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Yesterday, Brando chose not to release any new products. I wonder why—maybe they thought someone might not like it. It's a four-way USB hub that also brings colour to your desk. I say a pot of paint does just the same (give Brando five years and they'll probably come up with USB paint). All this USB nonsense begs one question, though:
Since it's April 2nd, we guess this news is legit. Samsung has announced that they've developed a Second Life client for their mobile phones, allowing their users to jack...in anywhere in the world. And while at least a little technically impressive, we're wondering what drove Samsung to support a game that's been noted to have an extremely small user base. While millions have registered, those who actually "play" Second Life are few and far between (only about 250,000 accounts). Samsung, when people said "wow" to your idea, you probably should have double-checked their punctuation. [koreatimes]
Ok, tackling the standard kitchen design for improved eco-friendliness or chicness makes sense, but for portability, like this Whirlpool Range concept? Nope... don't see it. I mean designer Weston Boege has made it look all very nice, with those curvaceous lines and wooden accents. And his design squeezes in a small oven and stove-top gas burners, along with track-style wheels for mobility. But I'm not sure I'd ever want to trundle one gas bottle-laden component about the house so that I could cook near the dining table or outdoors. Surely that's what barbecues and zipping out to a Japanese restaurant for some at-table theatre cooking is all about? [Born Rich]
This is the IdeaPad U8 from Lenovo. With Intel's Atom chip inside it, the Mobile Internet Device has an optical mouse to let you fiddle one-handed, supports 3G and EDGE, has GPS, a 4.8-inch touchscreen, a Paul Smith-esque striped back (hope that stays) and an annoying ambient bongo player (either that goes or I do.) Video after the jump.
The detailed specs on Intel's upcoming small'n'cheap Atom processor are now up for grabs. From data released at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, it looks like the first Atom releases will be five different CPUs, destined for a range of portable or "net-top" machines. Each chip has 512kB of on-board L2 caching and supports SSE3 instructions, but will have different processor core speeds and frontside bus speeds. Prices will run from US$45 for the cheapest to US$160 for the fastest CPU. For the processor fanatics among you, details below.
The Toast One is so simple; it's a toaster that flips upside down to release the crunchy goodness straight onto your plate. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before? Sure, Jesus may be right in raising alarm about the dramatic increase of crumb concentration in your life, but the dangerous dance of the knife-fork quick grab will long be forgotten, and who'd pass up that opportunity?
We've seen neat and tidy ways to stick all your charging gadgets in one place before, but the new Sanctuary charger takes the biscuit by having all the wires and plugs you may need already built in. Ok, so it's actually got a power source with 11 different types of plug plus a USB socket under its lid, but that means it's apparently compatible with over 1,500 gizmos. Add in the fact that its looks are actually not bad, and you've got a winner. With one drawback: all that adapter-plug goodness means it costs US$129.95. So you'll really have to want cable tidiness to buy this. [Bluelounge via Geeky gadgets]
Mr Tan from Songyuan city, China, claims to have built the world's largest mobile phone. The mobile phone stands 3-ft high and weighs in at 21kg and is 620 times bigger than his own, normal-sized mobile phone, which he used as a model for the gigantic, pointless and generally fantastic handset.
Samsung Instinct, second pass, this time in a room with real lighting! Besides learning that it'll come out for under US$300, we took another look at the web browser, which we weren't super impressed with earlier, partially because its slick, headlining interface feature—panning through a website by tilting the phone up or down—was brokified. Turns out, the dark discotheque room is what nuked it, since it made it impossible for the camera to detect any movement.
The Kyocera Neo E1100 is a forgettable CDMA handset save for the fact that it has a glowing blue "lightpipe" and a hidden OLED display on its minimal exterior. Other than that, it has Bluetooth 2.0 and a 1.3 MP camera. But hey, it's nice to look at and it's coming soon to a North American carrier near you.
I'm going out the same way I came in. Pow! See you around, suckas. Hope you fools enjoyed my jibba jabba. Don't do books, read milk, drink your drugs and respect yo mommas.
When it comes to furniture design, finding a way to simultaneously maximize functionality and minimize size is all the rage these days. The "Unit" concept from Philippe Malouin falls neatly into that category with a design that combines a kitchen, table, refrigerator and a bathtub all-in-one. Not much information exists about the Unit, but it appears that the fridge would be located in the cabinet on the left while the bathtub doubles as a sink.
Listen up punk! I've jabbered on about this before, but it looks like you need a little reminder. The next time you need a limo to haul that lazy behind of yours around town, hire the A-Team limo service. But if I catch any of you prom kids drinkin' in the back, just remember—I still got two feet, so kickin' you ain't gonna be no problem. And let me tell you somethin'—soldiers of fortune do it up right! Don't believe me fool? Check out what our van is packin' after the break.
Needless to say, if you have the cash to drop on a Pirates of the Caribbean themed home theatre, getting booty probably isn't your problem—financially or sexually. For owners Paul and Emily Konold, the motivation wasn't to impress or even to pay homage to the movie franchise, it was all about recreating the fun they experienced on the original ride at Disneyland.
Sprint's got a bunch of devices huddled in a booth running off its Xohm WiMax network: some Nokia N810 tablets and a smattering of notebooks from different makers (like a Windows XP Asus Eee PC, but it was acting a bit wonky, so I had to move on to a more generic laptop). Basically, the internet experience is just like cable, except wireless—the buildout is aimed at 2-4Mbps downspeed bandwidth and about 1.5-2 up, which is exactly what I was pulling here, according to a stealthy speedtest.net check.
Windows 6.1 is officially out, and after a hands on with the standard and professional versions of the refreshed OS, I'm still not sold on it. There's no denying the redesigned home screen is beautiful, and easily takes you to emails, texts and events for the day. But it still doesn't make up for the laggy nature of the OS and the menu surfing required to perform simple tasks.
HTC's Touch Dual is now officially headed to US markets, and after a brief hands-on with it, I'm a fan of the hardware. But at the end of the day, it's still a WinMo phone. The phone pairs the form factor of the HTC Touch with a slide-out SureType keyboard in a (relatively) light and thin package. And though they gave it the TouchFLO interface and WIndows Mobile 6.1 Professional, it only covers up WinMo's shortcomings to an extent.
Sound ID has taken the lid off their new HD300 Bluetooth headset featuring proprietary NoiseNavigation technology that promises "pristine sound" by isolating speech and automatically reducing wind and background nose using dual microphones and DSP algorithms. A lot of companies make similar claims, but Sound ID's word is backed with the nerdy credibility of a staff comprised of "hearing specialists and top acoustic scientists." We shall see if they live up to the hype when the HD300 is released in Q3 of 2008 for US$119.99. Full details are available in the press release after the break.
Straight from CTIA 2008, Everex has unveiled their new Cloudbook Max featuring built-in support for Sprint's XOHM WiMAX network. Users can also expect a 8.9" WVGA (1024 x 600) display, a 1.6GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor with the VIA VX800 digital media IGP chipset, up to 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, a 80GB hard disk drive, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, an integrated GPS receiver, dual built-in 2-megapixel webcams, an S-Video port, audio in/out and the Microsoft Vista OS. No pricing info has been announced, but you can expect it to hit store shelves within a year. Press release after the break.
Who do you think is gonna win? Mista T or some punk arse fool who sleeps all day and nibbles on people's necks? That's right. His mouth is gonna meet my fist, and my fist makes a good first impression sucka. Once I'm through with him, I'm gonna move on to this Dinosaur-Man chump. What kinda fool is gonna put pants and a tie on a dinosaur for Jeebus sakes! He's a dinosaur that's also a detective. Let's see if he can detect this move. What time is it fool? Time for me to sock you in the dino teeth, T style. [Mohawk Media]
Yo! I'M MR. T!!! What an awesome day it's been, guest editing the Giz. Some of you think it's Talk Like T Day. Well, I'll squash the punk—squash him like a bug—who suggests that April 1 was TLT Day. It's April Fool, FOOL!! And to all you naysayers who think that Gizmodo sucked today, you know that the only thing you can hear is your little pea brain rolling round your head. And when I finish with you, you won't even be able to hear that! By the time I do let you girl scouts go, you're gonna be big on PAIN! But first I'm gonna make you all suffer with the rest of the web's April Fools.
Maybe it's to keep us from groping the Vu just a little bit too hard or to beat off press fiends eager for swag bags, but a life-size Iron Man is hanging out at LG's booth looking badass in his Mark 3 suit. Whatever the reason, it probably means Tony Stark will be rocking gear from LG in the flick to match his Dell servers. Guess he's not an Apple fanboy. Update: Check out the special Iron Man edition Shine decked out in solid 18-karat gold, which you can win here after Apr. 15. [Giz @ CTIA]
Whatever diet LG put the enV to whip it into the enV2 is fan-freakin-tastical. It's significantly slimmer, sharper and lighter. What's sweet about the midget dust magic is that it isn't smaller and sexed up just to be smaller, it actually feels much better in your hand than the blubbery original. But the keys are a smidge bigger, so it's easier to type on than the original enV to boot.
Ever since I gave up my chains in 2005 because they were an insult to God, I've been trying to find a suitable replacement. Since T likes computers as much as he likes wearing gold, T thinks this INFO Live bracelet is just the thing to keep him connected and fashionable at the same time. Not only is it wireless, it can hook up to your printer, your TV, your computer and your camera and control each one with gestures. What? What do you mean it's not real. Mr. T doesn't like to be fooled, sucka. Mr. T has a forecast for you, and it's an 80% chance of pain. [NextGenDesignComp via TechPin via Uber Review]
The suckas at Kohler wanted me to try out their new VibrAcoustic tub today, but I already took a bath this morning. I sent that one bathtubbin' fool in my place, and while I may go Clubber Lang on him for trying to impersonate the T, this tub looks pretty sweet.
Mr. T's favourite laptop maker rolled out slick, useful and budget-minded updates to its Satellite line today. First up, the 13.3" U400, 14.1" M300, 15.4" A300 and 17" P300 have a new look called "Fusion," a shiny finish with pinstripes and smoothed edges, not unlike that sucka HP's successful smooth-n-shiny-n-pinstripey look. The eight shots in the gallery make the design look a bit greenish, so we'll have to wait to pass final judgment. It's one thing to look nice on the outside, but like T, these have a lot going on on the inside, too...
The suckas at Kohler wanted me to try out their new VibrAcoustic tub today, but I already