June 11, 2007

Philips Reveals Copycat Apple TV Clone?

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 11:38 PM on June 11, 2007

4731-philipsfront2.jpgPhilips has reportedly put together an answer to the Apple TV, and just about all we have so far are these pictures snagged at Computex 2007 in Taiwan showing a nondescript brushed aluminum box that looks like a cross between the Apple TV and a piggy bank with a coin slot up front. Just like Apple TV, it streams audio and video from a network drive, but this one does it wirelessly, and unfortunately we're hearing its hard drive is a meager 40GB. Take a look at the ass-end of this sucker after the jump.

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Sony Ericsson Dropping New Phones on the 14th?

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 11:35 PM on June 11, 2007

se.jpg Let the phone wars begin. The guys at Slashphone are reporting that Sony Ericsson will announce an armada of new phones this Thursday in Berlin. We're not sure which 4 models we'll see, but one of them is rumored to feature HSDPA along with a 5-megapixel camera. Being a fan of Sony Ericsson phones (and their concepts), we'll be sure to keep our eyes peeled. Sony Ericsson to Announce New Music and Imaging Phone [SlashPhone]

Porsche P'7911 Design Multihammer Power Drill - the Apostrophe is All-Important

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 11:17 PM on June 11, 2007

p7911_multihammer_zoom_18515.jpg Toasters, kettles, sunglasses, coffee makers, phones - now add drills to the endless list of things made by Porsche that don't have five wheels and go "Vroom!". They've got into bed with german tool company Metabo and have come up with an (admittedly) super-sexy drill that is made of carbon fibre and aluminum. The price and a couple more pics are after the jump.

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Sony Reveals Hidden Stash of VAIO CR Santa Rosa Notebooks

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 11:01 PM on June 11, 2007

Sony%20CR.jpg If Sony's last crop of notebooks proved to be too rich for your blood, their new VAIO CR series might be what you're looking for. For starters, they're based on Intel's Santa Rosa platform, so we're talking the latest tech here. They have 14.1-inch (WXGA) screens, which means you won't go blind trying to read text, but you also won't break your back lugging the system back and forth.

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Download Steve Jobs Keynote Bingo Game, Play Along

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 11:01 PM on June 11, 2007

bingoscreen.jpgWith the Steve Jobs keynote at WWDC 2007 a mere hours away, those nutty Swedes have created another Keynote Bingo game. It's a downloadable Mac application that creates a bingo card for everybody with combinations of 100 of the possibilities of today's much-anticipated announcement that happens at 10 a.m. PDT. Take the jump for an example bingo card and download instructions.

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Sony Upgrades its HD Camcorders for Summer

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 10:24 PM on June 11, 2007

Sony_SR5C_002-1.jpg Quiet as you like, Sony have snuck out a couple more HD-compatible camcorders, the SR8 and the SR5C without even a whisper. The SR8 looks like an upgraded version of the SR7 which is barely two months old, and the SR5 is now the SR5C. You want prices, shipping dates, more pics and just what these lovers are saying to each other? Of course you do.

AU: Sony has flagged an upcoming camera event for next week here, so we can expect local details on these Handycam updates then.

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Blogging Apple's Keynote Faster Than a Greased Leopard (Rawr!)

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 10:00 PM on June 11, 2007

gizapplewwdc07.jpgLess than 5 seconds to publish. That's how fast our new liveblogging system is. We'll be able to deliver the words from El Jobso's mouth to your LCD faster than any other blog by minutes. With nice photos. Cool, huh? Bookmark this page. We'll update it with a link June 11th, Monday morning, well before the Apple Keynote starts at 10a.m. PST. And we'll have friends along. It's over!

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What Happens When a Nintendo DS Lite and Pikachu Get Busy

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 9:24 PM on June 11, 2007

Nintendo_DS_nintendo%20ds.jpg This sunny-side-up DS Lite is the limited edition result of a love-in with Pikachu and Nintendo. However, the bad news is that there's no guarantee you'll get your paws on one, as this yella fella with Pikachu etched on the cover is so limited that it's only available via a lottery system (and $139). If you live in Japan, get yourself down to the Pokemon Center and on the list from July 20 onwards. Anybody down for a yellow DS Lite? [Akihabara News]

Send People Your Current Location (and Directions), Rate Local Restaurants Using TeleNav 5.2

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 3:01 PM on June 11, 2007

TeleNav_52_Shots.jpg The most elaborate GPS software for mobile phones is TeleNav, and it's also the longest running. I remember testing its turn-by-turn navigation with a Nextel phone back in the summer of 2004, the GPS-phone equivalent of the dawn of time. Today TeleNav introduces version 5.2, starting with Sprint customers first. It may sound like an incremental update, but it's really a whole new deal, with location sharing, business ratings and other fun stuff, plus a new user interface courtesy of frog design.

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Apple Launching Online Video Rental Store

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 1:30 PM on June 11, 2007

Appleflix.jpgFinancial Times is reporting that Apple is in "advanced talks with Hollywood's largest movie studios" to launch an online video rental service. Flicks will cost $3 to rent for 30 days and can be moved to at least one other device, such as an iPod or iPhone.

AU: Something like this might be much more likely to translate to the local iTunes experience than pure video sales, because there is less of the copyright red tape involved with local companies. Still some, no doubt, but rental holds much less 'fear factor' than sales. If the prices was right (and $5-ish for 30 days doesn't sound too bad) I'd give it a spin.

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We get a day off too, y'know...

Australian Post Posted by Seamus Byrne at 12:03 PM on June 11, 2007

I'm not here today. Okay, I am, working through the refeed stuff - but it's meant to be a day off, so it's all very casual. Go catch some rays or something (put on a parka if it's cold!)

We'll be back in the morning with all the goss from the WWDC keynote, and our regularly scheduled programming. Toodles.

Fantastic News: Germans Develop Sedative-Free Colonoscope...Err

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 8:15 AM on June 11, 2007

invendoscope.jpgThe invendoscope SC-40 is a colonoscope that uses an inverted sleeve technology which makes it "grow just below the deflection, when advancing, and to shrink, when retreating." Result? Less force on the colon wall making for "minimal" discomfort. Uh huh. Toss in easy joystick manipulation (Halo 4: The Colon Wars) and a small bending diameter and you have a colonoscopy that's fun for all, or at least one that doesn't require a sedative. But my gut feeling (ha!) says that's probably not going to stop people for asking for them. Product Page [via Gadget Lab]

Changes in iPhone UI Since January? At Least 16 Things

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 7:44 AM on June 11, 2007

iphonechanges.jpgWith just a day to go before the WWDC and nineteen before the Second Coming, the thick fog of Apple-OCD is smothering the land. So I'm surprised it took this long for an Apple-juice-addled obsessive to compile a list of (fairly minor) UI changes made in the iPhone between its January debut and the even-slicker-than-usual ads rolled out last week. Hit the jump for the full list of 16 ways the iPhone has grown up, which range from the useful—message previews in the mail screen—to the mundane—the home icons are in a different order. No hair in funny places, though.

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Dealzmodo: Two Free HD DVDs With 360 Drive

In case you've been considering an HD DVD player, Best Buy and Circuit City are both offering two free HD DVDs with the purchase of an Xbox 360 HD DVD drive (up $59.95 in value, which is decent). And... Read More »

Lighter in a Phone's Skin: Sort of Sneaky, Sort of Not

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 5:30 AM on June 11, 2007

lighter.jpg What at first glance looks like a dolphin fetishist's DoCoMo cellphone is in fact a covert lighter, perfect for keeping your dirty habit under wraps (except you know, the packs of fags lying around, the smell, etc.). If you drop the three bucks and change on one of these (available in a rainbow of five colors), be sure to pick up a smoking jacket as well to keep the cancer away from the rest of us. I'll take mine from a Wi-Fi router, thank you very much. Product Page [via Tokyo Mango]

Fake Steve Jobs More Relevant Than The Real One?

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 5:00 AM on June 11, 2007

050613_steve_jobs.jpgYesterday, in the CNN Money/Business 2.0 poll "Who Matters Most", Fake Steve Jobs was ranking higher than the real Steve Jobs. But that's not saying much: the rest of the results are ridiculously skewed toward "impossible."

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Blackberry Pearl 2 Details Revealed

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 3:52 AM on June 11, 2007

blackberry-pearl2.jpgA reliable tipster has filled us in on a juicy secret. The biggest update? High speed EV-DO. And a new unbelievable form factor.

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Palm Treo 800w Details Leaked: WM6, Wi-Fi, EV-DO Rev. A

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 3:51 AM on June 11, 2007

800w.pngOur Sprint source gave us a great tip on the upcoming Treo 800w that's coming Q4 2007. (That's not a picture of it on the left.) Lots and lots of improvements for Sprint users over what they can get right now with the 700wx, including EV-DO REV A., Windows Mobile 6, a 320x320 display (now supported on WM6), 256MB flash, 128MB RAM, a 1.3-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and an expansion slot.

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Koolatron, For Coke Addicts

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 3:00 AM on June 11, 2007

cokefridgewtmk.jpgWhen you need to keep just a little bit of Coke cool kool, thank the Powers That Be for the $95 Koolatron. Shaped like a giant can of Coca-Cola so you never forget what's inside, the Koolatron can hold eight cans or two 2-liter bottles of your favorite beverage of choice. Plus, the Koolatron can heat as well, hitting temperatures up to 149°F. With adapters for the house and car, you'll never need to leave home without a gigantic fake can of cola again. Is it me, or does "Koolatron" sound like some Transformer pitch rotting on the floor of Hasbro's marketing department?

DivX GejBox Revealed: It's a Hardware Streamer Machine

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 2:41 AM on June 11, 2007

divx-gejbox-sm.jpgDivX is apparently working on a new hardware box called the GejBox as part of their hardware platform initiative. How is this different from boxes like the Helios X3000 or the Ziova CS505 that also stream DivX over the network? It's because GejBox also has DivX Stage 6 (their high quality DivX version of YouTube) support as well as a Google Video plugin. Engadget didn't say anything about YouTube support, since we're not sure Google Video support encompasses both of Google's properties. DivX GejBox media streamer hardware revealed [Engadget]

Specs on the Meizu M6 SE Revealed

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 2:10 AM on June 11, 2007

meisu_m6_se.jpgRemember the $130 Meizu M6 SE PMP we told you about, sporting 8GB of video in a 7mm shell? Good. Meizu just announced more details the unit.

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Beer4Bags, The Only Way To Purchase a Bag

Posted by Seamus Byrne at 12:38 AM on June 11, 2007

At last, worthless gold has fallen from its role as the worldwide economic standard. And in its place a champion has risen—a champion with real world use and functional value—beer. My only regret is that Travis couldn't be here to see this day. Stay strong, Mark. Stay strong. video by nick mcglynn