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There's a new super-skyscraper going up, and for once it's not in Dubai. The new Tokyo Sky Tree will stand a whopping 2000 feet (610 meters) over Tokyo, making it by far the tallest building in Japan and perhaps the second tallest building in the world.
A new leak from Activision reveals that the next Tony Hawk skateboarding game will feature a breakthrough gaming peripheral for the 360, PS3 and PC. So what exactly is it? Wait for it...motion controls...wait for it again...through a board controller. For those of you who don't feel like plastic instruments, gamepads for multiple systems and the freakin' consoles themselves have taken over your life enough, there's more crap on the way!! [Kotaku]
Nvidia's latest line of graphics cards gets official today: The GeForce GTX 260 and GTX 280 mark the debut of the next-gen 200 series, a completely overhauled and badass line of GPUs. The GTX 280 rocks 240 processing cores and 1GB of RAM, while the 260 comes with 192 cores and 896MB of memory, making them equally adept at generating eye-popping graphics or serious parallel computing and physics crunching. Nvidia demoed for me some of the stuff these puppies can do in SLI--and it's pretty incredible. Check out some of Nvidia's ass-beating benchmarks for yourself. Update: Benchmarks and reviews are rolling in, and they're not looking as hot.
With E3 just around the bend, Trusted Reviews is reporting that Microsoft will announce a new Xbox 360 SKU at the event—a 60GB unit that's been rumoured for a while. There's no word on just how Microsoft will incorporate system into its line (which is currently three models offering no hard drive, a 20GB hard drive or a 120GB hard drive), but we're betting that it will outright replace the 20GB Xbox 360 Premium. And hopefully its 60GB drive will be available as a cheaper standalone upgrade than Microsoft's current college-tuition-inhaling 120GB drive. [Trusted Reviews]
It's not official yet, but FCC Chairman Kevin Martin (one of five relevant votes) has decided to allow the merge between Sirius and XM satellite radio providers. However, there are a few caveats that the companies would need to... Read More »
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Bluetooth headsets are not a good fashion statement, even Borg-like ones. But with these little earpieces from Sony, you might be able to get away with it and not look too geeky. The DR-BT140Qs double as normal earphones with a frequency response of 16Hz to 24kHz and have 30mm drivers, while the Bluetooth part is 2.0 and supports A2DP/AVRCP/HFP/HSP profiles. The built-in battery will last you about 12 hours, and they're available in July for US$138.89 in silver, white, black and pink. [Akihabaranews]
The E66 and E71, two Nokia E-Series mobile phones in last week's rumour mill, are now official. Up top is the E71, a slick QWERTY phone that's a lot less chunky than its predecessor, the E61. It comes equipped with a 3.2MP camera in the back, a front cam for video calls, Wi-Fi and GPS, just like the E66 down below.
If you've got a spare couple of grand loitering in your bank account, and you're a S*** W*** fan, then this graffiti'ed AT-AT walker might be so far up your galaxy it's parked in your constellation. Customised by EASE and JK5 for Suckadelic, the Hasbro toy is tagged in gin-u-wine Aurebesh language, and is expected to go for between US$1,500 and US$2,000. You can pick it up at the Christie's Pop Culture sale on June 25 in New York. [Christie's via GeekAlerts]
The idea behind Nike's new PhotoID scheme is that you take a picture with your mobile phone and MMS it to Nike's computers. These grab the two dominant colours and send you back an image of a 1985 Dunk high-top basketball sneaker with the colours mapped on. Cool, but here's the neat bit: you can buy the sneakers. Clever bit of PR from Nike, but it does mean you could get a pair of sneakers in hues to match your fave photos... be that sandy yellow and ocean blue, or clean bedsheet white and nubile-skin pink if you're into that sort of mobile phone photography. Launches today, but you'll have to be in one of nine European countries if you fancy trying it out. [The Guardian]
I mean "Locutus of Borg" rather than the "Bjorn" variety of course... but admittedly, having a Bluetooth headset that you can whip off and use to fire red laser beams around is pretty sci-fi. It's the BluePointer from Brando, and I suppose it's a multipurpose gadget for professionals with little room in their briefcases: it's also got an ultra-bright LED torch and it can be used to flick through the slides in your presentations. You simply pair it with a notebook supporting HID profile and away you go. It's got a talk time of six hours, standby of 120, and does Bluetooth v2.0+EDR class 2. Available now for US$90, assimilation into the collective not included. [Brando]
The Mind Chair, that rather weird sensory substitution chair on show at MoMA's Design And The Elastic Mind show at MoMA earlier this year, has been reincarnated. Designers Beta Tank have built a working model that will be on show in a lab at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London for people to "come and see with their skin."
Remember the beautiful gold and flowers keyboards from a few months back? This new keyboard from Japanese artist Kazuharu Sakura should probably go in the same "typing nightmare" category. Because it's handmade, and leather is a pretty unusual thing to have your keys made from... but they're missing something important. Legends. So, if you're into conversation-piece leather-gimp peripherals, and you know your way around a keyboard better than you know how to aim safely for the toilet in the dark, then this might be the one for you. There's no info, though, on how much this piece of luxury may cost—I imagine quite a lot. [Akihabaranews]
Earlier this year, JVC fired out the first HDD palmcorder to output video in 1080p, and now it has expanded the product line with the GZ-HD30, HD40 and HD10. It's a significant revamp, since the new cams use a completely new CMOS sensor, replacing the previous 3-CCD system. The HD40 has a 120GB 1.8-inch hard drive, versus the slimmer HD30's 80GB (making it the world's smallest 80GB palmcorder). Both these high-end models record in AVCHD and MPEG2 at full HD resolution, and the HD40 can squeeze in about 50 hours of AVCHD at this res. The lower-end HD10 model can only shoot in AVCHD and has a 40GB hard drive. Full press release below the gallery.
Newsweek's latest issue, due out tomorrow, profiles a subject near and dear to many a geek guy's heart and loins: hot women. But there's a twist! These are women with brains to match their good looks, and that's exactly the point. Called the Nerd Girls, this team of twentysomething Tufts University coeds was created by founder Karen Panetta to dismantle two common "myths." First, that boys are better at math and science than girls; and second, that a female engineer is a socially inept girl with no sense of style. Do the Nerd Girls succeed at demolishing stereotypes? We've covered the rising tide of girl geeks here before, and the Tufts team has already built a solar powered car (what have you done lately?), but by all means take a look at what these "Nerdettes" have to offer and decide for yourself.
Posted by Nick Broughall at 11:39 AM on June 16, 2008
I just received word from the guys over at Canon that the EOS 1000D that was announced last week will actually only be available in Black here in Australia.
Is there anybody out there that's actually bothered by this decision? I own a silver 400D and a black 40D, and I much prefer the look of the black camera over the silver - and not just because it looks so big and heavy that by carrying it around I'm essentially telling the ladies that my upper body is carved from solid granite.
At the moment, there's still no word on pricing or a firm release date either, but we'll keep you posted as soon as we hear something.
The Gadget: The iHome iH12, which is an iPod dock, alarm clock, AM/FM radio and stereo speakers all in one compact black box. The BR means it's black and it comes with a remote.
Posted by Nick Broughall at 10:59 AM on June 16, 2008
UPDATE: Despite the lack of information available from Asus' PR rep, tipster Adam has sent through a screengrab from the Ingram Micro's website which clearly states a $649 pricepoint and a June 20 availability. Have a look for yourself below...The Eee PCs are falling thick and fast these days - only a few weeks after the EeePC 900 landed in Australia, we're hearing that the Eee PC 901 will be hitting shelves on June 20 for $649 in both black and white models.
Posted by Nick Broughall at 10:38 AM on June 16, 2008
Over the weekend I received a lot of emails from readers saying that people from either 3 stores or 3's customer care line had told them that the 3 network was likely to be getting the iPhone after the July 11 launch date, although there was no further information than that.
I gave 3 a call to see what the official word was, and got the classic response: "There's no official update", which means that even if they are getting it, they're not prepared to tell the likes of us.
This 3G iPhone deal from T-Mobile isn't quite free, a la O2, but at 1 Euro it's pretty darn close. Like the 02 deal, however, the low price point is available only for customers that are comfortable signing away large chunks of their life via a mobile phone contract. To get the T-Mobile deal, you must choose the highest monthly plan, which will cost you 89 Euro per month (about $146). [I4U]
Taking a bath with me usually results in an out of this world experience of some kind or another, but for those of you who are too far away to experience such luxuries comes this bathtub planetarium sphere from Sega Toys. All you have to do is dim the lights and the HomeStar projects stars, underwater scenes, or even roses all over you, the walls, and whatever bath time companion followed you home that night. Hopefully it' E.T., and he feels right at home. And before you ask, the answer is yes, you could probably whip up a DIY model of this with a flashlight and a mirror, and save yourself 7,000 yen. There's no fun in that, though, and there's certainly no Japanese women in bath towels. Or E.T. [ImpressWatch via TokyoMango]
The Bi-Cycle tandem bike picks up where the Face-to-Face one left off, and by that I mean it manages to take an incredibly unsound, dangerous idea and up the ante considerably (video below). It's basically two unicycles bolted together, and the two steering column design means that, as a passenger, the well-being of both riders is literally in your hands. Then again, which seat is the front? Who gets to decide? Why can't I shake an image of violent cell mitosis from my head? At least the thing breaks down for easy storage—which is where, I imagine, this type of bike will spend the majority of it time.
Posted by Nick Broughall at 8:40 AM on June 16, 2008
With recruitment levels sagging, the U.S. Army is going the hyper-interactive route with an experimental new store that's right out of the Apple playbook. That is, if Apple Genius Bar employees greeted customers with Apache attack helicopter simulators, full-scale Army vehicle mock-ups, and wrap-around 270-degree video screens, instead of those paperless receipt scanner things.
Posted by Nick Broughall at 8:25 AM on June 16, 2008
Posted by Nick Broughall at 8:07 AM on June 16, 2008
eBay challenges yesterday's Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) draft notice and is disappointed that the ACCC's current view delays the opportunity to provide consumers a more secure way to shop on eBay.com.au with confidence.It still blows me away that they're still pushing the whole security reason as the catalyst for this move. I mean, if it were purely for the benefit of consumers, they'd cut back some of the fees involved for sellers.
eBay intends to work with the ACCC and hopes to achieve a final outcome which has the safety and security of eBay's members as its paramount objective. eBay will delay the removal of other payment methods from the site until Tuesday 15 July.
According to Ars, one AT&T attorney told the FCC yesterday that early termination fees we pay for leaving our contracts before the designated time are actually a great deal for us. His reasoning was that "ETF-backed term contracts give consumers... Read More »
Posted by Nick Broughall at 7:53 AM on June 16, 2008
Even if you don't speak a word of Japanese, there's a lot of intensity and information to be had in this newscast of the tragic Akihabara killings last Sunday. I'd just offer up a word of warning before you hit play, as there's graphic material found throughout the clip.