deemed it mighty impressive. Call quality was solid, the OS was stable in most areas, and the display was a joy to look at and interact with. In fact, reviewers had a difficult time finding anything exceptionally negative to say, noting that this is the handset for anyone after a “well-rounded, do-it-all solution.” It was also made clear that this phone and the iPhone were really two different animals not worth comparing, but that didn’t stop critics from confessing that the 5800 packs an “unparalleled price / quality ratio that changes the rules for all phone makers out there, including Nokia itself.”

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

The Apple rumor mill has really cooked up a doozy this time. According to 9to5mac — a site with a fairly good track record — Apple’s next big thing isn′t just a laptop or an iPod… it’s an entirely new manufacturing process. If you believe the site’s sources, an as-yet-unannounced event on October 14th will herald in a new iteration of the MacBook dubbed the “Brick,” but the big news won′t actually be about the laptop. Apparently, Apple has created a brand-new process to sculpt casings for products out of aircraft-grade aluminum, using a system that carves the pieces out of a single block of metal using “3D lasers” and water-jet cutting. The new technique will supposedly allow for seamless components which require no bending or folding, won′t use screws to join together, are ultra-light but also “super strong,” and will enable the company to rapidly prototype and produce new designs. Of course, not a single word of this is confirmed or even acknowledged by Apple, though we have been hearing whispers of the “Brick” for a few weeks now. Ultimately, everyone should approach this news with extreme skepticism, but if these rumors get magically transmuted into reality, there’s no telling what kind of new gear Apple might have up its sleeve.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Laptops

While that touchscreen trackpad MBP might′ve been a bit too much to swallow, the rumorists certainly won′t be giving up that easily, and have returned with more intriguing shots of what may be (but probably isn′t) the next MacBook Pro. Submitted by “Techno Minds” to modmyi.com, the pictures were purportedly gotten off an Apple employee on an Apple design team. The dock-in-the-touchpad has been done away with, but the trackpad is still black, as is the keyboard and the display bezel. What’s new here is the black back to the display and a lack of those Air-inspired curves that looked so janky on that other picture. The thing that amazingly makes this all even less plausible is the done-up promo shot (after the break) with rendering and photoshop artifacts unobscured by cameraphone fuzziness. Oh, and there’s no power button to be found on any of these shots. Still, we want.

[Via Nowhere Else]

Continue reading More purported MacBook Pro shots surface, we’re still unconvinced

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Laptops

Look, there are a hundred reasons to think this might be fake. That janky right corner, the inexplicable “dock in the trackpad” conundrum, the odd lighting and the entirely-too-convenient iSight self portrait. Still, whoever made this has their finger on the pulse of the Apple faithful — or pretty much anyone else that thinks Apple is long overdue for a MacBook Pro refresh. We’ve got Air-inspired curves, a touchscreen trackpad, aluminum and glass in the style of Apple’s latest iMacs, and what appear to be separated keys, which have been slow in coming to the MacBook Pro holdout. Naturally there’s zero info on who the source is, and we’re expecting a “hah, I totally fooled you guys″ to spring up at any moment, but there’s clearly some pent up demand for this thing if the rumor mill is any indication.

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over years (aside from the fact that Segway users will always be looked at strangely), it’s that Best Buy’s inventory systems are famous for turning us on to forthcoming wares. Just this year, strange part numbers in its stock system have correctly predicted the arrival of new MacBook Pros, the Nikon D90 and an unlocked US 3G Touch Diamond. Now, we’re feasting our eyes upon the latest snippet from Future Shop’s (Best Buy’s Canadian sibling) inventory system, which shows a half dozen new Mac placeholders for French and English language machines. Unfortunately, “Apple Mac” is about as vague as it gets, but we wouldn’t be shocked one iota to see new MBPs surface in the near future. C’mon stock system — don′t let us down.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

SkyTerra’s Mobile Satellite Ventures, ICO Global Communications and Qualcomm have jointly announced today a partnership that could have far-reaching implications in the mobile realm. In short, the trio has agreed to “integrate satellite and cellular communication technology in select multi-mode mobile baseband chips,” which will essentially enable handsets to have “ubiquitous mobile communications coverage from anywhere in North America, including areas where traditional cellular service is currently unavailable or unreliable.” The release proclaims that this hookup will lead to satellite connectivity being in mass-market devices, but only time will tell how long it takes for compatible handsets to get adopted by carriers. Unfortunately, we do know it won’t happen prior to 2010, as that’s the planned ship date for the newfangled chips. Thanks for the heads-up, guys — but oh, how the tease hurts us.

[Via PhoneScoop, image courtesy of LostPedia]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Portable Video

Movies on flash drives aren’t looking like the next big thing, but Gemalto reckons its approach to getting DVD content on smaller surfaces is different enough to get noticed. In an admittedly bizarre release, the digital security firm has announced a new Smart Video Card for Italian carrier WIND, which “embeds a DVD-compliant optical disc into the card body of a regular SIM card.” The card can store practically any digital content (including video, software or URLs) and can reportedly be played back on any DVD drive. So what, we buy a new SIM card each time we’re looking for a new batch of miniaturized content? Fabulous!

[Via FashionFunky, thanks Bob]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

While we were just able to take a look at Sony’s BRAVIA VPL-VW70 SXRD at CEDIA, it appears that the company is showing Europe a little love with the awfully similar VPL-VW80. The Full HD beamer includes High Frame Rate SXRD panels, a 100Hz Motionflow Dark Frame Insertion system, the BRAVIA ENGINE 2 processing tech and a 2.5-millisecond response time. You’ll also find a 60,000:1 contrast ratio, Advanced Iris 2, electronic panel alignment, two HDMI connectors and a 1.6x motorized zoom lens. Unfortunately, there’s no mention of a price and / or release date, but we’ll go way out on a limb here and suggest you start saving up immediately.

[Via AboutProjectors]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Peripherals

Man, with all these product intros today you’d think the world was going to end tomorrow or something. Anyway, just as predicted, Microsoft just kicked out the new LifeCam Show and LifeCam VX-5500. The $100 Show is a 2.0 megapixel cam that can take 8 megapixel stills, and a built-in mic with noise- and echo-cancellation, while the $60 VX-5500 does VGA video and 1.3 megapixel stills and has interchangeable faceplates. Both include a one-touch Windows LiveCall button that pops open your contact list and new LifeCam software which allows you to send video messages, share photos during calls, and initiate calls with a Vista gadget. Should be out in October — check the VX-5500 after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft LifeCam Show and LifeCam VX-5500 make the scene

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Back in May, TiVo’s VP of product marketing got all of our hopes up that the next announcement involving it and Amazon would include HD Unbox content. As you can very clearly see, this is most certainly not the case. Instead, we have the immense pleasure of informing internet-connected Series2, Series3 and TiVo HD owners that they can now buy wares from Amazon without leaving their couch. If browsing through Amazon’s extraordinarily huge store with just a remote sounds appealing to you, you’re in luck (and mildly insane). Also of note, the new Product Purchase feature will enable advertisers to “market products sold through Amazon on any broadcast or cable network, any TV show, or via any of TiVo’s extensive interactive advertising features.” In other words, next time you see Dwight using that iconic shredder, you can buy that bad boy right then and there. Take that, Staples.

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming

We’re not quite sure how Seth Sternberger, one member of 8 Bit Weapon, was able to pull this off, but he somehow compiled a number of old parts from local shops and eBay in order to transform an NES Power Pad into an instrument of awesomeness. Click on through for a video of Micro Boogie being performed on said Pad, and don’t be shocked to find yourself immediately overcome with the need to get one of these in your own house (only to remember that you can’t dance).

Continue reading Power Pad hacked into musical controller, DDR trembles

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Now here’s an instrument you wouldn’t have minded practicing as a tot. Alle Meine Klänge’s AMK is a modular recorder (you know, those plastic flute wannabes) that pack an array of individual blocks which can hold any sound you like. Simply transfer homegrown beats / notes / tunes / etc. over to each block, connect ‘em up and you’ve got yourself a instrument of cacophonic delight. ‘Tis a shame it’s still a concept — Fisher-Price, you seeing this?

[Via BoingBoing]

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Original post by Darren Murph