Archive for: home
- December 11, 2010 7:48 pm
In news that should make the technologically proficient being in all of us weep, the latest news from the FCC regarding home broadband speeds is quite disheartening. It appears that our national broadband infrastructure isn’t as robust as we think it is. Specifically, out of the 90,963,000 U.S. broadband connections tracked by the FCC, a full 68% fail to meet the revised 4Mbps down/1Mbps up requirements recently put into effect. Breaking it down further, of those 90,963,000, 58% failed to even reach 3Mbps down and 786Kbps up. Finally, 49% of the total tracked connections featured upload speeds slower than 786KKbps.
What the FCC’s data shows is that the U.S. still has a long, long way to go before we start to consider our nation a leading broadband provider. Countries such as Japan, South Korea, and many other European countries offer average speeds many times faster, and for far less. Part of it is because the leading countries are geographically smaller, which in turn means network upgrades and maintenance is much cheaper. Another aspect to consider is that competition in foreign countries is also much higher, with the average consumer facing 3, 4, or more capable broadband providers.
With that said, the FCC’s testing methodologies aren’t the most scientific, and have their own fair share of holes. Even still, there’s no denying the U.S. could offer much better. Hopefully U.S. companies with fiber rollouts in progress or even planned pick up the pace. The rest of the world is passing us by, and quick.
Tired of living in your typical box-shaped abode? Some clever students from Karlsruhe, a German university, have turned everything regarding home design upside down — literally. The Rolling Space is a three-part “house” that can have each part rotate individually. The end result is quite a bit more useful living space tailored to specific activities than one would normally find in such close quarters.
One part of this concept house triples as a bed, desk, and resting area/chair while the middle part takes care of exercise needs ala the tried and true hamster wheel. The third and final part of this unique house handles all of your kitchen duties, featuring cupboards for storage and even a sink!
I’m pretty sure this symbolizes the ultimate in mobile living and efficiency, wouldn’t you say? Gallery after the break…
- September 2, 2010 8:16 am
The greatest thing about Android is that even though it has “an image”, end users (and regrettably, carriers) are allowed to mod and customize the UI as they see fit. With that said, there are plenty of home replacement options in the Android Market if the stock Android (or carrier provided) home app doesn’t exactly mesh into the fabric of your daily life. I’ve tried pretty much every home replacement on the market, eventually finding a winner in LauncherPro.
For a short time, I managed to get a sort of working/sort of broken HTC Sense launcher on my Droid, but it was far too buggy. And in the end, I missed the stock look of Android. Where HTC’s Sense UI failed, perhaps the freshly ripped-off-the-LG-Ptimus Home app can do better, no?
The fine folks at XDA have taken yet another proprietary offering and ripped it’s guts apart, ‘splaying them on the XDA forums for the world to enjoy, regardless of Android device. I loaded the LG Home app on my Moto Droid 1 and it worked fine — a bit slow, but fine. With the home app comes a pack of widgets to boot. The only thing I’m still left wanting is the weather widget that is present on the LG Ally’s build. Maybe next time I guess. For the record, the LG Launcher is said to work on any Android device, but it hasn’t been tested. As such, hope for the best, plan for the worst.
Anywho, I know you all just want the goods. Stop on by the thread over at XDA to get your download on…
How about some lighter reading to start the hellish of all days, Monday? The image you see on the right shows one unique bathroom decor choice originating from the Ace Hotel in Portland, Oregon. It’s pretty neat stuff. Just think of the nerdy fun someone such as myself would have if a pocketable reader could be rubbed along the wall to rehash all of the old-time piano goodness. Such a device doesn’t exist in exactly the right form however, so we’ll have to make do with oooing and aaaahing.
BoingBoing > Flickr
Think of one of your biggest wishes when you were a kid. For some, it was a constant rain of chocolate. Others wanted an unlimited supply of toys. Yet some were more logical in their wants and wishes, and instead sought out something a tad more useful, say, massive, larger than life LEGO blocks. If that just so happens to quantify your early years, a new building block by Ecomat is just for you.
Much like USB flash drives, LED’s are one of those inexpensive, small, and highly versatile electronics that manage to find their way into countless projects. From computers to mp3 players to skateboards and now pillows, is there anything you can’t stuff an LED in to? The creator of the Moonlight Cushion believes in that very same ideology as there’s no functional or reasonable explanation as to why LED’s need to be crammed into a pillow. But it’s cool — very cool. As such, I need one, maybe two. At $38 they’re a bit pricey for a simple pillow. The geeks of the world should jump without even so much as a single second guess though.
The only setback? Moonlight Cushions are out of stuck until early May. Ouch. Get those thumb goin…
[Product Page: ThumbsUp UK]
Coolest-Gadgets
Any geek (or poser) can carry around an assortment of gadgets and put off the image that he is a knowledgeable techie. But only the true nerds fill their house with such affair. The NES Controller Rug will promptly let everyone know your inner being. I would have to have at least two myself. They’re simply too nice and too cool to be covered by feet and dirt. At the same time, I’d want to show such a rug off. Decisions decisions. What would you do?
[Product Page: Etsy]
Geeky-Gadgets > Technabob
- January 12, 2010 11:26 am
Call it a fad, a passing trend, or a simple failure. Whatever it may be, it will be on T-Mobile no more. Hotspot@Home, the once highly talked up VoIP service from the boys and girls at the magenta cellular provider will be no more. For those of you who paid for the service, rest assured that (for now) it appears TMO will honor your contracts. However, any newcomers looking to snag the VoIP service from TMO are out of luck. Think of it more as a fading into the darkness instead of an outright and abrupt killing.
Mind you, TMO isn’t killing VoIP support or calling, just their @Home service. Essentially, they were losing too much money. I mean, for $10/month you could have unlimited calling from any WiFi hotspot. In today’s urban jungle, you can’t go a single block without being bombarded by at least half a dozen WiFi networks.
‘Tis a shame as @Home was a great service that none of the other carriers offered. Oh well, at least they aren’t completely killing off VoIP support right?
Engadget > Brighthand > AP
- December 29, 2009 10:16 am
Wall outlets — what exactly can we say? It’s a hole in the wall from which electrons spew forth when the appropriate (and sometimes inappropriate) material is inserted. How could technology and society actually make it better?
Enter the world transformed with the Rambler Socket. For starters, who says technology and mundane things such as wall outlets have to be ugly and unsightly? The Rambler is quite the looker.
Just because it looks good doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be functional. The Rambler excels again — offering up a fair amount of real world practicality.
The houses of tomorrow could have such a gadget pictured above and below. An outlet that stores an extension cord inside the outlet itself, allowing for more versatility and options when designing and building homes as well as giving homeowners one less thing to fret over.
I just with such concepts would come more quickly. It will easily be 15-20 years before we see any such technology implemented as “common” construction techniques in the U.S.*sigh*. Then again, they’ll have to swap out that goofy euro-connector in the pictures with a U.S. style before we could even use it anyway.
Who’s excited for wall outlets!?
Geeky-Gadgets >
Engadget
