KegDroid dispenses beer with the help of a Xoom tablet and an Arduino board

Here's an instance of NFC technology that's more exciting than yet another tap-to-pay scenario. Google employee Paul Carff combined a Motorola Xoom running ICS with an Arduino microcontroller to create KegDroid, a friendly green beer dispenser. The Xoom acts as a gatekeeper to that brewed goodness, only letting the bot dispense drinks after users swipe an authorized badge. The badge is read by an NFC scanner on the bottom of the case and is then authenticated (or rejected) by the Arduino board. Once the system grants access, users can choose from two selections on tap via a custom Android application displayed on the Xoom's screen. As Android Community points out -- and as you'll see in the video below -- the KegDroid hasn't mastered a bartender-level pour (read: there's way too much foam). Still, this is oodles cooler than your average keg, wouldn't you agree?

Continue reading KegDroid dispenses beer with the help of a Xoom tablet and an Arduino board

KegDroid dispenses beer with the help of a Xoom tablet and an Arduino board originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jimmy Kimmel at White House Correspondents Dinner: Mr. President, Salaam...

Mr. President, Salaam.

That's how Jimmy Kimmel kicked off his hilarious 25-minute speech at last night's White House Correspondents Dinner, an annual event that brings reporters together with celebrities and features a humor-based segment by both an emcee and the President himself.

You can follow this link to watch Obama lay into Mitt Romney, Donald Trump and even himself - and then you can check out the following video to see Kimmel go off on Sofia Vergara's cleavage; Obama's ears; the Kardashians; the Secret Service scandal and much more.

Enjoy!

Jimmy Kimmel White House Correspondents Dinner Speech

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Foursquare adds NFC to its BlackBerry app, hopes you'll touch base

Hot on the heels of a recent update for its Twitter app, BlackBerry users can now grab a refreshed version of everyone's favorite check-in network. While there's no news of the beleaguered phone manufacturer offering up free Butterfingers (yet), the geographical social app has cranked up the app's load speeds and also transplants its notifications to your BlackBerry inbox. It's all looking to be a pretty tasty NFC carrot to dangle in front of BlackBerry World attendees later this week in Orlando. If you're Florida-bound (and even if you're not), you can grab the update from from the source below.

Foursquare adds NFC to its BlackBerry app, hopes you'll touch base originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stunning Ice Sculpture Table Will Never Melt Away [Furniture]

You won't have to worry about global warming, or your broken air conditioner, causing architect Zaha Hadid's beautiful Liquid Glacier table to melt away. It might look like a perfect frozen sculpture, but it's actually made from long-lasting clear acrylic. More »

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Sun stops shining on E Ink Holdings: company reports first loss in two years

E Ink Holdings made a loss of over $25 million last quarter, despite supplying its backlight-free panels to popular e-readers like the Kindle and the Nook. Why the poor showing after ten quarters of solid money-making? The company's accountants blame "off-season effects" and "inventory adjustments" by customers, which may simply be corporatese for "the screens aren't selling so well." Overall revenue tumbled 63 percent compared to the same period in 2011 and the outlook remains "conservative" -- although it's hard to believe that everyone suddenly wants to stay indoors and stare at pixels.

Sun stops shining on E Ink Holdings: company reports first loss in two years originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leaked T-Mobile roadmap outlines Ice Cream Sandwich updates, new myTouch devices

Looks like our friends over at TMoNews have unearthed a roadmap with some tasty morsels of info about what's coming down the pipe from T-Mobile USA in the next few months. Of course, none of this is set in stone or even confirmed, so take it with a grain of salt.

Most interesting is a pair of dates for Ice Cream sandwich updates, with Magenta's Galaxy S II slated to receive Android 4.0 on May 14th, followed by the Sensation 4G and Amaze 4G getting ICS (with Sense 3.6, presumably) on June 16th.

A bunch of device launches from Samsung and Huawei round up the list of dates, with no sign of HTC's One X, Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S III, or T-Mobile's rumored Galaxy Note variant. Sadness. Check out the entire bounty below.

• May 9th: Huawei Astor (low-end phone for 7-Eleven)
• July 11th: Huawei Buddy and Phoenix (myTouch QWERTY and slate, respectively)
• July 11th: Samsung Gravity TXT (new color)
• Aug 1st: Samsung T159 Cacao (low-end handset)
• Aug 15th: Samsung Apex Q (mystery device)

Leaked T-Mobile roadmap outlines Ice Cream Sandwich updates, new myTouch devices originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Xperia ST21i with ICS leaks out, shows off its chunky physique

It may not be as sleek as its S kin, or even as powerful as that mid-level U, but this recently leaked Xperia ST21i might just have enough goodies to lure a handful of you in. According to Techblog, this thick, 3.2-inch unit packs some pretty run-of-the-mill features, including an 800MHz Qualcomm chip paired with 512MB of RAM, a 3-megapixel shooter to help with those Instagram shots and a low 480 x 320 screen res. Unlike a few of the other Xperias still waiting to be served, though, the ST21i has already been filled with a portion of Google's famous ICS. No word yet on when the pudgy device will see a legit introduction, but until then you can peek at some extra photos at the source link below.

Sony Xperia ST21i with ICS leaks out, shows off its chunky physique originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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American Idol Results: Down to Five

Following a performance night that saw the remaining American Idol contestants cover both Queen and a song of their choice, six finalists awaited their fate this evening.

And after both Stefano Langone and Katy Perry took the stage, we were left with Elise Testone, Hollie Cavanagh and Skylar Laine in the bottom three. There's no way viewers were voting out Laine, right? Right?!?

Right.

Instead, Elise Testone heard her name called by Ryan Seacrest to conclude the episode. The soulful crooner bid farewell via "Whole Lotta Love," as J. Lo got up and danced and the crowd offered one final ovation.

What do you think? Did America get it right? Should Elise have been eliminated?

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Krugman calls out Ben Bernanke?"he's been assimilated by the Borg" (Americablog)

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Best Buy Connect no longer accepting new activations, service to end June 1st

Remember Best Buy Connect? If so, you'll soon have a few more megabytes of humanized DDR3 freed up, as it appears that the retail giant is ready to put the kibosh on its own branded mobile broadband service nearly two years after it was first unveiled. According to the internal memo shown in the above screenshot, new activations are no longer allowed effective immediately, and the service for legacy customers will be cut off on the first of June.

So why the change of heart? Apparently Connect is the victim of a reshuffling of priorities, and the company determined that it "can achieve greater growth by delivering mobile broadband support in ways other than an exclusive Best Buy-branded service." Of course, this is bound to upset more than a handful of folks who have been relying on Connect for their data needs, and the retailer isn't leaving them completely in the dark: to help smooth out the transition, all Early Termination Fees will be waived, and all customers will receive a $125 or $150 gift card via email to curb the cost of moving to a different carrier. WiMAX Connect users, additionally, will also be given the option to switch over to Clear service. We're still awaiting official confirmation from Best Buy -- as of this moment, the official website remains up and running as if it's none the wiser -- but we'll update as soon as we hear more.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Best Buy Connect no longer accepting new activations, service to end June 1st originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to Tell if You (Or Someone You Know) Are a Twitter Assclown [Social Media]

You know Klout. It gathers your social media data to measure your influence. But Klout is dumb. Klout makes people think I am a good mom. But what if you could mine social data to tell you how insufferable any given person is on Twitter? That sounds a good deal more fun. More »

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