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Yesterday, I showed you the first photos of the new NYC waterfalls in action, taken during a test run. This morning, a grey and muggy NYC morning, they were turned on officially. Here's a close-up video taken of the waterfall under the Brooklyn Bridge from Fulton Landing in Brooklyn. I can't wait to see it at night all lit up from the Manhattan Bridge. [Gothamist]
The bottom line on the STR-DA4400ES, STR-DA3400ES and STR-DA2400ES is that they are Sony's new high end line of 7.1 receivers, outstanding for low noise, clean power, chassis dampening, 5 year warranty and high price. They all have cross media bar interfaces like the PS3. The HDMI ports also do BRAVIA control for over the wire remote of other Sony devices. The 4400 has 6 HDMI ports, does 2 video zones, 3 audio zones and picture in picture.
The Joy of Tech has taken a shot at those of us digging through the couch cushions and begging mummy and dad for the latest Apple product. Because, let's face it. It's expensive to be this geek-trendy and some of us don't have jobs. Only one thing we can't figure out...
Japan's second most dubiously famous technological predilection (behind panty-vending machines) is its highfalutin' toilets, which warm, wash, blow dry and deodorise your bum, just to cover the basics. Japan is also well regarded for taking the lead on going green--average energy consumption per person is half ours. Tragically, the Japanese desire for a pampered and squeaky clean butthole is killing that ethos--and the planet.
I know it's an office building, but really, I want to have an apartment at the Kraanspoor, this beautiful glass and steel structure constructed over an old craneway at a former shipyard in Amsterdam. The titanic 134,548-square-foot edifice is 270 metres long and 14 metres wide and has a perfect view over the largest waterway in the city. Add the book staircase somewhere in there, and I'm moving again. [Archdaily]
Sony revealed some new numbers about their PlayStation Network today. There are 9.8 million registrants worldwide and they've downloaded 170 million files. All in all, PSN has distributed 86 peta bytes of data worth something like 17 million (single layer) DVDs (read: not Blu-ray discs). Now think about those 17 million DVDs stacked in a big, stinky pile and tell us with a straight face that digital distribution, despite how much we love our pretentious vinyl collection and ripping our own CDs, is not progress that will make for a better world. [Kotaku]
Sure the Kindle is fab, and printed media may soon be "dead"... but ebooks really don't feel quite as good the real thing do they? A science team from Maryland and Berkeley Universities noted that we do much more sophisticated navigation when we read a real book than is offered by current ebooks, so they've designed an advanced prototype with two pages. It works like a normal book, with page turning maneuvers to get to the new page, and you can even fold it back into a single-page version, or separate the pages to share info with someone else, as the video shows.
Remember when you were three and thought "I want to be an astronaut" but then you left home to became a waiter then a mackerel fisherman in the middle of the Atlantic then a male stripper/occasional porn actor then a surfer instructor then an art teacher onboard a Swedish ship school, and then became a blogger for a famous gadget site who likes to write about aerospace, Lego, and iPhones? Probably not, but I do. That's why I'm happy that NASA is recruiting astronauts for moon missions. But hurry up, because the 2009 Astronaut Candidate Class deadline is approaching fast:
You sent the questions and now here are the answers. Do you want to know how many bricks are produced per minute? How many bricks have been produced in history? What's the best-selling set ever? What has been the worst? Do they recycle? How did they survive the crisis that almost killed them? How successful is Mindstorms? What are the actual names of each of the pieces? Why there are no blondes in Lego sets? Why there are extra pieces sometimes? Here's the definitive mega-reference, straight from Lego.
Forget Dr Who's TARDIS, sci-fi USB hub fans (come on... you know who you are) are going to go bonkers over these official R2D2 and Vader USB hubs. R2's head moves, he lights up and emits genuine Star Wars sound effects every three minutes, while Vader just seems to have the sound effects and glowing eyes. *Shiver*... menacing. Of course they also have four full-speed USB sockets on the front, and come with three feet of USB cable. Available in July for around US$66... but that's in Japan, USB hub fans. [JapanStarWars via Technabob]
Remember the MacBook Air case that was announced even before we knew for sure that the Air was real? Well, the Aria from Orbino is now a real product (meaning the 50% of you who voted it to be rumourware were wrong!) and it's pretty darn luxurious. Aircraft-grade aluminium, hand-folded calfskin leather... and that's just the start.
We had a rumour about this news back in April but as part of a new corporate Strategy Update, Sony has just confirmed it: video downloads will come to the PS3 "this summer". That's first in the US, with a Europe and Japan roll-out later in the year. Plus, Sony will expand the service across their other video-enabled products, which means the PSP and video-enabled Walkmen. There're some other interesting snippets in there too: like the fact that by 2011 90% of Sony electronics will be "network-enabled and wireless-capable." Read on for the full press release.
Posted by Nick Broughall at 2:43 PM on June 26, 2008
Remember QR codes? Those small, square designs that act like barcodes that you can scan with your mobile phone's camera? They're huge in Japan - those crazy Japanese are even putting them on graves.
Well, Telstra announced today that they'll be introducing the software to read QR codes on their NextG handsets as a free download for customers. And from the sounds of it, it will happen automatically - so you don't even need to do anything.
According to the press release, Telstra's planning on using the QR codes to offer, among other things:
"the latest news, sport and weather information; music files; maps; store information for later if you're in a hurry; tickets to shows; video presentations that give users guided tours, how-to information and trailers; links to social networking sites and special discount offers."
Dell's Studio Laptops will be getting a little touch of the Mac OS when they ship, thanks to the Dell Dock, a launcher that cleans up the Vista desktop in the most charming, albeit derivative, way. Below you can see "Before" and "After" images of the cleanup:
Studio is Dell's new line of notebooks that'll sit in between Inspiron (low end) and XPS (high end), taking design cues from the latter--like its tapered lines, hinge design and slot-loading optical drive--and bringing 'em to a more value-oriented set, with a Skittles seven colour palette (and some cool artist designs coming later). Yes, Dell finally gets that design matters, even in the chubby middle! The 15-inch model starts at US$799, but LED backlighting, Blu-ray options or upgrading to the 17-incher will obviously bump that up. We've got the full spec list for each below, if you're itchin' to see the numbers.
[Dell]
The Gadget: The Touchsmart IQ506 is HPs second gen, touch-sensitive computer. In addition to its all-in-one design, built-in webcam, TV tuner and wireless keyboard and mouse, the selling point here is the custom touch interface created by Frog Designs.
Linksys today announced EasyLink Advisor setup wizard for Mac OSX 10.4 and up, available for download in support of WRT310N, WRT160N, WRT110 and WRT54G2. New routers will ship with a disc containing both Mac and Windows setups. The other good news is that Linksys and parent company Cisco will now support Mac users when they call for tech support. As a fan of Linksys and Macs, all I can say is, "It's about freakin' time." [Linksys]
Tonight, we finally got our hands on the BlackBerry Bold, and it was worth the wait. You've already seen the UI, which yes, it's that snappy and smooth. The screen is nice 'n' crispy, if a lil' tiny for extended cinematic pursuits. But the real q: How's the browser? Damn skippy. It not only renders Giz correctly (a feat that makes most mobile browsers cry blood), it's fast (thanks AT&T), and zooming in and out with the trackball works pretty well.
Posted by Nick Broughall at 1:32 PM on June 26, 2008
In the numbers soup of RIM's quarterly earnings today, there is a one bit that stood out to us: RIM is pushing hard on R&D and marketing next quarter, to the tune of an expected 26-28 percent increase in expenses. In other words, it's going to spend serious cash to promote the hell out of the BlackBerry Bold, Thunder and Kickstart, while furiously developing new wares behind the scenes to try to stay ahead (or keep up, depending on how you see BlackBerry). But it's a fight for survival either way. [Alley Insider]
Joel spent all day with Syd Mead of Aliens, Blade Runner, 2010, Tron vehicle design fame and the first thing he's posted is this Lego Blade Runner Spinner Car replica that Lego made for him. It's the only one in the world. More photos at [BoingBoing Gadgets.]
There are over a dozen people working at our fair Gizmodo, but as a Windows user, I'm in a definite minority. I still rock XP, and I'm pretty happy with that. Why haven't I switched to Macs? Plenty of reasons, not least of which being that I'm just too smart to switch to a Mac. That's right, I'm too smart for Macs. As Bill Gates's retirement rapidly approaches I figured now is a good time to lay out why I'm loyal to his OS.
I'm sure military enthusiasts will geek out about this IMI Wildcat — A Hummer-replacing 4x4 MPC vehicle that can hold 12 soldiers, protect against 14.5 mm fire and RPGs, cross 900mm trenches, is C-130 transportable, yada yada yada, whoopdie freakin doo. But what makes this thing truly awesome is that it has a gun turret on top that can be remotely controlled from inside.
Because of its use of stem cells, a skin regenerating gun would certainly cause a stir among conservative types--but if you were caught out on a battlefield with a gaping wound, you would be begging for technology like this. That is why the Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine invested US$250 million in a project focused on therapies like the famous "Pixie Dust" that can help heal soldiers on the front lines in Iraq. As for the the "skin gun," it could spray skin-healing stem cells over a wound--helping it heal in a matter of hours.
You might already know that Google bought Android for US$50 million in 2005 after Danger co-founder Andy Rubin just asked them for an endorsement of it. But did you know that Google feared Windows Mobile? Yep, that one, Wired's massive top-to-bottom Android feature (with awesome art) reveals. Google thought Microsoft had beat it to mobile--it had a quickly growing platform, tied to Microsoft's ends. Google, on the other hand, was having its apps, like mobile Picasa, shot down by carriers who wanted to extort users to do the same thing Google offered for free.
Intel, Microsoft's BFF, is not going to upgrade its computers to Windows Vista. That's hands down the most hardcore corporate rebuke of Vista yet given how tight the two are, even though the source for the info says that it's not really "dissing Microsoft, but Intel information technology staff just found no compelling case for adopting Vista." Whatever, man.
How does one design a propulsion system that combines a full-scale turbine engine and a Constant Volume Combustion (CVC) engine that is capable of delivering 12,000 pounds of payload up to 9,000 nautical miles from the continental United States in less than two hours? DARPA has released new details on how they plan on tackling this issue with their Vulcan engine--a ramjet / scramjet hybrid that will take an aircraft like the Falcon HTV-3X from 0 to Mach 4 with a traditional turbine engine, then kick in the CVC to push it to Mach 6 and beyond.
One of the things that irritates me about iPhone ownership is how my computer speakers buzz whenever the phone gets too close. It wouldn't be that big of a deal except for the fact that my desk is the most logical place to charge my phone. Fortunately, someone has come up with a simple MacGyver-esque solution to this problem using nothing more than a Red Bull can and some double stick tape. The creator warns that it could interfere with your reception, but it shouldn't pose much of a problem. Besides, your desk is probably littered with empty soda cans as it is. Hit the link for the full set of instructions. [Project Page]
We have all heard about how it pays to go green when you ditch your power guzzling incandescent bulbs for money saving, eco-friendly CFLs--but have you given any thought to what type of CFLs work best in a particular room? Wired has, which is why they came up with a guide that covers the best lighting solutions for reading, brushing your teeth and the all-important "business time." Hit the link for the full list. [Wired]
Posted by Nick Broughall at 7:49 AM on June 26, 2008
The Gadget: The Touchsmart IQ506 is HPs second gen, touch-sensitive computer. In addition to its all-in-one design, built-in webcam, TV tuner and wireless keyboard and mouse, the selling point here is the custom touch interface created by Frog Designs.
Tonight, we finally got our hands on the