Friday, September 28, 2007
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Teaser for Sony’s Bravia Play-Doh Commercial
11:40PM Addy Dugdale | Last month, NY was overwhelmed by Play-Doh bunnies as Sony shot its new Bravia ad. Well, folks, you’ve got a few weeks to wait for the spot to air, but until then, here’s a tiny taste of what’s to come. [Sony BRAVIA - New York] More »
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Eavesdrop Through Walls With a Do-It-Yourself Recording Spy Stethoscope
11:10PM Charlie White | For some reason, we’re seeing a lot of spy gear making the rounds these days, and here’s yet another, an eavesdropping device you can make yourself for less than $25. This guy has replaced the earpieces on a $10 stethoscope with condenser mics from a couple of cheap-ass multimedia microphones. Then it’s no big deal to hook those up to the recorder of your choice, so you can have the proof you need. Take a look at the how-to video, after the jump. More »
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Oppo HM-31 Turns Three HDMI Signals Into One Without Clipping or Gypping
10:46PM Charlie White | There’s something about those initials HDMI that send some manufacturers into fits of greed, but not Oppo. The company that makes up-rezzing DVD players, two of which we’ve favourably reviewed, now announces an HDMI switch that turns three 1080p sources into one, electronically switching them with a remote control and sending those crispy clean signals to the HDTV display of your choice in glorious HDMI 1.3. The best news is that this Oppo HM-31 costs less than many of those strangely overpriced HDMI cables themselves, $99. Doesn’t look half bad, either. [Oppo] More »
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Back-Up Pal Does Exactly that for Cell Phone Contacts
10:43PM Addy Dugdale | A neat idea to back up your contacts from both your SIM card and cell phone memory in one fell swoop, the Back-Up Pal keeps safe all your contact info, whilst ignoring ringtones and SMS messages (although future Back-Up Pal models will probably be able to do this.) It costs $39.99 for cell phones with serial ports, and $49.99 for cell phones with USB. [Aving via Red Ferret] More »
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Asko’s Home Pub Fridge is a Fridge for Real Men
10:00PM Addy Dugdale | The inventor of the HomePub, a fridge freezer with built-in draught beer system, is, it goes without saying, a genius. Designed with special people in mind, the kind who like to pour beer on their cornflakes or drink their coffee with beer and two sugars, there’s designated space for two five-liter kegs. More »
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Inflatable Boxing Gloves for Wii Won’t Double as Buoyancy Aid
8:22PM Addy Dugdale | These boxing gloves for the Wii come with their own air pump for easy inflation. They also come with some weird instructions: More »
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Sony Bravia VPL-VW200 Projector Gives you Full HD, Less Blur
7:10PM Addy Dugdale | Yours for just $11,700, Sony’s new HD projector boasts 1920 x 1080 resolution and claims to give you less blur and more movie-ness. Full specs after the jump. More »
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iPhone Firmware 1.1.1 Out and Tested: Breaks 3rd-party Apps, Relocks iPhones and Sends Them to Semi-Brick Activation Limbo (Updated with video)
1:05PM Jesus Diaz | Just released, ready in your iTunes. This update includes the iTunes Wireless Store, but if you have an unlocked iPhone, be aware that this firmware may make your iPhone unusable. After several hours of testing in house and with the iPhone Dev team, here is the summary of what it does: • The update will work ok in iPhones with no modification. • The update will work ok in iPhones with Installer.app (although it gets wiped out; the apps seem to remain in the iPhone, but they won’t appear in your screen). • The update will work ok in unlocked iPhones, but it will return your iPhone to the activation screen. From there, no activation is possible. The iPhone doesn’t get bricked but —as expected— so if you want to keep using it, don’t update your iPhone. • This has been confirmed with both anySIM and iPhone Sim Free. • “Third-party applications won’t work after the update” (confirmed by Dev Team.) • “Firmware 1.1.1. relocks iPhone properly” (confirmed by Dev Team.) • Unlocked iPhones updated to 1.1.1 will work with legit AT&T cards (confirmed by Natetrue) (read after the jump for an explanation of why this is wrong) • iPhoneSimFree Jason documented here, claims that their paid SIM unlocking solution doesn’t hang your iPhone at the activation stage: they say you can activate using an valid contract, AT&T SIM and iTunes, but it will still be locked afterwards anyway. We are still updating and working with Dev Team to see what could be done. [Last update 11:05PM. Video of the firmware update process added. All updates, new feature list, security bugs and Apple Security note added.] More »
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German Chocolate Bar Grenade Shows Cocoa Is Bad for Your Health After All
12:45PM Jesus Diaz | The MI5 says this chocolate bar is really a grenade. Made of steel and covered in chocolate, the Nazis designed this during WWII to kill British Royals, who were thought to be chocoholic and stupid. The Royals only had to open these and seven seconds later they will be dead. No bomb ever arrived to Britain, so the Royals remained as chocoholic and stupid as they ever where. [MI5 and Wikidpedia via Spluch] More »
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