These are the first pictures of the box, remote control and UI of Vudu, a video store in a box that is going to engage in a battle royale with Apple TV later this summer. The service will launch with thousands of movies from seven major studios as well as indie distributors, connects directly to your TV and does not require a PC or a cable box. The company, Vudu, Inc., has been quietly engineering the technology and striking deals with content owners for the past two years (under the codename Marquee). It's run by some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley. Find out more about the box, its load-sharing network, and the Apple connection after the jump.

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Those of you with MacBooks and MacBook Pros purchased between Feb '06 and April '07 should grab this update. There's some problem with these notebooks that occasionally makes it so that your battery won't charge, won't recognize, or reports a low charge when it's fully charged and has a battery cycle count of less than 300. Oh, and those deformed MacBook Pro batteries? That's caused by this too.

If you install this update and your battery's still acting up (showing the above symptoms), you can head into an Apple store and get a free battery replacement. Especially if you've got that 300 cycle count thing. Because that's madness. – Jason Chen

Battery Update [Apple via MacWorld]

Image courtesy CNET

An article in the Wall Street Journal today drives home why record labels need to hop on the DRM-free digital music train to get their wares out there. Wal-Mart, Best Buy and their ilk are now responsible for at least 65 percent of all music sales—including online stores—and they're reducing the amount of music they carry as CD sales drop. Do we really want Wal-Mart dictating what music people listen to?

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Although people who drive stick know what gear they're in by feel, this German shift knob is something we think they can get behind. It's a learning shifter, which you assign gear numbers to depending on your car's specific position. When you switch to that gear, the LCD display on the top shows you correct gear in easy-to-read numbers. Very sweet.

Although our cars are automatics (some of us, anyway), this thing's too cool to pass up. Plus, it's only $169—not too expensive at all. – Jason Chen

Product Page [TMTuning via Auto Blog]

As good as regular mugs are, that damn second law of thermodynamics always wins out in the end, making sure your hot coffee is now just bitter luke-warm liquid. But with the Smart Mug, all you have to do is set a temperature, plug it into your car's cigarette lighter, and you've got yourself some always-hot beverages.

The only thing to watch out for is spillage, which at 160 degrees (the maximum this cup can heat up to), will make sure you never have to use contraception again. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Gifts and Gadgets via Gearlog]

Whether you're making home Blu-ray movies to distribute to your friends or just backing up all your data with 50GB chunks, Blu-ray seems to be the way to go if you've got a Mac. FastMac's latest Blu-ray drives are the first sub-$500 BD burners that we've seen, and work fine with Mac Pro, PowerMac G3-G5, eMacs and iMac G4s.

Check out their full spec list after the jump for the types of Blu-ray discs it works with. But still, five hundred bones is a lot to fork out if you don't really need it for work or to make money. There's a reason why Blu-ray and HD DVD porn movies cost $49.99 each.

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There's a predator on the loose and rumor on the Interwebs says that it's Apple. According to DigiTimes, Apple is on the hunt for more NAND flash memory to satisfy its insatiable belly. It already has a deal with Samsung, but now Apple is asking for 10-15% more than what they initially bargained for, which is about 400-500 million 4GB NAND chips. Samsung's not sure they can meet the demand. All I gotta say is that I'd hate to be the guy to disappoint this man. – Louis Ramirez

Samsung and Apple in Talks About NAND Flash Purchase [DigiTimes via AppleInsider]

A few days ago, we reported Apple's stellar quarterly earnings, not because we're going all Wall Street, but because we heart Apple. (Like you didn't know.) One brave reader named Jim called us on the bias, saying that Microsoft did amazingly well in its most recent quarter, and deserves a bit o' Gizmodo love.

"Why aren't you reporting Microsoft's successful quarter?" wrote Jim. "Hey, maybe you have it wrong, and Vista is a huge success...and it can only get better with worldwide sales."

Well, Jim, wherever you are, when you're right, you're right. Microsoft did have an impressive quarter, but there was also some grimness tucked in with those upwardly moving graph lines.

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Although it's not specifically used for wine, like the Nuvo Vino, there's nothing technically stopping you from taking temperatures of your drinks with these infrared thermometers.

They come in three sizes—keychain, pocket, and radar detector—and all are able to measure anywhere between -76 degrees F to 938 degrees F. Word of advice: If you're pointing this at something and it's reading 938 degrees F, back away. – Jason Chen

Largest Size [X-Treme Geek]

Pocket Size [X-treme Geek]

Keychain Size [X-treme Geek]

Imagine if you had a tool that when plugged into a Mac, can extract passwords for logins, disk images, Wi-Fi passwords, iTunes, iChat, Remote Desktop, email, all your banking info, peer to peer information, and arranges it neatly into a database format. That's the MacLockPick. It's pretty neat if you're the one doing the extracting, but very scary if you're the one being extracted from.

However, it's only available to federal and state law enforcement officials as well as licensed investigators, and starts at $499 (discounts apply if you're a po po). So unless your uncle's a professional snooper, you won't be able to get your hands on one of these. Thank jeebus. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Subrosasoft via MacWorld via Everything USB via Slashgear]

If you thought the Xbox 360 Elite was good-looking, check out this complete body mod from Zoozen. It's only a prototype for now, but the Ovo mod replaces the entire shell of the Xbox with a spaced-out looking breadmaker-type case.

We're digging the blue lights and complete roundedness, so we're hoping Zoozen actually takes this into production sometime soon. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Zoozen via Kotaku]

This waterproof floating table tennis table is the perfect addition to any summer party. It measures in at 54 inches long by 27 inches wide, which is significantly smaller than a traditional table, but it could still provide some fun. It has a hard top surface and soft sides (for smashing it against the opponent upon defeat). Personally, It would work better for pool beer pong, but what else would you expect me to say—I'm a 22-year-old college student who loves beer bongs. –Travis Hudson

Product Page [Via ubergizmo]

We've been known to download DivX files using BitTorrent on occasion, and there's nothing better than using an upscaling DVD player like the Helios H4000, the LG DN191H or the Oppo DV-981HD to watch these shows and movies on our TVs in high def. But the Ziova CS505, much like the Helios X3000, can stream the files directly from your computer without having to burn them to a disc beforehand—the ultimate in convenience.

Although both this and the Apple TV stream video, they're in totally different classes. Apple TV is made for playing back movies and music purchased from the Apple store, and unless you re-encode your downloaded BitTorrent movies from DivX, it's not going to play on Apple's offering. This and the Helios X3000 are for every other non-Apple format.

In many ways, the Ziova CS505 is even better than the Helios X3000 we tested before—which technically makes it the best streaming, upscaling and DivX player we've used yet. Make the jump to find out why.

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As promised, here is a video of the iRiver Clix demonstrating how the actual "clix" works along with an interface tour. Pardon the partial blurriness—my camera was set to "amateur pornography" mode and I forgot to turn it off. –Travis Hudson

iRiver Clix Unboxed, Groped [Gizmodo]
2nd Generation iRiver Clix Now Available [Gizmodo]

There are plenty of multi-tool pens around, but none as beautiful as this hand-turned creation by John Russell. He chooses from 50 varieties of wood to craft these one-of-a-kind writing instruments.

The type of wood you get is random, but one thing's for sure, you'll have a Phillips screwdriver, regular screwdriver, tweezers, X-acto knife, and of course, a ballpoint pen in hand whenever you carry this handmade work of art. We thought it would cost a lot more than $32. – Charlie White

Product Page [Eco-Artware, via The Uber Review]

If you remember back to our Xbox 360 DVD drive comparison, you'll remember that the order of quietness in the units went Toshiba-Samsung loudest (the launch drives), Hitachi-LG in the middle, and BenQ LiteOn-Philips quietest (all Xboxes manufactured after November '06). So which do you think the Xbox 360 Elite would have? If you guessed BenQ, you'd be wrong.

Unless our Elite was manufactured before Nov '06, it seems likely that Microsoft is still using Hitachi-LG drives in their Xbox 360s (both regular and Elite). We'll have to check when more Elite units make it into the general population.

A better look after the jump.

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Move over Dean Kamen. You might have the money you've made from the dozens upon dozens of Segways you've sold, but your budget can't compete with DARPA's, and they're in the bionic arm field too.

DARPA already has their first prototype done, and they say they're on track to "provide, by 2009, a mechanical arm that closely mimics the properties and sensory perception of a biological limb." It sounds pretty great, and I can't say having Dean Kamen and DARPA both working hard to create top-notch bionic arms is a bad thing. Click through to read DARPA's whole press release and a picture of the arm in action.

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Mobile freaks know that Nokia is a funny company, at the same time the biggest brand in handsets worldwide, and a niche player in the American cellphone market. This week, I sat down with Bill Plummer, Nokia's North America VP of sales and channel management for Multimedia to discuss matters Nokia faces in the immediate future: WiMax handsets (by 2008?), GPS in every phone, American HSDPA compatibility, chunky designs, the slender N76 multimedia handset (shown above), QWERTY keyboards and more.

Read on for my questions and Plummer's italicized answers—some of them direct, and some of them a little more, shall we say, courteously evasive. (Hey, he's a nice guy, but he's also a sales VP. That's why they pay him the big bucks.)

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Enjoy taxidermy? Yeah, me too. This project is the sick, sick work of Instructables member canida and company. It is a real mouse, gutted and fitted with parts from one of those small laptop mice. PETA members may want to look away, or go jump off a bridge, but I'm sure the mouse died from natural causes. Hit the link below to see more pictures and a video of the mouse in action—if your stomach can handle it. At least it would go great with the beaver case mod. –Travis Hudson

Mouse Mouse! [Instructables]

Has Ferrari no sense of decency? Now the esteemed Italian carmaker-cum-gadget ho has agreed to festoon its logo on yet another geegaw, this time the Sony Ericsson K800i cellphone. If you recall, the K800i has been available for over a year, and has a 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera and Dual Mode GSM/GPRS/UMTS connectivity. There's no word on which carriers will offer the phone, nor when it will be available or at what cost.

So now there are laptops, a handful of cellphones, and a few other assorted gizmos with the Ferrari logo all over them. That said, this is a fine-looking phone with that Ferrari logo on board. Come to think of it, we're getting tired of our Michael Graves toilet brush and want one with the Ferrari logo on it now. – Charlie White

SonyEricsson K800i Ferrari Edition (Italian) [MobileBlogit, via Textually]

Philips isn't exactly the first brand that comes to mind when you think of laptops, but their upcoming X200 Ultra Portable actually looks pretty nice. It's got some pretty standard specs, such as a 1.73GHz Core Duo U2500 processor, a 100GB HDD, and 1GB of RAM, but what really makes it stand out is its Flybook-esque screen riser. It hoists the 12.1-inch widescreen LCD up to a bit closer to eye level, which keeps you from hurting your neck while you work. Oh, and it also has a 1.3-megapixel webcam built into the screen.

The Philips X200 Ultra Portable is shipping now to the U.K. for £850, or $1,700. No word on it hitting American shores, but we can hope. –Adam Frucci

Philips X200 Ultra portable: As Good As They Get [New Launches]

Sony just raised the bar with its 8.1-megapixel compact point and shoot CyberShot DSC-S800 camera, offering a 6x optical zoom that retracts into the camera body just like those 3x optical zooms do. To do that, Sony has abandoned Carl Zeiss optics for a lens of its own making, accompanying that with anti-blur tech will help you hold that sucker still even when you have the lens zoomed all the way in.

Take the jump to see the nice ass-end of this supersnapper, and there's where we'll break some bad news to you.

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We already knew that we were going to be forking out about $1500 for the Optimus uber-keyboard, but now they've got a finalized number. $1564 (Shakespeare's birthday). Fantastic.

In other news, their updated development schedule has the plastic tooling done by July 10, OLED tooling done by July 16 (they have a new manufacturer), and a fully functional prototype done by early August. After all this is done, they have to go through the certification process by the FCC, but after that, you're free to plop down a grand and a half for this. Oh, and there's only going to be 200 units done by the end of November, another 200 by the end of December, and 400 by the end of January '08. Really crankin' them out, eh boys? – Jason Chen

Optimus Maximus Development Schedule [Optimus Bog]

You've gotta love DIY hacks that don't even pretend to be trying to create something that's actually useful, but are more attempts to prove that the maker can create something completely ridiculous.

Take this door that can be unlocked with a Wiimote, for example. Is this very secure? No, not really. Is it convenient? Nope. Is it awesome? Yes, yes it is. And at the end of the day, isn't that all that really matters? –Adam Frucci

Hacket Gadgets [via Ubergizmo]

Just to clear up any notion you might have that all gamers are like us pasty-faced doughboys, GamerHelp rounded up a choice group of gaming gals to prove that members of the fairer sex are also capable of pushing buttons on a controller and going into an all-night gamer trance, too. Follow the almost safe-for-work link—there's lots more pics where these came from. – Charlie White

Girls Who Play [gamerhelp, via CrunchGear]

What would you do if this plate was set in front of you? What would you do? Here's a fresh dish of octopus tentacles, still alive, served to Cyrus Farivar at a restaurant in South Korea.

"They calm down after a little while, but then when you go after them again, they start up again," he says. "It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen brought to a dinner table."

Some people will eat anything. It's like those monkey heads in Indiana Jones. – Charlie White

Live octopus tentacles! [Cyrus Farivar, via Boing Boing]

Nick Negroponte, founder of the One Laptop Per Child initiative, announced that the price of the so-called "$100 laptop" would actually be $175 when manufacturer Quanta begins production this October. Earlier this year, we told you the OLPC might cost over $200, so even though this is a price hike, it's actually good news. Negroponte also announced that, in addition to the Linux-based OS we showed you earlier, OLPCs would now run Windows.

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Earlier this week at the Digital Summit in Nashville, RIAA ringleader Mitch Bainwol spoke on the RIAA's litigious nature and their love of DRM. Unsurprisingly, he let loose with a bunch of steamy, BS-scented PR-speak that we're here to smash into a thousand little pieces.

Bainwol: "I believe in rules. They are essential to the American way of life."
Giz: Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a big part of the whole rule-following American way of life that the government is the entity that makes and enforces the rules? I don't recall seeing anything in the constitution that states that visionless industry groups are the judge, jury and executioner when they feel threatened. The rules you should be following are those such as people are innocent until proven guilty.

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There are plenty of sci-fi movies that have bleak visions of the future, depicting people hooked up to computers like they're plugged into something at the hospital. They think we'll turn into a society of mindless drones, with computers running our lives rather than vice versa.

Well, if that future awaits us, this G-Tech International Neber ergonomic PC chair is the first step. Looking like an office desk combined with a dentist chair, it tilts you back so you're lulled into a sense of comfort and tranquility. That's when the cables come out and jack into your brain, I assume, but there are no pictures of that, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Check out another shot after the jump.

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