WD just launched a drive that looks awfully familiar: Because the WD MyBook Mirror Edition houses two 3.5" GreenPower drives—in this case either 500GB or 1TB each—it uses the same case as the networked MyBook World Edition. But this one is just for you, and you alone. The Mirror, which costs US$550 for 2TB version and US$290 for a single TB, has only a USB 2.0 jack on the back. It comes Windows-formatted (though there's also one for Macs). As its name suggests, it comes RAID 1 (mirror) configured, but it can be set for striping instead, if that's how your geek flag flies. [Western Digital]

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Verizon FiOS's blazingest 50Mbps downstream/20Mbps upstream package is no longer confined to the pit of the tri-state NY/NJ/CT area and select other locales. Starting next week, it'll be available across Verizon's entire, growing FiOS footprint in 16 states. (Though... Read More »

Optoma is winning the race to build the world's first pico-projector, the near-mythical mini projector that can throw up a display much larger than the source device's—think iPods, digital cameras and smartphones—screen. Optoma's pico will use the DLP chipset, support composite video quality and run on Li-ion batteries. The projector will make it to market later this year in Europe and Asia, before coming stateside in 2009. No word on pricing. [Optoma]

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Laughing in the face of the clip-on Coolman MP3 player and almost widdling in the trousers of the iPod shuffle itself is Philips' new GoGear SA2840 PMP. It's petite, clip-on and comes with a 4-line screen. Yup, even though it's just 4 cms square and 1.5 cms deep its got a 128 x 64 pixel OLED and 4GB of memory. There's also voice recording, a sound-enhancing FullSound system and it sells for around US$80. There's the SA2825 as well, with just 2GB but an FM radio function, and this'll set you back about US$45. [Philips via BBGadgets]

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With its four LCDs, the LP-XP200L is bigger, brighter and more colorful, claims maker Sanyo. With brightness of 7,000 lumens, a Colour Control Device to perk up colours, as well as a built-in Active Maintenance Filter system, the projector will be on sale in Japan from September 24, for a mahoosive US$17,500, but curious buggers can see it at InfoComm 2008 in Las Vegas, which is scheduled for June 18 to 20. Specs are below.

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Soon after the iPhone Mark 1 launch last year, we brought you an estimate of its manufacturing cost, and now the same analysts have looked at the iPhone 3G. Portelligent thinks that this time Apple may pay as little as $100 for the components, down from $220 for the original. The saving's made in engineering advances and Apple's buying power: the extra 8GB in the 16GB version may cost as little as $20, but you'll pay $100 for it. "But we're only paying $199 for the phone, so Apple make less!" you may point out. True, but Apple may be charging AT&T as much as $400 for each unit. And with 70 countries eager to buy iPhones, the analysis suggests it might be Apple's most profitable device yet. [EETimes via Yankeegroup via Fortune]

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Tea Drinkers of the Giz unite! And get me a Bodum Clara kettle for my birthday next month, please (I share it with Ringo Starr, useless-fact fans). Made of borosilicate glass, which keeps the water smell-, taste- and taint-free, it weighs less than 500 grams and holds 1.75 litres of water. The Clara has got a blue stopper on the spout which makes it whistle like a horny construction worker, and it can be used on electric and gas stoves, as well as ceramic hobs. You can even put it in the microwave if you remove the lid and whistle, but what is the point of that? Microwaves and tea bags/tea leaves should not even be in the same sentence, let alone the same process. Bodum's beautiful kettle costs US$60. [Bodum online shop via Cool Hunting]

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The latest craze for teenagers with no place to go except Facebook is "dipping," or gatecrashing someone else's swimming pool. According to the Daily Mail (commenter djheath's favourite publication, if I recall correctly) putative trespassers select their swimming pool using Google Earth, and then notify their mates using social networking sites. The would-be revellers often turn up in fancy dress, and are advised to bring a bike (for a swift getaway). Owners only discover their pool has been dipped when they find a bunch of beer cans floating on the surface the next morning. [Daily Mail]

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A recent dig around in the BBC's archives has resulted in an unexpected find: recordings made in 1951 of a Ferranti Mark 1 computer playing tunes. Predating what was thought previously to be the first (on a Bell Labs IBM mainframe in 1957) the tapes were made during a recording of Children's Hour in Manchester University. The Ferranti was the first commercially available general purpose computer, and can be heard beeping through God Save the King, Baa Baa Black Sheep and In the Mood... slowly, and a bit scratchily since the recordings are 57 years old. Interestingly, the software was written by a chap called Christopher Strachey, a friend of Alan Turing. Click on to the BBC link to hear this bit of History in action, and marvel how far we've come since. [BBC via The Inquirer]

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John Chan from Cnet Asia has been given a tour of Android by Google's Andy Rubin. However, the touchscreen handset that the software was demoed on was deemed out of bounds—FYI, it's veeery similar to an HTC TyTN II. Anyway, this is what he had to say about the software.

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This concept is a gizmo which you'd have in a first aid kit to help you if someone collapses and needs CPR. You'd whack it on the chest of the ill person, line it up and follow its instructions. It flashes to give you proper timing, and clicks to let you know you're using the right chest-compression pressure (it's harder than you think). It looks pretty simple, and is exactly the sort of thing that might help save a few lives in an emergency. Best of all, it's a classic case of nominative determinism in action: its designer is Ryan Helps. [Yanko Design]

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Back in January we showed the Panasonic HDC-SD9 camcorder, which has a 3-CCD sensor, but the HDC-SD100 and HDC-HS100 announced today have a spanky new MOS system. This makes them the world's first AVCHD camcorders with "3MOS," which has double the light-receiving area of the CCD version, better for low-light shooting. The HS100 model records to SD card and its 60GB HDD, while the SD100 just saves to SD but both have full HD resolution, a new Leica lens and optical image stabilisation. Available in September for US$1,299.95 for the HS100 and US$1,099.95 for the HDC-HS100. Read on for the full press release.

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Mark Spoonauer's Laptop Mag is running an extensive UI video from their exclusive hands on of the Garmin Nuviphone. [Laptop mag]

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Rumour has it that Verizon Wireless will be joining AT&T and Sprint in offering visual voicemail, in this case on four upcoming phones: LG's Chocolate 3 and an updated Voyager (possible software update but more likely hardware refresh), along... Read More »

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Ron Johnson is addressing the press, giving an overview of Apple Stores history. The Sydney store is the 215th store, first in the southern hemisphere. Apple Stores are now available in 6 countries, on 4 continents.

Half the Sydney store is dedicated to Apple owners, rather than just sales. Mac sales in Australia growing three times faster than PCs. The iPod is growing as well, so Sydney was the ideal place for their newest store.

Sydney is the second largest store in the world, and was designed to push all their products as close to the street as possible. The atrium area has the largest single sheets of laminated glass in the history of the world.

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Just like they did when Firefox 2 dropped, Microsoft has sent the guys over at Mozilla a congratulatory cake. The nerd food was delivered in person and was graciously accepted by the Firefox crew, who managed to hold back snide remarks about the cake's standard compliance and proprietary recipe long enough to take a few pictures. At least Microsoft has a sense of humour about their eroding market share. [Al Billings]

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The cheap, low power processor space for stuff like lil' notebooks is just about the hottest one around, so AMD would be silly to pass it up, especially when it preached the benefits of efficiency long before Intel came around to that school of thought. (Oh, those were the days.) A leaked slide shows AMD might have one up its sleeves--64-bit, 1GHz, and an 8W thermal power design, which puts in more in range of Via's Nano processors than Intel's Atom, meaning it's not quite ultra-ultraportable appropriate. Course, it could be (and very probably is) just one a family, meaning there might be more sprightly versions. [EeePCNews.de via Electronista]

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The hot and heavy rumors that an imminent PS3 firmware update would finally bring in-game access to the XMB (cross media bar, the PS3's menu) are true: Sony's official PlayStation blog confirms that firmware update 2.40 will include the long-awaited menu access, along with trophies - the PS3's version of achievements - and "some other new enhancements." We'll have to sit through firmware update 2.36 first, though - it's pretty boring, just adding some system stability for certain games. No word on the date, but we're still crossing our fingers for this month. [Playstation Blog]

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After one look at the Indian-branded "Speed Racer" motorcycle concept bike by Dan Bailey, it is easy to see how he incorporated the main characters in the Aliens movie franchise into the aesthetics. Using the specs on the Kawasaki Ninja as his framework, Bailey sought to design a bike that was rugged but maintained a sleek look--a mission he has certainly accomplished. I don't know if the Speed Racer will ever go into production, but for a design with the balls to take elements from three iconic franchises (maybe four if you count TRON), the bike holds up well. But how do you sit on it? [Daniel Bailey via Tuvie]

The iDance WALL-E robot—essentially a dancing iPod speaker—is awesomely spazztastic. He busts his moves to the tune of any MP3 player via 3.5mm jack and gives a groovy light show with his eyes. WALL-E also speaks, saying his name in that adorable voice of his ("WaAaaAAaLL-E"). As you can see in the video, he's not as fancy as his very embarrassed $200 big brother, but for $US25 he'll make any Rolly roll for the hills. Hey Hollywood, I smell You Got Served 2. It—that is, the iDance WALL-E—will be out in July. [Disney]

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This Disney RC Tinker Bell is one seriously sweet flying fairy. As you see in the video, it's using WowWee's FlyTech ornithopter-type vertical flying system to flutter, glide and dive around this Waldorf-Astoria suite. It'll be out in the spring for $US40. [Disney]

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Before you laugh, Hannah Montana has some high-tech instruments out that even hardcore gadget heads can appreciate. My favourite is the Mic Kit, expertly demoed by Disney creative director Jon Guerra in the clip above. The kit is a USB mic with software that teaches you how to sing with proper pitch control and recognition through a karaoke-style game. It analyses your vocal range too, and adjusts the songs accordingly so you don't have to worry about sounding hopelessly out of tune.

There's also a Guitar Hero-style plug-and-play game for kids that has 3 buttons and a cool touch-sensor bar instead of the typical strumming button. It's $US70, and the mic kit is $US50, both coming soon. [Disney]

The recent Zune Update a month or so ago added the ability to track your listening habits and reward you for them. Think of achievements on the Xbox 360, except not pedantic ones like listen to every artist that released a single in 2003. These badges are actually quite nice, and display on your Zune Card if you do whatever it is enough times in the previous month. A thousand plays isn't all that hard if you're sitting at your desk all day like us. No cheating, cause we know you'd just leave your player on repeat and turn your speakers off. [Zune via Zune Insider]

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The Jura F90 is a coffee maker than runs at $2000, largely due to its amazing internet powers, like remotely setting your coffee's strength (strong enough to kill a horse, plz) and getting diagnostics help without sending the whole unit in for service. But the software has some serious holes like a buffer overflow vulnerability that'll let hackers take over the PC you use to connect the F90 to the net, not to mention screw up your coffee, turning it into a sludgy cup of caffeinated tar, or worse, a watery, tea-like liquid. There's no patch yet, but there better be soon. A computer getting hacked is really trivial, but shitty coffee from a $2000 machine is goddamn criminal. [Cnet]

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The Sony Ericsson F305 gaming phone went official today, and the guys at Crave Asia fired off a few first impressions after spending some hands-on time with it. They claim that the screen on the F305 is way too small and the device itself is excessively slippery--which doesn't mesh well with the motion controls. All-in-all they felt that it had "a been-there-done that vibe to it," but the Wii-esque motion controls are a step in the right direction. Still, it seems that the F305 is a far cry from the PSP phone we have all been dreaming of. [Crave]

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