Monday, December 24, 2007
Entertainment
Giz Explainer: Why DVD Is Still the Best Video Format
11:15PM Brian Lam | All this fighting about HD formats makes me wonder if the lot of you have forgotten about DVDs. Bittorrent aside, there are a lot of official ways to get video these days, high def discs and downloads. Even so, it’s worth reiterating that DVD is still my favorite way to go and will be for awhile. Here’s why: More »
Gadgets
School Zone Crosswalk Illuminates With LEDs
11:00PM Jesus Diaz | The School Zone is one of those concepts that should become a reality pronto, if only to give you the illusion you are Pac-Man while crossing the street: loaded with LEDs (our favorite light sources,) School Zone can indicate how much time you have left to cross because they are networked with the traffic lights. The raised slabs, which act as speed bumps, are completely modular: More »
Gadgets
Enter Key Mobile Phone Strap for the Type-Happy
9:00PM Gizmodo US Edition | Did you know that most Japanese people can type faster on a mobile phone keypad than on a standard keyboard? This is not just because QWERTY is hard to use, but because the original Japanese keyboard configuration was actually much more complex and impossible to master than anything we can imagine. But even the most computer illiterate businessman knows where the ENTER key is, and that’s why it has quickly gone up the ranks as a national favourite. Favourited enough, in fact, to be worthy of becoming its very own phone strap. More »
Gadgets
Accell Ultrarun HDMI Cables with Built-In Signal Repeater
8:18PM Brian Lam | This HDMI 1.3a cable supports deep color and has a mini signal repeater to allow the cable to be run up to 82-feet behind walls. Useful, if it works (it’s not powered). As we proved in our HDMI tests, like all DC current over straight wire, even digital video signals degrade over great distance. [Accell] More »
Gadgets
Pac-Man Hoodie Has Everything You Wanted, But 100% Natural Fibers
8:00PM Addy Dugdale | Nothing better in the run-up to Christmas to have a Jesus lookalike modelling a Pac-Man hoodie from Hot Topic. It’s a steal at $US45, but why is it only 80% cotton? Nylon just makes me come out in hives, guys. [Oh!Gizmo] More »
Cameras
Fuji Gives In and Whores Megapixels Like Everyone Else?
7:48PM Brian Lam | A few months ago, I happily wrote a post about Fuji camera’s continuing decision to build sensors with fewer megapixels in exchange for better light sensitivity. Apparently, that philosophy has not kept up. Proof: Old generation Fuji point and shoots like the F30/31 are going for more than double the original retail price on ebay ($450-$550!) as enthusiasts reject the newer F50 camera with double the MP and worse image quality in dim conditions. Is this true, or fan myth mania? [TheOnlinePhotographer] More »
Vehicles
Prius Turns 10-Years Old
7:31PM Brian Lam | Hard to believe the face of green cars, the Prius, is 10 year old this month. And it’s still so slow. Here, mod yours with a switch to run in purely-EV Stealth mode. [Make and Gizmag] More »
Vehicles
‘Manned Cloud’ Airship, Around the World in Three Days
6:33PM Charlie White | While I try to quell thoughts of “Oh, the humanity,” take a look at another fanciful attempt to bring back the glory days of the Zeppelin airships. This one is called the Manned Cloud, and can fly fast enough to take a round trip around the globe in three days. The 1640-square-foot craft, whose French designers say could take to the skies in a year or so, will have 60 rooms and travel at a breakneck speed of 173mph. Since this behemoth gets its lift from helium, there’s not much danger of a fiery hydrogen explosion like that ill-fated Hindenburg, so we’re thinking it might be fun to float around the world in a luxo-hotel. Of all the ideas like this, maybe this one will be the one to actually fly. [Born Rich] More »
Gadgets
5:15PM Haroon Malik | Toshiba and Sharp have announced a new partnership that will involve Toshiba purchasing 40% large LCD panels from Sharp, whilst Sharp shall purchase 50% of required semiconductors from Toshiba. [Daily Tech] More »
Phones
