MacBook Air Hack Swaps WiFi for EVDO
Jordan Bunnell has put the Air in his MacBook Air. He cracked the svelte case open and popped in an EVDO card. A Verizon USB727 Aircard, to be precise. Thanks to a few extra USB connections on the Air’s circuit…

Jordan Bunnell has put the Air in his MacBook Air. He cracked the svelte case open and popped in an EVDO card. A Verizon USB727 Aircard, to be precise. Thanks to a few extra USB connections on the Air’s circuit board, Bunnell avoided losing the sole external USB port.

The hack was not done without sacrifice, though. To make room for the card inside the tightly packed case, Bunnell had to remove both the Airport card and the Bluetooth unit. Depending on your point of view, the Mac is now either set free or crippled. Either way, we admire the hack, and the step by step instructions on Bunnell’s site show that with some confident soldering, this is quite an easy project.

Project page [Getlistedlocally via TUAW]

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Review: AT&T Mobile Television with FLO Service on the LG Vu Verdict: Media Flows Like Greased Lightning
Do we really need another reason to rot our brains on the go? Apparently we do because live Television on your phone seems to be the next large thing for U.S. carriers. We tried out the latest effort to get…

Do we really need another reason to rot our brains on the go? Apparently we do because live Television on your phone seems to be the next massive thing for U.S. carriers. We tried out the latest effort to get the boob tube on a mobile device; AT&T’s Mobile Television with FLO (Forward Link Only) a service we coupled with the LG Vu that turned out to be a match made in couch-potato heaven.

While the MediaFLO service doesn’t actually work over 3G, a strong connection makes certain that service is uninterrupted. Qualcomm’s media streaming operates over the old UHF band and taps but for some back end engineering reason, it needs to tap into the 3G network in order to get started. There’s virtually no buffering and programming starts up within a few seconds. On the Vu’s brilliant 3-inch screen we found picture quality to be insanely clear and frame rates to be smooth as buttered silk.

Certain channels like Comedy Central and specific sporting events on ESPN or breaking news on CNN are simulcast. All other programming, like episodes of your favorite Fox shows (Family Guy!), are time-shifted and updated when necessary. There are three different Mobile TV packages to select from. Included in the $30 package is unlimited Mobile TV, Web browsing and CV mobile video along with CBS Mobile, CNN Mobile Live, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC 2Go, NBC News 2Go, Nickelodeon and PIX (Sony Pictures). The mid-tier package at $15 gives you unlimited Mobile Television and the CNCRT channel for a limited time. The basic package includes CBS Mobile, FOX Mobile, NBC 2Go and NBC News 2Go for only $13.

Watching live streaming Television or movies like The Karate Kid on the Vu’s 3-inch haptic touchscreen is, well, pretty extraordinary. The user interface is fairly intuitive with straightforward menus. And as long as you’re within range of a 3G network, there’s no network hiccupping. Hell, it almost makes us want to junk our 52-inch monster HD LCD and watch Television on our phone full time. Nearly. —Peter Ha

WIRED Simulcast and time-shifted programming on any AT&T device + no lag time makes = simple to slip into sloth mode. Live streaming CNN is a must for news junkies. Variety of programming packages should fit just about everyone’s viewing style.

TIRED Unless you’re in an area with strong 3G coverage, the service simply will not work.

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Jetpacks are great, but never could they reach the levels of ridiculousness this strap-on helicopter provides with its rocket-powered rotor blades. The pack is powered by two hydrogen fuel canisters and the rockets at the end of the blades negate the need for a tail rotor. It’s entirely possible this is just a drawing that’ll never actually get made. But as DVICE points out, Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana, the firm that designed this, made an actual prototype of their last jet pack. So I’m holding my breath for some trial videos to hit YouTube. [Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana via DVICE]

Via [gizmodo]

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For a lot of people, the camera is more important than the photograph it takes. You’ve seen them, obsessively calibrating and posting endlessly on forums with questions about the bokeh of a Leica lens. For Wayne Martin Belger, though, the…

For a lot of people, the camera is more important than the photograph it takes. You’ve seen them, obsessively calibrating and posting endlessly on forums with questions about the bokeh of a Leica lens.

For Wayne Martin Belger, though, the kit really is more important than the photo. He scratch-builds intricate and macabre pinhole cameras which feature parts you wont find on any DSLR: The skull of a dead 13 year old girl; HIV infected blood; a preserved baby’s heart. These artifacts are closely tied to the subjects of the photographs. For instance, Belger uses the HIV camera to make portraits of people suffering from the virus.

PopPhoto has a gallery of Belger’s images, and also shots of the cameras themselves. When a project is done, he sells the camera along with the photographs. One, fashioned from a 500 year old Tibetan skull, is on sale for $240,000.

It’s not just about the materials used, though. Belger crams some pretty cool hacks in there, too. The Tibetan skull-cam, for instance, is a stereoscopic model which captures images through pinholes in the eye sockets and loads film using pneumatic pistons powered by a 300psi air tank.

Belger Captures Images Through Skulls, Infected Blood [PopPhoto. Thanks, Zach!]

Via [wired.com]

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Hard Drive Crusher: How Much Would You Spend to Secure Your Data? [Data Crunch]

We all know that sensitive data left on a discarded hard drive can be a security risk, but would you be willing to drop upwards of $11,500 on a machine that ensures its destruction? EDR’s Hard Disk Crusher gets down and dirty by drilling through the hard drives’ spindles/rippling the platters to make data recovery impossible. The device runs off a standard 110V outlet, but if you’re ever caught in a disk-destroying emergency and the power goes out, just bust out the optional $895 hand pump accessory and keep on crushin’ in the dark.

According to the product page, the Hard Disk crusher can dispose of a drive in about 10 seconds or about 60 disks in an hour (fuzzy math). So my guess is that this device is aimed at big commercial organizations or military operations. You know, the kinds of businesses with lots of sensitive data that don’t mind wasting a crapload of money on a device like this. Talking of that, a warranty extension on this bad boy will run you an extra $995 per year. What a bargain. [EDR via Gearlog via OhGizmo]

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Will an Unlocked 3-G iPhone Work on T-Mobile’s New 3-G Network?
Phone fans and mobile data mavens are wondering: Will Apple’s soon-to-be-announced second-generation iPhone work with T-Mobile’s yet-to-be-deployed 3-G network? After years of delays, T-Mobile finally seems poised to launch its new 3-G network this week, albeit without data service. And…

Phone fans and mobile data mavens are wondering: Will Apple’s soon-to-be-announced second-generation iPhone work with T-Mobile’s yet-to-be-deployed 3-G network?

After years of delays, T-Mobile finally seems poised to launch its new 3-G network this week, albeit without data service.

And the new iPhone, widely expected to be announced in June, will almost certainly have 3-G data abilities.

The two events advocate an interesting question: If AT&T were to offer an unlocked 3-G iPhone — as some have speculated — or if people figure how to unlock the new device illicitly, would such a phone also be able to tap into T-Mobile’s new 3-G data services… once they become available?

There are a few problems with the theory, apart from the nonexistence of both products.

Currently, AT&T uses the 850 and 1900 MHz bands for its 3-G services.

In contrast, a T-Mobile spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that the carrier will utilize the 1700 and 2100 MHz bands for its UMTS (3-G) network.

The key factor will therefore be how many (and which) bands the new 3-G iPhone ends up supporting, states Chris Hazelton, IDC’s senior analyst for mobile devices.

“We’ll most likely see a [dual-band] 3-G iPhone that supports 850 and 1900 MHz,” he states, since those are the bands that AT&T already supports. But it’s also possible Apple will release a tri-band 3-G phone, meaning it would also likely support the 2100 MHz band as well.

“That one common band would, in theory, mean an unlocked 3-G iPhone would work with T-Mobile’s 3-G services if you had a T-Mobile SIM,” states Hazelton.

As always, there’s a catch. Part of the reason AT&T uses the 850 band is because of its good propagation traits. While the 1900 MHz band is used in cities and other urban areas, 850 is particularly good for 3-G service in more rural areas.

That means while you may be able to use T-Mobile 3-G services with the new unlocked iPhone in urban settings, getting access to them elsewhere will be mighty difficult.

Still, potential compatibility with T-Mobile’s network could put AT&T in a difficult spot. As Yankee Group’s Carl Howe points out, with its second version of the iPhone, Apple is definitely thinking on a more global scale, because the 2100MHz band is a primary band in Europe, Africa and Asia.

“Different frequencies mean different businesses,” he says, “and this time around, [Apple] is definitely thinking globally.”

To appease AT&T and protect its phones from unlockers, Apple could proceed as it has been with the first-generation iPhone: Issue periodic firmware updates that are incompatible with unlocking.

Whether that’ll happen or not remains to be seen. In the end, the best security measure Apple might have at its disposal is simply to release the 3-G iPhones in as many new countries as possible. Most unlocked iPhones aren’t being used in the U.S. anyway. They’re going to countries where the iPhone isn’t officially available yet, like China.

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