Category Archives: Technology

Beer cannon flings you a cold one on (iPhone) command

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Now this is flipping brilliant.  A college student has transformed his old mini fridge into a beer cannon!  Check this: Using a custom-made iPhone app, he can select a desired beer brand (the system vends four types of beer), adjust the fridge temperature, manage the beer’s final destination, and fire the beer with a force of 50psi to the selected position.  That’s right–the fridge is decorated with a webcam and the app has a viewer to help guide the beer to its target.  In addition to launching beers on command, the fridge records every fling and broadcasts them via Twitter so that all your friends can know when you’re using the coolest thing ever invented…ever.

[Via Gizmodo]

Gorillaz produce an album on the iPad

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We’ve seen some rather crude uses of the iPad forced to make music happen, but nothing like this.  Alt-hip-hip group Gorillaz produced a 15 track album called The Fall using 20 iPad apps and just a few other instruments. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered in 32 days while the band was on tour.  Frontman Damon Albarn fell in love with the iPad when he first got it, and shortly thereafter decided to “[make] a completely different kind of record” with it.  Here’s the list of apps the band used:

Speak It! / SoundyThingie / Mugician / Solo Synth / Synth / Funk Box / Gliss / AmpliTube / Xenon/iElectribe / BS-16i / M3000 HD / Cleartune / iOrgel HD / Olsynth / StudioMiniXI / BassLine / Harmonizer / Dub Siren Pro / Moog Filatron

While it “has a much slower and more basic vibe than the Gorillaz’ normal high-production, technically superior collections” (as described by CNN), there’s no denying the sheer amount of ambition that went into this unique project.  Preview the first track “Phoner To Arizona” after the break.

The Fall is a Christmas gift for the fans; right now it’s available in digital form on the Gorillaz website.  (To stream the album you must supply them with your name and email address; to download a copy for keeps you’re required to become a fan club member.)  The album will officially release in physical form sometime next year.

[Via Gizmodo] Continue reading Gorillaz produce an album on the iPad →

Kinect, hacked.

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Since its North American release date on November 4, Microsoft’s Kinect controller-free motion accessory has proved to be a boon for the open source community.  Over the last month or so I’ve collated the most intriguing Kinect hacks and today is the day I’ve decided to let them live free inside this post. Tinkerers are constantly throwing up their latest creations online, so expect Kinect, hacked to become an ongoing series.

First up we have Yankeyan‘s Super Mario Bros. Kinect hack.  Using OpenKinect drivers and NES emulation he’s figured out how to make the plumber’s on-screen movements mimic his physical jumps and arm flails.  It doesn’t match up perfectly, but that doesn’t make the hack any less impressive.

Now go on, hop after the break to browse oodles of Kinect hack videos; I promise they are all super inventive! Continue reading Kinect, hacked. →

Want to learn more about this year’s holiday-themed Google doodle?

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On Thursday the holiday-themed Google doodle you see right now was unveiled to the masses.  This year was rife with all kinds of Google doodles (from Pac-Man to UFOs), but this one’s being touted as the “most ambitious one yet.” Chief Google doodler Michael Lopez (yes, that is a real position) headed this year’s festive doodle with a team of four other artists.  It took them over 250 hours to complete the 17 interactive portraits of holiday scenes. Originally, the plan was to unveil the doodle in stages over three days, but at the last minute Google execs decided that it’d be best to push out the doodle in one piece and keep it up for two-and-a-half days.  Lopez and his team rushed to make it happen, and they managed to put it up just in time around 9am Thursday morning.  The majority of the holiday scenes focus on food, dance, architecture, and textile from all around the world. Google estimates that it has created over 900 doodles since 1998, with approximately 270 of them running in 2010.  Of all the doodles thus far, this one seems to be the one that most diverges from spelling out the search engine’s name.  Can you find where it says “Google” there?  It’s very subtle.  Anyway, can’t wait to see what Lopez has in store for us next year!

[Via WSJ]

Google Demo Slam contest gives ordinary people the chance to creatively shine

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The G-Men started to think how can we make tech demos fun so people would actually watch and learn from them? Demo Slam is their answer.  Google is relying on everyday people (ahem, you don’t need to be a fancy developer) to submit personalized demos that feature Google tech.  Using Android phones or Google on the computer, people can show off their creative side by coming up with ways to demonstrate Google tech like search by voice, updates in real-time, and universal search.  I’ve included my top five favorite Demo Slam videos in this post.  The one embedded above is called “Extra Spicy” and it features two girls using Google Translate to call a real Indian restaurant and order in Hindi.  Never thought of giving that a try, now did you?

Look after the break for the others; a group of friends recreates Mt. Rushmore and uses Google Googles to identify the them as the real deal, three brothers see how many marshmallows they can shove into their mouths until Google Search by voice cannot recognize the query “chubby bunny”, Maria Sharapova uses Google Search to answer questions in English and Russian, and then there’s the epic Google Docs animation.

Want to see more tech demos?  They are so much fun to watch right?  Head over to the official Demo Slam website where you can view all the submissions and vote for your favorites.  The contest is still happening, so unleash your creative side and show the world what you’ve got!

[Via GoogleBlog] Continue reading Google Demo Slam contest gives ordinary people the chance to creatively shine →

Facebook visualizes friendships, a bizarre map is born

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An intern at Facebook named Paul Butler was interested in what he calls “the locality of friendship”; he wanted a visualization that would show which cities had a lot of friendships between them.  He sampled about ten million pairs of friends, combing that data “with each user’s current city and summed the number of friends between each pair of cities.  Then [he] merged the data with the longitude and latitude of each city.”  The image above is the result, and this was his initial reaction:

The blob had turned into a surprisingly detailed map of the world. Not only were continents visible, certain international borders were apparent as well. What really struck me, though, was knowing that the lines didn’t represent coasts or rivers or political borders, but real human relationships.

Pretty incredible, huh?  Just by combining data points between friend connections on Facebook he was able to recreate a unique map of the world (though Russia and China are almost totally absent).  The white areas on the “map” represent cities and towns, while the blue streaks highlight the relationships between them.  If you’re interested in learning more about how this was constructed, head over to Butler’s blog post; there you’ll also find a super hi-res version of the visualization.  FYI, it makes for a visually splendid desktop background.

[Via Facebook]

Motorola teases Android tablet, bills it as the next big thing in ‘Tablet Evolution’ video

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Check out this slick animated teaser from Motorola.  In it the tech company takes us on a journey through the evolution of tablets, from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic tablets to the modern ones like the iPad.  Speaking of the iPad, Motorola made it their mission to slam the Apple tablet in the video: “It’s like a giant iPhone… but it’s like a giant iPhone.”  Burn!  And if you’re of the speculating kind, let’s dig deeper into the teaser.  Though Moto does not unveil the final product, their shiny new red Motorola logo attracts a buzzing bee at the end of the clip.  A bee, hm?  That matches up quite nicely with the name of Android’s next mobile OS: Honeycomb.  Google’s Andy Rubin recently previewed a Motorola tablet running a new version of Android and he boasted that Honeycomb will include features made from the ground up specifically for the touchy tablet form factor.  One more thing: Verizon teased via Twitter that they plan on showing off  a whole bunch of LTE Android-based devices at CES in January; and this lines up perfectly with the CES 2011 tease at the end of this clip.  Will we see a Motorola tablet running Android’s next-gen Honeycomb OS with Verizon LTE support next month?  Only time will tell, but I’d put money on it.

[Via Engadget, here & here]

Google Maps 5.0 available for Android devices now

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The next version of Google Maps for Android-powered mobile devices is now available as a free download in the Android Market.  Google’s Andy Rubin previewed it (and I provided you with details) a little over two weeks ago.  In a nutshell, the new Maps uses vector graphics to provide 3D modeling of streets and buildings with a skyline; there are new multitouch inputs like tilting, rotating and smooth zooming; in compass mode the map will start rotating to match your perspective; offline caching will proactively save  large mapped areas on your device based on where you use Maps the most; and with offline rerouting you no longer need to rely on a network connection once you’ve started a route and find yourself lost.  In fact, Google claims that viewing maps now requires almost 70% less mobile network data overall than before; you should notice considerably faster speeds in Maps.  Android 1.6+ devices can run version 5, but 3D and offline features require Android 2.0+ devices.  If you’re reading this on your phone, click here to access the Maps download page.

[Via GoogleMobileBlog]

Microsoft says over 1.5 million WP7 devices sold to carriers and retailers since launch

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In an interview posted on the company’s website, Microsoft’s corporate VP of Mobile Communications Business and Marketing Group Achim Berg spilled that “phone manufacturers sold over 1.5 million [Windows Phone 7] phones in the first six weeks” since the October launch.  I added bold formatting there for a reason.  This sales figure is not as effective or all that impressive as you might think.  Rather than specifying the actual number of devices sold to end users, they are hiding that sales figure and replacing it with the number of units sold to mobile carriers and cell phone retailers.  In a word, this is baloney.  I mean, this figure is not incorrect; it’s just that it makes it hard for us to genuinely know how well Microsoft is doing with its new mobile OS.  Perhaps they are reluctant to revealing the actual number of units sold to customers because that number isn’t as high as they expected.  But Berg’s words counter that logic; he says, “Sales are ramping well as our reputation is growing for offering users a unique experience and are in line with our expectations – especially when compared to other new platform introductions.”  So why not tell us like it is?  Oh well, all we can do is sit and wait for a celebratory Microsoft press release to help us make sense of the massive 60 carriers/over 30 countries WP7 launch.

[Via Engadget; Microsoft]

Apple TV is about to hit the one million mark in units sold

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Apple let out a press release yesterday excitedly stating that “it expects sales of its new Apple TV to top one million units later this week.”  Apple TV, mind you, only starting shipping three months ago.  The cheap price point ($99) and the general consumer shift to streaming content on the big screen are certainly the two major factors contributing to this sales figure.  Is the Apple TV still your pet “hobby”, Steve Jobs?  Huh!  Full PR, that is noticeably missing a quote from Jobs, sits after the break.

[Via Gizmodo] Continue reading Apple TV is about to hit the one million mark in units sold →

Google extends free voice calling in Gmail through the new year

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I know you’ve been taking advantage of Google’s free calling in Gmail feature since it was integrated into the mail client back in August.  Well in the “spirit of holiday giving” Google has decided to extend free calling for all of 2011.  Thanks, Google!  Remember, free calls are only applied to those made in the U.S. and Canada.

[Via GmailBlog]