prototypes

Apple requests return of lost iPhone prototype

Gizmodo said Monday evening it is making arrangements to return an errant device that is believed to be a prototype of the next iPhone, following a request from Apple's legal department, which Gizmodo calls verification of the device's authenticity.

The tech blog site had revealed early Monday that it was in possession of a device it concluded to be a prototype of the unreleased and as-yet-unannounced iPhone 4G. The next-generation device was reportedly found last month on the floor of a San Francisco Bay Area bar after it was apparently left by a customer identified as an Apple employee. … Read more

Your hoodie just updated your Facebook page

Sure, you can "poke" a friend or "like" a status via your mobile phone. But that's sooo last season.

Ping, a "social-networking garment" from Seattle-based user experience designer Jennifer Darmour, is a concept hoodie that links to your Facebook account wirelessly and lets you connect to your minions by performing basic gestures.

Take off the hood, and you poke a friend. Tie the waist bow to accept a friend request. What's that? A vibration on your shoulder? You just received a new notification.

Darmour, the brain behind Ping and the site electricfoxy, … Read more

No iPad for case; make fake iPad

When the iPad is released on April 3, that wonderful cottage industry known as the accessories market will swing into high gear and try to capitalize on the popularity of Apple's hot new device. But unless you're Stephen Colbert at the Grammys or a few other select people, you're probably not getting anywhere near a working iPad until it starts shipping. So, how do accessory manufacturers manage to have their wares ready to go on launch day?

Well, they make their own iPads.

At least that's what Hard Candy Cases, which is known for its laptop … Read more

Dell says, 'Wait, we're doing a slate PC, too!' - plus hands-on impressions

Update: Hands-on impressions added below.

LAS VEGAS--At its Thursday morning CES press conference, Dell briefly announced plans to release a slate-style tablet PC, in the same vein as the rumored Apple Tablet or the HP/Microsoft prototype tablet shown earlier in the week.

Details are scarce, but the 5-inch device would be smaller than rival ideas coming from HP and (presumably) Apple. Describes as a "tablet concept," there's no guarantee the product would ever reach the public in its current form.

Update: We had a chance to check out the device behind closed doors after the press … Read more

Oops! Facebook jumps the gun on 'Prototypes'

It looks as if Facebook was a little premature in using its Twitter account to announce "Prototypes," a Google Labs-like operation that lets members beta-test new features for the social network and offer feedback.

The tweet offering a screenshot of Prototypes was swiftly deleted--but props to The Next Web for snagging it before it was pulled.

So what are the "prototypes" in question? Facebook seems to be experimenting with desktop notifications, content discovery, and upgrades to its Events invitation service. Next to each test feature is a star-based rating system through which, presumably, users can … Read more

Irex prepping new wireless e-book reader

Just got an image of a mock-up for a new e-Reader from Irex that's due out this holiday season. Not much info on this thing but it's larger than the Kindle 2 and just-announced Sony Readers.

Here's the little we know:

8.1-inch display 3G wireless connectivity (no carrier announced) Touch screen with stylus navigation Fall 2009 release

Until now Irex, one of the early e-reader pioneers (you remember the iLiad, right?), has mainly offered more business-oriented readers that are rather pricey and sold primarily to European customers. However, this model is a consumer model that will … Read more

New iPhone OS 3.0-based prototype discovered

Ars Technica reports that the latest version of the iPhone OS 3.1 beta 3 seeded to developers recently holds a configuration file that references two mysterious products known as iProd0,1 and iProd1,1. iProd0,1 was previously referenced and initially spotted back in March in a version of the same configuration file in iPhone OS 3.0 beta. References to iProd1,1, however, are completely new.

According to Ars: The iProd1,1 device has been assigned a new productID of 4762 (versus 4757 of iProd0,1) and assigned a different ConfigurationDescriptor of "standardMuxPTPEthernet." iPhone models also … Read more

The 404 367: Where we get mushy with Russ Frushtick

Our good buddy Russ Frushtick of MTV Multiplayer (formerly of UGO) comes onto the show today to talk shop and give us the inside scoop on Project Natal, "Ghostbusters," and the Nintendo Wii Motion Plus.

We're always stoked when Russ Frushtick drops into the studio because he always brings us the best news, and today is no different. Russ recently accepted an offer to work at MTV Multiplayer as the only guy covering video games! Now that he's the head honcho, we feel extra special that he's willing to talk with us about E3. Granted, E3 was awhile ago, but Russ gives us his take on Project Natal and how he thinks it will effect the industry as a whole. Believe it or not, I'm actually kind of psyched to play the handball game despite how weird I'll probably looking flailing my arms around like a maniac in that 3-foot square. Russ also talks about the Milo demo, where you apparently have to establish a relationship and "connect" with a young boy in order to win the game? Maybe they should've called it "Project Wilson Tang."

After the break, we jump right back into more video game talk. We chat about the a game called Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS. From how Russ described it, it sounds pretty cool: you just wander around and when you encounter a problem, all you have to do is write in what you'd need to get out of it and the object appears onscreen. And the game has 10,000 words you can write in! Listen in for more details about Prototype and a hilarious rant about the Wii MotionPlus.

EPISODE 367 Download today's podcast Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Battle of the suspiciously similar superhero games: Infamous vs. Prototype

Hollywood brains occasionally act in unintended tandem, producing simultaneous movies about, say, dangerous volcano eruptions, or killer meteors threatening to wipe out mankind. It's all completely unintentional, at least according to the lawyers, so we shouldn't be surprised to see the same seemingly cloned concepts come to game consoles.

Two of the most buzzed about current games are the PS3 exclusive Infamous--an open-city game with a superpowered anti-hero--and Prototype--also an open-city game with a superpowered anti-hero. How deeply do the similarities go? We've created a handy chart to sort it all out.… Read more