iPod Nano Watch Case

Gizmodo reports: [edited]

These new funky-color silicone bands from Hex make Apple's diminutive iPod look like a not-entirely-ridiculous timepiece.

The $24.95 Hex band has a pop-in design which incorporates the Nano into the watch. It has integrated control buttons and comes in 9 colours.
------------

Turntable clock

Etsy reports: [edited]

This clock was created using a recycled Sanyo turntable and a Ronco's Greatest Hits album titled "Get It On" which is replaceable. The clock movement is quartz, and requires 1 C battery (included). The entire clock measures roughly 17" x 14" and hangs on the wall like a picture frame with 2 hooks.

Price: United States: $15.00, European Union: $59.00
------------

Samsung Galaxy Tab

Engadget has published a hands-on review of Samsung's Android tablet.

Conclusions include:

Pros
- Compact and extremely solid build
- Great quality 7-inch, capacitive touchscreen
- Two cameras

Cons
- Not all apps scale to the screen
- Little support from Google
- No decent video calling software

"The Tab is the first true competitor to Apple's iPad. Its crisp display, compact form factor, touch-friendly software and dual cameras undoubtedly have what it takes to win over the average tablet seeker."

"However, we still have some reservations right now. Google hasn't yet provided any direction on Android as a tablet platform, which means that the Tab is held back by lagging application support and software that doesn't fully take advantage of the extra screen real estate."

"Remember, that when the iPad launched many developers were already working on tablet specific apps and Apple had an iPad app store in place. Without that ecosystem and support from Google, Samsung is left to its own devices."

"Samsung says it's working with Google and plans to use future iterations of Android, so we'll have to see what happens - but for now it looks like the saga of the Samsung Galaxy Tab still has several chapters to go."
------------

Elonex 7" e-Touch Tablet

ASDAdirect is selling an Android-based tablet for under £100.

Specifications:

ARM LNX Code 9 Processor
2GB Flash NAND Solid State Storage Device
128MB RAM
Micro SD Card Slot
802.11 b/g Wi-Fi wireless connection
USB 2.0 port
3 hours battery life
3.5mm headphone port
350g, 203 x 137 x 14.5mm

I couldn't see a screen resolution, but it is probably 800 x 480, like the one offered by Morgan for £85.00, running Android 1.6 (not upgradeable).

And the image ASDA have used on their web ad is an Apple iPad. I've used the image from the Morgan website.
------------

Free Font - Veggieburger

This clean, well-balanced typeface is an excellent answer to the, 'I know I shouldn't use Comic Sans, but what else is available?' question.

Available in three weights from Font Squirrel.
------------

Bring your own muzak

Pocket Lint reports: [edited]

The Pizza Express restaurant chain has added iPod docks to seating areas as part of the company's strive to create the 'new generation' of pizzerias.

Starting with its restaurant in Richmond, Pizza Express calls this new concept of dining its 'Living Lab', inviting public feedback on the new style, before rolling out the features and designs to all of its sites in the UK.

Research has shown that 84 per cent of customers have had an evening out ruined by excessive background noise, while 70 per cent say that they regularly struggle to hear their fellow diners. So, the chain has created a dining environment, with the help of award-winning designer Ab Rogers, to create parabolic booths - domes that hang from the ceiling and deflect background noise and absorb 50 per cent of reverberative sounds.

In addition, the company has fitted personal iPod docks in its seating areas, which also feature technology to reduce disruptive noise. They include a 'light on' to attract the attention of the waiting staff.

If successful, Pizza Express will bring the technologies to its other restaurants throughout 2011.

For more info click here.
------------

Windows Phone 7

TechRadar have produced a detailed review of Microsoft's latest mobile operating system. With the usual caveats (and remember this is the first release of the system), they are impressed.

Their conclusion:

"Get in, get out, get back to your life is Microsoft's mantra here. It's pitching Windows Phone 7 as the phone you'll love – but not so much that you'll be glued to it when you want to be doing other things."

"This works to a certain extent, with tiles that show detailed notifications and with the hubs and the apps that plug into them. Once you're into other apps, or browsing or media or games, you're going to spend as much time absorbed in Windows Phone 7 as any other smartphone."

"Despite the lack of power user features like replaceable storage and true multitasking, the quality of what is included is very good. Microsoft has delivered what it set out to do: a refreshingly different, truly engaging mobile OS. The user interface delights and there are standout innovations such as linking multiple contacts."

"The problem is that there are already other strong smartphone platforms on the market – Windows Phone 7 doesn't beat them hands down but it's a strong challenger that's only going to get better (especially because Microsoft will be sending updates out to all phones regularly, whatever the network or manufacturer) and you'll want to try it out to see if it suits you."
------------

Top 10 Amazon etexts outsell books by 2-1

Register Hardware reports: [edited]

In July Amazon said that digital editions were outselling paper books overall, but now the top 1,000 books are selling more digital editions than hard copies, with the ratio being more than two to one for the top 10 titles.
------------

A History of the World in 100 Objects

Presented by awesomely posh British Museum director Neil MacGregor and a wide range of informed and opinionated guests, each 15-minute show uses an object from the museum to illustrate the progress and 'connectednessness™' of human civilisation from around 2 million BC to the present day.

Click here for more information and links to each episode. You can download all 101 podcasts in one go from the iTunes store.

I'm working my way through the series, and am being entertained, informed and provoked to thinking about the issues raised by each episode.

If you want a hi-res artwork for your podcasts (the BBC-created version is 'orrible), here's one I made up myself.

Thanks to Rory for enthusing about the series.
------------

Sony Walkman, R.I.P.

The Register reports: [edited]

Sony is ditching the groundbreaking Walkman cassette player in Japan, 30 years after first launching its assault on the hearing of teens and the patience of the people sat next to them.

"There is still demand in certain regions, including emerging markets, but in Japan there has been a shift to other forms of recording media," a Sony spokesman said.
------------

Somali Pirates

The New York Review of Books has published an excellent and revealing article on Somali's pirates. Some excerpts follow...

"For the past twenty years, since its central government collapsed, Somalia has become one of the prime examples in modern history of a country without a state. Nothing seems to work... the violence keeps mounting, most recently in what is ostensibly a religious war between a moderate Islamist government that gets millions of dollars of Western aid but controls almost no territory and a radical Islamist insurgency egged on by al-Qaeda."

"Deep-seated clan rivalries and war profiteers eagerly feed this bloodshed. Meanwhile the perfect conditions for piracy prevail: anarchy, a cold war legacy that has left Somalia armed to the teeth, and a 1,900-mile coastline abutting the Gulf of Aden, which 20,000 ships traverse each year."

"The pirates of Somalia have an entire country nearly the size of Texas to use as a sanctuary. They hijack ships, sometimes as far out as one thousand miles from shore, and then steer them to well-known pirate dens where they dine on freshly slaughtered goat while conducting ransom negotiations."

"In 2008, when more than a dozen hijacked ships, with more than three hundred hostages, were anchored off the coast of Somalia, Pottengal Mukundan, director of the International Maritime Bureau in London said, “You can see the images of these ships on Google Earth. Nowhere else in the world would this be tolerated.”

"No one knows exactly how much they have netted in the past few years in ransoms but it is safe to assume at least $100 million. Often the booty makes them giddy. After a parachute packed with $3 million drifted down to the deck of the Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker that a band of young Somali pirates hijacked in late 2008, the pirates divvied up the cash and impetuously sped away in their dinghies, in the middle of a squall. Several capsized and drowned. One dead pirate washed up on the beach with more than $150,000 in his pockets."

"This excess has created a budding pirate culture. Pirate weddings are elaborate two- or three-day affairs, stretching deep into the night, with bands—and brides—flown in from outside Somalia and convoys of expensive 4x4 trucks. The prettiest young women in pirate towns dream of a pirate groom; little boys can hardly wait until they are old enough to sling an AK-47 over their shoulder and head out to sea. In these places, the entire local economy revolves around hijacking ships, with hundreds of men, women, and children employed as guards, scouts, cooks, deckhands, mechanics, skiff-builders, accountants, and tea-makers."

"The hard-line Islamist insurgents who control much of Somalia have flirted with dismantling the piracy business, but the money is too good. One group, Hizbul Islam, recently moved into Xarardheere and now gets $40,000 from each ransom. The more powerful insurgent group al-Shabab made a deal with the pirates in which they will not interfere with the pirates’ business in exchange for 5 percent of the ransoms."
------------

Terrafugia Transition

terrafugia.com reports: [edited]

The Transition combines the unique convenience of being able to fold its wings with the ability to drive on any surface road in a modern personal airplane platform. Stowing the wings for road use and deploying them for flight at the airport is activated from inside the cockpit.


Become a Sport Pilot in as little as 20 hours of flight time in a Transition-specific course.

Price: £150,000
------------

New Apple Stuff

Mr Jobs announced a slew of new products yesterday including:

- 11" & 13" MacBook Airs: lighter, faster, sexier and more bettererer
- iLife 11: (see above)
- Mac OS X Lion: (see above)
- FaceTime for Mac: *meh, whatever...*

The MacBook Airs and iLife 11 are available now. Lion is promised for Summer 2011. Facetime is available as a beta download, if anyone is bothered.

To find out more click here.

Apple obsessives can watch the entire keynote address, but if you've only got time to watch one of the videos, take a look at the iMovie demo. I don't 'do' video, but this made me want to.
------------

80-port USB charger

AudioCubes reports: [edited]

You might not have 80 USB devices to charge at once, but it would be nice to have some free spaces for your friends to charge their USB devices. With 80 USB ports, you will be able to charge all your USB devices all at once without taking over all your computer's USB ports.

Price: $249.99

via Boing Boing
------------

The Big Picture reports: [edited]

'Creating a miniature star on Earth' is the goal of the National Ignition Facility (NIF), home to the world's largest and highest-energy laser in Livermore, California.

On September 29th, 2010, the NIF completed its first integrated ignition experiment, where it focused its 192 lasers on a small cylinder housing a tiny frozen capsule containing hydrogen fuel, briefly bombarding it with 1 megajoule of laser energy.

The experiment was the latest in a series of tests leading to a hoped-for 'ignition', where the nuclei of the atoms of the fuel inside the target capsule are made to fuse together releasing tremendous energy - potentially more energy than was put in to start the initial reaction, becoming a valuable power source.

The NIF has cost over $3.5 billion since 1997 and is a part of the federally funded Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Scientists at NIF say they hope to achieve fusion by 2012.
------------

World's most expensive iPhone

Engadget reports: [edited]

We've already established that if you're filthy rich, you don't want the same cell phone as common folk. No, if you're looking for something higher end, you'll probably end up talking to Stuart Hughes, who customizes electronics by plating them in gold and diamonds.

We've already seen his work on a $20,000 iPhone 4, but his latest achievement is downright ridiculous.

Hughes made two identical models for an Australian client. Each handset includes over 500 diamonds and totals over 100 karats, and comes in its own special granite box. Its total cost is £5 million. Just don't bother crying when you leave it on the seat of a cab.
------------

Colour Basics

Apartment Therapy reports: [edited]

You may know your colour wheel — you may even know your 'Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain' — but when it comes time to talk about colour, do you know your hue from your value? Your shade from your tone? Whether you are in the middle of a colour crisis or paint chip madness we are here to help.
------------

Cooking Myth Busters

Serious Eats has investigated and disproved six commonly held cookery beliefs:

1. Moist cooking methods give you moister results than dry cooking methods.

2. Frying at a higher temperature prevents food from absorbing oil.

3. When grilling, it’s best to flip just once.

4. Searing locks in juices.

5. Pasta must be cooked in massive amounts of boiling water.

6. Salting beans during cooking will make them tough.

For more information, click here.

via kottke
------------

Google Test 'Self-Drive' Cars

BBC reports: [edited]

Engineers at Google have tested a self-driving car on the streets of California, the company has announced. The cars use video cameras mounted on the roof, radar sensors and a laser range finder to "see" other traffic, software engineer Sebastian Thrun said.

They remain manned at all times by a trained driver ready to take control as well as by a software expert. Google hopes the cars can eventually help reduce road traffic and cut the number of accidents. In a posting on the company's official blog, Mr Thrun said the self-driven cars had so far covered 140,000 miles on the road.

They have crossed San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate bridge, negotiated the city's famous sloping streets, driven between Google offices, and made it around Lake Tahoe in one piece.

Engineers told the New York Times that the forays onto the highways have been largely incident-free, apart from one bump when the car was reportedly hit from behind at a traffic light.
------------

HItachi previews hi-res 6.6" screen

Register Hardware reports: [edited]

Hitachi's 6.6in tablet-oriented LCD panel incorporates in-plane switching (IPS) technology for a brighter, higher contrast image that can be viewed from a greater range of angles than a conventional LCD panel, and a better-than-full-HD resolution of 1600 x 1200, making for a pixel density of 302ppi.

That's only slightly less than the iPhone 4's 3.5in "retina display", which comes in at 326ppi, and more than double the density of the iPad's 132ppi.
------------

Fujitsu Announce Robot Teddy Companions

Register Hardware reports: [edited]

This new high-tech teddy — labeled in Google-translatese as a "badger type Sosharurobotto child" — was designed by Fujitsu to treat geriatric dementia, and was revealed at the digital wonderland that is the CEATEC Japan 2010 show in Tokyo.

The robo-ted is equipped with an arsenal of sensors and motors beneath his/her furry coat, plus a synthesiser with the voice of a five-year-old boy and a nose-mounted camera capable of recognizing a human face.

Teddy's inner electronic soul can respond to a variety of stimuli with up to 300 movement patterns, including "raising arms in delight, looking downwards in sadness, and kicking his/her feet in a fit of temper."

The SRTB can also replicate a wide variety of facial expressions and body-language gestures, all in response to actions performed by or sounds made by the patients interacting with him.

Fujitsu notes that even patients who communicate little with their fellow humans have been observed to be "communicating quite congenially with the robots and even humming tunes with them."

Acccording to Fujitsu, the salubrious effects of the cuddly robo-companions are measurable. Testing has shown that after playing with the cute li'l guys, test subjects showed increased autonomic and lowered sympathetic nerve activity, which improved the subjects' ability to resist stress and to relax.

A Teddy can also be programmed through a PC hook-up to perform a series of predetermined actions — a capability that designers suggest could be used by a bear to lead a patient through an exercise regimen or to play games.
------------

When It Drops

When It Drops:

"helps you keep track of each week's newest releases. Spend 60 seconds on whenitdrops.com instead of scouring sites that bury information in a maze of clicks."
------------

KeyCase iPad Folio Deluxe

GearZap reports: [edited]

With an integrated Bluetooth keyboard this innovative folio case is ideal for people who regularly use their iPad for e-mailing, making notes and writing documents. If you don't need the keyboard it folds behind the iPad.

Price: £59.95 inc. VAT
------------

Passport Photo Creator

123 Passport Photo allows you to create a digital contact sheet of regulation-size passport photos in 4 simple steps.
------------

Bohemian Rhapsody On Slide Whistle

If the Clangers had performed Bohemian Rhapsody, it would have sounded a lot like this. What do you mean you have no idea what a Clanger is?
------------

Apple TV

Engadget has published a review of Apple's updated 'set top box'.

Excerpts follow:

"The first thing you'll notice about the Apple TV is just how small it is. The matte black box clocks in at just 3.9 inches square, stands just 0.9 inches off of your table of choice, and weighs a measly 0.6 pounds."

"Wiring options are minimal; around back you've got an Ethernet port, micro USB jack (for "service and support" they say), an HDMI port, an optical audio hook-up, and a spot for the power cable. Apart from the wired internet, the Apple TV also has WiFi."

"You can also set up multiple laptops or home computers on your home sharing network to stream to the TV, allowing for quick access to video, photos, and music you've got stored on your Mac or PC. After you flip on the appropriate settings (home sharing needs to be active on both your Apple TV and computer), grabbing your stuff remotely is clean and simple."

"There are a few other perks, like YouTube, the ability to flip through photos and internet radio."

"When streaming 720p content (particularly new movies) the clarity of video was impressive. There was some very minor compression artifacting, but far far less than you would see on HD video on demand from your cable provider, and considerably less than with Amazon's HD streaming. The video quality doesn't match up to the richness of full 1080p Blu-ray discs, but it looks good."

"Sound quality was also superb - standard stereo was rich and wide, while 5.1 was as crisp and encompassing as you'd expect. For a $99 box, it's more than pulling its weight in the sound category."

"As far as using the function for music, it worked without a hitch on our iPad running the iOS 4.2 beta, though there is that slight delay (say, for switching songs). Unlike video, you can sleep the device and have music continue to play, which makes sense given that iDevices also serve as iPods."
------------

Browser Asteroids

github reports: [edited]

Simply drag a bookmarklet [available on his site, Ed.] to your bookmarks bar and start having some fun!

Tip: It works great to vaporize annoying ads.

Remember: It's cooler if you make your own sound effects.
------------

Ninjabread Men Cookie Cutters

Perpetual Kid reports: [edited]

They're cut out for action! These stealthy shinobi warriors are set to sneak into your kitchen and stage a cookie coup! Cut, bake, decorate… and then watch them disappear! Add swords, nunchaku, and shuriken stars with icing and toothpicks for more ambiance!

Our Ninjabread Men Cookie Cutters are moulded from food-safe ABS plastic.

Price: $7.99, arriving mid-October.
------------

Looxcie

looxcie.com reports: [edited]

Looxcie is always on, continuously videoing – there's no record button. When you experience something you want to share, just click the Instant Clip button to save a clip of the last thirty seconds. And you can answer calls while videoing

Download the Looxcie App and use your smartphone [as long as it runs Android v.2, Ed.] to view, edit, and share Looxcie video.

Price: $199

Thanks to Conrad for the link
------------

True Grit

Apple Trailers reports: [edited]

Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross's (Hailee Steinfeld) father has been shot in cold blood by the coward Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and she is determined to bring him to justice.

Enlisting the help of a trigger-happy, drunken U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), she sets out with him - over his objections - to hunt down Chaney.

Her father's blood demands that she pursue the criminal into Indian territory and find him before a Texas Ranger named LeBoeuf (Matt Damon) catches him and brings him back to Texas for the murder of another man.

- - - - -

Brett's 2p'orth: It will be fascinating to see what the Brothers Coen bring to this classic film.
------------

LaCie Wireless Space

LaCie reports: [edited]

The LaCie Wireless Space makes it easy for you to access your files, no matter where they are in your house. It has three pre-configured modes that allow you to create a Wi-Fi access point, a Wi-Fi Ethernet extender to connect your printers or computers, or even use it as a Gigabit router. If you already have a Wi-Fi network, you can use the LaCie Wireless Space as wireless storage.

With capacities of 1 and 2TB, it holds all of your music, movies, and photos, helping you to access and share them on any computer on your home network. You can even stream movies from the Wireless Space to any UPnP/DLNA compatible device, and it works in tandem with iTunes & Time Machine. Now, it’s simple to organize your files in a central location and play them on all your devices.

Use it as your network router - with static and dynamic port forwarding and PPoE connections, the Wireless Space performs even better than most cable routers, thanks to Wi-Fi n and Gigabit Ethernet performance.

Price: 1TB: £179.90 · 2TB: £249.90

- - - - -

Brett's 2p'orth:

Apple Time Capsule:

Price: 1TB: £234.00 · 2TB: £388.00
------------

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2

Digital Photography Review reports: [edited]

Panasonic has announced the DMC-GH2 Micro Four Thirds camera. The successor to the GH1 continues with its 'hybrid' stills/video philosophy but adds a host of tweaks and improvements, foremost of which is a brand new 18Mp multi-aspect ratio sensor offering 16Mp output and an ISO range of 160-12800. The GH2 also inherits many features from the DMC-G2, including a revised control layout and touch-screen control.
------------

Etch A Sketch iPad Case

Pocket Lint reports: [edited]

If you've got an iPad, how many times have you heard the wisecrack, "It's just a glorified Etch A Sketch"? Well you can now turn your iPad into an Etch A Sketch [well, looks-wise anyway, Ed.] with a little help from a new iPad case from getaheadcase.com

The $39.00 case is made of impact resistant plastic with rubber feet and a felt backing to gently cradle your iPad. Strategically placed windows allow for easy use of all your iPad's switches, ports and buttons.

There is also a retractable kick stands allow you to either lay your iPad flat, or angle it for easy use of the iPad keyboard. Disappointingly those buttons don't seem to do anything other than look the part.
------------

Fujifilm FinePix X100

Digital Photography Review reports: [edited]

Fujifilm has announced the X100, a large-sensor compact camera aimed at professional and enthusiast photographers. Based around a 12Mp APS-C CMOS sensor, Fuji EXR processor and 23mm F2 Fujinon lens (equivalent to a 35mm semi-wideangle), the classically-styled camera features traditional analogue controls for shutter speed, aperture and exposure compensation.

Of particular note is the new 'hybrid' viewfinder system which allows the user to switch between optical and electronic viewfinders and project detailed shooting information into the OVF. The spec is rounded off by 720p HD movie recording, a 460k dot 2.8" LCD, flash hot shoe, and magnesium alloy top and base-plate castings. The camera will be available from early 2011.
------------

Plastic Surgery Preview

FaceTouchUp reports: [edited]

This tool's intended purpose is to help you visualize difference cosmetic procedures on a photo. It does not take place of a consultation with a physician. The photos you produce here are for illustrative purposes only and do not guarantee an actual surgical outcome. For an accurate evaluation based on your unique facial structure, please consult a qualified physician.

- - - - -

You don't need to login or register, simply click on one of the sample images.
------------

Spiderpodium

breffo.com reports: [edited]

Spiderpodium has been designed to accommodate virtually every handheld portable device available. The hole in the body is designed to allow most proprietary chargers to fit.

Available in White or Black. £14.99 + £2.75pp

Thanks to Mel for the link.
---------

World's Simplest Cell Phone?

John's reports: [edited]

John’s Phone Snow is the world’s simplest white cell phone: no frills and no unnecessary features such as a camera, text messaging and an endless number of ringtones. You call, you hang up, and that’s it.

John’s Phone is compatible with any type of SIM card. Pay as you go and SIM-only contracts, both national and international. John’s Phone offers global roaming, except on the 3G networks in South Korea and Japan.

With its standby time of more than 3 weeks, John's Phone is perfect for use while travelling or driving.

The back of the phone features a small opening with an address book and pen – two unique features you can use even when your phone is switched off.

In addition, it includes an earphone that allows you to call hands-free while driving.

Price: €70
------------

10 iPad Wallpapers

Michael Paukner has created a range of tastefully faded iPad wallpapers. They will, of course, work fine on your iPhone or iPod touch.
------------

Linq

Incipio reports: [edited]

This durable and rugged iPod nano carrying option is a perfect solution for users who want to keep all functions of the nano close at hand. Now you can wear your 6th generation iPod nano all day, every day.

The Linq is expected to release towards the beginning of October for $24.99. Additional watchbands may be purchased for $9.99 each.
------------

Electronic Artificial Skin

boingboing reports: [edited]

Researchers at Stanford and UC Berkeley have developed ultra-sensitive artificial skin. The Stanford group's elastic polymer skin detected a fly and butterfly on it, expressed by a change in the amount of electric charge the materials could hold.

The UC Berkeley researchers constructed their skin from a grid of semiconductor nanowires laid out on pressure-sensitive rubber. Each nanowire intersection functions as a transistor "pixel" that changes current based on the pressure.

Fully working artificial skins will need to do more than detect pressure and bend. "The ultimate prosthetic skin should behave like our own skin," says Stephanie Lacour, a materials scientist from the University of Cambridge, UK.

That would mean the skin being able to detect sideways shear forces — such as those produced by scratching a twig down your leg — as well as pressure. "This is one of the most difficult things to implement," she says.

UC Berkeley's Ali Javey agrees that there are many challenges to overcome to make a fully functional artificial skin, not least integrating that skin with the brain. But applications in robotics could come much sooner, he says. The next step is to scale up production so that enough artificial skin can be made to cover an entire robot's body.
------------

Most common words unique to 1-star and 5-star App Store reviews

marco.org reports: [edited]

I wrote a script to crawl U.S. App Store customer reviews for the top 100 apps from every category (minus duplicates) and compute the most common words in 1-star and 5-star reviews, excluding words that were also common in 3-star reviews.

Keep in mind that the results are not representative of overall user opinions: most users don’t review apps, and people who dislike an app are more likely to leave a review than people who like it.

These are the top words by rating, with descending frequency:

★★★★★:
awesome, worth, thanks, amazing, simple, perfect, price, everything, ever, must, ipod, before, found, store, never, recommend, done, take, always, touch

★☆☆☆☆:
waste, money, crashes, tried, useless, nothing, paid, open, deleted, downloaded, didn’t, says, stupid, anything, actually, account, bought, apple, already

Some are obvious: people like awesome apps and dislike those that crash. A few words are more interesting, though:

It’s promising to see simple in the top-positive list, which says a lot about user expectations on the platform.

Both positive and negative reviews seem unusually obsessed with price. This seems odd, given the relative cost of the hardware, accessories, and cellular service where applicable.

The negative words are most interesting to me: in addition to complaints about the price, one word is especially telling of a prevalent attitude I’ve seen for a while: useless. More than any other adjective, reviewers condemn apps they don’t like as “useless”.

via daring fireball
------------

Concrete Wallpaper

++++++++ reports: [edited]

concretewall.no reports: [edited]

Concrete Wall is a high-quality vinyl wallpaper. It is available in 2 widths: 62cm (2’) and 124cm (4’). Rolls can be made to up to 25m (82’) in length. The wallpaper is produced to your precise requirements and can be applied with regular wallpaper paste.

The wallpaper is washable and UV-resistant. Depending on your personal wishes, we can make the wallpaper either lighter or darker, or even add a specific colour cast.

Concrete Walls uses photographs by Norwegian photographer Tom Haga.
------------

LaCie MosKeyto

LaCie reports: [edited]

The LaCie MosKeyto [Geddit? Ed.] measures less than 20mm and weighs 10 grams, making it one of the smallest USB keys on the market. It offers capacities up to 8GB, and becomes nearly invisible when plugged into your computer, and can even travel alongside it in a protective sleeve or briefcase – just plug it, and forget it.

Since it lies flush against your device, you’ll never lose it, and there is no risk of damage to the USB port, computer or key if the drive is knocked or bumped.

Additionally, LaCie has integrated an extra 4GB secure online storage from Wuala into the MosKeyto, making storage and sharing your files, photos, or videos easier than ever.

Price: 4GB: £15.90 · 8GB: £24.90
------------

$1500 3D Printer

The nearest thing to magic I've seen for a while. Let's hope they don't start building themselves...

For a review, click here.

For the manufacturer's website, click here.

For opensource stuff on 3D printing, visit RepRap and/or MakerBot.
------------

Canon up the hi-def ante...

Engadget reports: [edited]

You're looking at Canon's new 4k 'Multipurpose' concept, an amalgamation of still and video cameras pumping 60 frames per second at 4k resolution out of an 8 megapixel 2/3-inch CMOS sensor.

Yep, we said 4k video, approximately quadruple the resolution of 1080p. We had a chance to go hands-on with the prototype at Canon Expo 2010, and believe us when we tell you that it's really, really sharp, both in terms of hardware and the images it produces.

The hardware is essentially a giant SLR body packing a fixed video-style lens complete with zoom and focus controls and a high-def flip-out LCD viewfinder.

Although the 4k Multipurpose camera will never come to market, it certainly sends a bold message to an industry content with 1080p that higher resolutions like 4k are coming down the pipe and aren't just the realm of boundary-pushing cinema nerds.
------------

Pro HDR

EyeApps reports: [edited]

Thanks to Pro HDR, you no longer have to choose between a blown-out sky or a hopelessly dark foreground. Bringing high dynamic range photography to your iPhone, Pro HDR lets you capture an image exposed for the highlights and another exposed for the shadows. It then automatically aligns and blends the images, giving you a 3-megapixel HDR image.

- - - - -

Brett's 2p'orth: I uploaded this £1.19 App to my iPhone 4, and it works surprisingly well. The image below was taken using the iPhone's Camera App. I used the spot focus facility to choose the most neutral area I could find...


The image is OK, but the highlights on the coffee machine, and the wall behind it, are blown-out.

Using Pro HDR results in a more balanced image...


For best results use a tripod, although the program does its best to align the two images it takes.
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iPod Nano

Apple has updated the iPod shuffle (it now looks more like its previous incarnation) and added a hi-def screen and camera(s) to the iPod touch. But the jewel of the bunch is the iPod Nano.

Only a little larger than the iPod shuffle, and weighing less than an ounce, it features a 240x240 pixel colour touch-screen. 8 & 16GB versions are available in a range of colours, starting at £129.


For more information, visit the Apple site.

And/or visit Engadget's hands-on review.
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ViewPad 7

Register Hardware reports: [edited]

Viewsonic has introduced its 7in Android 2.2-based tablet. It claims the gadget is a world first - thanks to the device's 'phone functionality'.

The tablet's full specs have still to be published, but Viewsonic did say the device will sport front (0.3Mp) and rear (3Mp) cameras; have WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth connectivity; assisted GPS; and Micro SD storage.

Viewsonic hasn't specified the ViewPad 7's screen resolution - at 7in, 800 x 480 seems most likely.

The device will ship in October for £350.
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