Logitech’s last keyboard offering was the wireless touchpad diNovo for Macs, and though this new keyboard is neither wireless nor touchpad-enabled, it’s got two things going for it: it’s got back-lit keys for night typing, and it’s just 9.4mm deep. That’s skinny, though not quite Apple keyboard aluminium skinny. Due in October in the US and Europe for US$80. [Press release]
They may not look as mean as the Draganfly, but these research UAV ‘copters are one step closer to Skynet: they learn to fly complex stunts by just “watching” another aircraft do the same. Dubbed “apprenticeship learning,” by the Stanford team which developed it, the system gets its flight plan by recording an expert human operator fly a vehicle. Then its onboard gyros and GPS systems and avionics communicate with a ground-based computer which looks at the human-derived data and decides how to fly the vehicle. It’s all very tricky, due to the inherent instability of helicopter. Apparently UAVs like this may one day help firefighters track wildfires, or be sent to see out landmines in battlefield situations… and do other “spying” of course. Creepy. [Physorg]
Writer, photographer, and baking expert Robyn Johnson, from Matador Nights, has put together an spectacular image collection of some of the coolest installations in the history of Burning Man, where technology, robotics, pyrotechnics, and architecture are put together to form often beautiful, sometimes repugnant, but always fascinating surreal landscapes.
Sony’s XDV-W600 is no 60-inch high-contrast plasma TV, for sure: no, it’ll sell for a different reason… it’s waterproof. In fact, it meets IPX 7 and IPX 6 specs, and can safely go three feet under for half an hour. Clearly designed to go in the bathroom, it looks a smidge like a bar of soap, and has a 4-inch screen, recording function to its own 2GB internal memory, and runs for 23 hours from its own batteries supplemented by AAs. Bathing TV fans may be disappointed though: it’s a oneseg digital unit, so we’re unlikely to see this weirdness in the US. [AVWatch and Akihabaranews] galleryPost('braviawaterproof', 4, '');
We alerted you to Nokia’s plans for an unlimited, free (at first) music service way back in December: Now it looks like the first place to benefit from free tunes is the UK, starting next month. The Nokia 5310 will be the first handset to Come with Music, but there’s no word on when Nokia will be bringing it to the US. [The Guardian via Moconews]
Every second year, Peugeot has a design competition to create the next generation of motor vehicle. The 888 is one of the 21 finalists for this year’s competition, and even though it’s not as sleek and shiny as some of the other entries, it’s practically a Transformer, making it the epitome of all motor vehicles that have ever been conceptualised in the back of some creative type’s mind in the history of the world.
The brainchild of Norweigan designer Oskar Johansen, the 888 is a two-seater with a bit of space for luggage in the back. It’s powered (at least in the designer’s mind) by lithium-ion batteries located in the boot, which power four electric engines (one for each wheel). There’s also solar cells on the boot for a bit of extra juice while your driving.
The best feature of this car though is the fact that when driving around the crowded streets of a city, it arches up using a hydraulic tilting system, so that the driver sits a bit higher and the wheels are closer together, increasing maneuverability. But when you hit the open road, the axles separate again, lowering the vehicle’s centre of gravity and keeping the driver comfortable during long drives.
When you’re in the zone on your Xbox, you may forget a few of the necessities of life. Like eating, drinking, sleeping… Or even turning on the heater to keep your precious gaming fingers warm, saving you from crippling RSI agony as you tempt to play that little bit longer.
That’s why USB powered heated gloves are the perfect gadget. You plug it into the USB port on your console or PC of choice, slip on the gloves and game away. If it’s really cold, you can even cover up your fingertips with mittens. Because nothing says “hardcore gamer” like USB-powered mittens.
They take 2 USB ports to get going, and will warm your fingers by 12 degrees in 5 minutes. What’s more, they’re from Brando, makers of all things USB, so you know that they’re good usable. If the idea of wearing USB-powered mittens while you game is appealing, they cost US$22.
[Brando via TeamTeaBag via Kotaku AU]
When you link the words “video games”, “Australia” and “complete and utter failure”, there are a few things that spring to mind: the lack of an R18+ rating, the refusal of classification of Fallout 3… Oh, and the failure of EA to launch Rock Band (or give any indication on the release of Rock Band 2).
Fortunately, Activision still knows that Australian gamers love to rock, and has announced the release date for their upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour game, which features a whole heap of extra instruments (like Rock Band), and music from Around the world.
The game is due to launch on November 12 in Australia according to GameSpot AU, although there’s no mention of pricing for either the game or the peripherals. However, my guess is that those drums aren’t going to come cheap…
If this was a “Battle of the Bands” type competition, Guitar Hero would have just won the heart of the naturally stunning Australian chick in the front row, right out from under the nose of the snobbish Rock Band band. And come November, I reckon that GH will be taking that Aussie chick (which means you, in case the metaphor isn’t quite clear enough) on a stairway to heaven.
[Gamespot]
I still prefer to buy CDs over purchasing on iTunes. Aside from the whole DRM and encoding issues that I can avoid by owning the CD, I also come from a time when having a physical collection meant something, and part of me refuses to let that go. I still remember nights spend reading through every word, every lyric in a CD booklet – knowing who each member of the band wanted to thank, which musicians guested on which tracks and who produced the album. iTunes just doesn’t give you that level of information.
But all of that may change in the near future, with MusicWeek reporting that Apple is planning on releasing an application in conjunction with Snow Patrol’s upcoming album that lets you interact with a digital booklet for the album on the iPhone or iPod Touch. After the Snow Patrol launch, it will be rolled out over other albums in the iTunes catalogue.
So will this digital booklet tempt me away from the old-fashioned CDs of yore? Not likely. But it will make the process of buying an album online a lot more appealing to a lot more people. I’m just not one of them.
[MusicWeek via TechCrunch]
For the multitude of people out there who use IceTV as their EPG of choice, you’ll be happy to know that you can now network your watching opinions through Facebook. By downloading the IceTV Facebook App, you can rate TV shows, comment, see what TV shows are popular among your friends, what shows are in your schedule to record and more.
The software’s in Beta at the moment, and they’ve got a forum page dedicated to getting feedback on the Facebook App. But if this sounds like something you could use, let us know how it goes in comments.
