Wednesday, August 15, 2007
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Telefunken TV + Star Trek = New iMac
11:50PM Jesus Diaz | Where does iMac designer Jonathan Ive get his ideas? Growing up in ’70s Britain, his brain must have collected a giganormous amount of wonderful and eclectic design influences. Like this Telefunken PALcolor 614, which looks like a CRT version of the new iMac. More ties after the jump. More »
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Four of the Five RAZR2s Reviewed (Verdict: What a Difference a Carrier Makes)
11:50PM Wilson Rothman | Sascha Segan at PC Mag just worked his way through testing the AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and Alltel RAZR2 models. Though all RAZR2s have similar specs—”luxurious metal-and-glass design,” 240-MHz processor, roughly 100 MB of memory, a 2-megapixel camera and “the biggest, most beautiful external screen you’ve ever seen on a flip phone”—each carrier treated this differently. We gave you a nice run-down of feature differences, but here’s how the actual user experience differs from carrier to carrier: More »
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Kurt Cobain, the Action Figure
11:30PM Mark Wilson | Boy, I hope that Courtney Love is making a lot of money off this one. The Kurt Cobain action figure immortalizes the poster boy of grunge rock in 18 inches of dyed plastic (was the dyed part distasteful?) Sorry. Apparently the figure is electronic, but we’re not exactly sure if that alludes to potential karate chop action or maybe a sung verse of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. Look for MiniKurt sometime this month for $45. And remember, not only are you buying a timeless collectible; you’re giving hope to a starving woman with no career, talent or shame. [product via uberreview] More »
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1873 Monocycle Replica Is a Mechanical and Engineering Marvel
11:10PM Jesus Diaz | This monocycle replica from 1873 is an stunning engineering and mechanical feat. Created by a spaniard using 19th Century documentation and old-style handcrafting techniques, it uses a 6.16-foot wheel, with a 238-teeth inner segment. More »
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The Helio Fin is a Magnesium-Cased Samsung Ultra Flip Phone!
11:00PM Brian Lam | Holy crap. The Helio Fin is the company’s first clamshell, and is built on Samsung Ultra phone DNA. As such, it’s only 11.4mm thick, and hot damn, it’s the only one made of magnesium. It’s also the only Helio handset to have Garmin turn-by-turn GPS software on it, although you’ll have to rent it to a sick tune of $3 a day. (Bleh!) The cameraphone is a generous 3MP, however. More »
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DirecTV Offering Powerline Broadband/VOIP
10:59PM Mark Wilson | We (ok, I) always thought that sending broadband over powerlines was one of those empty threats used to gain leverage on cable and DSL providers. But DirecTV has just announced a partnership with Current Group to provide their Dallas/Fort Worth market with high speed Internet through their wall sockets. The resulting BPL (Broadband Over Powerline) should be a lot faster than DSL, with theoretical transmission rates hitting between 256k/s and 2.7 MB/s. 1.8 million subscribers will get to find out starting late 2007 and into 2008. Now let’s get the gas lines going, too. Maybe the power companies will stop bill-raping us if they’re making a bit more on their lines…nah! [cnnmoney] More »
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Boy Genius Links T-Mobile and the BlackBerry Curve 8320 on Sept 24th
10:50PM Brian Lam | Boy Genius published this leaked T-Mobile document with details of the Blackberry Curve 8320 launch pegged to September 24th—the Curve with Wi-Fi. That makes sense, given TMO’s gung ho attitude toward Wi-Fi, with all those hotspots. And oh yeah—how convenient—that brand new TMO @ home service that swaps handsets between Wi-Fi and cellular calling seamlessly. Until then, the program has only had cheapo phones. This could be the first respectable handset on the service. As always, these documents usually aren’t final, so dates will probably change. [BGR] More »
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Ballistic Bookbag, Bullet-Proof Back-Pack
10:40PM Gizmodo US Edition | These bullet-proof backpacks are claimed to offer as much protection from a shooting as police armor, but at one tenth of the weight. They’re aimed at kids, to protect them from all the dangers that 21st-century schooling entails. One immediate problem I see is that it will only protect you if you’re shot in the back, at just the right height. Check out a video after the jump. More »
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Drive Alarm, In Your Ear, Keeping You Awake
10:40PM Gizmodo US Edition | This unusual-looking gadget is worn behind the ear, and wakes you up if you start to catch some Z’s on the highway. It constantly measures the angle your head is resting at, and vibrates if you tip forward. Of course, if you fall asleep and lean back into your headrest, then it will happily let you careen off the road to your fiery, but restful, death. More »
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