The newest iPod patent says that the "touch" and the "screen" don't have to go together. The next gen iPod will have a normal display covering the front, and a separate touch surface on the back. Here's how it'll work.

The front screen of the iPod or iPod nano shows everything, but is no more touchy-feely than your iPod's screen today. When you touch the backside, however, transparent "ghost" controls appear on the front. You'd then use your finger on the backside of the device to navigate your way through the transparent controls up front. The key to the equation is force sensitivity. As you run your finger along the backside, the cursor hovers, but when you press harder, you can click on things.

Apple's patent covers not just music and video navigation but phone controls and more. Follow the jump for details.

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Technology Review has rounded up a bunch of objects that it feels are design classics from the past 30 or so years and got a bunch of industrial designers to talk about them. And you've gotta admit they're right—on some of the candidates, at least. First up is the Polaroid SX-70, which dates back to 1972.

Polaroid's first fully automatic, motorised camera was an instant design classic. Detailed with tan leather, it folded into a rectangle the size of a paperback book. Andrew Logan, principal designer at Frog Design, admires it for the "immediacy of a favourable output." He explains: "Instead of waiting days to see if you took a good photo, you could take it again right away."

– Ad Dugdale

Objects of desire [Technology Review]

We really like the idea of ebooks, but their low contrast and pokey refresh rate just about ruins the experience when using devices such as the Sony PRS-500 Reader pictured above. Now, Cambridge, Massachusetts, company E Ink, the inventor of this tech, has decided to spruce it up with a higher-performance imaging film it calls Vizplex.

If what the company is saying is true, expect to see ebook displays refreshing twice as quickly, with 20% better contrast, too. The company's also planning to roll out a wider variety of screen sizes other than the single 6-inch size it currently offers, from 1.9 inches aimed at cellphones and MP3 players, up to 9.7 inches for bigger ebooks. We might be seeing the results of this latest technology as early as this summer. – Charlie White

E Ink displays upgraded imaging film technology [EE Times]

Here's another NYU project, where student Vincent Dean Boyce has figured out a way to send mechanical and motion data from a skateboard (or it could be a snowboard or surfboard) via Bluetooth to a mobile phone. Imagine the possibilities if you hook this up to an Xbox 360! – Charlie White with video by Richard Blakeley

We showed you a few still pictures of him as a sneak preview yesterday and you can see them again in the gallery below, but now here's Andrew Schneider in all his full-motion glory: the one-man band picture-taking guy whose invention leaves us nonplussed.

His graduation project for NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program involves hooking up wires to his eyelids which trigger the camera's shutter. "Every picture's a bad one," he says. Andrew, we don't think there are going to be many takers for this dubious technology, but it's entertaining nonetheless. – Charlie White with video by Richard Blakeley

The iSave is a rather simple gadget that has just clinched the runner-up prize in Metropolis Magazine's 2007 Next Generation Awards. Attach it to either your sink or a showerhead and it will show you just how much water you are using for your morning's ablutions/scrubbing last night's taco melt off your plates. Designed by Reamon Yu, it's not going to save any water, but it will make you conscious of just how much is used/wasted, and hopefully will push you to further reduce your consumption.

The iSave is powered by a small turbine embedded in the waterflow, so greenies among you need not worry about expending any more energy than you have to. It's not available as yet, but fingers crossed and faucets tight. – Ad Dugdale

The 2007 Next Generation Design Competition Winner and Runners-Up Announced [Metropolis Magazine via Inhabitat]

Remember the Xilt, the hack to Wiimotize your Xbox 360 controller? Well, this is not it. At least, it seems that while Xilt 360 is still coming soon, Total Console has released the Bestilt 360. Same concept: "simply" solder it to the bottom part of your Xbox 360 pad, activate it with a switch and have fun awkwardly controlling games that weren't designed for motion sensing in the first place.

The Bestilt 360 will start shipping on May 14 from New York City and is available now for pre-order for $37.99. Wii Sports, Zelda and Mario Galaxy are not included and will never be. – Jesus Diaz

Product Page [Total Console]

Motorola's not taking falling sales and iMpending competition lying down, as CEO Ed Zander let it be known that next week Motorola's unveiling a phone that's a "media monster" which is able to churn out video at 30 fps. (They have a news conference Tuesday, do the math.) The as-of-yet-unnamed phone is all about video, apparently, which you'll be able to watch from SD cards, though we'll withhold judgment about the "unbelievable quality" of the vids until we see them. Which will be in Europe only, at least initially.

The out-to-slay-the-iPhone drive keeps looking like the best thing to happen to the mobile market in a while, but of course, we'll be more sure next week. – Matt Buchanan

Motorola To Unveil Phone With 30-Frame Per Second Video; Movies On SD Cards [Barron's via Seeking Alpha]
Motorola to introduce phone with 'unbelievable' video [Chicago Tribune]

The least tempting thing about 3's X-Series so far has been the handset range: for such an inspiring network concept, the handsets were what I like to call Minogues... as in Danni. Nice enough, but there are others you'd rather spend your time with. But NOW! Things are looking a little more Kylie...

The line up has now got some of the best smartphones around on board, with the Palm Treo 750, the RAZR V3xx, and — my personal fave — the DoPod 838Pro (I just loves me the side sliding full QWERTY smarties). Other current lust objects, the Nokia N95 and the LG Shine, get a "will be announced shortly" tag.

X-Series is hot. When they get Skype to do In/Out (they swear it is purely a software issue right now, not some block on over the air VoIP), it will be ... more hot. Question is, can you handle it? Okay, the real question is, do you have the right reception? I can, and I do, so I do. -Seamus Byrne

OK, you've heard way too much about Intel's new chipset today. But do you ever think about tomorrow? What if you suddenly really want to know about Santa Rosa then? Don't laugh. One day, soon, Santa Rosa will pop... Read More »

With great power comes great responsibility, and with added codec support comes a crapload of new questions. That's why Microsoft's Xbox team has released a FAQ detailing what you may or may not want to know about the newly supported codecs.

Among the more interesting answers (as if knowing what setting to choose when re-encoding content for your Xbox 360 wasn't interesting enough) is the "No." to "Do you support DivX", the "No." to whether they support MPEG-2, and the fact that you can now play back some 1080 content at 30fps. Head on over for a look. – Jason Chen

Spring '07 Video Playback FAQ [MSDN]

If looking at the news gives you the idea that the world is going to hell and the Apocalypse is about to break loose on Earth, look no further. What you hear is the noise of thunder and the trumpet-playing beast, because we have found the definitive proof: Behold, the BolsiPlus.

BolsiPlus are sticky pockets. Yes, they are pockets, they stick, they made every surface fugly useful. And thanks to NASA's Apollo program and the genius of Ilde Irun, its inventor, these pockets can attach to any surface known to mankind: just stick that Velcro strip to your laptop, fridge, wall, door, car seat, PlayStation 3, nuclear submarine or favorite tiger-pattern thong.

And as you can see in the gallery, they come in all kinds of fabrics and decorations. There's even a Wall Street Journal model, perfect to put Walter Mossberg's exclusive pre-production iPhone in his exclusive pre-production next generation Santa Rosa MacBook. You can even send your own photo. A video demonstrating its hundred billion uses (not safe for work, play or life) after the jump.

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Don't quite have the money for a Helio Ocean but feel like getting a gadget high? We've got you covered. Here's a roundup of cheap gadgets that are both neat and, well, cheap. Cheap as in both low in price and quality.

Get a FM radio monkey for anyone who's born in the year of the monkey or just acts like a monkey. $16. Product Page [e-Goods via Technabob via ubergizmo]

This Al Bundy lookalike will hold your tape, pens, and paper clips. Guess where the paper clips are. $19. Product Page [Gifts for Professionals via nerd approved]

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Although the announcement on Monday didn't happen publicly as we first thought, select developers did get to see the Zune behind closed doors and signed NDAs. iLounge's source tells them Microsoft demoed more than one upcoming Zune at the... Read More »

In an interesting reversal, departed PC World Editor Harry McCracken has returned to the magazine as "vice-president, editor in chief". What's even more surprising is that CEO Colin Crawford has been dropped from the CEO position and is taking up the executive vice president, online position. He's even given the editorial staff an apology for killing the story.

IDG is going start a search for a CEO for both PC World and Macworld, two magazines that Colin Crawford used to be CEOs of. Our thoughts? All the reader outrage online after the story first broke is what caused the sudden 180. Or, we suppose it's probably more of a 540 since PCWorld actually went ahead and published a tame 10 Things We Hate About Apple anyway. – Jason Chen

Editor in Chief Harry McCracken Returns to PC World [PCWorld]

Do you enjoy fire? Do you also enjoy very intricate Rube Goldberg machines? Of course you do. So just hit play and prepare to be entertained to an embarrassing degree. –Adam Frucci

College Humor [Neatorama]

Now that we've shown you the technology and the hardware behind Intel's new Centrino Duo platform, it's time to talk CPU pricing. What do these new Core 2 Duos cost? It depends. They range from the top of the line 2.40GHz T7700 ($530) to the Core 2 Duo processor LV L7300 at 1.40GHz ($284).

And though we saw and liked plenty of new laptops today, it's the HP HDX which bowled us over with its massive, but not overwhelming, design. Check out the gallery and the review below. – Louis Ramirez

HP HDX Review [Computer Shopper]

There are some great Mac Mini setups out there, but none of them would hold up to military conditions. Enter VictorSystems. They took your typical pint-sized Mac and covered it in aluminum armor, wrought plates and finned heat sinks. Now the Mini is combat ready.

But what good is a beefed-up Mac if you don't have equally tough peripherals? You can also pick up tough-as-nails keyboards, monitors, mice or even speakers. No word on pricing, but expect a decent price jump for a Mini that could beat you up.– Ben Longo

Rugged Mac mini designed for military use [Slash Gear]

At last night's ITP Grad Show at NYU, we saw this super-sweet project that essentially creates robotic paparazzi. It's a smart robot, as it knows what humans like: skin, and lots of it. It has sensors that detect how much skin someone is showing, and it takes more pictures and yells at them more as a result. Check the video out to see it in action and hear it described by the brilliant/perverted creator. –Adam Frucci with video by Richard Blakeley

Some days it just feels like Groundhog Day. With Santa Rosa popping in more places than the Virgin Mary today, each post feels exactly like that and here's the Sony VAIO FZ to prove it. Not only it has the already-sickening brand new Intel chipset, but it was leaked at the beginning of the month.

Today it's official though, and we have prices, full specs and more photos of this widescreen 15.4-inch Core 2 Duo T7300 notebook after the jump.

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There's more than one fancy slider out there, you know. If you are sick of the Ocean (Already? You're too jaded, my friend), then feast your eyes on the Pantech IM-R200.

It's a slider that features two LCD screens, one that slides out from beneath the other. While one might argue that this has the downsides of both the Ocean and the iPhone (bulky slider and a touchscreen), this touchscreen features tactile feedback in the form of a vibration feature. How well does it work? Great question. It'll probably be a while before we get a chance to find out, as this phone is headed to Korea with no word on a Stateside release. –Adam Frucci

New dual-screen slider from Pantech [Slashgearl]

Just when we thought PlayStation Violence was almost at an end, a student at Cal State Fresno shot three other students over an argument about a PlayStation. The model of the PlayStation wasn't specified, but we're going to assume that it wasn't over a PS2 or a PS1.

Long story short, it seems the person who did the shooting acted in self defense when four men came to his apartment at night—one of which died from his injures. – Jason Chen

Criminology major held in PlayStation death [SFGate]

Hey folks, our Brian Lam is on Cranky Geeks with John Dvorak today, chatting about hairstyles, gadgets and wearing underwear on their heads. Make sure to tune in at 12:30 PST (that's in 10 minutes!) to see Brian sweaty from running all the way to downtown San Francisco from his apartment in that getup. – Jason Chen

Cranky Geeks

We've had the Helio Ocean for a few hours now, so we thought it'd be a good time to go over the core features and answer a few of your questions while we were at it. First off, the... Read More »

One of the many sweet features that Helio offers is the ability to transfer your phone number to different devices via the account preferences page on the website. This feature not only simplifies setting up a new phone, as... Read More »

We know you're itching for more Helio Ocean coverage, so here it is: a live Sizemodo of the Helio Ocean vs. every phone we have. First, we'll kick it off with a similar type of device: the slide-out QWERTY... Read More »

Okay, he didn't specifically talk about the same Folding that the PS3 does, but a similar research application. Moore told Mike Antonucci of The Mercury News:

Then if we truly believe that we can in some way marshal the resources of a much larger installed base of Xbox 360 owners, with a processor that's of equal power to the PS3, then you have my commitment that we'll look at that. And if we believe we can add value to solving a gnarly problem such as the medical problems and the health problems that Folding@home seems to be doing, then we'll certainly look at that very strongly.

We've speculated about users developing their own research project as part of the XNA Game Developers Framework and our own Adam Frucci has begged for Folding to come to the Xbox 360, and it seems Microsoft is listening. It would just be so much easier if they just developed the project in house and included it into an update like the annual spring update, which went live today. –Travis Hudson

Xbox 360 Folding Project Possible [Kotaku]

China's Golden Dragon Group has introduced the first ever electronic cigarette. This "electronic cigarette" is really just a battery-powered nicotine inhaler that looks like a cancer stick. The device even emits vapors to give you that smoker look. The e-cigarette is already available in China, Israel, Turkey and some European countries and by the proven financial success the device should be coming Stateside to compete with the heavy hitters like Pfizer and Novartis in the nicotine-replacement market. This first gadget to assist in quitting, but it may be the best. –Travis Hudson

Chinese "e-cigarette" helps you stub out the habit [Via The Raw Feed]

Microsoft published a final compatibility update for Vista iPod users that should eliminate any problems still happening. This patch fixes the problem that caused iPod to get corrupted after trying to eject using Windows Explorer or "Safely Remove Hardware." –Travis Hudson

Patch [Via Vistablog]

We hit up Intel's launch party this afternoon to check out some more next-gen Centrino Duo goodness and much to our surprise we came across a pair of fresh-outta-the-oven small form factor PCs that plan on borrowing features from the new mobile platform.

First up is AOpen's new Mini PC Duo (MP965), which uses the 965 GM chipset and houses one of Intel's new Core 2 Duo processors. It's not a Centrino system (because it uses the Viiv platform and doesn't pack any battery-saving features), but it does have the option for built-in wireless. It'll come out this summer ranging from $999 to $1499. Likewise there's this Viiv-based system from the folks at Niveus which is set to launch Q3. There was no pricing on the latter, but looks-wise, Niveus' system looks right at home in any living room, especially since it's packing an HD DVD drive. – Louis Ramirez

While Pioneer is wowing us with its eighth-generation plasma displays with their 20,000:1 contrast ratios, its other release trick is its Pioneer Elite BDP-94HD Blu-ray player that'll be shipping this month but is curiously devoid of new features. In fact, it's not even going for the latest HDMI 1.3 connection, still sporting that old and less-colorful HDMI 1.2 port that we've grown to know and love.

On the plus side, there is a Dolby TrueHD for some lossless high-end audio, and there's also Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) technology that lets you control multiple components with a single remote. But still, any universal remote will let you do that. We're wondering what's so elite about this Pioneer Elite Blu-ray player, other than its $1,000 price. Maybe we'll just pass, and wait for Microsoft to release a $200 USB-connected Blu-ray player for the Xbox 360. – Charlie White

Press Release [Pioneer, via CrunchGear]

Horizon OneSource is a program targeted at trimming the fat from today's youth. This is an advanced system that manages what kids eat at school, but more interesting is their Internet-enabled vending machines. These are run-of-the-mill vending machines designed for schools, but with a twist. Parents can log into a child's account online and see what and how many snacks their kid is eating. Big Brother is watching you get fat, Timmy. –Travis Hudson

Healthy Vending Tries to Stop Kids From Getting Fat While in School [CG]

galleryPost('oceanmanual2', 4, 'Helio Ocean Manual'); Ocean fanatics are a hungry mob, maybe some would say obsessed. Some of you actually requested shots of the well-illustrated manual. Here's the whole thing, all 150 pages of it, in case you're going... Read More »

Our favorite ladies across the pond, Katie and Alex of Shiny Shiny, got their hands all dirty on the BlackBerry Curve recently and filmed it for the world to see. It is definitely interesting to hear their take on the keyboard of this device, because keyboard and durability issues seems to plague a lot of the newer BlackBerry devices.

Oh, and Katie, my Pearl has the same problem with the shanky back panel always falling off. I think that inevitably means we are soul mates. –Travis Hudson

Shiny Video Review: BlackBerry Curve [ShinyShiny]

Well, do it yourself, you lazy bum! GigaOM and NewTeeVee are offering up self-invitations to the new Joost service that is taking the Intertubes by storm! I personally haven't played around with Joost that much, but from what I have done it is an alright service. Let's just hope they have added some servers to handle the load of beta users. –Travis Hudson

Free Invites! [Joost]

Here at the Pioneer "Project Kuro" Gen 8 plasma launch, the TVs really look good. I wouldn't expect them to look bad, seeing as everything in the room would be optimized. However, you can see from these pictures that the contrast really is dramatic, and that in low light, the blacks don't hum with grayness the way some panels do. Due to the way the gallery turned out, these shots are of the XGA or WXGA (768 lines) TVs.

Stay tuned, because tomorrow we'll show you how to compare Pioneer's high-contrast plasmas with other current flat panel TVs. – Wilson Rothman

Additional Coverage of Pioneer's 8th Gen Plasma [Gizmodo]

I'm normally a stickler for craftsmanship and would traditionally crap all over this mod for looking pretty assy, but I'll hold back because it is an entire PC fitted into an original Gameboy. Using the ultra-compact EPIA PX10000G motherboard, this classic gaming device can now tackle quite a bit more than monochrome Tetris. Ethernet, two USB ports and VGA output are even included. Now work on a getting a screen in there, ASAP. –Travis Hudson

The Gameboy's second youth [Akihabara]

The HP Pavilion m8010y Media Center (better known as the media center that swings both ways) is now available at the HP store. This is one of the first "box PCs" that can be customized to include a Blu-ray drive as well as an HD DVD drive. The bare minimum specs (including the two drives, processor upgrade and GeForce 8500GT to support the drives) make the final price $2149, but wait, there's more! HP has a $150 mail-in-rebate bringing the final price down to $1999. Two grand isn't a price I particularly get excited about, but the fact that HP, of all companies, has a dual-format media center perks my ears. Thanks, Vincent! –Travis Hudson

Product Page [HP]

Update: Bloops. I misread. This media center actually has a combo drive capable of doing Blu-ray, HD DVD, DVD and CD. There is no need for the second drive. This correction changes the final price to $1,800 after rebate. Thanks for the corrections, commenters.

Gizmodo is among the lucky dozen to get a finished production boxed version of the Helio Ocean. This phone of enormous importance to Helio, Earthlink, and Sky Dayton. It's got to be the company's Sidekick, Q and iPhone killer... Read More »

It has come to my attention that the T and the R series Thinkpads, which were leaked by specs last month, have gnarly magnesium roll cages that remind me of Wolverine's reinforced skeleton. I've always been a Thinkpad fanboy. And while most of the other PC makers are handling this Santa Rosa launch with minor upgrades, I'm so glad to see the Lenovo Thinkpads are still evolving with robust engineering. These are the fastest, toughest, quietest Thinkpad ever.

The single piece roll cage under the keyboard is a single piece of metal, 3D, with mounts for the drives, motherboard, and other components, which when bolted in actually make the frame even stronger. The real genius is the replacement of the metal lid on the old Thinkpads with Plastic. Huh? Yes. There's a 3D, honeycomb sub frame below the surface, which makes the lid not only stronger, but roughly 50% more durable against uneven impacts (like a baseball hitting the back of the LCD in one point). The antenna for WiFi and WWAN is placed inside the plastic, but outside the lid cage, so reception is 2x that of the previous generation. Flexing the laptop hard resulted in minimal flex, and only a bit of protest from the optical bay. I'm tempted to make comparisons to toughbooks and other rugged notes, but I'm unqualified to do so.

Oh, I'm also happy to report that the IBM moniker, while not on the wrist rest, isn't gone as reported. The logo, which is available for Lenovo's use for 5 years from the purchase, is still on the lid.

More, more, more:

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I think the problem with buying digital music is that it isn't restricted enough. I'd like to only be able to listen to my music on one device. Don't let me move them around! No, I don't deserve it. I've been a bad boy, a bad boy indeed!

Disky knows what I deserve for being so naughty. They're selling little, crappy music players that are pre-loaded with two hours of music for about $27. Want to take the pre-loaded songs off and listen to them elsewhere? Too bad. Want to delete them and put some other music on the player? No! You don't deserve that kind of freedom! You make me sick! Get out of my face! –Adam Frucci

Coolest Gadgets [via UberGizmo]

Buffoons at the Department of Homeland Security have come up with yet another genius plan. Deputy Director Rolf Dietrich thinks it would be "a really, really neat thing" to equip all cellphones with special detection devices that could sense radioactiv