Filed under: Digital Cameras, Home Entertainment

If you don’t have quite enough set-tops sitting underneath your HDTV, we’ve got one more to fill that tiny gap over there on the right. PIE United has introduced a rather quizzical device aimed at folks who love to show off photos of their journeys around the world on the big screen. The HD-0310 1080p Digital Photo Viewer connects up via HDMI and supports 12 types of flash cards along with USB drives; in addition to photos, it’ll play back video clips and MP3 files. Oh, and just in case you’re fresh out of HDMI ports, this thing packs a single input in order to connect another HDMI device and switch between the two. Not too sure how much this will run the layman, but outfits looking to buy in bulk should be able to land a killer deal.

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Source:PIE United cranks out HD-0310 1080p Digital Photo Viewer

Tomorrow I embark on a week-long vacation that will have me hiking up mountains, enjoying art and music and dining in fancy restaurants. Needless to say, I am looking forward to it. The only thing I am not 100% about is the hotel room. I’ve never stayed in this particular chain before and I got it at a great price—which has me a little concerned.

Source:10 Gadgets That Help You Survive in Cheap Hotel Rooms

Filed under: Announcements

Last year Engadget — and its good looking, smart, talented readers — took a break from the PC and Mac wars and endless discussion of which Linux distro rules the roost to put some cash towards a good cause: DonorsChoose, a fund-raising group dedicated to making kids’ education needs a reality.

Here’s how it works — we’ve picked a handful of technology related causes that all need funding to get off the ground. You simply decide how much you want to give and which charity appeals to you, and the money goes directly to one or more programs that will impact high-need public schools. Still feel the desire for a little healthy competition? You can track our progress against other like-minded sites on the Blogger Challenge leaderboard, so you get to do something good for kids and shout “PWNED!”

You have until October 31st to make a donation — either by clicking here, using the widget after the break, or by following the Read link — and we sincerely hope that you’ll consider helping out these projects that really do have a chance of giving kids a better future. Also, “PWNED!”

P.S. If you see a project that seems perfect for Engadget and our readers but isn’t in our list, let us know in comments!

Read – Donate!
Read – Blogger Challenge leaderboard
Read – Opening news story on the Blogger Challenge
Read – About DonorsChoose.org

Continue reading Help Engadget Energize Education in the 2008 DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge

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Source:Help Engadget Energize Education in the 2008 DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge

Filed under: Cellphones

Apple’s insistence on locking down iPhone developers with a restrictive NDA has been controversial from the start, and it looks like the company’s seen the light — it’s just posted up a tersely-worded letter saying that the NDA is being dropped. It’s a strange little note, actually — the first paragraph comes off as a little defensive and whiny, if you ask us — but we’re not going to complain about anything that makes developing apps easier and faster for devs. Now let’s work on not capriciously rejecting and deleting apps from the App Store, and maybe we can go back to focusing on the iPhone platform’s actual merits instead of all these paperwork shenanigans — we’ve got some suggestions if you’re having a hard time figuring this out on your own.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Source:Apple drops iPhone NDA

When you hear about a camera that’s the size of a trailer, you figure it’s a novelty used by a struggling artist looking to make a name. But watching this clip that explores the giant photography of John Chiara, you realize he’s not just a salesman exhibiting a clown camera. He’s an artist who painstakingly sets up a shot that’s balanced with car lifts, controls the exposure by placing his hand over parts of the lens and then develops the film in a sewage pipe. And the results are pretty extraordinary. This clip documents Chiara’s complete process and it runs about 7 worthwhile minutes. Load it up when you’ve got the time. [via Neatorama]

Source:Giant Photography Captures Landscape-Sized Landscapes [Clips]