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From the department of "Because We Can" comes Linux on the iPhone. Don’t get too excited — you won’t be running Ubuntu or Google’s Android OS on your iPhone any time soon (even if you wanted to). Here it is in action:

Right now, as you can see, this is strictly a proof of concept — there’s no actual interaction with any of the iPhone’s input methods. No touch screen, no nothing. Instead, the iPhone runs a USB client which lets you type in commands from another computer via the dock connector.

Still, it’s a good start, and once somebody slaps a few hardware drivers and a graphic user interface on there, it could be fun to play with. We’re actually more interested with the keyboard side of this hack. Would it be possible to run the regular iPhone OS and hook a keyboard directly into the dock connector? That would be killer useful for getting some real work done on the iPhone. It would also destroy my excuse for not blogging when I’m traveling, so maybe it’s not such a good thing after all.

Linux on the iPhone! [Linuxoniphone via TUAW]

Say hello to the latest rock star on the block: the Cythbot

The Cythbot combines a camera with a vision processing system and pneumatic fingers to create a robot that can play the popular Guitar Hero video game by itself.

The Cythbot is not a single humanoid robot but instead a collection of components cleverly patched together to create an automated device that can read the notes flowing on a screen and play it–mimicking what a gamer can do with the title.

Since its launch in 2005, video game publisher Activision’s Guitar Hero series has become a blockbuster hit. The game comes with a guitar-shaped peripheral that players have to strum in sync to the notes flowing on a screen. Players are judged based on the accuracy with which they hit the notes.

The Cythbot does the same. Here’s how Cyth Systems which created it set up the robot. A camera from Pixelink looks at a screen to analyze the notes that are flowing in.

It is also hooked up to a compact vision system, which is hooked up to a boc called the Configurable Signal Conditioning Enclosure (CA-1000) from National Instruments. The CA-1000 capable of digital signal processing can increase the level of the input signal up to 24 Volts. The stepped up signal is used to operate the penumatics for the guitar.

The penumatic fingers hover the Guitar Hero’s peripheral housed in an aluminium box frame. The guitar peripheral has also been modified to include a Wiimote inside it.

Two large displays connected to the system show the notes flowing through the screen from the game and which ones are being hit respectively.

Cyth Systems relied on the light intensity of the pixels, rather than the color of the five basic notes that create the music.

"If that light intensity value exceeds a predetermined
threshold we know we need to hold down that key and actuate the strum
bar after a predetermined delay," explains Ivan Gagne, Systems Engineer with Cyth Systems in this video, "while the note travels down the screen
to the bottom play line."

The idea was to demonstrate Cyth Systems’ expertise in integrating different systems, says Andy Long, senior director for the company.

So far the Cythbot, which can play both in solo and compete mode, has been able to hit pretty high levels of accuracy of up to 98 percent, says Long, though typically it is in the 75 percent to the 80 percent range.

The robotic system is on a world tour of its own. It’s a big attraction at many industry conferences focused on robotics and systems engineering and made its latest appearance earlier this week at the Robo developers conference in Santa Clara, California.

Here’s a video of the Cythbot playing Guitar Hero 3

The video distribution and storage network BitGravity is launching a net-based UI today that allows fans of the popular tech show DiggNation to choose from five different, simultaneous video feeds.

But in the process of setting up the system, a little problem came up that could have blown up in the face of the growing company.

According to BitGravity CTO Barrett Lyon, one of the cameras they’d set up was placed above co-host (and Digg founder) Kevin Rose and ended up recording his administrative passwords for the Digg website. When they realized their mistake, the BitGravity crew immediately removed the overhead camera and pared down the number of cameras to five.

To us, this is another example about why it’s hard for content providers to determine how much they should share with their audience and how much access the user should expect in return for their business (even if it’s free). We think they should have left the camera up there for just a few seconds and then see what would have happened in Digg. Chaos, infiltration, and mass hysteria? What’s wrong about that?

Well, plenty. But in this case, more access to video is definitely better. BitGravity’s multi-camera interface uses five coexisting video streams that viewers can pick between, while other angles stream below.

Lyon told us that the key component of the feed is the API application that is built into the CDN and structured on top of their live video streaming software. The API-CDN combo allows their consumers (in this case, DiggNation’s parent company Revision3) to search within video streams using time codes, allowing the video to smoothly stay in sync with the continuous audio of the participants.

The first multi-cam DiggNation broadcast is pre-recorded, but Lyon said his company is capable of pushing out the video in real-time.

In order to get it to work, the multi-cam app has gone through several
versions. Lyon’s first extensive test was on a personal trip from the
heart of San Francisco through the Golden Gate Bridge.

Using a Canon HP30 camera, he synchronized the feed
with GPS and placed the camera on the roof of his car, but the resulting
video came out less than stellar. The lenses of the camera vibrated
and, as we saw in an early preview, the quality of the video was very
fuzzy and even dark. So they’ll probably work on that before using it,
but in our first try, the change between feeds was pretty smooth.

One potential problem with the extra feeds is that some viewers may not
have the top high-speed connections to handle them. Also, a few more
camera angles doesn’t mean they’ll deliver better content than the
extra information available on HD feeds on TV, or even other
techy/cultural shows.

But the team at BitGravity thinks this shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Lyon has his eyes set on a larger prize: "We’re having fun with this
Multi-view for now, but if the UFC calls, or if the NFL calls, and they
want to incorporate this system, we’d love to explore that."

We’d check that out, but only if they put a camera on top of the coaches’ head. Can you imagine the freakout?

The Bit Blob is a pretty bizarre digital noisemaker that creates sound when its contacts are connected together with control pins. Even cooler is you can also connect LEDs, more Bit Blobs, or other audio outputs to it. I like how the device is crammed into a beaker; I view this gizmo as a metaphor for a mad scientist’s brain. If I take enough psychedelics I might even find this thing to be kind of musical.

Bleep Labs is selling 30 of these bad boys for $220 a piece. Check out the video (above).

Product Page [Bleep Labs]

See Also:

• Gallery: 8 Futuristic Musical Instruments

FED (or Field Emission Display) hasn’t quite caught on as quickly as some other display technologies, but Sony’s still out there doing its best to move things forward, and it certainly looks to have turned more than a few heads with its latest demo. Apparently not content with simply showing off a new 19-inch display from its spin-off, Field Emission Technologies, Sony went so far as to demo it with a customized version of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue that’s playable at 240 fps. To do that, Sony used four PS3s to increase the frame rate, something it had previously done to run the game at quadruple the resolution of 1080p on a Sony SXHD projector. While that setup is out of the reach of most folks, Field Emission Technologies says that FED displays are now finally heading to market, and that some high-end professional FED video monitors up to 32-inches in size will be available sometime next year.

[Via OLED-Display.info]

Filed under: Displays

Sony demos 19-inch FED display running Gran Turismo 5 at 240 fps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In recent months we’ve seen Dell’s design department running wild with new colors and art for a lot of their models, such as the Studio 15 and 17 laptops, and the announcement that customizable jobs were on the table for 2009. It probably should come as no surprise, then, to see the Inspiron Mini 9 and 12 get some love, too — this time in five patterns by artist Tristan Eaton. Otherwise the same under the hood, the paint-jobbed Minis will run you an extra $50 over the base price of each respective model — $349 for the Mini 9 and $549 for the Mini 12. Check out two more shots of the upgrades after the break.

[Via Electronista]

Continue reading Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 and 12 get artist makeovers

Filed under: Laptops

Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 and 12 get artist makeovers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s a certain glamour to the netbook. They come in bright, flighty colors and offer the promise of fun, of computing on the go. Nobody ever thinks of slipping a netbook into a briefcase. Its natural home is a purse or a manbag.

But now Epson, the glitz-free printer maker, is in on the game. The Endeavor Na01 might sound like a Star Trek spaceship, but it’s all dull grey plastic, all of the time. Internally it differs not a jot from the standard netbook — 1.6GHz Atom processor, triple USB ports, 10.2 inch screen, 160GB HDD and XP home. You know the rest.

We’re not sure exactly how Epson did it, but it managed to make the Na01 look like a late 90s Compaq or Dell. If the picture above doesn’t look so bad to you, check out the photo below, snapped by EeePC news. How much for this fugly slab? ¥46800, or around $480.

Product page [Epson Japan via Akihabara News]

Picture: EeePC News

Apple has issued an update to the “hobby” that is the Apple TV. It’s a software update but adds a couple of interesting hardware features, one of which should have been in there all along.

Apple seems to have finally realized that the little white remote control which which used to ship with most Macs is junk. While it’s just fine for skipping a track or adjusting volume, it has trouble with anything more complex. Like, say, the Apple TV. The 2.3 update will let you use any remote control, learning what light they spit out and reme,bering it. You can still use your tiny white pocket-remote, too. And of course, if you have an iPhone there is the excellent Apple-provided Remote app.

The other new feature is AirTunes, which lets you stream music wirelessly from the Apple TV to any Airport Express hooked up to speakers. Frankly, we’re amazed that this wasn’t in there already. We think that Apple must make this “AirTunes” from some very rare element indeed, given the scarcity of the feature in its devices. Come on, Apple, where’s my iPod Touch streaming already?

Two footnotes: Playlists now work properly, and if they contain non-music content they will show up. And, somewhat cryptically, there is now Music Volume Control which offers “Support for volume control in Music”.

Release notes [Apple]

When you’ve got a game as compelling and competitive as Guitar Hero World Tour, you get it on as many platforms as you can as fast as you can, including the mobile phone. On Thursday, the mobile version of Guitar Hero World Tour became available on AT&T phones. We got to try it out.

On the PlayStation, Wii, and Xbox, this fourth Guitar Hero installment counters Rock Band’s drum and vocal tracks, which themselves had one-upped Guitar Hero’s original stringed instrument. Vocals aren’t practical for the mobile version–which still rocks, by the way–but a drum track is. Activision and game-maker Hands-On Mobile have introduced a drum choice for every song.

There’s a lot more news here–the updated game, which has a new look and two fresh game-playing features (can you say “battle mode”?). There are also technical details that could make a difference to how the game looks and sounds on your individual phone. Finally, there’s all the practical stuff about when your carrier will stock the game and how much it’ll cost you. Let’s take one at a time.

Note the new purple drum line you have to think about while you play.

(Credit: Hands-On Mobile)

Gameplay

Anyone who has played Guitar Hero III Mobile (video review) will feel right at home with Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile, which begins with fifteen new songs for guitar and drums, and which uses the phone’s keypad buttons instead of guitar frets. When it comes to customization, you drummers out there are an afterthought–guitarists can choose their instrument, but not you. Also, when you’re playing drums, the bottom row of keys (7, 8, 9) stand in for the kick-drum, which is represented in the game by a horizontal purple line that floats at you along with the notes. I played several songs in the drummer’s mode, where the kick-drum line helped keep the game interesting.

Also new to the mobile game is the multiplayer battle mode, where Hands-On Mobile has created a good way to pair you up with similar players all over the world. You’ll be matched by skill level and by phone type (more on this below.) You’ll divvy up picking a song and the instrument, and will have to use your star power strategically (called battle power in this mode) to keep your opponent from scoring. After playing, it’ll be easy to track your score from the accompanying Web site (launching Friday). This is neat, but what if you want to play your friend? You should be able to duke it out with personal pals as well as with perfect strangers.

…

Originally posted at The Download Blog