OH YEAH- BRING ON THE G1 - the google phone

No More Speculation - This is the G1 from T-Mobile

Thanks Androidguys: Written by AndroidGuys • Aug 26th, 2008 •

AND: click here for a list of the 50 apps that won the developer challenge

AND: click here for one cool as hell one that didn't - ENKIN

Update: Since we published this article, we’ve received some specs from a few people/places. Click here to see a compiled list of the inner beauty.

It’s time to put this rumor to bed once and for all. We’ve seen a handful of mockups online these last few weeks guessing as to what the first Android handset is going to look like. We even saw a video that divided many fanboys, including us AndroidGuys. Well, thanks to a trusted source claiming to be close to one of the three parties involved, we’re here to show you officially what the G1 is going to look like and it’s very similar to what you guys have been seeing lately. There are only a couple of things to this design that we didn’t see coming.

Click here for higher resolution image. One noticeable difference is the slight tilt to the bottom of the handset where the trackball is located. Although it’s a small change, it’s worth noting. We love the 5 row QWERTY keyboard with the spaced out buttons, reminiscent of recent Sidekick devices. We’re curious to see what that “menu” button is for as well. Obviously, we think we know what it’s for, but with this thing

Check out the back of the device where it shows “With Google” on it. It tells us that T-Mobile and HTC are using the brand recognition to help sell the handset. It’s also nice to see HTC’s name on the back as this will put them on the map in a major way. They deserve to see a little love for all the other handsets they’ve been pumping out over the years.

The more we see this thing, the more it’s growing on us. A black version of this handset will look very sharp, with brown and white iterations likely pulling in some fans too.

Digital graffiti with Wii

And once again... cheers psfk

We’ve previously written about Daim’s 3-D graffiti, now a couple of Media Art and Design students are working on a Wii-Controller turned Spraycan. Wiispray is a prototype, currently under heavy development as part of a final-thesis design work by Martin Lihs at Bauhaus-University in Weimar, Germany.

Wiispray aims to give sprayers all the tools of a real-life spraycan with a digital extension. This neat gadget could open the concept of a digital spraycan to a wide audience. The virtual spraycan simulates real spraying characteristics and comes with a range of different caps and of course paints. Collaborative spraying on a virtual wall is planned as well.

Wiispray

Turn anything into a video game controller!

Cheers psfk... we love you!

Camspace is a sophisticated piece of software that uses a webcam to track any colorful object and use it as a video game controller. Your hands, a ball, an old sock - whatever. In seconds, Camspace registers and calibrates the object which then can accurately interact with action on the screen. Amazing to watch - video below.

Give real gifts on facebook

Contagious 25/02/2008 00:00:00

Obviously a stunning idea, but the problem with this in a market like Australia is the gaping break in the chain between mobile and POS. In store scanners that can read mobile vouchers are the holy grail here, but until they come along there are many ways to overcome the gap. We just need to convince our clients of the immense value in linking the most ubiquitous device directly with the till...

What do a blank piece of paper, a cow bell, a rock and a slightly crumpled jock-strap have in common? Answer - they are all examples of gifts which can be bought and exchanged on Facebook. Now in fear of sounding cynical, we can think of a few better ways to spend $1, or 50p than on a virtual lump of granite - unless of course it was to throw at the individual who thought of it in the first place. However, what does 50p buy you in the real world? A newspaper? A pint of milk? How about a Mars Bar? Now you're talking... Cue The Light Agency and their multi-award winning M BAR GO platform...

Mars Snackfood UK has become one of the first marketers to utilise the new 'Celebrate' application, which allows Facebook users to exchange real-world gifts as they would any other virtual pressie. The process is simple - the user selects their choice from a variety of popular Mars snacks, pays for it using their PayPal account and then the recipient is sent a voucher ID code via SMS, which can be scanned in a shop in exchange for the chocolate bar. The platform binds together mobile phone technology, retail terminals (EPoS systems) and a campaign database managed by The Light Agency, which facilitates the redeeming of these mobile offers.

http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=7774284449&ref=s

Lynette Cowen, Client Services Director for The Light Agency, told Contagious: 'With more than 50 percent of Facebook users returning to the site each day, it gives us and Mars an unprecedented reach and opportunity to build a business highly relevant to people’s lives

'Our technology is currently deployed in the PayPoint branded network which consists of over 12,500 retailers with PayPoint terminals located in their shops (including SPAR, NISA-Today’s, Texaco and thousands of independents) in all parts of the UK.Therefore, we wanted to focus on products which can be purchased within these kind of retailers, that fit with the gifting theme - that is why the synergy with Mars is perfect.Their products are leading brands; ubiquitous within the shops and perfect for gifting on Facebook.'

M BAR GO has already scooped a number of industry accolades and awards including the Real Business/O2 50 to Watch in Mobile 2007 and the Most Innovative Digital Business (Revolution Awards 2006). Will it catch on with consumers and the die-hard social networking devotees though? The Celebrate application is now live on Facebook, so the proof will indeed be in the pudding, or Mars Bar - as it would seem.

Open source hardware

I keep hearing more and more buzz about open-source hardware. One of the most ambitious open-source hardware startups is Bug Labs. The company is creating a Lego-like hardware platform that tinkerers and engineers can use to create their own digital devices. I visited their offices in New York earlier this week and played around with a prototype. It starts with a BUGBase, which is a general-purpose Linux computer about the size of a PlayStation Portable, encased in white plastic. This has four connectors that plug right into the motherboard. The company will also make a variety of modules that can plug into the computer—like an LCD screen, a digital camera, a GPS unit, a motion sensor, a keyboard, an EVDO modem, and a 3G GSM modem. (There are also places to add USB, Ethernet, WiFi, and serial ports). Bug Labs is planning on making 80 modules over time, and hopes outside companies and developers will create their own.

CEO Peter Semmelhack hopes to make possible the “long tail of gadgets.” With Bug Labs, the idea is that an engineer or entrepreneur can now create a digital device customized to their exact needs even if the market for that device is only 10 people, or only one. This could be great for making prototypes on the cheap—no need to tool up a factory or find one in China that wants a couple million dollars to do your first production run. Soon, designers will be able to just order a Bug Labs kit with the modules they need and write the software to tell the device what to do. This product is aimed squarely at engineers. But making a gadget will become a lot easier—maybe as easy as creating a Web 2.0 site.

And if someone comes up with a winning combination of hardware features, the guts can be easily repackaged into a slimmer, better designed case and manufactured in the thousands or millions like any other device. So there is a way to ramp from hardware curiosity to consumer gadget. Still, it is unclear that a long-tail approach to gadgets will ever create the scale and demand necessary to support a hardware business. Time will tell. (Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures is an investor)

The Bug won’t be on sale until December at the earliest, but below are pictures of what they will look like. The modules literally click together like Legos, and you can put them anywhere you want. For a GPS camera, for instance, you would put the LCD screen on the back, the camera on the front, and the GPS module in one of the other slots. Rearrange the modules or swap in new ones to create an entirely different device. I want one. Don’t you?