Deviantart Artist Kickass-peanut just made version 2 of the Xbox 360 plushie, this time with a wireless controller and a built-in hard drive! You like it? You can actually bid for it on eBay, with the starting price of 35£ ($70). From the looks of it it’s quite large, so you’ll be able to use it as a cushion when you play the real Xbox 360. If hardcore console like the 360 can be made into a “for kids” version like this, just imagine how saccharine sweet the Wii plushie will be. [eBay via Deviantart]
The fires currently raging in Southern California got us thinking about tools that can help firefighters do their jobs more effectively, and few devices can do more than the T-N-T or “Denver” Multi-tool. It is an axe, a pry bar, a ram, and a D-handled pull hook all-in-one—so it can smash or rip through just about anything. The product site also notes that the T-N-T is equally useful for those involved in law enforcement, construction, or “other.” I suggest that “other” be home protection. With a device like this, you could surely lay an epic beatdown on an intruder. Available in various sizes for around $180. [Product Site and TNT Tools via Toolmonger]
It turned out to be a damn good quarter for Microsoft, pulling in $13.76 billion in revenue—a 27 percent jump over the same quarter last year—for a net income of $4.29 billion, making it “the fastest revenue growth of any first quarter since 1999″ with double digit growth in every division. (Halo 3 was mentioned during the growth highlights, for fanboys looking for jollies.) Following the earnings call was kind of annoying because of its bajillion product lines and a mess of jargon, but to cut to the Vista and 360 chase, things are moving along and growing nicely.
Not only does this notebook stand prop up the back of your laptop so you can type at a slightly more ergonomic angle, the back of it also has slits so you can pass your cables through as well. Those slits in the back of the Fingers Notebook Stand is what allows your cables to stay in one place and not flop all about when you unplug and move about, something we’ve got lots of experience with. Unlike other designs, you can actually purchase one of these for 15£ ($30). Now they just need to invent something to keep change from falling out of our pockets when we sit down. [oofdesign via Yanko Design]
Some “last minute bugs” will push back the OLPC production process to November 12th, resulting in a shortage of computers available for a holiday program in North America and Canada. This Give-1-Get-1 program would have allowed buyers in the US an Canada to purchase a two computer package for $400, with one of the laptops shipped overseas to an underprivileged child. At this point, there is no telling how many laptops, if any, will be shipped for the program before the holidays. [Reuters]
In my last abode, even though we had a big antenna on the roof my digital reception was awful. Analogue perfect. Digital zero. So I simply could not fall in love with digital TV, and I’m sure others are in a similar boat right now.
Here’s a good news story on digital, though. In my new place I have pretty good line of sight to broadcast towers – good enough that I don’t need an aerial. Literally. At first, I got cheeky and went old school with a coathanger. And it worked. But now I’ve found all I need is an RF cable plugged in, but as you can see, it is just dangling at the top of the TV. Now and then it weirds out a little, but when that happens I just move the cable to the other end of the TV and it goes back to giving me crystal reception.
Kinda like broadband versus dial-up in the early days. When it works, it is awesome. But when it isn’t working for you, you are utterly SOL.
If you missed the news, YouTube announced the launch of their new local edition of their video juggernaut, highlighting the Australian community that already exists (but can’t help but be less obvious under the weight of global content) as well as launching partnerships with many big Australian content producers. All the majors except Channel Nine are getting involved, along with Sky News and even people like Fairfax.
It’s been getting plenty of mainstream attention, but I’m sure many netizens will be thinking ‘meh’? Personally, I think it is good – getting easier access to local content is never a bad thing, just as long as it stays easy to get to the global stuff. But so far I’ve actually found it hard to find these Australian content channels from the big broadcasters. Is it good they’re on an equal footing with ‘the rest of us’ in terms of content placement? Or should we be able to more easily find the YouTube homes of broadcasters who are sharing some of their content through the site?
If we told you to picture a phone with the Adidas branding on it, would you picture something spectacular, or something more along the lines of a 2-megapixel slider with FM radio, MP3 player and an EDGE connection? Right. At least the phone, manufactured by Samsung, has actual sport functionality with a pedometer and heart-rate meter. With that kind of equipment, this phone could have been a Nike+iPod Sport Kit and a cellphone all in one—something we’re still eagerly awaiting. [GSMHelpDesk via Crunchgear]
newVideoPlayer("buglabsint.flv", 475, 376);I sat down with Peter Semmelhack, CEO of Bug labs, to talk about his open source hardware gadgets. My first question for him was why open source hardware when open source software is so powerful and easier to implement? His answer explained how Bug Labs should anticipate the innovative hacks (like Lego Mindstorm), but also how it compares to out of the box gadgets built on closed systems. (There’s room for both in the world.) More interview clips to come.
Getting back on track with the new system, though galleries are still not flowing through correctly. Once Kaan, king of codes, is unshackled from his uni exams we’ll be entering a summer of hot lovin’ as new features flow forth from his magic fingers of code fu. Anyway, here’s what’s been going down overnight.
New NEC LCD can switch between wide or narrow viewing angles. But only at the factory… flip of the switch would be a little more useful.
Nintendo DS TV tuner finally priced and dated. Japan release is November 20, price translates to about $70.
Our Leopard reviews matrix. A quick look at what Pogue, Mossberg and Baig thought. Whoever they are. ;-)
Samsung demos world’s first bendable OLED. Because bendy means it’s, you know, more fun or something.
Mac OS X Leopard: The First Hour. The mothership team liveblogged their first hour on the updated OS. Hijinks ensued.
Nintendo’s first half profit nearly triples, money printers can’t keep up. Spin against the Wii all you like, MS and Sony, but they’re winning the profit war too!
Pear Cable chickens out of $1m challenge, we search for answers. Quotes from all involved. Guess who looks the worst by the end?
