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Motorola Chops Off Handset Division
Posted by Wilson Rothman at 11:35 PM on March 26, 2008
Today Motorola said it would chew off its woefully underperforming Mobile Devices group in order to safeguard its healthier businesses—namely Broadband & Mobility Solutions, which includes network equipment, walkie-talkies and business products. This comes after famous Wall Street curmudgeon Carl Icahn laid seige to the mismanaged company. Assuming the deal passes the usual legal and regulatory hurdles, shareholders will get shares of both companies, probably some time in 2009. Handset customers will presumably get nothing, at least in the short term: this doesn't seem like a vote of confidence for Motorola phones. [Reuters]
If you thought Humanity was damned after watching the latest 
According to its creator, Christoffer Nøkleby, the Merium Home Theatre PC has a "sky high wife approval factor." According to my wife, any home theatre PC should be hidden away in another room, although "the zebra cover could be cute. Hidden under the table." The 10.4 x 9.2 x 3.6 inch Merium runs Windows Home Premium, comes loaded with ports and cables, and has interchangeable plates for a whopping US$1,561, which is the premium you pay normally for Scandinavian design (probably manufactured in China). More after the jump.
On a slow news day, one company can always be relied on to bring out something so unutterably useless that I fall to my knees and give thanks to James T. Kirk and all the angels: Brando. Their phone strap-slash-stylus-slash-lightsaber-for people-of-extremely-restricted-growth costs five bucks and would redefine the word pointless if it didn't actually have a retractable point. Still, I can think of 
Bead curtains are like, so 1950's huh? Artist Devorah Sperber doesn't think so. Her amazing Star Trek bead curtains are much more likely to be adorning gallery walls than the front door of your local grocery store. Kind of like pixel-art in 3D, she slides tens of thousands of beads onto threads to create these detailed portraits. Check out the holodeck door, Enterprise-D's bridge, and my favorite: the "beaming down" series, which looks spookily like the "real" special effect.
Reuters is reporting that the Miami-Dade police department will "soon" start deployment of the infamous Honeywell Micro Air Vehicles, the spy drones that will keep all you criminals and Gizmodo editors in check with forward and downward looking cameras, flying over a 100 waypoint flight plan at 57MPH, and from 10,500-foot altitude. Seeing them hovering over the skies is kind of menacing. Actually, with the right music, it's downright scary.
A posable sports robot-theme webcam, with a choice of ball: basketball, baseball and football (US and Euro style). Who'd've thought there's a market for this? Chinese company Rodintech for one, though a trip through their website shows that they'll try and stick a USB webcam in just about anything. This MPC-095 has a 350 kilopixel CMOS sensor, plus the regulation built-in mic for your video-calling needs. Sorry, posable sporty robot theme webcam fans, there's no info on price or availability. [
My Touch Keys is a simple idea; a thin sheet of plastic with holes where each key appears is mounted onto the iPhone's screen. When the keyboard is used, you can "feel" each key as you press, thanks to the slight depression the My Touch Keys sheet offers. Though this 
Asus' president of sales, Kevin Lin, has announced the upcoming 8.9-inch Eee PC will have a touchscreen incorporated. Lin also speculated that the device may have GPS functionality, too, however this was not confirmed. The announcement has us a little confused, as 
Toshiba's new robot pal is basically a voice-operated infrared universal remote control, heavy on the cuteness. Programmed to be fairly smart, he'll wait until you use a controller for your electronics, then ask you what you were doing: the next time you want to perform the same action, you just have to tell ApriPoko to do it for you. He'll then wave his IR transmitter arm and *bing*, on goes your TV. He's even equipped with a camera to identify users, presumably to learn their habits. For now he's just an R&D demonstrator device, and is limited to simple commands. We hope we're right in expecting the technology to make its way into consumer gadgets soon. [
The guys over at CNET UK have posted a preview/review of Dell's XPS One desktop, and are giving it the thumbs up on design and capabilities but a thumbs down on price.
Even though we still have no idea when it will hit our shores, the rampant speculation about who will have the iPhone in Australia continues. Last week it was Telstra that was the favourite to have the iPhone in Australia, thanks to the news that Sensis is 
I've heard of 2 port USB car chargers but a 4 port charger? That's two more gadgets baby! Indeed, it makes complete sense to pick one of these up given the fact that many of our favourite gadgets can be charged via USB these days. And you really can't go wrong for only US$12. [
Microsoft justice is cold but apt. If you tried to goose your Xbox Live Gamerscore to match Chen's (he's an achievement demon, but I still rock his face at Halo) with game save hacks, the long arm of Microsoft is squeezing your nuts right about now. To start, they're nuking your Gamerscore, and you can't go back and re-earn zapped achievements, no matter how many times you kill 50,000 zombies. But here's the real burn: Your account is forever branded as a cheater, so everyone instantly knows that you're a horrible human being. You can't scrub that shame off, no matter how much shit you talk. [
Callpod—maker of one of our favourite 
We talked about its European launch 
They say that inventors should find a need and fill it. I don't know who needs a solar boosted pedal boat, but a design concept for one exists nonetheless. The boat features a centre cockpit where up to four passengers can sit, alternating pedaling duties in 2 person shifts. When you get tired (which should be after only a few minutes), switching to solar power can help lighten the load. I'm not sure if this concept will ever see the light of day, but in a world filled with non-solar powered pedal boats, it would be a welcome improvement. Video after the break.
Okay, this has to be the most bizarre corporate competition we've seen. Memory manufacturer Kingston is putting out a call for "both amateur and professional character designers to create the prefect spokesperson for HyperX memory modules". That's right, they're asking people to draw, paint or computer-generate the perfect woman to sell memory modules. The top prize is US$5000 in cash and US$300 worth of Kingston products. [
Researchers at New York's Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute believe that truckers can put down the caffeine and NoDoze in favour of blue LED light to keep them awake on long rides. Apparently, certain wavelengths of blue LED light can trick the brain into thinking it is daytime—thereby increasing alertness. Possible applications of the technology include bathing the entire truck cabin in light, installing the LEDs in truck stops for quick "light showers" and blue light goggles. Yeah, I'm sure that will go over well with rugged trucker types. [
Wired's Compiler blog has the 
I haven't played Dungeons and Dragons since I was a little kid, but I remember the time I spent geeking out with my friends fondly. So, when D&D co-creator 
Just because you are stuck at work doesn't mean you can't get boozed up! Thanks to these canoflauge vinyl can wraps, you can discreetly hide your alcohol problem behind an "inconspicuous" soft drink facade. So the next time someone asks what you are drinking, you can say "why, I am enjoying a harmless thirst-quenching can of skunkpiss thank you." Other covers include: Risk, Peski and Mt. Spew. The full set will set you back US$5.89. [
A well known 18 year old graffiti artist that goes by the name "Skullphone" has expanded his repertoire of vandalism to include 10 digital billboards around L.A. Earlier this week, onlookers were treated to Skullphones's calling card in between the normal ads running on the display. Nice work dude, let's hope that the police and the folks at ClearChannel appreciate art. [
Over the Counter DNA Paternity Tests Seem Like a Great Idea
Sadly, I think these lightsabers planted by SpikeTV might not be the real *bzzt* *plop* flesh-disintegrating deal, so even if you did break in case of Sith (or muggers) at best you could just beat them over the head and hope they don't Force choke you and steal your wallet. Since people will swipe just about anything and Star Wars fans are bonkers, they'll probably be jacked long before the Sith show up. [
