Friday, February 15, 2008
Vehicles
sQuba Submarine Car Is Real, Looks Silly but Amazingly Fun
10:30PM Addy Dugdale | This is the sQuba, a concept—but very real—car devised by James Bond fanatic Frank Rinderknecht who, when he’s not channelling the spirit of 007’s gadget mentor Q, designs classic concept cars for a living. The amphibious two-seater has been made from a Lotus Elise, with three electric motors replacing the petrol engine—one powers the back wheels, while the other two work the specially designed propellers. More »
Peripherals
More Proof that Motorola Is in the Doo-Doo
10:01PM Addy Dugdale | As if its launches at MWC or the rumours of it quitting the handset business weren’t evidence enough that Motorola is on the slide, Giz brings you cold, hard proof that the once-mighty handset division of the company is now fallen: a diamond-encrusted Bluetooth headset. The Motopure H12 is available in two versions: Lots of Diamonds; and Even More Diamonds. Top-end model (that’s almost three-and-a-half carats’ worth of ice) will cost you US$17,000. Wait a couple of years and you’ll probably be able to buy the division for that. AU: This is old – it’s been available in the UK for at least three months. Oh, and it will never be officially released in Australia, so don’t get your hopes up… [Aving] More »
Gadgets
SightMate Device Helps Partially-Sighted People and Colourblind
9:16PM Addy Dugdale | Although the SightMate looks like a pair of those video glasses, it actually improves the sight of people with poor eyesight. A two-megapixel camera with 3x zoom sits in the middle of the outer frame and feeds images to a double 640 x 480 display inside the glasses. More »
Entertainment
1:53PM Nick Broughall | It seems as though another battle has been won, although the war still rages on. The latest mercenary to join the Blu-ray side in the format war is Harman Kardon, who announced that they will be releasing a dedicated Blu-ray player at IFA in Berlin later this year.
According to What HiFi?, the player is destined to cost around 450-500 Euros, although all other details are thin on the ground. Harman Kardon have also confirmed that they’ll be releasing the DVC600 HDD/Blu-ray recorder they showed us last year. Pricing and local availability for this model are still up in the air, but rest assured that when we get local news of its release, you’ll be the first to know.
I don’t want to go into the format war yet again, but the case for a Blu-ray victory seems to be getting stronger and stronger every day, wouldn’t you say?
[What Hifi?]
More »
Harman Kardon Joins The Blu-ray Team, Toshiba Keeps On Keeping On
1:53PM Nick Broughall | It seems as though another battle has been won, although the war still rages on. The latest mercenary to join the Blu-ray side in the format war is Harman Kardon, who announced that they will be releasing a dedicated Blu-ray player at IFA in Berlin later this year.
According to What HiFi?, the player is destined to cost around 450-500 Euros, although all other details are thin on the ground. Harman Kardon have also confirmed that they’ll be releasing the DVC600 HDD/Blu-ray recorder they showed us last year. Pricing and local availability for this model are still up in the air, but rest assured that when we get local news of its release, you’ll be the first to know.
I don’t want to go into the format war yet again, but the case for a Blu-ray victory seems to be getting stronger and stronger every day, wouldn’t you say?
[What Hifi?]
More »
Entertainment
Toshiba Finally Taking HD DVD Off Life Support
1:50PM Matt Buchanan | HD DVD’s pulse has been steadily getting weaker since the Warner blow, and now Hollywood Reporter is saying that Toshiba is getting ready to put it down following the Netflix and Best Buy shutouts. The official Toshiba word is that they’re going to keep breathing, though they’re going to “study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers.” More »
Peripherals
Travelling Apple Users Cheer “The Continental” With a Glass of Champagna
1:00PM Sean Fallon | World travellers will undoubtedly be thrilled with “The Continental Companion” and its ability to help Apple users utilise different power outlets without having to carry around a bulky power brick. The set includes four AC plugs (with a 12″ whip) and it requires the portable power adapter that ships with the MacBook Air, MacBook, MacBook Pro, iBook and PowerBook G4. You can also use it with the iPod and iPhone USB adapter as well as the iPod FireWire Power Adapter. The Continental is available for US$34.95. [incipio via Crunchgear] More »
Gadgets
Dual Pizza Oven Delivers Cheezy Deliciousness in 90 Seconds
12:40PM Sean Fallon | Even if Domino’s is allowing you to track your pizza, the bottom line is that I’m hungry now (and I would like to avoid tapeworm). For the most impatient among us, this Dual Pizza Oven could have us eating two 12″ pizzas in 90 seconds or less. More »
Gadgets
Aura Health Concept Device Drags Hippies Into the 22nd Century
12:20PM Sean Fallon | The Aura Health Concept from Frog Design Mind attempts to fuse traditional healing and medical technology that is so cutting edge, we probably won’t be able to build it for another 1000 years. I could break down how it is supposed to operate, but the official description illustrates it best: More »
Gadgets
New NYC Condom Dispensers Are Flying Pucks of Prophylactics
11:40AM Matt Buchanan | Does anyone else find the recent, um, thrust to sex up condoms a little ironic? Redundant then? The latest aesthetically enhanced condom gadget is a sleek new dispenser designed by Fuseproject for NYC condoms, which are free and available in lots of places in the city. The concept behind the design is actually a little weird. More »
Entertainment
11:02AM Nick Broughall | Yes, you read that right. The RX-Z11 features connections for 11 speakers and two subwoofers giving you surround sound for your home theatre. It’s the kind of setup millionaires would enjoy. Well, at least they’d have the room for 13 speakers in their loungeroom.
The setup looks something like this: Take 7.1, add in two front “presence” speakers and two rear “presence” speakers, then add another sub, so you have “left and right” channel subs or “front and rear”. Of course, subs are omni directional, so I guess it’s more about showing off keeping up with the speaker output than anything else.
A few of you are probably already shaking your head, saying that there’s no format that offers 11.2, and you’d be 100 per cent correct. Instead, it uses Yamaha’s own DSP technology to create virtual surround from a 5.1 or 7.1 signal. It creates a 360 degree music atmosphere that not only gives audio from around you, but also above and below you as well.
Does it work? Initial verdict after the jump…
Yamaha Goes Crazy, Cooks Up 11.2 Channel Flagship Receiver
11:02AM Nick Broughall | Yes, you read that right. The RX-Z11 features connections for 11 speakers and two subwoofers giving you surround sound for your home theatre. It’s the kind of setup millionaires would enjoy. Well, at least they’d have the room for 13 speakers in their loungeroom.
The setup looks something like this: Take 7.1, add in two front “presence” speakers and two rear “presence” speakers, then add another sub, so you have “left and right” channel subs or “front and rear”. Of course, subs are omni directional, so I guess it’s more about showing off keeping up with the speaker output than anything else.
A few of you are probably already shaking your head, saying that there’s no format that offers 11.2, and you’d be 100 per cent correct. Instead, it uses Yamaha’s own DSP technology to create virtual surround from a 5.1 or 7.1 signal. It creates a 360 degree music atmosphere that not only gives audio from around you, but also above and below you as well.
Does it work? Initial verdict after the jump… 