Which coincides with the company's 70th anniversary. Congratulations, folks! [Press Release]

Popular Mechanics test drove the Aptera Super-MPG Electric Typ-1 e. And despite its stupid stupid stupid name it looks like it works great. Capable of achieving three hundred miles per gallon in its hybrid version, the $US30,000 Aptera is a winner according to them: the electric-only version is stable, practical for daily transport and drives well, all while looking like a prop car from Woody Allen's Sleeper or Logan's Run, specially its 80s-retro-futurist interior:

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This is 1.6 million bucks-worth of telephone. It is hideous. Made by Swiss company Goldvish, the Le Million (what a name, just reeks of (cl)ass, doncha think?) comes in a choice of red, yellow or white gold. Tastefully studded with diamonds and what looks like crocodile skin (although surely croc is far too prosaic for such a phone, perhaps skin from something found in a freezer in Roswell might be more keeping with the exclusiveness of this—this thing) it's not available for just any old pleb, you know.

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Ality has upgraded their PIXXA digital photo frame, although too late for the Xmas buying season. Their new 800 x 600 Wireless PIXXA with Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, built-in speaker and MP3 playback can instantly show photos sent using their Web-based Photo Messenger application, as well as displaying your dates, news and weather. The most interesting this, apart from the its design, is their calendar system. It connects to Google Calendar and can schedule photos to display in specific dates. Their interface is quite elegant:

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Aimed at creative professionals, Datacolour's Spyder3 colour calibration system may give you sci-fi shivers when you see it parked on your desk. Incorporating a larger aperture than previous models, the Spyder3 uses an ambient light sensor to improve its accuracy, and its monitor sensor takes just seven minutes to calibrate. More info and pics below.

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Air France is to let passengers loose on their cell phones by turning on its in-flight mobile data and voice system. An initial three-month trial period will only allow SMS and mobile emails, with voice calls expected to come later. Although this is the first European carrier to allow mobile devices to be used, one wonders whether the famously laconic French will be le bothered by the news.

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What do you do when the power goes out and you're stuck without a light to guide your urine safely into the lavatory? You could grab a torch as an illuminating aid, or you could screw convention and keep a rechargeable light bulb, named the Load, continually charged in case your power does go out. (Does that even ever happen anymore?) Who needs a battery dependent torch? Why not instead have an awkward, mains-leeching, portable light bulb?

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If I had a third-gen Nano, this is what I would be dressing it in—face it, those ears are just perfect for getting those hard-to-reach boogers out of your nose. Made from silicon, it's available in four colours: Dogstarr, aka Black, Spitzer, err, White, Bichpoo (is that missing a t?) also known as Pink and Bludhound, or Red to you and me. Each one costs $US15.99, comes with a screen protector and neck strap, and they're shipping now, so make someone a happy bunny for Xmas. [The Boomwave]

If you get a new computer for Christmas, you're probably SOL on timing, since it'll be about time to pack up the holiday fa-la-la-la junk, but you could always make a computer box deer to shoot in your backyard, especially if you hate your computer company.

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This video's painful to watch at moments, because this couple is about the most indecisive pair of people on earth, like when they epically struggle to name the laptop. But you do get to see everything you get in the XO's box, like a letter from Nicholas Negroponte, presumably thanking you for your charity (to the project or to the 2nd laptop's recipient, I don't know) and a thorough, if bumbling, interface-in-motion walkthrough.

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Windows Media Player 11 discovers a purpose in life—how awesome is that? (Seriously, who actually uses it for anything?) Apparently, European forums started reporting last month that running WMP 11 in the background noticeably cuts World of Warcraft load times, especially in stickier areas, though American slackjaws have just recently caught on. Game|Life confirms WoW Insider's post on the bizarre performance steroid with a test on their own machine. But will it help your rig run Crysis—or any other game for that matter? [WoW Insider via Game|Life]

The project is still in its pre-beautification phase, with wires and stuff exposed and everywhere, but Frank's Wii nunchuck-controlled robot looks pretty promising. What's neat is that his input system uses the accelerometer, instead of just the joystick and the pair of buttons, so he can move the robot around with wrist turns and flicks. I figure it'd be kind of cool to control an RC helicopter this way, at least at until your arm got tired, then it could spell trouble. [via MAKE]

If your Zune's been behaving like it deserves coal in its sleeve for Christmas, Microsoft has released a diagnostic tool that bundles up data for tech support to pore over to help them get your wares in order if update 2.3 didn't do the trick. Basically, you download the tool, pop it open and try to sync up Zune while it's running. After the Zune acts like a spoiled brat and won't talk to your PC, disconnect it and voila, you have a report to send to support techs, which hopefully will help them get your Zune straightened up after a quick trip to reform school or whatever so it talks to your PC all politely. [Microsoft via Zune Boards]

We hate to burst your bubble but Joystiq has provided some convincing evidence that the recent video showing a DS version of Mario Galaxy was a fake —albeit a very good one. It appears that a shorter, more stable version of the was posted on a video-sharing site by a user with the handle psycho3ler. That is the same guy behind the infamous Nintendo ON hoax video from 2005. So yeah, there will be no Galaxy for the DS (for now) —but you probably already saw this one coming. We are used to having our hopes and dreams crushed. [Stage9 Video and Nintendo On Video via Joystiq]

What the hell is wrong with people? Seriously. Anyone who has seen the endless stream of Jackass copycat videos floating out there knows all to well that there are some frighteningly stupid people out there. As if you needed yet another example, check out this vid featuring a bunch of tools testing out their homemade nail gun bazooka. Spoiler: It doesn't end well. [Break]

The All-In-One is in full effect this year, with some very hot models: the Gateway One, the Dell XPS One and Apple's new iMac. While it's nice to pick favorites and all, the fact is, each of these are better than most computers out there, and each has particular design traits that stand out. I've given awards in different categories at the end of this piece, but in the meantime, this is really a walk through of different design choices. If it seems to lean heavily on the Dell XPS One, that's because it's newer, and we've already spent more time on the Apple and the Gateway. So take a leisurely stroll through all of this stuff, compare and contrast, and at the end, hell, call your own winner.

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I'm not all about typing on the floor like the dude pictured here, but I do have quite a few cords criss-crossing the rooms of my home. For the most part, these cords are hidden in a very half-assed manner behind couches and under rugs —resulting in a geeky ghetto look that is as dangerous as it is hideous. My guess is that a scenario like the one I just described is fairly common, which is why Paul Kogelnig and Gabriel Heusser designed the Cablet Carpet.

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No matter where you are on this planet, you will find throngs of people longing to get loaded—and they will often go to great lengths to do it. Case in point is this bar built inside a 72ft Baobab tree in Limpopo, South Africa. When Baobab trees reach 1,000 years old they begin to hollow naturally. This particular tree is around 6,000 years old and the hollow is big enough to hold 15 people comfortably (or 54 people very uncomfortably as they discovered a few years ago).

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These Japanese fake boob gadgets were found at a dollar store in San Francisco. Essentially a couple of balloons you stick in your shirt and inflate, they probably won't fool too many people, but if you're really desperate, ladies, it's certainly the cheapest boost out there other than tissues. And lest you think these are sexist, apparently there's an inflatable peen available from the same company that, unfortunately, I don't have pictures of. If someone finds it though, email me. I promise to do a pants-on video with it for the good of gender equality. [Boing Boing]

Our data gathering series started off yesterday by determining that our Mac and PC audience are just about equal, with the left over 20% being users of both formats and a scant 5% being Linux fans. Very fascinating—that's quite a few more Mac fans than we were expecting. Continuing our data gathering experiment, we're going to ask you this: what phone do you use, and what phone do you think is the best. Choose the phone you use in the poll, and drop a comment to say what you think is the best.

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This is a go-kart in a suitcase. I'm not sure where this came from nor do I have any info on it beyond the pictures, but really, when we're talking about a go kart that folds out of a suitcase, what more do you need to know? This is unabashedly badass, and I want one.

Sound and Vision took took the best Plasma TV they could find (Pioneer Elite PRO-110FD Kuro) and the best LCD TV they could find (Samsung LN-T5281F), and threw them against each other in a carefully calibrated match. The winner, which we've actually seen before as the best flat panel ever, was the Pioneer Elite. Not only is it the best flat panel ever, thanks to improvements in both display techs, it's now actually the best TV ever. Period.

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Forget stuffing your junk under your bed or in closets, if you had a Black Hole Bag you could cram it all in one place. This rubbery concept is strong and flexible enough to fit a seemingly endless quantity of crap—growing to gargantuan proportions in the process. That is until the day you are finally killed whilst running away from it like Indiana Jones in Raiders. Nonetheless, this is definitely one simple design concept that I can see on store shelves. [Yanko Design]

Our Japanese is somewhere between nonexistent and "you're speaking Korean dumbass", so we can't tell what these labels on the block pieces say. However, there's not much explanation needed to know that these Tetris Plush pillows are awesome in a way that only a supernova in the background can illustrate. All our favorite pieces are there, from that T piece, the the L, to the Z thing, to good old straighty, to...wait...what the hell is that?! [ToysnJoys via Nerd Approved]

If the source at Boy Genius is correct, the hopes and dreams of countless Crackberry addicts will be dashed when the new Blackberry 9000 (which may or may not be known as the 9100) hits shelves without its precious 3G capability. Instead, users will be limited to 2.5G EDGE and support for 802.11a/b/g WiFi networks. They also noted that the new device will feature the same basic OS with a version 4.3.2.upgrade —not a complete design overhaul as some had anticipated.

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Girl, tonight we're gonna make love. You know how I know? Because it's Thursday. Wednesday night's the night that I usually go and sort out 5,195 LEGO pieces, but Thursday night... is the night that we are making love. When everything is just right. You are not too tired from your afterwork part-time Gadgets & Scanty Lingerie modeling sessions for I4U. There's nothing good on TV. And you are wearing the red teddy Imperial Santa got you last year that I like so much... Hmmm, conditions are perfect for making love. Then you grab my Optimus Prime helmet and turn to me to say something sexy like:

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Remember how Harmonix wanted to release a patch to let you use Guitar Hero III guitars on Rock Band for the PS3, but then Activision blocked it and Harmonix told everyone about it, and then Activision said Harmonix just didn't wanna play ball, where it pretty much seemed like Activision meant Harmonix didn't want to pay cash monies but we weren't absolutely certain? Hey guess what? We're certain now.

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Guitar Hero, the game that lets you pretend to rock with a plastic guitar, has just been ported onto Verizon and Verizon cellphones, which don't look anything like a guitar. For $US11.99 (or $US4.49 a month) you can get access to 15 songs, four in-game guitars and three venues, which isn't all that bad when your other other alternative is sitting there quietly while the judge announces your verdict. What kind of person would want to do that? [Kotaku]

An extremely sensitive microchip developed by Massachusetts General Hospital BioMEMS research center and the MGH Cancer Center has the ability to isolate, count, and analyse circulating tumor cells, or CTCs in the blood. CTCs are fragile, yet viable fragments from solid tumors that could be responsible for the spreading of cancer throughout the body. According to Mehmet Toner, the Director, BioMEMS Resource Centre, "these are really the cells that end up killing people."

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A lifelong dream of ours has been to be able to see through stuff, but using a camera based on the way lobsters see isn't quite what we pictured. The Lobster-Eye X-ray Inspection Device by Physical Optics Corporation works by beaming X-rays through walls and inspecting the reflection. These are low-power X-rays so they're hopefully safe enough for your coworkers to shine in your face without you getting superhuman strength. Homeland Security is going to use this to check on your luggage, but we're sure there's going to be at least a few instances of them peeping into their coworker Debbie's locker. [poc via The Raw Feed]

When will people learn? You don't mess with Unix admins! Not because they wield a lot of power or anything, but because they're generally the type of socially maladjusted people who are liable to flip out and do something rash when provoked. You don't spend that much time in a server room and come out OK. Just look at the example of Lonnie Charles Denison, a former Unix sysadmin who tried to sabotage the California power grid in order to get back at his employer.

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• Warner Bros. set up a hotline to replace HD DVDs found in Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire Blu-ray packages. I love Harry Potter news. [HD Digest]
• British drivers caught using their mobile phones may be sent to jail for two years and face an extremely scary sounding "unlimited fine" under new laws published today. [Reuters]
• Samsung is shipping a 320GB 2.5" hard drive for notebooks. It retails for $US250. [Tom's Hardware]
• Microsoft signed a deal with open source software company Samba as a result of sanctions for anti-trust violations from the European Commission. The Borg and freetards together? Someone check to make sure Fake Steve is still breathing. [NYT]