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This meter-high ladybug is a prototype robot cleaner but, if tests go well, could be the new face of washroom hygiene in Japan. As well as putting a nice shine to the bathroom floor with its scrubbing abilities, the light-up insect, which is being developed for NEXCO, has all sorts of other skills.
Responding to Vodafone's whining and legal action about the iPhone in Germany, T-Mobile has published a press release that basically tells Vodafone to TFSU: T-Mobile thinks that Vodafone's claims are without merit and only driven by self-interest. To avoid legal... Read More »
The Nintendo DS TV Tuner was released yesterday in Japan for about $60 and the people from Impress have got their hands on one. The device will let you watch digital terrestrial television on the DS top screen while giving all sorts of controls on the bottom part. The surprise: it includes the all-time-classic Game&Watch Fire game in the package. Can't remember Fire or even the Game&Watch? Check the retro godness after the jump:
Eye-O Data calls their flash-based 16GB HDMC UZ16ZM a "Pocketable HDD," but knowing that its 2 x 2.3 x 0.7-inch body is waterproof and can survive under a meter of water, we will call it "Dunkable HDD". Just because we can and because I feel like doughnuts and coffee. Available for $241 in Japan, the Eye-O Data HDMC UZ16ZM includes a rubber USB cable:
We just got the advance word on the American Express holiday My WishList deals, running from November 27 to December 13. If you recall, Amex sells certain hot products for super cheap in very limited supplies, but you have to go to the site and try to buy it on a certain day (and yes, with an American Express card). It's really just a game, because demand always comically dwarfs supply. But there are other products that go on sale immediately, and are available at low but not necessarily insane prices until they sell out. And they always sell out. Before you go and shoot your wad during the Black Friday frenzy, you might want to check out this year's lineup, edited down to the most Giz-appropriate selections (i.e. no spa retreats or studded mini clutches):
AU: I don't own an Amex, but if you do it might be worth looking for an Aussie equivalent? The tie-in with the pre-Christmas sales is probably US specific. Of course, here in Australia it's all about post-Christmas sales. Which are obviously better for retailers than consumers.
While the gaming press leaves you with impressions of the king of all rhythm games, Rock Band, I'm going to tackle the hardware, which the Best Buy in SF had plenty of as of this afternoon. Let me start out by saying that the gear looked smaller on the internet; I'm too old to have toy instruments cluttering up my living room. I guess that leaves lying about them being MIDI devices, since I'm not getting rid of this stuff any time soon.
According to Informationweek and Computerworld, Segate has inked a deal with Staples that will bring data recovery services to all of the retail chain's 1400 stores. The deal will allow users to reclaim their lost data from any type of... Read More »
According to iSuppli, Vizio, of Sam's Club and other fine club merchant fame, holds on to its spot as no. 1 supplier of LCD TVs in the US for Q3 2007, with 13 percent of sets shipped. But that's a .7 percent drop from last quarter, while every other major player saw a spike.
Climbing to 12.8 percent, Samsung's now just .2 percent away from the LCD lead (it's winning in flat-panels overall). If the trend continues, Vizio will drop a couple of spots as soon as next quarter. The question is whether that's because brand name sets are getting cheaper, or people are now simply willing to pay a bit more to get a better quality TV. [Bits]
AU: Who the hell is Vizio? (Budget, budget, budget)
PSN's director of operations, Eric Lempel, walks us through buying and downloading stuff to your PSP from the freshly launched PC PlayStation Store. It's not the most elegant setup, and you've gotta use a loader app, but it's not too painful either. Mac support and Wi-Fi transfer—or better still, a direct PSP store, a la iPod touch—are big things they should to add. What else do you guys wanna see? [Playstation.Blog]
Even though there's already been a comparative plenitude of HD DVD player deals, users are shunning the chance to pay $150 for a Blu-ray player to get a whack at a $150 HD DVD player in Amazon's Customers Vote. Toshiba's HD-A35 has nearly double the votes of Samsung's BD-P1400. It's informal, but it points to the state of Blu-ray in the general consumer mind. So where do guys stand as giftwrap looks to be filled with HD goodness? Or are you holding off for yet another holiday season?
AU: The special deals are sadly unique to the US and their whomping great 'Black Friday' pre-Christmas sales. But the question holds. Are you waiting out another season before you go HD, or are you looking for the right deal? Or will you buy an HD player for your significant other as a gift to get around the idea you don't want to buy one for yourself just yet?
Mid-Tex Cellular systems out of De Leon, Texas is currently running both GSM and CDMA network using a software-based radio system on nine of of their cellular towers. Because the Vanu, Inc. designed software can be upgraded easily, there is... Read More »
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 11:54 AM on November 21, 2007
We've been playing with a few headsets from Plantronics .Audio range over the last few weeks. We'll mention a couple more soon, but the 480 stood out here as a really interesting take on the portable headset. We're basically talking about a set of earbuds with a mic attached on the left bud. A little weird, but the whole thing works a treat - good passive isolation, super portability, and good, reliable mic tech (the Plantronics speciality) so you can take calls anywhere. The boom is flexible, so it will sit comfortably wherever you want it. The cable has inline volume and mute, too.
The double earbud arrangement means it all doubles nicely as earbuds for music playback and phone headset, or even a really portable gaming headset. No device switching, of course, so the double duties part won't work for most people, but if you have jumped to a combo phone that does both, this is a sexy little number. It's just such a great concept in ultra portability for a headset, and you can get a standard jack connector version or a USB version, depending on your need. They're priced at $119.
A few weeks ago, Apple implemented a policy limiting iPhone sales to two per customer and sale by credit card only. Seemed likely that this was to stem unofficial market sales abroad, and this Wired piece by Aventurina King confirms... Read More »
It is no secret that many of the best ideas are doodled down on a napkin in a moment of inspiration. Now you can keep the ideas flowing at all times thanks to this spiral-bound cocktail napkin notebook. It even comes with its own pen for optimum napkin doodling effectiveness. Now if they could only harness the inspirational power of the toilet, we would be on the brink of a second Renaissance. Available soon. [Product Page via IBIA via Electro Plankton]
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 11:10 AM on November 21, 2007
Some more EPG/TV news: SMH reports the Channel Nine and Ten EPGs began broadcasting this week, while the Channel Seven EPG is the one that won't go live until January 1st.
IceTV also reports that with the multi-channel programming about to launch on the HD channels of the commercial networks, IceTV remains on the outer, so it will take them 2-3 weeks "after the start of full strength programming" to get this new section of the EPG operational.
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 10:50 AM on November 21, 2007
Our latest instalment in the long running "they just don't get it" series, the electronic program guide that has been coming together (slowly) from the free-to-air networks via FreeTV Australia is now looking to lock out any players that allow 30-second jumps or fast forward speeds of 60x or more. If you don't agree to modify your DVR to meet this requirement, you can't have their EPG.
IceTV is breathing a lot easier with this news, because (a) almost no international DVR manufacturer (which pretty much means ALL DVR manufacturers) will be changing their systems just to suit a not-so-open EPG and (b) if they do, users will still have plenty of reason to buy into IceTV's offering.
IceTV expressed their opinion in a letter to subscribers, giving a nod to the fact FreeTV's EPG will be good for people viewing digital through an integrated tuner or on a basic set-top box while emphasising that their position is all about the consumer hippie free love "do what you wanna do, be what you wanna be" thang.
How the FreeTV EPG will block such usage is anyone's guess. If it is a free over-the-air 7-day EPG, will they try and sue anyone using it who offers slip / fast forward features? That'll be tough to police. [FreeTV, IceTV]
The imminent announcement about wider coverage of Verizon's symmetrical FiOS that was teased last week has arrived, and it's pretty nice: Everyone gets it. FL, MA, and RI get 20Mbps up and downstream like NY, NJ and CT, while the... Read More »
As any hardcore fan of the Trek series will tell you, the smallest adjustments made to the originals are bound to undergo a tremendous amount of scrutiny. That having been said, the first reviews of the new HD DVD release of Star Trek have become available—and by the looks of things there is a lot to like, and a few things that will surely piss off more than a few fanboys—namely redesigned visual effects involving the show intro and the Enterprise.
While both Blu-ray and HD-DVD use the long-cracked AACS copy protection scheme, Blu-ray has its unique flavor of DRM underneath that, BD+, which is based on the Self-Protecting Digital Content spec. Macrovision is plunking down $45 million for SPDC and its related patents. This is despite the fact BD+ was cracked by AnyDVD's daddy, Slysoft, a couple weeks ago. So why drop that much dough on cracked tech?
Licensing. Even if the formerly uncrackable scheme has been busted wide open, Macrovision is looking at piles of revenue from licenses paid by studios to use BD+. It'll then go about playing the never-ending copy-protection cat-and-mouse game with crackers and hackers. It's comforting to know some things never change. [Ars]
There isn't much in the way of technical specs on the Lights, Music, Beauty speaker system concept from designer Ian Murchison—but it appears that all we really need to know is that it generates one hell of a light show.
Why you would need a remote controlled, 3-point light system attached to your computer is beyond me—unless you are prone to throwing impromptu office parties, you find that blinding lights help you concentrate on the task at hand, or (by the looks of things) you plan to throw your iMac out the window to see if it can fly. Not sure if this one will ever find its way to store shelves, but hey, you never know. [Yanko Design]
Just in time for the holidays, the PlayStation Store's finally totally opening its virtual doors to PSP owners without PS3s—now you can directly download stuff to your PSP from your PC via USB. It's live right now. You can set up a PSN account and then start doing all the things that were previously walled off to PS3 owners. Existing PSN accounts and virtual wallets are seamless between the PC and PS3 stores, so you can use both interchangeably. Really, this should've been the setup from the get-go, but at least it's available now. Full presser below. [PlayStation Store for PCs]
This week at TreeHugger: One answer to the question "What can Brown do for you?" is this: deliver your small packages in 100% electric cars in California. Intel's Penryn chip is sleek, small, and now, green (kinda). Is that good enough to make Penryn now the greenest computer chip in the world? Epson proudly announced that it has won a 2007 Ecohitech Award for their Epson Stylus Pro 3800 printer. The award is Italy's most prestigious recognition of environmental achievement by a technology company, and covers hi-tech processes, products, systems and services. Lastly, hop on for a ride on Mercedes' swanky new folding bike that folds down small enough to fit in something like the trunk of their CLK Cabriolet.
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 9:45 AM on November 21, 2007
Sure you could use the 12,000 watt AE Techron Model 7796 DC-Coupled AC Amplifier to play music, but power like that cannot be relegated to music alone. It needs to be harnessed for something bigger—like unholy experimentation with the forces of nature. In fact, the very first customer to purchase one of these amps is planning on wiring 12 of them up in three phases to simulate lightning strikes on a Boeing 787 airplane. Other Techron models have already been used to test relays in the power industry.
Other specs include: max 6600 watts RMS continuous output, a frequency response of 0 - 30kHz (+0.1 - 0.5dB), 1/4 ohm stable, and a total weight of 153 pounds. Even if you aren't interested in lightning strikes (or bringing the dead back to life), there is plenty to love about the 7796—except for the price. Available for $10,750. [Product Page via Audiojunkies via Uberreview]
This is kind of an astounding pixel catching setup, pulling in 360-degrees of 1080i video within a vertical plane of 50 degrees. BTW, 1080i is not that impressive, and maybe even necessary when doing a wrap-around picture. In the not-close future, expect a Gizmodo post on a version that does 4k pixel count in a complete circle (including vertical planes), using an array of lenses/cameras. Where to hide the cable and camera man then? [TechOnvia Gadgetlab]
Feature trickle—the movement of bells and whistles from high-end to low-end gear—is great. Image stabilisation is one that's been falling down the line pretty steadily, now landing in Nikon's standard kit 18-55mm lens. The new, tricked out AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G VR lens— VR standing for vibration reduction—is only $200, and launches next month, just in time for stocking stuffing. [Crave]
Today's iApp-a-Day brought iPhone users a surprisingly fun game, Air Hockey. This 2-player game takes advantage of the multi-touch display by having the player's finger control their air hockey mallet. The game can be a bit buggy at times, especially when your mallet goes out of control and hits the puck into a million different directions, but overall it's an awesome game when you have a partner to play with. To use, iPhone users must jailbreak their phones to get installer.app, which will then allow them to install iApp-a-Day. [Instructions]
Tony, a soldier returning from Iraq after a year of active duty, found out that his wife couldn't wait for some lovin' while he was gone by checking his Wii. When he confronted her with his friends' accusations, she claimed that she only kissed another man once. However, after checking his Mii channel for war buddies he discovered a Mii he didn't create.
When he went through the calendar, he found that his wife and the man had spent several nights together playing Wii bowling. Tony has since separated and filed for divorce.
You gotta feel for the poor guy. He spends all this time serving our country only to come home and see a cartoon character who looks "strikingly similar to [his] wife's [alleged lover]". I can only guess what the original phrase was, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't "Mario Party expert." [Gamepro]
So Amazon unveiled its Kindle yesterday. The fancy eBook with "free" EV-DO got a lot of attention and has a lot of people talking about whether or not digital books have a chance of taking on the paper kind. But the Kindle is far from the only eBook out there, naturally, and it's turned a lot of people off with how it charges you to read blogs, get RSS feeds, and load PDFs on it. In addition, there are some huge advances on the eBook horizon that, when released, will make the Kindle look like it was made in the late '80s. Lets take a peek at some alternatives to the Kindle that are both available today and will be in the not-too-distant future.
The Writers Guild strike already stripped us of our Daily Show and Colbert Report, and now it may take away Heroes and House as well. Looking to escape Reality TV hell? We've painstakingly reviewed three free (and mostly legal) video services—Joost, Miro and Hulu—for your faux-TV enjoyment during these dark times.
The Contenders:
Hulu: NBC Universal/News Corp.'s mutant is a sandbox-y YouTube for their properties. Joost: Streaming P2P service from Kazaa/Skype founders that wants oh so badly to be real TV. It's got deals with Viacom and other name players—News Corp.'s rumoured to be at the table as well. Miro: Open-source Cory Doctorow-anointed Joost-slayer. You download, rather than stream. It uses RSS-based channels and BitTorrent for its P2P workings.
Instructables has a neat if dangerous tutorial on how to quickly make a key copy by tracing the metal from a Coke can. It's pretty obvious, and with that seed planted in your mind, there's probably no need to read the instructions.
Let me go one step further and remind you that you can copy a key for like two bucks at the hardware store, and that combining scissors, a key, and the edge of a shiv of aluminium can, this tutorial might as well be titled "How to lose a finger." Also, entering someone's home with a key copy is probably still considered unlawful entry, regardless of the lack of shattered door frame. Having said that, I will try this later and let you know how it goes. [Instructables]
The Register is reporting that according to a manager at Spain's Telefonica cell carrier, Apple has plans to drop a sexy 3G iPhone on the world in May. Translated from the Spanish, the exact quote from the manager is: "OMG OMG iPhone OMG 3G OMG Apple May Rumors OMG!!!" OK, not really. Here's the real quote:
When iPhone will be launched in Spain? Telefonica expects it on May.Take this with a grain of salt the size of your fist, but the timing does seem to make sense, coming about a year after the first generation. What else do you think iPhone 2 will have, other than the obvious boost in HD size? [Sevenclick via Register]Will Telefonica release a 3G iPhone version on May?
Yes! They expect it.
AU: Very important rumour for Australia to hear. We need 3G for it to land here, as Telstra is the only Edge network and Apple and Telstra will never see eye to eye. Earlier thoughts were late next year, so May is a much more optimistic outlook.
You don't need a snorkel with a bone-conducting speaker that receives audio from a base headset. But it's interesting to know they make gear like this.
The set comes with seven radio equipped snorkels, with antennas in the 40.68MHz range that extend out of the water via the breathe tube. The base station can send a signal to unlimited snorkel receivers, has a range of 260 feet and has an input jack for routing tunes or whatever. List of applications: Water polo, SEAL training, synchronized swimming, killer pods of military dolphins. [AMS]
Word on the street is that Lab126, designers of Amazon's 
The Asus Eee is both Amazon's best-selling notebook and No. 1 in computers and hardware overall. But it's also temporarily out of stock. [