cube

This software engineer really, really loves Christmas...and symphonic metal, as his cube decoration contest entry shows.

Redditor and software engineer Billiam5 posted this video on Reddit late last night demonstrating his achievement in action, replete with dancing Christmas lights synced to the song "Wizards in Winter," by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO).

According to the artist himself, Billiam5 used the Arduino prototyping platform and Flash-based animation programming to bring the LEDs to life:… Read more

IBM and Micron Technology are beginning to produce a new memory chip based on technology designed to boost memory speeds 15-fold.

The technology, the companies announced today, will be used to make a Hybrid Memory Cube chip that will be commercially manufactured by Micron, the largest manufacturer of memory chips in the United States and one of the largest in the world. IBM plans to manufacture and supply the "controller" silicon that will be used in the memory as well as in the 3D-chip technology.

The joint efforts are designed to result in memory chips that realize the … Read more

Apple's highest-profile store in the Big Apple is set to re-open tomorrow following a nearly five month construction overhaul.

Work on the store, which is one of the most photographed landmarks in New York, began in mid-June. A note put up by Apple in early August noted that Apple was "simplifying" the design of its iconic glass cube "by using larger, seamless pieces of glass."

Macrumors today notes that Apple has put up a note on its retail store's site to note that the 24/7 store will be reopening at 10 a.m. … Read more

If you've never seen a top-tier Rubik's Cube competition, you're missing out on watching something that can pretty much throw off your view on what people are capable of.

This weekend, the best in the world at the famous puzzle toy will go head to head in the World Rubik's Cube Championship in Bangkok, Thailand. And while you may not be able to get yourself there in person, you can watch the proceedings live. Events began today and take place through Sunday.

"Roughly 350 competitors from 40 countries will compete in 19 hard-fought events--from Speedcubing … Read more

NEW YORK--Over and over in interviews, shoppers at Apple's flagship store here, commonly known as The Cube, repeated the same question.

Why now?

"You know, I thought we had some more time (with Steve Jobs as Apple CEO)," Shahean Talebreza, 40, from Los Angeles told CNET after walking out of Apple's 5th Avenue store this evening. "We all knew this day could come. He's been ill, but I'm surprised he's leaving now."

Jobs resigned as CEO today, ending one of the most accomplished and storied CEO tenures in Silicon Valley's … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Can toys be part of a computing movement?

At Sifteo, a start-up here launched by two MIT Media Lab graduates, the answer is an emphatic yes. And while the world may be focused on the innovative play offered by the young company's motion-aware Cubes, the founders have higher aspirations than just being a toy company.

This evening, at a party in San Francisco, Sifteo is publicly launching its first product--a set of small electronic cubes (see video below) that communicate with each other wirelessly and enable a wide variety of casual digital games. The cubes come in sets … Read more

Today's news from overseas about Nintendo's slightly redesigned and price-dropped Wii isn't much of a surprise, with the Wii U around the corner. Neither is the new Wii's dropping of backward-compatible support for the GameCube and its peripherals. In fact, it nearly comes as a footnote.

Honestly, some people might be shocked that the Wii can even play GameCube games at all. Those small discs, looking like giveaways from some '90s music magazine, slot into the current Wii's disc slot (even though DVDs won't work). Even the GameCube controllers--and other peripherals--plug in via a door on the side. That's generous of Nintendo, but hardly necessary. Unless you have a large collection of GameCube discs, most memorable Nintendo games are easily gotten via Virtual Console downloads, re-issued Wii-ified versions, or improved franchise sequels.

Do we care about backward-compatibility in our game consoles? Well, maybe we used to. It's getting harder and harder to care. Here's why.… Read more

I'm going to take entirely undeserved credit for improving the laser-powered virtual-projection keyboard offered by Celluon and ThinkGeek.

In a pinch to turn my iPad into a fully functional writing tool, I tried out a variety of Bluetooth-capable, iPad-compatible keyboards on deadline. One of them was ThinkGeek's original Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard, which projects a full-size keyboard onto any flat surface.

It paired. It worked. But it threw me off as a writer because--for whatever neurotic reason--I needed that ole-fashioned keyboard "click" to prevent me from hunting and pecking my way through articles.

Now, Celluon and ThinkGeek are lauding the arrival of the Cube Laser Virtual Keyboard. Not only does it use a prettier, almost liquid interface for its laser projection, but it brings the "click" as the gesture recognition software employs sounds to indicate keystrokes and control gestures. … Read more

If you're bored playing with the Rubik's Cube, you might want to check out the Sifteo Cubes. They're a set of 1.5-inch motion-aware blocks featuring full-color screens. You can shake, tilt, or rotate them to play games.

CNET's David Carnoy called the cubes "21st century dominoes" when he got a look at them at CES. Now, they're finally about to ship.

One of the many games featured resembles the 1989 classic Pipe Mania. This time, however, the game is more interactive as you have to physically relocate your cubes to play the game.

Watch this video to get an idea of how games are played:… Read more