Just when you thought the only differences between the iPhone 4 and the iPod Touch were the size and the phone, a closer look reveals that the Touch actually has a different camera.

Apple’s specifications page for the Touch lists a resolution of 960-by-720 pixels for the rear camera, which is roughly one megapixel. That’s several steps below the 5-megapixel camera seen in the iPhone 4.

Then again, the iPod Touch is about one millimeter thinner than the iPhone 4 (which is significant when it comes to pocketability). Anything bigger than a one-megapixel sensor probably would have been a squeeze, especially when you consider that the Touch includes a front-facing camera, too.

When Apple refreshed its iPod family last year, many expected the iPod Touch to gain a camera and were left disappointed when it didn’t. However, a teardown by iFixIt revealed that was just barely enough room for a camera. iFixIt CEO Kyle Wiens speculated that the feature was omitted due to engineering challenges.

Long story short, the iPod Touch’s camera probably isn’t great, but we’re glad it’s finally here.

See our earlier posts for more details on the new iPods announced today.

Via DaringFireball

See Also:

• Live Blog: Apple’s iPod, Music Event
• Sporty New iPods Tout Tiny Touchscreens, Retina Display

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Read More

Apple late this afternoon announced plans to live stream its Wednesday music event, where many expect the company to introduce upgrades for the iPod and Apple TV. The stream will only be viewable to Apple customers.

In a press bulletin, Apple said it would be streaming its event using “Apple’s industry-leading HTTP Live Streaming, which is based on open standards,” even though the viewing requires a Mac running Snow Leopard, or an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad running iOS 3.0 or higher.

Some technology observers speculate the live stream will accompany Apple’s release of a new version of iTunes capable of streaming live video and TV rentals.

Wired.com’s Gadget Lab will be live blogging the event, which commences 10 a.m. PT. Stay tuned for our coverage. Meanwhile, read our predictions of what to expect at the event.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Read More

The clickety-clack of manual typewriters have long been replaced by PC keyboards and even that is now disappearing with touchscreens. But for those nostalgic about old-school manual typewriters, a hack lets you update and make them compatible with PCs.

Jack Zylkin worked for nine months to create the design and schematics for a USB-based typewriter that can replace the keyboard on your PC.

“Typewriters are a lasting marvel of classic engineering and design, which are now a casualty of our disposable whiz-bang techno-culture,” says Zylkin who created this project at Hive 76, a hackerspace in Philadelphia. “I wanted to do something to make these beautiful machines relevant and useful again. I have seen machines that are 100 years old and still functional as the day they were made, why should I let them go to waste?”

Zylkin estimates it can take five to 10 hours to mod a manual typewriter, if users follow his instructions. But it seems pretty easy to do.

“Its a weekend project for when you are snowed in with no TV,” he says.

Zylkin posted the step-by-step guide to creating the USB typewriter on Instructables.com and his post is now featured as part of the site’s ongoing back to school contest.

Others have attempted the USB-typewriter hack before, says Zylkin, but those projects “involved endless jumbles of wires, a disemboweled keyboard circuit and a phalanx of momentary switches.”

The USB-typewriter hack isn’t an expensive project.

“On eBay, you can get a quality machine for anywhere between $30 and $60,” says Zylkin. “Sadly,the people who trade typewriters on ebay only want to saw the keys off and make jewelry out of them! What a waste! ”

So Zylkin suggests asking friends and family to get an old typewriter from the attic. He is offering $50 DIY conversion kits that include the printed circuit boards for the project.

But if all that’s too much work for you, Zylkin has some USB typewriters available on Etsy priced at $350 to $500.

See the short clip showing the USB typewriter at work:

Photo: Jack Zylkin

[via Hack a day]

Read More

Limor Fried’s MintyBoost project is a great example of DIY and commercial tech working together. Take an Altoids tin, a couple of AA batteries, and some very smart hackery, and you’ve got a lightweight USB charger that you can use to charge/run your handheld iWhatever, or almost any other phone, camera, or small device that can take a charge off USB power. About a month ago, she released this video outlining the Apple hackery needed to make this work.

Reverse engineering Apple’s secret charging methods from adafruit industries on Vimeo.

Clive Thompson profiled Fried and her company Adafruit Industries as part of a 2008 feature in Wired on “open source hardware.” The idea is that hackers like Fried can use what they find out about consumer devices to make and sell their own products, but also to produce DIY kits and share information with others who then build their own projects.

As a case study in the value of sharing this information, consider Rob Scott. Before he took his son on a week-long bike trip this summer, he used Fried’s schematic to hack together what turns out to be a really striking-looking solar charger for his son’s iPod.

It’s always nice to see what the maker community is doing to accessorize their retail gadgets; the results aren’t always super-polished, but they generally solve real problems in important use cases that don’t get addressed by manufacturers, either because they’re too unusual or they can’t be easily solved by more plugs, more peripherals, more complex devices that cost a lot of money. And in turn, we all find out a little bit more about how these magical devices get put together and how they work.

See Also:

• DIY Graphing Calculator Is Built From Open Source Hardware
• Why Arduino Is a Hit With Hardware Hackers
• Beautifully Hypnotic Video Details Canon Macro Lens Hack
• Hacker Stuffs MiFi Inside iPad, Ruins it in the Process

Read More

Electronic waste can sometimes find a surprising second lease on life, as designer Tina Sparkles has proved by making a dress using recycled wires.

“I read how e-waste is being shipped to developing countries and how people are melting it at homes there,” says Sparkles. “And I was inspired to create something that could recycle some of the materials.”

The dress called ‘Systems Supernova’ was shown earlier this month at the Austin Fashion Week.

Sparkles used a curtain from a thrift store as the base of the dress and then stitched the wires on it. She got the wires from an electronic recycle store in Austin, Texas.

Overall, the piece weighs 30 lbs. But it looks pretty stylish and will make for a stunning entrance at any event.

See more photos of the dress:

The base material for the dress is a curtain from a thrift store. Photo: Cameron Russell

Tina Sparkles is enveloped by the wires she used to create the dress.

See Also:

• Smart Textiles Blend LEDs, Circuits and Sensors
• Designer Duo Create Dress With 24000 LEDs
• Meet the Dress Fashioned Out of OLED Displays
• Geeks Who Dress Like Dorks on Screen, but Still Look Cool …
• Pardon, Your Dress Is Singing

Photo: Andrew Sterling

[via Make]

Read More