Wednesday, May 30, 2007
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Crystal Chameleon Case for Wii Shows Its Colors When the Heat is On
11:58PM Seamus Byrne | If it gets a bit too hot inside that Nintendo Wii of yours, this ii-case Crystal Chameleon Hot Rock Case will let you know at a glance. It has a built-in digital LED thermometer, and you can tell how hot your Wii is getting by looking at its color. Every time the Wii gets 5° hotter, its LED lights’ color changes to a hotter hue on the color spectrum. By the time it’s up to 55°C, it’ll be glowing red as a beet. This is actually a plastic case that replaces the one surrounding the innards of the Wii. It’ll take a bit of disassembly to take out the Wii’s components, and then install them in this case, but from the looks of it, that might be a task that’s well worth it. On the next page, there’s full close-up view of this handsome case mod, along with pricing and availability info. More »
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Street View Now Available in Google Maps
11:28PM Seamus Byrne | Now you can click on a street in Google Maps and you’re virtually there. Street View, a limited feature that could be called experimental because of the paucity of cities available, was just rolled out by Google a few hours ago. But that lack of imagery doesn’t make this any less cool. Click the Street View button on the top, select one of the camera icons then you can do a virtual walk around that city. It doesn’t give you that virtual race car that you get with Microsoft’s Live Search Maps, but you do have the ability to get a full 360-degree view of wherever you’re standing, and then you can zoom in on any point within that view. It’s also great to go full screen, and it almost feels like you’re there. What’s the catch? Take the jump to find out, and to see a video showing the new features. More »
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5:29PM Seamus Byrne | You’d better sit down…
It’s with a heavy heart we share the awful news that one of Panasonic’s magnificent 103-inch plasma screens died during bump out at CeBIT Sydney.
We actually first heard this news a few weeks ago (tip of the hat to hazchem), but without more sources we let it lie as unsupported rumour (at the time, Panasonic didn’t give us a confirm when we followed it up). Now with a fresh tip from a separate source, we’re in no doubt the screen is dead, and now Panasonic has confirmed to Gizmodo that the screen is indeed pining for the fjords.
At the conclusion of CeBIT while Panasonic was bumping out the 103-inch Plasma, when lifted using a forklift the Plasma fell and was irreparably damaged. The Plasma was fully insured and Panasonic has other exhibition units.
Rest In Peace, beautiful giant plasma. You know what they say, the candle screen that burns twice as bright… -Seamus Byrne
More »
Panasonic 103-inch plasma smashed at CeBIT Sydney
5:29PM Seamus Byrne | You’d better sit down…
It’s with a heavy heart we share the awful news that one of Panasonic’s magnificent 103-inch plasma screens died during bump out at CeBIT Sydney.
We actually first heard this news a few weeks ago (tip of the hat to hazchem), but without more sources we let it lie as unsupported rumour (at the time, Panasonic didn’t give us a confirm when we followed it up). Now with a fresh tip from a separate source, we’re in no doubt the screen is dead, and now Panasonic has confirmed to Gizmodo that the screen is indeed pining for the fjords.
At the conclusion of CeBIT while Panasonic was bumping out the 103-inch Plasma, when lifted using a forklift the Plasma fell and was irreparably damaged. The Plasma was fully insured and Panasonic has other exhibition units.
Rest In Peace, beautiful giant plasma. You know what they say, the candle screen that burns twice as bright… -Seamus Byrne
More »
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Apple Launches iTunes 7.2 and iTunes Plus
5:17PM Seamus Byrne | Just a quick note for those of you who are looking forward to the EMI DRM-Free iTunes tracks rumored to be launching this week. Apple’s just updated iTunes to version 7.2, and added iTunes Plus support. iTunes Plus is the new higher quality, DRM-free music store that sells at $1.29 per track we’ve been talking about since April. Although there aren’t any DRM-free songs on there now at midnight, Apple will probably make an official announcement in the morning and release the tracks then. One good note from the help file shows that if you’ve already purchased songs from the iTunes store, you can upgrade those to the respective DRM-free version as well. Stay tuned later today for more info. – Jason Chen Apple Releases iTunes 7.2, Launches iTunes Plus (DRM Free) [MacRumors] More »
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Microsoft Surface Confirmed: Touch-Sensitive, $10k, Minority Report Table
2:12PM Seamus Byrne | Project Milan is in fact a touch-sensitive table. Dubbed “Surface” and five years in the making, it’s set to establish a paradigm of what Microsoft calls “surface computers” which use touch as the sole method of input. Painting with surface sounds particularly intuitive (and fun): you can use a paint brush or simply dip your fingers into virtual paint cups. Photo resizing and stacking works much like the iPhone’s zoom gestures. Also cool is the capacity for multiple users. Such sweet tech comes at a price, naturally, with the units running $10,000 a pop. But, Microsoft expects prices to plummet over the next three to five years to the point they’ll be in your homes. In the meantime you’ll be able to play with them at T-Mobile stores, Harrah’s and Sheraton hotels. Got more questions? Hit the jump for a FAQ and (naturally) a boatload of pictures. Update: And a video! galleryPost('mssurface', 12, 'Surface'); More »
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Japan Gets Two New DS Colors: Metallic Rose and Gloss Silver
2:10PM Seamus Byrne | This is a Japan-only thing for now, but Nintendo’s just announced two brand spankin’ new colors for the DS Lite. The two colors are Metallic Rose, which looks reddish-pink, and Gloss Silver, which looks silver. Although we’d really like both of the colors to hit the US, Nintendo’s held off Japan colors before. Ice Blue showed up last year and still hasn’t reached us yet. Then again, Ice Blue looked like 2000 flushes, while these two look classy. – Jason Chen Nintendo Japan [via Kotaku] More »
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Livescribe Smartpen Links Your Scribbles with Audio Notes
2:00PM Seamus Byrne | Remember the Leapfrog Fly Pentop? The educational toy that can answer math problems and translate words you write on the special dotted paper? This LiveScribe is the grown-up version, and I believe it’s going to sell like hotcakes. In a nutshell, the most critically cool thing it can do is link audio recordings you make as you jot written notes to the actual text you’re writing. And it can later all be indexed on a PC, and played back on the computer. Or by clicking on the notepad. Completely useful for students, journalists, lawyers—anyone who takes a lot of notes. And it works. galleryPost('livescribe', 3, 'Livescribe'); More »
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10:55AM Seamus Byrne | Just to reirritate, we’re running a comp to win an XtremeMac Luna for the best comment posted before end of this coming Sunday. I think some people might be a tad confused. so to clarify, this is for ALL comments made on ANY post on the site. Not just those talking about the Luna. Got it? Good!
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The comp: XtremeMac Luna comment comp
10:55AM Seamus Byrne | Just to reirritate, we’re running a comp to win an XtremeMac Luna for the best comment posted before end of this coming Sunday. I think some people might be a tad confused. so to clarify, this is for ALL comments made on ANY post on the site. Not just those talking about the Luna. Got it? Good!
More »
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Asus’ OCGear Lets You Overclock, Keep Tabs on Your Video Card
10:40AM Seamus Byrne | Remember the XG Station we spotted back at CES? Well, Asus is releasing a desktop version that’ll connect to one of Nvidia’s 8600 GT cards. The breakout box will let you overclock your video card without having to rely on any software. It fits into a 5.25-inch drive bay in your PC and also keeps track of your card’s temperature, fan speed, and overall performance. No word on pricing yet, although Asus plans on demoing the device next week. – Louis Ramirez Asus OCGear [TweakTown] More »
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