Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Cellphones

Seriously though, how many are surprised to hear that Motorola’s Chief Technology / Strategy Officer Richard Nottenburg is jumping off the sinking ship? Apparently dude “left to return to the New York area to be with his family and pursue other opportunities,” which is code for a) he was passed over for CEO of the new mobile devices company, b) he was fired, or c) he finally wised up to the direction the company’s taken. Either way, we can’t really blame him.

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Original post by Ryan Block

Filed under: Robots

We know that you love swarming bug-bots as much as we do, so of course we were thrilled to tell you about BAE Systems’ MAST project the other day. Luckily, the Army-contracted company didn’t stop at mere photos to scare the living daylights out of humanity, they also created a really cheesy, yet deeply frightening video to go along with them. Enjoy a glimpse of the Skynet-controlled / shredding-guitar future of warfare after the break — and don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Continue reading Bug-bot video reveals swarming drones, extreme rocking

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones

That Air France in-flight calling trial is now well underway, and it looks like there’s still some kinks left to iron out. The New York Times hitched a ride on a recent flight featuring tests of the system, and found that things weren’t quite working up to snuff: voice quality was said to be like “talking to a small robot,” only six passengers could get a signal at a time, Blackberry email didn’t work, and calls placed from the ground to cell phones in the air went straight to voicemail. That’s a pretty long list for a system that’s been talked about for a couple years now — let’s hope OnAir manages to clear up some of these glitches before angry passengers revolt over not only having to listen to other people’s conversations, but also their screaming over bad connections.

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation

Not even half a year after Air France enabled passengers on its single OnAir-equipped Airbus A318 to send / receive messages and e-mail, the airline has went live with the second phase of the in-flight experiment. As of this week, guests who find themselves aboard the aforesaid aircraft can make / receive calls on their mobile at 30,000 feet. Reportedly, a dozen simultaneous calls are possible “per picocell network, as well as unlimited text messages and e-mails,” and while pricing details weren’t disclosed, you can rest assured it won’t be a bargain. Nevertheless, the voice aspect of the trial is scheduled to carry on for three months, and we’re assuming the results (read: whether annoyed passengers start assaulting chronic yappers) will determine if it gets rolled out to more of the fleet or quietly buried.

[Via WiFi Net News]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Digital Cameras

It’s been a solid tick since we’ve heard any rustling in the bushes from Phase One, but the company’s striking back with a vengeance with the 645 (also known as the Mamiya 645AFDIII). Hailed as the “world’s most flexible, open medium format digital camera platform,” the unit plays nice with a smorgasbord of high-end lenses (Mamiya’s 645 family, Hasselblad V-lenses and Pentacon Six lenses, for starters), and can achieve shutter speeds from 1/4000 second to 60 minutes. Unfortunately, that’s about all the details we’re given for now, and while pre-production units are sneaking out at this week’s Photo Imaging Expo, we’ll be forced to hang tight until Q2 before indulging in full technical specifications. No worries — we figure most folks will need a quarter or so to save up, anyway. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Thanks, Harsh A.]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Pentax’s 31.6 megapixel medium-format 645 Digital has been announced for over a year now — we’ve even seen one in the flesh — but it’s never actually shipped, and now it looks like it never will. According to Impress, Pentax is killing off its digital medium format cameras to focus on K-series DSLRs, but the 645’s film versions will live on. Considering the ever-more-competitive field of excellent prosumer cams out there, we can’t say we fault the decision, but if there are any engineering samples lying around, we’ll be happy to take ‘em off Pentax’s hands.

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Nokia has given business people something to shout about by removing the cam on this E51 phone. It will be going for €100 less (about $147) than the original version which is roughly at €250 (about $368). In light of the depressing economy outlook in USA, it would be wise to get cheaper phones in […]

Original post by colbert low

Filed under: Cellphones

Apparently, the news we got (and saw on the company’s website) yesterday concerning AT&T’s offer of a SIM-only service plan was off the mark… or so says AT&T. According to the telco’s reps, a SIM card can be had sans-contract, saying that its attitude towards the service hasn’t changed and that pre-paid, post-paid, or any other millions of varieties of arrangements can be made to tap into its sweet service. So move along folks, nothing here to see.

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones

It looks like all that shouting AT&T has been doing lately about its “openness” is starting to manifest itself in the way the company does business. It’s come to our attention that the mobile telco has started offering a SIM-only plan, thus providing the ultimate in open options. The idea being, of course, that you can bring any random / crappy / salvaged GSM-compatible handset the provider’s way, and it’ll let you hook a towline onto its satellites. Of course, you could just get one of those cheapo giveaways and pop out the card, but this is so much more open and free, like San Francisco in ‘69, a car-less road, some land of your own, and a good old-fashioned whiskey on the rocks. Oh, you still have a sign a two-year agreement… enjoy your freedom!

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Portable Video, Wearables

It’s not often that we see a pair of new wearable PVRs within the span of 24 hours, but sure enough, Ajoka is launching its Belt Buckle DVR just after we peeked the VIEVU PVR-PRO. ‘Course, we’re fairly certain this one’s arriving a little late to be an official member of the “multifaceted belt buckle” fad, but with all the utility crammed into this one, it’s got a fair shot at gaining traction, regardless. As for specs, this hidden camera can record video at a paltry 176 x 144 resolution, and considering that no built-in memory is included, you better bring your own SD card. Also, you can transfer captures and recharge the battery via the USB port, but sadly, no price is disclosed.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

As if an office full of guitar-controlled lights weren’t enough to get you in the holiday spirit, along comes a self-proclaimed geek to play Jingle Bells on his graphics card. We know, it’s hard to really grasp what we mean, so jump on past the break to catch a video that will undoubtedly do our explaining for us.

[Via TheInquirer]

Continue reading Jingle Bells played with graphics card, Santa wonders why

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming

Not even two months after NVIDIA tempted gamers on a budget with the GeForce 8800 GT, the outfit has loosed a new beast just in time for those eleventh hour holiday shoppers. Based on 65-nanometer fabrication, the 8800 GTS 512MB boasts 128 stream processors, twin dual-link DVI ports, PureVideo HD technology, DirectX 10 support, a 650MHz core clock / 970MHz memory clock and hardware decode acceleration for smooth playback of “H.264, VC-1, WMV and MPEG-2 HD and SD movies.” According to the company, this card provides some 25-percent more processing power than NVIDIA products previously offered at the same price point, which, if you’re wondering, is around $299 to $349.

[Via HotHardware]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Original post by Darren Murph

Had I found this earlier, I would have added it to my Zune hacks post. With this registry hack, you can enable playback of your Zune over your laptop’s speakers. First of all: warning - don’t edit your registry if you don’t know…oh blah, blah, blah…you know the drill.

1. Add the following key to your registry, either by creating a reg file with the text, or go there yourself and create the binary value:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}000\Settings\filter\SpeakerHp]

“EnableInputMonitor”=hex:01

2. Reboot

3. Enable the input monitor by going to “Control Panel” –> “Sound” –> “Speakers/Headphones.” Click on “Properties,” then click on the “Levels” tab and enable the input monitor button.
4. You’re done - rock out!

Thank you, Dell Community Forum poster and .netDEvHammer!

Original post by Sarah Perez

Do you hate dialing those toll-free numbers that force to you to navigate through a phone tree just to get to a real, live person on the phone? Designed to route calls (and possibly to frustrate people to the point of hanging up), complex phone trees waste your valuable time. A service called BRINGO can end the phone tree nightmare. BRINGO navigates phone trees so you don’t have to. To use BRINGO, use the list on the BRINGO website to find the company you’d like to call by category (credit cards, mortgages, loans, health care, etc.) or by name. Enter in your phone number (they company promises to never disclose this information). Wait for BRINGO to call you back. When your phone rings, pick up and you’ll have an actual human being from the company on the phone. Watch this ABC news video to see BRINGO in action. Genius. (Thanks to The Raw Feed!)

Original post by Sarah Perez

Hack #1: Multi-Extension Support mod - This hack makes the Zune program support more types of video, audio, and image extensions. This mod converts files for use on the Zune. Files are automatically converted to the exact specifications used on the Zune device, so no guesswork is involved. It also adds the songs and movies to your library. The hack current supports the following: Audio: .aac, .aif, .aifc, .aiff, .au, .cda, .mid, .midi, .rmi, .snd, and .wav files are now automatically added to your library and later converted and synced with the Zune device. They will not play in your Zune program, though. Video: .asf, .avi, .dvr-ms, .m1v, .m2v, .mod, .mp2, .mp2v, .mpa, .mpe, .mpeg, .mpg, .mpv2, and .wm videos are now automatically added to your library and later converted and synced with the Zune device. They will not play in your Zune program, though. Images: .png, .bmp, .gif, and many other image file types have been found as being supported by the Zune program, but as of yet they cannot be added to the library or synced to your device.

Hack #2: Not really a hack, more of a break-it-open guide - Rapid Repair, a personal music player parts and repair site, has opened up the new Zune 2 and has the pictures to prove it. With their step-by-step guides, you, too, can bust into your Zune, old or new, and replace a part or two.  

Hack #3: Use the Zune 2 as a flash drive - this hack makes your computer recognize your Zune 2 just like it’s any ordinary USB flash drive

Hack #4: Convert DVD, video, audio, iTunes and YouTube video to Zune or Zune 2 - this hack gives you directions to convert DVD and popular video and audio file formats like AVI, MPEG, DivX, XviD, MOV, ASF, RM to Zune, convert iTunes to Zune, iPod to Zune, M4P to Zune, M4v to Zune, and download and convert video from YouTube, FLV, Google, Myspace, iFilm, etc. to Zune. It was written up for the original Zunes, but sources say it works on Zune 2.

Hack #5: Another conversion hack - this hack shows you how to convert DVD video to play in your Zune 2.

Hack #6: Custom Zune Wallpapers - Zune Flow offers wallpapers for the Zune, but can also do a custom one for you.

Hack #7: YouTube to Zune converter - this hack is the how to guide on converting YouTube videos to play on the Zune.

Hack #8: Hack the new Zune 2.0 software to display custom themes - registered members at this forum can download custom themes called zThemes like this Halo 3 one or this Vista one. (Download link here)

Hack #9: Better yet, make your own custom Zune software theme

Hack #10: Get a full-on Zune hacking suite - this hacking suite lets you do the following:
1 - Zune AutoPlay Support Patcher - causes the AutoPlay box to pop up when the Zune is connected.
2 - Zune Guest Mode Disabler - disables guest syncing in the Zune program.
3 - Zune Icon Changer - changes the default icon for your Zune (the suite comes with 11 icons you can choose from).
4 - Zune In Explorer Patcher - makes it so that your Zune appears in Windows Explorer.
5 - Zune Marketplace Disabler -disables the marketplace in the Zune program.
6 - Zune Multi-Extension Support Patcher - makes it so the Zune program will pick up and sync many more types of media.
7 - Zune Service Provider Alternator - Allows you to SYNC THE ZUNE WITH WMP11.
8 - Zune Skin Applier - applies custom skins to your Zune program (the suite comes with 9 skins).

Original post by Sarah Perez