Antikewl Daily » Gadgets

You Will: AT&T’s eerily accurate predictions of modern day technologies

Trevor May — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:52:17 +0000

In 1993, AT&T ran a number of commercials in which Tom Selleck (or someone who sounds remarkably like him) predicted the kinds of crazy things we’d later just take for granted in our everyday lives, like in-car GPS to help us navigate our way, pay road tolls without cash, TV movies on demand and so on. (thanks Will!)

If you hadn’t seen these before but thought they seemed a little familiar, it may be because Universal Studios parodied them in their Terminator 2 3D attraction pre-show video.

Happy 25th Birthday, Lomo LC-A

Trevor May — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:44:34 +0000

Today the little Russian film camera with a big cult following, the Lomo LC-A, or Lomo Kompakt Automat, celebrates its 25th birthday!

Originally designed as a cheap, durable camera for the Russian market, it quickly gained popularity in the communist East. By the 1990s, however, its popularity had waned because of cheaper and smaller cameras coming in from Asia and production ceased.

Fortunately, at about the same time, a bunch of students from Vienna discovered the LC-A while in Prague and started bringing a load of them back. As popularity for the camera increased in the west The Lomographic Society was born and production started again at the original Lomo Optics factory in St. Petersburg.

In 2005 the Lomo Optics factory closed (for good this time) and the life of the original LC-A ended. The Lomographic Society re-launched the LC-A as the new Chinese-built LC-A+ (which included a few extra features like a multiple exposure switch, more ASA settings and a cable-release button) and later introduced the LC-A+ RL which re-introduced the original Russian-built Minitar lens instead of a Chinese one and the cult following continued… albeit at a higher price!

To celebrate the anniversary, Lomography.com have 25% off all Lomo LC-A+ cameras and 10% off everything else on the 17th June only.

The “10 Golden Rules of Lomography”:

Take your LOMO everywhere you go.

Use it anytime – day or night.

Lomography is not an interference in your life, but a part of it.

Shoot from the hip.

Approach the objects of your lomographic desire as close as possible.

Don’t think.

Be fast.

You don’t have to know beforehand what you’ve captured on film.

You don’t have to know afterwards, either.

Don’t worry about the rules.

For thousands of great Lomo photos, check out the Lomo Flickr group pool or the lomography.com member gallery.

Remote controlled DeLorean built with LEGO

Trevor May — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:15:22 +0000

Back to the Future fans should check out this fantastic remote controlled DeLorean car built entirely out of LEGO by Legohaulic. Makes me want to have a play with LEGO Technics and Power Functions again — I’m sure the components are way more advanced than when I was a kid!

Here’s a video of it in action and a gallery of photos.

X-rays of video game consoles

Trevor May — Sun, 03 May 2009 15:11:47 +0000

Ever wondered what your SNES looks like under an x-ray? Yeah, me neither. This guy did, though, and has managed to scan the insides of a whole range of consoles from the Atari 2600 (mostly empty) to the Wii (with accessories, no less) and the Playstation 3 (pictured above).

Reintji’s X-Ray Funnies (via Destructoid)

Happy 20th Birthday, Nintendo Game Boy

Trevor May — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:58:54 +0000

As incredible as it sounds, the Nintendo Game Boy is 20 years old today!

The now iconic hand-held video game console was launched in Japan on 21st April 1989 as the spiritual successor to Nintendo’s Game & Watch line. The console, which went on to sell nearly 119 million units worldwide, was released to the US a few months later in August and to the UK and Europe the following year.

Bundled with it was, of course, a copy of Tetris but it was neither that, nor Super Mario Bros nor any of the big-selling titles that left a lasting impression with me — possibly because it’s one of the few video games I’ve actually completed that honour goes to Final Fantasy Legend.

Final Fantasy Legend was a western port of the Japanese RPG Makai Tōshi Sa·Ga and, despite being made by Square, wasn’t a Final Fantasy game at all, merely re-badged to cash in on the popularity of the Final Fantasy series in the US. It was apparently enhanced and re-released for mobile phones in Japan in 2007 and the series also celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Too bad I traded mine in for a copy of Chase HQ… I don’t think I’m ever going to let my 13-year-old self live that down!

Still, at least I kept my copy of Solar Striker and if I ever lose that I’ll always have its theme tune permanently etched into my brain.

Update: Be sure to check out the Game Boy timeline over at Gizmodo.

The Usbourne Book of the Future (1979)

Trevor May — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:55:07 +0000

I always love looking at optimistic views of the future from the past… and here’s a good one. The Usborne Book of the Future: A Trip in Time to the Year 2000 and Beyond, which was originally published in 1979. Chapters include “Robots: Science and medicine”, “Future Cities: Homes and living” and “Star Travel: Transport and travel”. (via Boing Boing)

It reminds me of the old EPCOT attractions from Walt Disney World like Horizons and Spaceship Earth that were also built around that time.

If you like this it’s also worth checking out the Paleofuture blog for all kinds of fantastic retro visions of the future.

David Lynch on the iPhone

Trevor May — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:19:50 +0000

“It’s such a sadness when you think you’ve seen a film in on your fucking telephone.” (via Boing Boing)

Steve Jobs Audio-Animatronic for EPCOT’s Spaceship Earth

Trevor May — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 16:37:29 +0000

It seems sitting on the Disney board gets you all kinds of perks. Distant Creations report that an audio-animatronic (1970s, in-garage) Steve Jobs has been added to EPCOT’s Spaceship Earth attraction as part of its recent face-lift.

Spaceship Earth is scheduled to re-open in February with a new theme (more about technology and less about communication), narrated by Judi Dench. (via The Disney Blog)

Halloween Bioshock Big Daddy / Little Sister costumes

Trevor May — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 13:55:45 +0000

I had a Halloween post all ready but never got around to posting it. I guess it’s a bit late now so I’ll have to save it for next year. C’est la vie.

This, however, I do have to share. Friends of a friend of a friend (yeah, we’re that close) created (and dressed up as) a Big Daddy and Little Sister from the Bioshock. Amusingly, the costumes are better than the ones at the games own launch event! (Thanks to See-ming for the tip!)

More Bioshock Halloween costumes on Cult of Rapture.

Update: Forgot to link the “making-of” set.

Update 2: Another video of a dad and his kids playing Big Daddy and Little Sisters. “no little sisters were harvested in the making of this video or when walking rapture looking for treats” (via Wonderland).

Diana+: Lomo to bring Diana camera back

Trevor May — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:43:04 +0000

Ever the fan of bringing old cameras back into production (and charging a nice premium for them), Lomo are resuscitating the Diana camera back. The medium format camera has been out of production for nearly 35 years but will be made available again this month as the Diana+, joining the LC-A+ on their production line.

The starter kit, which includes Diana+ Camera (with lens cap and shutter lock), Diana Vignettes photo and story book and Instruction manual is available direct from Lomo for £27.55 (or $50, if you’re on the other side of the pond). (via Boing Boing)

Apple announce the iPod touch

Trevor May — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 19:23:31 +0000

Apple have just announced, as many have predicted, the iPod Touch. Basically an iPhone without the phone. It comes in 8Gb and 16Gb flavours (which is far too small a capacity for me to even consider buying — I have enough trouble with 60Gb!) and has built-in wifi for browsing the web and spending your hard-earned cash at iTunes while you wait for your delayed train (or while at their new friend Starbucks’ place). Still, it looks cool.

Also announced:

An all-metal 160Gb iPod classic
A chubby new 8 or 16Gb iPod nano (with coverflow and video playback)
iPod nano in new colours
and a cheaper 8Gb iPhone (no 4Gb, it seems)

If you want more geekery, Engadget have a hands-on with both the iPod nano and iPod touch.

Boing Boing redesign

Trevor May — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 08:08:04 +0000

In the unlikely event that you’ve read this article before reading Boing Boing this morning, head on over there now and check out their gorgeous new redesign. The new simplified appearance was created by my friend Jemma at Sans Nom and it now has a sister blog, Boing Boing Gadgets. Enjoy, but please come back! :)

O2 to get iPhone in the UK

Trevor May — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:44:39 +0000

O2 ‘to get iPhone contract in UK’: Not so handy for me because I’m already on the O2 network and the best phone deals always seem to go to new customers. Related posts:Apple announces the iPhone The Apple iPhone: Dissected Cisco sues Apple over iPhone name Related posts:

The Apple iPhone: Dissected

Trevor May — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 21:11:30 +0000

The iPhone Dissected. Literally. You’ve just got home with a $500 state-of-the-art* mobile phone. What’s the first thing you’re going to want to do? Rip it apart! (via Boing Boing)

*[If state-of-the-art means a phone that can't send MMS, use an MP3 for a ringtone or copy and paste text]

Update: I swear I’m not obsessed with destroying expensive gadgets! PCWorld scratch and drop-test the new Apple phone and stick the video on You Tube. Meanwhile, Daring Fireball has a thorough round-up of first impressions of the iPhone.

SoftBank Pantone cellphone

Trevor May — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 17:10:34 +0000

SoftBank Pantone mobile phone: A perfect gift for the design geek. (via NOTCOT)

WeFi: Wifi hotspot sharing & mapping application

Trevor May — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 10:03:57 +0000

WeFi is a new collaborative wifi mapping tool that records open wifi networks that your computer can “see” and uploads them to a central database. Anyone can then browse their website for access points anywhere in the world and see them on a Google-powered map. The ultimate goal is to “make open Wi-Fi act more like a wireless infrastructure that can compete with 3G networks, except freely created and shared by the users.”

Wonderful idea, though their site seems to think I’m in Slough. (via Boing Boing)

Brighton to Install Free City-wide Wifi

Trevor May — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 12:00:03 +0000

Brighton and Hove city council is considering installing a free-to-use wifi network covering the whole of central Brighton next year. Interestingly they didn’t approach Loose Connection or piertopier.net who already have a free wifi network covering much of the seafront. Further away from home, Mexico City is also scheduled to become one big wireless hotspot by the end of next year so soon you’ll be able to play Tetris DS anywhere you like.

Muppet Mobile Lab video

Trevor May — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 10:59:55 +0000

Disney’s marvellous new autonomous audio-animatronic, the Muppet Mobile Lab, visited Pixar on another test-run. The Disney blog has a great video of it in action. You can also find some photos on Flickr.

Trevor May — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:08:20 +0000

Gabe over at Penny Arcade now has a Playstation 3 and throws out some negatives and positives from his short experience with the console. Bear in mind that the EU’s PS3 is different so, hopefully, ours won’t “burn with the heat of a million suns”.

Playstation 3 UK Launch Details

Trevor May — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 16:11:37 +0000

The guardian reports that the PS3 will launch on the 23rd March 2007 for £425 for the 60Gb model. Ouch. The 20Gb model will be released later, depending on demand, at an unknown cost. Sony haven’t announced how many will be released to the UK but have said that one million will be shipped to the EU.

The Microsoft Zune 2006-2006

Trevor May — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:51:35 +0000

The Microsoft Zune 2006-2006: Penny Arcade on the Zune and the announcement of the iPhone: “I can hardly look at it now, it’s like holding a dead squirrel. On its 4:3 screen – the exact ratio of obsolescence – I can see destroyed futures.”

Cisco sues Apple over iPhone name

Trevor May — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:45:23 +0000

Cisco sues Apple over iPhone name: I wondered how long it’d take for this to happen. One day, it appears. Related posts:Apple announces the iPhone The Apple iPhone: Dissected Countdown to Apple “Showtime” Related posts:

Apple announces the iPhone

Trevor May — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 18:37:09 +0000

Steve Jobs has announced the development of the Apple iPhone in his Keynote speech at Macworld 2007, which incorporates:

4 or 8Gb widescreen video iPod
Quad-band + EDGE mobile phone (no 3G)
2 megapixel camera
3.5 inch 480×320 160dpi touch screen
802.11b/g wifi + Bluetooth

Now, I’m not particularly interested in this Apple phone as it’s won’t be released for months — if at all — in the US alone, has a sub-standard 2 megapixel camera, is locked to one network provider and has no 3G capability (this will have to be included for the European version) and too little storage space to replace my iPod as an MP3 player (quite how 4Gb is enough for a movie player I don’t know). I am, however, interested to see the new interface incorporated into a future generation iPod — one with a decent-sized hard drive storage space. I’ll also be interested to hear if any games are being developed for it; the touch screen would work wonders for many games — something the Nintendo DS has already proved.

Also announced/confirmed were Apple TV, a set-top box for streaming stuff from iTunes to your TV, the AirPort Extreme wifi base station, movies from Paramount for iTunes, some deals with Yahoo! and some other crap like a couple of new TV commercials.

More details of the keynote speech at Engadget and MacRumours.

Update: A couple of interesting comparison articles here. Kottke mocks up an iPhone out of card and compares it to other, familiar, devices for size and TNL compare some current phone specs to Apple’s offering. They use an odd choice of Nokia phone for comparison purposes, though; wouldn’t an N80 have been more appropriate?

Update 2: The curse of Apple first-generation hardware. Kottke has a run down on all the recent feedback on the interweb over the iPhone.

Nike+ iPod without the Nike running shoes

Trevor May — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:32:38 +0000

Have you been wanting to race against (and generally gloat about how much fitter you are than) your friends, but don’t have a pair of those expensive Nike running shoes with the hole in the bottom? Fear not, SwitchEasy have introduced the RunAway AnyShoe Adaptor for just 6 quid. You’ll still need to bring your own iPod Nano and Nike+ kit though.

The 10 Gadgets that Changed the World

Trevor May — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 11:26:16 +0000

The 10 Gadgets that Changed the World: “The wheel. The plow. The gun. The electric light. The radio. The chip. The untidy march of human ingenuity and innovation has led you here, to our list of the 10 most life-altering devices of the modern era.”