Apparently, the amazing code wizards at the iPhone Dev Wiki have been able to partially unlock the iPhone using a new application called iASign. It won’t fully unlock the iPhone for use with other companies, but the hack will allow you to use any existing Cingular/AT&T Pre-paid/MVNA SIM so you don’t have to get a two-year contract with AT&T. We are now testing this, but if confirmed the benefits are great. More »
In order to promote safe sex among India’s prostitutes, Hindustan Latex Ltd has developed “paan-flavored” condoms—making a man’s…cigar…resemble the tasty Indian treat of betel nuts and spices wrapped in tobacco leaves. At first you might say, “Sign me up!!” And we can certainly understand the enthusiasm. But are these prophylactics missing the point?
After all, don’t we all smell like tobacco after a good night of partying anyway? I always considered that odoriferous menthol coating on your skin to be free with the purchase of enough drinks—a sort of invisible car freshener for your body, or 25-cent bowling bathroom cologne without the need for spare change.
I remember when taking a girl to a bar and getting her drunk used to mean something—and condoms were something you just pretended to wear. But give me a tobacco AND tequila AND rufie flavored condom…and that’s a complete night on the town. [hindlatex via theregister] More »
The BigDog, from Boston Dynamics, a company specialising in human simulation is just weird. A robotic pack mule that runs on petrol, travels at up to 3.3 mph over all sorts of terrain, and can carry up to 120 lb, BigDog has received $10 million of funding from the Pentagon. Check how it moves in a 2006 video after the jump. More »
The Beverage Buddy is a rather useful little remote-controlled buggy for those of us whose inner sofa monster can be conjured up at regular intervals. It brings a couple of cans – or bottles – in its bucket seats to wherever we might be lying, lazy and unashamed. There’s one flaw, though…
Where is the Beverage Buddy’s Buddy? An RC fork-lift truck (either it would have to have a ve-e-e-ry long lift, or magnetic caterpillar treads to enable it to drive up the bottom bit of the fridge, open the door and manoeuvre a beer onto its forks) in order to save us from hefting our can’t-be-botheredness off the couch and into the kitchen.
The Beverage Buddy costs $37.43 and needs one 9V battery and 4 AAs.
[Spilsbury via Red Ferret] More »
A researcher is claiming that he has created a Mac OS X worm which was able to infect 1,500 systems in his controlled network. The worm, unfortunately named Rape.osx, uses a “vulnerability in mDSNResponder” that will not be undisclosed until they finish their work and they get paid their thirty pieces of silver. [Sunnet Beskerming via Slashdot] More »
We at the Giz are fond of both hands and bionic things – so this iLIMB, from Scottish firm Touch Bionics, is so far up our street it’s parked in our car port. A prosthetic hand with five separately-powered fingers, the iLIMB functions via the electric signals generated by the remaining portion of a patient’s limb, allowing the fingers to open and close. The iLIMB, which went on sale yesterday, has been successfully fitted out on several patients – including US Army Sergeant Juan Arredondo, whose left arm was severed below the elbow whilst out on patrol in Iraq. galleryPost('iLimb', 8, 'iLimb'); More »
Count them. 275 Tranformers from the 80s. 101 Autobots, 81 Decepticons, 92 licensed products, some never removed from box, some mint-in-box, all ready for the mother of all battles. Sold for $1,000,000 at eBay in a story full of drama, love and cartoon passion that started out of pity for Starscream.
galleryPost('decepticons1M', 8, 'Decepticons'); More »
As they said they would, Pioneer has made their lower res, 1365 by 768 and 1024 by 768 res, 16,000:1 contrast ratio, Project Kuro Plasmas available for sale before July was up. The 1080p models, with the 20,000:1 ratios, 1080p pixel count, and 50 and 60 inch sizes, are coming in September. Until then, these are good enough if you don’t mind losing pixels and picking up squid-ink blackness. (And paying the typical Pioneer plasma premium.) For more info on Project Kuro plasmas, see our previous coverage. [Pioneer] More »
galleryPost('locationfreetvlfv30', 4, 'LF V30 LocationFree TV');It won’t stream HD, but Sony’s newest LocationFree TV (and Slingbox competitor) will take HD video sources by component cables, down sample them to QVGA, and spit em across your network or the internet to laptops running the Location Free TV clientware. (I believe Sling does higher res on a LAN, and their Pro unit already does HD by component.) Oh, this one gets VAIO branding, too. The question is, who will be the first to do HDMI? More »
