Hardware posts

Straight outta Asia comes the rumour that the seventh-gen iPod Nano may, in fact, be getting its camera back. Fans of the Nano likely remember a time before Big Steve decided the unit had to better live up to its name by being condensed into an unnecessarily small space. That time bore unto us an iPod that was light on stature, but big on the ability to take pictures – an ability that was heartbreakingly removed from the bite-size current model. However, Apple.pro has leaked a photograph which seems to do little but confirm the existence of an impending camera on the next Nano, which will retain its current…

You’re already watching the video, so let me break it down: this is Rolltop. It’s a laptop that rolls out. Pretty simple. And probably not the first one of these you’ve ever seen – but as the technology actually exists to make this a possibility now, it serves to make something like Rolltop all the more exciting. What makes Rolltop especially rad, though, is that unlike many of these videos that typically represent only forays into wishful thinking by ambitious design students, the Rolltop team is actively vying to reach production. So the real question here is not ‘if’, but ‘when’ – or perhaps even…

Suffice it to say that up to now, AppleTV hasn’t fared too well. The first iteration was crap (compared to the more recent version), and even then, the more recent version, while ironing out some kinks, has largely been pretty middle-of-the-road on its own. So what of Steve’s favourite ‘hobby’ now? According to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, Apple’s not done yet, and have begun work on a smart TV prototype that, as with the iPad to computing, could create quite a stir in the industry. Huberty speculates that such a device could roll “TV/Video content, gaming, DVR, as well as other features…

If there’s one thing the Kinect is good for, it’s facilitating interesting and downright clever hacks. Obviously. If you thought I was going to say ‘gaming’, you’re not a gamer. In any case, check this out. London Hackspace has developed what they’ve dubbed the Evil Genius Simulator – a device which uses a Kinect to monitor the motions of the aspiring genius’ hands. The higher they’re raised (ideally accompanied by maniacal laughter) the more lightning that jumps between two Tesla coils set up behind it all. This is nothing if not a lesson in basdassery. I dunno how comfortable I’d feel turning…

Steve must’ve completely lost it. Not content to leave the z axis uninsulted, it would appear Jobs & Friends are still pursuing ever-slimmer, nigh-paper-thin iDevices, to the point of near lunacy. Check out this new patent, which details the construction of a new headphone jack design which would allow the use of traditional headphones in devices thinner than the adapter itself. Sorcery? Not quite – in all variants of the design, the headphone jack is only partially complete. In one version, a fleible material covers the exposed side of the jack, while in another, two small doors open to…

We’ve all heard of bytes, kilobytes, and megabytes for decades. The last couple of decades has put “gigabytes” into our vocabulary, while “terabytes” are become more commonly used lately. What about a petabyte? Zettabyte? It seems that as our understanding of data and our ability to quantify it grows, so too do the weird names that refer to them. If you ever need to remember a Yottabyte, just think “lots of bytes.” This Infographic by our friends at Focus puts all of the (currently) useless knowledge of super-data-measurements into perspective. We say “currently” because while we may not be able…

Apparently the iPhone 4 was simply too much awesome. The world wasn’t ready. Or maybe, Apple wasn’t. Whatever the case, Taiwan’s Economic Daily News is reporting that Apple’s heading back to aluminum (instead of glass) for the iPhone 5, championing a design that harkens back to the bog-standard iPod Touch. The problem is probably more about the painting and scratching fiascos the iPhone 4′s been experiencing and much less about the world’s level of preparedness, but I for one am sad to see the new iPhone design go so soon (if the rumour is first to be trusted at all). The iPhone 4 was following a rather…

One of the biggest debates raging right now in the IT world is about the cloud. While many who embrace it do so vehemently, the opposition is equally passionate against it. IT professionals have been divided over the years as to which way to go with companies large and small, but recently the opinions have shifted in favor of the cloud. At least for now. Every issue will be put under a microscope. Every time there is a cloud-based server problem, particularly one that makes headlines, it draws back those who are on the fence ready to jump but hesitant over the results. Is it really worth the risk? Is there…

It’s pretty safe to say at this point that the white iPhone 4 will never see the light of day (the fact that the light of day is, in fact, the reason it hasn’t been released yet notwithstanding) Everyone who really wanted an iPhone 4 – even the stragglers clinging to hope of a white model – already has one. The white iPhone is a dead horse, and no one’s getting a ride. How would you like to relive the tale of the white Apple product all over again? You wouldn’t? Well, you’re SOL, because here it comes! Courtesy of 9to5 Mac comes this photograph of an alleged white iPad 2 front – meaning, of course, that come April,…

Feels like only yesterday we were all rooting for Motorola’s Xoom to deal some damage to (or at least share some of the market with) the iPad. The Xoom looked – and, to be honest, still looks – like a decent piece of hardware. I, for one, would still be proud to sport it about the town in a man-purse, whipping it out at a fancy coffee bar while I slurp down a beverage with a sentence-long name. Of course, once it was revealed that the Xoom would in fact cost more than the most comparable iPad model, people began singing a different tune. 800 bucks is not worth a tablet of the Xoom’s capabilities. Or, in this case,…