Param Tech Reviews

We’ll let you in on a little secret: we find the constant stream of Star Wars-inspired you-name-it to be a little, shall we say… played? That said, this R2D2 casemod is totally, impressively rad. Made from a grabage can, it’s obviously a labor of love, and the results are insanely “real” looking — yup, that’s Artoo-Deetoo, hanging out in that guy’s humble abode. This droid’s got a webcam, speakers, LEDs — all the good stuff you’d expect from a highly detailed piece of nerdery, and if you’re action-oriented, you can make one of your very own for roughly $150. Hit the link for tons of photos and detailed instructions. One more shot of the little dude after the break.
Continue reading R2D2 casemod is affordable, convincing evidence of our continued love for old sci-fi epicKeywords:   Misc. GadgetsR2D2 casemod is affordable, convincing evidence of our continued love for old sci-fi epic originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

After a small but vocal amount of Netflix users got the world thinking that it was pulling a Comcast and putting caps on computer-based Watch Instantly users, the outfit’s Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt has come forward to clear the air. He makes clear that Netflix’s aspiration is to “deliver to everyone the best bitrate that their broadband connection can support,” also noting that congestion “could affect some users, but not others, at some times, but not always.” He also notes that different titles and encodes for different playback device types “may come from different CDNs or different servers at a particular CDN, so they may have different paths and different bottlenecks.” We’d encourage you to hit the link for the full explanation, but we’re already seeing enraged Roku users bark back by his dodging of the so-called out-of-sync audio issue that’s evidently still present. We’ll go ahead and warn you, Netflix — you can’t please ‘em all.Keywords:   Home EntertainmentNetflix lays out official response to bandwidth capping allegations originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Adding to an exclusive — but growing — list of things that were just as well off before running headlong into RFID technology, the next issue of France’s Amusement Magazine is billing itself as the “first ever connected to the Internet!” The PR we received for this bad boy asks some questions: “What if a magazine… could consist of paper, ink, electronic components and digital content all at the same time? What if the contents of a magazine could go on living forever in cyberspace? What if the difference between written and digital text finally becomes one in the same?” May we add one more question to the list? How about, “why can’t you just throw in a CD-ROM / DVD-ROM like everybody else?” Or maybe, “What am I supposed to do with this?” If you’re a Francophone with a Violet Mir:ror laying around, hit that link. PR after the break.
Continue reading Print magazine + RFID = hyperboleKeywords:   Peripherals, WirelessPrint magazine + RFID = hyperbole originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

ARM has been talking up its Mali-200 and Mali-400 processors for a little while now, but according to the company’s graphics product manager, Remi Pedersen, they’re now finally on track to land in some actual products, and the first cellphones using ‘em could show up as soon as winter 2009. While Pedersen unfortunately didn’t have anything to say about those phones themselves, he did make some pretty bold claims about the processors, which are able to run OpenGL ES 2.0 and can supposedly pump out 16 million triangles per second and 275 million pixels per second. Those numbers apparently apply to both the Mali-200 and Mali-400, although the later is multicore scalable (up to quad-core at 300MHz), and even able to produce 1080p resolutions. To bring all that home, ARM has whipped up a port of the original Project Gotham Racing game to demo at GDC, which reportedly runs just like the original Xbox game performance-wise, but “feature-wise it looks like an Xbox 360 title.”Keywords:   Cellphones, GamingNew high-end ARM processors could be powering cellphones by year end originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Rumor has it that AT&T’s gearing up for yet another door-busting, riot-inducing summer filled with new iPhone hardware, which would certainly jibe with everything we’ve heard in the past few months (never mind the fact that June is officially Apple’s iPhone release cycle these days, and indeed, AT&T’s apparently saying that the June cycle is becoming “a tradition”). That’s not terribly interesting at this point — what is interesting, though, is how AT&T plans to play it. Apparently, the carrier wants to ramp up its — ah, how should we put this in a politically correct way — “integration” with Apple’s hardware, including a U-verse app that we’re guessing will approximate the functionality to be offered by Verizon’s FiOS. What really has us worried is not so much the U-verse app specifically, but the possibility that AT&T’s sick and tired of having its crapware left out of its highest-profile device, leading to non-removable garbage like Cellular Video on a future iPhone’s home screen. It’s still a bit early to sound the alarm there, but you know, we’re paranoid types around here. It’s said the new device will be faster, though the exact meaning of that is a little unclear; the iPhone 3G’s chipset is already 7.2Mbps-capable, so we’re not sure if the carrier is simply referring to its ongoing infrastructure upgrades. Finally, it’s said that a $99 netbook running something other than Windows (don’t suppose that’d be Linux?) will be launching this summer, following on the 3G-enabled Aspire One that hit Radio Shack late last year. Heads up, though, AT&T: give us an iPhone with your Mobile Email app on the home screen, and let’s just say we can’t be held accountable for our actions afterwards. We know you wouldn’t do that, but just sayin’.Keywords:   Cellphones, Handhelds, Home EntertainmentAT&T counting on new iPhone this summer; carrier apps to figure prominently? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Given the current state of Sony Ericsson, we completely understand the re-heating of rumors regarding a nasty breakup. That said, a new report from Dow Jones confirms that Ericsson (at least) has “has no plans to abandon its joint venture Sony Ericsson,” with spokesperson Minako Nakatsuma Olofzon stating that “[Ericsson is] committed to the joint venture; it hasn’t changed its view on that.” Of course, the report makes no mention of Sony’s take on all of this, but at least one half of the equation is still in it for the long haul. Publicly, anyway.[Via mocoNews]Keywords:   CellphonesEricsson reaffirms commitment to Sony Ericsson joint venture originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sure, you can make a multi-touch table out of just about anything these days, but it still always pretty impressive when a project comes together as nicely as this so-called Struktable multi-touch surface built by the folks at Struk Design Studio. Like some other rigs, this one relies on the FTIR (or frustrated total internal reflection) effect, which makes use of some infrared LEDs placed around the edge of the display, and a mirror and a short-throw projector to actually display the image on the surface. As you can see in the video after the break, that works remarkably well, with the table able to support up to eight simultaneous users and “unlimited finger touches” at the same time (we’ll let you do the math there). What’s more, while the table is one of a kind at the moment, the folks at Struk are more than happy to build more if the price is right, or simply rent out the one they have if you’re on a bit more of a budget.[Thanks, Thomas H]
Continue reading Struktable multitouch table is as fun to use as it is to sayKeywords:   Displays, Misc. GadgetsStruktable multitouch table is as fun to use as it is to say originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sheesh — this is dangerously close to getting out of hand. We’ve got Hulu, boxee, ZeeVee and Vuze (amongst others) all vying for your attention in the wide world of broadband video, but it’s the latter dishing out a potent new offering with its latest version. Today, Vuze has announced a new iteration of its online video portal application that integrates playback with iPhone, iPod, AppleTV, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 devices. So far as we can tell, no other competitor offers that much integration (read: direct Mac / PC-to-device transfers) across so many products. Of course, none of this matters if you aren’t a fan of Vuze itself, but you can surf on over to download it (gratis, naturally) in order to test the waters.Keywords:   Handhelds, HDTV, Home EntertainmentVuze brings online video to game consoles, portable media players originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

It’s unsourced, but we’re hearing today that Acer’s first Android phone will be called the A1 and arrive in September. That’s at least the word according to the Phillipine BusinessMirror, and it lines up nicely with our peek inside Acer’s secret roadmap diary at MWC. The touchscreen A1 will apparently launch alongside three other handsets, one of which we’re guessing is the mysterious white C1 pictured above. We’ll see how it goes — hopefully Acer’s second effort is a lot more interesting than its first round of ho-hum WinMo phones.[Via Talk Android]Keywords:   CellphonesAcer A1 touchscreen Android phone to arrive in September? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We’ve seen in-wheel motors in the past, but implementing the technology is not without its share of challenges. On one hand, it’s difficult to coordinate motors that have no mechanical connection to each other, while on the other hand electric motors are designed to spin much faster than the wheels, in order to generate the desired power — adding complexity while decreasing efficiency. A company in the Netherlands called e-Traction may have those problems licked, and now they’ve developed a diesel-electric hybrid bus that they say offers fifty percent better fuel economy over existing diesel buses. The vehicle also employs a GPS-based system that switches off the diesel engine entirely while operating in areas with dense traffic, reducing emissions. The company has been awarded contracts to retrofit seven commercial buses with the technology, and hopes to branch out soon into garbage trucks — because nothing says ‘green’ like hauling junk off to a landfill.Keywords:   TransportationE-Traction’s in-wheel motor sportin’ hybrid electric bus originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments