Gadget and Techno Updates
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Google to roll Hotpot into Places as common feature
Apr 11th
Google on Friday was happy enough with the state of its Hotpot location recommendation service to make it a permanent staple of Google Places. The once experimental feature will now be subsumed into the place pages on the web and in mobile apps. Uniting the two should have a practical benefit by simplifying the link between the basic place information and how the places have been reviewed.
The company expected Hotpot to expand its reach in Places, although it didn’t say how.
Hotpot was unveiled in November for what’s widely regarded as an attempt to compete with services like Yelp. On More >
Apple looks into Verizon iPad 2 connection drops
Apr 10th
Apple in a statement quickly confirmed awareness of a Verizon iPad 2 connection flaw. It told AllThingsD it knew of a “small number” of iPad 2 users who couldn’t get online and was investigating the problem. The spokesperson wasn’t ready to estimate when it might be fixed.
The issue might be solved with iOS 4.3.2 in a matter of a few weeks, though the patch hasn’t been directly linked to the iPad 2′s 3G connection.
So far, the issue is limited to Verizon models and is triggered by reinitializing the EVDO 3G link. Owners end up either falsely listed as roaming or More >
Nintendo rules out getting into phones to chase Apple, Sony
Apr 4th
Nintendo’s US president Reggie Fils-Aime in an interview on Friday ruled out the prospect of a phone. The console maker had “no desire” to get into the business and expected it could compete with Apple, Microsoft, and Sony through a dedicated gaming device. He didn’t see Nintendo as having expertise it could bring to bear in the area and told CNN that phones were almost antithetical to a game system like the 3DS.
“Phones are utilities,” he explained. “Phones are not by definition entertainment devices.”
A Japanese producer for the firm, Hideki Konno, added that there were “so many additional costs” to More >
3DxWare 10 drives 3D mice into everyday applications
Apr 4th
Previously used mostly by CAD and 3D digital artists along with gamers, 3Dconnexion’s new 3DxWare 10 driver (currently in beta) extends the usage of 3D mice to everyday applications, from web browsers to office software — expanding on the “gestures” concept that trackpads have made popular. Beta versions of the driver for Mac and Windows are available now.
The new software allows owners of 3Dconnexion’s current line of 3D mice to easily assign keyboard strokes and traditional mouse/joystick movements in any combination. Movements can be customised for individual applications or applied universally, and up to 31 function keys can also More >
Fabricate Yourself turns Kinect into 3D photo booth
Mar 2nd
Fabricate Yourself is a modeling program created by Karl D.D. Willis that uses the Microsoft Kinect as a scanner to capture and reproduce 3D images. The setup was used at the the January 2011 Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction Conference in Funchal, Portugal to record and produce a tangible record of the show. Conference-goers were invited to pose in front of the Kinect, which was connected to a Mac to preview a wireframe model onscreen. Images were written as a stereolithography file (STL) and sent to a 3D printer.
Fabricate Yourself was created using OpenFrameworks, an opensource C++ toolkit.
Because of More >