Here's a video report from Reuters on the transforming dress that disguises a scared, vulnerable stalking target into a vending machine you'd find in any Tokyo side street. This is the first time I've seen this dress on video. And I like how the reporter calls it a modern day Ninja tactic, while other Japanese men in the segment say it's probably a better idea to run from rapists and muggers than to lift up your dress and try to disguise yourself as a Soda machine. [Reuters, thanks Chad]

A necklace with a pendant shaped like old Walkman of lore. Probably about the size of a shuffle. [Josh Spear via BBG]

The Fujitsu Lifebook U810 is the mini tablet UMPC, and although its launch moment has come and gone, this is the first video I've seen demoing the machine's cool keyboard lamp. Which Joel here describes as the "F'ing Future" or something. I'm surprised he doesn't love the keyboard, but maybe that's because Joel is Viking sized and the midsized keys just don't fit. Worth watching, just to see JJ on his first video review. [BBG More U810 at Giz]

The Good: The Hava Titanum HD has component HD support and Wi-Fi via USB dongle out of the box (a must for my Home Theater Setup, where the router is in another room). As a point of comparison, the Sling Pro requires a $50 attachment for HD support and can only communicate wirelessly via power lines. The Hava also allows you to pause, rewind and fast forward, record to your hard disk and burn your recordings to DVD. Video playback is generally smooth and uninterrupted. It supports simultaneous viewing from local (unlimited viewers) and and remote (single viewer) connections. Future expansion possibilities include hard drives and digital tuners.

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According to Maximum PC, sometime between now and the end of the month Sony will formally announce the end of their obnoxious $30 LocationFree PC serial key licence fee (rhyming!). Currently, if you want to install the software on multiple PCs you would have to cough up the extra dough. The move is believed to be in response to the stiff competition Sony faces from companies like Sling Media, who have always offered software for their Slingbox free of charge. [Maximum PC]

An Apple Store employee just tipped us off on why he's looking forward to the iPhone 1.1.2 patch. He IMs: "Please post something telling people to stop fing jailbreaking in store iPhones and iTouches. We spend a good 2 hours every night overtime redoing the damn things because people are like 'uhh look at me, I'm special. I can go to a URL.' Our store has 70ish iTouch and iPhones, so you can imagine...". After laughing our asses off, he replied, "is that Jason i hear volunteering to restore all the touches tomorrow night?" [Thanks tipster, you poor bastard!]

Larry David of cranky old man fame demonstrates the best way to deal with people with Bluetooth headsets that talk just a little bit too loud. LD's spot on with this annoyance, which is weird because it's probably the only time other than hiring a prostitute to drive in the carpool lane that we'd actually do emulate something he's done in the show. [5min]

The super futuristic look of the VorteXX Chandelier has been described as being "reminiscent of a double helix with the appearance of an endless flowing shape - weightless, pulsating and gleaming" — which is enough to turn on anyone with a taste for contemporary interior design.

The lamp is made from 60 individual moldings and the latest LED modules intended to generate indirect light in various hues. Apparently, it can also be used with the designer's lighting management system to create an endless variety of programmable light scenes. Each lamp is custom made, so don't expect this one to come cheap (but you already knew that). [Zumtobel via Architonic via Design Milk]

The British Ministry of Defence has eliminated missiles and other projectile weapons in favour of a more open, glass covered cockpit offensive. Why? Their new tactic is to fly as close to enemy aircraft as possible while wearing this prototype helmet to make the opposition shit themselves to death. Victims won't be reincarnated as anything good either, but that's just a side effect. [BBC via TheDayTheyTriedToKillMe]

Because of its small size, the shuffle generally gets left out in the cold when it comes to docking with iPod accessories. Meanwhile, the big boys are docking with every cheap gadget and speaker accessory in sight. The folks at FastMac believe that it is high time the shuffle became a woman. Thanks to the U-Connect, shuffle owners can now connect their player to virtually any iPod dock accessory. It can even charge the device and perform data transfers. Available for $15.95. [Product Page via Macworld]

The iPhone elite development claims that they have managed to jailbreak the iPhone 1.1.2 firmware. Keep in mind that this hack is completely unproven at this point, so you may want to wait for some other poor bastards to screw up before you try it. [Elite Download via Tuaw]

While Radiohead basked in adulation for dipping its toe into the digital future with the pay-what-you-will In Rainbows pre-release, it wasn't the first major act to toy with the internet model, and certainly wasn't making a genuine move toward disruption. Had it truly boldly gone where a few have gone before, it potentially stood to lose boatloads of revenues the traditional distribution model guarantees an A-list act. On the other hand, Saul Williams, someone with a lot less to lose, took a dive into the deep end with his release of the Trent-Reznor-produced Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust.

Pearl Jam and The Doors have been offering direct DRM-free MP3 downloads of material for a while now in a mix-and-match format, though not with the highest ease of use factor; Prince just gave his last album away (though not digitally); and Public Enemy's giving away How You Sell Soul To A Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul for free on P2P networks, albeit loaded with ads. And loathe as I am to credit Phish for anything, they directly sold MP3s way back in the Stone Age of 1999.

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The folks at G4 networks Attack of the Show are vying for a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records tonight with a 13 foot arcade console that they believe is the world's biggest. Is that big enough to set a world record? You can find out tonight when AOTS airs at 7pm and 11pm EST. With any luck the segment will reveal some more specs on the machine —and if you are really lucky Oliva Munn will flip out and start kissing every woman in the studio. [G4]

Whether you are keeping an eye on your home, loved ones, or just spying on your neighbors, the Wireless 2-Way IP Cam with night-vision can prove to be a valuable tool. The ZVC7630W is capable of day and surveillance thanks to six infrared LEDs around the lens that help it capture clear images in dark and low-light environments. It also supports real time internet video streams and two way voice communication should you ever need to yell at your babysitter from afar.

Other features include: VGA, QVGA, and QQVGA image resolutions at 30fps, support for multiple profiles, 3x digital zoom, multiple network protocol support, MPEG4 and MJPEG dual-codec support, 128-bit WEP and WPA-PSK encryption, and the ability to view and record video up to 16 cameras simultaneously. And the best part about the ZVC7630W is that you can pick one up for only $200. There is also a $156 version available — sans wireless. [Product Page and Zonet]

Along side the Eee Desktop news we told you about earlier, Jonathan Tseng, VP of marketing at Asus, also stated that a Windows XP version of the Eee PC would be available this December. With no word on a specific release date, specs or price, we can only hope the Windows version doesn't bump up the cost even more. [Digitimes]

Our friends over at CollegeHumor heard that 24 was delayed due to the writer's strike, so they combed through the archives and found this pilot from way back in 1994. As you can see, Jack Bauer is just as intense when stuck dealing with pagers, 1-800-Collect, and AOL as he is using more modern accoutrements. Damn it! [CollegeHumor]

A holiday teaser site has revealed that a phone dubbed the Motorola Q2 will be "coming soon" to Sprint. If you look closely at the product image on the site, the Q2 appears to be a Motorola Q9H running a Palm OS instead of Windows Mobile 6. Naturally, this information is only a rumour at this point and nothing has been made official, but if a leaked Sprint roadmap is to be believed, we may know more on November 23rd. [Sprint via Howard Forums]

If you've updated to 1.1.2 and regret it, or if you're one of those new iPhone owners in Europe and want to jailbreak your phone, here's an instruction set to downgrade to 1.1.1. It's still quirky and may not work 100%, so you'll want to be careful unless you know what you're doing. [Hackint0sh]

Incensed over a pair of LG handsets that truthfully, probably were named to ape BlackBerry—the Black Cherry and Strawberry—RIM's taking LG to court. Fair enough. But RIM's arguing that any wireless device with the words "black," "berry," or "pearl" in its name isn't kosher, and requires RIM's consent. Apparently, Verizon asked for the okay to use Black Cherry and Blueberry for a set of LG's Chocolate phones, but RIM gave a wag of the finger, obviously leading Verizon and LG to just go for it. RIM's solution: total destruction of all LG wares with any of the forbidden words in its name. Bonfire! [The Globe and Mail via BGR, Flickr]

We brush our own collective teeth with an older model Sonicare, which is why their FlexCare update with UV radiation seemed like a sure bet at improving what's already great. JJ from BBG stuck one in his mouth a couple times for 2 minutes each and found that it's cheaper to replace than before, stronger (with the new Massage mode), easier to cram into corners, and all in all a great buy at $180—unless you already have an old model and feel like waiting for a price drop. We agree. [BoingBoing Gadgets]

A new channel is headed for the Wii that allows users to view and vote on th Mii characters created by others. The new channel can be downloaded for free from the WiiWare section of the Wii Shop Channel starting on November 11th. [Press Release via Ubergizmo]

God bless the FCC. Today's leak, the Wolf King gaming keyboard, is apparently the successor to the Wolf Claw, though it takes more after the Wolf Claw Type III Devour, ditching the traditional keyboard layout for a dual hockey puck setup with a weird chopped and re-arranged QWERTY setup on the right puck.

In addition to the dual-fisting madman layout, the FCC manual reveals the Wolf King has seven hotkeys, 2 USB "hubs" (ports?) and blue backlighting. It's tiny, too, taking up just 14.3 x 8.4 in. on your desk. Personally, I don't really see the selling point of a gaming keyboard that looks like you're going to have retrain at least one of your hands to use—but maybe that's the whole 1337 appeal. No word on price or date yet, but it's obviously coming. [FCC via Shock Gadgets]

You haven't spent most of your day drawing, then erasing crap on whiteboards unless you've been a TA or a software engineer. We've been both, so this Ultraser design is the best thing we've seen in the "whiteboard" design department in a while. All it is is a handle that you shove a standard whiteboard eraser under, but the convenient grip and the fact that you can keep your hands free of whiteboard marker dust pays for itself in imaginary design dollars already. We're theoretically buying it right now. [Yanko Design]

With sales in Japan amounting to less than one percent of its total sales, Samsung has decided to pull back from the land of ramen vending machines due to "poor profitability." As of the end of the October, Samsung's no longer selling any of its consumer products in Japan, though it'll continue to sell computer monitors directly to businesses and components like memory chips. The retreat will "have no impact on Samsung's bottom line." We could speculate on some of the reasons on why no one in Japan bought Samsung products, but uh, we're just not gonna go there. [NYT]

Unfortunately for electronic table fetishists everywhere, you won't be able to walk into a restaurant, a casino or a retail outlet and play with a Microsoft Surface table until spring of next year. Why isn't it surfacing until then? Partners.

Partners who need Microsoft's help to build custom apps to fit Harrah's, Sheraton and T-Mobile needs for gambling, sleeping and phone choosing. Beyond the delay, Microsoft also has some interesting plans to expand from just the retail and hospitality industry to government, education and enterprise businesses to eventually, as Gates predicts, be on "every table," "every whiteboard," "every mirror" within 5 to 10 years. [News.com]

After a very long wait, the FedEx man has finally delivered the HP MediaSmart Server. Chen gave you a look at a Windows Home Server last week, so you got a feel for the basic software package. Now we're taking it to the consumer level: HP's is the first fully configured official WHS product out of the gate.

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The adorable Boston Dynamics RHex robot uses a combo of legs, wheels and paddles to cover pretty much any terrain, water included. It looks like some sort of frantic animal as it thrashes around in the grass and the sand, but it manages to make it through every time. Lil' RHex is remote controllable from up to half a kilometer away using onboard front and rear cameras, and it's even available for sale now. The bad news is that you need to get in touch for a price quote, so you know what that means: you can't afford one. Pity. [Product Page via BotJunkie]

If you want a fancier DS Lite case but don't want to buy a new one branded with Zelda or Nintendogs, you can pick up one of these Ghost Cases and mod it yourself. For $20 you have your pick of a number of transparent colors, allowing the guts of your DS to be seen while you play Phantom Hourglass or Brain Age 6 or whatever hot game is out right now. [Product Page]

DivX's brand new CEO, Kevin Hell, accidentally leaked some juicy info about their Xbox 360 plans when questioned at a JP Morgan conference. An analyst questioned Hell about the new media centre extenders that have DivX and Xvid compatibility and whether the same functionality was coming to Xbox. Kevin replied, "Yes! that, uh, we're in discussions with Microsoft on that at this point in time, so I can't go into any great detail on that. Um, that is not a certified, that is not a certified or licensed product at this time." The sweet sounds of backpedaling are like Chopin for our DivX-starved ears. [SeekingAlpha]

Clement Eloy, creator of the infamous Hotdoll sex doll for dogs, has a new project. Unfortunately it doesn't feature dogporn, but it's still pretty cool. It's called the SamePaperPlayAgain, and it's a wastebasket designed to help you waste time as well as paper by making throwing things away a game. Take turns kickin' stuff at the wastebasket, keeping score on who's more accurate. No matter who wins, the real loser will be your employer, who's wasting valuable payroll dollars on someone who clearly doesn't care about their job in the slightest. [FeelAddicted]

The Gadget: Kangaroom (whose cable organizers we've tested before) has a video game storage unit that's designed to be a cheap and space-conscious alternative to an entertainment centre to hold your games, controllers and console. It's also stackable, so you can pile them on each other to form one giant storage center.

The Price: $45 for the game storage unit itself on top, and $75 for the game storage unit plus the drawer on the bottom.

The Verdict: It's a fantastic idea in theory, but in practice the storage unit on top is actually not tall enough to hold either the PS3 or the Xbox 360. You can only fit in a PS2 or a Wii—both horizontally—which makes it kind of a disappointment to next-gen fans. However, the compartment on the right holds both controllers and accessories, which makes it not a total loss.

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The higher the altitude, the faster and steadier the wind blows. That's the concept behind this Kite Sailing Katana Yacht, raising a kite high enough to catch winds that might not even exist at the water level. Designed by Stephani Krucke, the yacht is big enough to pamper eight people in the lap o' luxury. Check out the lovely pictures of this sleek vessel.

That kite might get in the way under some conditions, but even if it weren't the sole source of locomotion, on windy days it would still be highly efficient to augment engine power with such a high-flying sail. We think a kite sail like this should be packed on board all vessels, just in case a hapless captain runs out of gas. The Kite Sailing Katana Yacht doesn't exist yet, but aren't these some spectacular renderings? [Yanko Design]

Winter is coming and it's just about time to hit the slopes, but are you having trouble deciding between downhill skiing and snowboarding? The Venom Switchboard is a cross between the two, and adds an aluminium steering bar for even greater control. This vehicle looks like it mixes together just the right amount of danger and thrills, and it's not all that expensive, either.

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The iPhone 1.1.2 Firmware just hit last night while you were out shooting drugs into your eyeballs, but here's what you need to know about it in the harsh, sober light of day. Long story short, you should wait until upgrading unless you're Gérard Depardieu.

Availability: As of right now it's still not available on iTunes (in the US), meaning if you really want to update you're going to have to manually download the firmware yourself.

New features: Foreign language support, including UK English, French, German and Italian. A battery status indicator in iTunes is all you get other than that.

Brick status: Jailbroken but non-unlocked phones are upgrading without any trouble.

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