Getting bored with your workouts? The Progio Training Companion has a 320x240 screen that shows you exercise videos, keeps track of your progress, times your workouts, and with its optional Polar Heart Rate Monitor can keep track of your pulse rate.

Once you're done with your workout, it uploads all your performance data to the mother ship, the CompanionWorlds website. That's where you can graphically keep track of your progress and download more workouts that are specifically designed for different areas you'd like to improve.

What's the point of all this, anyway?

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This is the British Royal Navy's newest class of submarine, the Astute. And this is what the nuclear-powered behemoth can do: generate its own air and water; sit in the English Channel and fire cruise missiles at North Africa; but perhaps the most extraordinary feature of the British-built sub is that it will never need to be refuelled throughout its 25-year lifespan, meaning it can sail round the world 40 times without surfacing - if your seamen don't need feeding, that is.

The Brits have put in an initial order for three of the subs - a snip at $2.33 billion each - and each one is expected to enter into service in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The contractor, BAE Systems, in Barrow, says it learned a lot from US sub builder Electric Boat - namely to build sections of the sub vertically (hence the 12-storey construction towers at the plant) which saved on manpower. Check the big beast in the gallery below, and the specs after the jump.

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Leave it to that nest of fat bureaucrats called the European Union to fix what a consortium of eight european companies have not been able to pull off: Galileo, a former excommunicated astronomer turned global positioning system, is in a "dead-end street".

The 30-satellite system promised extreme accuracy to everyone around the world without the limitations of the US government-controlled GPS. According to German Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, now it "is going through a deep and grave crisis" which, for those of you outside the Old Continent, means: "we are in deep shit."

The companies in charge of running the show have been unsuccesful and, with only one test satellite in orbit and the second one still grounded with technical troubles, it looks like the european taxpayer (that's me, for one) will have to pony up those funny colored bills to finance their incompetence. Quite frankly, I didn't need a GPS to tell me that we are completely lost this side of the pond. – Jesus Diaz

Galileo system 'in a deep crisis' [BBC News]

Could it be that this Australian man was inspired by our own pants-stuffing Jason Chen of Wii-down-your-pants fame? This guy seen on the video somehow fits a huge projector down his pants and then laboriously walks out of an electronics store.

Next: tough legislation will be introduced to keep bloggers from suggesting new shoplifting methods. Not to encourage anybody or anything, but this guy actually got away with this crime. – Charlie White

How To Hide a Projector In One's Underwear [Wired Gadget Lab]

Here's PaPeRo again. And this time he comes in a bite-size format. Or better said, in kick-that-ball-mutha-format, since he keeps freaking me out just like his bigger, older brother, by now hopefully dismantled and rotting in some landfill near Osaka.

PaPeRo Mini only measures 179 x 170 x 250 milimeters (9.84 inches high) and weighs 5.5 pounds, but he's smarter than PaPeRo, being built around a module that uses a ARM 9192 CPU and a DSP processor to provide speech recognition, speech synthesis, control of the surrounding area and face recognition.

It's good to see the Japanese increasing the efficiency of their bots but, quite frankly, I'll stick with Kondo. He may look more menacing, but at least he's stupid and talks like the Hulk rather than some smartypants British butler. – Jesus Diaz

Press Release (in Japanese) [NEC via Impress Robot]

Slickly designed external hard drives are all the rage lately, but we originally scoped out Seagate's FreeAgent line back at CES. The FreeAgent Go holds up to 160GB and with the included Ceedo virtualization software, you can run apps directly from the drive, which is useful if you're stuck using a public computer.

What'd we like? It's small, lightweight and quiet but feels surprisingly sturdy. It looks great and the yellow glow is nice, but if it's not for you, you can always turn it off. The read/write speed is average, so there's nothing to complain about there (you can scope out the benchmarks in the gallery). Apps run from the drive generally lag-free.

What we didn't like:

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This is a friendly reminder to sign the McFly 2015 project. You know, to convince Nike to build Marty McFly's kicks from Back to the Future II. I've signed because they're cool enough to risk tearing up the space time continuum with an early release.

If you'd agree, go ahead, click through and sign. – Brian Lam

Make it Happen [Mcfly 2015]

HP is breaking new grounds today by becoming the first PC vendor to swing both ways in the high-def DVD wars.

The company's new PCs (which will be part of the Pavilion Media Center m8010y series and d4890y series) will feature a Blu-ray/HD DVD combo drive and also come with a GeForce 8800 video card. ATI's TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner will also be bundled, and because it has a CableCard slot, that means turning your PC into a quick and dirty PVR shouldn't be a hassle. No word on pricing yet, though we can't imagine the dual drive option coming in cheap, so you better start saving now. – Louis Ramirez

Product Page

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Nothing's certain yet, but rumor has it the BlackJack won't be getting a Windows Mobile 6 update until some time after June. AT&T users were probably counting on somewhat of an earlier update, seeing as T-Mobile's Dash already got theirs last week, but no such luck (supposedly) for now. Of course, this is from unofficial sources, so you may have better luck once AT&T actually makes an announcement for real. – Jason Chen

BlackJack WM6 Update: Q3 at best [WMExperts via Boy Genius Report]

We've got a few more stories that we just haven't had time to write up. These cool concept designs for Hitachi camcorders is just one of these...

So yes, Hitachi had some funky styles on show for possible future video cameras. All sticking around their idea of disc-based recording, though these HD concepts are more likely to have Blu-ray inside — with more capacity than a full DVD on its 8cm discs.

Reps told us the camera above has received a great reaction, and if anything goes from raw concept to reality down the line, this could be it. Could. Not will...

Another concept design after the jump.

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Everyone was talking late last week about Harry McCracken and his resignation from PC World due to a breach of the editorial/advertising wall. The story, in short, was that Harry wanted to run something called "10 Things We Hate About Apple", and the CEO didn't, because of possibly upsetting advertisers (namely, Apple). Well, PC World ran the story today anyway.

After reading it, we wondered if this was the actual story Harry resigned over—it's quite tame. Complaints about Apple being really secretive, the "i" monicker, lack of Blu-ray, mis-managed hardware like the Puck Mouse or the Toilet Seat iBook, lack of gaming and limited selection has been said and re-said for years. What gives? Was the story de-fanged?

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In case you're watching, Sony, this is how you sell your PS3. You can thank G4 for their efforts. – Jason Chen

1pstart [via Kotaku]

Just when you thought they couldn't cram any more features into their Harmony 1000, the folks at Logitech are planning to give their uber remote a trio of features that'll include speech recognition, biometric security and a built-in search function.

The news came straight from Logitech's reps, who confirmed that their next Harmonies will use IBM's ViaVoice recognition software so that you'll be able to change channels by barking out commands. It gets better though.

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The EnergyPod by Metronaps promises to "improve employee morale while boosting the bottom line" by encouraging powernapping at work. It's basically a jazzed-up recliner with a blast shield that provides a "semi-private acoustical and visual environment." When it's time to wake up after 20 minutes the chair starts buzzing and beating your face with lights. Gently, of course. Not so gentle is the price: $8000.

Personally, I found face-planting on my desk during class in high school to be a fairly effective way to powernap. And by powernap, I mean sleep through the entire period. Which is pretty much how my powernaps at Giz work. – Matt Buchanan

Product Page [via Geeksugar via UberGizmo]

Everyone knows you shouldn't have a safe that looks like a safe. The robbers will know exactly where your valuables are and will focus on cracking it. What you need is a good hiding spot. Sure, you could hide your valuables in some poop-stained tighty-whiteys, but, well, gross.

This wall clock tells the time and also hides your goods. Unless the person robbing you is really desperate for a new timepiece, they won't touch the clock. Unless they've read this, in which case, whoops, our bad. –Adam Frucci

Product Page [Book of Joe]

Rumor has it HP's going to be releasing something very cool in the world of laptops this fall. By combining Voodoo's water-cooling, which you've mostly seen in desktops so far (save for a couple units here and there), HP is going to create a water-cooled laptop, which has no fans and gets eight hours of battery life.

In the French business magazine L'Expansion, the CTO confirms that the laptops will probably under the HP brand and not the Voodoo brand, even though it's got Voodoo parts inside. If this can get laptops to last longer and not scorch our thighs like Anakin Skywalker at the end of movie #3, then we're all for it. – Jason Chen

[HP to launch water-cooled fanless notebooks this Fall [Uberpulse]

Some information has been leaked about the third generation of Samsung's U-series of small form factor MP3 players. The U3 has that "pack of gum" look and will be available in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB capacities. It also has a one-inch OLED display, RDS tuner, 15-hour battery life and support for MP3, WMA and Ogg (!!). Not too shabby, and I'm a sucker for a pretty OLED display. –Travis Hudson

A First Look at the Samsung YP-U3 [dapreview]

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With the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 both having third party cooling systems, Nintendo's Wii was feeling a bit left out. After all, didn't it get hot as well? Fear not, Wiis, as a no-name Chinese company has released an add-on cooler for you, too.

The cooler is powered by the Wii's USB ports, which means there's no AC adapter and it will run "without noise." Best of all (if there is a best of all), there's a pass-through USB port so you won't have to lose one of your precious ports that you could use for charging up your Wiimotes. We gotta hand it to them for the product shot as well. The blood red is a nice touch. They even went to the trouble of Photoshopping it onto the red. Lucky? We're lucky if our eyes don't explode. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Firstsing via Crunchgear]

Needle-thin styluses are nice because they fit easily into the said device, but seriously, they are a pain in the ass to hold onto and use. LSN Global, a Korean company, has developed the Ecoplus, a refillable pen cartridge that can turn the average ballpoint pen into a stylus. No longer will gripping that miniature stylus be a pain in the ass. Just use your normal, comfortable pen. –Travis Hudson

Use your ballpoint pen as a stylus [AVING]

A quick update on where things are at on the .au front, apart from obviously "still germinating".

We are working on integrating US comments into the local feed, so you can keep an eye on what big brother readers are saying. It isn't a simple task, and it will be a separate stream to our local comment area, but you've asked, so we're working on bringing it to ya.

We'll soon have a marker on each entry to make it obvious that something is from the feed or a local posting, so then all the issues of price, temp and season variations will be simple to spot.

As we get things running smoothly on the back end, we will start doing more work on following up on local news related to the big news off the feed. Product pricing, release timings, etc. Just like you, we want to know when we'll see stuff in Australia, so chasing this news up is set to become a big part of the deal here.

And, of course, comps, deals, polls, and more news will be coming very soon now to the local edition. Comps very, very soon, so keep 'em peeled. -Seamus Byrne

UPDATE: Oh, and we are also starting to pull almost everything from the US edition. Where the news is very US centric, we are dropping the content below the jump, so those who want to see it can still spot the headlines and read on if they wish.

Ready for your daily dose?

Anti-violence shock gun.
And by anti-violent, they mean insanely violent, but mostly non-lethal...

Get twice the sleep in half the time.
Scientists make machine that triggers REMs to get more rest out of less sleep. Oh God, I need this.

Canon HR10 peek: AVCHD camcorder to DVDs.
Canon joins Panasonic and Sony in the AVHCD club. Is this a good thing?

Hot rice, just add cold water.
Way for wacky science helping us cook with less effort than ever.

AMD Quad-Core info leak.
Leak as in news, not some kind of data leak trouble on the chip.

10 things to know before buying an upscaling DVD player.
Because DVD is still a good idea as long as format shenanigans continue.

Either kids think of the darndest things, or there is a major alcoholism epidemic going on throughout our high schools. Back in January, at MacWorld, Mophie held an event and allowed the participants to doodle design ideas, and the best idea was actually manufactured. Seventeen-year-old Jared Fiovorich was the winner with his design of the Bevy, an iPod shuffle case and bottle opener. I like the product quite a bit, mainly because it can crack open cold ones, hold the shuffle and earbuds, but I guess Jared will have to stick with opening IBC Root Beers for four more years. $15. –Travis Hudson

Product Page [Mophie]

Now that Apple's gone and promised to place LED backlighting into their LCDs this year, the only thing for you to do is time your purchase of a new laptop so you can get in on the fun. Digitimes—a pretty hit or miss source—is claiming that Apple will place LEDs into both the 13.3 and 15.4-inch laptops by the end of '07.

Digitime's sources from Taiwan say that two companies, AU Optronics and Chi Mei Optoelectronics, are both having samples certified by Apple and will start shipments in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of '07. So, it looks like the time frame for laptop upgrades seem to be the end of this year. – Jason Chen

New Apple LED-based notebooks to adopt panels and BLUs from Taiwan, say sources
[Digitimes via Apple Insider]

We all know that Nvidia's 8800 Ultra is the fastest card on the planet, right? Well, not anymore. XFX has become the first company to overclock an 8800 Ultra and they're calling their creation the XFX 8800 Ultra XXX.

According to the guys at i4U, the new card will have a 675MHz core clock speed and 2.3GHz memory clock (a decent boost from the Ultra's 612MHz core/2.16GHz memory). The card is expected to debut soon. As for price, well, if you have to ask, you probably can't afford it (don't worry, neither can I). But most likely it'll be $50 more than the 8800 Ultra, in other words, just shy of a grand. – Louis Ramirez

Overclocked XFX 8800 Ultra XXX Edition Specs Confirmed [i4u]

The main problem we've had with card readers over the years isn't their performance—although the really cheap ones are quite lousy—but their size. Kingston's solved that problem by making their MobileLite in the shape of a USB stick, which gives lets you easily take the thing around in your pocket or on your keychain.

The thing ships by itself for $8.99 or with 1GB SD, 2GB SD, or a 1GB microSD card for $22.99, $34.99 and $23.99 respectively. So when you're not using this as memory for your camera, you can use this as a standard USB flash drive. Too bad being small and convenient is only good for these things, or else our Midget Butler business venture would have taken off like hotcakes. – Jason Chen

Kingston

To kick off its "TiVo Gets Me" ad campaign, the one with the funny commercials, the DVR company sent out these TiVo antenna ears along with the press release. They're felt, with TiVo Gets Me across the side, and bendable wires inside the ears.

They arrived the same day my Series 3, coincidentally, which I'm pictured with above, happily. Remember I'd put up a poll asking if I should get a monitor or a TiVo? Most of you said monitor, but I couldn't resist that $500 dealzmodo that expired last week. – Brian Lam

TiVo [Gizmodo]

We were completely unaware that they were still innovating on the AM/FM headphone combo. Weren't they all rounded up and sent to Radio Shack Hell next to the metal detectors? It looks like Soltronix didn't get that memo.

The Soltronix solar headset, is completely energy self-sufficient in full-on sunshine. And after about an hour or so these stylish babies will have enough juice to play for 18-hours in the dark.

However, they will probably only appeal to the greenest of radio loving tree hugger's, since at $49.95, they cost more than a Zen Stone, and you'll probably get beat up for wearing them, too.– Ben Longo

Solar Headset AM/FM Radio [Scientifics]

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We're armchair architects, and that's why these Topo 3D ceiling tiles from USG caught our enthusiastic attention. By simply hanging these molded panels from their suspension system attached to the ceiling, they give you a special Frank Gehry look that gives any room an undulating cloud-like atmosphere. The panels are available in either 8-inch or 12-inch depths, and can be either translucent or opaque, so you can either hide lights behind them for that special glowing look, or you can even have fluorescent tubes protruding from them as you see in this unusual picture.

Being fans of innovative architecture, it never ceases to amaze us how important a ceiling can be in the overall feeling of a room. Trick out a ceiling with a soffit and rope lights, and you have yourself an entirely different ambiance in a room. Since the USG site says these panels are easy to install, we're tempted to give them a try, but there's no pricing mentioned, so that worries us a bit. But still, what a unique look! – Charlie White

Product Page [USG, via The Uber Review]

Ten Things You Should Know is a new feature series here at Gizmodo aimed at first-time buyers or people who don't have (or need) extensive knowledge on a product before making a purchase. To blast things off, we're starting it up today with Ten Things You Should Know Before You Buy an Upscaling DVD Player.

Although the high definition players are already fairly cheap (HD DVD at $299 and Blu-ray getting close), the lack of content and their uncertain future is still putting a lot of people off. What's the alternative? An upscaling DVD player that turns all of the movies you own—plus all the ones you can rent from Netflix or Blockbuster—into high definition goodness.

Sure, the quality isn't going to be as good as HD DVD or Blu-ray, but if you add in the extra features that these very refined DVD players have—streaming, Internet radio, and DivX playback—you can possibly get an even richer media experience. Here are the ten things you should know before you buy one.

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If you don't know about the E-410, it's a 10-megapixel digital SLR packed into a remarkably slim body, selling for an impressively low price ($700 for body only, $800 for one lens, $900 including two lenses). The value proposition increases when you consider it includes Live View—the ability to get a video preview of your shot on the main LCD, á la point-and-shoot cameras. We talked about all of this and more when we introduced it to you at PMA. Now that it's here, is it the end-all be-all? Did it take pretty pictures? Keep reading to learn about my hands-on E-410 experience, and see some shots.

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Time sure does fly when you are tarring over your lungs. The Ashtray Clock is a unique twist on a couple of old products. This clock can actually be used as an ashtray, but once the cigarette butts and ashes start to accumulate it may be a bit hard to count down the minutes until your next fix. Maybe you should just use it as a decorative piece and keep knocking those ashes into your leftover beer cans, you smelly bastard. $35. –Travis Hudson

Product Page [Via Nerdapproved]

It may be a bit of an oxymoron, but home theater junkies can be lazy as hell too. Sure, they will dump thousands of dollars into a system, but who wants to actually set it up? That is where this projector steps in. This red rocket has an DVD player built directly into it. It isn't the complete lazy-man's dream because speakers would still need to be hooked up, but it could provide a fairly nice, clean-cut ceiling install. Epson also makes a similar projector, but it isn't as pretty as this red dandy. –Travis Hudson

DVD Player/Projector combo for the blissfully lazy [SCI FI]

It's been a while since we have seen a solid Rube Goldberg machine, so here is the latest from Instructables member Eswolowski. It is small, yet complex and accomplishes a task of feeding a dog. At first I thought it was a bit overkill to feed the dog, then I realized that is the entire purpose of the Rube Goldberg machine. –Travis Hudson

Rube Goldberg Dog Food Dispencer [Instructables]

Plantronics' new CS70N hands-free headset boasts the usual suite of Plantronics perks and a noise-cancelling mic for rowdy office environments. It also works with both standard and IP phones.

But what (almost) makes it worth the $330 price tag is that with the touch of a button it lifts the phone off of the cradle to answer it and routes the call to the headset, so you don't have to be anywhere near your desk to answer the phone. Push the button again and it sets the phone down. Extended coffee break anyone? Shot of the phone lifter after the jump.

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If you think you suck at playing the stock market now, wait until you have to compete with an army of stock-predicting robots.

Lehman Brothers is working on a "secret" AI system that they hope will be able to foresee the future of the markets, making the very rich even richer. We aren't just talking about mergers and acquisitions, either; this bot would take into account the emotions of the traders. You know, emotions like greed and vindictiveness. They're hoping it will make trading easier and make the market more stable, but who knows if it'll actually work. But hey, here's hoping it does, as if there's anyone who deserves to catch a break it's the folks on Wall Street. You're the heroes, guys! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise! –Adam Frucci

International Herald Tribune [