After taking over planet Earth Google is all over the stars like James T. Kirk on blonde alien chicks: they just added a new option to watch the skies in Google Earth. We tried it and it's quite good, even if some of the photos don't smoothly blend into each other. The search works great and they even have a time lapse mode to watch planet movements in relation to the stars. Go get it at Warp 9. [Google Earth]

In 2001 some Canadians tried to row across their home country using a 'road-boat'. This is a vehicle made of several rowing machines, powered by a group of muscular Canadians. They failed then, but now they're trying again. The team will be fund raising for The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada, so we hope that this time they make it all the way. [Rowing Across Canada]

Sharp has unveiled a new LCD TV, described by its president as "experimental." And if you thought that three-and-a-quarter inches was thin, then try three-quarters of an inch. Mikio Katayama, President of Sharp, didn't go into too much detail about the new screens, but this is what he did say:

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...per bit, from a 1GB SD card. We saw the 32GB SDHC monster at CES where they were announced, but Toshiba just announced their availability in Japan for $700. There's an 8GB microSD card, and a 16GB SD card, too. It's nice to realize that all our phones and computers could one day pack their memory footprint in something the size of a postage stamp. [Impress thanks Gadgetress]

Logitech's $200 G51 surround-sound speakers work with hot new 5.1 sound cards thanks to a direct six-channel input, but they were designed to intensify even lame-ass stereo games with a 5.1 matrixing mode and an explosive 56-watt subwoofer. The system has an integrated headphone jack for conveniently talking trash with the other kids combatants. But say your mom suddenly interrupts the melee with your favorite PB&J—Logitech thought of that, too.

The dual mute function allows you to mute the audio coming out of the speakers so your mom doesn't complain about you going deaf. And it lets you mute your headset, so your battalion of renegade mercenaries (or is that mercenary renegades?) don't have to hear the dreaded, "I love you too, mommy."

The final touch, for the more artistic gamer, is something called G-Skin. The speakers have clear shells, under which you can insert your own "personal artwork." Hopefully, once Logitech sees what your own stuff looks like, it will begin offering download-and-print artwork of its own. That or you borrow some of those excellent unicorn drawings from your sister.

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The first joystick I ever bought was a Msft Sidewinder. Some hands on time with their new mouse, the first ever to carry this brand, was very positive: it's worthy of the marquee and a is a well engineered pointer, even if it does look like a Darth Vader's Imperial interrogation droid-ette. Or a hydrofoil. First off, a button can be assigned to have your character spin 180-degrees to about-face the punk firing over your shoulder. Then, interchangeable weights can add up to 30 grams of heft under the mouse's center of gravity, and swappable pads offer 3 levels of glide. I've got a gallery of press shots and hands on, if you care to read on.

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To check your car's air pressure, you could get an air pressure gauge, or kick the tyres, but that wouldn't be quite as geeky as this aftermarket tyre pressure monitor. Four caps with sensor read each tyre's pressure and relay it wirelessly to the dashboard-mounted LCD. The setup also informs you if your tyre rapidly deflates, alerting you of a flat. Coo, but two problems:

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As expected, that hot damn RAZR2 just went on sale for $250 little green doggies at Sprint. This is a far cry from the $500 that the original RAZR went for at its launch. Expect other carriers to be following suit now or later with their RAZR2 variants. [Sprint]

One of the quirkier features of iRobot's new 500 series Roomba vacuum bots is the voice recorded tutorial that is built into the device. Here's the robot-guided tour, complete with spinning sidebrush and a blinking blue dirt detector light.

Brookstone's Talking Photo Ball is the perfect gadget for those of us who've always dreamt of putting our family and friends into a ball and recording personal voice memos about them. The gadget is simple to use; place 4 pictures in the various slots around the ball, record any message you'd like -- as long as its 15 seconds long -- and voila, your emotional attachment to each individual is placed in a succinct voice memo.

Once recorded, the ball will play your message every time you press one of the pictures or turn the whole gadget. It retails for $15 dollars at Brookestone and acts as an especially good reminder of how your family and friends have wronged you. [ChipChick via Brookstone]

Roomba is among the most successful consumer robot sever made, having sold well over 2 million units. And iRobot's newly released 500 series is the first major revamp of the floorvac line since 2004. Nearly everything about the bot has been changed or improved, it's stronger, quieter, smarter and will last five times longer than its predecessor. A full report on the Roomba 560's anti-tangling technology, voice module, and RF "Virtual Wall Lighthouses" is just after the jump.

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Nothing screams "cool" like the Nooka rubber and plastic Zub-20 Zot watches. Coming in six different colors (because who doesn't want an orange rubber watch?) the Nooka watches display hours as a progression of 12 dots while the minutes flow along the horizontal line below. The date and seconds -- because the company ran out of unique ways to show numbers -- are shown in a generic digital window.

The watch features a 20mm-wide band and is waterproof for up to 90 feet in salt water. It's available now in Black, White, Red, Orange, Yellow and Blue and will set you back $125 dollars while simultaneously destroying your sex life. [Nooka via Plastic Bamboo]

We've all dreamed of having a mini-greenhouse that we could plug into our computer, but until today it was just that -- dreams. But dream no longer. Geeks.com is selling a USB-powered Mini Greenhouse that includes a computer interface which helps you monitor growth rate and that includes a calendar, wallpaper and bookmark settings to aid you in monitoring the growth of your greenhouse.

The techno-garden includes Marigold seeds, artificial soil, an adjustable growth light and of course, a 4-foot USB cable, like nature intended. Available now for a mere $19.99, the best thing about the miniature greenhouse is that no one will ever use it to grow obscene amounts of marijuana. [Technabob via Gadgetastic]

This was a story back in February, but in case you missed it, this is the Lotus Exige that is part of the NSW patrol fleet. I'd like to take it seriously, but that yellow paint job is hideous. Seriously, guys, this is meant to give off a "don't fuck with me" vibe. Gotta be black, or midnight blue with some white stylised check like that concept Holden. But yellow?

Actually, how awesome would it have been to get the call that this was to be your new patrol car. If that was me, I'd be breaking out the shades and either going Speed Racer style police wardrobe or maybe ultra-casual civilian attire, ready to get called into the chief's office to ge chewed out for not operating by the book in my quest to take down the gang lords of Kings Cross. Or something like that.

But yellow? Ungh. -Seamus Byrne

[Pick found here at Car Advice]

The V.I.O. helmet cam is remarkable in several ways. First off, it's a self contained unit that has a lens, and recorder/converter, both water and shockresistant to 1m. It captures to DivX/MPEG4 to the tune of 720x480 pixels at 1GB/40 minutes. The camera is functional to -40 to 185 degrees F, and has a preview screen on the base unit for deleting boring clips. And it has a remote control. It can use SD cards up to 2GB, meaning you can get about 80 minutes of recording time. That's a whole lotta jackass-styled stunts. [V.I.O via helmetcamcentral]

Heads up, time-poor, tech-savvy, efficiency-desiring peoples. Today Allure Media (that's the company that pays the bills 'round here) has launched the local edition of Lifehacker. Go visit your lovely host, Sarah, if you're keen to learn nifty tricks for getting through the day clevererer than everer before. Tell her Giz sent you! -SB

[Lifehacker Australia]

Who needs new and slick when you can have old and wooden? The Shadow hard drive from Suissa is a beautifully-made wooden 750GB external hard drive that faintly resembles something your grandmother would store jewelery in. Compatible with any computer, the inappropriately-named Shadow has four USB 2.0 ports that are prominently visible on the front of the drive and is made out of sustainable, harvested maple.

The drive will be available this holiday season in standard and luxury models and will cost you $730 and $875 respectively -- you'll also get a free old woman with every purchase.
[Suissa Computers via Treehugger]

We've heard a few stories about this concept police car, and now we had a chance to get up close and personal with the beast. And it isn't just the slick designer paint job they've given it that makes it a winner. The downside is how easily this puppy will spot you if its trying to find you. The upside is it uses less power than ever before (except for that V8 under the hood of the VE Commodore).

Jump to see our detailed exploration inside and out, plus some insight into what the guys behind the SAFE Project (Standardised Approach for Emergency Vehicles) think of blocking civilian cell use during major incidents. We'll even tell you the ringtone of the police rep who was looking after the stand. Seriously, take a guess...

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The TOM-019 from Hong Kong's Topway is so thin it can practically double as a shiv. At 6 mm (or 0.24 inches) and weighing a tiny 26g, the gadget offers support for MP3, WAV and WMA audio files -- it also plays MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG2.5 and MPEG4 videos on its 1.8-inch TFT display. The media player also allows digital audio recording in an Mp3 format, has an address book and an FM radio (something that the iPod still doesn't include).

The gadget can also handle BMP, JPG and GIF images and comes in capacities of 120 MB to 2 GB -- it can also, if you've got the aim for it, double as a deadly ninja star.

No release info is available at this time.

[Topway via PMP Today]

Like Highlander, there can be only one. We consulted with the crew at CBL on helping us pick a winner, but we all pretty well agreed on who should take out the prize.

Congrats to 'Simon M', who showed us never to trust other people's back-up regimens, and to fear and respect the 'initialise' command. Hopefully the 'get out of jail' card will help you rest easier than ever before.

Thanks for all the stories - sorry to those of you who seemed desperate for immediate relief. But if we folded under the weight of every tech sob story we'd be giving our shirts away. Still, at least you now know who to call for help if you REALLY need it.

The US site is posting a string of one-minute videos made for a laptop giveaway. We could fill the front page with them all, or we could pull them together into one place and keep the rest of the news up front. I'm going with the pull.

Here's one to whet the appetite, and a bunch more below the fold. I'll add any additionals in below as they come to hand. Some clever stuff (all film noir-style), so it's worth a look. -SB

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Here's a quick wrap.

Magwear wrist bands hold nails, make you feel like ghetto DIY Magneto.
Adobe beefs up Flash 9 with H.264, AAC, and hardware support.
Rocket-fuelled bionic arm not just for sportsmen.
Michael Bay angry at Paramount dumping Blu-ray.
Greatest R/C aircraft ever.
DeLorean confirms: new cars to roll out in '08.
iPhone EU carriers confirmed for Germany, France and UK.

Loewe's network media center concept promises an intelligent TV set in a modern design. Loewe Connect has 3 sizes ranging from 32 to 42 inches, each with a built-in network media player, USB port, Ethernet port, WiFi and an integrated HD tuner. An additional model labeled the Connect Media DR+ has a built-in HDD recorder for recording HDTV programs. No price or release date is available, but the Loewe's Connect Series will be on display at IFA 2007.

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Sharp UK is announcing an interesting flagship model at IFA that might not ever see the US shores, but could point the way for the next gen LCD coming from the company. But this HD1 designated LCD has a 160GB HDD presumably for DVR functions and a USB drive for photo viewing.

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The cellphone piano is for those who love making music with a cellphone, if there are any. Each key on the keyboard is wired to a key on the cellphone, no longer restricting a cellphone musician to single keypad.[we make money not art via textually]

Toshiba released 320GB SATA HDDs in 5400 and 7200 RPM flavors (MK-GSX and MK-GSY) series. They run on the 3-GBit SATA inteface, and support drive head parking on falls over 10 inches. [Gearlog]

Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak knows how to get his name in the news. First there was the rumor of his extraordinarily creepy romance with unfunnylady Kathy Griffin, and now we find out that he got busted going 104mph… in a Prius.

The best part? What he told the judge.

I pleaded guilty, with an explanation. I said that I was really scientific, and in the last year had been in Athens, Moscow, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich (twice), Zurich, Canada (three times), Columbia, Singapore, Japan, London, etc., and had gotten used to kilometer speeds.

Hackers from the iPhone Dev Team are claiming that they have fully unlocked the iPhone using a complicated hardware method—it requires "complicated soldering, with a high probability of a bricked phone." Not really very exciting, as you can already get... Read More »

Game developer Atlus has decided to recall all of its 150 arm wrestling simulators from arcades across Japan. Despite only being out a month, Arm Spirit has broken three arms.

In the game, players lock hands with a fake arm and battle on screen characters such as a french maid, a drunken martial arts master, a chihuahua, and a professional wrestler. Atlus claims that "the machine isn't that strong" and "even women should be able to beat it." Hmmmm. Either this is one bad ass arcade machine or the Japanese need more calcium in their diet. [MSNBC]

AU: I remember playing much the same game back in the 1991 at Timezone. Aaaah, Timezone... Anyway, yes, much the same. I spent more time on the one where you had to punch the pad as hard as possible. -SB

Apple Insider confirms that T-Mobile Germany and Orange of France and 02 of the UK will have exclusive rights to the iPhone. The report was based on an article in the Financial Times, so we can be pretty sure of accuracy, and if it's not true, we can at least point fingers at the limey bastards.

AU: What clues can we take from this? Very few. With such a split across the three countries mentioned, it doesn't look like Hutchison (3) will get any advantage due to alignment with its Orange network in Europe. All do GSM and 3G networks, too, so no clues on that front either. Still clearly anyone's game. -SB

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The HTC Juno, a previously unheard of Windows Mobile smartphone, seems to be headed toward AT&T sometime soon. It's going to be like previous HTC phones we've seen with a dialpad on the front and a slide-out QWERTY on the side. There won't be a touchscreen, but it will have a 2-megapixel camera, microSD, QVGA display and 3G. No launch time or details yet. [Crunchgear]

I'm not really sure how well Pac-Man could be controlled on a touchscreen, but adventurous iPhone owners will now get a chance to find out. That's because a MAME emulator has been made for the iPhone by a gent by... Read More »

The latest update for Sony and Stanford's Folding@Home PS3 project has a couple of new interesting features that fans will enjoy using. There's PSP Remote Play to control and view folding information on the go, a screensaver mode, protein visualization enhancements, and an "Advanced Mode" that's only available to people who run Folding@home for more than eight hours a day. We applaud the effort and hope that along with curing diseases, Folding finds a cure for the douchebaggery that all of Stanford seems to be infected with. Go Bears. [assbags.edu]

Everything USB got their feet into the USB heating slippers and found that it's actually quite toasty. After inserting their feet and hooking up the 4-foot USB cable to a USB port, they found that the heating elements got up to 101 degrees F. Yea, that's only slightly warmer than your body, but it should be toasty enough to keep your feet warm in chilly winters. [EverythingUSB]

Following up on our story from last week about further Netflix price cuts, again reducing rates for its 3-disc at-a-time plan to $15.99, we've gotten a confirmation from Netflix Director of Corporate Communications Steve Swasey (pictured in the graphic here)... Read More »

Somebody went to a lot of trouble to handmake these Farty Pants, and the story behind this sewing mastery is a mystery. However, we'd much rather look at a visual representation of said emissions than actually experience them in an aural or olfactory sense. Anyway, this unusual garment might make a splendid Halloween costume. [Neatorama]

If you're too cheap to buy your kid action figures and walkie-talkies, these Spider-Man III walkie-talkies will allow you to feel like you're still a decent parent. Shaped like Spider-Man and Venom, they'll allow Junior to pretend he's part of the movie, if the characters in the movie caused horrible feedback squawks whenever they got close to each other. [Product Page]

This week at TreeHugger: A series of roads built out of solar panels could supply all of our country's energy needs, several times over, according to Scott Brusaw, the founder of Solar Roadways. Dig in to "precycling," a hot new fad where you buy a gadget, take it home, strip it for parts, and sell the innards you find on the gadget black market for a tidy profit.

We all know we should recycle our laptops, but what about our sex toys? Europe's new law gives new meaning to the term "dirty e-waste." Lastly, check out the "Typing Orb," a clever gadget that'll help you crank up your typing and might just inspire you to power down your computer a little bit faster.

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The two latest point and shoots from Sony, The T200 and T70, both have an 8-megapixel sensor and a similar body, but differ on a couple other features. The T200 has a 3.5-inch LCD, 5x optical zoom Carl Zeiss lens and comes in silver, black and red, whereas the the T70 has a 3.0-inch LCD, a 3x optical zoom Carl Zeiss lens and comes in silver, black, white and pink. They can both shoot in 16:9 aspect ratio, have an ISO of up to 3200, and can hook up to Sony's Bravia HDTVs in the Photo TV HD mode to view pics. Pre-orders start August 23. [Sony Style]

If the clip on the iPod Shuffle isn't secure enough to keep the player on your person when you engage in the spastic movements you call jogging, take a look at this iPod Shuffle Wristband. It comes in blue, black, green, frost white, pink and purple, and secures the iPod Shuffle to your wrist in a way that only a $9.99 piece of rubbery plastic can. [USBFever via Shiny Shiny]

A poster on the phonenews forum seems to have come up with the Sprint lineup for the next several months, all the way into early 2008. To start, they have the Motorola V9M on 9/4, the USB EV-DO Novatel U727... Read More »

Just as we mentioned last month, the DeLorean sports car is indeed going back into production, and you won't even have to go back in time to get one of those vehicles so memorably featured in the science fiction movie Back to the Future. Our beloved blood brothers at Jalopnik spoke to one of the guys who's going to make this happen in 2008.

James Espey, VP of the DeLorean Motor Company, said work will begin on the first car in the third quarter, and delivery of that vehicle will be in the first quarter of 2008 at a price of $57,500. The good news is, it will still look like a DeLorean, with a stainless steel body, gull wing doors and squared-off front end. Let's just hope they double the horsepower, because those 130 horses under the hood weren't too impressive back in the day.

These cars will be handmade, so that $57,500 price sounds like a bargain. Follow the link for Jalopnik's exclusive report and gallery. [Jalopnik]

This is probably one of the weirder weird combos of the day we've posted. How the hell does a Transformers beach ball fit in with a Clueless: Whatever! Edition DVD? [Walmart - Thanks Jack!]