Saturday, November 24, 2007
Gadgets
Tokyo Flash Oberon Watch Has a Name, Look Straight From Kubrick’s 2001
8:30AM Adrian Covert | Thanks to companies like Tokyo Flash (and Nooka, among others), I’m starting to care about watches again. The rise of mobile phones many years ago made me see watches as pointless and boring, as they were all Rolex clones, or wanted to include a million pointless meters on the face. But watches like the Oberon get a second glance from me. Minimal, attractive and creative, the contrast between the watch and its display makes me want to stare at it forever. And in case you’re wondering, dots on the outer ring are hours, dots on the second ring are single minutes and dots on the inner ring are blocks of 10 minutes. It’s 14,900 Yen at Tokyo Flash. [Tech Digest] More »
Random Stuff
World Record House of Cards Stands Up to Leafblower
7:30AM Matt Buchanan | Bryan Berg, cardstacker extraordinaire, tries to take down his world-record setting card tower with a leafblower. But it’s made up of so many damn cards he barely puts a dent in it before the blower flames out. So he resorts to the most destructive tools around: his hands, crushing himself in a sweet avalanche of cards after a couple minutes of pawing that reminds us of New Year’s in Times Square in more ways than one. [CNN via Spluch] More »
Online
100Mbps Cable Modem Certification Testing Starts; Showdown With Fibre Next Year
7:00AM Matt Buchanan | CableLabs has started testing and certifying the next generation of cable modems that use the DOCSIS 3.0 standard. In sorta English, we’re talking boxes that’ll handle 160Mbps download speeds and 120Mbps up, putting them on par with fibre optic services. The AZNs still have the jump on us, with customers in Korea and Singapore getting first crack at the fiber-like speeds in trials earlier this year. But, we should see cable companies rolling out the new hotness sometime next year. More »
Phones
Phillips Xenium 9@9u Gets FCC Love
6:42AM Chris Mascari | Phillips line of Xenium 9@9 mobile phones are best known for their incredibly long battery life. The new Xenium 9@9u that has just been given the FCC unveiling, seems to be at the bottom of the Xenium battery life scale, with an expected run time of one month on standby and up to 8 hours of talk time from a single charge. More »
Entertainment
Flight Sim Indulgences: Hotseat vs. Dream Flyer
6:25AM Brian Lam | In the spirit of the man who replicated a $30k jumbo jet cockpit simulator in his bedroom, these premium flight sim chairs have hit the net. The Hotseat 723 has a yoke for non-combat jets, a 23-inch HDTV, speakers near the floor, pedals and a keyboard rest for about $5k. The Dreamflyer has a stick, 15-degrees of seat movement powered by your lean (not motors/hydraulics), and full high end Saitek throttle/pedal controllers and triple monitor mounts. $US3400, without any electronics save the Saitek kit. The stick and the monitor mounts do it for me, so that would be my pick. If I was a flight sim nerd. Anyone still into PC flight sims care to explain the fascination to me? [Hotseat via OhGizmo, DreamFlyer via Gerry Block's Mohawk ] More »
Phones
Nokia Patents Nintendo DS-Like Touchscreen Flip Phone
6:00AM Matt Buchanan | The second Nokia patent Unwired View’s dug up this week apes the Nintendo DS more than the Sidekick. It’s got two screens, one touch, the other for visuals only. It also has the quickly becoming standard intelligent layout, which changes depending on the angle the phone’s opened at. When it’s flapped completely open, the split view coalesces into a single one spread across both screens. Even if the concept isn’t wholly inventive by this point, the second screen could set it apart from the million over phones now jumping on the touchscreen bandwagon. [Unwired View via Electronista] More »
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Neon Sign Kit vs. Ebay Beer Neon
5:57AM Brian Lam | ThinkGeek started selling this surprisingly affordable neon signage kit. A power supply is $US30, and it can control up to 22 of the blue letters, which cost $US7 each. If you’re just looking to run some buzzing neon, and don’t care what it spells out, you might do better on eBay under the neon Beer-aphenalia, where signs start for less and quickly rise for the neon worth a Bud Light babe’s weight in cheese factor. I’ll forgo my predictable “Gizmodo” sign for that Kirin and Sushi piece any day. [ThinkGeek via RedFerret and Ebay Neon] More »
Deals
The Black Friday Shopping Tsunami is Over; How’d You Fare?
5:30AM Adam Frucci | Not to be a jerk, but waking up at 2 a.m. to stand in the cold for a few hours waiting to save $100 on a laptop doesn’t seem like a sign of intelligence to me, or at least not a sign of being able to prioritize things properly. My cynical, judgmental view of Black Friday (sales in the States on the day after Thankgiving) was only solidified when I saw this quote in the New York Times today: Donna Lhopitault, 38, stood in line at the Toys R Us in Times Square for four hours this morning to secure a deeply discounted Nintendo Wii video game system for $250 — more than half the price she has seen it online. I mean, if you’re going to ruin your own Thanksgiving to buy a product, at least check to make sure it’s even on sale. Good lord. Did any of you go hit the sales this morning? Any horror/success stories to share? [NY Times] More »
Gadgets
Amazon Kindle Real-Life Review (Verdict: Lightweight, Long Lasting and Easy to Grip… In Bed)
5:00AM Wilson Rothman | It’s dumb to test the Amazon Kindle by sitting at a desk, pressing a lot of buttons. The real judgment as to its usefulness has to come after experiencing it throughout the week in three key real-life reading scenarios: • In the bedroom • On an aeroplane • Atop the porcelain throne (yes, I’m talking about the toilet) Join us as we take you where we don’t like to take too many strangers, and experience the real-life Kindle review: More »
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