Month: February 2012

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From Ars Technica: Linux computer the size of a thumb drive now available for preorder


FXI is preparing to launch the Cotton Candy, a tiny computer that looks like a USB thumb drive. The device, which can run either Ubuntu or Android 4.0, has a dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a Mali 400MP GPU that allows it to decode high-definition video.

It has a USB plug on one side, which is used to power the system, and an HDMI plug on the other side, which allows it to be plugged into a display. It also has built-in WiFi and Bluetooth radios for connectivity and supporting input devices. The system can boot standalone and operate as a complete computer when plugged into a display. It’s also possible to plug the Cotton Candy into a conventional computer and boot from it like you would from a regular USB mass storage device.

FXI announced today that the Cotton Candy is available for preorder. The standard retail price is $199 plus tax and shipping. The product is expected to ship in March. The small form factor and relatively high specs make the product seem like a compelling choice for enthusiasts who are looking for an ultra-compact Linux system.

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from Ars Technica

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From Ars Technica: How RPG fans convinced Nintendo to release two Japanese titles in the US


When Nintendo announced last year that it would not be bringing cult classic Japanese RPG Xenoblade Chronicles to North America, it was no surprise that the decision drew heavy Internet protest from a subgroup of dedicated gamers. After all, groups of gamers are constantly banding together online to demand everything from LAN support in Starcraft II to a Full House game (don’t lose hope, Danny Tanner super-fans!)

But Operation Rainfall, as the Xenoblade protest group came to be known, differed from other grassroots gamer protests in one important way: it worked. Not only has Nintendo given Xenoblade Chronicles a North American release date of April 2, but the company announced last week that The Last Story, another Japanese RPG the group has been pushing to see release in North America, will come across the ocean this summer through publisher XSEED games.

The success of Operation Rainfall shows that a small group of niche gamers can occasionally effect change from a big-name game publisher, as long as they’re willing to keep up the pressure and do a bit of out-of-the-box promotion.

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from Ars Technica

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From Wired Top Stories: Microsoft Kinect Games Grocery Shopping at Texas Whole Foods

The Board of Awesomeness is now lugging groceries at a Whole Foods in Texas. Last month, Chaotic Moon Labs’ Board of Awesomeness was one of the stars of CES in Las Vegas. It’s a motorized skateboard tricked out with a Samsung tablet and Microsoft’s Kinect so that it can be steered by hand gestures and voice commands. But it turns out that the Moon Lab had more on its mind than just skateboarding.

from Wired Top Stories

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From Wired Top Stories: Video: First Nanorockets Might Shuttle Drugs, Robo-Surgeons

In the movie Fantastic Voyage, a crack surgical team is miniaturized inside a ship. Their mission: to destroy a blood clot in the brain of a Soviet-era informant. Given the relatively vast distances covered inside the body, however, movie makers probably should have equipped vessel with rocket motors instead of propellers — and engineers have now designed nanorockets that would’ve fit the bill.

from Wired Top Stories

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From The UberReview: WaterBob Turns Your Bathtub into an Emergency Drinking Water Reservoir


This is the WaterBob, a single-use water reservoir that you can stick in your bathtub and fill with 100 gallons of water – and that can keep it fresh for up to four weeks. If you live in a disaster-prone area it could be useful, but there are a few things that one should consider before blowing $30 on a 100-gallon FDA approved plastic water-bag.

Let’s say an earthquake hits, a big earthquake – what happens? Assuming your house is still standing, you probably have no power, and your water company is probably in the same situation, so you have no water. Basically, unless you are prepared to live without a bathtub and want to spend $30 a month on water reservoirs for your bathtub so that you can have it filled up before the earthquake hits… you are going to be out of luck. So for earthquakes it probably isn’t much good.

For hurricane/cyclone prone areas it might be better. Let’s say you see on the news that a Katrina-sized storm front is heading your way. You would have enough forewarning to get it filled up. Assuming that all hell broke loose and your house was on high enough ground that it didn’t need to be evacuated, 100 gallons of clean water could be a life saver.

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Price: $30 [Book of Joe]

from The UberReview

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From Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now: Nokia Announces 41-Megapixel Smartphone, Depleting the World’s Supply of Megapixels

Nokia 808 PureView Nokia

Mobile World Congress, Europe’s biggest mobile tech conference, was the site of Nokia’s ruthless mining of the world’s natural megapixel reserves. The Finnish company (who’s lately started making phones we really like) announced the 808, a smartphone with a 41-megapixel camera, along with a sensor and flash big enough to feel at home in a point-and-shoot. According to our photog brothers at Popular Photography, that’ll give the phone better digital zoom capabilities and hopefully better image quality–Nokia has a new system to take all those pixels and turn them into nicer, smaller pictures. (Oddly, the phone will use, of all things, the very dead and very awful Symbian OS.) Read more over at Pop Photo.

from Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now