John Benson just got his shiny new iPad 3G and he’s rather excited to try it out. But the thing is, the iPad uses the rather newfangled MicroSIM and as everyone is aware of by now, those things aren’t really available everywhere just yet. I failed to mention, he lives in the UK.

At this point I’d probably give up and use wifi until MicroSIMs become available where I am and rant about how much I wasted all that extra money for an iPad 3G. Good thing Mr. Benson didn’t give up.

He was able to convert an ordinary Vodafone SIM card into a MicroSIM, and he did it with – you won’t believe this – a chopping board, a meat cleaver and a pair of scissors. I know, I know. I can’t believe it myself. But he was able to cut the SIM card into the required dimensions without ruining the contact points.

He says on his blog:

The only parts that matter to us are the contacts which are common to the MicroSIM and SIM.  Electronically, the SIM and MicroSIM are the same so we can cut the rest away and not worry (so long as we are careful).

Basically, you have to line up the MicroSim on top of the bigger SIM card and make sure that the two center lines are in place. You can use the meat cleaver to create a guide line, then use the scissor to cut off the extra edges off the SIM.

Granted, you will need steady hands to make this work. But until MicroSIMS become more prevalent, this nifty little hack would do.

You can read the complete instructions (with pictures!) over at JohnBenson.net

Maybe you’ve heard of Nokia’s upcoming N8. The new Nseries phone, set to overtake the N97 as Nokia’s new flagship phone, is making a huge buzz here on the web. To think the phone’s not even released yet.

There is a lot to be excited for the N8 anyway. Besides, this is the first phone to run Nokia’s new Symbian ^3 operating system. The specifications of this phone is also astounding:

- Screen size: 3.5″
- Resolution: 16:9 nHD (640 x 360 pixels) OLED
- 16.7 million colours
- Capacitive touch screen
- Finger touch support for text input and UI control
- On-screen alphanumeric keypad and full keyboard
- Dedicated camera and volume keys
- Bluetooth 3.0
- HDMI
- 2mm Charging connector
- Micro USB connector and charging
- High-Speed USB 2.0 (micro USB connector)
- USB On-the-Go
- 3.5 mm AV connector
- FM Radio
- FM Transmitter
- Internal memory: 16 GB
- MicroSD memory card slot, hot swappable, up to 32 GB
- 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics
- Xenon flash
- 720p video recording

Whew, that’s quite a lot, isn’t it? The camera alone is enough for anyone to consider getting the Nokia N8. It’s looking like it’s going to be more than a capable content creation device. Throw in the fact that it doubles as a portable entertainment center, people can enjoy HD-quality video with Dolby Digital Plus surround sound by plugging into their home theatre system. I don’t see how you could lose by not having this phone.

Oh yeah. The operating system. The Nokia N8 was already given an early review, and the reviewer panned Symbian ^3, going as far as to jokingly accuse Nokia engineers of sabotaging the brand. To be fair, they were testing an early version of Symbian ^3, and we might find an operating system that might just be able to compete against the iPhone. Although knowing Nokia, the first few iterations of the N8 won’t probably be as good as we’d hope it would be. We’re probably better off waiting for a couple of firmware updates.

Gravity may currently be the king of S60 Twitter applications, but the thing is it’s not free. Also, there really is nothing that should stop any other app developer from making a Twitter application that can rival Gravity’s reign on the Twitter S60 market. Okay, there’s Tweets60, but I honestly find it to be a bit clunky and once you’re used to Gravity’s gorgeous interface, everything else just pales in comparison.

Nokia finally decides to join in the mobile social messaging space with Nokia Messaging for Social Networks Beta. From Symbian World:

The Nokia Beta Labs have announced that Nokia Messaging for Social Networks Beta is now available for three additional devices; the Nokia E71, Nokia E72 and the Nokia E63. Nokia Messaging for Social Networks a great little solution that provides contextual homescreen widgets that allow you to jump directly to your Facebook and Twitter posts and tweets to comment, has support for live Facebook and Twitter updates pushed to your phone homescreen and moreover gives you multiple ways to interact with your friends and social network circles straight from the client.

A bit a warning to those who are going to download Nokia Messaging for Social Networks Beta, though. Since it is beta, the Twitter client is sluggish beyond imagination. I tried it on my Nokia E63 and I had to uninstall it right away. I won’t go as far as to say that it was slowed down to the point where the entire app became unusable, but the speed is really unwieldy. Maybe if it were running on a phone with better hardware like the N97, it won’t be a bad experience.

Download and install here.

Now, I don’t mean to sound like a fanboy here, but the iPhone still is the best-looking smartphone out there. I may not be totally sold on the iPhone OS and Apple’s Apps Marketplace, but the iPhone’s smooth, minimalistic hardware always appealed to me. And then there’s the iPhone OS. I know, there’s so much love for the iPhone OS and its huge apps marketplace, but it really is not my cup of tea. I’d rather go for something more… open. Kind of like Google’s Android.

Now of course, we can’t really ask for Google Android to be installed on the iPhone, that’d be a pipe dream. But that never stopped an iPhone hacker known only as Planetbeing from trying. He was able to port Google’s Linux-based operating system. This is probably the first time anyone has done this, and nobody can deny how huge this is.

From AppAdvice:

It’s still in alpha version for now, but with some improvements, this would allow anybody to use both iPhone and Android OS on their iPhone. Just like you can do Bootcamp on your Mac to access PC apps, you’ll be able to go on Android to try all these apps that don’t exist, or were not allowed on the iPhone. Imagine for a second that Adobe manages to puts flash on there, well, you’ll get to have it too.

Obviously this is not condoned by either Google or Apple, and it is unclear if you are going to break your iPhone’s warranty by doing this. Now if somebody, anybody, can pull this off on the iPad…

Download the Android iPhone port here. Read the original blog post here.

Apple released a new draft of their iPhone developer program license, and it contained the following clause:

3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).

The thing is, Adobe has been, for a time, trying to find a way to bring Flash or at least Flash-based apps to the iPhone. In fact, Adobe has proved that there is no technical reason that Flash can’t run on the iPhone, and that developers can create well performing and compelling content for the device with Flash.

Mike Chambers says that Apple’s new developer program license “has the effect of restricting applications built with a number of technologies, including Unity, Titanium, MonoTouch, and Flash CS5. While it appears that Apple may selectively enforce the terms, it is our belief that Apple will enforce those terms as they apply to content created with Flash CS5. Developers should be prepared for Apple to remove existing content and applications (100+ on the store today) created with Flash CS5 from the iTunes store.”

However, they feel that it’s not a total loss. There’s Android, which has been doing well because of the Droid and the Nexus One, plus the fact that Android-based tablets are just around the corner, which everyone who would like a tablet PC but don’t give a damn about the iPad (like me) are excited for. This is going to be interesting.

[via]

So, the lucky guys at Gizmodo were able to get their hands on an iPhone 4. There’s a bit of a story behind their acquisition. Apparently, Apple has been testing the new iPhone in the wild already, and one of Apple’s employees have, well, misplaced one. A lucky soul found the iPhone in a bar in Redwood City, and was sent to Gizmodo. Wow.

Now, we really can’t be 100% sure that this is indeed the new iPhone. But there are lots of clues that point to it being real. There really is an Apple employee who reported that he lost a prototype iPhone. It was covered in a rubberized casing so it can be disguised as an iPhone 3GS. Right now, it looks like it’s a major departure from previous iterations of the iPhone. Let’s start with the design of the phone itself. Gone is the curved back that defined the first three iPhones. It’s now flat at the back, and if you don’t see the front of the iPhone, you’d think it was made by Nokia or something. I won’t go as far sa to call it ugly, but I’m not exactly a fan of the new look.

Features-wise, this is also a totally different monster. Here’s Gizmodo’s roundup of the new features:

What’s new
• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. It’s unclear if it’s the 960×460 display thrown around before—it certainly looks like it, with the “Connect to iTunes” screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic

What’s changed
• The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) or ceramic or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared to tapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be the orientation of components inside making for a different sound
• An aluminum border going completely around the outside
• Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)
• Everything is more squared off
• 3 grams heavier
• 16% Larger battery
• Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery

What do you think? Is this the real deal or a really elaborate hoax that Gizmodo fell for hook line and sinker? If this is the real thing, what do you think of the changes?

You know humanity’s doomed if we get robots that are constantly pushing on the boundaries of the uncanny valley.

Okay, maybe I was just exaggerating a bit, but as you can see, Geminoid F, a copy of a woman in her 20s with long dark hair, exhibits facial expressions more naturally than previous androids. However, even though she’s more realistic than other robots, we all could see that she still hasn’t quite overcome the uncanny valley yet and that she’s still – for the lack of a better term – creepy.

From IEEE.org:

Ishiguro, a professor at Osaka University, is famous for creating a robot replica of himself, the Geminoid HI-1, a teleoperated android that he controls remotely. The new Geminoid F (“F” stands for female) is also designed to be remote controlled by an operator.

In a press conference in Osaka, Ishiguro demonstrated how the android could mimic the facial expressions of the woman as she sat in front of a computer with cameras and face-tracking software.

Ishiguro’s previous androids, in addition to his own copy, include replicas of his then four-year-old daughter and of a Japanese TV newscaster. I couldn’t find more details about the identity of the Geminoid F’s master template, only that she is “one-quarter non-Japanese.”

What do you guys think? Also a video of the robot below:

So Microsoft just announced not just one but two new phones. Calling them Kin One and Kin Two (no, seriously), these are Windows Phones designed specifically for people who are actively navigating their social lives. Brought to life through partnerships with Verizon Wireless, Vodafone and Sharp Corporation, KIN is designed to be the ultimate social experience that blends the phone, online services and the PC with breakthrough new experiences called the Loop, Spot and Studio. KIN will be exclusively available from Verizon Wireless in the U.S. beginning in May and from Vodafone this autumn in Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The thing is, didn’t just Microsoft announce Windows Phone 7? And isn’t everyone like praising Microsoft’s new phone operating system to high heavens? So why is Microsoft going to release another phone that’s social network-centric, but has no app store – or even any ability to create apps at all? And why make one that is competing with Windows Phone 7? It really sounds like a dumb marketing strategy, but when you take a closer look at it, it’s actually brilliant.

According to Engadget:

Last year, something like 200 million smartphones were sold. Lots. But that’s only one sixth of the total phone market of 1.2 billion phones, as reported by Gartner.

No matter how fast the iPhone market is growing, and how badly Microsoft wants to get back into that business, there’s other action to be had. And if Kin’s cost is kept low—both the handset price and the monthly data fees—then going after Samsung and LG and Nokia, hoping to draw people away from their cheap generic phones, could be easier than fighting Apple and Google (and BlackBerry and Palm). If so, then there’s success to be had, too.

Ah, there we go. The Kin is made for people who would like to be connected with their social networks all the time without worrying about apps to install or anything of that sort. I can see it now: a Windows Phone 7 phone for me and my needs, and probably a Kin for my 16-year old cousin who only wants to tweet and post to Facebook. Sweet.

So, we’re living in a society that already encourages being a lazy-ass meatbag already. You’d see people working day in and day out, chained to their desks, without moving a single major muscle. So, how else do we ensure that people become fatter? Honda apparently has an idea. You see, Honda’s U3-X personal mobility prototype will ensure that you will never ever want to walk again, be it long or short distances.

Check out Gadzooki has to say:

The U3-X is a continuation of Honda’s unofficial human meat puppetry project, which started in 2008 with a set of assistive robo-legs, and will end with, well, Wall-E. Conceptually, it sits somewhere between two other historically dignified modes of transportation, the unicycle and the Segway. It supports the rider’s weight with an omnidirectional wheel, which is actually made of smaller, perpendicularly aligned wheels, and which responds to slight movements in the rider’s upper body; a shift of the shoulder in any direction eases the rider across the floor, in a surprisingly predictable and controllable way. It doesn’t feel like rolling so much as it feels like floating.

Okay, I have to admit, riding on a sort of futuristic and fully-automated cross between the Segway and a unicycle that will not let you fall off it is pretty neat. Apparently it’s the most comfortable thing to ride on, and Engadget goes as far as to say it’s a joy to ride on. I certainly hope that they don’t market it to able-bodied people though, because that thing has major potential for disabled people.

The merger of Nokia’s Maemo and the Moblin Project, MeeGo, that new-ish Linux distro made for mobile phones, TVs, and netbooks, has finally released the first beta of the new operating system. The build images are meant for developers or those who are comfortable working in a terminal since the build won’t come with any user interface. The images currently work with any Intel Atom-based netbook, Atom-based handset (Moorestown) or Nokia’s N900.

From Engadget:

Sadly, the MeeGo user experience — the good stuff, that is — isn’t included here, so if you flash your N900 you’re going to end up booting into a terminal console, but hey, some of you sickos are into that sort of thing, aren’t you? Next up for the team is a release billed 1.0 that will come in May, and we’re told details on the road to that version will be unveiled over the coming days. Take care of yourselves if you go for it, alright?

However, if you’d like to get your hands dirty with code, you’re free to download the 392MB image file so you can test it yourself so you’d just get an idea on what MeeGo is like. Make sure to run it from a USB drive though!

Download MeeGo here.