Monday, April 14, 2008
Computers
Psystar Sells Mac Clone, Becomes Son of Daystar
11:50PM Jesus Diaz | Once upon a time, back when most Apple fanboys were still playing with Mr. Potato, a guy called Gil Amelio had the idea of licensing the Mac to clone manufacturers like Motorola and DayStar—a great move that further kicked the company into the ground, making it bleed like a God of War monster and sending its sorry market share into the pits of Hell. And then, the Second Coming happened: Amelio brought Steve Jobs—perhaps his only good move at Cupertino—and after kicking Gil out, His Steveness axed the clones, for it was a really silly idea. Today, the zombies are back: a company called Psystar has announced the US$399.99 OpenMac, a Mac clone that allegedly runs Leopard without modification: More »
Gadgets
Racing Rim Camera Is Clock, Spy Cam, MP4 Player, Impossibly Fugly
11:30PM Addy Dugdale | I’m not quite sure I’ve got this right, but this here thingy is a remote-controlled clock-MP4 player-hidden camera. Apparently it’s a product that can be used for “any purpose you can think of, without anyone ever being the wiser.” ¿Qué? The built-in camera is PAL and NTSC-compatible, there is 128MB of flash memory, as well as an SD card slot and USB 2.0. More »
Games
Coin-Op NES Requires Serious Magic Fingers
11:20PM Mark Wilson | While a slew of hotels feature sad, generic video game controllers ready to play whatever crappy IP-streaming games the chain may offer, many Japanese hotels were once stocked with these coin-op Famicom (NES) systems. A 100 yen coin would buy you 10-15 minutes of play, which is a pretty great deal compared to the mini bar or, uhh, “video on demand” services. To check out the Super Famicom (SNES), hit the jump. More »
Design
Little Big Man, Robot Within a Robot
10:36PM Mark Wilson | Fact: every robot is controlled by a tiny robot pulling all sorts of levers in its chest, just as every human is powered by a gnome yanking on your lungs, heart and various coils of intestine. The Little Big Man kinetic sculpture by Nemo Gould outlines this principle, and was commissioned by the San Jose Museum of Art for a show going on now through October. Constructed from, among other things, vacuum cleaners, an old food processor and a vintage radio. For video of the sculpture in motion, hit the jump. More »
Design
Marimba Table Turns Dining Into a Feast of Bings
10:06PM Gizmodo US Edition | Remember the drum table? Well, stick it next to this table with built-in marimba at a dinner party and you’d have a percussively good time. Designer Fumiaki Goto came up with the idea of building the instrument into the surface, so that whenever you put a glass or plate down you’d sound a note— you could of course just bash away with your cutlery too. The guys at the drum table looked ecstatic, but why does this poor model look *sniff* a little sad? Maybe she needs some friends to marimba the night away, or maybe she’s upset it’s just a concept. [Yanko design] More »
Vehicles
Aeros ML866 Air Vehicle Accepted for FAA Approval, Still Three Years from First Flight
10:00PM Jesus Diaz | The FAA has accepted the Aeroscraft Aeros ML866 for certification, the aircraft which is neither an airship nor a dirigible or an aeroplane or an helicopter or a UFO, but is “classified as a fourth type of air vehicle, a buoyancy assisted air vehicle.” However, don’t hold your breath for a pleasant trip in this long-range, 210-feet-long, 5,000-square-feet cruise liner of the skies: the company told the Giz that the “ML866 is preliminary scheduled to begin the flight test activities in 30-36 months.” They couldn’t give us names of their potential customers, but at least they gave us a new picture of the bar onboard: More »
Press
Blockbuster Offers to Buy Circuit City, Have Sad Date Talking About Good Old Times
9:44PM Gizmodo US Edition | Blockbuster has offered US$6 minimum per share to buy out Circuit City, with the intention of creating a US$18 billion global retail enterprise. You can almost see the point of mixing media and device retail, but is this actually a good move for two companies facing a not-so-bright future? Read more in the Blockbuster press release after the jump. [PCWorld] More »
Press
Perpetrators of Cut Undersea Cable Discovered, Not Godzilla BTW
9:32PM Addy Dugdale | Over two months after The Mystery of Godzilla and the Undersea Cables, a mini-series starring Tom Selleck and Dyan Cannon, at last we have closure. Two ships, one Korean and one Iraqi—typing fingers at the ready, conspiracy theorists—were impounded by the authorities in Dubai a couple of months ago and, following payment of a rather large fine by the Korean ship, it has been allowed to leave. More below. More »
Cameras
Sony’s Pro HD Camera is World First to Get OLED Viewfinder
9:10PM Gizmodo US Edition | Organic Light Emitting Diodes are getting used in phones, lamps and now the world’s first professional camera colour OLED viewfinder. The HDVF-EL100 sports an 11-inch screen, and apparently it’s Sony’s first non-consumer application of the display technology. The 960 x 540 pixel screen’s wide acceptance angle and deep contrast is designed to help operators achieve the accurate focusing that HDTV demands. Pro cameramen can expect to get their mitts on the camera later this year. [Sony via OLED-Display] More »
Screens
