Monday, April 7, 2008

Nextar I4-BC, a GPS and Reversing Camera System Combo

11:46PM Gizmodo US Edition | Nextar’s I4-BC device wraps up a widescreen GPS system and one of those neat reversing cameras in one gizmo. Great: more family rows averted, with no getting lost en route and no backing into the gatepost as you leave. You hook up the camera on your vehicle, and when you start backing up its display auto-switches from navigation to the rear view, with a range up to four metres. Its got all the standard GPS functions, a 4.3-inch widescreen, text-to-speech for street name instructions and an SD card for MP3 playing. Of course, systems like this are built-in to some cars, but this is not a bad little combo for your older vehicle. Costs US$499.95. [Red Ferret] More »

Viruses and Malware to Hit One Million Mark

11:40PM Mark Wilson | According to Sophos computer security, there will be one million distinct viruses and malware by the end of 2008. But 25% of that malware has been produced just in the last six months. Luckily, not all the stats published by PC World are that troubling…but it’s not all roses and daffodils either. More »

Modern Hang-Ups: A Magnetic Stick-Up For Your Stuff

10:36PM Gizmodo US Edition | This new design looks to replace all that messing around with pins and Scotch tape that happens when you try to stick stuff up on your walls or bulletin board. Modern Hang-ups is a simply an adhesive-backed strip of steel that comes with powerful magnetic “tacks.” You just unroll however much you want, cut it, stick it up and pop your shopping lists, kids’ latest finger paintings and “Dear John” letters right up there. Brilliant. It’s been patented but not manufactured yet: shame, because it’d be a perfect solution to my plans for a changeable Rasterbated wall mural. Someone turn this into a real product, please? [Product page] More »

6.5-foot Nendo Kazadokei Is Son of Clock and Wind Turbine

10:24PM Jesus Diaz | Standing 6.5 feet tall, the Nendo Kazadokei is a clock with a second hand that measures almost 5 feet on its own. It just stands there, quietly moving its arms, waiting patiently to sever any innocent passerby’s head or scoop out an eye from their skull. See it standing up in all its majesty after the jump. More »

Beamz Infomercial Is Most Stupid Promo Video in History

9:30PM Jesus Diaz | We saw the Beamz Laser Music System in pictures last week, but little we knew then how totally demented, how amazingly asstupid and musically retarded this “synthesiser music system” could be in real life. Watch the video after the jump and marvel at the bozonic “one man rock band,” the loungetard “quiet reverie,” or the male-bonding “jam session.” More »

Yahoo to Microsoft: Show Me More Money!

9:20PM Jesus Diaz | Jerry Yang has pulled a mix between Neo and Rod Tidwell in the latest round of corporate warfare between Yahoo! and Microsoft, showing them the finger and asking Steve Ballmer to show them more money. His complete jibba jabba after the jump. More »

LCD Cutting Board Looks Cool, Doesn’t Make Any Sense

9:00PM Jesus Diaz | On paper, this cutting board concept—with an embedded LCD display and wireless connectivity to display cooking recipes—is a great idea. Unfortunately, being an Iron Chef wannabe myself, it fails the basic kitchen test: the crazy-mess-where’s-the-damn-pepper-proof test. My cutting board is always full of slices and dices of whatever substances are going to suffer the torture of my pans, which would make impossible to follow any recipe on it, forcing me to follow recipes the traditional way: not following them at all. [Product Design Forums via Born Rich] More »

Fi-Hi Speaker Bags: Boombox Backpack Made Real

8:45PM Gizmodo US Edition | Remember we laughed at the concept Reppo2 boombox backpack, and its ability to aurally assault those you walk past with your choice of tunes? Well, yes: something similar is now real, courtesy of these Fi-Hi novelty bags with built-in speakers and amp. What’s there to say? Well, we don’t know how powerful the audio system is, we don’t know if they’re weatherproof (though we’d hope so.) But we do know you can connect up your MP3 player, that they’re in a wide range of different sizes and styles, some looking very much like the Reppo2, and that they’re fascinatingly nasty. No word on pricing or availability, but expect to hear one soon. [Aving]

LG’s New Black Label Cellphone: First Look

7:00PM Gizmodo US Edition | LG is following up the love-it or hate-it Chocolate, and the Shine, with its third “Black Label” device: the as-yet unnamed mobile phone you can see here. It looks a more serious and slender beast than the first two, and sports a five megapixel camera, tempered glass and a carbon-fibre finish. Other than that we can’t say much, as LG is being shy with the details: though I’m sure they’d call it “teaser marketing”. More data will be available at its European April 24th launch. We’ll keep you posted. [Aving] More »

Blinging The Swarovskis To The Low-Riders

3:01PM Nick Broughall | If you weren’t content with having your light fittings blinged up with Swarovski crystals, why not consider this low-rider bike? I’m sure the idea sounded perfectly rational at the Swarovski labs: “What haven’t we stuck our crystals on yet?” says boffin 1, in a voice not unlike Stewie Griffin. “I don’t know. I think we’ve covered every conceivable product” replies boffin 2 (who sounds a bit like James Earl Jones). “What about a bike?” says boffin 1. “Already done – although we could go for a fancy type of bike this time” boffin 2 responds. “Brilliant!” Exclaims boffin 1, “We should bling up a low-rider!” Or so the conversation sounds in my head. It took roughly 110,000 crystals to cover the bike, which is a low-rider creation from UK designer Ben Wilson. It is handmade to order, and price is on application, although considering the website tells you to hold your breath, we’re guessing that it ain’t going to be cheap. [Ben Wilson Design via BornRich] More »