Samsung is paving way for the next generation mobile devices with the introduction o f various mobile chips. The company has rolled out two 1-GHz ARM Cortex A8-based application processors, and announced that these chips are capable of 3-D graphics rendering, high-resolution video support, and real-time Internet access, and both have low power architectures. The S5PC110 is targeted at smaller devices like smartphones, and the S5PV210 is aimed at portable computing devices like netbooks or tablets, reports The Information Week. These processors could eventually find their way into a wide variety of devices, as Samsung chips are found in multiple…

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In a national competition for creativeness in children, junk bots have reigned supreme. Pictured above is a detail from one of [Vu Van Thankg]’s junk bots. Created entirely from parts pulled from the trash, this thing has 11 motors which supposedly allow full arm and hand control. We know you’ll be upset at how little information there is, but the pictures alone show so much. Just look at the rig he put together for this arm. If that isn’t inspiring, we don’t know what is.
[via BoingBoing]

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We were fortunate enough to StumbleUpon the most useless machine ever. Delightful! Eclipsed perhaps by the world’s most useless machine copy. We say that because the doll arm looks more realistic which creeps us out in a very entertaining way. So these machines aren’t useless, they provide entertainment.
We, on the other hand, have had some projects that really fell on their faces. With that in mind, show use your most useless machine. Please leave a comment after the beep.
(beep)

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[Totoro] sent in this cool little email notification device he made. Using a paper model of Wall-E, he added some servos and connected it to his computer using a PIC. Mail-E has independent arm rotation and head rotation. He admits that the PIC processor is major overkill and plans some upgrades such as making it wireless and using a little better suited chip to control it. Not bad for a proof of concept.

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[Guus] screwed together this coffee table which doubles as a scale. No welding was required to put it together - just some bolts, pulleys, miscellaneous fittings, and an original design. The weight is indicated through the (unlabeled) position of the counterweight arm. Currently it is limited to measuring 10kg (22 pounds), but can easily be boosted by adding a heavier counterweight. It looks pretty robust, maintenance-free, and fitting for any living room workshop’s weighing needs. [Guus] is also the proud inventor of the rock radio, and he is working on creating Man-Y-Man: a modular play system allowing children to create up to 1520 unique…

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The Atmega168 at the heart of every Arduino is an eminently capable chip; its ilk have been seen working as a basic web server, playing back digital audio, even generating TV signals. But as projects continue to grow in sophistication, reality rears its ugly head: Arduino can handle any one of these tasks very well, but it often requires squeezing every last instruction cycle or bit of memory in the device. Even the ’368 chip and the Arduino Mega are stopgap measures. Sooner or later, you have to graduate to long trousers—move up to a more capable microcontroller platform—an uncomfortable change usually involving…

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There are many great reasons to refinance. With lower cost, adjustable rate, and 0-down options, traditional loan programs like 30-year or 15-year fixed rate mortgages don’t always allow us to meet our financial goals. Today, even reducing your mortgage interest rate a little can save you big over the life of your home loan. Take a look below at 5 great reasons to refinance.
1. Lower Your Monthly Payment
If you plan to live in your home for a few years, it may make sense to pay a point or two to decrease your interest rate and overall payment. Over…

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Google is releasing a new operating system called Chrome OS and will be available in the second half of 2010. Google has stated that Chrome OS, which is said to combine the Linux kernel with Google’s Chrome browser, will support both x86 and ARM architectures. Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. It is a very small, simple, and extremely fast operating system designed heavily for web surfers. Speaking with CNET News , Bill Gates more or less described Chrome OS as just another Linux distribution, saying that “there’s many,…

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