Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Entertainment
Colbert says Zune Ownership Proof You’re Crazy
11:50PM Benny Goldman | On last night’s Colbert Report, Stephen gave advice to George Bush on how to go “completely nutball” so Sen. McCain can distance himself from the extremely unpopular president on the campaign trail. Not only did he tell Bush to wear a tinfoil jockstrap, he said the prez should buy a Zune. Really? Sure it’s market share is 4%, but what about the new software? [Colbert Report] More »
Robots
DIY R2-D2 Is Even Better than the Real Thing
11:20PM Jesus Diaz | Chris James’ R2-D2 won four Make Magazine editors’ choice ribbons at Maker Faire and it’s easy to see why: not only does it have every detail from the original—except having a little person inside—but this one is even more charming, capable of singing the Star Wars theme, and Indiana Jones sound bites. It only needs to have a built-in projector to be absolutely perfect. We asked Chris about the obvious next step: installing sensory inputs and artificial intelligence to make it truly autonomous. His take—and another video of R2 dancing with kids at Maker Faire—after the jump.
Home
Pioneer Elite SC-07 and SC-05 Flagship Receivers (Plus the VSX-03TXH and VSX-01TXH)
11:00PM Brian Lam | Pioneer’s got new Elite 7.1 receivers, the high end SC-07 and SC-05, and the lesser VSX-03TXH and VSX-01TXH. The SC-07 has a Burr Brown Sampling Rate Converter (SRC) to upscale audio to 192 kHz 24-bit res, and dual HDMI outputs for multiroom output. The SC-07 and SC-05 also work with Pioneer’s new Blu-ray player to activate the “Precision Quartz Locking System (PQLS) that synchronises data between the Blu-ray Disc player and the receiver, providing listeners with the ultimate precision in CD playback.” I kid you not, Pioneer is working on making CDs the yesterday technology of tomorrow! All four receivers do new lossless formats (”DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution, Dolby® TrueHD and Dolby® Digital Plus” ) and room tuning. More »
Screens
Pioneer’s 2008 Kuro Line: Thinner Blacker Plasmas and an LCOS Projector But No LCDs
11:00PM Wilson Rothman | Today Pioneer is revealing its official 2008 Kuro TV lineup for the US. As we expected from European announcements, it includes second-generation Kuro plasmas—thinner, with five-times-deeper black levels than the first critically acclaimed Kuro plasma—and a Kuro-branded LCOS projector originally developed by JVC. What’s missing here are the smaller-sized Kuro LCDs that Pioneer is offering European flat-panel shoppers. Here’s the full product rundown, plus the reason for the missing LCD piece of the puzzle:
Home
Pioneer Confirms BDP-51FD and Elite BDP-05FD Profile 1.1 Blu-ray Players; “Super-Duper” BD-Live Player Coming This Spring
11:00PM Wilson Rothman | When the other Blu-ray heavies Sony, Panasonic and Samsung are in various stages of introducing Ethernet-equipped BD-Live players (aka BD Profile 2.0), Pioneer comes out with two players, the US$600 BDP-51FD and the US$800 Elite BDP-05FD, that meet just the 1.1 spec, for picture-in-picture BonusView content. We heard about it via a reliable leak, but now we’ve got models, pricing and another interesting confirmation: Pioneer’s Blu-ray marketing manager Chris Walker tells us that the company will launch a BD-Live player, in fact, a “super-duper flagship-status piece,” this fall (AU Spring).
Gadgets
Ridemaster Pro Horseriding Simulator Is Just Sad
10:40PM Jesus Diaz | Seriously. I don’t care how high-tech this mechanical horse—which apparently allows you to “simulate” horse riding—may be, but really, if I like to ride, I want to do it outside, on a real horse, experiencing the thrill, and feeling the wind on my face. And if I was a pro, I would like to practice on a real horse. In other words: there’s only one kind of riding to be done indoors. And this ultra-expensive US$10,000 contraption is not it. Update: we found a video of it—and yes, it’s actually sadder than we imagined. [Born Rich via Ridemaster—Music: Miwaku no Horse Riding (Go Go Cactus Man) - from Cowboy Beebop] More »
Games
Will The Wiimote Blend? (SPOILER ALERT: Yes.)
10:25PM Mark Wilson | We’re almost afraid to post this “Will It Blend” Wiimote edition video, as it’s sure to reignite the wildfire of giggling commenters who scan every post to be the first to drop that trademark line. Maybe, due to the comment publishing lag, we’ll even see two Will It Blends in a row, the ultimate Will It Blend faux pas. Three is not unheard of, but as we all know, whenever three douchebag comments hit at once we risk a black hole opening after the jump and sucking any scant intelligence not already lost to whippets and mobile phone tumors. More »
Peripherals
Brando Bluetooth Headset Stylus: Napoleon Solo Would be Jealous
9:08PM Gizmodo US Edition | Brando’s designers, holed up in their top-secret gizmo design bunker, must’ve been watching The Man From U.N.C.L.E as they dreamed up this Bluetooth device. It’s a pendant-style headset, with built-in speaker and microphone, crammed into a pen-shaped stylus. So you can hang it round your neck and use an earpiece, prod at your PDA with it or, most satisfyingly, hold it to your head and gabble into it, making passers-by think you’re barking mad a secret agent. It’s got Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, a 10 metre range and a USB-charging Li-polymer battery that’s good for three hours talk time and 90 hours standby. Sadly it omits a ballpoint function, and an amnesia pill concealed in the cap, but it’s available now for just US$30. [Brando] More »
Entertainment
Tetris, the Bottles Blowing Edition
8:46PM Jesus Diaz | Our obsession with Tetris is probably only matched by LEGO, Star Wars, and Futurama. However, this video of three synchronised bottle-blowers interpreting Korobeiniki—the famous Tetris theme song—shows that a) our fetishes are really not that bad, b) we are too lazy, c) we don’t have as much free time as we would like to do silly things like these (and others), or d) all of the above. Seriously, these guys are so good that we want to take them out for drinks. And use the bottle to blow the Mario theme. [Snotr] More »
Toys
