Gizmodo: modded

Russian Mod Makes iPhone's Rear-Side Apple Logo Glow

Kit Eaton — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:50:00 EDT

Saddened by the fact that the Apple logo on the rear-shell of the iPhone is just a dead, un-illuminated entity, a bunch of Russian modders have taken a dremel and soldering iron to one—or is it a replacement back shell? Either way, they brought the sexy (glow) back. Apparently "the battery doesn’t suffer a lot, you can adjust the glow level in Settings menu." Hmmm. Are they hacking into the screen back-lighting circuit? If you're not convinced by the photo: check out the video, it looks pretty real. Updated: A reader has sent us some shots of the mod really in action.

Now you should be convinced: if this mod isn't real, that video is a very well-done fake. There's no info on how it's been done, so it's up to you to work out how to follow in their footsteps if you too want a glowing fruit. [iNews76 via Yanko Design]
Update: A reader, and editor of iphones.ru has sent us these photos of the glowing mod in action, in lighted and unlit situations. There's this Giz story showing behind it in the pics... it's real, folks! The mod cost about $300 to do.
Thanks, Arthur!

Modded Millennium Falcon Can Pass for Real Movie Prop

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:09:13 EDT

Giz reader Peter Clute saw the impressive Hasbro Millennium Falcon and instead of just buying it to play and go all pew-pew with it, he decided to make it better, painting new wear and tear details, and adding a motion sensor and infrared sensor, and a load of extra LEDs. The results are impressive:

The very next thing I did was set to tearing it apart to see how it worked. Once I had it apart, I decided to add some additional LED running lights and some interior lights as well. In all I have about 18 hours into this project and I am pleased with the results. Needless to say Pete Jr is certainly excited about it too.

If the cockpit wasn't out of proportion, this would have been a perfect model for the movie. [Peter Clute]

Trapped in the Body of a Microwave, a Tragically-Modded PC

AddyDugdale — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:20:00 EDT

Since I don't have either a microwave or a desktop computer, I don't know why this PC-microwave hybrid with an LCD bolted to the door speaks to me, but it just does. It could possibly be something to do with the fact that I still haven't had breakfast and it's way past breakfast time here in Yurp. [Hacked Gadgets via Boing Boing Gadgets]

NES Controller Mod, May Just be Most Fun Coffee Table Ever

Kit Eaton — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:40:53 EDT

Forget touchscreen, solar powered or even self-destructing coffee tables... Kyle Downes has modded the coffee table into its best version ever: a retro-tastic NES controller. Just look at the sleek lines, the high quality finish and classy glass top. And then giggle at the fact that it actually works. Don't believe it? Check out the video after the gallery.

Kyle spent months putting this together, starting with a scanned image of his original NES control. This he then simply scaled up, carefully crafting each piece out of MDF and hacking his own wiring onto a broken old controller board. The glass top was the final touch, to protect those giant buttons, and inside there's plenty of storage. I guess if you're up for some giant 8-bit game-controlling action you'd probably need someone else on hand.

So, it's not exactly the highest of tech, but, like all the best ideas, it's a simple one. And I love it. [UltraAwesome via Tech Digest]

Arcade-Style Mod Gives Xbox 360 Controller Glowing Buttons

Kit Eaton — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:57:48 EDT

Modder ShaolinDrunkard has given an Xbox 360 controller an awesome partly-retro, partly-modern makeover. So its got a classic old-style arcade layout with proper game cabinet-style buttons, and is housed in a chunky oak box. But then each button has bright LED backlighting, and the joystick has a neat Xbox green glow. Excellent, we think. Would make playing those old arcade games feel so much more authentic. Shame it's a one-off. [Technabob]

PC Stands For Portal Case

Kit Eaton — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 06:51:09 EST

Much more tech-y than some case mods we could mention is this Weighted Companion deal from Magnus Persson, based on those handy crate-like things all you Portal players are fond of throwing around. Magnus designed and completed the 7.9-inch-wide case in the space of a week. Still, he managed to successfully squeeze a VIA Epia EX1500G motherboard in there along with a PicoPSU, 2GB of memory, a 250GB HDD and WLAN, which makes it pretty capable for its tiny dimensions. Shame about the cutsey hearts, but we've got to blame the game designers for that. [Bit-tech]