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Posts Tagged ‘Cables’

Educational institutions: Get your discounted iPad 10-pack

Filed under: iPad

MacRumors reports that Apple has begun offering iPad 10-packs to educational institutions at discounted rates. The discounts are relatively minor: $20 off of each iPad in a set of 10, or $40 off per iPad if they are ordered with AppleCare. The iPad 10-packs are shipped in a single box, which eliminates individual packaging. In addition to the ten iPads, the packs contain ten power adapters, ten USB-to-Dock cables, and one set of documentation. Currently, only the WiFi models are available in the educational 10-packs. Like the iPhone, there are no iPad educational discounts currently available to students or teachers.

Many believe that the iPad can revolutionize the tools for education. This educational 10-pack could be an early sign that Apple will aggressively pursue the iPad as an educational tool.

The iPad 10-packs begin shipping in April.

TUAWEducational institutions: Get your discounted iPad 10-pack originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pixel Qi DIY kits will be out in Q2, ’slightly more difficult than changing a lightbulb’
We’re going to assume that Mary Lou’s bravado-filled “It’s only slightly more difficult than changing a lightbulb” is in reference to working with OLPC. In fact, in Mary Lou Jepsen’s most recent Pixel Qi blog post she makes quick reference of the fact that there will be DIY kits for replacing your own laptop screen (most likely a 10-inch module) with the sunlight-friendly, switchable magic of Pixel Qi, but she spends the rest of the post talking about how in Nigeria some schoolgirls started up a laptop hospital where they’d repair their XOs by swapping out parts or reseating cables. We doubt most of our laptops will be so resilient when it comes to ripping off the bezel and swapping in the Pixel Qi part, but we’re dying to void our warranty and find out.

Pixel Qi DIY kits will be out in Q2, ’slightly more difficult than changing a lightbulb’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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USB power outlet, iPhone Universal Remote impress at Macworld

SAN FRANCISCO—Most of our readers can identify with the problem of having too many devices that charge over USB and not enough USB outlets in the house. Or, a more common scenario might be traveling with your iPhone, Kindle, and perhaps soon an iPad, and then realizing that you brought the cables, but not the mini power brick. These are both scenarios that Fastmac hopes to address with its recently announced U-Socket that it displayed at the 2010 Macworld Expo, which the company hopes will eventually become ubiquitous at hotels, conference centers, and even your own home.

The U-Socket differs from homemade USB wall sockets (one of which you can find at Instructables) because it’s the only such product that exists on the market that meets electrical safety specs. With what Fastmac’s Michael Lowdermilk describes as “easy wiring,” installing such a wall outlet is allegedly a simple task (Lowdermilk said he set up the company’s booth sample all on his own). And, not only does it have your standard three-prong power plugs, it has two powered USB outlets on the sides, making it more useful than many of the DIY solutions out there.

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Kanex shows off HDMI to Mini DisplayPort adapter, your iMac celebrates

It ain’t the first HDMI-to-Mini DisplayPort adapter that we’ve heard of, but there’s nothing like a little competition in a market that Apple’s own closed mindset helped create. Bitterness aside, we’re pretty stoked to hear that Kanex — the same company responsible for that oh-so-handy Mini DisplayPort Adapter for Mac mini — has introduced its own solution for piping Blu-ray, Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 signals right onto that gorgeous 27-inch panel that resides in your iMac. Our BFFs over at TUAW stopped by the outfit’s Macworld booth in order to give it a look, and they said that every pixel looked absolutely fantastic. Sadly, it looks as if you’ll have to wait until April to drop your buck-fifty (not including cables), but hey, it’s not like using that 13-inch CRT for a few more months will kill you. Or maybe it will, on second thought.

Kanex shows off HDMI to Mini DisplayPort adapter, your iMac celebrates originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Droid gets a USB hack allowing it to control printers and cameras, humans put on alert
Time to resurrect that old Droid Does chant, folks. Already headed for Android 2.1 from official sources, the Droid is gettings some extra software capabilities courtesy of a few benevolent UK hackers as well. Chris Paget has revealed a mod for Motorola’s flagship that turns it from a USB peripheral into a USB host, thereby letting it communicate with and control USB devices that speak the Linux language. That includes printers, webcams, and the vast majority of other things you typically jack into your computer. Mind you, this is one hack that’ll require you to get your hands dirty, as you’ll need to splice a few cables together and reboot your phone to switch between modes, but that’s how real modders do it anyway, right?

Droid gets a USB hack allowing it to control printers and cameras, humans put on alert originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Displax plastic film can turn any surface into a touchscreen

Displax is revealing a new plastic film with multitouch sensing. It can be placed over any display or even non-display surfaces, making them into interactive devices.

Portugal-based Displax calls this a “multitouch skin” which can be thinner than paper. The company has been working on it for the past decade and plans to launch commercial products in July.

If it works as billed, it could become an easy way to retrofit passive surfaces — glass, plastic or wood — so that they become interactive. All it takes is glue the plastic onto the surface — flat or curved — and then use the inputs from touch sensing to control functions on a computer attached to the screen. The surfaces range from 7 inches to nine feet, diagonally. The plastic film is about 100 microns, or the width of a human hair.

It works like this. Displax places a grid of nanowires that can detect the presence of up to 16 fingers (on a 50-inch screen) at any given time (that number will go up over time). When you press your finger on the grid, which is embedded in plastic, the wires send a signal showing the exact location of your finger to a controller, which can then pass the data to a computer. The plastic film can be applied to a liquid crystal display, even after the display is built. Currently, capacitive multitouch sensors have to be built into the TV’s glass during the manufacturing process. The screens can even detect if someone blows on a surface.

The uses for the multitouch skins could be myriad. You can put one over a flat-panel display in a museum to turn it into a multitouch kiosk. And since it can detect up to 16 fingers, more than one person can interact with the screen at any given time. The controller works with standard universal serial bus cables and ports.

“This opens up new possibilities for applications of multitouch technology,” said Miguel Fonseca, chief business
officer of Displax, in an interview.

Among the ideas are museum kiosks, multitouch flat-panel TVs, multitouch tables, and even interactive glass windows for storefronts. You could wrap it around a globe and then point at certain countries to trigger a video or audio explanation of the region. There are also expected applications in gaming. Fonseca said there are a number of pilot projects using the technology in Europe. Industries that could use it include telecom, retail, real estate, broadcast, pharmaceutics, finance and games.

The company works with partners who can make applications that take advantage of the technology. It provides the software drivers that make the hardware work with Windows, Linux and Mac OS computers. Displax will include several business applications with its products at no cost. Those apps will let customers display photos and video, access Google Maps and social networks, and play games.

The project started as a research idea in 2000. The company started to work on a business plan in 2004 and has been working on its current products since 2004 as a division of the EDIGMA Group. The company has 52 employees.

Partners on pilot projects include Accenture and IBM. Pricing hasn’t been set yet. Investors include InovCapital, the Society of Risk Capital of reference of the Portuguese Ministry of Economy and Innovation. The company hasn’t disclosed how much money it has raised. Rivals include Microsoft and 3M.

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Review: Monoprice’s iPhone leather-cased battery backup is another great deal

Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, Reviews, iPhone, iPod touch

What you get is a plastic case housing the battery that your iPhone 3G or 3GS snaps into. iPod touch users need not apply, since when plugging your device into the case, you’ll be covering your speaker jack, making the product worthless to you. Connected to the top of the case is a leather cover that you flip to protect your screen. On the left side is an input for the usual 30 pin dock cable to charge the unit. On the front is one light and a toggle switch marked on and off. As is usual with Monoprice, there are no instructions.

You really don’t need instructions since it’s pretty obvious how it works. Slide your iPhone onto the case’s 30 pin dock connector and the fit is nice and snug. Plug in a standard iPhone/iPod cable into the side and the light turns red until fully charged when the light turns green. The on and off switch activates or de-activates the battery backup. I can’t come up with a good reason to ever turn it off. The leather flip cover not only protects the screen, but also acts as a stand, when folded back a bit, holding the iPhone upright in either landscape or portrait mode. So much for those little flexible plastic holders. Another nice feature is that if you leave the switch set to on, you can charge both the battery backup and your iPhone at the same time using a standard 30 pin iPhone/iPod cable.

Its closest competor is the Mophie Juice Pack which has a smaller 1800 mAh battery, needs a mini-USB cable to charge, has no screen protection and costs $US 99.95. In its favor though, the Mophie comes in four colors while Monoprice ships only basic black.

The downside of the Monoprice case: It adds a good deal of heft to the svelte iPhone. Batteries aren’t light. The upside is that it’s US $79 cheaper than the Mophie with a larger battery, screen protection, and you don’t need to find that missing mini-USB cable. You’ll also save another few bucks by not having to buy a stand. As with anything else I’ve bought from Monoprice, I recommend it highly.

TUAWReview: Monoprice’s iPhone leather-cased battery backup is another great deal originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask Engadget: Best TSA-approved laptop bag?

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Addison, who now needs a shiny new laptop bag to house that shiny new laptop that arrived for Christmas. The kicker? TSA approval is passionately desired.

“I was lucky enough to receive a new Laptop (ASUS UL80Vt-A1) this Christmahanukwanzaakah. Hurray! The only problem is, my old LL Bean Messenger bag just isn’t going to cut it anymore now that I’ll be carrying around my precious laptop along with school books and a whole gaggle of cables. Perhaps your readers could suggest to me a replacement? I would prefer a messenger / shoulder style bag, but if there is an especially cool backpack out there, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it. TSA compliance would be an added bonus since I have to fly quite a bit nowadays. What do you think, could you and the hive-mind give me a hand?”

Air travel just gets worse and worse these days, so we’re emphasizing that “TSA-approved” bit for Addison’s own good. We know the bulk of ‘em ain’t that pretty, but for the jetsetters out there who have had a chance to weed through and pick the best, we’re hoping they’ll share their secrets down below.

Ask Engadget: Best TSA-approved laptop bag? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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