Rock Band 2 is still launching for the Xbox 360 on September 14, but it won't be packaged with any of that nifty hardware. Instead, gamers will have to wait until October 19th (the same time RB2 is coming to all of the other systems) to pick up the US$189 bundle packed with all of the new instruments. We're guessing that hardware shortages are, once again, plaguing the game, or Microsoft just didn't read the fine print on their one month exclusive. [Shacknews via Kotaku]

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Robert Jacobsen wrote a nice piece of software for everyone with a Lionel set in their garage and released it under an open-source licence. Fine and dandy. But after a company jacked his code and released it as a commercial product, Jacobsen understandably got a little pissed and sued. After God knows how many hearings and evidence filings involving model trains, the whole thing has ended up in federal appeals court, where it's unexpectedly turned into a potentially landmark ruling for open-source software licenses everywhere, keeping things like Linux and Wikipedia a bit more secure, for the moment.

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While the TSA has started working with laptop bag manufacturers to create cases that can hold computers through X-ray machines, the requirements are quite strict and require some real innovation to meet. One company gave up on it all and released the LapStrap (sadly, without any hint of social critique). So what is the LapStrap? Not much.

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This video, shown at SIGGRAPH, demos a re-invention of how to navigate collections of photos. It's the work of a team from the University of Washington and Microsoft Research, using advanced processing to magically create 3D-like environments to explore photos of places and things. The amazing results will, inevitably, invoke a "that's like Minority Report" sensation in you. Currently the team sees the system as useful for photo tourism, using "community photos" from a source like Flickr. But with each of us snapping photos all the time on our digital cams, I'd like to think it's the way you may browse your photo collection in the future. [Phototourism via Crunchgear]

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As we reported they would last year, Intel has published a draft specification for the next-gen connection system, USB 3.0. The v0.9 eXtensible Host Controller Interface specs are designed to allow hardware developers to steal a march on developing next-gen interfacing gizmos ahead of the final certification of the standard by the USB Promoters Group. The v0.9 specs are also royalty free, since Intel hopes this will speed-up uptake of the new system. Looks like super-speed USB is well on its way. [Reghardware]

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The iPhone 3G's network speed has been coming under fire recently, and Wired has decided to investigate with a global iPhone 3G network speed study. Head on over and add your data to their interactive map. [Wired]

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Ipod-controlling clothes aren't new, sure, but UK retailer Marks and Spencer is taking a teeny risk with its new line of smart clothing. It's aimed at school kids, with controls and pockets integrated into standard school uniform blazers and coats. A five function keypad from Fibertronic is inside the lapels, and there're loops for hiding the earphone wires under there too. Brilliant idea... until you wonder how many detentions this is going to land kids in, when they decide that listening to tunes on the journey into school isn't enough, and Geography lessons are soooo boring anyway. The Back to School iPod gear is in boys and girls cuts, with the coat going for around US$70, depending on size, and the blazer for around US$50. [Talk2MyShirt]

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"Now, you can always look beautiful when you are videoconferencing with your friend," says Brando. A mirror with LED lights and a concealed camera behind the mirror face... it's not really for that purpose, is it? Aha: it "can also be used as a spy web came" [sic] the sales pitch goes on, for peering at well-lit unsuspecting people at inappropriate moments. It's got 24 white LEDs, an adjustable-focus lens on a 1.3-megapixel cam and stands 10-inches high. Yours, for narcissistic vid conferencing or peeping-Tom purposes, for US$79. [Brando]

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As we reported back in mid July, Sony's finally bid farewell to the 40GB PS3, leaving just the 80GB versions on sale at Sony Style, ending the on-again, off-again 80GB debate. The US$500 Metal Gear Solid 4 80GB bundle is available now, but the simple "core" edition is showing a September 1st availability. It'll cost you US$400. [Sony Style. Thanks, Andy]

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Samsung's E200 candybar mobile phone is being relaunched in an environmentally-friendlier version at Samsung's Olympic sales event. The external case of the phone, in appropriate green colour, is made of bioplastic (extracted from plant material like corn) instead of polycarbonate plastic, which reduces the CO2 burden of producing the phone. It's also packaged in an uncoated recycled paper box. "We strive to make more products as green as possible and to proactively set up and expand a phone recycling system" said the president of Samsung telecoms division, and with eco versions of both the W510 and the F267 coming out too, it looks like the company's trying to make a good first step. [Akihabaranews]

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The FCC has come through again, giving up testing info on Sony's upcoming PSP-3001 redesign. It's still the same generation PSP and still has most of the same parts (802.11b Wi-Fi) and still plays the same games, so we're guessing most of the changes will be internal and focused on lowering costs and making the thing harder to hack. Why do we think that? Because that's exactly what Jack Tretton of SCEA said in the roundtable at E3, that Sony's working on securing the platform from piracy. We'll just have to wait and see whether it's worth upgrading to this version if you've already got a PSP. [FCC]

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In the remote town of Paraburdoo in Western Australia, life is tough. The orange dirt gets in your hair, you're miles away from the nearest town and your streets apparently have walls of tyres blocking the way.

Or - in a hypothetical place a lot closer to reality - the town is so tough that it gave the Google StreetView car that was photographing its streets a flat tyre. Funnily though, the camera decided to document the experience of getting its tyre replaced, including photographing the workshop that it pulled into for a quick repair job.

While we fully expect the images to be pulled down and some outlets of the media (and privacy groups) jump on this as a gross invasion of privacy into the tyre repairman's workshop, I say we should go out of our way to congratulate the workman for helping a StreetView driver in need.

So if you ever happen to be driving through the small town of Paraburdoo in WA, make sure you swing by to get your tyres checked - let's use this as a chance to grow a man's business in a small, outback Australian town.

[Streetview - Thanks Dale!]

People looking for a powerhouse: look elsewhere - this is cheap and nasty, running Windows XP on a 1.6Ghz Atom processor, with 1GB of memory and an 80GB hard drive. It's got 802.11n built-in, along with 2 USB and a memory card reader (SD, SDHC, MMC, Memory Stick).

As you can see from the image above, it's available in a range of colours, although in Australia, we have the better option of only getting black units. Nobody likes individuality anyway.

It's not perfect, obviously - there's no optical drive - but if you have an old monitor lying around somewhere, you could use this as a backup PC for email or web browsing.

[Asus]

The 40GB model, which used to retail for $449, now costs $329, while the 160GB model drops from $579 to $449.

That's still a fairly big markup on the US$229 and US$329 prices in the States, but still, it makes the Apple TV a much more attractive option. It also makes it the only attractive option in Australia for VOD direct to your TV (outside of Foxtel's On Demand).

Now that it has some practical uses here thanks to the ability to buy/rent movies or buy TV shows online from the comfort of your loungeroom, are any of you guys going to go and make the purchase? Or are you holding out for a Netflix-like Roku box?

[Apple - Thanks Alex!]

As a general rule, the weird and wonderful gadgets that always seem to come out in Japan never actually make it to Australian shores. But Sony has surprised us by announcing that they're planning on releasing the PFR-V1 headphones (although technically they're not headphones, it's just easier to write headphones as opposed to "Personal Field Speakers" every time) we saw back in February.

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When you're born blind, there are a few things you probably don't expect to do: become an airline pilot, use a camera and type on the iPhone, to name a few. Chueh Lee, a designer at Samsung in China wants to remedy that second one with his Touch Sight camera design, which instantly creates a Braille-like relief image on a dynamic Braille display to be felt, saved and even traded with other Touch Sight users. In addition, the camera records three seconds of sound after the image is taken, which helps impaired-vision users navigate through libraries of saved pictures.

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We counted 364 films on offer, ranging from classics like Terminator and Robocop to relatively new releases, like Jumper and Cloverfield, although the press release claims over 700. Prices to purchase the films look to vary between $9.99 and $24.99, which seems a little bit steep - there's no physical disc, so it should be much cheaper than buying a DVD.

Movie rentals are also available, with library items costing $3.99 and new releases $5.99, which is a much more appealing cost. At this stage, it doesn't look like there's anything in HD, but that could be a choice on Apple's part - at least until our broadband pipes expand enough to be able to handle the extra bandwidth.

If you are going to be jumping into this service, make sure you know your download limits - unless you're with iiNet, you'll be paying for the download twice, and as movies are all about 1GB in size, you can chew through your monthly allowance pretty quick.

[Apple - Thanks Ryan!]

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Planning an expedition to the uninhabitable continent soon? Didn't think so. But still, this biofuel-powered Concept Ice Vehicle is pretty cool, with a prop in the back and three ski feet to ride on; it even has a spiked front foot for braking action and an ice radar for navigation.

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Well, it's not an emulator in the strictest sense of the word, but it does play the massive catalog of Infocom Z-Machine interactive text adventure games. If you're tired of expensive, tilt-happy titles that tire out your pale, strangely thin wrists, you can now slowly piece your way through hours of exhilarating action.

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Fujitsu Siemens' latest line of LCDs will have a standby mode that draws no power, compared to the 1-6 watts of power competitors' monitors draw in standby. According to BIOS Magazine, the technology will be included in the 20-inch P20W-5 ECO and 22-inch P22W-5 ECO, and consists of a switch in the power supply breaks when the connected PC goes idle, and powers back on when any key is pressed (essentially, your keyboard acts as the power button).

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Two Chinese-language news services, the Commercial Times and the China Economic News Service, are both reporting that Palm has placed orders for several million units of smartphones aimed at a 2009 release. Unfortunately for Palm OS fans, all these phones are going to be running Windows Mobile, which leads Treo Central to guess that it could be the next-gen Windows Mobile Treo (850w?). Or maybe, just maybe, a Windows Mobile phone with the form factor of the smaller Treos. The 800w is nice, but consumers really like the small phones. [Digitimes via Treo Central]

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Casino Royale, a film from Sony Pictures, is going to be the title to hold the dubious honour of being first to double-dip on "Sony's" Blu-ray format. We're honestly surprised that it took this long. The US$39 October 21 release will have seven hours of extras that weren't in the original Blu-ray or DVD release, which may or may not be enough to get you to buy the same movie twice. Those of you hoping the already more expensive Blu-ray format would have gotten studios on the "release once" method should really tone down your optimism a little bit. [Hollywood Newsroom - Thanks Christopher!]

Update: adaorardor points out that Full Metal Jacket was actually the first to double-dip. Thanks!

If those all-terrain Casio watches were too rich for your blood, fret not: There's a slew of new G-Shocks that look good and are pretty cheap. Up there are the Baby-Gs, which come in some wild bright colours with a patent leather look, have the cool reflective back, and are water resistant to 100 meters. They also come in black and white with pink faces and run US$80. See the gadgety Glides and the remixed retro styles down below.

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Bags deemed "checkpoint friendly" by the TSA are starting to roll out fast and furious now--bags with "creative" names like "ScanFast" and the newly announced "FlyThru" from Solo (I'm still waiting for the "CavitySearchFree"). The FlyThru claims to be "the first laptop case company to have fulfilled the design and testing requirements to be Travel Sentry approved," but when it really comes down to it, all of the bags basically have cut-out area that makes it easy for security to view its contents. After that, its pretty much about what kind of style you prefer.

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A group of mad scientists from Reading University in the UK have hooked up a bunch of rat brain neurons to a circuit board and gotten it to control a robot. What resulted what a robot on wheels that used its rat brain to avoid running into obstacles. How unsettling!

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Yesterday, the SUNA traffic channel officially went live in Sydney and Brisbane, joining Melbourne to offer real-time traffic updates for the East Coast capital cities (sorry Canberra, you're still to come).

But how do you get it? Thankfully, getting traffic updates isn't as tricky a process as you would think, even if you already own a satnav device...

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As our favourite media become more and more digitally-based, that pile of CDs and DVDs is looking increasingly wasteful. Sure, you can sell some of your stuff on eBay or through a garage sale, but what about that bargain bin edition of Bach classics that's already sitting on your hard drive? Here's a clever use for the media that falls between the cracks. Dumbbells made of 150 CDs (75 on each side) weigh 4.5kg a pop—not a bad amount for high rep semi-aerobic lifting. Plus, they look way more geek-hot than the mass-produced gunmetal crap you use at the gym. [Daily Danny via MAKE]

It may not be as inconspicuous as the laundry lounge chair, but this Sfera spherical washing machine design does have a few notable advantages. First off, it is compact and it can be tucked away in the corner of a bathroom. Second, its rotating spherical tank makes unloading a breeze. All you need to do is turn it over and undo the hatch. The problem is that the Sfera doesn't appear to be viable in its current form. Issues like how the machine would work and whether or not it would be safe to wall mount are not addressed. Still, the concept is intriguing.

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Hubble Completes 100,000th Orbit, Takes Yet Another Breathtaking Photo
That's a lot of orbits... And a very nice photo, to boot.

Oasis Table Starts & Ends Fishy Life With Sand
Any product that lets you play virtual God is good in my book...

DVDX Homebrew Hack Brings Full Wii DVD Playback, Doesn't Require Modchip
Awesome that it can be done, I guess, but does anyone really want DVD playback for their Wii? Who would use it?

Giz Explains: The Magic Behind Touchscreens
If you ever wondered how your iPhone could do multi-touch but your i-Mate couldn't, here's how!

PlayStation 3 PlayTV is Non-Transferable After All
If this is true, it looks like it will be an epic fail of a product...

The Direct Marketing Association, a lovely group dedicated to forcing ads down your throat, have done a study that found that while a mere 7% of mobile phone users are open to receiving ads on their phone, a much more significant 24% say they've responded to such ads on their phone. A whole quarter of the phone population responding to ads? That has advertisers salivating, so you know that phone ads will be the norm soon enough. So, lets say they came up with a deal that paid for half of your bill if you agreed to watch a few ads a day on your phone. Would you do it?

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