Microsoft’s Kinect is the gift that keeps on giving for hackers, spawning everything from glasses-free teleconferencing to Tesla coil manipulation to uh, well, Android dance parties. But Luis de Matos’s wi-Go project is one of the most socially conscious we’ve seen: it adds a laptop and (despite its name) a Kinect to a shopping cart, enabling the cart to follow a wheelchair user. Improving on the B.O.S.S. bot we saw a half-decade ago, the wi-Go could allow anyone — including the disabled or elderly — to shop independently, regardless of physical capability. De Matos doesn’t offer many technical details, but see the video above for a before-and-after demonstration.

Newest Kinect hack: a grocery cart that loyally follows disabled shoppers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Jun 2011 02:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Kinect Hacks  |  Luis de Matos (Vimeo)  | Email this | Comments

The HTC Evo’s 1-GHz processor is one of the fastest in smartphones today, but there’s always room for improvement.

An Android developer at the xda-developers forum has overclocked his Evo 4G phone to run at 1.267 GHz, nearly 30 percent faster than the standard issue. The developer Michael Huang, who posted the hack under the nickname ‘coolbho3000′, says he’ll try and push the processor to do even more.

“Right now, it’s a proof of concept,” Huang told Wired.com. “I built a version of the kernel that’s running on the phone to overclock it and found it worked fine.”

The hack is pretty technical but the idea is to let advanced Android users and programmers see the potential of the device.

HTC introduced the Evo earlier this month as the first 4G Android phone. The Evo, available exclusively on Sprint, has a huge 4.3-inch touchscreen, a 1-GHz Snapdragon processor, a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video conferencing and a 8-megapixel camera for shooting photos and videos. It costs $200 with a two-year contract.

The phone has become the bestselling device on the Sprint network and at Best Buy Mobile.

Overclocking the HTC Evo is not the first such attempt developers have made with an Android device. Earlier, Huang says he has tried to overclock the Google Nexus One, which has the same 1-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor as the HTC. But that hack pushed the speed of the processor to only about 1.1 GHz.

The HTC Evo overclocking has resulted in speeds of a little more than 1.2 GHz for most users on the forum who have tried it.

But, a few words of warning for those who might attempt this at home: It isn’t a DIY project for just anyone. The files necessary to overclock the HTC Evo are posted online but you need to know what you are doing with it.

“If you have a rooted phone, you can get an update.zip file to apply to that phone,” explains Huang. “What I have done is packaged the special overclocked kernel into the file.” Huang used an Android app called SetCPU available in the Android Market to adjust the overclock.

Huang says he doesn’t have access to the full source code of the HTC Evo OS, which has limited some functions in the phone.

That means the sensors and camera on the phone do not currently work with the hack.

The overclocking also affects the phone’s battery life — despite Huang’s attempt to tweak the voltage piped to the processor.

“If you put less voltage on the processor, then the phone will use less battery, so my Evo kernel is running at a lower voltage than normal,” he says. “But because the processor is at a higher speed, the battery life is lower than usual.”

Once the overclocked device gets running, it also heats up a fair bit, say commenters on the forum. So, try this one at your own peril.

If you don’t want to go through all that, just enjoy the video of the overclocked HTC Evo.

See Also:

• Oops! Sprint Says it Overstated HTC Evo Phone Sales
• HTC EVO 4G $200, on Sale June 4
• Wired Video: HTC Evo 4G Dissected
• Storage Bug Hits HTC Evo 4G Phone Just Before Launch

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

[via Android Guys]

We’re still a good dozen days away from its public release, but the Evo 4G has already been given a rooting makeover. Google dished out Evo handsets to all the lucky (so lucky!) attendees of its blowout I/O 2010 event, and a trio of those visitors rolled up their sleeves and decided to get down and intimate with the phone over the weekend. The product of their labor is at this stage just a few screenshots and a blurry video after the break, but fear not, we’re sure details of the hack will be forthcoming promptly.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading HTC Evo 4G rooted in record time (video)

HTC Evo 4G rooted in record time (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 May 2010 03:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  grack  | Email this | Comments

It’s slow, jerky, and may not even work on your Android device after installing the 41MB package. But it’s FireFox for Mobile (aka, Fennec) on Android, brother, and isn’t that worth the hassle? Based on our experience with it on the N900, the only gold platform at the moment, it most definintely is. MartinSchirr of Android Forums is credited with the port and it’s your best option until the cats at Mozilla issues a formal Android release (currently in Pre-Alpha) later this year as expected. Check the video after the break if you want to experience it right now, mess free.

[Thanks, Will]

Continue reading Firefox for Mobile (Fennec) escapes in a rough Android port

Firefox for Mobile (Fennec) escapes in a rough Android port originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 02:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink XDA-Developers  |  Android Forums  | Email this | Comments

Continue reading iPhone in iPhone app is useless, but mesmerizing

iPhone in iPhone app is useless, but mesmerizing originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink recombu  |  Ogmento  | Email this | Comments

You know what’s magical? Magnets. They’re so magical, in fact, that Motorola decided to use them in its new DROID car and “multimedia station” docks. Based on the positioning of a couple of magnets, the phone auto-loads the pertinent application — the multimedia station at least offers a charging plug, but the car dock is all stand. Lucky for us it’s not hard to figure out where to place a couple of magnets (we used some nerd-approved “Buckyballs“) and spoof the phone into acting like it’s docked. We’re sure with some additional craftmanship we could have a dock that actually holds the DROID upright, but we won’t get ahead of ourselves. For now check out our very own multipurpose homebrew DROID dock after the break.

Continue reading How-to: hack your own DROID dock with magnets and cardboard

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

How-to: hack your own DROID dock with magnets and cardboard originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Korg’s Nanokey MIDI controller is pretty awesome in its own right, but using it with your feet gets a little difficult under “normal” conditions. We can’t say for certain why Marc Fischer decided to convert his perfectly good control board into a MIDI foot pedal, but frankly, that’s beside the point. The point is he did it, and he did it with just a bit of ingenuity, some wooden blocks for risers and a bit of Plexiglas to cover up the missing keys. Hit the read link if you’re interested in doing something similar, and feel free to ask the man himself where that gorgeous shag carpet came from. Kinky!

[Via MAKE]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Korg Nanokey controller repurposed into MIDI foot pedal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We’ve seen no shortage of homegrown clocks in our day, and while most are cute for their time, few are worthy of being lauded in this manner. Alan Parekh’s Gear Clock is a delightful mishmash of machined gears, thrown together in a fashion that resulted in an actual time-telling gizmo. Hop on past the break to watch this thing spin, but be sure to hold the mute button for the lead-in. Clearly ‘Sound Check’ wasn’t activated.

Continue reading Machined Gear Clock makes watching the time pass a true joy (video)

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household

Machined Gear Clock makes watching the time pass a true joy (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

It’s been far, far too long since we broke out the View-Master from the admittedly dusty toy chest, but now we’re guessing it’ll be at least a score before we get the urge again. Why, you ask? The View-Master 2009. These homegrown virtual reality goggles are surprisingly impressive despite their ragged look, and by utilizing some form of cardboard enclosure, an HTC Magic and Google Street View, the designer was able to mimic that “immersive” environment we’ve grown to know and never forget. Don’t believe us? Have a look at the vid just past the break, and hang in there ’til the end if you’re scouting a how-to guide.

Continue reading DIYer concocts homegrown View-Master, relies on HTC Magic and Google Street View (video)

Filed under: Displays, Wearables

DIYer concocts homegrown View-Master, relies on HTC Magic and Google Street View (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Some folks say less is more, but we’ll bet they never saw Guitar Hero being played by kicking footballs against a giant wall. This epic undertaking will give your plastic axe a major inadequacy complex with its huge wall-mounted piezo vibration sensors and absurdly large fretboard projection. An Arduino acts as the conduit between the contact sensors and a PC running the freeware Frets on Fire. The outcome from such a relatively simple setup is pretty astounding, and you can check it out in the videos past the break, including some behind the scenes footage.

Continue reading Football Hero mod takes Arduino to the Kasabian-approved big leagues (video)

Filed under: Gaming

Football Hero mod takes Arduino to the Kasabian-approved big leagues (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments