Technology Nirvana

PS3 mods are coming from everywhere now. The latest method is similar to the earlier USB exploit. Instead it uses certain handsets to do the dirty deed. The list of supported devices is rather short, but it couldn’t be easier if you have the right handset.

PS3Hax.net links to the compatability list and lays out the instructions.

1. Download the package, extract it.
2. Extract N1-CM6-PSFreedom.tar.gz and copy the contents to your SD card.
3. Copy PS3-signed.zip and PS3-No-More-signed.zip to your SD card.
4. Reboot into the recovery console.
5. Install/flash PS3-signed.zip.
6. Reboot your phone.
7. Use ConnectBot or any terminal app and type:
   • cd /mnt/sdcard
   • su
   • insmod psfreedom.ko
8. Kill the power to your PS3, switch on the back (PS3 Fat) or unplug from the wall (PS3 Slim), and connect your phone via USB.
9. Re-enable power and press the PS3 power button followed by the eject button in quick succession.
10. Your PS3 is now hacked! You’ll see “Install Package Files” under GAME on the XMB.

To return your phone to normal just boot back to recovery and flash PS3-No-More-signed.zip. It’s that easy. Video coming soon.

Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy but remember, this may cause cops to show up. Your call. [via phandroid & <a href=" PS3 mods are coming from everywhere now. The latest method is similar to the earlier USB exploit. Instead it uses certain handsets to do the dirty deed. The list of supported devices is rather short, but it couldn't be easier if you have the right handset.">make]

This concept garbage can/dust bin is made of thick, deformable silicone, and when it starts getting full, you can squish it down and compact the trash at the bottom. I mean sure, you could just stomp on the trash in your normal can, but then you wouldn’t be able to tell all your friends about your cool concept trash can.

[via Inventor Spot]

It’s probably a good time to be a patent lawyer over at Dyson. After all since the company produces bonifide innovative products every other week, clones no don’t pop up everywhere. It’s job security. That’s all. Just last week a seemingly perfect clone of the fanless Air Multiplier hit the interwebs and Dyson just issued a statement to do us concerning the knock-offs.

The Dyson Air Multiplier™ fans were launched in 2009 after four years of research and development. A team of specialist Dyson engineers have refined and patented the technology: illegal copies are of significantly inferior quality. Dyson rigorously defends its intellectual property and treats any infringement very seriously. Dyson is taking legal action against anyone who copies its technology.

In other words, the hounds are released and dem be hungry.

Reviews are starting to trickle out for Pansonic's LX3 successor, the DMC-LX5, and so far they all seem to echo similar sentiment. The form factor hearkens back to its Micro Four Thirds darling GF1, at least from the top, with "dinky buttons" (in CNET UK's words) on the back reminding you of its point-and-shoot bloodline. The pictures are solid if not characteristically warm -- and the ability to simultaneously produce RAW and JPEG files is a nice touch -- as is the choice of either Motion JPEG or AVCHD Lite video. The universal issue with this camera is the price; that £449.99 tag (the equivalent of $691 in US currency) doesn't quite seem to match the offerings, especially when it's about on par with entry-level DSLRs with interchangeable lenses (albeit without the slim look). As PhotographyBLOG puts it, Panny's gotta hard case to make for a camera "that looks, at first glance to be very similar to a £299 model." Hey, a hardware switch for changing the aspect ratio (just above lens barrel; 4:3, 3:2, 16:9, or 1:1) doesn't come cheap. Much more detail can be found in the reviews below.

Read - PhotographyBLOG
Read - CNET UK
Read - Pocket-lint

Lumix DMC-LX5 review roundup: great hardware for a not-so-great price originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, sure -- a few people have called Google's Nexus One a "superphone," but suddenly, that nickname has taken on a whole new level of meaning. A team of talent from MIT has put its head down in order to concoct a new Android application that can come darn close to solving complex computational problems in just a fraction of the time that it'd take a bona fide supercomputer. The goal here is to let researchers and scientists convert to Google's mobile OS, but if you aren't falling for that one, it's also designed to "let engineers perform complicated calculations in the field, and to better control systems for vehicles or robotic systems." Of course, the models that are hosted on the phone do require a supercomputer to create, but once certain formulas are embedded, the app can then compute approximations in mere seconds rather than hours. Best of all, rbAPPmit is available for download as well speak in the source link below, but we'd probably wait for the (presumably thick) user guide to surface before diving in headfirst.

[Thanks, Alasdair]

MIT app turns your Android phone into a supercomputer... of sorts originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We're not quite sure what to make of this, as our first reaction is to label it a fan made render and move on. But it's a very detailed render, so let's hear this one out in between bites of freshly grilled burger (or whatever you do to celebrate Labor Day; we think more working is an appropriate course of action, but to each his or her own). So what you see surfaced on the Digital Photography Review forums is an apparent render of the Samsung NX100 and a diagram pictured after the break -- labeled by number but missing the complementary key. We still don't know much about the forum poster nor the images' origins, but later on he or she did provide supposed dimensions and some display specifications: 4.74 x 2.8 x 1.36 inches, 9.95 ounces, an external GPS receptor, an external EVF with 201K resolution, and a (non-articulating) display that's 921K AMOLED. We're intrigued to say the least, but nothing tangible at the moment.

Continue reading Alleged Samsung NX100 pics and specs surface

Alleged Samsung NX100 pics and specs surface originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, there little guy! That's the Toshiba AC100 -- an Android 2.1 smartbook with Toshiba's custom user interface -- on show in the UK, where you can now grab one up. The 10.1-inch, 1.9-pounder has yet to show its face anywhere near the US, but as for specs it's got a 1GHz Tegra 250 SoC, a 32GB SSD, 512MB of DDR2 memory, 802.11n WiFi, optional 3G, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, and an HDMI port. While it's listed on Amazon you still can't actually order one of these bad boys stateside, but if you're in the UK, you can grab one up for £292.52 (almost $450) for the non-3G model. Video of the little guy in action back in June is below.

Continue reading Toshiba AC100 Android smartbook hits the United Kingdom

Toshiba AC100 Android smartbook hits the United Kingdom originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it looks like the mystery of Nokia's Symbian^3 slider may soon be solved -- Reuters is reporting that the company will introduce its new "flagship" E7 smartphone at its Nokia World event in London next week, and it says that the device will pack both a "large" touchscreen and a full QWERTY keyboard. That's further backed up by the existence of an XML file on Nokia's own site, which seemingly confirms that the E7 does indeed run Symbian^3, and that it boasts a 640 x 360 display along with that QWERTY keyboard. Not much more than that at the moment, but those previous leaks suggest that we're basically looking at a slider version of the Nokia N8.

Nokia said to be launching E7 smartphone next week originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We didn't get to hear them for ourselves at IFA 2010, and it sounds like we missed out -- a pair of publications are already showering Sleek Audio's nigh-bulletproof SA7 buds with praise. The tightly-woven carbon fiber casing may look stylish, but both SlashGear and TrustedReviews were even more impressed by the sound, calling the combination of dual-armature drivers and one-piece aluminum housing "more precise" and "stonkingly good" respectively. Both noted hugely powerful bass that sounded fantastic alongside the trebles and mids, rather than drowning them out, and high frequencies that remained comfortable to listen to even at higher volume -- a mark of excellence, to be sure. Of course, one typically expects quality audio when slapping four Benjamins down -- we'll have to hear how these stack up against other audiophile buds.

Sleek Audio's SA7 earphones briefly tested, dubbed 'stonkingly good' originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While I haven’t honestly enjoyed this latest set of books as well as I enjoyed the Sprawl and the Bridge trilogies, I would still give one of my fingers to give William Gibson a big man hug. He basically defined sci-fi for me, much in the same way Tolkien defined my taste in fantasy, and anything too far from his original dystopian settings peopled with amazingly detailed characters (The Road for example, owes a debt to Gibson, although Cormac McCarthy is a genius in his own right).

Anyway, his new book Zero History is out tomorrow and I’ve pre-ordered. Set in the “current” – namely some post-9/11 world populated by artistes of the slightly funny deal – the book follows Milgram from Spook Country as… well, I’ll let Cory Doctorow say it:

Bigend has got Milgrim hunting for the designer behind a mysterious line of fetish-denim, in the hopes of remaking it as the basis for a lucrative US military contract; this being Bigend’s idea of novelty-seeking good times.

Sigh. I assure you Molly Millions wouldn’t go out looking for a nice piece of denim, but that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, Cory says it’s fun and a real novel, which is important. Gibson isn’t a sci-fi writer per se, he’s a writer and the Sprawl and Bridge had enough nanotech and silent ninjas to assuage my grief at a story whose plot revolves around selvage.