Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Phones
New Toshiba Clamshell Mobile Outed by FCC Filing
10:44PM Gizmodo US Edition | Toshiba looks like it’s taking a leaf out of HTC’s design book with its upcoming G900 series smartphones, as revealed in recent FCC filings. The G910 and 920 are sleek little numbers, much shinier than the old G900 itself, and opting for clamshell form factors instead of slide-out keyboards. More info and a couple more pics after the jump. More »
Vehicles
Amazing Wooden Supercar Makes Burning Rubber Even More Dangerous
10:16PM Gizmodo US Edition | We’ve seen wooden cars before, but they’ve never looked quite as awesome as this supercar one-off that a team of graduate students is building. Named Splinter, the supercar is being constructed as a serious attempt to explore the uses of wood as a bulding material for vehicles, so it’s even loaded with a supercharged 600-hp V8 engine that should really give it a roar. More info after the jump. More »
Networks
Apple iPhone Coming to Japan
9:40PM Jesus Diaz | According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is right now in talks with NTT DoCoMo and Softbank, negotiating the release of the iPhone in Japan. Steve Jobs recently met with NTT DoCoMo’s president and company executives have been travelling back and forth between Tokyo and Cupertino to talk about the possible deals, eat tofu tempura, drink sake and sing in karaoke/strip bars. [WSJ - Subscription required] More »
Gadgets
TranslucentConcrete a Lighter Way for Load-Bearing
9:37PM Addy Dugdale | A mixture of traditional concrete and fiber-optics, TranslucentConcrete (not to be confused with translucent concrete—yes, I know) can be used by architects to make load-bearing walls a little more see-through than they normally are. Check the amazing effects in the gallery below. More »
Software
PlayStation 3 DivX Playback Tested
7:01PM Jason Chen | The PlayStation 3 2.10 update is here, bringing with it not only Blu-ray Profile 1.1 support (which adds picture in picture among other things), but DivX and WMV playback as well. Unfortunately, DivX support means DivX support, and doesn’t include XviD as some of us hoped according to readers includes XviD support, but the files we have tested don’t work at all. We threw our normal battery of files at our PS3, and came to the conclusion that it’s not quite as good as the Xbox 360 implementation. Here are our notes. Update: We’ve found that XviD playback does work, but only on burned DVDs and external hard drives. See here for an update and a workaround.DivX and WMV play back fine. Just as they claimed, the PS3 now can play back DivX files and WMV files. No problemo. More »
Software
PlayStation Firmware 2.1 Update Is Now Available
3:38PM Jesus Diaz | According to reader reports, the PlayStation 3 firmware 2.1 is now available, complete with DivX support, WMVs, enhanced audio bitmapping and a voice changer to make you sound like Sean Connery even if your voice is like Mickey Mouse. [Thanks Joel] More »
Gadgets
The Construction of the LEGO Millennium Falcon Part I: the Unboxing and the Licking
1:40PM Jesus Diaz | We got the LEGO Ultimate Collector’s Millenium Falcon and here’s a video of me getting all dorky and excited about this awesome 12 Kilogram, 5,159-block LEGO masterpiece. This is just a teaser of what’s coming later this week: the time-lapse video of its construction by only one single dork, and the review (and in case there are still any doubts about it, this is the most amazing LEGO set—and to me, the best toy—you can buy for you your kids this holiday season.) [LEGO] More »
Gadgets
“Chat” Concept is Like Living a Comic Strip
1:20PM Sean Fallon | Artist Aram Bartholl’s “Chat” concept enables users to engage in a conversation via brief text messages that are typed on a keyboard and projected onto a comic strip-like voice bubble overhead —not unlike the Voice Bubble Mirror from earlier this year. Even though the keyboard is wireless, a technician is needed to secure the bubble behind the speaker, so the whole project falls short of greatness. A video of Chat in action is available after the break. More »
Robots
A Robotic Jurassic Park Coming to Dubai
1:00PM Sean Fallon | When it comes to Dubai and attracting wealthy tourists, the word “restraint” is seldom used. Perhaps that is why it is not surprising that the locals are building a $1 billion theme park that will feature over 100 animatronic dinosaurs of 40 different species. Dubbed “Restless Planet,” the park will attempt to provide an educational experience amidst all of the Vegas style spectacle. This will be done using history themed rides and robots / habitats that represent an accurate portrayal (based on current knowledge) of what life was like millions of years ago. More »
Gadgets
