The Viper Smart Start app can control your car from wherever you are, as long as you have a data connection on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
(Credit: Directed Electronics)Car security company Directed Electronics is unveiling a new iPhone application Tuesday that lets customers control parts of their Viper SmartStart-enabled vehicle from their iPhone or iPod Touch.
The app, called Viper SmartStart, is quite similar toZipcar's recently released iPhone app, except it can work with your car, and not one you're renting for the weekend. It, too, creates a virtual keychain control module that can do things like lock and unlock your vehicle, open the trunk, and activate the alarm, getting rid of the need to carry around one of those keychain clickers as long as you've got your phone handy.
Coolest of all, though, there's a "Smart Start" button in the center of the screen that can turn on your vehicle. The company is promoting this as a simple way to defrost or cool off a car before you get in--that is, assuming you correctly set the climate controls the last time you were inside.
Since the app uses the iPhone's data connection to send the commands, you can control your car (or cars) from anywhere you have an EDGE or 3G signal. It also means you can use it on a non-cellular data device like the iPod Touch, as long as it's near Wi-Fi.
The app is completely free, but it requires you have Viper's SmartStart system installed in each car you want to take control of. This costs $499 for a new installation, or $299 for cars that already have a Viper alarm system, as well as an active subscription to Viper's Smart Start service. Buyers of the system get a year of the $29.99 service included when they get the service installed; then they have to pay after that.
I'm still waiting for a version that can give you live video and steering controls, like the ridiculous, yet awesome remote-controlled BMW in "Tomorrow Never Dies" Though something tells me that's not happening anytime soon.
You can watch the company's promo video after the break.
Correction 9:07 a.m. on October 13: This story initially misidentified the remote-controlled car and James Bond film it was featured in. It is a BMW, and it appeared in "Tomorrow Never Dies."
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Free apps like Howcast provide video tutorials anytime, anywhere.
I'm not the handiest person in the world, which is why I tend to reach for the telephone more often than the toolbox. (The plumber's on speed-dial.)
It's not that I don't want to drill, cut, measure, and fix things myself--it's that I usually lack the tools and/or know-how.
All together, now: there are apps for that! Here's a roundup of five excellent iPhone apps that cater to handymen, home improvers, and other DIY fans.
- Bolt & Nut Need to figure out the wrench size for a particular nut or bolt? Just lay it (gently) on your iPhone screen and drag the calipers until they "fit." This clever app also provides a thread gauge, ruler, and reference guide. Price: free.
- Dimensions It's an entire iPhone toolbox devoted to measuring. In addition to a ruler and caliper, Dimensions provides virtual tape measures--including a clever camera-based "Long Tape" that can measure distances up to 82 feet. Price: $1.99.
- Hole Spacer When you finally get around to hanging those snazzy album-cover frames, you'll want to make sure they're evenly spaced. Hole Spacer does the math so you know exactly how far apart to drill each hole. Where has this app been all my life?! Price: free.
- Howcast Forget YouTube. If you want to learn how to do something, watch the professionally produced, often-humorous videos available in Howcast. It's got everything from changing tires to fixing leaky toilets. Price: free.
- wikiHow Kind of like Howcast's wiki kid brother, wikiHow provides a huge selection of tutorials on just about any project you can imagine--along with a survival guide in case you're ever, um, treed by a bear. (It could happen!) Price: free.
Well, did I miss any must-have DIY apps? I didn't include any "level" tools, as they've been around forever, but do you have a favorite? Share your iPhone-as-toolbox thoughts in the comments.
In the meantime, check out these other "killer app" roundups:
While there's really very little practical purpose for it, this homemade drill is nothing short of awesome. Flickr user s8 built the "drill pendant" with a tiny motor and battery. It's so small the length of the handle is about the width of the maker's index finger.
In a video, s8 shows the drill bit turning and the sound it makes when doing so. Though we suspect a needle or a Swiss Army Knife's awl could probably do anything this DIY drill can, you have to admit that they are nowhere as cool.
(Source: Crave Asia via Gizmodo)
Adobe's trotting out the carrot-and-stick approach to convince people to upgrade to Photoshop CS4. The carrot is CS4 Configurator, a free utility that currently allows you to create custom panels for Photoshop CS4 and eventually for the entire suite. The stick? This year's iteration of its three-generations-back-only upgrade pricing (only users of the previous three versions qualify for upgrade pricing), which will cut off eligibility for Photoshop 7 users on October 15.
CS4 configurator, which should be freely available for public download from Adobe Labs at the end of the month when Creative Suite 4 ships, is the first stab at allowing users to create Flash-based custom panels for the applications. The tool, an Adobe AIR application, is made possible by the software's interface re-architecture to support Flash.
According to John Nack, senior product manager for Photoshop, Configurator is intended to "let anyone with ideas and experience extend and remix the interface," not just to remix the elements but to "contextualize them in meaningful ways." He expects "only about 2 percent of Photoshop users to create panels, but 98 percent to use them."
I've played with Configurator a bit--well, as much as possible given how unstable the the Photoshop CS4 beta has been on my system--and while I love the idea, Adobe has a bit further to go before the beta even becomes useful to seriously try out, much less create distributable panels.
On one hand, almost every aspect of the application can be empaneled: menu commands; tools from the tool palette; and Actions, scripts, and Javascript. There are also widgets for adding text display (to the panel), Flash animations, Flash videos, and a cool search box to find tools within the application. You then simply export the panel to the appropriate folder and it appears under the Extensions menu; enable it and the panel pops up and can be docked along with the others.
Photoshop has been getting so bloated crammed with features that something like this was inevitable. Corporate shops will eventually be able to supply production drones with quick access to just the tools they need and authors and trainers will be able to supply custom panels that match up with specific tutorials.
(Credit:
Setgo)
If your gadgets outnumber your pockets but you're not quite resigned to suspender geekdom, there may be a compromise. Setgo's "Transport," as Dvice puts it, is "a kind of wearable man-purse for the 21st century" though we assume it's not necessarily gender-specific.
It's basically the equivalent of an updated tool belt with "strategically placed pockets" that's worn like a big sash over the shoulder instead of around the beer belly. The idea is valid, but we can't see paying $80 for something like this. And if you think that wearing just one strap instead of two will somehow lessen the date repellant factor, you'd be sadly mistaken.
A couple months back I attempted to test two 30-inch displays--the Samsung SyncMaster 305T and the Gateway XHD3000 Extreme HD-- at the same time using CNET Labs' current distribution amplifier (DA), the Extron Electronics D2 DA4 DVI D2 DA4 DVI. This device allows up to four displays to simultaneously view the same video signal from one system. For years we've used this device to not only speed up testing, but to do accurate direct comparisons as well. Unfortunately the native resolution for the aforementioned 30-inchers is 2,560x1,600, and the maximum resolution the Extron supports is only 1,920x1,200. So, without a means to test them simultaneously at their native resolutions I was stuck in a bind. I could have tested them one at a time, but since our testing--which includes DisplayMate--has a high level of subjectivity to it, it's always best to do direct simultaneous comparisons, instead of testing one display today and then waiting a couple days to test the next. Testing them simultaneously allows you to see the exact differences between the displays.
So I delayed the testing and the review for a few weeks. In the meantime I got in touch with a colleague at DisplayMate, Ray Soneira. He put me in contact with a company called Kramer. Kramer manufactures a number of distribution amplifiers including the Kramer VM-2DVI. This particular DA is Dual Link compatible and supports each 30-inch display's 2560x1600 resolution. So now I could test both 30-inch displays simultaneously at their native resolutions in DisplayMate and in our current games test, World of Warcraft. However whenever I attempted to run either our Kill Bill Vol. 1 DVD or our Swordfish BD on both displays at the same time, the DRM gods reared their ugly heads and denied me salvation. So when testing how each display handles disc-based movies, I was forced to evaluate each display one at a time. The Kramer VM-2DVI is not advanced enough to circumvent DRM tomfoolery, unfortunately. That said, we're still very pleased that the VM-2DVI allowed us to do the bulk of our testing as fairly and accurately as possible.
The issue of not being able to view certain disc-based movies simultaneously on two or more displays may not be an issue for long, as CNET Labs is considering moving away from using movies--and even games-- to evaluate the quality of a display. The reason being that video images generally move too quickly to do a picture quality comparison, whereas static images such as high-quality photos can be studied as long as necessary in order to examine their quality. No decision has been made as yet, though, but look for more on this in a future Inside CNET Labs post. ... Read more
On Sale Now: $1,309.99
View the latest prices for Samsung SyncMaster 305T LCD Monitor
Last week a video made the rounds showcasing a new way to bypass Apple's many layers of security on the iPhone. The software called PwnageTool, which has been released today for both Mac and Windows users, opens up the iPhone to running apps that have unsigned code, effectively letting users run homebrewed developer apps with no special seals of approval or verification whatsoever. The tool also lets you load up your phone with customized firmware, letting advanced users develop their own concoctions that could be shared with other users, complete with automatic unlocking, jailbreaking, and activation upon first boot.
You can watch a video of the tool in action below. There are also download links, as well as documentation here. Keep in mind using this third-party software in its early stages is a very easy way to brick your iPhone if you don't know what you're doing. You're also voiding any warranty you have through Apple, so if you're eager to give it a spin, my advice is to wait a few days for them to work out the kinks.
Escape from Berkeley is a race planned for the July 4 weekend that will task contestants with getting an alternatively powered vehicle from Berkeley, Calif., to Las Vegas.
(Credit: Escape from Berkeley)
Update July 19, 2008: Escape from Berkeley is now scheduled for Oct. 10-13, 2008.
If you're a regular reader of Geek Gestalt, but not of its sister blog, Green Tech, I thought I'd point you to an entry I just posted there about what sounds like one heck of a cool event scheduled for this summer.
The so-called Escape from Berkeley race will task contestants with getting their non-petroleum-based fuel vehicles from the famously liberal Bay Area city to the famously outrageous Sin City, Las Vegas, over the July 4 weekend.
Part Burning Man, part Power Tool Drag Races, part DARPA Grand Challenge, Escape from Berkeley should be a sight to behold.
For more information now, however, check out my entry on Green Tech.
Where's My Cell Phone is a handy new single-serving app to help track misplaced mobile phones. It's for those times when your cell phone is nowhere to be seen and you simply don't have another phone available to make the call.
Instead of using Google Maps and Twitter to help beacon your phone's location like that LoJack-like app we checked out a few weeks back, Where's My Cell Phone goes low-tech and simply redials whatever number you give it until you've found your beloved handset and can answer the call to turn it off. All you need to get things rolling is the 10-digit number (note: the service is U.S. only for now).
In theory it could be used to annoy your friends to no end, although when you pick up you've got the option to take your number off the list permanently. The creators also claim your number is never saved or kept track of. This is also one of the worst parts of the service, as taking your name off the list means you can never use it again.
I would love to see more phone manufacturers and carriers offer audio tracking services for phones. In the meantime, we'll have to make use of services like these.
Last night, I started a professional audio production program at the University of Washington Extension. There are about 40 students in the class. A half dozen or so are like me--in our 30s or older, with full-time careers outside the music industry, but with a longtime interest in recording and a lot of experience writing and playing music.
(Credit:
FL Studio)
But most are full-time students, or between college and graduate school, and are expecting to make a career in the music industry. Some of these kids are frighteningly single-minded--there's an 18-year-old who's been messing around with recording software since he was 9 and claims to be competent on drums, bass, guitar, and keyboards. Nearly all of them have created and recorded many hours of their own music, usually playing all the instruments. Several of them expect to start their own record labels, on which they'll release music by friends and artists they like. Their level of excitement is remarkable to me, given all the doom and gloom about collapsing record sales and the death of the big label system.
But most interesting to me: what software do they use? One guy recorded everything in Garage Band, but the program that kept coming up again and again was Fruity Loops (recently renamed FL Studio).
Nearly everybody who used it prefaced it with some sort of apology--"I know it's not considered a real recording program"--and our instructor didn't mention it among his recommendations of low-cost entry-level software (he's a huge fan of Cubase3 SE for multitrack mixing, even as he acknowledges that Pro Tools is the industry standard for recording). Nonetheless, Fruity Loops seems to be the standard for budding musicians--just like kids used to buy a Strat and a cheap Peavey amp, and maybe a Tascam 4-track tape recorder, now they buy a laptop, MIDI keyboard, and cheap sequencing software.
