Ever drove by one of those billboards on the highway advertising fireworks or a strip joint and said to yourself “I could live up there?” Well someone named Brendan O’ Grady has. In fact, his idea for a billboard-like living module earned him a victory in the Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation competition, which is apparently some big-whig architectural rendering contest.
OLPC’s XO Laptop and Asus’s Eee PC have been bloody rivals in people’s minds, whether or not the totally comparison’s fair. The Eee’s well-reviewed and popular, while XO’s target audience has poo-pooed on it and the WSJ has laid out how it’s being murdered by competition. Nonetheless, Laptop Mag aims to settle a running thread in our own comments: Which super cheap laptop reigns supreme?
There are plenty of unique looking hubs on the market, but there is something about this colorful USB Star Hub that sets it apart. And the fact that each hub can rotate 180° to adapt to your work environment is definitely a plus. The device is USB 2.0 compatible and the product site claims that it has a low power consumption, but it is only available for Windows 98/98SE/ME/2000/XP/Vista, which is a little bit of a turnoff. Still, you can pick one up for only $US12, so there really isn’t much to complain about. [Product Page via GeekAlerts]
The latest in Dell’s line of Penryn-based PCs comes to us in the form of these super-beefy T5400 and T7400 Precision workstations. Both systems can hold up to two of Intel’s quad-core Xeon 5200 and 5400 processors, with the T7400 topping out with the 3.2GHz chip complete with a 1.6GHz frontside bus. This is in addition to dual PCI Express 2.0 slots that can handle two Quadro FX 5600 cards with 1.5GB of memory. The base T5400 and T7400 start out at $US1,589 and $US1,839 respectively—but as always, be prepared to shell out some major bucks for a custom configuration. Both systems are available now. [Dell and Electronista]
With 3200dpi gaming mice becoming de rigeur, Razer needed to step it up to 4000 to keep the pissing match going. Even though a 3200dpi mouse is already too fast for some, I4U’s reviewer says that Razer’s 4000dpi Lachesis “is very accurate and tracking is great,” particularly in Crysis. But, most of you probably aren’t twitching around a 30-inch screen like the reviewer.
Tired of waiting two hours in the blistering heat to get on Space Mountain? If the folks at CellQ have their way, you could skip the annoying lines (friggin’ Disney) and book your place. While you wait for a phone call notification that it is your turn, you can feel free to roam around the park. When the call does arrive, you are free to take your spot whenever you choose. The service also claims that it can recognise personal ride preferences, and help reunite parents with lost children.
If an arcade system that features a 120-inch screen, 145 pre-installed classic games, a free Wii adaptor, and 2 player control panel with numerous buttons, a spinner, and a lighted trackball doesn’t give you a tickle in your pants, nothing will. On the other hand, the $US4000 price tag may leave the average gamer a little unsatisfied. Additional pic and info after the jump.
For consumer electronics companies, going green (and vocally so) is the new going Apple white, though Apple’s only halfway on the train. Greepeace’s sixth guide to greener electronics tells us just how well they’re doing. They’re a bit nutty, but they are using definite criteria in this survey. Topping the list are Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Sony—not so surprising. Shocking: Nintendo’s dead last, the first “global brand” to net zeros across the board. Does Greenpeace hate Nintendo more than Apple or something? No, Nintendo just gives out zero information about any of their policies or practices with toxic chemicals or green plans. Hence, FAIL.
Yes, the Segway is lame. But then, the Segway can’t fly. If it could, I wouldn’t judge its owners so harshly. Say hello to the VertiPod, which is basically just that. You stand on it and steer it around, and my leaning in one direction or another it’ll point you in that direction. It all sounds terribly dangerous, and I want one.
The VertiPod looks a bit like a one-passenger helicopter turned upside-down. Its propeller is on the bottom and the pilot stands on a platform built around it with back support and controls at waist-level.
GSMhelpdesk.nl has some renders of what could possible be (but probably isn’t) the Nokia N96. These renders show a 3.2-inch, 16 million colour touchscreen display, a dual-sliding QWERTY keyboard, and a one-way sliding dialpad keyboard. There’s also a 6-megapixel camera on board, with 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth 2.0. What’s really cool about this rendering is the dual-sliding keyboard—the major thing that’s missing from the current Nokia N95 models. (Notice it works upside down? Guess there’s theoretically an accelerometer in there for direction sensing.) [gsmhelpdesk via Esato via Mobile Mentalism via Switched]
