The Hippest Phones

Mod: Audio line out from SNES Super Gameboy

Jimin Brelsford — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:50:11 +0000

Chiptune is fun to mess around with, but programming on a tiny Gameboy screen can get a little annoying. Nintendo created the Super Gameboy to allow players to plug Gameboy cartridges into their SNES, so it would stand to reason that you could run LSDJ or Nanoloop through your TV. But how to get the [...]

The 20 Cell Phones That Leak the Most Radiation [Radiation]

Kyle VanHemert — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:40:00 +0000

Cell phone radiation. Some consider it a heath-hazard of paramount importance. Others couldn't care less. Whichever camp you're in, there's some perverse satisfaction in clicking through CNET's countdown to see which is the most mind-melting gadget on the market. [CNET]

You wish you had this dude’s MS Paint skills

Matt Burns — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:30:18 +0000

Yahtzee takes on Heavy Rain

Devin Coldewey — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:00:48 +0000

The latest entry in the games-as-art argument, Heavy Rain is the spiritual secret to the controversial Indigo Prophecy, one of the rare "interactive storytelling" type games that has made a dent on the market since Phantasmagoria. Personally, I think I would enjoy the game, but since I don't have a PS3, that's not going to happen any time soon. Yahtzee is of two minds about it, understandably, calling it various names but admitting it gets much better later. Anyone check it out yet?

Google denied “Nexus One” trademark

Devin Coldewey — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:06:19 +0000

So in 2008, a company called Integra Communications filed for a “Nexus” trademark having something to do with voice and data telecommunications. Along comes Google a year later and files for “Nexus One.” Trademark office says no go. I’m not really surprised at this; it’s not really their job to determine which is the better [...]

Water runs uphill in mysterious silicon etching

Devin Coldewey — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:00:14 +0000

Bet you weren't expecting that headline tonight, were you? Well, it's about as literal as I could get. Some enterprising boffins at the University of Rochester used a high-powered laser to etch microscopic patterns in silicon such that water overcomes its own hydrophilia and goes in whatever direction they please. This is very much still a laboratory discovery, but a few years down the road, you might see this kind of thing built into chips as a sort of hybrid active-passive cooling solution.

Xbox 360 Slim on the way?

Devin Coldewey — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:40:44 +0000

Some rumors are swirling regarding a possible "slim" version of the Xbox 360. And why not? The console being sold is the same one they were selling... wow, is it more than four years ago now? Of course, the ones they sell now run a little cooler, and don't have an enormous failure rate, so there's that. And with the pressure on from the PS3 Slim and... well, a black version of the Wii, Microsoft probably wants to be one of the cool kids with the console revisions.

Metroid Other M: No Nunchuk, No Cry

Dan Brooks — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:20:32 +0000

When Nintendo first unveiled Metroid Prime, fans were skeptical (if not downright apeshit). For a 2D adventure game based on exploration, how could it possibly work in first person? Long story short, Metroid Prime was pretty much universally loved upon release, and now that the Metroid Prime trilogy has gone on to become something of [...]

“Bloom” light shows what’s possible with 3D-printed decor

Devin Coldewey — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:30:23 +0000

Doesn’t this look like something you’d see in an alien’s house? It is in fact real, and is a lamp design by Patrick Jouin for MGX, a group that does lighting via 3D printing techniques. We’ve posted a few times about Shapeways, which does fabrication of submitted 3D models, but these are designer. I think it [...]

Don’t Call Tech Support. Try Orkin Instead!

Thomas Scott McKenzie — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:18:57 +0000

Someone passed this post along to us, and since our Chinese is limited here in CrunchGear-land, I’m afraid we can’t vouch for it. The video contained may, in truth, provide the recipe for a lovely London broil for all we know, so take it with several healthy grains of salt. But at least the basic [...]

The Top 15 Brands on the App Store Might Surprise You

Gagan Biyani — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:31:20 +0000

Brands are increasingly prominent on the App Store and Apple tends to love featuring folks like Britney Spears and Coca-Cola on the App Store’s front page. But who’s actually succeeding and which brands have managed to maintain high download numbers? PositionApp, the app that lets you track how iPhone apps are doing on the App Store [...]

Generation I: Middle Children of the Information Age

Devin Coldewey — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:00:10 +0000

Every generation thinks that they are the first. The first to feel this way or that, the first to make this or that revelation, the first to do and make things that we find later have been done and made since before we could record their doing and making. But while these illusory and fleeting [...]

The Playstation Move makes its advertising debut

Matt Burns — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:55:23 +0000

Video: EA Sports MMA trailer (but where’s Fedor?)

Nicholas Deleon — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:30:59 +0000

Man, two new trailers in the same day. Our cup runneth over, and so forth! Anyhow, here’s the newest trailer of EA Sports MMA, which should hit stores “late 2010.” That’s all in-game footage, too, so no smoke and mirrors nonsense. Featured prominently are Bobby Lashely, Brett Rogers, King Mo, and Nick Diaz (!). Where’s Fedor? [...]

Nice knowing you, AdBlock, but it’s time to move on

Nicholas Deleon — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:00:30 +0000

Today's a very important day in the history of me using the Internet, a history that began in late 1996. Ladies and gentleman, I have completely uninstalled AdBlock. I do believe that makes me a man in the Jewish faith, so I'll be expecting presents from all of you.

Windows Phone 7 Gets Another Twitter App: Twikini

Greg Kumparak — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:44:22 +0000

A few days ago we wrote about Mel Sampat, a member of the Windows Phone 7 development team who had chosen to leave the team to pursue his own endeavors, part of which included making third-party apps for the very platform he helped make. You might assume that his history with the platform would make [...]

Incandescent bulb production left in the dark

Jimin Brelsford — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:30:11 +0000

Call Greenpeace, they’ll want to hear this. Today marked the end of 120 years of mass-produced incandescent bulbs for Toshiba. They had planned to stop manufacturing a year from now, but seems the timetable got moved up in favor of those more efficient LED bulbs. High fives all around people. Believe it or not, but Toshiba [...]

Consumer Reports plays with the latest 3D TVs

Matt Burns — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:00:54 +0000

If there's new TVs or coffee makers, Consumer Reports will test them out. That's the case with the new Samsung and Panasonic 3D TVs and the company just posted a early hands-on look that actually reveals some differences. It's totally worth your time even if you don't plan on jumping on the 3D bandwagon this early on.

Review: Plextor 128GB SSD

Matt Burns — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:31:52 +0000

All the cool kids are playing SSDs these days. So much so that every manufacturer wants of piece of the sweet cherry pie. Even Plextor who was previously known as an optical drive/media company has a set of 64GB and 128GB SSDs available now. Too bad these options tastes more like a supermart-made pie than [...]

Casio VL-10 synth is miniscule

Jimin Brelsford — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:15:28 +0000

Synthesizers? Calculators? In the same device?! If your first thought was, “I want one”, then today is your lucky day. The little brother of Casio’s VL-Tone synth, the VL-10, was spotted on eBay with 7 hours left to go. 29 buttons, 5 different sounds, and 10 drum rhythms can all be yours if you hurry. Video [...]

Man and machine: chips successfully placed in living cells

Scott Merrill — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Computers are getting smaller and smaller. One need only look at the proliferation of smartphones for proof of this. The trend toward miniaturization is only going to continue. Pretty soon, we'll have computers inside our bodies, rather than carrying them around with us! Scientists have recently successfully inserted silicon chips into living cells. The initial applications for this research seem focused on intracellular sensing and data acquisition, but that's only just the beginning.

Hands on with the Alex ereader

John Biggs — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:48:19 +0000

The Alex ereader is out and I got to look at it today for a few minutes. The top part is a real epaper screen and the bottom part is essentially a small Android MID. The device has Wi-Fi and is available now for $399, shipping in May. The company had a few interesting points about their sales strategy. Their goal isn't to sell and ship devices, although their ereader will play epub, PDF, HTML, and TXT files out of the box. They are currently partnering with international publishing houses and periodicals and will work with those partners to create an web store as well as a unique UI for each device. In this way a newspaper could offer a branded version of its reader and offer it at a subsidized rate to online subscribers or a publishing house or book store could offer their own branded experience.

AT&T ZERO to save the planet one phone charger at a time

Greg Kumparak — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:45:19 +0000

They're in our homes, and they're in our schools. There they sit, silently, eating our power. Even if you unplug your phone, they keep devouring power. What's next!? Will cell phone chargers some day EAT YOUR CHILDREN? More at 11. In a move to save you some gadget juice and boost their "green"-factor, AT&T has just announced what they call the first "automatic zero draw charger", the ZERO.

Video: This is what Red Dead Redemption looks like

Nicholas Deleon — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:30:01 +0000

Oh thank God for Rockstar. We’re short-staffed today, plus it’s nice outside and I’m very easily distracted by the weather, so what better way to pass the time than by watching fancy trailers? Here we have a brand new trailer for Red Dead Redemption, which I do believe a couple of the Ron and Fez [...]

It’s official: Google’s Nexus One is heading to Sprint

Greg Kumparak — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:12:40 +0000

We just got the good word from the folks at Sprint themselves: the Google Nexus One will be landing on Sprint. And with that, the Nexus One will be available for all four major US carriers (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile). Sprint’s being sort of tight-lipped here; they apparently haven’t quite figured out how to price [...]

Today in history: the flight data recorder

Scott Merrill — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:00:22 +0000

It's not entirely clear to me that March 17 is the actual birthday of the so-called "Black Box", but who am I to argue with Wired's This Day in Tech? According to them, the idea for the flight data recorder was born in 1953 by an Australian named David Warren. The first prototype was complete in 1957, and within a couple of years became a standard feature on all commercial airplanes.

HTC Supersonic to be announced next week?

Greg Kumparak — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:57:31 +0000

There isn’t much to say about the HTC Supersonic that hasn’t been said already. It’s big (in a 4.3-inch-display sort of way). It’s beautiful. It’s Android-powered, and runs on Sprint’s 4G WiMax network. It’s just not.. you know, official in any way. According to the Wall Street Journal, that’s about to change. Though they aren’t naming [...]

Join us for the CrunchGear and Friends podcast

John Biggs — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:34:34 +0000

Join us at 3pm New York Time/Noon Pacific for the CrunchGear and Friends podcast with a live interview with ZipDX founder. You can call in to talk to the guys at 1 (646) 200-4163 and we welcome questions, comments, or random bursts of profanity (looking at you, Dad!). We hope you enjoy the rebirth of [...]

You know you want to play Resident Evil in 3D

Nicholas Deleon — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:30:33 +0000

Surely you've heard of Shinji Mikami, right? He's basically "the Resident Evil guy," and he's got 3D on the brain. He told Famitsu, that famous Japanese video game magazine, that he wants to disband his current studio (Straight Story) and form a new one, one for creators, by creators (as opposed to one by run by know-nothing businessmen). This new studio, in a perfect world, would create a 3D horror game.

Sold out! Panasonic’s 3D TVs simply cannot be found in stores!

Nicholas Deleon — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:00:01 +0000

Well, well! Every single Panasonic 3D TV has been sold, meaning, I guess, that 3D TV is a hit, despite what some people think. They're on back order now, so if you weren't among the first to plop down nearly $3,000 for a 50-inch set you get a late slip. You're late to the party. Last week called, and it wants to know why you didn't buy a TV?