Just the thing to go with that impressively large LED display in Times Square: an even more impressive LED-infused New Year’s Eve ball in honor of its 100th birthday. Though officially unveiled at a press event last month, the globe makes its debut Wednesday night and is poised to stay glowing year-round. Want some numbers? This 12-foot wide nightlight weights 11,875 pounds and has 2,688 Waterford crystals powered by 32,256 Phillips Luxeon Rebel LEDs spread out over 452 square feet of surface area and capable of producing 16 million colors — all of which is just a very technical way of saying “pretty.” Check out the hypnotic kaleidoscope for yourself after the break, or wait for the televised celebration tomorrow night.

Read – Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball Goes on Display
Read – About the Ball

Continue reading New Year’s Eve ball turns 100, goes LED on us

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

New Year’s Eve ball turns 100, goes LED on us originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Ross Miller

ZigBee and other home automation technologies may be all well and good if you want to keep things practical and whatnot, but if you’re the more adventuresome type, you may want to take after Instructables member leevonk, who’s pieced together this slightly unwieldy contraption. At the heart of the system is a webcam, a flashlight, and some photoresistors that detect changes in brightness on the screen they’re so elegantly affixed to. To change that brightness, you simply shine the flashlight at the area the webcam is pointed to, which relays the image back to the aforementioned PC via Yahoo Messenger which, in turn, activates a series of motors that can be used to perform a variety of tasks. Practical? Not exactly. But it is inexpensive, and it sure is more fun than a couple of mouse clicks. Head on past the break to check it out in action.

[Via Hacked Gadgets]

Continue reading DIY home automation system brings back the lost art of flashlight control

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

DIY home automation system brings back the lost art of flashlight control originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Handsets, Nokia

Nokia’s QWERTY-equipped E63 handset hasn’t exactly been making itself shy since those first few spy shots turned up way back in October, but it’s been another matter getting some solid impressions of the device from folks that have actually spent some quality time with it. Thankfully, PhoneArena has now stepped in and provided one of their usually thorough reviews for those that still prefer a good ‘ol keypad. On the whole, while the site says it may not be the ideal choice for business folks or the more demanding users out there, they say that most everyone else will find plenty to like, with the phone boasting decent enough sound quality, a solid keypad, and an all-too-often overlooked 3.5mm jack, all in a sturdy and compact body. On the downside, the camera is apparently decidedly lackluster, and some of the function buttons could cause a bit of frustration, to name a few quibbles. Hit up the link below for the full rundown including, of course, plenty of pics (and even a 360 degree view).

Nokia E63 gets reviewed originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Culture, Nokia

Personally, we’re always excited to get free multimedia packs loaded on our phones — wallpapers and ringtones don’t come cheap, after all. We draw the line at multimedia packs of Cold War-era dictators, though, which is why Nokia’s pretty fired up that some of its sets are being sold at retail in Russia preloaded with exciting Stalin-themed memorabilia. Apparently — and we believe them — Nokia has nothing to do with the unexpected bonus, saying that “even if Nokia was on the brink of ruin and release phones or panel with a portrait of Stalin was the only chance to save our business, Nokia [would not do] that.” Admittedly, we’re pretty curious to learn more about the doomsday scenario they’re referring to where companies can only survive by Stalin-branding their products — but for now, Nokia’s recommending comrades shoppers steer clear of the “special edition” devices since they’re clearly not factory sealed.

[Via textually.org]

Cuban Wallpaper Crisis threatens Nokia handsets, America originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

It’s not been good month for Sony. Layoffs, poor holiday sales for the PS3 and a wee bit of hacking over at PlayStation Home surely have the electronics giant hungry for some good press, which has made the newest PR kerfuffle over at the nascent online service quite unfortunate. According to Ars Technica, Home has become something akin to the nightmare futurescape of The Warriors, a service “incredibly unwelcoming to women, with female players quickly mobbed as players dance around them or type sexual come-ons… a disturbing look at the worst part of human nature.” This is heady stuff, but as the company is quick to point out, the things is still in Beta, and it’s still evolving — hopefully, as it becomes more popular the free service will move itself out of the adolescent ghetto. In the mean time, they’ve been rocking a bit of good old fashioned censorship, banning words like “gay,” “Jew,” and “Hell” — perfectly understandishable if you’ve ever spent a minute on any online gaming service, but highly uncool if you’re trying to build any sort of inclusive social network. In the meantime, what’s a homosexual Jewish Satanist to do? There’s always Second Life…

Filed under: Gaming

PlayStation Home full of immature jokers, unlike other virtual communities originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Joseph L. Flatley

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Samsung, Sprint, EV-DO, CDMA

After a brief interlude at CTIA earlier this year, we’ve had another chance to play around with Samsung’s funky little Highnote for Sprint recently, so we wanted to give our quick, stream-of-consciousness thoughts on what this music-focused dual slider is all about. The phone’s claim to fame is its hidden integrated loudspeaker for blasting tunes, which can be exposed by sliding the front downward (a la Nokia N95 and the like). While we found the speaker to be loud and reasonably clear enough for occasional impromptu dance parties, we didn’t think it was any louder than similar handsets that have more traditional mono or stereo loudspeakers integrated into the body of the phone. In other words, the dual slide is a bit of a gimmick here.

Continue reading Hands-on (once more, with feeling) with the Samsung Highnote

Hands-on (once more, with feeling) with the Samsung Highnote originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

We’ve seen some goofy looking PS3 accessories — including Sony’s recent Wireless Keypad for the PS3 — but this one looks like a little bit of crazy mixed with a dab of mediocrity. A product of unknown make, the creatively dubbed “PS3 3-in-1 Wireless keyboard controller remote” certainly looks like it could function in a mind-blowingly awesome fashion — though we haven’t yet gotten our hands on an actual unit yet, so we can’t say for sure. It’s available now for an inviting $28.52.

[Thanks, Craig]

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Wireless keyboard / controller / remote control for PS3 could make your day / week / month originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Laura June

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, RIM

Now this is what what we like to see, a company keeping promises. Sling Media promised that we’d see a public beta release of its SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry on December 30th, and sure enough, we’re seeing a public beta release of its SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry on December 30th. As of now, select BB owners — Pearl 8120, Pearl Flip 8220, Curve 8320, 8820, Curve 8900 and Bold 9000, officially — can point their browsers here in order to get the OTA install going. At least for now, this is the only method of procuring the software (should cut down on support issues, we hear), but it’s not like you can’t handle that. Give it a go and report back, won’t you? Full note is after the break.

Continue reading SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry loosed in public beta form

SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry loosed in public beta form originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Darren Murph