The experience of cinema is just going to get bigger with the launch of Philips Cinema 21:9. Movies are displayed in the 21:9 aspect ratio — exactly as the director intended — on its 56-inch Full-HD screen. Cinema 21:9 is the world’s first TV to deliver a true cinematic viewing experience in the comfort of the home, informs Mahesh krishnan, vice president, consumer lifestyle, Philips, to Tech Gadgets. Traditional LCD televisions compromise on the cinematic viewing experience either by changing the aspect ratio to fill the screen – losing the full scope of the original shot – or by inserting…
Business
Philips Brings Home Cinema 21:9 Experience
Business
AT&T gives time frame for Friday’s iPhone MMS launch
t’s already known that AT&T is activating MMS for the iPhone on Friday, but the company has now narrowed the time frame to within a few hours.(Credit: Apple)As reported by AppleInsider, AT&T’s official Facebook page said the service will be activated late morning Pacific time Friday. That’s not exactly definitive, but at least no one will need to sit around all morning wondering if it’s on yet.The iPhone’s multimedia messaging service will allow the transmission of photos, contacts, audio files, and locations with the Messages app, according to Apple.In order to get the service, you will need to download a…
Hack
Photographic key duplication
[Ben] and his associates over at the University of California at San Diego came up with a way to duplicate keys using a picture of them. They developed an algorithm that uses measurements from known key blanks to extrapolate the bitting code. Because the software is measuring multiple points it can correct the perspective of the photo when the key is not photographed on a flat surface, but from an angle.
They went so far as to test with cell phone cameras and using a telephoto lens from 195 feet away. In most cases, correct keys were produced within…
Hack
How to make your project an Internet sensation
We’d like to spend some time talking about documenting your project and sharing it with the world. For many, the goal is to become an Internet sensation, hopefully for the right reasons. Taking a bit more time to make certain you do a great job of sharing your information will pay off. Here at hackaday.comwe focus on technological wonders but these guidelines should work well at improving the desirability of anything you might want to share on the interweb.
1. Pictures
Yes, you need to have a picture to go with your project. Even if you did something that…
Hack
Tech leaders enlisted to help the newspaper industry
It is pretty obvious to everyone that the newspaper industry is in a tiny bit of trouble. They have thus far failed to reach the rapidly changing landscape of news, online news at that. They must do something to keep our interests up, or end up flailing on the ground. Microsoft and Google among others have recently entered the picture with solutions to the problem and some fresh eyes from a digital perspective.
Leading edge tech companies enterend the picture with a plea from the Newspaper Association of America on how they can monetize content online through transactions or…
Tech Support
Powerful BI Solutions For Business Mergers
A merger occurred between two North American manufacturing companies. They were able to unite forces to bring unique value to the construction, transportation, materials handling, and agricultural industries in Canada and the United States.
This new multinational company had undergone mergers and acquisitions in the past and had several different IT systems. There were looking for ways to enable access to consolidated information to better serve customers across the globe.
Numerous mergers and acquisitions stimulated an urgent need to reconcile disparate sales and distribution models and to gain a clearer picture of business activity. Its existing systems caused redundant work…
Game
How to build a life-sized electronic game
We’re very impressed with [Steve's] Electronic Snowball Fight game. It consists of two life-sized players standing opposite of each other. Each can throw a snowball or duck, the object is to hit the other person and not get hit yourself. He’s utilized a lot of good building techniques that could be easily adapted to other types of game play.
For the outlines of the players, [Steve] took pictures of himself standing, ducking, and in a throwing motion. Each picture was used to generate an outline which was then stenciled onto some Masonite. He then drilled holes along the outline…
Hack
Windows 7 and Vista crash via SMB exploit
[Laurent Gaffié] has discovered an exploit that effects Windows Vista, Windows 7, and possibly Windows Server 2008 (unconfirmed). This method attacks via the NEGOTIATE PROTOCOL REQUEST which is the first SMB query sent. The vulnerability is present only on Windows versions that include Server Message Block 2.0 and have the protocol enabled. A successful attack requires no local access to the machine and results in a Blue Screen of Death.
[Laurent] has a proof of concept available with her writeup in the form of a python script (please, white hat use only). There is no patch for this vulnerability but…
Hack
Open source digital camera
Those brainy folks over at Stanford are working on an open source digital camera. This is an effort to advance what they call “computational photography”. Basically they’re looking to combine some of the functionality of Photoshop or Gimp right into the camera. One example they discuss is utilizing an algorithm to even out the light levels from one side of the picture to the other. Another trick they’ve already accomplished in the lab is increasing the resolution of full motion video. They take a full resolution photo once every few frames and use the computing power of the camera…
Internet
Options and Add-ons to Enhance Your New Computer
Technology is a big part of today’s world and it is constantly evolving. Just when it seems it can’t get better, a new development is released and somehow out does what we had before. One area where we have seen the most growth is computer technology.
More and more high-end computers are being produced every day. As technology continues to develop, costs come down, and these top-of-the-line computers become more affordable. If you’ve gotten a new computer recently, you’ll have a lot of options available to make the computing experience even better.
One of the more important additions to a…
Hack
Happy birthday internet: 5 history videos
National Geographic has pegged September 2, 2009 as the 40th anniversary of the Internet. They do not cite their source and our source doesn’t make the same claim. But, August 30, 1969 is the date the first Interface Message Processor was delivered to the Arpanet. The IMP is what allowed different computer networks to talk to each other and so it follows that September 2 is probably an acceptable date to celebrate.
To commemorate this glorious day we’re sharing some of our favorite History of the Internet videos. Start with the National Geographic video and then take in the…
Hack
RepRap wedge
Generation 2.0 of RepRap, the self replicating 3d printer, is approaching realization. Code named “Mendel”, the new design will be wedge shaped rather than a box which offers a few benefits. The overall design is smaller than the original RepRap but the printable area is larger. This means more functionality with less building material. With each new generation of this project the assembly gets easier and total parts price drops making the RepRap available to a much wider audience.
The RepRap blog has put forth some design specs, a picture of the assembled prototype, and has links for general…
