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... Read 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]
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.
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]
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.
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.
When it comes to piloting RC helicopters, Alan Szabo Jr is King, an earthbound Stringfellow Hawke. Here he is putting a whirlybird with a Trex 600 motor through its paces. Observe. Learn, And then go back to piloting your pencil in the privacy of your work cubicle. [Dethroner]
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]
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?
The previously import-only Vaio TZ was just announced for US shores. That's good news, because its predecessor, the Sony Vaio TX, was one of my favorites subnotes ever. Like the TX, I love the TZ's the LED backlit screen, usable keyboard, build in EVDO Rev. A by Sprint, and nearly 8 hours of battery life. The TZ's improvements include Core 2 Duo Chips, a Macbook like keyboard, better specs all around, and a Limited Edition Carbon Fiber edition in jet black. Here's a quick rundown of how the TZ's design and specs stacks up against the older TX.
We don't put much faith in magic around here, but with Harry Potter mania sweeping the nation we aren't surprised to see that some techies are eager to incorporate the supernatural into their daily lives. Instructables user technick29 will help you tap into your inner supernerd with his tutorial on using Harry Potter's trademark spells to perform routine maneuvers on your PC. Check out the action video to see if you possess the necessary intelligence modifier to put these spells to use. [Instructables How-To: Use Spells To Control Your Computer]
Unsatisfied with the selection on Xbox 360's Marketplace for movies? CinemaNow, the PC movie download and rental store, has updated their Media Manager software to allow rented or purchased movies to be viewed on the Xbox 360. Over 7,000 of them.
Now when you buy or rent one a flick, your Vista or XP machine will be able to see your Xbox 360 as a connected machine (while using their Media Manager). Not only that, there's the Burn-to-DVD option on Vista, which lets you (obviously) burn your movies onto a DVD and watch them on any standard DVD player. Like your Xbox 360, for example.
Posted by Anna King at 11:45 AM on July 18, 2007
Like to mix it up a little? Live closer to the edge without sacrificing cred? The sleek and elegant Hurdle Lighting can stand both horizontally (hurdle-style) and vertically (old-skool-style), getting around obstructions to satisfy all your illumination needs. A sensor detects its positioning and operates the light accordingly.
The practical bugger looks pretty lightweight as well. Designed by Korea's Lee Suk Woo and Byeon DongJin, it received a Special Mention in the 2007 LighTouch Design Competition in Singapore.
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 10:55 AM on July 18, 2007
Sony. Experience More. Next Week. Friday Night. 6.30pm. BRAVIA. VAIO. Food. Drink. etc. etc. etc. Details here.
Today, we're calling all budding poets - give us your best Sony-themed Limericks! Again, our favourite 20 comments get names on the door.
Get cracking! You have until 7.00am Thursday! After this, two more chances to go.
If there is one complaint I have about every boomerang competition I go to, it's that there simply aren't enough hot dogs. Apparently boomerang enthusiast Paul Sprague and I don't frequent the same contests, because when he goes boomeranging (yep, that's a word), he brings along his self-designed BoomChef solar-powered grill, built intentionally for grilling up hot dogs at boomerang competitions. When he says solar powered, he means it--the thing is literally a glass box that catches sunlight bounced off a reflective Mylar panel.
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 10:47 AM on July 18, 2007
Good times for Sony, it seems. We had half as many haters and fanboys! I guess true haters wouldn't want to head down to a very Sony night out anyhoo.
Winners for Tuesday are... Leon Y, Ben Evans, sonymehard, Jimmy (dude, your Monday entry was lame. But Tuesday? Woah, THAT was narky!), David Banham, Feral, MJS, Jeremy S, Harry, bbq, Musky, scott D, lawson, talk2sk, Jimbo, Jaz, Johnny, PL, DoneSold, and Paul. Snaps all round.
Wednesday's task is a little more creative. Coming v v soon.
[All the details on the Sony. Experience More. VIP night passes]
Remember our unconfirmed Tivo Series 3 Lite pics from last week? Maybe they're real, maybe they're not, but someone in the Tivo Community forums is claiming to know TiVo Series Lite 3 specs. They're almost unbelievably similar to the powerful Series 3's specs, but I know you can't resist even fake Tivo specs, so here they are.
AU: With TiVo on its way, it's interesting to keep an eye on the development of official US specs so we can later pin down whether we're getting latest version hardware or some sort of throwback -- we already know it is going to be very free-to-air network friendly. -SB.
Who better to teach your kids than the Dark Lord of the Sith? This Star Wars Darth Vader Laptop is geared toward young, malleable minds (and, secretly, the rest of us) and employs a lightsaber-shaped pointing device to select from 50 different games. Children can expect to have their memory, typing abilities, and coordination tested, while building their reflexes and musical talents. The product description makes no mention of what Force powers the laptop teaches, but, true to Vader's usual antics, "breathtaking activities" are hinted at.
Parents need to provide three AA batteries for the laptop to work and there is a headphone jack for quiet play. The provided lightsaber might not cut through any material in the galaxy, but it does make noise when it's moved around. Interestingly, your child can also choose to learn as a Jedi, though Vader still acts as the teacher. Yeah, we all know how that'll turn out. [Oregon Scientific]
The Shanling MC-30 Music Center is proof that not all iPod docks have to look the same. It comes packed with not only iPod support, but a Hi-Fi CD player, an AM/FM tuner, and a tube power amplifier. The single-ended tube amplifier allows for 3 watts of power per channel to whatever speakers you have hooked up. And in case you missed the giant photos, it looks kind of awesome.
The squat chassis is made with brushed aluminum and has some attractive LED highlights. It's legs aren't just for show, either, as the caps on its two forward supports act as an input selector and volume control. So now that you're all excited it's time to bring you back down to Earth: $1,000 for the unit. That's a big price, but you can bet you'll run into very few people with a setup like this. [Elusive Disk via Audio Junkies]
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 9:42 AM on July 18, 2007
Revolutionary biosuit to transform space operations.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
Google streetview camera fleet set to invade America.
It ain't about us, but it's cool to see Google getting set to take the anti-privacy war to the streets!
First prosthetic dog paw surgery completed.
It starts with a paw. Next it's steel jaws of death.
Samsung Desknote G25 announced.
Redefining 'portable', but I think that's a pretty good thing.
We saw this Wi-Fi equipped BlackBerry make its way through the labyrinthine corridors of the FCC a few weeks ago, but now RIM's making it official. The BlackBerry 8820 is coming, and it's going to have GPS, 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, microSD/microSDHC, and quad-band GSM. Wi-Fi fans, this is your BlackBerry. And if T-Mobile is looking for a killer device to add to its HotSpot @Home stable, they should look long and hard at the 8820. [MarketWire]
Although not officially announced at E3, Saitek's latest Cyborg Rumble gamepad for the PC takes the best of the Xbox 360 controller and enhances it with some FPS-friendly features. First off, there's a precision control toggle, which when activated, turns down the sensitivity on the sticks so you can go in for a headshot easier. If this sounds familiar, that's because the Splitfish FragFX controller does the same thing, except for the PS3. And then there's the Xbox 360-like design, which is perfect for all the ports of Xbox 360 games heading to Games for Windows this year.
There's also a Cyborg headset, which has 5.1 surround sound audio (three drivers in each ear) and a mic for jive talking. No pricing on either one, but they should be released later this year. [IGN]
Sony is writing off the leaked Sixaxis we showed you as a "bad artist rendering." [Kotaku]
We've had our hands on these super-green Linux-and-Via powered babies for a little while, but now it's your turn. Even though the beta program is expected to run until September, Zonbu is confident that the hardware on 1.0 is locked. That's why today, the company started selling the little box, but will cover the first three months of software support, technically a beta run, for free.
iPhone Partially Unlocked, Calls Without AT&T Contract
XtremeMac TuffWrap Case Doesn't Ruin iPhone's Natural Good Looks
RSS Feeds