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iShower is ready to get wet: water-resistant Bluetooth speaker now shipping for $100 Aug 2nd 2012, 11:28 Move over, Pantene, because you may need to make room for a new addition to showers across the globe. That's because the iShower, a water-resistant music system for use as you get squeaky clean, is now shipping for $100. Despite its name, the iShower should have no trouble playing the compatibility game, thanks to its Bluetooth connectivity with support for up to five paired devices. What's more, you won't need to bust out the tools to install the iShower, as the mounting system's built-in adhesive lets you pretend to be a handyman without doing any real work -- the unit can also be hung over the shower head if you're wary of sticky residue. The music system runs on three AA batteries and provides up to 15 hours of sudsy listening time, and there's even a built-in clock, for those unfortunate mornings when you need to cut the rock operas short. To see the system in action, just hop the break for a demonstration of the iShower from the company's CEO. Continue reading iShower is ready to get wet: water-resistant Bluetooth speaker now shipping for $100 Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals iShower is ready to get wet: water-resistant Bluetooth speaker now shipping for $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 07:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink iLounge  |  iShower  | Email this | Comments Apple seeks patent for Smart Cover with embedded secondary display Aug 2nd 2012, 11:03 According to a patent application made public by the USPTO this morning (and originally filed a year ago), Apple believes it's possible to build a flexible display into an iPad cover in order to "greatly enhance" the functionality of the tablet itself. Taking power and data from a dedicated connector on the side of the slate, at least one segment of the name-deserving Smart Cover could be used to augment the main display with space for extra icons, or operate as a separate media control interface, or simply display notifications. Drawings collected in the gallery below also hint at using the entire inner surface of the cover as a keyboard (ala Microsoft Surface) or as a drawing area. As with all patent applications, there's nothing to say such an idea will ever see Californian sunlight, but it'd be crying shame if it didn't. Gallery: Apple Smart Cover display patent application Filed under: Tablet PCs Apple seeks patent for Smart Cover with embedded secondary display originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 07:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink   |  USPTO  | Email this | Comments Sharp: we're making displays for new iPhone and shipping them this month Aug 2nd 2012, 10:38 In an effort to end today's dismal earnings report on a high, Sharp's president Takashi Okuda has purposefully let slip that his company is among those contracted to manufacture displays for a new iPhone. We already have numerous reasons to suspect the iPhone 5 will be announced around September 12th, and Okuda has now corroborated that by saying that "shipments will start in August." If earlier rumors and component leaks are to be trusted, the screen will be significantly larger (likely around 4-inches) and slightly less rotund than that on the iPhone 4S. Filed under: Cellphones Sharp: we're making displays for new iPhone and shipping them this month originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 06:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink   |  Reuters  | Email this | Comments Google Street View goes retro with unofficial ASCII treatment Aug 2nd 2012, 10:28 Nostalgia is a powerful force. It's driven some to search Google through a Bulletin Board System-like interface or, in the case of programmer Peter Nitsch, it's compelled him to graft ASCII art onto the physical world. Simply plug an address into his project's website and you'll be able to pan through an ASCII facsimile of a real-world Street View vista. Leveraging WebGL and Javascript, the system samples the search giant's images and generates text art using the appropriate characters and hues. Nitsch's fondness for retro visualizations don't end there, however, he also created a system that superimposes a gaggle of characters in the wake of a physical paintbrush using a Kinect and a projector. Built as a plugin for the openFrameworks toolkit, the code relies on a GPU for the real-time image conversion and is freely available for tinkering. Hit the source link below to see the modified Street View in action or head past the break for a video of the ASCII painting. For some of the technical nitty-gritty, tap the more coverage link. Continue reading Google Street View goes retro with unofficial ASCII treatment Filed under: Internet Google Street View goes retro with unofficial ASCII treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink io9  |  Teehan + Lax Labs  | Email this | Comments

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