Ow. If this is anti-violence, then I am the Pope, I have just got divorced and I live with seventeen PORGs and a double-jointed donkey called Jehosephat Spanglethong. The Anti-Violence Electrode Shock Gun (but you can call it Pain) is a multi-talented weapon that can be used with paint bullets, rubber bullets (we all know how anti-violent THEY are, don’t we?), pepper spray, as well as the rather scary-sounding probe cartridges, which override the central nervous system and cause temporary incapacitation, rather like a Taser gun.
You can attach an electric baton to it so that you can prod your victim without having to get too close to him, and there’s an 180 cd Xenon light to “giddy” your opponent (translation: temporarily blind him so he won’t see you storm up and land your size 15s in his nuts). Apparently it makes the perfect present for customs officers, the army, police, little sisters, librarians and Donald Rumsfeld. And all of this comes at a price: I think we can guess what that is. – Ad Dugdale
Here’s the new Canon PowerShot G5 IS, 8 megapixels of compact camera with an attitude, and 1:2.7-3.5 lenses with 12x optical zoom. The new camera supports video mode with stereo sound recording, as you can see from the two microphones mounted in the front.
Commanded by Canon’s DIGIC III processor, this SLR Mini-Me comes loaded with optical Image Stabilizer and a 2.5-inc LCD screen that you can freely move around. The camera supports face detection for auto-focus, built-in red-eye correction and can even use extra optics for telephoto and wide-angle shots using an optional lens adapter. It also has a flash shoe and support for SDCH/SD and MMC memory cards. Weighting 15.9 oz it looks like the build is solid, although I am not convinced about the 4 alkaline batteries included in the package. We don’t have a price yet, but we have a gallery with sample photos and images of the camera for *free*. – Jesus Diaz
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Product page [Canon via Impress]
There’s a cheap computer on the way that undercuts them all, the $99 Zonbu, due this summer in a silent-running form factor that’s about the size of a paperback book. It has 4GB of flash memory on board, and automatically backs up a copy of your data online. Besides that $99 purchase price, you’ll also pay $12.95 a month (for 25GB,scales up to 100GB for more money) to store its data on the Zonbu servers, giving you the ability to compute anywhere with this tiny device, or access your data from other PCs. If you don’t commit to a service plan, the little PC costs $250.
Of course, you’ll have to buy a keyboard, monitor and mouse for this diminutive computer, and you’ll need a broadband Internet connection, too, but the company says its little Gentoo Linux-based mini PC has all of the applications most people ever need already preloaded. This sounds intriguing, but what applications are included, and can you actually get any work done with it?
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For those of you who think that toilets shouldn’t even be seen, let alone heard, Californian remodelling firm Julien asked Troy Adams Design to come up with a secret loo that doubles as a “Powder Room Bench”. Slide the wooden cover over the pedestal when you want it hidden away, slide it back to reveal your secret toilet in all its glory. What’s the point? I mean, if you’re really, truly embarrassed by bodily functions, you could just not “do” anything. And then you’d explode. And that would be nice, wouldn’t it? – Ad Dugdale
Product Page [Julien via Remodelling Online]
“… Stretching sinuously, her back forming an arc that would make a viaduct engineer blush, Lisandra mewled like a kitten. ‘Oh Hef,’ she breathed, opening one feline eye, ‘You were staggering.’ The Hef smiled wolfishly and removed the pipe from where it shouldn’t have been*. “I know,” he said, leaning over to run his tongue up her spinal column. “I frequently am.” Frissons of ecstasy fizzed through her body and she sighed with satisfaction.
There was a sudden movement in the bed and another head popped out from beneath the burgundy sateen sheets. It was Shanandra, Lisandra’s identical twin sister. “Hef, you were absolutely sensational,” she murmured lazily, her voice still thick with innuendo. “Now then, all that action has made me thirsty. And we want to know what you’re going to do about it.”
More Hot Hef action after the jump.
Here’s a nifty little product if you’re a Windows user – Rebit is a pocket-sized back-up that is so easy to use that even my Mom could master it (and she still calls her computer “that TV thing”). You can even go back to older versions of saved documents, as it catalogues past copies of your files.
Simply plug in the Rebit to your USB port, click “OK” and all your files are downloaded onto the machine. No configuration and no extra cables, since it powers itself via USB. 60G is $169, 80G $189 and 120G $219. – Ad Dugdale
Product Page [Rebit via BoingBoing]
The last bit of action we saw at the Kodak stand was their new home / small office printer line, expected here in Australia in Q4. It is already on the market overseas, so this wasn’t a preview model — so when the demo went a bit messy, it was hard to discount it as a pre-production flaw.
The picture is of their ink system, which comes in two parts, black and colour. These are going to be priced about 50% less than most major brand inks. The print results looked very good on 6×4 photo paper, and the printer has a smart system to make it obvious when you have the photo paper in, and when you are using normal paper.
But it is also meant to detect which you are using, and adjust to print accordingly. Yet when we got a photo out on an A4 sheet, it came out very damp, with horrible banding across the print. Eeeek! Not exactly what they hoped to show me. They’ve got six months to show me again before it hits the market, I guess. -Seamus Byrne
Some nice camera bag / purses for the ladies were at the show, adding a little style to what is usually nothing more than fat, dumpy and nylon.
These go beyond the functional cool from Crumpler, into some genuine fashion edge so your little camera bag looks more like a cool purse / clutch / whatever else girls call their small party night handbags.
Two more designs after the jump.
We mentioned the Digiframe frames earlier, which were hot. These are the best of the big name frames, and have some nice extra features on board.
Their frames are 16:9 widescreen format, which is a bit strange when photos aren’t really taken in wide format. But the screens do look good, and the frames are pretty good looking… though the annoying drill hole in the wooden frame is an eyesore (but they need it for infra-red control). Frames are interchangeable, and there is a whiteboard option for making notes or letting the kids go nuts (better to do that BEFORE you put it on the frame, or your LCD will soon be covered in special kid messages too).
Their 10-inch frame also as Wi-Fi (b/g) built-in. Memory is limited, just 128MB. But the prices are cheap — 7-inch $199, 8-inch $299, 10-inch $399. Expected to arrive in August.
