To win at Mario Kart on a console you must master two things: drifting and power-ups. Half of that is replicated in these R/C Mario Kart toys, which we saw standing still last month but now can finally see in action motoring around what looks to be either Corporate Carpet Raceway or CDR Castle. The controller emits that familiar jingling item select sound when you've snagged a virtual power-up, and you can see how mushrooms boost your speed while banana peels cause your opponents' cars to freak out. Sadly there is no drifting to be found in this version of the game, but we're wondering if a little tape on the rear wheels wouldn't help address that shortcoming.

[Thanks, Jarom]

Continue reading Remote Control Mario Kart toys tested, don't drift but do shoot (video)

Remote Control Mario Kart toys tested, don't drift but do shoot (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just days after Google handed out an EVO 4G to every attendee of I/O 2010, a team of three hackers have managed to successfully root the phone with 11 days to spare. Details about how the root was achieved are being withheld, out of fear of a last minute patch, but that doesn’t mean that ranking members of the Android Army can’t get their freak on watching a YouTube video of the root at work. Click on through for the video.

Thanks, Salty!

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I’m a shipping freak. I love tracking packages, and I love knowing what happens when a package is sent. I have a pretty good understanding of how everything works — when and why packages are delayed, even when FedEx and UPS internally aren’t even so sure why. Everyone knows Apple’s iPads are due to be received (and available in stores) this Saturday, the 3rd. So, of course, Apple doesn’t want a single person getting an iPad early. Well, how do you completely control that? You request a block on delivery with your shipper of choice until the actual delivery date comes up.

But that doesn’t always do it. Sometimes there’s a mistake made, sometimes the local hub doesn’t care, or the package is there and no one notices and it gets sent out on the delivery truck. How do you completely fix this? You do what Apple is doing now. Shipments of iPads are due to reach the U.S. tomorrow and the next day, and if this was a normal shipment, the packages would be delivered on April 1st, not April 3rd. But, they can’t pass through Louisville, KY (UPS’ main hub) before passing through customs clearance. Since it’s an international shipment, there’s no way around that. Because Apple is shipping these things in bulk (yes, bulk), the easiest way to do this is to have the merchandise pre-cleared when it leaves China with UPS’s service WorldEase. The interesting thing though, is that U.S. Customs has not received any clearance papers yet — a surefire way to completely control the shipments until the actual delivery date and 100% bypass any possible shipper mistakes.

So. Smart.

Social media researcher and general internet guru Danah Boyd gave the keynote address at SXSWi earlier today, focusing on matters of privacy. On paper, Google Buzz was a perfect social network. So why did it freak everyone out so much? More »

Social media researcher and general internet guru Danah Boyd gave the keynote address at SXSWi earlier today, focusing on matters of privacy. On paper, Google Buzz was a perfect social network. So why did it freak everyone out so much? More »

In Nokia's own words, what we're looking at is a "piezoelectric kinetic energy harvester." Working along the same principles as kinetic wristwatches have done for a long time already, Nokia's idea is to capture the energy generated by the phone's movements and to refashion it into beautiful, clean-as-a-whistle electric power. By allowing the heavier internal components to move on rails within the phone as part of a "force-transferring assembly," the Espoo think tank has figured out a way to capitalize on all the small forces of acceleration and rotation that we subject our phones to on a daily basis. It would seem overly ambitious to expect this to replace the trusty old charger, but we give credit to Nokia for even thinking about it. Check out some schematics of how this would work after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Nokia wants patent on self-regenerating phone batteries, piezoelectrics and much magic involved

Nokia wants patent on self-regenerating phone batteries, piezoelectrics and much magic involved originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday, many Palm Pre owners were treated to an OS update that spanned the globe, except, unfortunately Verizon Wireless subscribers were left out. Luckily for you Palm-fanatics on Verizon, Verizon Wireless Pre Plus and Pixi Plus users are now free to get their webOS 1.4 freak on. Don’t forget to let us know how you’re lucky that brand new update.

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We know the boo birds are going to have a lot of fun with this, but today Rogers officially introduced North American One Rate data roaming plans. In exchange for an extra $10 per month, Rogers subs will be able to get their data freak on south of the 49th without having to pay a penny for per Kb data roaming. Instead, the used data deducted directly from their normal monthly data bucket. Here are the plans:

• $20 Personal Email on BB CDN/US
• $35 Consumer/Small business BB (BIS) 500MB CDN/US Plan
• $35 Consumer/Small business 500MB CDN & US Data Plan
• $40 Consumer/Small business BB (BIS) 1GB CDN & US Plan
• $40 Consumer/Small business 1GB CDN & US Data Plan
• $45 500MB CDN & US Mobile Internet Flex Rate Plan
• $50 DAP (for MSD customers) 1.5GB CDN & US Data Plan
• $55 Corporate BB (BES) 1GB CDN & US Plan
• $55 Corporate BB (BES) 500 MB CDN & US Flex Rate Plan

We don’t think the One Rate roaming plans will “shatter people’s perception of wireless data roaming when visiting the United States” as Rogers has stated, but we also think it’s hard to argue against the transparency of the new plans. Now to do something about voice and SMS…

Fun fact: There’s nothing that says you can’t switch to this plan as you’re boarding your flight to NYC and then removing it as soon as you’re back on Canadian soil.

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BlackBerry addicts, its officially time to freak out because BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 has just gone live in App Word. We don’t think we need to tell you what it’s all about because not only did we give the world its first look at the app, but its also been floating around for one hell of a long time. Well what are you waiting for? Let’s crash RIMs servers and call it a party! Hit us with your feedback, ok?

UPDATE: Looks like the servers really aren’t capable of handling the demand as we and a bunch of our readers are getting a “connection timed out” message. We’ll let you know once things calm down and everyone can be accommodated.

UPDATE 2: Looks like things are once again up and running.

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Because the one sentence written about this miniature-living-room-inside-a-PC-case was composed in Russian, i'll just say this—whoever created it is awesome, but they might also be a serial killer.

There's a painstaking amount of detail inside the scene, including intricate housewares such as a vase, flowers, the newspaper, and a gumball machine (?!). Anyone with this much time on their hands must also spend hours thinking of the perfect way to get away with murder.

But I do love how the circuit board nearly blends in as wallpaper if you don't pay close attention. I'd like to see this turn into a trend...I think. [Modding.ru via Technabob]

When you simply have $120.69-too-much in your bank account, you can thank Uxsight for being there. You may already be entertaining guests with your variety of USB endoscopes, but to really make the picture complete (pun only slightly intended), you're going to want this succulent USB iriscope. That's right, now you can peer deeply, digtally into the eyes of your... er, "clients" (their words, not ours) as you check their health and generally freak everyone out. When you're done, you can "compare the irises pictures when your client comes back to see their progress." Now, we don't know exactly what kind of procedure you're going to be performing on said clients, but you'll finally have a way to show them just what kind of mess you've made. We think Uxsight says it best about their product: "Natural image, attractive or charming." Who can argue with that kind of logic?

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

USB iriscope is just what you need for your next date originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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