The CandyFab 6000 is an updated version of the larger 4000 model and can make 3D objects out of sugar. It uses Arduino boards to control the fabricating arms and fits on a desktop. → Read More
We here at Crunch may use the Internet for fun little things, like Twitter or Spotify (I’ve tried the U.S. version—it’s pretty great), but it’s only a matter of time till the Internet becomes just another place where governments can fight each other. Cyberwar, etc.! → Read More
Truth be told, I’d be more inclined to buy one of those old people cellphones than something like this (or the iPhone for that matter!) The ITG xpPhone, which will debut at Computex, is, yes, a cellphone that, yes, runs Windows XP. Yes. As a Mac user, the only reason I’d boot into Windows XP is to fire up uTorrent, or play Team Fortress 2, neither of which I see running too well on the phone. → Read More
Dear readers: This is a robotic bar chart made out of Legos. It was made for the Maker Faire. It shows dynamic bar graphs. You may now return to your cages. via BBG → Read More
If you’re a stickler for clean floors (note: I am not) but you can’t afford a live-in maid to clean them every day (note: I can not) and you’re not afraid of robots (note: I am, deathly) then perhaps you need a Roomba. → Read More
Bad news for DirecTV subs. If you have been waiting, and waiting to upgade your old TiVo Series 2-ish DirecTV DVR, you are going to have to wait a bit longer. It was reveled in the quarterly earnings call that the DVR isn’t going to be available this year, rather sometime in 2010. → Read More
Almost immediately after we opened our tips line, someone whispered to us that France Telecom was prepping the HTC Hero for launch on Orange UK and Orange France sometime in the last week of June. This was the first time this source had contacted us, so we were a bit wary; we dug a bunch, couldn’t find any leads, so we held off on posting it. Now, a second, entirely unrelated source has come forward saying that they’ve heard the same thing: Last week of June, Orange UK/France. It’s by no means absolute proof, but it seems a bit too coincidental to be a complete sham. With the HTC Hero already making its way into promo videos, a release roughly one month from now doesn’t seem too deep in the crazy zone. Assign this rumor whatever grain of salt keeps you comfortable – we’ll keep our eyes pealed. → Read More
Whether it was an intentional leak or someone just missed the “Private” button, we’re not sure – but for just a few hours today, a promo video for the as-of-yet unannounced HTC Hero found its way online. It was taken down pretty quick, but not before the guys over at AndroidCommunity managed to snatch it up for reposting. It doesn’t show much we haven’t seen already (Rosie UI, interface changes, and that the Hero has one hell of a chin on it), but it does give us a glimpse at the color schemes that we might be seeing later: Neon Yellow, Red, Orange, Pink, White, Turquoise, and good ol’ Black. Video after the jump. → Read More
Wow, it seems that someone over at PCWorld.com couldn’t keep their mouth shut and announced the Alienware M17x a bit early. No matter, the most important thing is that you see what this baby has under the hood. It’s damn impressive and certainly allpowerful. → Read More
Imagini has launched the private beta version of its VisualDNA Shops widget to help monetise blogs and websites through a unique take on affiliate sales. The widget adds personalised product recommendations to any site, and immediately starts generating detailed demographic, psychographic and behavioural analytics of its visitors.
It does this using the company’s VisualDNA concept; working out people’s personality types based on the pictures they choose. Imagini draws the data from its consumer facing personality test site, Youniverse, which has profiled more than 15 million people since 2006. VisualDNA Shop presents visitors with a few visual questions, and delivers real-time product recommendations from Amazon.com based on their responses. Imagini secured $13.5m in funding in February this year, a chunk of which no doubt went on getting actor Stephen Fry to explain the VisualDNA concept in the video after the jump. → Read More
You’ve played other faux music games. You’ve seen the DJ controller. Now it’s time to see the E3 trailer of DJ Hero which proves one is the loneliest number. → Read More
The majority of those awesome Japanese cell phones I keep blogging about unfortunately never leaves this country (at least in legal ways). But this may soon change, as Japan gets older (which results in a rapidly shrinking customer base) and is severely hit by the recession. Especially Sharp seems to now be bullish about bringing some of their cell phones to America and other areas. → Read More
Sure, your grandparents never seemed like the most tech-savvy people on the block, but a recent release by The Seniors Coalition aim to change that. According to them, not only do old folks know their stuff, they want to change things for the better. → Read More
Mochi Media, a well-financed San Francisco startup that operates a decentralized network of Flash-based online games and gaming websites and offers developers a way to distribute, monetize and get statistical information about their games, sure has done a good job growing its network to a significant size since it debuted its public beta product back in October 2007.
Sometime next week, the company is going to announce that in its first month of inclusion in comScore’s measurement system, it has taken the lead over one-stop shop gaming destinations in traffic by a margin. Combined with the company’s claim that the so-called ‘extended network’ is growing its delivered impressions by 5 to 10% month-over-month, Mochi Media should be attracting over 100 million visitors on a monthly basis right about now. → Read More
NEC has developed a shape-memory plastic that can be formed at room temperature . The plastic can be heated and cooled, remaining pliant for for several minutes during which it can be processed.
The usual problem with shape-memory plastics is differences in temperature. Shape-memory plastics that needs to be hardened at high temperatures may burn users, while those that need be kept at low temperatures lose their shape when exposed to heat. → Read More
Twitter‘s near real-time search capabilities and the ability for them and third parties to mine the collective data from user messages for indicators of what’s buzzing online is the intrinsic core value of the company now that it has grown to the size it is at the moment.
We already know Twitter can be quite the source for breaking news, but critics have in the past correctly pointed out that one should be aware of the fact that the mob isn’t always right, and unverified claims on the micro-sharing service – often from a single user or even a single message – can quickly lead to false or incomplete stories circulating rapidly and viciously until the dust settles and the truth surfaces. And even then, it’s often too late as most people will have probably moved on unless it was a topic they have a continued interest in. Case in point: the Prop8 debacle. → Read More
High profile advertising network Federated Media’s Chief Revenue Officer Chas Edwards has resigned, we’ve confirmed, and will shortly be taking a job at Digg with the same title. Thomas Shin, who Digg stole from Yahoo earlier this year, will report to Edwards.
Mike Maser, currently Digg’s Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer, will change his title to Chief Strategy Officer. He controls Digg’s marketing, business development, corporate development and community management groups. → Read More
It seems like all the attention these days is focused on smartphones. The reality is, not everyone who needs and uses a cellphone wants a pocket-computer and/or to pay for the hefty data services required to take advantage of said smarties. With that in mind, it’s nice to see that Samsung is still working on improving its more standard fair / “dumb” phones, if you will. The recently released Alias2 is a primary example of Big Sam’s innovation-meets-pedestrian-handset tactics. Like its older sibling, the Alias2 sports a dual-hinge allowing the phone to flip open like a traditional clam-shell, as well as in landscape orientation. But unlike like its blood-brother, the most intriguing (not to mention, innovative) feature of this second-gen, messaging-centric flip phone is the inclusion of Samsung’s “Magic Key” e-ink (think Kindle-tech) back-lit keypad. → Read More
