The impending onslaught of ads coming to everyone’s phone just got a little bit more inevitable with Google announcing AdSense for Mobile. The new ad network brings Google contextual ads to the smallest screen for the first time—its current mobile ad service, AdWords, only does search result ads. Like regular AdSense, Google’s paying per click—but we wonder how likely people are to click when it’s on their phone? Perhaps Google’s “two ads per page” advice will bolster clicks, but we’re not holding our breath. Or clicking, rather. [NYT]
The Via Epia SN is one of the smallest and definitely one of the fastest motherboards around and it’s guaranteed to give every gamer a triple orgasm. The first model of this type to have a 1.8GHz CPU and a 16x PCIe slot, the Epia SN also has four SATA ports, a CF card connector, dual-LAN network ports, an Ultra DMA port and WiFi.
The prize here is the Via C7 CPU — which, when combined with a high-end video card, will make you drool in gamer-delight. The Epia SN should be available in November for businesses and hopefully to consumers shortly thereafter — no word on the price yet, but I’m thinking it’ll hurt. [Via via Wired]
Remember Steven Smith, the Zune tattoo guy? Well, having promised us a third Zune tattoo for a while now, Steven has re-emerged with not only pictures of the new design but also bearing a new, slimmer body. The tattoo is the catchphrase, “Welcome to the social” and is proudly (and apparently painfully) tattooed on the back of his left shoulder. What’s next, Steven? [ZuneMax]
MotionPortrait has released a new photo imaging program of the same name that can take a regular 2D picture and transform it into a moving, smiling, talking 3D model. According to the company, a one-gigahertz CPU can handle the 2D-to-3D transformation, which then allows the user to change eye color, hair-style and facial expressions. The CG animation can even be synced with sound to respond to various inputs.
Is a standard iMac not gaudy enough for you? Do you feel the need to coat every piece of electronics in either gold or chrome? Do you enjoy paying a $400 to $500 premium for a fancy case? Then ChroMac is the solution! Your two options are either buying a pre-made iMac inside a chrome, gold or charcoal case, or ordering the case separately and slapping that Betty on yourself. Either way, you’ll be the coolest guy in your high school. And isn’t that worth $500 and your dignity? [Chromac via Crunchgear]
In an effort to stop the Earth from becoming a barren wasteland, British Liberal Democrats announced plans to completely abolish gasoline petrol- and diesel-powered cars by 2040. To aid them in their quest, the politicians proposed increasing Britain’s car tax by £2000 (or roughly $4000) specifically for larger vehicles like 4x4s, while lower-emission vehicles would be taxed less or nothing at all.
Right now, it’s all talk, with no real solid ideas behind it. The politicians have suggested that completely switching to alternative fuel sources and raising highway tolls to fund a national rail system are key — but we’ll see if any of it actually happens. Both my lungs and I pray to God that it will. [Scotsman via Wired]
Nerdyshirts are giving away 500 BeatBuckles on Thursday to a bunch of random customers. For those of you with too much taste to remember, the BeatBuckle is a belt that holds your iPod (previous generation) on your belt, so you can combine the theft-friendly conspicuousness of a belt clip with the “I’m an asshole” of a fannypack. Get one for free! [NerdyShirts - Thanks Harrison!]
iTunes 7.4.2 just came out, and its reported that it breaks some custom ringtone hacks. Apple’s been open minded about hardware changes, but anything infringing upon iTunes sales has been patched pretty aggresively in the past. Ringtones, too, it seems. The file renaming hack to cease working. Sendsong and manual copying of ringtones to the iPhone still seem to work as do a few of our older methods. [Macrumors]Updated: Custom Ringtone hacked once more.
Duracell’s latest NiMH rechargeable batteries have two neat features. One, they hold power for up to 365 days without use, and two, they come pre-charged, so you won’t have to juice them up before plopping them into your camera. The first is great so your batteries are always ready for use even if you haven’t touched them for a while, and the second is great so your batteries are ready for use when leaving the store. Too bad these are $12.99 for a four-pack. [PRNewswire via Coolest Gadgets]
AU: I have to note here that Sanyo’s Eneloop batteries have been doing the pre-charged / hold power rechargeable thing for over a year now. Good to have some competition in the category, though, because those Eneloops aren’t the cheapest batteries in town! -SB
By now you’ve probably seen the ads to go along with the government’s big spend on protecting the kiddies online. There are some scary stats thrown about in these ads to really get you worried… if you have no idea what you’re being told.
There is an excellent analysis in the Sydney Morning Herald of the government’s campaign, beautifully entitled “Ministry’s web of deception needs a virtual reality check”. Gold. Here are a few of the blatant manipulations identified in the story:
