February 9, 2008

 

Computers

Eee PC Has A Kindle Mode?

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 1:21 PM on February 9, 2008

Got a desire for the sold out Amazon Kindle? If you do your probably out of luck on actually getting one anytime soon. The next best thing might actually be an Eee PC in "Kindle" mode. By using FBReader in fullscreen and portrait mode, an Eeeph forum member turned his Eee into a Kindle imitator. Since FBReader is a free e-book reader for Unix and Windows computers this little Kindle tweak shouldn't be too hard to get you a multi-function e-reader out of the popular Eee PC. [Eeeph via EeeUser]


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Gadgets

WildCharge Releases iPhone, iPod, BlackBerry Pearl/8800 Wireless Charging Adapters

Posted by Jason Chen at 12:30 PM on February 9, 2008

Wildcharge, the device that lets you wirelessly charge your RAZR, has just released new adapters for the iPhone, iPod, BlackBerry Pearl, BlackBerry 8800 and 2nd Gen iPod Nano. It still works the same: put the adapter on the back of your phone, place your phone onto the charging pad and wait for the juice to flow. No pricing information on this quite yet, but the old RAZR chargers were US$34 (or US$89 for the pad and the charger together). [WildCharge]


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Cameras

Polaroid Instant Film Killed By The 21st Century

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 12:23 PM on February 9, 2008

Polaroid is closing its last remaining film plants in Mass. so the oh so fun instant Polaroids will soon become a thing of the past. Well it's already a thing of the past, but this time it's serious since no more instant film will be produced.


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Portable

The Pinkest iPod nano?

Posted by Matt Buchanan at 12:00 PM on February 9, 2008

Thinking about getting a pink iPod nano, but want the absolute pinkest piece of iPod money can buy? Balls-out pink lovers should try to scrounge up a 2nd gen nano, while someone looking for a subdued, less intensely pink experience can walk into an Apple Store and buy the latest bubblegum flavour. [iLounge]


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Random Stuff

Samurai Stormtroopers Hunt Down and Exterminate Ninja Jedis

Posted by Matt Buchanan at 10:30 AM on February 9, 2008

If Star Wars took place in Japan and Jedis were ninjas, this is what Stormtroopers would hunt them down in during the Great Jedi Purge. They're obviously smarter than the average clone, too, since they're too dumb and clumsy to wield katana. Created by artist Yoshi Isao and on display at Gift Show 2008 in Tokyo, Giz Japan brings us this follow-up to his rendition of Darth Vader as Dark Lord of the Shogun.

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[Yoshitoku via Giz Japan]


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Software

iPhone Springlets: Add Quick Search Bookmarks

Posted by Jason Chen at 10:10 AM on February 9, 2008

Just like bookmarklets in FireFox, these Springlets for the iPhone let you quickly search a site (IMDB, Google, Wikipedia) by pre-typing in the search term before you load the page itself. This saves you one page load per search from the home page, which at EDGE speeds could mean up about a 30-second time gain. [Springlets via Lifehacker]


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Games

SeXBox Gets Core Version, Plus Wiin Now Available

Posted by Jason Chen at 9:30 AM on February 9, 2008

Is the SeXbox 3600 too much SeXbox for you? Now there's a slightly cheaper version available in Japan that strangely mirrors the jump from the real Xbox 360 Premium to the Xbox 360 Core. Here's how we figure.


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Vehicles

Most High Tech 18 -Wheeler Ever Almost Puts Optimus Prime to Shame

Posted by Matt Buchanan at 9:00 AM on February 9, 2008

Navistar's new flagship truck, the LoneStar, is a mobile geek mansion: Monsoon stereo system with 11 speakers, subwoofer and amp, a giant desk with swivel chairs, wooden floors, 42-inch mattress and a bunch of other unnecessary creature and gadget comforts, like Bluetooth. Update: Our greasemonkey brothers at Jalopnik sent over about a billion pictures of this Richie Rich big rig.

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Entertainment

XEL-1: Sony's First OLED TV Reviewed by Sound and Vision (The Bastards)

Posted by Brian Lam at 8:44 AM on February 9, 2008

I can't say I'm not jealous that Al at Sound and Vision for getting first domestic review of the upcoming Sony 11-inch OLED TV. The set has one of the highest price/size ratios ever, but it also pulls off one of the highest performances of any modern TV, too. Here are the particulars, in case you have an extra US$2500 to blow on a TV that'll look huge in your daughter's doll house.


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Random Stuff

Did the Infamous Canburger Start Out as an Art Project?

Posted by Adam Frucci at 8:40 AM on February 9, 2008

Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? That's one of many, many questions that arose in my mind when I saw this art exhibit in France that's made up of 10,000 "Canburgers." And no, these aren't just purchased from the place we found the originals in, they were specially commissioned by the artist, Mike Bouchet. And it just went up a month ago. What. The. Hell. Let's unravel this mystery, super sleuths.

Rest3Rest2Rest1Rest4


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Gadgets

What Happens When You Put Batteries in the Wrong Way?

Posted by Jason Chen at 8:00 AM on February 9, 2008

Gary Cutlack loves to "review" batteries, which is why he's doing the world a service by testing what happens when you put batteries in the wrong way into a flashlight. Except he calls it torch. That's right, he's British, which along with Stuart Ashen's video earlier, officially makes this dry British humour day here at the Giz. [Tech Digest]


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Gadgets

Super Soaker Inventor Working on Way To Harvest Heat From Humans Matrix-Style

Posted by Jason Chen at 7:30 AM on February 9, 2008

Who didn't like Super Soakers as a kid? You pump it a lot, it builds pressure, then it shoots liquid. In many ways, they were very similar to humans, which is why Lonnie Johnson, its inventor, is looking for ways to use harvest waste heat from humans to power a tiny Johnson system. The full name is the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy System, and it could be up to 60% efficient (standard car engines are only about 30% efficient) at the right temperature.


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Peripherals

DLO's Portable Fold-up iPhone Speakers Are Necessary

Posted by Jason Chen at 7:00 AM on February 9, 2008

Everyone knows how completely horrible the built-in iPhone speakers are for listening to music or talking on speakerphone, which is why this DLO Portable Speaker for iPhone is totally necessary. You can carry it around in a little oval pod when not in use, but when you want to get down with the teleconferencing, just open her up and splay her to either side of your phone. It's even got a little stand to prop up the iPhone, and the whole thing looks quite nice playing back music (it's shielded from the GSM buzz) with its black and silver motif. US$49 gets you one. [DLO]


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Gadgets

Personal Radar Warns of Impending Gropers, Makes Parallel Parking Suck Less

Posted by Matt Buchanan at 6:35 AM on February 9, 2008


The more practical app of this personal radar project is in robot navigation systems—always a good sign when the functional side of something is robots—but it's small enough to be mounted on a car's bumpers to help spatially challenged drivers navigate the rollercoaster of parallel parking. (Unless they've got a schmancy car that does it for them.) Expect to see a smaller, cuter version with mobile phone integration for Japanese school girls any day now. [Pyro Electro]


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Home

Modern Boat Homes to Survive Rising Sea Level

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 6:33 AM on February 9, 2008

Holland may soon be dotted with floating buildings as Dutch architects plan against global warming. The country is already 20 percent below sea level, and rising water levels are a concern. A flooded river is no threat to a floatable building with airtight foundations, and with slack built into electricity and water cables feeding it, the whole kaboodle can simply bob upwards. The gallery shows some building concepts, dreamed up by a company called Waterstudio, among others. Melting ice caps? Bring'em on. [Waterstudio, NPR via io9]

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Computers

Rumour Smashed: Dell Still Stocks AMD-Based Computers Online

Posted by Matt Buchanan at 6:13 AM on February 9, 2008

Only one consumer desktop—the Energy Star 4.0 Inspiron 531, but still a smattering of business wares, from notebooks to servers. [Dell]


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Computers

Apple Event on February 26 Launches iPhone SDK and MacBook Pro?

Posted by Jason Chen at 5:34 AM on February 9, 2008

9to5 Mac is reporting that Apple will have yet another event on February 26 in order to launch the iPhone and iPod Touch SDK, which will have native apps that reportedly offer Exchange and Lotus Notes support. And the best part is that updated MacBook Pros with Penryn and possibly the MacBook Air trackpad could also debut there.


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Computers

MacBook Pro 2008, The Mock-Up

Posted by Jesus Diaz at 5:23 AM on February 9, 2008

Here is the new MacBook Pro 2008 in Photoshop mash-up wet dream form. Would we see something like this at the alleged—at least according to the usual rumourologists—special event at the end of February?


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Games

Stuart Ashen Reviews Vii, the Nintendo Wii Knockoff

Posted by Jason Chen at 5:00 AM on February 9, 2008

Stuart Ashen of Stuart Ashen reviews lousy gadget fame just reviewed the KenSingTon Vii, which has nothing to do with Kensington and nothing to do with the Wii. Intrigued? So are we. Watch as he shows off the Super Nintendo-esque 2D graphics as well as the surprisingly Wii-like 3D graphics. The developer actually did slightly more than a half-assed job on this—it's at least a three-fourths assed job. And if you're still interested in the Vii after watching, Ashen's got a separate review of additional games that come with the console after the jump.


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Computers

Lenovo Thinkpad X300 Series Confirmed

Posted by Jesus Diaz at 4:24 AM on February 9, 2008

We uncovered the 13.3-inch 2.5-pound Lenovo Thinkpad X300 Series a long time ago, in the middle of January, and now Best Buy has confirmed it. The US$2,743.99 price looks right for the specs that we already knew about:


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Games

If You Cover Your DS With Real Snakeskin, You Are Officially 'That Guy'

Posted by Adam Frucci at 4:01 AM on February 9, 2008

Ewwww! Seriously, who would want to wrap their DS Lite in real snakeskin?


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Gadgets

Magic Cube Heralds the Future of Gaming and Human Interfaces

Posted by Jesus Diaz at 4:00 AM on February 9, 2008

Nobody really knows what the future of human interfaces and gaming will look like, but Andrew Fentem—who went from working on classified missile systems to developing multi-touch human interfaces, kinetic surfaces and motion sensing technologies before almost anyone else in the planet—gave us a fascinating vision on where we are headed in this exclusive interview. Work like his Fentix Cube, a motion- and touch-sensing cube which can play Pac-Man among other games, have all the big companies taking notes. The videos speak for themselves.


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Regulars

Notes: Meeting My Crazy Spanish and British Writers

Posted by Brian Lam at 3:45 AM on February 9, 2008

photoaddyandjdmadrid-airport
It's been a happy day in the way that I finally met Jesús and Addy (of Gizmodo) and there was none of that meeting you for the first time but not-on-the-internet weirdness you usually get. I landed in Madrid last night and Jesús had all his coolant drop out of his sports car like its water broke, so we ended up towing the thing and taking a cab out of there. The airport was the most beautiful I've ever seen up close, made of concrete, orange pillars, curvy wooden ceilings and lots of glass.


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Games

Evergreen Genius Navigator 365: It's a Mouse! It's a Gamepad! It's a Gamemousepad!

Posted by Benny Goldman at 3:16 AM on February 9, 2008

Evergreen's new Genius Navigator 365 is described by the English translation of Impress as "a USB gamepad deformed laser mouse", and we couldn't agree more. The mouse is 1600dpi, the gamepad has eight buttons and a D-pad, and it sells for $36 (¥3,499). Be warned, of course, that you get what you pay for. [Impress]

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Phones

New RIM Patents Hint at New Blackberry Form Factors, Advanced Multi-Touch Displays

Posted by Adam Frucci at 3:16 AM on February 9, 2008

A couple of new Blackberry patents have been unearthed that may or may not give us some hints as to what to expect in upcoming models. First up is a design for a phone with a screen that angles up, presumable for watching video when the phone is placed on a flat surface. The second patent is for a new LCD touchscreen technology.


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