FatMatrix

New LG Chocolate Shown on Video, Crazy-Long Design Confirmed [Lg]

John Herrman — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:50:31 +0000

Well, there goes the rest of LG's annoyingly gradual tease campaign: the next generation LG Chocolate BL40, with a 4-inch, 800x344 (21:9!), multitouch screen has been revealed in full in a leaked promotional video.

On top of the display, we can see a few more of the rumored specs confirmed: LG's in-house Active Flash UI, Wi-Fi, 7.2mbps HSDPA, a-gps, and a 5mp camera with flash all make appearances, and we get a healthy look at the phone's software, glimpsing the onscreen keyboard, browser, Google Maps app, card-based contact system, scheduler and email app.

In terms of usability, the ultrawide screen is the obvious wildcard, but the OS will be a equally—if not more—important factor. In combination with the promise of a multitouch glass capacitive touchscreen, the simulated screen images in the video inspire confidence, exhibiting smoothness, thoughful navigation and an eye-and-finger-friendly UI in most places, although without a proper smartphone OS, the Chocolate will still be a dumbphone at heart.

As for when we'll actually find out if this thing has the wherewithal to match up with its ostentatious wackiness, all we get is a vague "coming soon," which according to previous reports, means August—though it's not clear if that's the official unveiling—which is pretty much ruined now—or the date of actual availability. [LG Chocolate via Engadget]

Most Recent Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview Build Leaks Onto the Internet [Microsoft]

Jack Loftus — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:13:29 +0000

Earlier today the Windows 7 RTM build was discovered gallivanting on the Internet. Now, the Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview build has joined it, according to the chaps at Ars Technica. Leaky sieve, much? I kid the 'Soft, honestly. [ars]

Pegasus Open 50 Raceboat Log: Day 6, Power is Back [Sun Powered Fun]

Brian Lam — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:35:26 +0000

July 12, 5:15 AM PST Sailing along fast. Found faulty regulator and alternator. Good start.

July 12, 6:17 AM PST
Update: We expect/hope to be fully recovered by Noon. Then we'll jibe for a lay-line to the tip of Molokai and have our final jibe there. Trying to minimize jibes. Big relief.

July 12, 7:15 AM PST
Engine fix and Katayama-San' lucky sextant returns

July 12, 8:00 AM PST,
MotionX-GPS guiding Pegasus from L.A. to Honolulu

July 12, 8:45 AM PST
Sunrise and Breakfast Burritos

July 12, 10:30 AM PST
Good Morning, Crusty Takes Over for the Day

July 12, 1:00 PM PST
ETA: From what we can tell, with our electrical back, around 9 am PST ( 6 am HST) is a good guess for our finish, just inside 8 days, something like 7 day, 20 hours and something. Sunrise in the Molokai channel.

There is still a lot of sailing to be done. That's a reasonable guess.

July 12, 5:30 PM PST
Sunshades and generator back running, calling the layline to Kalapapa.

July 12, 7:00 PM PST
Molokai channel

Philippe Kahn founded Borland, invented the Camphone, and decodes human motion. He's also a fellow outdoorsman, splitting time skiing Tahoe and sailing in Santa Cruz. He'll share his Transpac 2009 sailing race with us live from the Pegasus Open 50. He and Richard Clarke set the race record for a double handed team in 2008 with a time of 7 days, 15 hours, 17 minutes and 50 seconds, besting all boats in overall time for that year.
[Previous Pegasus Sailing posts on Gizmodo, Pegasus]

They’d Have Been Better Off Stealing Two Cans and a String [Thievery]

Jack Loftus — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0000

What is it with idiots and electronics today? First, some bone-headed German bargain hunters got swindled shopping for discount iPods. And now, down in Mexico, thieves are stealing hollow replica display case cell phones.

Reports HuffPo:

Employees at a Telefonica Movistar cell-phone store in Morelia, Mexico say they arrived Tuesday morning to find that the store had been broken into. An examination of the shop revealed the only items missing were hollow replica phones for display that are completely useless for making calls.

Employees say the clueless thieves overlooked real cell phones and cash in another part of the shop.

Even though the hot goods are nearly worthless, detectives are still on the case, meaning these nimrods could eventually serve some jail time for their hollow plastic haul.

Updated: Reader Evan makes a good point. These empty phones could very well be "drug mules" for border crossings. Here's hoping we're just dealing with some dumb thugs. [Huffington Post - Thanks, Scotland]

iPod Dock stacks on interchangeable gadgets

Ally — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:30:29 +0000

With reading about concept designs, you never know what you’re going to get. Sometimes they’re fairly reasonable and then there are others that are just far fetched and ridiculous. Then there are those you just hope the technology is out there to make it possible, because it would make things far more simple. Which is [...]

‘Power-Line Exploit’ Logs Your Keystrokes Using Outlets, Lasers [Security]

Jack Loftus — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:30:00 +0000

Thinking about plugging your laptop into one of those coveted airplane terminal power outlets while you wait for your flight to arrive? Be careful, because a hacker could be using those energy-giving wires against you.

The technique is a form of keylogging, which is nothing new, but in an interesting twist hackers have figured out a non-traditional way to replicate the process using nothing but the electric signals created with each keystroke. Oh, and even if you aren't plugged into a socket, they they can still log keystrokes remotely using a laser.

Called the "power-line exploit," the two-part technique is outlined in a Network World article ominously headlined "How to use electrical outlets and cheap lasers to steal data," and will be but one of several nefarious data-stealing methods on display at Black Hat USA 2009 in Las Vegas later this month.

Network World explains:

In the power-line exploit, the attacker grabs the keyboard signals that are generated by hitting keys. Because the data wire within the keyboard cable is unshielded, the signals leak into the ground wire in the cable, and from there into the ground wire of the electrical system feeding the computer. Bit streams generated by the keyboards that indicate what keys have been struck create voltage fluctuations in the grounds.

[If the laptop is unplugged], attackers point a cheap laser, slightly better than what is used in laser pointers, at a shiny part of a laptop or even an object on the table with the laptop. A receiver is aligned to capture the reflected light beam and the modulations that are caused by the vibrations resulting from striking the keys.

Which is precisely why I blog and work in a Faraday cage. In my underwear with stains on my shirt, naturally, as Best Buy revealed earlier. [Network World via CrunchGear]

Insect Cyborgs Could Replace Smoke Detectors, Rescue Earthquake Victims [Cyborgs]

Jack Loftus — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:00:00 +0000

The Pentagon is known for its ominous pet projects, but here's one we can honestly say doesn't have us losing any sleep: Cyborg crickets.

No, seriously, cyborg crickets. This is a good thing!

Why? Simple. When a building collapses, say from an earthquake or a terrorist bombing, survivors are often trapped in the rubble. Sometimes they're rescued, and sometimes, due to the nature of being buried alive under tons and even tonnes of rock (something we do lose sleep over), they aren't.

Enter the cyborg crickets. What the Pentagon hopes to do is make these six-legged pests into chemical sniffers and eventually even human sniffers when catastrophe strikes.

They'll do this by implanting electrodes into winged insects to control their wing muscles. The inaugural class of crickets, cicadas and katydids are already being worked on as I type this, so that their usual calls and communication will instead only occur in the presence of certain chemicals.

Additionally, scientists would "install" an acoustic sensor on our new six-legged saviors that's "designed to respond to the altered calls of other insects." Ultimately, this final modification would ensure a cascade effect amongst the insects, so that their signals are eventually picked up by ground-based human-controlled transceivers.

So the next time you're trapped in a collapsed building, don't crush that little guy who's chirping madly into your ear. He may very well be trying to save your life. [New Scientist]

The Philips SpotOn Motion Sensing LED Light

Ally — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:37:32 +0000

Most people have a few different areas that are just dark. Be it a coat closet that lacks a light or an incredibly deep cabinet that stays constantly pitch black, there are just bound to be those areas. Some are willing to grab a flashlight for those times when lighting is needed. However, if your [...]