Beaming data with light is hardly a new thing , but lately we’ve seen a number of attempts at making it rather more usable and, more interesting, rather more speedy. We’re starting to get the feeling that those maybe/maybe not dangerous microwave-based systems have had their days numbered. The latest to beam bits with blinkenlights is a team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications in Germany, which will be showing its stuff at the always happenin’ Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition in two weeks. The team was able to use a commercial LED and get an impressive 230Mb/s transfer rate, which doesn’t compare to the gigabit Penn State managed or 500mb/s Siemens pulled off , but those were done using rather more specialized hardware (like the Siemens rig pictured above). It’s interesting stuff, and we’re looking forward to see the commercial applications for this tech, but we do have one nagging question: what if you want to surf in the dark?

What do b-boys, random celebrities like Mark Sanchez, Andy Samberg and Hillary Duff, and the Black Eyed Peas have to do with 3DTV ? We’re not sure either, but that didn’t stop Samsung from mixing them up during its “worldwide launch event” yesterday in NYC. Check the video (embedded after the break) for the above revelation about 3D from the JIMP troubador himself, but what was going through the heads of our friend Jimmy C and the BEP when this picture was taken? Chris : “And see, just by turning this knob to the right, we can give Avatar a plot.” Richard Lawler : “If everyone starts wearing these, we’re going to need new outfits.” Nilay : “Fascinating. You say this is called a ‘lady lump?’” Joe : “What? Bono beat us to it?” Joanna : “That Neytiri, she’s a handful…” Paul : “I’ve gotta feeling that nothing of intellectual importance is happening here.” Continue reading Caption Contest: 3D is a mind blow, everyone can agree on that Caption Contest: 3D is a mind blow, everyone can agree on that originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:21:00 EST

Turning aged hard drives into clocks has been a common occurrence for years now , but there’s still something magical about this rendition. Designed and crafted by Svofski, the Strobeshnik relies on the stroboscopic effect to create the illusion of a persistent numeric display. The HDD platter itself has ten digits, colon and dash marks cut all the way through it, and by carefully timing the light strobes, the illusion is perfected. Check out a video of the startup just below the break — and be patient, the payoff is spectacularly sweet. Continue reading Strobeshnik: probably the most awesome hard drive clock of all time Strobeshnik: probably the most awesome hard drive clock of all time originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:48:00 EST

Things I thought of while viewing the solar eclipse-inspired Nissyoku lamp: GLaDOS, a glowing tennis ball and, oh yeah, a solar eclipse: The designer says that unlike those fleeting solar eclipses we see in the sky, this lamp lasts for up to 10 years. It’s also capable of morphing from one simple shape to the next, and can be suspended from the ceiling, a la a chandelier, or placed on a table, where it will neither burn out your eyes nor damage your table. The light source, sadly, is not fusion or even fission, but a 5W LED in each of the two panels. [ Igendesign via Design Blog ]

Firsthand impressions outside the CES crucible are flowing in following the worldwide launch of Samsung’s new LCD 3DTVs . UK publications have gotten up close with production versions of the new HDTVs, TechRadar observed the Monsters vs. Aliens Blu-ray disc packed in with the new displays over there plus the 2D-to-3D conversion feature , reporting the latter worked better on sports footage of ice skaters but caused “disconcerting” effect on news broadcasts. A video preview from Which? (embedded after the break) gives a good look at the new remote and managed to clear up one of the early worries about new display by confirming the 3D effect continued to work even from a wide viewing angle.

Panasonic and LG won’t be the only ones with Skype-enabled HDTVs , though we peeped it in the specs earlier , Samsung has officially announced its new 7000 and 8000 series televisions will also include access. Accessible through the embedded Samsung Apps service, it appears it will work with the new HD video processing webcams just like the others, so users can log in to or create an account with the remote then make video or voice calls away from the PC. We heard at CES those cameras could run as high as $200, check out the CES 2010 demo from Panasonic to see if couch videoconferencing is worth the additional expense. Samsung makes Skype for new LED lit HDTVs official originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:56:00 EST.

If you have a pair of hard-soled shoes, two pressure-sensitive LED tiles, and some baby mama drama from which you need to extricate yourself, let this Instructable be your guide and recreate the special-FX steps from Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” Admittedly, I’m not sure how easy it would be to do any sort of dancing with a gigantic LED tile attached to each foot. But when you’re standing still, and being viewed from the knee down, you will be the spitting image of the King of Pop. The Instructable covers all the bases, from assembling the light-up squares to spray-painting the shoes just so. Be forewarned, though, these imitation shoes will make you just as irresistible to women as Jackson was (circa 1983): You will get a lot of attention from people, people will dance around you on the dance floor, and you will feel a bit shallow, but you love it! The best chat up line possible is to ask someone to join you on your dance floor so they stand/dance on your tiles, which puts them basically on top of you. Enjoy! Do not use these shoes for evil! So there it is, plain and simple: don’t go around breaking young girls’ hearts.

Every time I see any Cylon-themed object , I get nostalgia of those perfect nights watching the series in bed, and I want to see it again. This Cylon Teddy Bear is the last straw. Starbuck, here I go. [ Instructables ]

Cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlights are fast disappearing due to the more efficient and brighter LED swaggering onto the TV scene, but the Japanese company Sanken Electric claims its new CCFL technology is 60 per cent cheaper to produce. Too little, too late for the unfashionable technology? Sanken reckons TVs perform just as well using two of its lamps as opposed to the six normally required. As production won’t start until this summer, it’s unlikely we won’t see them in TV sets for at least another year—and by then, LEDs will reign supreme. [ Nikkei via CrunchGear ]

If you’re looking for an edgier way to tune your axe—one that uses your sense of sight rather than that of sound—look no further than the Stimmmopped, a device that uses LEDs to keep your licks sounding sweet. The Stimmmopped, which might be more fun to say than it is to use, bombards your guitar’s strings, one at a time, with two LEDs. The lights flash at the exact frequency at which the string should be vibrating, so if it’s tuned too flat or too sharp the LEDs will appear to move. When the string’s tuned correctly, the lights will look like they’re perfectly still. This is, of course, how all the rowdiest rock stars keep their guitars tuned just right