Problem: you want to watch a movie or play a game in glorious surround sound. But someone in your house is sleeping, studying or just annoyed that you are playing BioShock for the third time to get all the achievements. The solution: wireless surround-sound headphones. We tested the three of the most popular models to ensure that you won’t buy the wrong one, become sad then throw your life away with booze and drugs. More »
The What: DXG has always gone for the low cost bragging rights and they’ve reached the height of their budget crusade with this $US150 HD camera that records to 1280 x 720 at its highest res. We’ve seen tapeless camcorders do this before, but that price is pretty insane. It records in H.264 quicktime files, and the camera takes 5mp native stills. The Oh No You Didn’t: I would expect that this captures the grainiest, most lifeless, tepid high def you’ve ever seen.
If we had to add anything to Nokia’s already feature rich N-series phones (the N95, for example) it would be a keyboard (or a touchscreen, but let’s say keyboard here). Boy Genius has a spy shot of an upcoming N-series (not E-series) phone that has this full-sized QWERTY keyboard that’s set for a 2nd half 2008 release.
Here’s what they know in terms of specs: S60 3rd Edition FP2 OS, 5 or 6-megapixel camera, 30FPS VGA (640×480) video recording and a candybar form factor. To us, the keyboard’s the big difference between a phone being a phone with data capabilities and a data phone. [Boy Genius]
The Basics: OLED Picture frames! The 2.8-inch screen has a wrist strap, and works as an alarm clock and calendar. The 1.5-inch version has a keychain. They hold 3000 and 120 photos, and have 10000:1 and 1000:1 contrast ratios, respectively. Rechargeable. The Catch: The $50 1.5-inch screen form factor is the one I want, but that version is only has a passive matrix screen and a mere 1000:1 contrast ratio (vs 10000:1 of the bigger $US99 version). The quality of the OLEDs in these frames is unknown.
Spykee, the built-it-yourself Skype robot, just got three different models that you can build him into—one of which is a her. We’ve got the first images of the Spykee Cell, Spykee Vox and Spykee Miss, all of which have a video camera, MP3 player, VoIP phone, microphone, louspeaker, motors, and the ability to shove an iPod into its crotch. The best thing about this guy is that you can control him from anywhere in the internet. Well, maybe that’d be the second best thing—the first best is still the fact that he has an iPod where his junk should be. Get yours from Erector. [Erector]
Warner announced earlier today it was 100 per cent Blu-ray. We just talked a bit with Warner about some of the whys behind the decision. In a sentence: Because the format war is killing regular DVD sales on top of hurting sales of both HD formats.
Tipped to this during the call with Warner, Toshiba—one of HD DVD’s daddies—has released their statement on Warner’s Blu-ray defection. It reads like a letter from a jilted lover: “We have long maintained a close partnership with Warner Bros” and “Toshiba is quite surprised by Warner Bros.’ decision to abandon HD DVD in favour of Blu-ray.” The full screed of woe:
I’ve always thought that watching movies on a tiny portable device is a crummy experience in pretty much every way possible. Crazy-ass director David Lynch (of Mulholland Dr., Lost Highway and Twin Peaks fame) thinks so too. Vehemently. And even if he is a little nuts, his faux iPhone ad both educates and entertains. [via Cult of Mac]
Darth Vader stuff never, ever bores me. I love it all, no matter how stupid or pointless it is. I’m not the only one apparently, since he’s inspired a boatload of people to pour a ton of creativity into whipping up these awesome custom masks, turning his iconic form into a blank slate for art. These are just a few of my favorites from looks to be a con, there is a ton more over at Funnbee.
We have all doodled an idea or a bit of important information on a napkin at one point or another, but designer Avery Holleman takes it a step further with the Napkin PC. The device is intended to help creative groups collaborate on designs more effectively. Here’s how it works: data is sent to the multi-touch e-paper “napkin” interface via the pen using short range radio frequency (RF). The pen and the napkin also communicate with the base station PC via long-rage RF. More after the break.< More »
