Saturday, August 23, 2008
Press
Virgin Mobile and Helio Merger Complete
2:00PM Matt Hickey | Virgin Mobile today finished its acquisition of nerd fave Helio. The deal was finished today with US$38 stock transaction to EarthLink and SK Telecom. This means that Virgin is hands down the largest MVNO in America, and it also means it could expand even more sing it can now offer both pre-paid and post-paid plans as well as the high-end devices from Helio. But the question remains: Will it be able to make money? [Press Release] More »
Music
Kevin Rose iPod Rumors: Price Cut, New iTunes 8.0 Features and Tall, Rounded Nano
1:18PM Matt Buchanan | Kevin Rose’s Apple crystal ball has been wrong more often than not (he was sorta right about US$199 iPhone), but this time he’s seen pictures people! (”It looks pretty cool.”) He says that not only will the new iPod nano be tall and skinny and giant-screened like we’ve heard, he says it’ll be rounded (like iPhone 3G’s ass-side, but all the way around), and even provides this handy rendering. His other rumourage, like a huge iTunes update with for-real new features, is all way more reasonable than his past forecasting, so they’re actually possible too! More »
Vehicles
The Dirtsurfer: New Bike And Skateboard Hybrid Thing
1:00PM Matt Hickey | It’s part bike and part skateboard and it looks all fun. It’s the Freestyle Dirtsurfer and it’s a new hybrid like toy for all of you X Games types who can’t wait for winter to get here soon enough. One neat touch is a Razor-scooter-like brake on the back wheel so you don’t end up in the ER the first time you try it on a downhill. And for US$450, you really don’t want to crash it too much. [ExExEq via Like Cool] More »
Computers
Mac minis Turned Into Other Fetish Boxes People Drool Over
10:30AM Matt Buchanan | Apple might neglect the Mac mini more than apparently hipsters do showers in mid-August, but some people love it enough to lavish it with the attention no one else does. Hideo Takano is one of those people, transforming the little fetish block into other boxes people obsess over: an over-sized Lego block for Apple-loving manboys to dream of building a Mac minizord, and a cute little gas can for pyromaniacs. Or simply other Macs–like a Quadra or a Mac Pro. We really love the bright red gas can: More »
Computers
Albatron Debuts ‘Tee PC’ Internet Tablet Running Windows CE
10:20AM Matt Hickey | Albatron has launched a new UMPC-like devices called the Tee PC that could be an interesting media tablet. It has a touchscreen and stylus for input, runs Windows CE 6, and comes with all kinds of connectivity including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and has a built-in swiveling webcam for on-the-go conferencing. It’s not beefy specs-wise, running on a 400MHz ARM processor, but it should handle most Internet tasks just fine. [Hot Hardware] More »
Software
3D App Converts iPhone into Window to Alternative World
10:10AM Jesus Diaz | If you liked Johnny Chung Lee’s Wii headtracking tricks you will love iHologram, a stunning iPhone app that makes the screen look like a window to a real, parallel dimension. While it seems like magic, it uses anamorphosis, a very simple painting technique that has been used by old masters since the 15th century, mixed with the technology in the JesusPhone. More »
Gadgets
How to Transplant a Sony Reader Display Into a Dying Kindle
9:50AM Sean Fallon | The mad scientist behind this hack was faced with a problem. His beloved Amazon Kindle had a shattered screen and was all but dead. Distraught, he thought to himself: “what if I could sacrifice a Sony reader and perform and unholy cross species screen transplant? Yeah, it just might work because the e-ink screens on both devices are nearly identical.” More »
Gadgets
Super Pen Is Thirteen Tools in One Tiny Package
9:30AM Sean Fallon | Besides being a magnet for penis puns, this pen is absolutely bursting with functionality that will leave just about any tool junkie satisfied. At the most basic level you get a handsome stainless steel ballpoint pen, but it can also transform into “a hole puncher, a stainless steel file, a short cutting blade, a flat screwdriver, a wire sleeve remover/small nail remover, an ear pick, a long cutting blade, a tweezer, a Philips screwdriver, and a stainless steel fork and a saw.” It could very well be the best US$15 you ever spend outside of a bordello my friend. [Firebox via SlipperyBrick via OhGizmo] More »
Home
Epic Treehouse Comes With Electricity, Cable and a Fire Horn Intruder Alarm
9:10AM Sean Fallon | Forget about that treehouse bedroom I wrote about yesterday, the new mark to beat comes from superdad Steve Norris who spent 15 months building his kids a treehouse so epic it became newsworthy in Canada. Suspended in a tree 4 metres up, the fort features electricity, cable TV, an intercom system, a makeshift urinal, smoke detectors and a trap door warning signal wired to the main house. He even set up an intruder alarm using old fire horns that sounds like an air raid siren when it goes off. More »
Peripherals
