Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Home
Vudu Fills Gaping Hole With AVN Porn Channel
11:40PM Matt Buchanan | One thing you can say about the Vudu video wonderbox is that it gets better all the time. AVN–the Adult Video News–is launching a dedicated porn channel on Vudu. While you’ll have to pay for every flick you watch, there are at least two reasons it’s better than the FyreTV streaming porn box that Chen loves so, so much. More »
Games
The Dark Knight Edition Xbox 360
11:20PM Mark Wilson | ZOMG! The Dark Knight! Xbox 360! All in one! More »
Networks
Delta’s Bringing In-Flight Wi-Fi to Its Entire U.S. Fleet
11:12PM John Mahoney | Delta will join the other airlines using Aircell’s GoGo cellular data service, becoming the first of the U.S. biggies to announce concrete plans for a fleet-wide rollout. They’re starting with their 133 MD88/90s, then moving on to hit every plane by summer of next year. It’ll run you US$9.95 for flights less than three hours, or US$12.95 for longer flights. There goes our last possible Internet-free haven…I mean, yay! Read on for the full release: More »
Peripherals
Another USB Cooking Video Stirs Up The ‘Can USB Do That?’ Debate
11:00PM Kit Eaton | So, we had the allegedly-USB-powered popcorn maker… and now we have an Instructable for a USB frying pan: good enough to cook an omelette in around seven minutes. This device is a lot more basic, apparently requiring nothing more sophisticated than two aluminium pans, some broken ceramic as insulation and a tungsten coiled filament with some basic wiring. This time, the cooker draws power from two USB sockets… does that make it any more believable? I’m no electronics expert: so I’ll leave that up to you lot to sort out in the comments. Suffice it to say I’m not sure I’d be attempting to eat eggs cooked via my computer’s USB output power. [Instructables—Thanks, Dave!] More »
Computers
Lenovo Webstore Mistake Makes X200’s 128GB SSD Option Cheaper Than 80GB HD
10:40PM John Mahoney | Get your orders in now, because you won’t see a 128 GB SSD going for these prices, well, anywhere for several years–yet alone inside the tasty 12.1″ Thinkpad X200. Yes, you’re seeing it correctly–that’s subtract US$70 from the total, which comes to US$1,434 with the mistake. Also notice the 64 GB SSD going for a real-world US$830 premium. No word on how IBM will handle the mistake of course, but if you were planning on buying an X200 anyway, might as well give this a try and play dumb. UPDATE: Party’s over, unfortunately. The 120GB SSD option has been yanked.
Cameras
Olympus and Panasonic Launch Micro Four Thirds System For Smaller, Rangefinder-Like Digicams
10:31PM John Mahoney | Olympus and Panasonic rolled out a new standard for interoperable lenses and camera bodies today in Japan, which means we could see yet another new camera category smashed in between consumer, pro-sumer, con-fessional, and all the rest. The Micro Four Thirds system is basically a slimmed down version of the two companies’ Four Thirds system, which allowed member companies to build lenses and bodies that were digital-only and interoperable between brands. And while the new Micro version may not sound like much, it could result in the revival of an all-digital, Leica-like quasi rangefinder system with tons of high-quality lens choices. More »
Software
Mojave Experiment Goes Awry, Some Guy Loads Vista on his PlayStation 3
10:20PM Mark Wilson | We’re not sure what possessed one man to load Windows Vista onto his PS3–hopefully for the science experiment, not the promise of Aero–but he did and the world will never be quite the same. The only catch is that if you think Vista is slow on a PC, you’re a spoiled, rotten person. In this clip, Vista takes roughly 25 minutes to boot and 12 minutes to open Notepad. Because in order to run Vista on the PS3’s unique platform, the tester had to use the processor emulator QEMU–apparently rumours that Vista ran on tears are unfounded. [PS3Hax] More »
Phones
Why Rap Stars Are Hating on the iPhone
10:00PM Benny Goldman | At the Rock the Bells festival on Sunday I asked some of the most important hip-hop artists in the game—and my heroes since childhood—what they hated most about the iPhone. Whether they owned it or not, most of the stars had a good reason to dis the overhyped phone, and their answers ranged from the mundane (Trugoy from De La Soul says it’s “too cute”) to the slightly crazy (dead prez’s M-1 brought up the Matrix and Big Brother). Only Wu-Tang’s Method Man couldn’t find a way to bring the pain—we expect a new single, “F-A-N-B-O-Y Man”, any day now. More »
Peripherals
Brando Joins iPhone 3G Chip-Unlocker Game, Still Needs You to Cut Up SIMs
9:48PM Kit Eaton | In similar style to the SIMable product Wilson showed you back in May, Brando now has its own SIM-hacking device available, and says it works to unlock, unchain, free, liberate—whatever—Apple iPhone 3Gs from being tied to one operator. The slim chip-and-circuit gizmo hugs the rear of your SIM and messes with the signals that go between it and the iPhone (or, indeed, a large number of other GSM and 3G phones) in a way that unlocks the device. Brando’s product still requires you to cut your SIM to make room for the chip aboard it, but it looks a fairly simple operation. And it’s two thirds the price of the SIMable: just US$21. [Brando] More »
Science
