Archives for July 2010

Chipophone 8-Bit Organ

The Chipophone on the outside looks like an old 80’s kind of home organ. Inside though, it’s a whole different story. The organ has been modified to contain a bunch of chips that make it play like an old 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. I guess you could still say it’s an 80’s organ, but in a different sort of 80’s way.

Created by Linus Akesson, the Chipophone has the looks of an old organ, but the brains needed to crank out awesome 8-bit sounds for live chiptune performances. Linus ripped out all of the original tone-generators and wired up keys via a bunch of 74HC165 chips, daisy-chained together to an Atmega88 controller chip. He also wired up the knob potentiometers to the microcontroller’s analog inputs.

[Read more…]

iOS 4 Bluetooth Problems

Since the release of iOS 4, a number of complaints about Bluetooth have appeared on the Apple [AAPL] support forums. It seems like those who decided to upgrade from iOS 3.X to iOS 4 have been getting the problems with patch connections and bad audio quality.

The problems are not all related to those who have upgraded though as some who run the iPhone 4 which is supplied with iOS 4 are also reporting the issue. The problem with playing audio wirelessly is also being reported. [Read more…]

Video Green Full Cover Suit

If you want to make a film and do the invisible man trick, then this video green full cover suit is for you. The suit is designed to be used with the Chroma Key video effect allowing anyone who wears it to fully disappear.

The suit can be used to make a whole bunch of special effects by part covering the suit with something different to make only part of you appear in the movie. Mix it with a background green colour and you are set… well, kind of. You need to know what you are doing. [Read more…]

New Tron Legacy Trailer Appears

A new trailer for Tron Legacy has appeared on YouTube. Check it out below… [Read more…]

Windows Phone 7 Devices Named by Conflipper

Conflipper recently announced his retirement from creating custom ROM’s and providing them over at his site shipped roms. We’ll let you read his post linked back there to find out why he is leaving the scene.

When departing this area of his life, he decided to post a few updates on Twitter that shows a number of Windows Phone 7 device codenames that are being worked on.

The list (as seen in the larger image below), includes the HTC Salsa, HTC Swing and HTC Tango. [Read more…]

Samsung Haven Announced – Heading to Verizon

Samsung has announced the Samsung Haven clamshell phone for Verizon users. The new phone is aimed at those who want more basic features on a phone such as using it as a phone and sending text messages with not much else mixed in there.

The Haven has a 2.2 inch screen with a simple to read display and an adjustable font size. Other features include a dedicated button for the loadspeaker (handsfree) to be activated and the ability to store three contact numbers for emergency situations. [Read more…]

White iPhone 4 Delayed Again

Apple [AAPL] just launched the free iPhone 4 case scheme by way of an app that you can download. As well as getting the free case program up and running, the company has also announced that the White iPhone 4 that was expected this month, has been delayed.

White models of Apple’s new iPhone® 4 have continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected, and as a result they will not be available until later this year. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.

[Read more…]

Apple iMac Could get a Refresh with USB 3.0 and CPU Update

New rumours have surfaced today that indicate Apple [AAPL] could be about to update the iMac.

The rumours indicate that the 21.5 inch 3.06GHz iMac stock will not be updated while others have been told to keep their inventory low. This could indicate that a new model is about to be announced and launched.

We are not sure what exactly will be included in the new update (if it happens yet), but we have heard USB 3.0 could be included as well as FireWire 1600 or 3200. [Read more…]

HP Slate to be for Enterprise Customers Only

The HP Slate has been a little evasive since it was first unveiled at the beginning of this year. It started off as a Windows 7 tablet, then that appeared to get killed off in favour of Android and then webOS and again a compact variant of Windows 7 and now it appears that this Windows 7 tablet version is going to be for enterprise customers only and not for general consumers.

The information comes from Todd Bradley from HP who said in regards to the Slate that it would be “more customer-specific than broadly deployed,” and that the Microsoft-based tablet would be “for the enterprise” and probably released in the fall. [Read more…]

LG Struggling to Make Enough Screens for iPad

The Apple [AAPL] iPad has sold extremely well to the tune of 3.3 million units we heard earlier this week.

With that demand, LG is struggling to make enough screens to get the iPad on the shelves.

LG Display’s CEO yesterday said that LG had been unable to fulfil all orders for displays used in Apple’s new iPad, but promised ‘without fail to catch up with demand by Q2 2011.

The production lines are running at full capacity from what we hear and the demand from Apple keeps growing also. [Read more…]

iPhone 4 Antenna End Call Band-Aid

Etsy is a place where you can purchase all kinds of weird and wonderful products. The latest follows on from the Band-Aid fix for the iPhone 4 we posted about a few days ago. This fix is another Band-Aid solution but instead of the colourful blank bandaid the previous Etsy owner offered, this owner has created some “End Call” band-aids to stick on the bottom left corner of your phone.

From the Etsy End Call Band-Aid Description…

THIS LITTLE STICKER WILL END YOUR ANTENNA ISSUE WITH THE IPHONE compleatly covers the anttena at teh “weak” point EVEN IF YOU DONT HAVE ANY ISSUES THIS IS A GREAT LITTLE CONVERSATION STARTER SURE TO GET A LAUGH SET OF 4 SO YOU CAN GIVE TO YOUR FRIENDS OR JUST PUT THEM ON ANYTHING YOU WANT

HIGH END VINYL THAT WILL COME OFF CLEAN WHEN YOU ARE DONE WITH IT.

[Read more…]

iPhone 4 Bumpers Being Automatically Refunded

If you purchased an iPhone 4 bumper from Apple [AAPL], you should be getting an email through soon that informs you that a refund is being processed.

For those who have purchased an iPhone 4 bumper case, the refunds will all happen automatically from what we understand. For those who haven’t purchased a bumper case yet, you will be entitled to a free bumper or similar case depending on stocks. This promise runs for a few months till September 30 where it will be re-evaluated. [Read more…]