June 24, 2008

Computers

Kohjinsha SX Series: For When Your Mini-Notebook Obsession Grows Up

Posted by Mark Wilson at 11:40 PM on June 24, 2008

While Asus has brought mini-notebooks to US shores, for the best stuff you've still got to import. The Kohjinsha SX Series is a 1.2kg laptop with a few interesting quirks. Powered by an Atom processor, the 8.9-inch Vista system can convert to tablet with the rotation of the convertible touchscreen. And to make sure you can teleconference in either mode, the system features two cameras to capture those dazzling whites. The 1GB of RAM will need a boost, but the 60GB hard drive, internal DVD writer and expandable multicard reader do a lot to make up for it (and if only we could take advantage of that 1seg tuner...). Buy it now for US$1,199.00.

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[DFJ via jkkmobile]


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Cameras

Ricoh Bumps Up Megapixels with the GX200 Camera

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 11:20 PM on June 24, 2008

With 12 megapixels of creamy goodness, Ricoh's GX200 is an upgrade of last year's GX100. The Smooth Imaging Engine III processing engine gives you better noise reduction, there's a 2.7-inch, 460,000-pixel HVGA LCD screen, an electronic level function for horizontal and vertical shooting, and 5fps continuous RAW mode. Cost in the UK is either US$700 or US$800, depending whether you get the VF-1 electronic viewfinder. Bonus pic and interminably long press release are below.


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Science

Scientists Build Portable Life-Signs Detector: Tricorder 1.0

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 11:15 PM on June 24, 2008

A team of US and UK scientists have invented a portable scanner that may be useful in the hunt for life on Mars. And it sounds a whole lot like a Star Trek tricorder: it uses a beam of ultraviolet laser light and detects fluorescence from organic molecules, so it works remotely and doesn't damage samples. Under simulated-Mars conditions, they've used it to detect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (found on comets, thought to be building-blocks of life) in masses as small as 1.5 micrograms. Plus they think the tech could be adapted to be rugged and fitted onto a future Mars rover. Just wait for the handheld version, and for an astronaut to start going "widdlywee..." as they stomp around Mars. [Eurekalert via IO9]


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Deals

Dealzmodo: Free Sirius Radio With Purchase of Lamborghini

Posted by Mark Wilson at 11:00 PM on June 24, 2008

For most of us, the deciding factor against getting satellite radio are those pesky subscription costs. Now Sirius has just signed a deal with Automobili Lamborghini to offer the car customers free lifetime service of Sirius. One word of caution: The deal starts with the 2009 Murciélago. So make sure you don't buy a 2008 Lamborghini only to find yourself jacked with huge, unexpected fees.

AU: I'd very much doubt that this is for Aussies, but if anybody out there is looking to buy a 2009 Lamborghini, feel free to let us know.
[Edmunds] Thanks Frank!


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Gadgets

Tapehead Inspector Is Coming For Your Tapes

Posted by Mark Wilson at 10:40 PM on June 24, 2008

A brilliant use of old tech, the Tapehead Inspector is a manual tape reader not meant so much for playback of your favourite '80s power ballad mix, but for new music creation. Constructed by removing the tapehead from an old Walkman, it sounds quite a bit like a mixer as it runs over old tape and/or magnetised cards in your wallet. Oh, and it's stored in a giant cassette tape, which is more than a little fantastic. [Zero-Waste via MAKE]


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Gadgets

Mossberg Has Power to Make Companies Tank, Soar

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 10:23 PM on June 24, 2008

Bow to Walter the Merciless, for he definitely influences the market and can decide if a product is worthy of living or not. At least according to "The Value of Quality: Stock Market Returns to Reviewed Quality of New Products," a new research paper that has analysed Mossberg's product reviews and their effect on companies' valuations during a 10-year period. The conclusion: He could make stock prices tank or soar by as much as 10%. And that's without using his mental control powers.


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Entertainment

Beast With a Billion Backs, New Futurama DVD, Out Today

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 10:00 PM on June 24, 2008

Today is June 24 and, for Futurama fans, that can only mean one thing: the latest offering from Matt Groening and Co. is out today. Beast With A Billion Backs is a "depraved, yet sensuous" episode that, according to head writer and producer David X. Cohen, refers to as "disturbing." (Yay!) "There is certainly more of an adult theme in this film than the average Futurama episode" he adds. With David Cross voicing the Beast (everyone's favourite gymnophobic, Dr Tobias Fünke), Beast With a Billion Backs welcomes back a whole bunch of familiar faces—and voices, which include Professor Stephen Hawking. Trailer is below.


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Games

Conceptual 'Wiimote in 2010' Mixes Fantasy with More Fantasy

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 9:33 PM on June 24, 2008

This concept for a Wiimote of the future is showing over at T3, and yes... I know what you're thinking. I do. Honest. But my real problem with the design is that it's for just two years away, and do we really think Nintendo is going to redevelop things so radically by then? I'm sure fans would approve... but PS2 controllers haven't evolved much over the years, in comparison. And I know it's supposed to interact with that brainwave headset control, and that's groovy. But I'm sure it'd kill Wii Fit stone dead, unless you're talking mental agility. Still... with that cyberbabe to demonstrate the gizmos, I can't complain too much. [T3 via Yanko]

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Software

Nokia Pwns Symbian

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 8:11 PM on June 24, 2008

After a long hardware-software partnership, Nokia's just announced it's buying out all the remaining shares in Symbian it doesn't already own. The purchase amounts to a whopping US$410 million, and is actually part of a deal between Nokia, AT&T, LG Electronics, Motorola, NTT DOCOMO, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone to form what's being called the "Symbian Foundation." This is an attempt by the companies to join forces and develop and promote the Symbian OS together. Full press release below.


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Portable

Mio's Knight Rider GPS Test Drive Video (Verdict: It's KITTastic)

Posted by Benny Goldman at 8:00 PM on June 24, 2008

I got a sneak peek at Mio's new Knight Rider GPS, and it's more fun and cheesy than I expected. As you can see in the video, William Daniels, the original voice of KITT, guides you as you cruise the streets, fighting crime. Flashing red LEDs are synced up to the speech, and the screen marks your location with a Pontiac Trans Am icon. My favourite part is that is has 300 names built-in when you're done pretending that you're Michael Knight and you want KITT to call you by your real moniker. It'll be US$270—a bit less than we thought—when it's out in August. [Knight Rider GPS]


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Gadgets

Eleeno Cyber Digital Watch: Time-Confusion Fashion Fusion

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 7:48 PM on June 24, 2008

I own a perfectly conventional analogue watch, and though I confess to a penchant for these weird or confusing digital ones, up to now I'd probably not buy one. But this leaked set of images is of a watch I'd actually consider wearing: the Eleeno Cyber. With 12 discrete LCD dials to read the time from, it's almost more fashion bracelet than watch, and comes in silver or dark stainless steel finish with green or red LCDs. To work out how the displays work, there's a guideline in the gallery: but you'll have to decipher that first. Available in Russia for US$198 in July, but apparently Tokyo Flash have carried this brand before. [Technabob]

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Screens

Panasonic to Have 37-Inch OLED Panels on Sale By 2011?

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 6:42 PM on June 24, 2008

Adding to the rumours we brought you a few months ago, the Sankei Shimbun daily newspaper is reporting that Panasonic is planning on having 37-inch OLED screens on sale within three years. And there's more: they'll be setting up a production line in the IPS Alpha Technology factory in Chiba Prefecture, intend to overtake their rivals in the next-gen display tech, and will sell the TVs for US$1,390. Though Panasonic apparently denies having such detailed plans, it seems a plausible timescale to me. [OLEDdisplay.net]


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Robots

Readybot is a Robot Maid for Cleaning Your Stuff, Version 0.1

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 6:09 PM on June 24, 2008

It's hard not to watch this video of DIY robot Readybot and think "sweet... what's the next version like?" Looking like everyone's favourite trashcan-shaped sci-fi droid has collided with a dishwasher, Readybot's intended to be a home-assistant 'bot doing a maid's job, cleaning your house. It may be slow and primitive now, but it looks pretty adept at grabbing stuff from the floor. And deploying a Roomba to do the vacuuming is genius. Actually an on-going development by makers The Readybot Robot Challenge, the robot will get more sophisticated, and we'll be watching for Phase 2 later this year. I'll get excited when it can put my clothes away and clean the cat litter tray. [Readybot]


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Online

TV Shows On Australian iTunes!

Australian Post Posted by Nick Broughall at 5:09 PM on June 24, 2008

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It's been a long time coming, but the Australian iTunes Store is finally selling TV shows.

Apple's on one hell of a roll at the moment. After last week's massive Sydney Store opening, and another two and a half weeks before the iPhone launches, they've decided to plug the gap by offering both Australian and international TV programming on their iTunes Store.

Among the programs that you can purchase - episodes cost a reasonable $2.99 each - are local productions from Channel 9 and the ABC, plus international programming from The Disney Channel, MTV and ABC Studios.

The selection isn't the greatest to start off with, especially for local content - there's Summer Heights High, We can be Heroes, Double the Fist, Sleek Geeks, Surfing the Menu, and Foreign Correspondent Postcards from Aunty and Sea Patrol, Canal Road, MacLeod's Daughters and Urban Magic from Channel 9. From ABC Studios, you've got Scrubs, Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. Plus there's South Park Season 10.

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Phones

HTC Touch Diamond Landing Late July, $999 Outright

Australian Post Posted by Nick Broughall at 4:56 PM on June 24, 2008


HTC today announced the Australian release of the HTC Touch Diamond. The phone, which Chen seems to think is a little bit slow from his early hands-on, will be launched either late July or early August on Telstra.

The phone will cost $999 outright or free on an $80 plan. It's also quite customised for the Telstra network, with inbuilt Sensis mapping, Trading Post and search functionality. It also features a 7.2Mbps HSPA chipset inside, which takes advantage of Telstra's fast NextG network. CEO Peter Chou even admitted that it was the fastest phone they'd ever produced.

Telstra have got the Diamond exclusively for three months, although there's no word on who'll pick it up after that. I also managed to catch a glimpse of the Touch Pro version with a slide-out qwerty keypad, and although they were quiet on specifics, it's looking at a Q4 launch down here.

I also managed to score some one-on-one time with CEO Peter Chou, which I'll be sorting through over the next couple of days. Stay tuned for more...

[HTC]

Toys

Lego Secret Vault Contains All Sets In History

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 11:30 AM on June 24, 2008

I have to confess that life hasn't been very good lately. Work around the clock, not enough free time, trying to have kids and crashing badly... all while moving to a country I don't particularly like, away from my best friends and family. Maybe that's why visiting Lego's Memory Lane--the secret vault guarding almost every Lego set ever manufactured--touched me in a way I didn't expect. This wasn't amazement or simple awe. I was already astonished to no end by the tour of the Lego factory. No, this was something else, something bigger than the impressive view of the 4,720 Lego sets inside this lair. These weren't just simple boxes full of bricks. These were tickets to ride a time portal to emotions and simpler days long forgotten.


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Science

The Breast Motion Power Generator is a Genius Idea

Posted by Jason Chen at 11:29 AM on June 24, 2008

Adrienne So over at Slate has used her natural gifts to come up with the most genius idea yet: an energy-generating bra. Instead of just holding her boobs in place and dispelling that excess kinetic energy into, I don't know, heat, why not use it to power a gadget? According to a breast specialist, a D-cup in a lousy bra moves up to 35-inches up and down during exercise. Professor Wang of Georgia Tech is working on just this problem, using nanowires inside fabric to convert that visual spectacle into something useful. But is it enough to power an average iPod? This Wang says yes. [Slate]


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Games

Portable Gaming Solutions Will Cram Your 360 Into a Suitcase for US$550

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 10:30 AM on June 24, 2008

Sometimes it's nice to just sit and consider exactly why you don't do so many of the things that you don't do. (That's why I don't tie my nipples to doorknobs! Of course!) This is a useful exercise that the guy behind Portable Gaming Solutions has apparently never tried. As a result, he is offering to convert your perfectly functional Xbox 360 into a strange-looking laptop for more than the cost of the original console.


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Entertainment

Cillian Murphy Will Be The Last Thing HD DVD Sees Before It Dies

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 10:20 AM on June 24, 2008

HD DVD was declared dead a long time ago, and the last film to be released to the US on the format will hit (roughly three to five) shelves tomorrow. Disco Pigs was originally released in 2001 and very appropriately stars Cillian Murphy and Elaine Cassidy as friends who were born in the same hospital, at the same time, and who grew up next to one another. Unfortunately, as they reach adulthood it is apparent that their relationship has become dangerously volatile. It doesn't end well. (Spoiler alert: Cillian Murphy's character is the HD DVD.) [Crave]


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Vehicles

McCain Proposes US$300 Million Prize to Develop Next-Gen Battery for Cars, Cybernetic Cryo-Suits

Posted by Matt Buchanan at 9:30 AM on June 24, 2008

It's well known that the biggest bump in the road to developing an awesome all-electric car is the battery. The only ones juicy enough are a) big b) expensive and c) not so durable. Not easy. But science is no match for the American spirit! If elected, John McCain is promising US$300 million to whoever develops a next-gen battery that "has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars." Totally coincidentally, that same battery will also power the next generation of life-extending cybernetic cryo-suits. [Detroit News via Jalopnik]


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Gadgets

Spaniards Take the Movie Office Space Very Seriously

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 9:20 AM on June 24, 2008

Destruction therapy has been around for a while now, but is only just starting to hit its stride. On June 21st, a large group of variously frustrated individuals converged on Castejon, Spain to launch the town fiestas with the coordinated destruction of an entire field of appliances and cars. Mainstream medicine has yet to recognise the efficacy of destruction therapy, but hey, I'm sure frontal lobotomies took a few years to catch on too. Gallery after the jump. [Reuters]


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Regulars

Breakfast Wrap: Best of Monday Night

Australian Post Posted by Nick Broughall at 9:02 AM on June 24, 2008

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Motozine ZN5 Camera Phone Now Official
Can sticking a Kodak camera on the back of a phone save Motorola?

Wall-e Is Huge Glorious Robot Clusterfrak
Definitely going to see this movie.

LiveLuggage Power-Assisted Suitcase Lightens the Load for Travellers
I would have killed for one of these when I did an "around the world" tour a few years ago...

WSJ: Android Is A Giant, Delayed Flustercuck, iPhone Easier to Develop For
I think the lack of information in the general arena on Android's development is starting to inhibit its progress, especially with the iPhone 3G's imminent release...

The Gizmodo Water Gun Battlemodo Royale: Our Slo-Mo Trailer
Don't you wish it was Summer?

The Fossil Washbasin Will Hypnotise You Into Being Late For Work
Aahhh, evolution. At least we know that in a couple of million years, we could be some superior being's washbasin as well.

Vehicles

22 Year Old Set To Sail The Mississippi On a Boat Made From Juice Cartons

Posted by Sean Fallon at 9:00 AM on June 24, 2008

A 22 year old British adventurer by the name of Rhys Jones may have made a name for himself as the youngest person to to climb the world's seven highest summits, but he may end up being known as the youngest lunatic to ever drown in a juice carton boat on the Mississippi if his plans for this weekend don't pan out. Actually, the idea was conceived by his father after he received a book about origami. Naturally, his first thought was to build a 12 foot raft with a wooden cabin and a paper hull lined with juice cartons and sail 6,000 kms down one of the most treacherous rivers in the world.

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Software

EFiX Instant, No-Mess Hackintosh USB Dongle Details Emerge

Posted by Matt Buchanan at 8:30 AM on June 24, 2008

EFix has updated their site with some more details on its voodoo USB dongle that'll supposedly boot, install and run OS X "unmodified," straight from the DVD on any PC (Intel processors only though). Among the freshly listed goods are "official Apple Updates," an interactive system boot selector and power management features.


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Software

Bill Gates Retirement Party

Posted by Wilson Rothman at 8:00 AM on June 24, 2008

The time has come. On June 27th, Bill Gates will stop commuting to Microsoft's Redmond campus on a daily basis, and begin full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. You probably know that for Bill, retirement doesn't mean what it meant for your dear old granddad. He will still visit his Redmond office once per week, doing what Ballmer tells him to do. Nevertheless, it's the furthest Bill will ever separate himself from the software biz while he's living on this planet, so it's something to commemorate, for better or worse.

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Cameras

Pennycam Captures Convenience Store Thieves, Penny Pinchers

Posted by Sean Fallon at 7:40 AM on June 24, 2008

I know how it is with you man--you see that "Take-a-Penny, Leave-a-Penny" tray and it is all "take, take, take!" Well your days of penny pinching are over now that SteathVue has developed their Pennycam. What they have done is to embed a security camera inside the tray that relays upward angled video to a DVR using a standard BNC cable. Obviously, Pennycam is intended to capture clearer (500 x 582 resolution) images of thieves that try and obscure their face from overhead cameras--and it seems to work pretty well based on the footage in the following demo video.

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Home

Three Top DTV Converter Boxes Go Head to Head For Your Digital Dollar

Somehow I doubt that many Gizmodo readers are concerned about getting a DTV converter before the February 2009 cutoff date--but then again, I've been surprised before. If you or someone you know falls into this category, Sound & Vision has... Read More »

Press