Friday, June 20, 2008
Toys
A Quick Glimpse of Tokyo Toy Show 2008
11:45PM Mark Wilson | For those of us not lucky enough to be at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, here’s a quick highlight video running through some of the more interesting products. Our favourite has to be the AeroSpider by Takara Tomy. It’s an R/C car that can burn donuts on 90-degree surfaces (like walls) and then top off the act by driving completely inverted on the ceiling. We’re sure that parents will just love it. [CScoutJapan via bbGadgets] More »
Science
Tequila Could Transform Silicon Valley into Naked Coed Central
11:30PM Mark Wilson | I know, you thought tequila was only good for inducing impromptu wet T-shirt contests. And who would have expected more from the famous alcohol? But now, researchers from the University of Nueva Leon have found that tequila can be an even better semiconductor component than silicon. More »
Toys
Lego Employees Have Minifigs as Business Cards (and a Great Sense of Humour)
11:15PM Gizmodo US Edition | One little piece of trivia that I learned on my trip to the Lego homebase: the employee’s business cards are Lego mini-figs, modelled after them. Another little fact: As you can see at the end of the video, all of them have a great sense of humour. More »
Gadgets
Get Around the Time with Lexon Around Clock
11:00PM Gizmodo US Edition | Minimalist clocks pop up from time to time, and while sometimes they’re just good enough for you to know it’s “three-ish,” the Around clock can actually let you know it’s “three fifteenish.” It’s about as simple design as you can get: with a rotating dial and a red wire that tells you the time. From Lexon, it’s available for US$45. And you can’t get that tune out of your head now can you? Round round get around…. [Acquire] More »
Peripherals
Air-Conditioned Tie 2.0 From Thanko Knot Very Fabulous, Really
10:40PM Gizmodo US Edition | Those egg-heads from Thanko have spent the best part of a year banging their large, domed cerebelli together, tackling what is without doubt the biggest question that the human race faces this millennium: how to upgrade their air-conditioned tie. And this is what they came up with—hiding the fan grille behind the fabric. Let us stop on this Friday morning (day, slow, news, a, it’s, yeah. Now make a sentence out of that) and consider the evidence: More »
Toys
All You Need is Love from Talking, Romantic ‘Handsome Men’ Piggy Bank
9:45PM Gizmodo US Edition | Things’d have to be pretty desperate in your love life if you needed one of these Ikemenbank, or “handsome men banks” from Bandai. For each 500 yen coin you drop in the heart-shaped gadget, you’re rewarded with the next step of a virtual love affair with a Tamagotchi-like digital chap inside. He speaks to you with emotionally supportive phrases, but needs constant attention. Not dropping a coin in for five days results in him leaving you, with nothing but a digital love letter to remind you of his pixels. Fill it up with 100 coins, however, and you get the romantic conclusion—it can be happy or sad—but I’m not clear exactly how pornographic it would be… Anyhow, if you’re lovelorn, and in Japan it will be out for around US$46 in September. [Reuters] More »
Vehicles
Mercedes-Benz Integrates iPhone into Its Cars with Special Cradle
9:45PM Gizmodo US Edition | German car manufacturer Mercedes is buying the iPhone-is-God credo, and has come up with a designated piece of gear to allow Benz drivers to integrate their iPhones into the car system. The US$249 gadget works with the C-, E-, CLK-, CLS-, S-, CL-, SL-, M- and R-Class cars, as well as the forthcoming GLK-Class. It connects your phone to the car’s audio system via either the optionally available Media Interface or the retrofittable iPod® Interface Kit. Full press release below. More »
Press
Ferris Bueller Wannabe Faces 38 Years in Prison After Changing Grades
9:35PM Gizmodo US Edition | The Orange County District Attorney has charged 18-year-old student Omar Khan with 69 felony counts—including identity theft, computer fraud, falsifying a public record, second degree burglary and watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and War Games 5,405 times—after allegedly getting into Tesoro High School’s computers to change his grades. The Matthew Broderick wannabe was not very subtle, though, leaving a trail the size of the Exxon Valdez’s oil spill. More »
Toys
When You Wish Upon a (Home)Star (Pro EX)
9:10PM Gizmodo US Edition | Rather like Holland in the Euro 2008 soccer tournament, Sega seems to be going all out on the ball front right now. Its latest addition to the Homestar family, those spooky-ooky balls that throw kaleidoscopic and galactic crazy shapes across the walls of your home, is the Homestar EX. Bigger, blacker brother to the Homestar Spa, this one looks like an interrogation droid in a sex harness, and has all sorts of added zing to it. You get much higher-quality images projected than the other models, as well as a random shooting-star function. The EX is remote-controlled, and it’s powerful enough to see the images when the lights are on. The price is not so funny, though: US$800. [Trends in Japan] More »
Peripherals
