Thursday, December 6, 2007
Gadgets
TomTom Teams Up With Google Maps for One-Click Navigation
10:51PM Addy Dugdale | Google and TomTom have joined forces to make their products compatible. Thanks to the “Send to GPS” button that Google has added to Google Maps, you can send routes from Google Maps direct to your navigation device via TomTom Home. See how it works in the video below. More »
Entertainment
PS3 Rock Band Drums Work with Garage Band
10:41PM Jesus Diaz | Reader Bill Pendry has discovered that you can easily get your PlayStation 3 Rock Band’s drums to work perfectly with Garage Band, the music composition software that comes with every Mac. The “hack” just requires GamePad Companion, a $US15 shareware program that will map the input from the drums into keystrokes. Since Garage Band can use the keyboard to play MIDI instruments, it will work right away. We just wish Bill’s friend tried to pull out some crazy Buddy Rich for his video: More »
Gadgets
Steve Jobs Inducted into California Hall of Fame, Dresses Up
10:04PM Addy Dugdale | I know it wasn’t the Oscars, but couldn’t His Royal Steveness have made just a teensy bit more effort at California’s Hall of Fame last night? Sporting a Ronald McDonald costume made entirely from tofuburgers black poloneck and jeans, the co-founder of Apple eschewed the red carpet and snuck in through a side door at Sacramento’s California Museum for History, Women and the Arts. Bounding on stage to the strains of Revolution by that popular beat combo The Beatles, Jobs managed to look bashful as Arnie and Maria hung a gold medallion round his neck. Although yesterday’s ceremony was the Golden State’s first ever HoF gathering, the Gubernator and his First Lady, Maria Shriver, managed to get all 75 inductees to show up—unless, of course, you count the dearly departed, such as John Wayne. There was, however, a last-minute no-show: Elizabeth Taylor. Perhaps she felt that Jobs’ interpretation of the dress code was a little too casual. [Reuters] More »
Phones
Rhapsody In Music Cell from LG Sports iPod-esque Clickwheel
9:31PM Addy Dugdale | LG launched its romantically named Rhapsody In Music mobile phone in Korea today. So far, so Richard Clayderman. Apart from a clickwheel—sorry, “Wheel Key”—that makes one nostalgic for Cupertino, what else has the LB3300, as it is also known, got? galleryPost('rhapsodyinmusic', 3, 'rhapsody in music'); More »
Gadgets
Porsche’s Futuristic Champagne Tower for Veuve Cliquot Is a Fridge by Any Other Name
8:30PM Addy Dugdale | If it weren’t for my obnobvious headline, you’d all be wondering what the hell this is. Just 15 of these Champagne tower chillers, with room for a dozen magnums in individual, lit drawers, have been designed for Veuve Cliquot by Porsche Design. Want to see what it looks like open? More »
Gadgets
Teac’s Wall-Mounted iPod Dock with CD Player Has Sub, NXT Speakers
8:15PM Addy Dugdale | Japanese audio company Teac is letting you have it up against the wall next week, with the release of the MC-DX32i iPod dock, AM/FM tuner and CD/CD-R/RW player. Expected to cost around 30,000¥, ($307) the flat-panel system comes with all the gear you need to wall-mount it. Specs are below. More »
Gadgets
Barbie B2 Music Player Just Scoops iPhone for Gadget of the Year
7:31PM Addy Dugdale | Sometimes, it’s hard to be a woman. Especially when you see things like the Barbie B2 touchscreen MP3 player, aimed at the female market in Korea. I don’t think the player includes the pube-clad doll, but perhaps it would be better for mankind if it did. [Aving USA] More »
Entertainment
4:28PM Brian Lam | Moviebeam, the overpriced, low quality video on demand box is ceasing service on December 15th. Hope you didn’t buy one. More »
Design
Tokyo National University Begins Anime Graduate Program, Otaku Applicants Surge Overnight
3:43PM Daniel Godfrey | Starting next year, the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts will have something that’s long overdue for an otaku-rich country: a two-year graduate degree in anime production—the first for a non-private institution in Japan. Courses will be taught by full-time professionals from the anime world including Koji Yamamura, and students will leave with two or three full-fledged works under their belt. We’re jealous, but we think we might hold out for the Ph. D. in Gundam Suit fabrication studies. One day. [Yomiuri Shimbun] More »
Robots
