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The Scosche TuneStream adds A2DP stereo Bluetooth to most recent iPods, but it has some quirks.

(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET Networks)

When Apple was set to unveil its second-generation iPod Touch back in September, stereo Bluetooth was among the features rumored to be included. Hopefully, no one was holding their …

A fully functional pink keyboard? Perfect!

(Credit: Keyboard for Blondes)

Blondes have suffered decades of ridicule, but it’s time they embrace the jokes. When it comes to a hot-pink boost of self-confidence (or at least a few good laughs), the Keyboard for Blondes may do the trick.

The all-pink …

When reviewing the G1 we found a lot to like, but a lot to dislike too. We knew that some of its shortcomings, like the missing headphone jack, were sadly permanent (free adapters notwithstanding), but hoped that it would just be a matter of time before some enterprising soul (with an enterprising compiler) would take care of another complaint: the lack of multi-touch. Lo and behold now is that time and Ryan Gardner is that coder, author of a little app that proves the inability of the G1 to accept a two-finger salute is not a hardware limitation. You can see for yourself in a video after the break, and once Ryan is done cleaning up his code he pledges to post that, too (don’t forget those comments, man). Okay, so being able to cover your screen with red and yellow splotches isn’t going to convert any spoiled iPhoners, but we’re thinking the rest of you developers out there should be able to pick up this ball and run with it. So make with the running, already.

Continue reading G1 multi-touch a reality, integrated headphone jack still just a dream

Filed under: Cellphones, Displays, Handhelds

G1 multi-touch a reality, integrated headphone jack still just a dream originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 22:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In case you haven’t noticed the trend, when Apple releases a new iPhone / iPod touch firmware, it has a tendency to fall to the jailbreakers at mind-boggling breakneck speed. QuickPwn and PwnageTool have now both been updated to support 2.2, though there’s a critical note in here from the iphone-dev team: if you have any interest in unlocking your iPhone 3G in the near future, only use PwnageTool, not the more painless QuickPwn. You’ve been warned!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones

iPhone firmware 2.2 gets QuickPwn and PwnageTool, of course originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 22:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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

For months Nokia has been working on Point & Find, a new technology that allows users to simply point their camera phones at a banner and get more information on their device.

Now the company says it is ready to launch the service "very soon." Nokia says it will make Point & Find available as a public beta starting with a movie service.

The service will allow users to point their cellphone cameras at a movie poster and get information about the movie on their phone such as show times and trailers. It will also include the ability to book tickets.

"There is a lot of physical media out there–billboards, posters,
restaurant menus, building–they could turn into a doorway for more information," says Philipp Schloter,general manager for the Point & Find program. "This makes the connection between the digital and the physical world."

It’s also part of the company’s quest to find ways for people to do more with their cellphones going beyond the traditional keypad interface, says Nokia.

Point & Find works by comparing the image in the viewfinder with a set of image properties in a database and the user’s location. The technology came out of Nokia’s 2007 acquisition of a company called Pixto.

Nokia is looking to partner with companies to extend the idea. For users it means they could walk down the street and point their camera at a restaurant banner and get the menu on the phone or buy with a point and click through their phone.

"Companies can define where a picture will go and what it is about," says Schloter, "and that content can reach users easily."

The technology could be a step ahead of 2D-barcodes or QR codes that are popular in Japan because it is more intuitive and capitalizes on the ubiquity of camera phones and Nokia’s position as one of the market leaders.

Point & Find will initially be available only to Nokia phones but it will ultimately be extended to all camera phones with basic GPS capability, says the company.

See a demo of Nokia’s Point and Find technology

Also see: Future Phones to Read Your Voice, Gestures

Photo: Nokia N95 (stevegarfield/Flickr)

The Samsung DX20 is a new digital SLR from … wait, Samsung? Actually, this camera is a collaboration between Samsung and Pentax, and it accepts Pentax lenses — so if you’ve got a lot of those, it’s definitely worth taking a look at. Unfortunately it had some problems with dynamic range and image stabilization, keeping us from recommending it solidly. Danny Dumas and Jon Snyder review the phone in the first half of this week’s video podcast.

After that, Danny and Bryan Gardiner tackle the BlackBerry Bold — the best traditionally-styled BlackBerry to come down the pike in a long while. It’s not the long-awaited BlackBerry Storm, but if you’re a RIM fan and don’t mind using AT&T as your carrier, it’s worth a look.

This week’s video podcast was produced by Annaliza Savage and edited by Fernando Cardoso, with camera work by John Ross. It’s a little bit over 7 minutes long.