Advanced CPU cooling may be mainly the domain of extreme overclockers or case-modders, but this new Damamics CPU cooler may tempt you anyway just for the thought of the tech involved. The upcoming LM-10 is the world’s first commercial CPU cooler based on liquid metal Yup: liquid metal. Liquid metal has thermodynamic properties that apparently improve temperature uniformity on the cooling surface, and allow for decreased temperatures versus other cooling solutions. But most cleverly, since it’s a metal you can pump it electromagnetically—the cooler has a no moving-parts silent pump that draws just 1W of power. Plus it sounds way more Terminator-esque than CPU cooling by plain old water. No pricing or release date info is available yet. [Danamics via Slashdot]
Optus are on a bit of a roll at the moment. They trumped all the other networks with their iPhone 3G pricing, and now they’re offering pricing caps more akin to Three than the country’s second biggest Telco.
The new mobile plans include unlimited calls, SMS and MMS messaging to mobiles in Australia. The new plans – which Optus is calling Timeless – include a $99 option and a $129 option. The more expensive of the two plans also includes 2GB worth of data, which makes it perfect for iPhone use…
If those numbers seem a little bit pricey, there’s also a $79 cap that includes $550 worth of calls and unlimited texts. If that’s still too much for you, look at it this way – unlimited voice calls means you can ditch your home phone, saving at least $30 a month.
The catch? Well, it seems as though the $99 option is only available if you take the $14.95 mobile data pack on top (which offers 200MB), meaning it really costs $113.95 per month. And really, when you pay that much, why not upgrade for 2GB of data for an extra $17?
[Optus]
Is the end of the venerable computer mouse at hand? Analyst firm Gartner seems to think so, and says its case is bolstered by the meteoric rise of technologies found in, and made popular by, Nintendo’s Wii controller and the Apple iPhone. Piling on is the slowly maturing field of facial recognition technology, which companies like Panasonic are now testing in the home electronics field. It’s a combination that does not bode well for the mouse, said Gartner analyst Steven Prentice, which saw its beginnings at the hands of Douglas Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute in 1963. One caveat worth noting in all this peripheral doom-and-gloom is that the keyboard is here to stay. PC FPS fans can rejoice at their convenience. [PC Authority]
Rounding out our Nintendo news trifecta today is the annual Famicase art exhibition. It’s like many other art exhibitions from around the world, made infinitely cooler by the fact that the artwork is comprised of imaginary games pasted to old 8-bit Famicom carts. More than 50 designers, illustrators and authors contributed to event this year, which is organised by Super Meteor game shop owner Satoshi Sagagami. Some are crazier than others, but all have a home in this Nintendo lover’s heart. Personal favourite? Overly promiscuous R.O.B.–now we know what he’s been up to all these years!
Some of you were probably salivating at the prospect of the Eee PC 1000H getting a price cut over the weekend. Sadly, in Australia, there’s no price cut to be found.
Asus have finally announced the official Aussie price for their latest Eee, and for those 10 inches of screen and 80GB worth of hard drive space, you can expect to hand over $699.
With Acer’s Aspire One and the MSI Wind all hitting the country at a slightly cheaper price, Asus are finally starting to get some competition in this space. As to which one’s the best, well, you’ll just have to wait and see…
[Asus]
Put simply, the Jinsei Game of Life won’t let you play the simple game contained inside it unless you exercise. It’s part pedometer, part Tamagotchi, part Lap Around Japan, and a little bit of masochism mixed in for good measure. To complete the “stages,” you must take 300 steps, at which point you’ll be granted a spin on the wheel to advance your character through the game. Don’t take the steps and there’s not really any kind of punishment. You’ll just have yet another piece of gaudy tchotchke dangling from your keys, and those little people inside will be judging you without remorse. [Takaratomy via Trends in Japan]
Are your coworkers always giving you a hard time about being away from your desk and not knowing where you are? Grab this US$27 LED Message Board from Brando and always have a sign showing where you are. Sure, a Post-it or a mini-whiteboard would accomplish the same thing, but are they USB? Do they light up with red dotted letters? Are they that much more hilarious when the words “Fuck off Phil” scroll across their body? We think not. [Brando]
Still smarting from Nintendo’s half-arse, arm waving train wreck of an E3 press conference? Yeah, these retro Famicom-inspired Classic Controllers for the Wii Virtual Console won’t help at all with that, but they’re still a pretty cool collector’s item. They come in two red and gold Famicom versions, two Wii white versions, and will retail for about US$15 apiece when they arrive in Japan on September 10. Import only for now, but that could change drastically in the future, just like Nintendo’s marketing strategy. [Amazon Japan via Virtual Console Reviews]
