Engineers at the University of Michigan have put together a prototype device that can be powered and communicate via the audio jack on an iPhone. Currently if you want to create an accessory that is to be used with the 30 pin connector on the iPhone you must pay a licensing fee to Apple as well as a percentage of the profit made on said device. Using the audio jack for accessories will save money as there will be no need for licensing or proprietary hardware.

The parts used to build the device cost a total of $2.34 (in bulk), and the audio port can deliver several milliwatts at 3 V and offers bidirectional communications at a data rate of 8.8 kbaud. You won’t be able to run any data-hungry applications, but this should be more than enough to transfer text or a remote signal. The developers envision small, low-powered sensors for thing like element detection or moisture sensors. Check out the video of a prototype ECG sensor for the HiJack.

[Link to HiJack]

HiJack: Cheap iPhone Accessories originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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If your car doesn’t come with some sort of built in iPhone control then you know your limited to bluetooth or cable hook-up to enjoy the tunes on your phone. If you want to eliminate the need for all those wires then the O Car stereo deck from Oxygen Audio might be something to consider.

The unit turns your iPhone itself into your car stereo by allowing users to control of the stereo functions right from their iPhone; Internet radio stations, GPS navigation, Google maps and pretty much anything your iPhone can play or do. Your iPhone docks right into the head unit and melds right into your car’s dashboard.

For US$349, the O Car has pre-amp outs, 4×55 watts of power, FM/AM presets and supports the iPhone 3G/3GS/4. The price seems a little steep, but if you want to enjoy streaming apps like Pandora and don’t want all of the clutter on your front seat it’s one of you’re only choices.

Oxygen Audio’s iPhone Car Deck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Following my first two distro lists; Linux Distros That Don’t Suck and More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck, I bring you the long awaited third installment in my distro lists; Even More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck.

As a fore-warning, this list is just what I have used in the past and what I have experience with. I know that talking Linux is like talking religion, everyone has one and not everyone likes the other guy’s. With that in mind you are free to comment and hammer me about my list, just know that it’s only my personal experience here.

Mint – What can I say, it’s Ubuntu done right. If what you are looking for is a solid desktop replacement OS, one the whole family can use then look no further. Based on Debian and Ubuntu, this distro comes with everything you need to get going and it looks sexy as well. It’s got full multimedia support right out of the box and it’s super easy to use. Perfect for grandma.

ZeroShell – This distro is awesome. I have used this multiple times on embeded devices and it’s always come through for me. It’s fully administered via a web page and it offer’s a host of network services like Load Balancing, UMTS/HSDPA 3G modem connections, QoS and Lan-to-Lan VPN just to name a few. If you need a solid industrial all around firewall/gateway this should be at the top of your list.

Tiny Core – If you think Damn Small Linux is bloated then Tiny Core is for you. At a whopping 10MB with a full desktop, this has to be the smallest release I have ever seen. If 10MB is too big for you, you can grab a 6MB version that is console only. This is an awesome distro if you want to start small and build on it. Perfect for those older systems.

Elive – Based on Debian, Elive looks to provide a complete desktop replacement while offering eye-candy with minimal hardware requirements. I have this installed on an older laptop that my daughter uses. She loves to work with multimedia and this distro scratches her itch perfectly. It’s runs well on older hardware while still looking good. If you like to work with video, 3D or audio then you should give this distro a once over.

Mythbuntu – It’s really not a distro per-say, it’s a custom roll of Ubuntu with MythTV built it. For years I used KnoppMyth for my MythTV needs and only recently did I switch to Mythbuntu. If you don’t feel like building your HTPC from scratch take a look at this, you won’t be disappointed.

Tinfoil Hat – For the truly paranoid. As their website says “The Illuminati are watching your computer, and you need to use morse code to blink out your PGP messages on the numlock key.”. This distro is perfect for those who fear for their privacy. It’s compiled with static libraries and ships on a single floppy.

LegacyOS – This was formally known as TeenPup which is based on PuppyLinux. The main purpose of this distro is to ensure a smooth user experience on hardware that’s 5-10 years old. If you have an old machine laying around and are looking for a decent suite of software then look no further. Don’t plan on doing any intense processing with it but basic usage it’s great.

As always this is a list of distros I have experience with, this by no means is a “perfect” or “greatest” list. It’s just stuff I have used and like, feel free to let me know what you think in the comments.

Even More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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I’m not about to open the debate about expensive audio cables. There are definitely two camps when it comes to expensive cables; One run by Monster Cable and the other run by everyone else and these $8450 speaker cables prove which side is right!

These baby’s are made of “Solid PSS Silver” and feature “Dual Star-Quad Geometry”. WTF is that? Ohh, I know, it’s bullshit talk so that people with way too much money can be fooled into buying these. They are currently on sale at Amazon for $6800, maybe you should run out and buy two! Check out the following comment from a satisfied user on Amazon:

If there is one cable I would whole-heartedly trust to my Chimera-hunting needs, this would be the cable. No other cable has the tensile strength to properly and efficiently garrote a lycanthrope, asphyxiate an Esquilax or even gag a mermaid. Last week, using my trusty AudioQuest K2 (retrofitted with lead weights, bright orange latex paint and a generous coating of crushed glass stolen from the window of an abandoned church at midnight), I managed to snuff 3 golden unicorns in swift succession!

Pros: Quickly tears through scales, fur, bone, and adamantium with ease
Coils and uncoils from hip holster (optional) quickly and quietly
For a product fabricated from 1,000 Onyx Dragon fetuses, the price is unbelievably reasonable!

Cons: Shipping from the R’lyeh took far too long
Doesn’t come in 10′ lengths (which would be perfect for hydra, cerberii and other multi-headed creatures)
After every use, I can feel 6 ounces of my soul slipping from my core into the ether. But this may be due to the fact that I prefer to work without gloves. YMMV.

Overall, I would recommend that any hunter buy one, nay, two, of these immediately, and experience the difference that upgrading to the K2 will make in your next quest!

If you want one you can get it here, otherwise, I’ll sell you a version that’s just as good for a mere $4000

$8450 Speaker Cables originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Let’s face it, terestrial radio is all but dead. Who wants to wade through all the commercials and limited avalability of the FM or AM dial? I listen to internet radio all the time, when at work at my desk and even on my iPhone when in my car and this little baby while now complete my internet radio experience.

The Grace Allegro Wi-Fi internet radio can run for about 8 hours on six AA batteries and streams over 16,000 radio stations from the likes of Pandora, Sirius and Live365. Is has built in 802.11b/g/n support and even has an iPhone remote control app so you can change stations without walking up to the unit.

You also get MP3/WMA/Real Audio/WAV/AAC/AIFF codec support, alarm functions, built-in speaker, 4-line display, standard remote control.

The unit will cost you $170 and is available right now from Grace Digital Audio

Allegro Portable Internet Radio originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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In case you missed anything last week; we have everything from Metallica on your iPhone right through to a $1200 Mouse. Enjoy

In Case You Missed It: Week 43 Round Up originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Wow, there really is a sucker born every minute, but is there anyone out there stupid enough to spend $147 on a so called “Audio Grade” electrical socket?

The Wattgate 381 and claims to bring you crystal clean sound. I’m no electrician but doesn’t the quality of your sound actually come from the components inside your amplifier? WTF does electricity flow have to do with it? It’s not like this is some surge suppressor that cleans your power and makes sure that you don’t have power fluctuation. It’s a freaking socket.

I’m sure this will go perfectly with the $400 Monster Cable you bought and that $500 Denon Ethernet Cable.

If your stupid enough to buy one, you can pick it up here

Sucker Alert: Wattgate 381 “Audio Grade” Socket originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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I, much like every other hardcore geek on the face of the earth, have multiple linux based distro iso’s laying around. Some of them are for testing and some of them contain tools that I use on a daily basis. I have had many people email me about the best distro out there. The only answer I have for them is “depends on what you want to do”. I have spent sometime working on a list of Linux distros and what they are good for.

Now, before I start. Discussion distro’s with people is like discussion religion. Everyone has one and everyone feels something different towards other people who aren’t of the same faith. I just want to remind everyone that this list is just what I see, and how I feel about each distro. It’s definitely not a “what’s right and what’s wrong” type of list. Enjoy.

Knoppix – The one that started it all. Knoppix was the first major LiveCD based distro to hot the scene and open up a whole new world of bootable operating systems. This is probably the best known and most complete LiveCD distro out there. It contains everything you need to act as a full production replacement system. Word Processing, graphics editors, media players, browers, mail clients. You name is, Knoppix has it.

SystemRescueCD – This one I keep with me all the time. SystemRescueCD is a massive collection of tools to help you get out of a bind. It aims to provide an easy way to carry out admin tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing the partitions of the hard disk. It contains a lot of system tools (parted, partimage, fstools, …) and basic tools (editors, midnight commander, network tools). It is very easy to use. Plus, it can also be booted via a USB flash drive. A must for anyone’s collection.

Dynabolic – Billed as a complete media distro, dyne:bolic is shaped on the needs of media activists, artists and creatives as a practical tool for multimedia production: you can manipulate and broadcast both sound and video with tools to record, edit, encode and stream, having automatically recognized most device and peripherals: audio, video, TV, network cards, firewire, usb and more; all using only free software!. Just boot off the CD and your ready to go.

BackTrack – The king of all penetration testing and security distros. If you’re worried about security or exploits then this is the one for you. With more than 300 different up-to-date tools which are logically structured according to the work flow of security professionals. This structure allows even newcomers to find the related tools to a certain task to be accomplished. New technologies and testing techniques are merged into BackTrack as soon as possible to keep it up-to-date.

NimbleX – This is one of my favorite all around LiveCD based distros. It’s full featured but a lot smaller than something like Knoppix. With everything you need to act as a Desktop replacement in a 200 MB CD image, what more can you ask for.

Gentoo – The hardcore Linux distro. What makes Gentoo unique compared to other distros is the need to manually compile every part of the OS. I know that their are gui installers now and pre built packages for the mindless, but having the ability to tweak and optimize every aspect of the OS will not only give you a stable system, but one hell of a quick one too. Mind you, all of this compilation could easily take you days before you have a base system, especially when you make Xorg and a windows manager like KDE or gnome.

Debian – My day to day OS. Debian is one of the oldest and most stable distros around. The core to a bunch of other distros like Knoppix and Ubuntu. If your looking for something that will give you no headaches and carries a very stable branch of applications, Debian is the distro for you.

Ubuntu – Ubuntu is Debian to the next level. It’s a fork of Debian that has quickly become the most popular Linux distro in the world. It’s easy to install, easy to use, and is probably the best Windows replacement OS that is Linux based. Ubuntu’s software repository contains applications that are more recent than say Debian, but the down side to that is the fine edge you walk on when it comes to stability.

Fedora – The big boy on the block, and by big boy I don’t mean popularity, I mean in size. Fedora comes chalked with what seems like every application ever made. Although to some this might be nothing more than bloat, to others it’s a full and complete experience. Install Fedora and you pretty much have every open source application that is useful at your finger tips. If you have never experienced Linux before this is a great distro to get your feet wet with.

I know there are other great distro’s like Slackware, DSL, and OpenSUSE, this list is just a collection of distro’s that I find useful or that I have had experience with. Feel free to add your recommendations in the comments.

Linux Distros That Don’t Suck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/05/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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If you own an Xbox 360, PS3, or decent PC, and can appreciate top notch audio/visual production values in your video games (along with some solid gameplay and storyline), then you owe it to yourself to check out “Dead Space”, Electronic Arts’ new survival horror game.

Dead Space is getting scores in the mid to high 80′s on Metacritic, which doesn’t really tell the whole story, as EA has created one of the most stunning visual and audio experiences you’ll have in a video game this year.

BTW, for those that aren’t familiar with metacritic.com, it’s a site that mashes published scores of games, movies, music, etc. from mostly
well-known and respected sources into one overall “meta” score. When I worked at Electronic Arts, the metacritic score of a game was used as a measuring stick internally within the studio, so you can be rest assured that metacritic is highly regarded within the industry as an objective way of scoring a game, if you believe that’s possible.

Anyway, more to the point of this posting, in an interview with Variety, Dead Space executive producer Glenn Schofield mentioned how
EA is working on a Dead Space sequel (not all that surprising), and that the intellectual property (IP) that is “Dead Space” is getting shopped around for more comics, movies, and probably anything else EA can put its stamp on. This mandate isn’t only reserved for Dead
Space, of course, as Army of Two is another IP that is getting shopped around for other mediums and is likely getting a game sequel as well.

http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_scene/2008/10/army-of-two-seq.html

Why I find this interesting is that, as we move forward day by day, year by year, the gaming industry just keeps getting bigger, and our
entertainment is starting to truly spread into all kinds of mediums, from movies, to comics, to just about anything.

We’ve seen music move into games with Rock Band and Guitar Hero, we’re seeing game IP’s move into comics and movies, though the movies have been mostly disappointing so far (but anyone interested in a Gears Of War movie, no doubt it will arrive someday).

We’re on the cusp of what will soon be, if not already, a melting pot of all mediums, and Electronic Arts is poised to be a major player
(they are already the biggest software entertainment company in the world, if you don’t include those that also manufacture the hardware… Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

As the current generation of consoles create experiences and stories that rival that of TV/movies, we’ll see who becomes king of the hill
when it comes to consumer’s choices and consumer dollars (my bet is on the gaming industry).

More Dead Space, More Of Everything originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Got a fetish for all the media you can handle? Well, the Imerge MS1 home media server might just be right for you. The Imerge MS1, when combined with a storage system like XiVA’s three and six terabyte disc arrays, will give you an amazing high-quality audio and video streaming solution over your network.

The unit comes with HDMI out that can play 1080p video, an audiophile-grade sound board with Wolfson Delta-Sigma 24-bit DACs, a night GUI, and more connectors than you can shake a stick at.

When you add that and the raid arrays which come with 8 500GB or 1 TB drive in a RAID-6 configuration (which will give you something insane like 1700 hours or 71 days of video), you’ll be forking out a ton of cash. $22,500 for the 3TB model and $24,500 for the 6TB model.

[Link to Imerge]

Imerge MS1 Media Server – 6 Terabytes Of Fun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Over 40 and wonder what the whole RockBand or Guitar Hero crazy is all about? Want to jump in but don’t know how to? Maybe you would be better off with Dan’s mish-mash of sound and electronics. This guitar has been stripped of all it’s internals and has a CPU and all sorts of cool audio circuitry stuffed inside. The Fender Bender is more machine than guitar.

You can even play the instrument with a custom made pick guard built from an old motherboard and some resistors.

[Link to Fender Bender]

RockBand For Those Over 40 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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If you have ever been to a club you can usually be assured to see some kind of light show (unless the clubs you frequent are in some back alley). Most of those light shows incorporate lasers to add to the experience. Now you can create your own laser show that will act to the music, albeit a small show, but great for your room.

Funky Alex has come up with a cool dual speaker laser X/Y mirror display that will bounce a laser around to the beat of the music. I’m sure if you had some bigger speakers and a longer throw you could probably have this display on an entire wall.

The vibrations from the 2 base speakers (with 1 mirror an each speaker) makes the laserbeam move with the music and the frequencies (audio).

You can find entire instructions on building your own including links to some software for your Mac to help you draw some cool effect on Instructables

Laser Music Sequencer originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Remember that temporary ban imposed on RealNetworks by a judge last week on their RealDVD software, you know the one that RealNetworks was sure to win, well they didn’t. The temporary injunction on the sale of RealDVD will go on indefinately. The following sentence by the judge seems to have sealed the fate of RealDVD:

I’m not satisfied that in fact this technology is not in violation of the DMCA.

My fear is that this type of ruling might be leveraged by the music studios as well. If you can’t copy a video disc then maybe you can’t copy audio disc as well.

Judge Upholds Ban On RealDVD originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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The world’s greatest QuickTime plug in has just turned 1.1.1. Perian is a free add on for QuickTime that allows for decoding of virtually every known codec in QuickTime. Some of the great changes include:

• H.264 in AVI fixed
• Some anamorphic AVI files are now supported
• Performance problems due to PIC fixed with Xcode 3.1
• Incorrect frame skipping on H.264 intra frames fixed
• Better character set detection
• The update checker is now much more polite
• Several parsing and rendering bugs with subtitles fixed
• Player freezing while loading subtitles with embedded fonts fixed
• Audio fixed for some older MKV files with AAC/FLAC
• Strange values in MKV chapters or video sizes are handled better
• Initial support for SAMI subtitles added
• Worked around a QuickTime bug (#5770288) causing frames to be lost during export
• New codecs: DosBox ZMBV, VP6+Alpha, Nellymoser ASAO
• Crashing on PPC G3 fixed
• Fraps decoding artifacts fixed

You can check out the full change log here

[Link to Perian]

Perian 1.1.1 Released originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Remember the Super Genintari which jammed 4 different classic game consoles into a single unit? Well, how about an NES system inside of an NES cartridge. The famicard is just that.

The unit includes a fill NES cartridge slot, joystick ports, and audio/video output all housed in a classic Zelda case. This is perfect if your a road warrior and want to take you classic games with you without the use of an emulator. Just don’t plug a famicard into a real NES, I heard the world would explode.

[Via Kotomi]

Famicard – An NES Inside An NES Cartridge originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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I love hardware mods. The idea of taking one thing and then using your imagination and hands to make it unique unlike anything else truly is an art form. This crafty hacker took an old NES and put it inside of a toaster. I just hope nobody at his place tries to actually toast bread with it. Video after the break.

I had an awful lot of people suggesting that my previous project (the Super Genintari/Leviticus) looked like a toaster. I then discovered that I had an extra NES and toaster laying around and knew what had to be done.

Ripped all the main guts out of the toaster and replaced them with an NES board, some orange LEDs, AC adapter and controller ports. Kept the front lever functional as the main power on/off switch and the crumb tray just for fun. Composite audio/video jacks are on the rear of the unit. The temperature knob does nothing.

[Link to Nintoaster]

NES In A Toaster: The Nintoaster originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Front Row on the Mac has to be one of the slickest “Media PC” like experiences that a user can have, but when Front Row 2.0 hit the scene Apple mysteriously removed the ability to stream audio to it. Will Apple release an update that will restore the streaming functionality? Who knows, but in the meantime there is a solution that we can all jump on.

The great Mac folks over at Rogue Amoeba have released Airfoil 3.1 which works around the streaming problem in Front Row. Airfoil will let you send any audio to multiple Airport Express units and keep the audio between them in sync. The latest release also allows you send audio from any source to an AppleTV. The functionality doesn’t end there; you can send any audio from your Mac to another computer (Mac or PC) on your local network via the Airfoil Speakers program which is bundled with the download. You can also watch videos on the built-in Airfoil Video Player.

All of this streaming goodness can be your for $25 right here.

Airfoil 3.1: Stream Audio To Front Row originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Mac | Explore more in: ac, air, airfoil, apple, appletv, audio, bundle, computer, ea, experience, front row, id, ir, itunes, led, loa, Mac, nes, network, os, pc, pda, press, rc, speakers, stream, sync, time, tor, ui, update, video, watch | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

There is a ton of software available for both Windows and OS X that allow you to rip and encode DVD’s, but what about Linux? A few months back I did a segment on the Lab with Leo Laporte TV show on just that, DVD rippers for Linux. (Video after the break)

DVD::RIP is a full featured DVD backup program written in perl. It’s very intuiative and eay to use but also provides a feature rich control of almost all aspects of the ripping and transcoding process. Some of the key features are:

• Runs on Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD
• Rip to harddisk, on the fly or from an existent DVD image
• Select audio track(s), viewing angle(s), multitple titles
• Rip as much audio tracks as you like into one AVI/OGG/SVCD file
• Supports nearly all of transcode’s video codecs, e.g: divx4, divx5, xvid, xvidcvs, ffmpeg, fame, opendivx and mpeg2enc
• DivX/Xvid multipass encoding
• (S)VCD modes, with multiple audio tracks for SVCD
• Integrated video bitrate calculator based on target size resp. number of discs
• Automatic splitting of the target files for best fit on the specified number of discs

Probably the strongest feature of DVD::RIP is it’s cluster mode which let’s you use any Linux machine you might have in your network for parallel encoding. Your rips come out much faster if you use say 2, 3, or 4 machines. Let me see Windows do that.

[Link to DVD::RIP]

DVD::RIP – Rippin Linux Style originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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I’m a huge old school gamer. NES, MAME, Super Nintendo, Gameboy, you name it (I’m really showing my age here), so much so that I must have gig’s of roms (all legal of course) and emulators on every machine that I own. Well, this portable media player is right up my alley.

The EM-SOL2GIG is a solar powered media player with a twist. It can play MP3s and MP4s as well as emulate the NES/Famicon, GameBoy Color, and SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis. It’s also got a built in text-to-speech system so you can have all of those e-book read to you, instant audiobook.

The portable unit offers a 320×240 display and is about 1″ thick. The large solar panel can also be used to charge other gadgets as well as the unit’s internal battery.

You can pick up this unit over on Amazon for $169.99.

Solar Powered NES, Genesis & Gameboy Emulator originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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If you are looking for a Linux powered machine that has an extremely small footprint and only drains 2 watts of power look no further. The Beagle Board is an embedded platform perfect for all things hackable. It’s based on the TI OMAP3 processor and comes with 128MB of DDR RAM and 256MB of NAND Flash all on a single chip.

In order to maintain both it’s small footprint and it’s low power consumption the board does away with thinks like an ethernet connection or wireless on board. It only comes with the bare essentials: DVI for video, SD/MMC for storage, audio in/out, and USB for any expansion like adding wireless or an ethernet connection.

All for about $150

[Link to Beagle Board]

Beagle Board – 2-Watts Of Linux Power originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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We talked about the Neuros OSD earlier this year, well it now looks like the company has decided to mature the project and bring it into the HD age. The OSD2.0, which will be aimed at Linux PVR coders, will have an impressive list of specs.

• D1(720×480) H.264 or SVGA (1024×768) MPEG4 + AAC/AC3/MP3 encoding
• 720P playback, up to 1080i with certain content
• Support H.264, MPEG2, MPEG4, WMV codec
• Composite/Component Input: 2 composite input, 1 component input, all with dedicated stereo audio
• Composite/Component/HDMI Video Output
• RCA Audio I/O
• 2 USB ports in rear, 1 in front, and 1 internal to housing

The unit will be retailing for $249.99 and should be available by the end of the month.

Neuros OSD – Take 2 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Just because I purchased a 360 doesn’t mean my original Xbox sits in the closet. No, no, no, the entire family uses it as a powerful media center thanks to the homebrew app XBMC (Xbox Media Center), and now the XBMC is going cross platform. You can go and grab early alpha releases right now off their website for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The funny thing is that they can’t put the Xbox version up on their site for legal reasons (go figure).

XBMC is a robust and powerful media player that is skinnable, supports plugins like TV guides, and access to nearly 1750 movie trailers via Apple’s movie trailer site. It will play pretty much anything you throw at it and also supports all know audio formats as well a picture viewer.

This is just another great reason why the homebrew community can create and deliver such robust and effective applications.

[XBMC]

XBMC Goes Cross Platform originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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After all of the rumours (what else is new) the 3G iPhone is finally here.

• Hits the shelves on July 11th (in Canada too!)
• $199 for 8GB, $299 for 16GB
• Black, with a white 16GB model
• GPS

In a clear action of trying to play catch up to Google, Apple also announced a suite of software that will be revolutionary. (If they decided to roll it out in 2002). MobileMe is a much needed update to the .Mac system. MobileMe will let users log into a website using a billion dollar url; me.com, to access their email, address book, and calendar for a mere $99 a year, you know, much better than Google’s $0 a year charge.

On the plus side it will now be compatible with Windows, errr, oh yeah, Google’s bee there and done that too. Sounds like it should me meh.com and not me.com

For all of you hardcore, here’s the official Apple press release …

SAN FRANCISCO—June 9, 2008—Apple® today introduced the new iPhone™ 3G, combining all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking that is twice as fast* as the first generation iPhone, built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK. In the US the new iPhone 3G is priced at a stunning $199 for the 8GB model, and just $299 for the 16GB model.** iPhone 3G will be available in more than 70 countries later this year, beginning with customer availability in 22 countries—Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the US—on July 11.

“Just one year after launching the iPhone, we’re launching the new iPhone 3G that is twice as fast at half the price,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “ iPhone 3G supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync right out of the box, runs the incredible third party apps created with the iPhone SDK, and will be available in more than 70 countries around the world this year.”

iPhone 3G gives users ever faster access to the Internet and email over their cellular network with quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA for voice and data connectivity around the world. iPhone 3G supports Wi-Fi, 3G and EDGE networks and automatically switches between them to ensure the fastest possible download speeds. The new iPhone 3G also makes it easier to multi-task with simultaneous voice and data communications, so with iPhone 3G you can browse the web, get map directions, or check your email while you are on a call.

iPhone 3G includes the new iPhone 2.0 software with both the iPhone SDK and key enterprise features such as support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to provide over-the-air push email, contact and calendar syncing as well as remote wipe and Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to corporate networks. The iPhone SDK allows developers to create amazing applications that leverage the iPhone’s groundbreaking Multi-Touch™ user interface, animation technology, accelerometer and GPS technology on the world’s most advanced mobile platform.

iPhone 3G includes the new App Store, providing iPhone users with native applications in a variety of categories including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. The App Store on iPhone works over cellular networks and Wi-Fi, which means it is accessible from just about anywhere, so you can purchase and download applications wirelessly and start using them instantly. Some applications are even free and the App Store notifies you when application updates are available. The App Store will be available in 62 countries at launch.

Additional features available with the iPhone 2.0 software include the ability to do real-time mapping and track your progress with GPS technology, mass move and delete multiple email messages, search for contacts, access a new scientific calculator, turn on parental control restrictions for specified content, save images directly from a web page or email them to your iPhone and easily transfer them back to your photo library on your Mac® or PC. iPhone 3G delivers an amazing 10 hours of talk time on 2G networks and 5 hours using 3G, with up to 5 to 6 hours of web browsing, up to 7 hours for video playback and up to 24 hours for audio playback.

iPhone 3G takes advantage of MobileMe™, a new Internet service that pushes email, contacts, and calendars from an online “cloud” to native applications on iPhone, iPod® touch, Macs and PCs. With MobileMe email, messages are pushed instantly to iPhone, removing the need to manually check email and wait for downloads, and push keeps contacts and calendars continuously up-to-date so changes made on one device are automatically updated on other devices. With iPhone, you can even snap a photo and post it directly to a MobileMe Gallery to share with friends and family.

iPhone 3G will be available in the US on July 11 for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 8GB model and $299 (US) for the 16GB model in both Apple and AT&T’s retail stores and requires a new two year contract with AT&T for qualifying customers. iPhone 2.0 software will be available on July 11 as a free software update via iTunes® 7.7 or later for all iPhone customers. For further information about iPhone 3G pricing and availability in the US and internationally, visit www.apple.com/iphone.

*Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds vary by site conditions.
**Based on iPhone 3G (8GB) and first generation iPhone (8GB) purchases. Requires new two year AT&T rate plan, sold separately.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

3G, GPS, MobileMe, Oh My originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Via Make …

Why would you want a USB port in an electric guitar? The answer is simple: convenience. By putting a small USB port and audio codec in a guitar, you’re adding an extra sound board. So when you record, your guitar is digitized locally and the signal is transmitted to your computer over a USB cable. The guitar retains all its standard analog capabilities but outputs to USB as well. Now you can rock steady until your hard drive is full. Here’s how to do it.

Link on adding a USB port to your Guitar

Build A USB Guitar originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Remember all of those spy camera ads that we all saw as kids in the back of comic books? Okay, so only a few of us can remember that far back. This mini video and audio spy camera throws me back to my days of being a youth.

It’s basically a run of the mill spy camera, but what makes it unique is it’s camouflage. The camera is shielded in a chewing gun wrapper that will conceal all of your sneaky work. It’s might be hard to explain to people why you want them to stair directly into a stick of chewing gun while they are talking, but it’s a start.

It doesn’t ship with a wrapper since it might be ruffle some feathers with the chewing gun manufactures, but you can easily pick up some gun for next to nothing.

It can be all yours for just $103.47

Chewing Gum Spy Cam originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | 3 Comments | Read more in Gadgets | Explore more in: ac, air, audio, book, camera, ds, ea, flag, gum, gun, ical, id, ir, make, mini, os, spy, video | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

I have a hard time keeping my white ipod earphone or my Shure E3’s. I find them to small to keep in my eye, they slip out all the time, maybe I need a set of these to pluck into my ears. The 500xl speakers look just like the plain headphones everyone gets with an ipod, except 500 times the size.

They are battery or AC powered and can get audio via USB or mini-jack your pick.

[Via WorldWideFred]

Massive iPod Headphones originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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I love me my portable gaming (yes the English was bad on purpose). I always have my DS and PSP stuffed into my backpack (along with every other portable gadget I own) just incase I am stuck somewhere and I have to kill some time.

I can already play NES and Gameboy games on my PSP if I choose by way of some crafty home-brewed software, but what I can’t do is play them in the park on a nice sunny day without killing my battery.

This portable gaming device not only plays games from the three classic Nintendo systems, it runs on the power of the sun (hence my whole park and sun analogy above). Right out of the box this unit can handle NES/Famicom, Gameboy and Gameboy colour titles, as long as you can get the ROMs onto an SD card which the unit uses to store the games. I’m sure if you use Google in a crafty manner you too can figure it out.

Along with all the retro-gaming fun, the Mobile Power Station plays most popular audio and video formats. The unit features a 3.5” colour display, 2GB of built in memory and an SD slot for up-to another 2GB. Did I also mention that the unit can also display (or speak) e-books, has a built in voice recorder, and even a tiny LED flashlight. Heck, it even has a USB out so that you can use the solar cells to charge other USB devices.

What are you waiting for? Grab one from Chinavision for $123.

Handheld Gaming Powerhouse originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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I’ve done a few hacks here and there with my EEEPC. I’ve even been on TV doing some of these hacks, but this takes the cake.

Someone has actually posted an incredibly detailed write-up of adding everything to your EEEPC and I mean everything. Four port USB hub, internal GPS, bluetooth, 56k modem, FM audio transmitter, 4gb USB flash drive and a 801.11a/b/g/n card with a spare antenna for full 802.11n support.

The write up is extremely well done and very detailed with lots a pics, a definite joy for anyone wanting to hack their EEEPC.

[Link via HackADay]

Every EEEPC Hack Under The Sun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: 2.1, ac, antenna, audio, bluetooth, car, drive, ea, eeepc, flash, gps, hack, hacking, hacks, ir, led, mit, mod, os, pc, usb, wifi | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Mvix’s new MX-780HD Media Center not only has all of the basic features you would expect for a dedicated media center like a multitude of supported video and audio formats, streaming capabilities from your computer via either Wi-Fi or ethernet, internet radio capabilities, and HiDef support in the form of 720p, 1080i and 1080p format, but it also has a built in torrent client so that all you pirates, errr I mean video podcast lovers can get your content without the need of a separate computer.

Although the MX-780HD isn’t listed on there site yet, here’s a look at what the MX-780HD will offer.

• Supported Video Formats: DivX, XviD, DVD (ISO/VOB/IFO), MPEG, VCD(DAT), WMV(WMV-9), ASF(WMV-9), TP, TS, TRP
• Supported Audio Formats: MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, PMC, AC3, M4A, DTS decoding (down-mixing / Pass though)
• Supported Image Formats: BMP, JPG, PNG
• Subtitle Support: SMO, SRT, SUB
• Video Out: HDMI, Composite, S-Video, Component Audio Out: RCA, Digital Coaxial
• Optical TV System: NTSC, PAL, Auto
• HD Support: 720p, 1080i, 1080p
• Networking: 802.11b/g (WEP/WPA), 10/100 Ethernet, NDAS
• Internal Disk: 3.5” IDE or SATA
• USB: Slave (for connecting to computer) and Host (for additional storage)

If your crafty enough you can already hack an AppleTV and get a pretty decent torrent client on it. Only time will tell if the price is right when they announce a price and shipping date.

MVIX MX-780HD – Medica Center With Torrent Client originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | One Comment | Read more in Gadgets | Explore more in: 2.1, AA, ac, apple, appletv, audio, cat, computer, dvd, ea, ethernet, hack, hd, hdmi, hidef, ical, id, internet radio, ir, iso, media center, mp3, nda, network, os, radio, rc, stream, time, tor, torrent, ui, usb, video | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Just in case you ever need to change a flat tire in the middle of darkness, record it with night vision, and record the audio of the whole experience; then this one’s for you. The Flashlight DVR Compact by Swann gives you all that and a flashlight. You can record about 8 hours of video, audio, and stills onto it’s SD card. There is even a panic siren encase shit hits the fan.

The whole thing is encased in an aluminum alloy casing that will take a whole hell of a lot punishment. Having all of these gadgets in one device doesn’t come cheap either; $399 to get your fix

Feature-Packed Flashlight originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Tom Ward who designs electronics for a living wanted to create a lasting impression on people who he meets so why not create a business card that dials his number for you?

To use the card you simply hold the corner, which contains a small speaker over the phone’s mouthpiece. The card then emits a series of DTMF audio tones to dial the number for you.

Although a single card might not be that cheap you can get you costs down to about $2 a card if you produce them in large batches. At $2 a card you might not hand your card out to each person you meet, but if you want a lasting impression then it would make quite an impact.

Tom posted a very detailed step by step of this process over on Instructables. I wonder what they would say at airport security when you passed your card through the X-Ray.

Business Card That Calls For You originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Leaked pictures of what possibly could be Lenovo’s new MID, or Mobile Internet Device, which looks quite like the old Atari Lynx portable gaming device. It looks like it has a horizontal PSP Xross Media Bar-like navigation, a wide body, and a touch screen. It can also play back video and audio and also has some fancy image drawing capabilities with internet browsing built in. Not sure what else it does but I’m sure we’ll be able to tell real soon.

Lenovo’s New MID originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Gadgets | Explore more in: ac, atari, audio, avi, ea, Gaming, handheld, id, lenovo, mid, mobile, navigation, os, picture, portable, psp, touch, ui, video | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Few users realize that Bluetooth headsets can be exploited granting a remote attacker the ability to record and inject audio through the headset while the device is not in an active call. SANS Institute author and senior instructor Joshua Wright demonstrates.

All that you need to know is the device address, which can easily be sniffed, and since the default pin for bluetooth headsets is 0000 there is no need to crack the key. The scary thing is that even when your not in a call, the audio can be tapped so that any room conversation can be picked up and listened to remotely. Word to the wise, don’t use Bluetooth headsets

Eavesdropping on Bluetooth headsets originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | 13 Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, audio, bluetooth, car, ds, ea, exploit, hack, hacking, hijack, id, jack, key, os, rant, remote, senior, tap, tor, video | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Feel like you need your Sonic fix on the go? For $39 you can pick up the Mega Drive Portable and play to your hearts content. You get the beloved classics Sonic and Knuckles, Ristar, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, Golden Axe (my favorite), Ecco the Dolphin, Altered Beast and others. The unit includes a backlit LCD display as well as the ability yo hook it up to your TV via composite video if you want to enjoy all of the fun on a bigger screen, not bad for $39. Seems like they have also been able to reproduce the audio perfectly and the graphics resemble the original. Seems like retro gaming looks to be back in a huge way.

Portable Sega Mega Drive originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Gaming | Explore more in: ac, audio, display, drive, ea, fix, Gaming, gold, graphics, id, lcd, mega drive, os, portable, rod, sega, video | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

The R/C Spy Snooper claims to be able to “enter a room undetectable”. It is just me or would you have to be deaf and blind not to catch this 9 inch long and 10 inch high brick on wheels make it’s way into a room? If you plan on spying on a room that has no one in it then yes, maybe this is the robot for you, but if anyone is actually in the room the only conversation you’ll be picking up is the laughter from the people making fun of you for your stupid attempt. On the plus side (and this really is the only plus) the robot looks kinda cool and can transmit audio up to 150 feet.

If you feel like spending $80 you can pick it up here

Super Robot Claims To Be Undetectable originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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tech.nocr.at, founded on July 1, 2007, is a weblog dedicated to bringing you an unbiased clear cut view on all things related to technology. In addition, we bring you reviews of the hottest gadgets and gizmos. tech.nocr.at is edited by Frank Linhares and is currently seeking contributing editors. If your interested drop us a line with some sample work to jobs@tech.nocr.at

Frank Linhares (Founder, Managing Editor)

Frank Linhares, born and raised in the big smoke, Toronto, Ontario. ever since his younger years running around with a 300 baud modem he has always been at the bleeding edge of technology. be it the original newsgroups back in the day to bbs message networks. from good old school vax and unix hacking via war dialing, to being a 2600′er he’s been there doing what he can to advance the cause.

In 2005 Frank started the techPhile podcast and the simple reboot podcast. Since then he has moved on to co-host and produce a video show all about technology, Digital Underground.tv. Its a monthly tech based show covering news, view, and reviews in the world of tech. Frank has had the pleasure of interviewing many of the movers and shakers in the tech-world; Leo Laporte, Kevin Rose, Amber Macarthur, John C Dvorak, and Andy Walker just to name a few.

Frank has made guest appearances of the following programs talking about technology, new media and hacking: command-N, hak.5, This Week in Media, This Week in Tech, Lab Rats, and the Computer America radio show. Frank was also the regular hardware hacker on the Call for Help and Lab with Leo television shows which aired on TechTV in Canada and the US and on the How-To network in Australia.

Ethics

The tech.nocr.at editorial staff is bound by the following code of ethics:

• Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.

• Diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing.

• Always question source motives before promising anonymity. Clarify conditions attached to any promise made in exchange for information. Keep promises.

• Make certain that headlines, news teases and promotional material, photos, video, audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent.

• Never plagiarize.

• Give voice to the voiceless; official and unofficial sources of information can be equally valid.

• Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.

• Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two.

• Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.

• Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.

• Disclose unavoidable conflicts.

• Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.

• Be open and honest about product reviews.

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• Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.

• Abide by the same high standards to which they hold others.

About originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/12/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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• Small Fry 1,000,000 Volt Mini Stun Gun (Frank)
• Hackers at Microsoft (Rob)
• Windows Error: “Operation Completed Successfully” (Frank)
• 26.25 Gigaflop Super Computer – $1256 (Frank)
• Learn to Hack (Rob)
• New Phone-less Ipod’s and more (Frank)
• How To: VGA over Cat-5 (Frank)
• Eco-Friendly DVR (Frank)
• Inflight USB: Power for you gadgets from an audio jack (Frank)

Best of the week – Sept 3 – 9 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/09/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Now this little unit won’t power your laptop or anything that is big, but it’s perfect for your iPod, cell phone, or PSP. The basic unit will draw you for about $35, and you can purchase iPod and mini B connectors.

Inflight USB: Power for you gadgets from an audio jack originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 1999 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Gadgets | Explore more in: ac, air, audio, audio jack, batteries, cell phone, commercial, connector, ea, ipod, ir, jack, laptop, light, lines, mini, music, nes, os, phone, phone jack, power, psp, rc, tor, usb | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

I must say, this phone does look quite slick. The picture above is the new Motorola ROKR E8, it’s basically a thin bar shaped handset with a JAVA/Linux based interface. It is rumoured to have 2GB of integrated memory and a microSD memory card slot for expandability. With a 2-megapixel camera, touch sensitive keys, mini USB port and a standard 3.5 mm audio jack for music it’s set to be a slick unit.

Now the above might just be the one cell phone that will give the iPhone a run for it’s money. The E7 is expected to have a touch-screen TFT display with VGA resolution, a 5 megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom and xenon flash, GoForce 5500 graphics accelerator, GPS, Wi-Fi, and 2 GB of internal memory. Plus it’s only 14 mm thick. This might just be the perfect iPhone alternative.

New iPhone Killer? Motorola ROKR E8 and E7 Leaked originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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If you’re like me you probably own a metric ton load of microphones from all of those podcasts you might do (okay I realize some of you might not do podcasts). I’ve been known to drop a pretty penny on microphones and other gear, hell I even own a mic that I paid over $500 for (I know I’m crazy).

One of the problems with having a studio pro microphone is the inability to make it very portable. Pro mics usually use an XLR type connector and I have yet to run across a laptop that has an XLR input. Because of the lack of XLR inputs you usually have to carry a pre-amp and some sort of firewire or USB breakout box to make it all work, way to much when you are trying to travel light.

CEntrance has all the angles covered with its new, self-contained, XLR input, USB-based MicPort Pro. The idea behind the device is quite simple: It takes any XLR microphone (or input) and converts it to a self-powered, single channel, 24-bit / 96Khz audio interface – all you have to do is plug it in with its supplied USB cable. You can get it now for $149.95.

MicPort Pro: Podcasting Dream originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Chinavision’s MP3 Cassette Player is a self-contained digital audio media player that just happens to slip inside of your tape deck for easy playback through your car stereo. It’s not very feature packed might I warn you, only plays MP3s and has no on-board storage (you’ll have to add your own memory card through the players SD/MMC slot), but at least you can easily just slide it in to your car’s cassette player. Ahhhh, mix-tapes all over again.

Cassette Mp3 Player: Smart, Very Smart originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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The decTOP computer system comes with 128MB of RAM, a 10GB hard drive (both of which are upgradeable), and is powered by a 333MHz AMD processor. If your looking for a rendering machine or cluster node this isn’t for you but it’s more than powerful enough to run a firewall appliance or a file server for the home. It’s got built in VGA, Ethernet, USB, and even has audio.

This bad boy comes without an OS on it but this simple tutorial shows you how to slap Ubuntu on it. Best of all, you can pick this puppy up for $99

[Via Lifehacker]

A basic server for under $100 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Goodbye vinyl, Hello MacBook. Denon unveils the DN-HC4500 Media Player and Controller, “first USB / MIDI audio interface designed exclusively for computer performance club and mobile DJs.” No longer will we be forced to have various computer parts (or entire computers) spliced into our decks. The DN-HC4500 features both PC and Mac support, 24-bit processing, BU4500 drive support, real time displays, touch-sensitive jog discs (for all your scratching needs), and comes integrated with Reflex LE software. And it looks sexy. Incredibly so.

$540 USD for this puppy, but it sure beats having to spend all the cash on records.

DigialDJ’in – Denon’s DN-HC4500 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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This little puppy replaces a bag full of adaptors and cables and makes life easier. The main selling point for me is, aside from the fact it’s cheaper and more portable than Apple’s AV Connection kit, is how the audio is line-out, rather than from the degraded headphone jack connection. The sound quality, therefore, is much better. For $35 USD you really can’t go wrong.

Available from Amazon

iPod Pocket Dock AV originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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How To: Make a USB Air Conditioner originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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I go through AA batteries like it’s going out of style. With all the audio equipment we need to power when we shoot Digital Underground, AA batteries are bought by the box. The problem is that it gets very expensive. This little hack will net you 32 AA batteries from a 6V battery. Why spend $20+ for a box of AA’s when you can get 32 of them for about $5.

6V Battery hack originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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As part of EMI Music’s digital catalog, the John Lennon solo works will be available in iTunes Plus, offering DRM-free music tracks with high quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings for just $1.29 per song.

It’s great to see record labels finally waking up and realizing that they can still sell music if it’s DRM free. Now if they could only stop funding RIAA.

With the release of the Lennon collection on iTunes rumors about a Beatles debut on iTunes and a special Yellow iPod are resurfacing. I’m wondering how Merlin Mann is feeling about all of this.

John Lennon Debuts on iTunes – No Yellow iPod originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 1999 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Mac | Explore more in: AA, ac, apple, audio, beatles, cat, ea, ipod, ir, itunes, Mac, music, nes, riaa, ring, time, ui | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit