Posted on 31 July 2009 by
Ariel Waldman contributes Movie Gadget Friday, where she highlights the lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema.
On our last episode of Movie Gadget Friday, we rode around the robotics-dependent world of Runaway. Traversing from robots-gone-wrong to “wire-tripping”-technology-junkies, this week jacks-in to the cyberpunk streets of LA in Strange Days. While lacking in computer gadgetry, there is no shortage of leather pants, grunge metal, huge cell phones and random rioting in this 1995 film. Keeping true to the times, we can’t get over how even the murderer commits crimes while managing to sport a fanny pack.
SQUID Receptor Rig
Short for Super-conducting Quantum Interference Device, the SQUID receptor rig consists of a two-part system: a lightweight, flexible mesh of electrodes and a recorder. The technology had originally been developed for the feds to replace body wires, but has since leaked onto the black market. The SQUID acts as a magnetic field measurement tool on a micro level. By placing the electrodes over your head and activating the recorder, your first-person audio-visual-sensory experience is recorded wirelessly, direct from the cerebral cortex onto a TDK 60-minute MiniDisc. The rig can also be hacked using a signal splitter and simstim attachment – allowing someone else to experience your experience in real-time. Optional accessories for the rig include a fanny pack for closely storing the recorder and various wigs for concealing your otherwise obvious surveillance of others.
Unfortunately, there appears to be no way to directly upload these recordings to the net, leaving room for inefficient, in-person, illegal “playback” dealings of MiniDiscs similar to buying and selling drugs. From sex to committing crimes, clients to the self-proclaimed “switchboard of souls” dealers are able to jack-in to a variety of illicit activities without leaving their home. More after the break.
Continue reading Movie Gadget Friday: Strange Days
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Movie Gadget Friday: Strange Days originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Ariel Waldman
Posted on 31 July 2009 by
While we wait for all the carriers to get on board with nixing their endless, unhelpful voicemail pre-beep messages, we’ve already got instructions from Sprint on how to disable it for your own particular voicemail box on that network.
It’s pretty easy:
- Call your voicemail
- At the menu, press 3 for personal options
- Press 2 for greeting
- Press 1 to change the greeting
- To enable / disable the instructions, press 3
Trust us, we did some serious searching for similar instructions on the other major carriers, but had no luck. If you know of anything, let us know!
Update: Thanks to some helpful comments we’ve got instructions for AT&T and Verizon for lopping off bits of the message, and, in Verizon’s case, speeding up the talking. Check ‘em out after the break. Consider yourselves upgraded to orange, guys!
Continue reading Take Back the Beep: how to disable voicemail instructions on Sprint (updated!)
Filed under: Cellphones
Take Back the Beep: how to disable voicemail instructions on Sprint (updated!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Paul Miller
Posted on 31 July 2009 by
Filed under: Handsets, LG, GSM
Style is commonly considered a luxury; form follows function, as they say. The commoditization of phones over the past fifteen years has done weird things to economics, though, which leads directly to phones like LG’s KG376. You won’t find a single item on the flip’s spec sheet that even begins to interest you (unless you’re really, really into 128 x 128 displays), but it seems that LG intends to market the phone directly at women with an eye for style on account of its purple case with pink accents. It’s got an integrated FM radio and an external light (where you’d normally expect a secondary display to be) that’ll go all blinky on you to indicate messages and the like, but don’t get too excited — it seems pricing and availability are still on the downlow.
LG KG376′s most fascinating feature is its color originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Chris Ziegler
Posted on 31 July 2009 by
Filed under: Handsets, Nokia
Over the years we’ve found that usually, when a company takes a model number and slaps an extra letter on the end of it, there’s some sort of feature or update they’re highlighting. iPhone 3GS? That one’s easy: “speed.” But if we’re reading this FCC business correctly, Nokia’s new 5800i
XpressMusic handset apparently differs little from its older sibling — save for the fact that they’ve removed that pesky WiFi antenna from the thing. Because, really, what would you do with all that connectivity, anyways? Not too much more info here, but if you’re morbidly curious, please feel free to check out the gallery below. It’s a blast.
[Via Unwired View]
Nokia 5800i XpressMusic hits the FCC: it’s like the 5800, only less so originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Joseph L. Flatley
Posted on 31 July 2009 by
Filed under: Handsets, Others, KDDI, EV-DO, CDMA
If you’re more concerned about your ability to record stunning high-definition video on the road than you are about your ability to comfortably and conveniently say the name of your phone, look no further than the latest model in Hitachi’s Wooo series over in Japan. Announced earlier in the year, the Mobile Hi-Vision Cam Wooo stands starkly as one of the longest, most unfortunate model names in phone history, but we suspect that the presence of 30fps 720p recording will quickly allay any disappointment you may have with branding. Anyhow, it’s finally available now on KDDI au, the country’s big CDMA provider — so go on, show us what sort of Oscar-caliber stuff you can cook up.
Hitachi’s 720p Mobile Hi-Vision Cam Wooo now shipping in Japan originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Chris Ziegler
Posted on 31 July 2009 by
While we wait for all the carriers to get on board with nixing their endless, unhelpful voicemail pre-beep messages, we’ve already got instructions from Sprint on how to disable it for your own particular voicemail box on that network.
It’s pretty easy:
- Call your voicemail.
- At the menu, press 3 for personal options.
- Press 2 for greeting.
- Press 1 to change the greeting.
- To enable / disable the instructions, press 3.
Trust us, we did some serious searching for similar instructions on the other major carriers, but had no luck. If you know of anything, let us know!
Filed under: Cellphones
Take Back the Beep: how to disable voicemail instructions on Sprint originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Paul Miller
Posted on 31 July 2009 by
Filed under: Handsets, Apple, iPhone OS
Looks like Apple pulled the trigger on patching that nasty iPhone SMS vulnerability a little earlier than we expected — the iPhone OS 3.0.1 update just hit iTunes. It’s not some lightweight, either: you’re looking at 280MB of love here, so get downloading, friends.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
iPhone OS 3.0.1 update released, fixes SMS vulnerability originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Nilay Patel
Posted on 31 July 2009 by
Looks like Apple pulled the trigger on patching that nasty iPhone SMS vulnerability a little earlier than we expected — the iPhone OS 3.0.1 update just hit iTunes. It’s not some lightweight, either: you’re looking at 280MB of love here, so get downloading, friends.
Update: Here’s what Apple rep Tom Neumayr had to say about this little episode.
We appreciate the information provided to us about SMS vulnerabilities which affect several mobile phone platforms. This morning, less than 24 hours after a demonstration of this exploit, we’ve issued a free software update that eliminates the vulnerability from the iPhone. Contrary to what’s been reported, no one has been able to take control of the iPhone to gain access to personal information using this exploit.
Well… what do you know about that?
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Filed under: Cellphones
iPhone OS 3.0.1 update released, fixes SMS vulnerability (updated with statement from Apple) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Nilay Patel
