Recycled mobile phone parts are being used alongside circuit boards to make pocket-sized PCs. A team of engineers at Hokuto System is behind the idea, which will be available in Japan before the end of the year, and is known as DVIEW. It won’t, however, be available to consumers. Instead, they will be used in shops as a self-contained point-of-sale display. Specs are below. More »
Technohouse showed off the Lifefast, a radical transparent, 360º LED display unit at the Inter BEE 2007 fair in Japan. Placed at right angles to each other in the Lifefast’s cylindrical design are four bars, each fitted with 600 three-color LEDs, which revolve between 12 and 13 times per second, flashing up images. More info and pics below. More »
While I still wait, breath a-bated, for the arrival of the USB trouser press from either Thanko or Solid Alliance, the sheer genius of some USB products never fail to impress me — like this Optiwind mouse, from Brando. And those of you out there with sweaty palms through too much hot desktop action (or a recognised medical condition) will salute Brando’s ingenious mouse-fan hybrid. Full specs and price below. More »
This mallet is the most ingenious thing I’ve seen for a long time. While not normally a fan of flat-pack stuff — the only thing I have ever assembled from scratch (a wooden shelving unit from Shabbycrap Habitat) was so wonky that I had to jam a cold storage heater against it to stop it toppling over — I can so see the point of this. Designed by Liam Ryan for Vert, the MC Mallet costs $A40 and can be used for cooking, DIY or as a toy. [Vert via MoCo Loco] More »
Skype’s encryption codes are proving a problem for German police, who say that their officers are unable to monitor suspect conversations. One of the country’s top cops admitted yesterday that the combination of VoIP technology and Germany’s strict anti-surveillance laws — a reaction to the Stasi’s exploits during the Cold War — is making it harder to keep tabs on criminal and terrorist activity in the country. More »
It may have launched just five days ago, but the Kindle has already sold out on Amazon. New stock arrives December 3. More »
Apple’s Black Friday deals out, available for online ordering with free shipping at the Apple Store online. The savings range from $US101 for MacBooks and iMacs to $US201 to a Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 Waterproof camera or the $US21 that put the Apple Bluetooth Headset at $US108. The iPod also got some shaving in their price tag, including $US31 on the iPod classic, all with free laser engraving: More »
Is this the sexiest piece of astronomical equipment you’ve ever seen? The Porter Telescope is a limited edition bronze sculpture that also happens to be a very smart piece of engineering. Based on an original design from the 1920s by Richard Porter, it acts as a garden sundial by day and a reflecting telescope by, well, whenever you like (but night is probably best for stargazing). The optics have been redesigned 21st style to deliver the best possible performance.
Naturally, if you’re going for something so serious, you’ll need a marble pedestal to stand it on. You aren’t going to dump this on any old garden table! This happily lives outdoors, too, and will either grow to a cool green like any bronze statue, or you can put in some effort to maintain the sleek brown look.
Cost? A stylish US$59,000. But there’s never been a better time to spend that sort of money. And if you’re happy to spend it, the shipping charges involved probably won’t scare you either. The official site has plenty more details, as well as a link to video on the fabrication and design process. Sexy, sexy geek stuff. [Porter Telescope via Luxist] More »
Even if governments aren’t ponying up, a hell of a lot of people are: OLPC’s Give One, Get One program‘s been pulling in $2 million in “donations” a day. Realizing it’d be dumb and pointless to cut off a major revenue stream in four days—totally missing prime holiday spending time—they’re stretching the new “deadline” way out to Dec. 31.
They’ve also opened up bulk ordering for “educational purposes,” with quantities of 100-999 going for $300 a pop, 1000-9999 running $249 and anything above 10,000 dropping it to $199.
And if for some reason you wanna give one but not get one, starting next year you’ll be able to do that too. During Give One, Get One’s bonus time, they’ll “solicit input and transition to a program of giving only at the beginning of 2008.” I hate to be cynical (it’s officially the holidays, after all), but I have the feeling a “give one, get nothing” program isn’t going to pack quite the same fundraising punch.[Business Wire, Thanks John] More »
We’ve just had a major attack of the spammies, with thousands of attempted spam comments in about 30 minutes. All from different IPs. Damn you, zombies! So right now comments have been violently killed off until we can shut the attack down. If you try commenting, you’ll get a pretty fugly error. Sorry, but this is why. -SB
UPDATE: And we’re back!
