Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

There have certainly been gizmos to surface throughout the years that react in some form or fashion to rain, but Jean-Jacques Chaillout and colleagues at the Atomic Energy Commission in France are fantasizing about using those diminutive droplets of water to actually power useful creations. After using computer models to find out just how much energy could be created by rainfall landing on piezoelectric materials, they determined that between 1 nanojoule and 25 microjoules of energy could be generated per drop. Granted, that won’t keep a WoW gamer crankin’ through the eve, but it could be used in everyday sensors that just need a smidgen of power in order to beam back results or data to ground control (or Major Tom). So yeah, these may not work so well in Death Valley, but we hear Amazonia could really benefit.

[Via NewScientist, image courtesy of ABC]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s no secret that Apple Legal is, ah, aggressive when it comes to protecting its various fruit-flavored intellectual property, but a company called BlueAir just filed a lawsuit accusing Apple’s lawyers of outright harassment over BlueAir’s AirPOD air purifier, pictured at right. Seems BlueAir has been trying to register a trademark on the product, and instead of filing an opposition with the USPTO based on consumer confusion with the iPod, Apple’s attorneys have just been sending BlueAir angry letters and threatening massive legal fees. Of course, that’s pretty much what lawyers do, but BlueAir’s asked the court to step in and rule definitively on the subject before pursuing their trademark application any further. Seeing how protective Apple’s been of the “-pod” suffix in the past, that could lead to some interesting rulings — we’ll be keeping an eye on this one for sure.

Disclaimer: Although Nilay is an attorney, super guy, and snappy dresser, he’s not your attorney, and this post is not legal advice or analysis and should not be taken as such.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wearables

It may look like something that emerged from a dorm room laboratory, but a team of apparently professional researchers say that the helmet pictured above could one day be used to treat patients with Alzheimer’s, and potentially even reverse some of the effects of the disease. That’s supposedly possible by bathing the individual’s brain in infra-red light for about ten minutes a day, a process that has reportedly been shown to reverse memory loss in mice. Not surprisingly, however, we’re still quite a ways from seeing any potential results on humans, with the first tests (which will rely solely on the natural levels of infra-red that occur in sunlight) only set to get underway this summer.

[Via Metafilter]

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Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone

A splinter dev team has just released its 1.1.3 jailbreak. This jailbreak, as discussed in our earlier post provides a “soft upgrade” path for jailbroken 1.1.1 and 1.1.2 users. (See that post for many of the technical details.) For right now, this jailbreak is limited to Windows users only, with a Mac release expected shortly. This does not jailbreak the iPod touch–iPhone only for now.

A special edition of Nate True’s iBrickr software will prepare the image used for the update and a second installer portion will flash the phone. Smxy repository maintainer, Shaun Erickson has packed up this second portion of the jailbreak, which will be available via Installer.app.

iPhone hacker NerveGas raised concerns as to whether this release would illegally distribute Apple software. Nate assures me that he merely uses a diff (differences) file between the 1.1.3 firmware as provided and the jailbroken 1.1.3 firmware. NerveGas asked me to mention that this release is not canon and distributed against his wishes and against the wishes of some of the dev/elite team. From what I understand, the dev team was behind this release until shortly before Nate took it live. NerveGas’s copyright concerns divided the team, splitting opinions on whether it should go live just at the wire.

Huge kudos for this jailbreak go primarily to the awesome iPhone hackers “planetbeing” and _Fred, who were the first to jailbreak. Other amazing developers include Zibri, netkas, NerveGas, asap18, bgm, Bugout, bushing, chris_, dinopio, drudge, gray, MuscleNerd, natetrue, pr3d4t0r, roxfan, Turbo, Zf[strike], np101137, pumpkin, and kroo, along with many contributors who wish to remain anonymous.

Update: How to fix GoogleMaps Locations–this fix only works for fully legal customers (at&t, orange, o2) (Thanks Netkas!)

Update: We’re still fairly unsure as to what exactly is in the jailbreak software. Nate had told me the only possible infringement would be the difference file between the 1.1.3 dmg and the jailbroken dmg but I’m now told by others (thanks kroo!) that it includes Apple’s iTunesMobileDevice.dll. Engadget’s on-staff legal guru Nilay Patel says that you cannot include Apple’s code in another release, whether or not Apple posts the code online for free, adding that there’s probably a license agreement somewhere that prevents modification.

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Filed under: iPod Family, Hacks, iPhone

TUAW can confirm that the dev/elite team is closing in on a public jailbreak of the recently released 1.1.3 iPhone firmware. Chances of having your 1.1.3 iPhone or iPod touch updated and jailbroken within the next week are good. The jailbreak appears to be based on a “soft update” exploit that merges the files from 1.1.2 and 1.1.3, so you get all the jailbreaky-goodness of 1.1.2 while enjoying the fabulous jiggling icons and WebClips of 1.1.3 — plus access to the 1.1.3 command line and all the fun custom software that entails. More details as this develops.

Thanks to aCujo.

What we know

The team has developed a soft jailbreak based on upgrading your 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 iPhone or iPod touch to 1.1.3 software. You perform this upgrade by decrypting a disk image inside the Apple-supplied ipsw archive. This archive lives in your home library and can be downloaded on-demand from Apple. The team will supply the decryption key along with instructions on how to perform the soft upgrade–there may be a tool as well that automates this process similar to the jailbreak.jar from the 1.1.2 jailbreak. Those who have avoided upgrading in order to preserve their iPhone unlocks will be able to use most of the 1.1.3 software but will not have access to the new Google Location feature.

Timeline

Live Updates

Baseband and Google Location: You won’t have to upgrade your baseband–but Google Location won’t work unless you do. So that’s a tradeoff. If you don’t plan to unlock the iPhone, you’re better off upgrading your baseband. Don’t forget: Downgrades are limited to boot loader 3.9. With 4.6, you can downgrade the firmware but not the baseband. (Thanks Nervegas.) Nicholas A. asks “Can AT&T customers update to the new baseband and still have a jailbreak?” Yes. Alva E: “Will this work with IPSF?” Yes–but don’t upgrade your baseband!

Gaining access to Google Location (prevents unlock) I’m told (again, thank you NerveGas) that the easiest way to upgrade is to use iTunes to upgrade to 1.1.3 and then downgrade (TUAW method, better illustrated method) to apply the jailbreak. This allows you access to all the Google Location stuff plus phone calls if you’re an AT&T customer. If you’re not, it’s best to stay below 1.1.3 and *then* do the jailbreak.

1.1.3 Unlock? No. Yes, people are working on a 1.1.3 unlock–but that’s not going to happen in the same short time frame that the jailbreak will appear in.

Prerequisites Hav0c asks: “Can you update from 1.1.1 or do you need 1.1.2?” NerveGas says: 1.1.1 will work fine.

When will the jailbreak be released? Current time estimate for jailbreak release: “Soon”, according to NerveGas

What are bootloaders? Reader asks: “What’s Boot Loader 3.9?” Answer Bootloader is the iPhone program that loads up the operating system (I think this comes from “pulling your self up by your own bootstraps”). Apple has released several versions of the bootloader and unlocks have been limited to which bootloader is running on your system. 1.0.2-1.1.1 shipped with bootloader 3.9. Newer iPhones run 4.6. This shows you how to check which version of the bootloader you’re running. As a rule, it doesn’t matter–unless you want or need to unlock.

How does this all work? The dev/elites are apparently working on making the upgrade as easy as possible, according to NerveGas. Since the devs cannot release the decrypted software (copyright issues), the jailbreak will tell you how to decrypt your own dmgs and load the updated software onto your unit. Nmrlron asks: “What happened to the not release 1.1.3 jailbreak until the SDK?” NerveGas answered: “This is not strictly speaking a full jailbreak. This is a soft upgrade process that lets us continue to keep the vulnerabilities secret.”

Using special SIMs Will you be able to use TurboSIM/StealthSIM, etc? Since this frankenupgrade does not affect the baseband, one assumes that yes, you will be able to use these–but that’s a personal guess and unconfirmed.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It seems as if Nokia’s not the only mega-corp on the block with good news to proclaim to Wall Street today, as the giant from Redmond is proudly announcing record second quarter results and pinpointing “robust holiday sales and enterprise demand drive” as the culprit. In the three months ending December 31, 2007, Microsoft pulled in some $16.37 billion in revenue and $6.48 billion in operating income, which translated to 30-percent and 87-percent growth in each area, respectively. The outfit also took the chance to mention that sales of Windows Vista had surpassed 100 million licenses, and Kevin Johnson, president of the Platforms and Services Division, even noted that it was “looking forward to the release of its first service pack later this quarter.” You and just under 100 million others, we’d surmise.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s not every day you see a company lead off a product feature list with “Intrinsically Safe = No,” but that’s just what the folks at FoxFury have done with their new HammerHead Tac-Strobe Flashlight, and that just about makes it impossible for us to ignore. If that’s not enough to sell you on it, however, you can rest assured that the flashlight also boasts a “highly stylized design,” to say nothing of 320 lumens of brightness (or 4,019 candle power) and a “Turbo-Strobe” feature that promises to be “very disturbing” for anyone looking into the light. All that can be yours right now just under $300, with a weapon mount set to follow for an unspecified price in June.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Remember that yeast-and-sugar-powered generator from Dr. Cedrick Ngalande of Malawi we spotted a while back? Ol’ Ced’s back with a video of the system in action — and an explanation of how it works, to boot. Just as most of you guessed, the system is powered by the yeast / sugar mix giving off CO2, leading to a pressure imbalance which tips the center of gravity and causes motion. What most of you didn’t guess, however, is how freaking slowly that would happen — check out the video after the break, and then wake up and wipe the drool off your face, slick.

[Via BoingBoing]

Continue reading Video of the yeast-and-sugar powered generator in action: experience the power of boring

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Israel is reportedly developing a sophisticated piece of software meant to help troops make quick decisions during battle and, under the right conditions, autonomously manipulate the nation’s defense systems. First reported in Defense News (subscription required), the unnamed system would primarily be used for tactical decisions during periods of heavy bombardment, although in a worst-case scenario, the complex algorithm would supposedly be capable of taking over total military control. Yes, we know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry: Israeli officials have already sworn up and down that “there’s no way we’re letting this thing go Terminator on us — no freakin’ way.”

[Via Danger Room]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

USB-based musicality is great and all, but sometimes you want to cut the cord and play live. IK’s StompIO USB stomp box is apparently the ticket to such a life of freedom, since it packs in a good amount of software amps and software controllable switches and the like, but it also does all its own amp modeling when away from the computer. The bad news is that freedom comes at quite the price: StompIO is available now for $1,050.

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