First there was the strangely Nintendo cartridge-like USB HDD dock, then there was the USB hub version. Now the strange external drive dock has got two slots for either 3.5- or 2.5-inch SATA drives, and also connects to your PC via eSata. There’s one connection for each, mind you, so you’d better have a few slots free—though you can fall back on the USB option. Available soon for US$107.56. [GeekStuff4U via Akihabaranews]
Sega’s HomeStar planetarium has been around for aeons and aeons, in a raft of different versions. Its latest incarnation is the HomeStar Spa, which basically means it’s ripe for the bathroom. As before, you sit the newly-waterproofed little globe in the corner of your (bath)room and throws crazy shapes onto the walls. New projections include “Flowers” and “Kaleidoscope.” The HomeStar Spa will be launched at the Tokyo Toy Fair, at the end of this month. [Trends In Japan]
We first mentioned the upcoming LG Dare, also known as the VX9700, back in March. But now over on Phone Arena more pics of the candybar touchscreen mobile phone have emerged. They show it carrying the Verizon brand, a little more of the phone’s UI, and confirm that the 3.2-megapixel autofocus cam will have a flash. The Dare will also sport a 240 x 400 pixel screen, browser, Bluetooth 2.0, 3.5 mm headset socket and supports microSDHC cards up to 8GB. Its release date has been pushed back to July—until then, cast your eyes over the pics. [Phone Arena]
It’s the Friday before a long weekend – it’s time to stop work and realise that you have a whole three days off.
But before you rush off for 72 hours of responsibility-free bliss, just a quick reminder for any of you who will be staying up late on Monday night for Apple’s WWDC coverage – Giz AU will be refeeding the US team’s liveblog in real time, adding our own expert analysis and Australian relevance to the impending 3G iPhone announcements.
So, if you’re awake and in the neighbourhood, swing by, have a cup of coffee and follow all the events as they unravel live at Giz AU.
Earlier this year, Environment Minister Peter Garrett Announced that by next year we’d see energy rating labels on our gadgets. Well, the process has now begun, at least in a voluntary capacity. The government has announced the requirements and guidelines for energy ratings for televisions on their energy rating website.
The rating will be out of 10, rather than the usual six that you see on fridges and other whitegoods, with the higher the star rating the better the energy efficiency.
At the moment, the labelling is completely voluntary, so don’t expect to see them on the cheap plasmas you can pick up down at JB Hifi. However, Sony, Panasonic, Philips and LG have all announced that they are planning on using the stickers to rate their TVs, and you’d expect other big names like Samsung will jump on board as well.
There’s no word on whether (or when) the ratings will make their way over to other gadgets, or whether or not the labels will become compulsory in the near future. Here’s hoping…
Ty over at CNet AU got his hands on the new Foxtel iQ2 box a little bit before everybody else, and was kind enough to post his thoughts on the CNet site.
Overall, he was impressed by the new Foxtel offering, rating its performance in presenting both SD and HD channels, although the HD was where most of the love was projected, especially with the programs that offered 5.1 surround sound.
There are some advanced options in the setup menu that allow you to cater for lip-sync issues, and the On Demand service worked a treat.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing – the system did lock up a few times and require hard resets, but he was playing with a pre-release version, and Ty wasn’t a big fan of not knowing the start and end times of programs he was recording.
But for the most part, the HD offerings of the iQ2 were enough to convince him that the $200 installation fee was worth the money. Hit the jump for the full review, and stay tuned for Giz AU’s own opinions in the coming weeks.
[CNet AU]
Digital Wheel Art, a wheelchair painting program to help disabled people make art was on display at the Maker Faire event in NYC tonight. Creator YoungHyun Chung was inspired to create the device after seeing children with cerebral palsy whose limited movement stifled their artistic expression. Here’s how it works, plus a video of the system in action.
There’s something in the air. It smells like iPhone fever. And the latest, most exciting piece of information is this photo of… a box. MacTalk Australia have received this image from a “very reliable source” – a box from Apple with an NDA requiring that the box isn’t opened before Tuesday June 10 – which for those of you playing at home correlates to the Australian time of the WWDC.
According to MacTalk, Apple resellers all around the country will have received boxes like this one, and although they haven’t yet seen the insides, the smart money is on it containing a new 3G iPhone.
The fact they’ve only received a single box is put down to it being a promotional unit, with retail units to ship to stores for the reported June 19 release date.
It looks pretty legit to me. And although I haven’t read the NDA that applies to that particular box, here’s hoping that the tape is ripped off at 12:01 next Tuesday – 3 hours before the WWDC kicks off – so we can get all this suspense rubbish out of the way.
[MacTalk]
Reader Dan just dropped us a tip that Vodafone seem to be hitting customers who use their unlocked iPhone’s Wi-Fi with GPRS data charges:
I generally use Picasa when I want to share photos with friends and family. Mostly because it offers a full gigabyte worth of space, which means I can upload full sized images for people who want to print out large copies. It’s also incredibly simple for some of my less technologically-savvy family to access, which works out well for them too.
But after my recent nuptials, I’m starting to run out of space on my Picasa account. Sure, I could pay money to get more storage, or I could just check out Nikon’s new MyPictureTown site, which offers a whopping 2GB worth of storage for nothing.
