Today the Mossberg Solution takes a whack at Pure Digital’s update to the Flip Video, the Flip Video Ultra. The 60-minute (2GB) and 30-minute (1GB) models run $30 more a piece than the original, but basically improve on them in every way (better screen, resolution, etc.). Overall, the Solution says it’s “a pleasure to record startlingly good footage for a camera of its size both indoors and outside” and fairly easy to share video, which is the focus of the update. Just don’t expect to share pristine quality video, since it’s still lower res than a standard camcorder. [Mossy Solution] More »
No one should expect 3rd party apps to continue running on the iPhone after the next update. Much like Sony with their PSP, Apple refuses to be as progressive with a portable computer as they are with a clunky, traditional system. Yesterday, a lot of us took some of Apple VP Greg Joswiak’s comments to support the possibility of an eventual open iPhone platform. But then Apple clarified: “software updates will most likely break” 3rd party iPhone apps.
Hopefully Apple will wake up and smell the inevitable. And hopefully the iPhone will not turn into the PSPhone, forcing users to scour the forums to see if they can update to the latest firmware without worry. [gearlog] More »
The thing you see on the top of the camcorder was once a $25 Hot Wheels toy radar gun: Not any more, it ain’t. Using a plastic drinks bottle and an Altoids tin, amongst other things, it’s been turned into a full-on radar gun. “Even cops don’t have one of these,” says KipKay, the brains behind this, excitedly. How-to video is after the jump. More »
Today’s processors have one fundamental weakness: heat. But NASA may have overcome that issue with their new super heat-resistant, silicon carbide chips that can operate in temperatures up to 1,112 degrees Fahrenheit. An early test proved highly successful, as NASA’s chip operated at 932 degrees Fahrenheit for 1,700 hours of continuous operation. And like most “space age” technology, the benefits will surely trickle down to consumers.
Consider a future without heat sinks, where chips can operate with extreme voltages (overclocking anyone?). Sure, we’ll all miss the LED fans and liquid cooling systems. But the next time your laptop catches on fire maybe the problems will be cosmetic only. Meanwhile, laps everywhere will become rotisserie legs, cooking under the even more extreme heats of todays portables, basted by their own sweat.
I can’t wait. [imedinews via theinquirer] More »
Microsoft has been granted a patent for “stealthy audio watermarking,” which is just a slick way of saying inaudible digital watermarks directly embedded in the audio of a file, allowing the owner to be traced. Apparently, in their version of the tech, the watermark’s scattered throughout the file so it’s more difficult to pull out or tweak and it’s able to be compressed while remaining intact. You’d think they’d worry about actually selling music before trying to tie it down, though. [PC World, Flickr] More »
Get ready for new firmware updates for both the PSP and PS3 in the next few days. Yeah, even though it’s been mere days since the last set. The new ones will bring your PS3 and PSP to 1.93 and 3.71, respectively. [
Industrial designer John Moriarty has come up with the Cocoon, a portable hanging emergency shelter that you sling from a tree and sit in, should you get into difficulties in the great outdoors. It’ll keep you warm and dry, not to mention turn you into a laughing-stock when the park ranger eventually finds you, swinging like a psychedelic bird box, beneath a leafy bough. [Coroflot via OhGizmo!] More »
A military clothing company has come up with Warrior Wear, a line of trousers and shirts with I.T.S. &mdash that’s an integrated tourniquet system &mdash attached for those fighting on the front line. If you are hit, you just pull the corresponding tourniquet tight to stem the bleeding from the wound. There are four tourniquets on the trousers, and four on the shirt (the short-sleeved version has two) which can immediately be applied to the wound by either the wearer, his buddy, or a medic. As well as helping to stop deaths in the field, it is thought that using the I.T.S. will dramatically speed up the time it takes to recover from extreme blood loss injuries. More »
Sony took the time at their dealers convention in Japan today to announce the forthcoming arrival of four Bravia Blu-ray recorders. The BDZ-X90, BDZ-L70, BDZ-T70 and BDZ-T50 have anything from 500GB to 250GB of internal memory, are MP4 and AVC/H.264-compatible, and are expensive. Stats and prices are below the gallery.
