For those times when 59 copies just isn’t enough, make 60 USB copies at once with this Virtual Console duplicator. Featuring optional 128-bit encryption and the ability to duplicate actual files (rather than just writing a binary mirror), it takes the copier just two minutes to fill 60 1GB drives with whatever pictures of your dog/resume/butt you find necessary to distribute to the public. Intended for industrial use, the system runs US$8000. [product via SlipperyBrick]
A team at the Technical University of Munich in Germany has designed a glass chip pierced with micro-sized tubes that act the same way as spider silk glands, and can be used to replicate the initial stages of natural silk production. It’s an interesting development since production of artificial spider silk has proven difficult in industrial quantities and qualities, and its tensile strength to density ratio is five times that of steel, making it potentially very useful as armour and in medical applications.
Today TomTom announces all new TomTom One and XL navigators. The software doesn’t appear to be any different, but the exteriors have been streamlined even further, and the company introduced a new EasyPort mount that can stow-away in the back of the device itself, so you don’t have to worry about leaving your mount in the car. TomTom also revamped the audio system, so that commands are “even more loud and clear at all times”—apparently previous versions sounded too garbled or weak, but not anymore.
Yes. We know. After 512,436 mails to tips speculating about this since the iPhone appeared in the US, the iPhone is finally arriving to Canada: “We’re thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year. We can’t tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned,” said Rogers head honcho. Now, stop saying words. [CNW Group]
20% smaller than the previous generation, Samsung is claiming their new CLP-315K is actually the World’s smallest colour laser printer. It’s got a resolution of 2,400 x 600 dpi and can spit out four letter-sized pages per minute in colour and 17 in black, and apparently it has improved photo quality output. There’s also another small all-in-one edition, the CLX-3175FNK, which has a scanner built in and can scan to and print from USB memory sticks so it can operate PC-free if you need it to. There’s no word on release date or price yet, sorry. [Akihabaranews]
Aimed, one guesses, at Japanese health obsessives, the Overall Health Balance Scale measures a person’s health in six different ways: weight; BMI; subcutaneous fat ratio; organ fat level; muscle level; and basal metabolic rate. On top of that, it rates your health on a scale of one to five. Sounds to me like a version of amihotornot.com that you stand on. As well as checking your posture and balance, the Overall Health Balance Scale has got a screen-cum-scanner on a pull string, which semi-detaches from the unit. I think this is aimed perhaps at people so fat that the last time they saw their genitals the Berlin Wall was still standing—and sumo wrestlers. It hits the shelves in Japan on May 1, no price as yet. [Kilian-Nakamura]
Scarlet, that doe-eyed brunette that we all “thought” was the protagonist of a new TV series is actually nothing more than the face of a viral campaign for a new line of TVs from LG. The LCD HD TVs, which range from 32 to 52 inches, have a 50,000:1 contrast ratio, super-fast response time of 4 milliseconds, HDMI 1.3, and 1080p resolution—apart from the smallest model. See what it looks like below.
The Cost Controller power strip lets you hook up eight gizmos, protects them against voltage spikes, and also shows you how much power they’re drawing so you can worry about your electricity bill well ahead of time. It actually shows consumption in kilowatt hours along with the frequency and voltage characteristics of your power line, if you’re into that sort of data. At least watching those usage digits mount up on its LCD display might prompt you into eco-friendly behaviour, like not leaving stuff on standby. Available now for US$99.99. [Computer Gear via Red Ferret]
Forget the Psystar business—this Hackintosh is much more interesting. A member of the OQOTalk forum has demonstrated his OQO running a hacked version of Leopard. It takes over two minutes to load but it looks like it’s all there, including such goodies as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, power management and sound. Check out the video to see a (blurry) demo of it in action from the dual-boot startup, including showing coverflow working in Finder and a Dashboard launch.
Okay Gizmodians, last chance. The concept is simple: Write a haiku about Iron Man and you could win a double pass to the movie, plus an Iron Man webcam.
Why would you want an Iron Man webcam? Because they’re awesome. Why would you want a double pass to the movie? Because it’s going to be awesome. That should be a good enough reason for anybody.
So haiku away. I’ll be judging tomorrow, and will publish the winning entries on Thursday. Good luck!
