newVideoPlayer("ipodtouch_preview.flv", 475, 376); Video By Richard Blakeley. One new feature that came with the announcement of the iPod Touch is the iTunes WiFi Music Store. Aside from the limited interaction we had with it at the Apple event on September 5, we got our first real crack at it today. All in all, its pretty great, but there are a few things that make us shake our head.
London’s interactive bar, TwentyFour, promises one thing – if there’s a lack of feminine eye-candy, you can always pass the time by staring blankly at the ever-changing walls. The bar combines thousands of LED colour combinations with walls that are, in fact, projection screens, creating one of the coolest bars I’ve ever seen. Apparently, bar-goers can even change and/or add their own images to the ever-changing environment, giving a whole new beauty to urinating on a wall.
The coolest catch is the bar itself – which will summon the bartender when you lay your hand on it. A great idea, except when you’ve got 60 people surrounding the bar hopelessly pounding on it, it kind of kills the effect. Question is, when is TwentyFour coming here? We’ll make better beer, we promise. [TwentyFour via Crave]
newVideoPlayer("iphone5things_gawker.flv", undefined, NaN);Benny the NYC intern and I have found a few things we really like about the iPod touch. Rather than tell you about them, we thought we’d show them to you in a quick video. Needless to say, there are also some things we don’t like about the touch. Stay tuned, because we’ll address all that later on.
If you like software that’s free — and who doesn’t — then you might like to know that this Saturday is world Software Freedom Day. If you want to take part, there are events happening in a number of cities around the country over the weekend. If you’re near Adelaide, Albury Wodonga, Bathurst, Brisbane, Canberra, Coffs Harbour, Copley, Gold Coast, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Mount Gambier, Newcastle, Perth, or Sydney, then you should check out the site and get along to an event to show your support for the Free / Open Source Software movement. [Software Freedom Day Australia]
newVideoPlayer("iphonetouch_gawker.flv", 475, 376);Which has better video, the iPhone or the iPod touch? We think it’s a damn close call. What do you think?
Before I catch my flight back to SF, here are a few choice shots of my favourite fun at Wired’s 2007 Nextfest down in LA. Notable things include nano ferrite “magnetic fluid” solutions, prototypes of JPL’s Mars rover running over Justin from Justin.tv (above), a giant disco wall that comes to life when your mobile phone EMI hits its wiring system, Jeff Han’s latest multitouch systems, a Japanese robot that looks like a samurai, complete with sword, armour, and glowing red eyes, a few rainbow touch instruments like the laptop orchestra, some UAVs, one blonde wearing body armour being hit with a shovel by another blonde, hyper efficient solar cells that can collect light from multiple angles, a supercomputer efficient enough to be powered by a team of cyclists, a bipedal robot with Albert Einstein’s head. Lots of stuff, and I’ll have videos of the rest, tomorrow. Mega-gallery here:
As a proud owner of a Dreamcast, I am a man that can appreciate one with a prototype Zip Drive jammed into it. And now, thanks to the Internet, I can get one – for $US10,000 on eBay. Apparently, before the DC’s fatal collapse, Imega Corp. made a 100MB Zip drive attachment that would help hold everything from saved games to emails. The drive was intended to help promote the DC as not only a console but as an entertainment system. The Dreamcast inevitably failed and now I’m left staring at it sadly while considering playing Virtua Tennis and mortgaging a house to get the Zip drive attachment. [DC News]
Running at night is fun, but it’s dangerous if you don’t have a light. If you’re in the woods, you might fall in a hole or twist your ankle on a root, and if you’re on the road you might get hit by a car. Play it safe! This GoMotion Trail Running Vest has a chest-mounted light, giving you literal headlights to light the way in front of you. It can also hold a hydration system like a Camelbak, which is a nice touch. Bonus: it’ll make you look like Iron Man. [Product Page via Backcountry.com]
Bitmicro Networks has announced the release of the new E-Disk Altima E2A3GL heavy duty SSD flash drive that holds a huge 461GB and is as sturdy as a Russian housewife. The 2.5-inch hard drive has a standard Serial ATA (SATA) interface and is designed to operate in both fairly cold and fairly hot temperatures (-40 to +85 degrees Celsius).
Built specifically for industrial and military applications, the drive will have ten years of data integrity and will be able to sustain strong shocks and vibrations. Available in March 2008, there’s no information on how much the E-Disk Altima will cost just yet but considering their target market, it’s going to be about as much as a tank. [Linux Devices via Crave]
Our CMS topped itself overnight, but now it’s been resuscitated. Feed now on its way. Sorry, folks. Have a good Friday! -SB
