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Posts tagged with "video"

The External Touchscreen That Can Control An iPhone

Geeks and modders have been looking for a way to control an iPhone or iPod touch from an external touch input for years. And when we say “a way to control”, we actually mean “an easy way to let the setup work”. In the past years, we’ve seen hundreds of individuals coming up with incredibly complex configurations that revolved around dozens of cables, jailbreak, dock stations, screens and modifications to the original iPhone software. What Mr. Romin has achieved is a rather simple, affordable and easy to understand method to get the iPhone to mirror its screen on an external monitor, and have the monitor capable of controlling the iPhone itself via touch.

With a Lilliput FA1042 touchscreen, an iPhone, a Belkin AV dock adapter cable and a software called “Centrafuse” he managed to get this two-way mirroring and controlling system to work. The iPhone’s Springboard is blown up on the screen in standard mode, but Youtube videos, for example, play in fullscreen mode on the external panel with controls visible on the iPhone.

Check out the demo video below. Read more

What Is This Psychedelic Macintosh Helmet?

Matt “Kid Chameleon” Loniero is an audio engineer / graphic designer / DJ who creates visual experiences for live performances of other DJs and bands. He also likes to experiment with stuff. A lot. And his latest experiment, a Macintosh Plus helmet with an embedded iPad connected to a Bluetooth keyboard, is one of the coolest things we’ve seen in a while.

The visualizer helmet is made of a Macintosh Plus bought on eBay, which had its inner parts removed. A bicycle helmet was then placed inside the case together with an iPad. In the live performance you can watch below, this was the setup:

For this specific performance, we used an iMac connected to several projectors and televisions around the room and above the bar. The iMac was running Resolume Avenue and the video was triggered using a MIDI keyboard and a Wiimote. The iPad was connected to a bluetooth keyboard which allowed me to press play on the iPad video and press the B button on the Wiimote at the same time Kid Chameleon started his set.

If you missed the first DJ set in Phoenix, you can get the chance to see Kid Chameleon perform live again tonight at the LA Art Mix at the Gallery Godo in Glendale, CA. Check out the video below, and more photos here.
Read more

Wozniak Is Happy About Verizon iPhone, Says LTE Will Come

Steve Wozniak is glad about the iPhone finally available on Verizon, arguably the “best carrier in the United States”. In the following video posted by VentureBeat, the Woz also goes on to say he’s excited about the mobile hotspot feature which, in the past, saved him a couple of times. Woz, as usual, is a fan of choice, and he thinks that the device available on two carriers will give people the chance to evaluate options and pick the carrier that has the best reception where they live.

About different carriers, Woz explains he was happy when in the early days of unlocked phones you could have a device with two numbers on two carriers at the same time. He says he would be glad to see this coming back in the future, with iPhone capable of easily switching between AT&T and Verizon. Oh, and 4G LTE? Woz says it’ll come, to the iPhone as well. That’s pretty much a given, although we don’t know when.

Check out the video of the Verizon-loving Woz below. Read more

Touchless Gestures for iPad Demoed at CES [Video]

A few weeks ago, a Norway-based company called Elliptic Labs made the rounds of the Internet as they promised they would demo a touchless gesture technology for iPad at CES. The prototype is based on a docking station for the tablet, which has got an ultrasound system built-in that can pick frequencies out of the human range and, through a complex set of reflection calculations, determine the position of your hands in space in front of the device. This means you’ll be able to perform touch-based gestures such as swipe and scroll, without really touching anything.

The unit seen in the video is still a prototype, but it’s already been deployed in a Norwegian hospital where surgeons can control the iPad’s screen without touching it – clever implementation considering surgeons most likely have protective gloves on their hands. The system will also gain support for more gestures in the future, including multi-touch inspired ones. Right now, the demo shows how to flip through a photo gallery by just waving your hands, but the creator says it will be useful for say, changing music and control the iPad when driving. We bet it’s going to be interesting to see this in use in the kitchen, too.

In the video below, courtesy of the folks over at TUAW, you can see the prototype in action via a WiFi station and a custom iPad app. We think this is really cool, and we can’t wait to see version 2.0 of the prototype at CES next year. Read more

First-Gen Apple TV Gets AirPlay Support with Remote HD

Remote HD is a new app developed by the Fire Core guys – the same folks behind the ATV Flash browser / utility – which brings AirPlay streaming to the original Apple TV, the first-generation silver model. Once installed on your iOS device from the App Store and on the original Apple TV through the Install Extras menu, you’ll be able to beam videos, Youtube, video podcasts and photos from your iPhone or iPad to the Apple TV.

If your iOS device is jailbroken and has AirPlay enabled for 3rd party apps, you’ll get the possibility to stream video from anywhere. Remote HD also lets you stream videos from iTunes on your computer.

Remote HD for iOS is available at $3.99 here.

ClipTouch, Final Cut Server Client for iPad

With an update for the Final Cut suite rumored to be released around March or early April, a new client for Final Cut Server showed up in the App Store. And I believe this is the first native Final Cut Server client specifically designed for the iPad – ClipTouch by Factorial. ClipTouch (which requires iOS 4.2, Final Cut Server v1.5.1 and access to open ports 8821 and 8826) works “out of the box” by giving you access to all your video assets stored in FCS, browse and collaborate on your media taking advantage of the iPad’s large screen and multi-touch functionalities.

You can use the iPad app instead of a review workstation to access your library over local or remote WiFi, 3G and VPN, download and view clip proxies, change the default asset’s metadata and add annotations. ClipTouch works with the standard format of clip proxies, but a compressor is available to achieve optimal results. A search feature is available, together with the possibility to clip the timecode display.

ClipTouch for iPad is available at $14.99 in the App Store. More screenshots below. Read more

SoPhone: The King of Fake iPhones

I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but: this Chinese knockoff almost looks as good as the original iPhone 4. The SoPhone is, without a doubt, the closest thing to an Apple iPhone 4 I’ve seen so far – not just because of the strikingly similar exterior design. First off, the SoPhone looks just like an iPhone 4, has the same size (115.2×58.6×9.3mm) and fits in any case produced for the real thing. As long as the “glass sandwich” appearance is concerned, the SoPhone seems a success. We can’t comment on the actual build quality, but judging from the video – it’s an iPhone 4.

Problems arise when the average user willing to buy a SoPhone (example: my dad) wants to go deeper and asks about the operating system and internal specs. This thing of course doesn’t run iOS, but the average user might think it does. I mean, look at the video: it’s a well-done iOS skin (probably built on top of Android 2.2?) that’s got Apple’s icons, menus – even the Cover Flow. Guess what’s missing? The smoothness, the scrolling, the refinements – exactly what the “average dude” won’t notice on first sight. This is best shown in the comparison video shot by MIC Gadget. The SoPhone has got an Apple logo on boot, folders (slow), Spotlight and Springboard pages. It’s a fake iOS running on a fake iPhone 4. From what I can see, I believe multitasking’s in there, too. As for the specs, as you would expect this is nowhere near the iPhone 4: 2 MP cameras, no Retina Display, 4 GB of flash storage and a MTK6235 chipset.

The final price for a SoPhone unit? Around $200. Not bad for a well-done ripoff, but still – you won’t have an iPhone. You’ll only get close (closer than any other Chinese knockoff, that’s it) to it. If you’re on the edge, check out the hands-on video below. Unlike the reviewer says, I’m not sure the SoPhone is “very fast” though. Read more

Music Mashup with iPhone, iPad and iMovie [Video]

In 2010 we saw some amazing videos of songs played and, at best, created using only iOS devices. Does the new Gorillaz album sound familiar to you? That’s because it was entirely created with an iPad and some apps. iOS devices, also thanks to full-featured MIDI support introduced in iOS 4.2, now provide a feasible alternative to portable, digital music making and mixing.

Ellen Hilton wanted to show her friends and family that it was possible to do music with an iPad and a MIDI external device. So she took two of her favorite songs – “Hey Soul Sister” and “New Soul” – mashed them up and played along with her iPad. She filmed the performance using Pro Camera on the iPhone, edited the video using iMovie ‘11. The session was recorded by running everything into Cubase. The result is fun and definitely worth a look.

The apps used in the video include Pianist Pro, NanoStudio, Percussions and BeBot. If there’s anything Steve Jobs should feature on stage at the next iPad keynote, that should be about people using the iPad to make music. Read more

Steve Jobs, Not A Good Entrepreneur [Video]

The BBC has this show, called Dragon’s Den, in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas trying to get multi-million investments from “Britain’s top brains”, investors looking for the next big thing to believe and spend money in.

Steve Jobs? He’s not good enough for the show. The BBC has created this fake video of Jobs pitching the iPad to the Den, with investors coming up with their reasons to “stay out” of Jobs’ business idea. It’s kind of hilarious, especially when an investors says “I’m out” and Jobs seems to be very sad about it. Check out the video below. [9to5mac via Youtube]