The DeLighTable by Kloss is a slick, 25-mm-thick coffee table that has a touch surface built in. It reacts to finger touches and glasses being rested on it, creating streams of light as you run your fingers across it, as you can see in the above video.

It doesn't house a computer or anything, so you won't be able to go through your pictures on it, but it's still really cool. It's been in development for a few years now, but it hasn't been available for sale until now, it'll set you back a cool $2,300, which actually seems somewhat reasonable for what you get, and will take four to six weeks to build.

The only real issue I have about it is how it's getting its power, as it has a cord running to the wall that really hurts the sexiness that this thing would bring to your living room. I guess if you have an outlet on the floor you could make it kind of subtle, but there's no real way to escape having a cord visibly snaking out of a leg of your coffee table. [Product Page via BornRich]

Europeans get lucky this week, as the Prada successor LG KS20 hits stores in France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy. (What up, UK?) The final specs on this baby are in, and they make us terribly jealous.

It's got 3.6Mbps HSDPA and Wi-Fi B and G, and what looks like a half-way decent web browser. There will be some built-in games and video on demand, video telephony, and a media player that will read MP3, MPEG4, WAV, 3GP, AMR-NB, WMA, AAC, AAC+ and eAAC+. We don't even mind the Windows Mobile 6 part, given the fact that there's a customised interface like the T-Mobile HTC Shadow or the Sprint's HTC Touch.

I suppose the upcoming entry of Verizon's LG Voyager to the US doesn't preclude us from getting a KS20, but the powers that be might not want the competition this early, and LG's relationships with other carriers are not as cuddly. [LG via Akihabara News]

Zune Tattoo guy, the Lothario who's made small, small waves in the blogosphere for getting Zune tattoos on both arms, has a real name: Steven Smith. The issue is, no one cares, and they all just call him Zune Tattoo Guy. Well, he wants to make it easier for us to make fun of him, so he's legally changing his name to Microsoft Zune. No joke. Sure, it'll be embarrassing for him now, but just imagine what his life will be like in 15 years when nobody can remember what the Zune was. Awkward! [ZuneScene via GadgetLab]

Marvell's launching a new chip for more efficient power supplies that cuts down energy use by automatically adjusting the amount of juice drawn by a computer depending on what it actually needs, slashing waste—it can chop peak energy use by up to 50 percent, according to Marvell.

It also supposedly rolls the functionality of 20 components into the single processor, allowing for the "Honey I Shrunk the Power Brick" magic (by up to a third) at lower costs for OEM manufacturers. When we talked with Hubie Notohamiprodjo, general manager of industrial control and power management, he said we could probably expect products with the new chips to start showing up in a few months.

While we'll see them in desktop and notebook power supplies first—Marvell's hitting them because of the size of computers' carbon footprint and its potential reduction—they could also make their way into flatscreen TVs, portables and other consumer electronics. It was tipped that they're talking to at least one manufacturer now. Even if green tech's not really your bag—or hell, even if it didn't actually save that much power —carrying around a smaller notebook power brick is reason enough for us to give it a thumbs up.

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The Windows boot-time backlash is in full effect. BIOS-builder Phoenix Technologies is introducing a mini operating system called HyperSpace that can boot up in seconds in place of Windows, to run e-mail managers, web browsers and other apps. Such a system could prolong battery life by 50%, and would give laptop makers a chance to show off their own personalities, rather than act as mere vessels to the Microsoft experience. There are some catches:

Though the Wired story didn't specifically say it, the applications probably wouldn't be the exact same ones you'd run in Windows. There might be a word processor, but it probably wouldn't be Word.

Lenovos, Dells and Acers of the world can start tailoring computers with HyperSpace functionality to very specific demographics. A student-aimed laptop, for instance, could come with apps like word processing, e-mail and IM preloaded into HyperSpace.

A widespread implementation of HyperSpace across consumer laptops would still be a coup and a half.

Microsoft regards HyperSpace as "outside their sphere of influence," and is not too happy with Phoenix's offering, which adds yet another voice to the already loud chorus of voices complaining about operating-system bloat.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the press release.

Carnegie Mellon University's Tartan Racing Team showed us who's boss on Saturday with a winning truck named Boss. The Chevy Tahoe robot SUV was bristling with PCs and sensors that steered it safely through a complicated city street course, winning the $2 million Urban Challenge prize from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

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We had no idea Segways were being modded even more than PCs. Of course, you can put crazy, gigantic wheels on the thing, but you can also add all kinds of containers to carry stuff, pull a trailer with it, gold plate it, turn it into a rickshaw, and of course, it wouldn't be an American invention without plenty of room for advertising. Take a look at Segway Junkyard for even more outrageousness. [Segway Junkyard]

Samsung answers the iPhone (isn't everyone?) with this Samsung SPH-M4650, a smartphone running Windows Mobile 6 that takes the touchscreen concept a step further while adding a dose of tacky design along the way. Its touch screen gives you haptic feedback, goosing you with a slight vibration when you touch an icon on its 2.8" screen. The usual 2MP camera is on board, and its DMB TV tuner tells us this exact model isn't headed for these shores. What do we like best about this $550 phone? Its 16mm thinness. Nice try, Samsung—almost iPhoney and a design that might be good enough for the gPhone. [Akihabara News]

Usually this kind of awesome is relegated to Chinatown shops, but this fake Wiimote produced by LA-based ToyQuest is available in that most red-blooded of American institutions, Wal-Mart. The $10 to $15 Wiimote-"inspired" toy actually features motion controls for the built-in game, but thanks to the tiny, cruddy screen you can't see anything when you're waving it around, making it impossible to play. But it does rattle when you shake it, making it the closest thing around to Wii Samba di Amigo maracas. [About]

If you got hit with Verizon's early enthusiasm for the switch back to standard time—apparently a whole mess of people experienced the joy of an extra hour of sleep on Friday morning instead of Sunday morning, thanks to a mixup at Verizon Timekeeping HQ—you might be able to get $20 out of it. Some customers at the FatWallet forum are reporting success wrangling $10 or $20 credits out of the snafu. We're guessing the better your sob story, the better your odds of collection, so make it good! [Fat Wallet via Punny Money via NYT/Blogrunner]

USA Today mostly rehashes what we've heard about Google's plans, but they add a few unique contributions to the growing rumour pile. First, they peg Google's partners as "includ[ing] Sprint, Motorola, Samsung and Japanese wireless giant NTT DoCoMo"—WSJ is betting Sprint, T-Mobile, and HTC, with Samsung and other hardware companies as possibilities. (Reuters also says Samsung.) Also, while the Linux-based OS is nothing new, the tip that it'll be overlaid with Java is.

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Microsoft and ESPN have struck a deal to sell NCAA basketball and football games, the X Games and shows like Madden Nation in the Live Marketplace. Standard-def NCAA games are $3; HD versions run $4.50, and they go live "within 48 hours" of the end of the game. ESPN content is $2 for standard def and $3 for HD. [Yahoo!/AP]

Hong Kong's Amex Digital has just released a GPS-enabled cellphone. The handset sports the common candy bar form factor, measures 114mm x 49.8 mm x 17mm, houses dual speakers, annoys you with a 2.5mm phone jack, has a 1.3MP camera, supports miniSD expansion and has a 2.4 QVGA TFT LCD.

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At long last, you can go order the eagerly awaited HP MediaSmart Server, running Microsoft's lovable Windows Home Server software. It's up at Amazon, Best Buy, CompUSA, and Circuit City, though Amazon is the only one offering any kind of discount from the $750 (1TB) or $600 (500GB) list prices. We'll give you more on the MediaSmart server when we get a unit, and see how it differs from the Norco DS-520 system-builder setup Chen reviewed last week. In the meantime, here are the other big news items:

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A survey of business smartphone users has declared those using BlackBerries to be the most satisfied. Palm and Samsung offerings both drew in second place. The main six areas that were surveyed included OS, physical design, ease of operation, audio quality, battery life and utility feature set. RIM excelled in areas concerning battery life and OS efficiency. The Palm Treo's keyboard managed to bag some plus points, as did general voice quality of devices running the Windows Mobile OS. The survey went on to predict the future of the smartphone market:

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Official reports from Sharp indicate the company is set to invest heavily in thin film silicon solar cells in the coming year. The production shall take place at Sharp's Nara Prefecture plant in Japan. Sharp currently stands as the world's largest solar panel manufacturer, but is not meeting the growing demand.

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Form, function, or a little of both? Here's a sleek keyboard that keeps plenty of both in mind. A diamond cut dark brushed aluminium plate forms the basis, and while the keyboard claims some ergonomic features (flat key caps, extended wrist rest, three-height stand) it looks fairly stock standard compared to true ergonomic boards.

Some nice features you find here are the two USB 2.0 ports, plus an audio chip for auto-transfer of audio signal via USB, so you can plug headsets straight into the keyboard. I had no idea audio I/O over USB was a problem on a keyboard port, so if that is true then this is a good point.

I get the feeling that, as sexy as this keyboard is looking, as soon as keyboards start delivering this sort of vibe, Apple will be just about to announce a major rethink of the Mac Pro chassis and the whole world will be going gaga over their next industrial design metaphor. They went flat plastics to translucent coloured plastics to brushed metals... what's next? Hot anodised metal colours? 'Retro' beige boxes or wood cabinets? Whatever the case, right now this does look pretty smart and it is on the market at $89. [Actiontec, the local outlet]

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Looking to grab a rare pokémon and Chreish Ball for that ever expanding Pokédex of yours? As part of promos for the new Pokémon movie (oh, lord, another one befouls our cinemas) which stars the "mysterious" Manaphy, from 7-13 November you can take your DS into any JB Hi-Fi to grab the download for nix. All you need is a DS, a copy of Diamond or Pearl, and a Pokédex. If you're having problems, we've been told staff will be able to assist. Or you can make absolutely sure of what you're meant to do by checking this page at Nintendo's site.

For the details freaks, Manaphy has an 'exclusive' move called Heart Swap, which switches healing effects with other Pokémon. What this means in practice beats me — maybe an 'in the know' reader will share some thoughts. I figure most people who play Pokémon get seriously hooked, so if that means you, make sure you use this one week window to catch another for your collection. You don't want this gap in your Pokédex, do you? DO YOU? [The official Manaphy website]

Okay, for the younger folk, Communication Breakdown is the name of a Zeppelin track. Yeah, the jokes are never as good when you have to explain them...

Anyway, Zeppelin will be rocking up the 3 Mobile network, with full-length audio downloads available over the air from Saturday. They'll even be rocking Real Tones, Call Me Tones, alerts, and wallpapers. I can honestly say I have NEVER bought a ringtone. But the idea of rocking Kashmir every time the phone rings gives me fuzzies. Yeah, yeah, I could make it myself. But path of least resistance is sometimes nice when you use it so rarely.

If you've never encountered 3's music store before, it's a nice set up that gives you any track you buy as two downloads — one for your mobile and one for your PC ($1.99, and, of course, these are Windows Media DRM tracks).

Those crazy cats at Cellpassion are quite confidently picking November 6th as a proposed launch date for three new Sony Ericsson phones. Apparently, the new handsets will include:

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This has been a big news weekend. Lots of items to kick off your spanking new week.

Trent Reznor releases new album online for free or US$5
192kHz (free) or 320kHz / FLAC lossless (US$5) is a great set of options.

Steampunk Virtuoso creating masterpieces is his modern Victorian workshop
Truly the best piece of steampunk work I've ever seen.

Video recording coming soon to a Blackberry near you
When the v4.3 update hits, videos ahoy!

Aircraft mouse blends comfort, looks, LEDs
Sexy in a gaudy, Windows beast kind of way.

British army testing invisible tank
One of those camera/projector setups.

Microsoft's HD Photo is official JPEG successor, JPEG XR
They're dropping proprietary control, so this is good news all round.

Gamerator: arcade cabinet with beer tap
Now this is the kind of convergence I'm talking about.

Which TVs are most reliable? Flat ones
Rear projection FTL. Worst of all? DLP rear.

The great lads at Instructables have put together a USB charger that relies on your end products of expiration, CO2, to get your gadgets charged up. Specifically, it functions on breath power rather than CO2 itself. By attaching to your weedy chest, a generator is driven to produce energy by a system of pulleys that expand and contract as you breathe. This allows the energy produced to be passed on to your MP3 player so you have tunes for the last 3 minutes of your journey home.

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We just told you about the hacked iPhone we spotted on NBC's Saturday Night Live. You can spot the proof around 20 second in. The sketch is actually incredibly funny—some of the most edgy material we've seen on SNL for a while. We may even have to start watching regularly again, you know, if they are supporting iPhone freedom and everything. [youtube]

Gresso, the makers of all things ridiculous and overpriced, have hit home with their worst idea ever. They intend to pre load their ridiculous and overpriced flash drives with new albums by artists no one is any longer interested in. The first (and possibly last) offering will be Jennifer Lopez's new album, Burn, which will retail for $70 on Gresso's Adam and Eve flash drive. Don't worry your $70 will buy a customised Adam & Eve flash drive with J-Lo scrawled across it and some obligatory Swarovski crystals. Phew! There were we thinking this was just a ridiculous waste of money. [Luxist]

If you looked closely at last night's episode of Saturday Night Live during the iPhone: The Affair sketch, you may or may not have noticed a certain extra "Installer" icon next to the iTunes button. So what's that icon signify? The iPhone being used was Jailbroken (or, hacked for programs and games, in layman terms).

Maybe the hacked iPhone is just part of the joke. Maybe the hack makes for an simpler, more customizable production prop. Or maybe, since we knew Apple and NBC weren't getting along before, this is a not-so-subtle kick in the groin to a technology company struggling to keep consumers from hacking their product. Hit the jump for a bigger version.

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An excellent article in the New York Times looks at Andy Rubin, Google's director of mobile platforms, and tries to uncover what the gphone really shall become in the ever evolving mobile market.

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