We gadget nerds have to endure unspeakable atrocities in order to slake that early adoption jones: first-run gear shipped DOA, buggy pre-release software, and months of waiting after a product leaks only to be greeted by a jacked-up price premium at launch. So we feel your pain, original Kindle owners, after Amazon announced a major firmware update that brings native PDF support to the 6-inch Kindle 2 and DX readers with the promise of a staggering 85% increase in battery life to all Kindle 2 devices — if you haven’t already received it OTA, the 2.3 software update is now available for download and installation via USB tethering. At least owners of “some earlier versions of Kindle” (quote from the press release) will receive native PDF support whenever the 1st generation firmware update (currently at version 1.2) is released. It’s worth noting that Amazon’s PDF reader lacks a zoom function which makes many PDFs entirely unreadable on the device. Good thing Amazon’s store is chock full of easily zoomable books in a proprietary format then, huh?
The video you see above shows the Earth’s weather from August 17 to August 26 this year. With the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) GEOS-5 atmospheric general circulation model, the agency was able to shoot this 7-kilometer resolution of the Earth’s weather.
The GEOS-5 atmospheric general circulation model, which was based on the Earth System Modeling Framework, was developed by NASA Goddard’s scientists. It is an open source project “for building climate, numerical weather prediction, data assimilation and other Earth science software application.”
There is also a 1080p high definition of this same video over at NASA’s website so if you want to see this thing more clearly, you can head over there.
But really, isn’t it amazing what technology can do? The visual display of the Earth’s weather in something this simple and basic only makes us realize how insignificant we really are.
Finally, someone is figuring out that if you want a PC in your home theater, you’ll be needing a decent, hardware keyboard. Here’s one of the best ideas yet, and it looks a whole lot like a Blackberry: It’s a wireless USB keyboard and touchpad that might be just what you need.
We like its backlit keyboard and radio-frequency (RF) operation, using the 2.4GHz band, so you don’t have to worry about pointing the device directly at the receiver. While this little handset looks kind of cheap, it’s more portable than a standard-sized keyboard, and its touchpad takes the place of a bulky mouse. If you look at the white one in the gallery below, it actually doesn’t look half bad.
This is a heck of a sight better than those horrendous on-screen keyboards that you navigate with a remote control. Think about it — how many button presses does it take to spell your name? About 50? It’s absurd. Drop $61 on this tiny keyboard, and solve that problem once and for all. Here’s a video of the device in action:
Early this year, Cisco has overtaken Pure Digital—the makers of the Flip camera. And now, a spokesman from Cisco has confirmed the arrival of the new Flip in the first trimester of 2010. What more, it will have a built-in WiFi.
The new Flip, however, will not have a touchscreen but it can move, sliding back to “reveal the record and menu buttons underneath.” This means that the Flip will have a bigger screen—probably more than the current two-inch screen of the top-end Flip Ultra HD. And like the iPhone, I’m sure that there will be some editing abilities so you can upload clipped videos directly to YouTube.
No price or exact release date has been announced for the Cisco Flip, but expect more information to arrive in the following days.
Just like the first model released by this company, the new Pogoplug allows “for USB drive sharing over the Internet.” This device can also automatically sync content with your Macbook or PC.
More, you can share and watch movies, listen to music and view photos directly through the Pogoplug website. And if you’re thinking that visiting the website is too tedious just to watch movies or listen to music, you can also do all these features through your iPhones. Compared with the old version, this new Pogoplug model adds a drag-and-drop interface and sharing over media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
For $129 without service fees, this Pogoplug that takes up to four USB drives is as good as you can get. But with this device, you have to rely on the company’s ability to stay in business to continue sharing files over the Internet.
We’ll be honest — before today, we had never heard of Simon Aldous, but it sure seems as if he’s trying hard to get his name out there. Mr. Aldous, a group manager at Microsoft, recently sat down for a rather lengthy talk with PCR. Most of the back-and-forth revolved around receiving input from partners and other mildly boring topics, but one particular Q&A was pointed directly at the outfit’s newest operating system. When asked if Windows 7 was “really a much more agile operating system,” Simon made a deliberate decision to say the following:
“One of the things that people say an awful lot about the Apple Mac is that the OS is fantastic, that it’s very graphical and easy to use. What we’ve tried to do with Windows 7 – whether it’s traditional format or in a touch format – is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics.”
Of course, he followed that up by slamming OS X’s general stability, noting that Vista’s core technology — on which Win7 is built — is “far more stable than the current Mac platform.” We know we’re opening up a giant can here, but… um, thoughts?
Update: Microsoft has issued its response, and it’s none too happy, and apparently the Microsoft employee in question was “not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7.” From the official Windows Blog: ” I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed.” We imagine there were lots of frowny faces around the office today.
We’ve had a soft spot for Polymer Vision in the fetid hollows of that place youcall a heart ever since we pressed flesh to its Readius back in February 2008. Unfortunately, we had to let go of any hope for the bendy e-reader to ever hit the market after delays turned into bankruptcy turned into cries of noooo! the world over. Now coddled in the corporate arms of Wistron we hear from Brian Chong, head of Wistron’s product planning, that a 5-to-6 inch device with a pull-out flexible e-paper display of similar design to the Readius will launch in 2010. By similar design we hope they’ve included Bluetooth, dual-band HSDPA, tri-band GSM / EDGE, microSD expansion and SMS capabilities of the original.
Who cares if this Sanyo Eneloop Stick Booster looks like a cross between an aluminum hot dog and a curling iron? Slip a couple of AAs in there, and its USB port is good and ready to accommodate a plug from your iPhone, iPod, or any other portable electronic device that uses USB to charge itself. Sanyo is nice enough to include a couple of rechargeable Eneloop batteries in the package, good for 1,500 rounds until they’re spent.
Those two batteries will charge up your gadgetry for 90 minutes, which could be just the right amount of time you need to get you through to that next replenishing power outlet. Pre-order it now for $34.72, and in December you’ll have yourself an unusually attractive auxiliary power unit that will easily fit inside even the most compact of carry-ons.
No, we’re not talking about “the cloud” where data goes to disappear and (hopefully) be retrieved again. We’re talking about an actual (well, artificial) cloud that promises to be both a real structure and a massive digital display. That’s the bright idea of a team of researchers from MIT, anyway, and it’s now been shortlisted in a competition designed to find a new tourist attraction to be built in London for the 2012 Olympics. Dubbed simply “The Cloud,” the structure would consist of two 400-foot tall mesh towers that are linked by a series of interconnected plastic bubbles, which would themselves house an observation deck inside and be used to display everything from Olympic scores and highlights to a “barometer of the city’s interests and moods” outside (that latter bit comes courtesy of the group’s partnership with Google). As if that wasn’t enough, the whole thing also promises to be funded entirely by micro-payments from the public (which would also determine its final size), and be completely self-powered, with it relying on a combination of solar power and regenerative braking from the lifts in the towers. Video after the break.
Ever since DVICE started out as the young whippersnapper on the gadget blog front it once was, it’s been interested in home saunas. And whilst some of them tend towards the basic, and others have a distinctly Swedish bent about them, the latest batch — such as this one from Carmenta — are certainly more evolved.
The Revolution has a uniform depth of 70 inches, and comes in four lengths: 35 inches; 47 inches; 60 inches; and 78 inches. It’s actually billed as a shower cubicle with sauna and steam bath incorporated in it. And Eighties-style neon lighting. And a telly. And a couple of beautiful people. Would you like to see them?
