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Biswahoman Pani worked for Intel. Claiming to miss his wife, he requested a transfer from California to Intel's Hudson facility where she worked. That same day, when the request was granted, Pani turned in his resignation and announced that he'd be taking vacation for his last two weeks at the company. His new job would be with a hedge fund.
Just popping up when you sync your iPhone to iTunes is the iPhone 2.1 update. Go get it chaps, and check out its reputed fixes to call dropping, crashing, slow syncing and bad battery life. Apple itself is basically claiming the iPhone 3G's all fixed up from top to bottom by the new software. And it's saying that it's fixed the 3G signal strength display with "improved accuracy"—sounds like no more fixes to 3G signal issues were needed after the 2.0.2 tweak. Check out Apple's words on what the update tackles:
These great-looking handmade VoIP handsets, designed by Hulger, are individually handcrafted to order out of solid American maple by Furni in Montreal. They'll work with all the usual VoIP and chat apps via USB on PC and Mac for US$300. Is wood the new glossy white plastic? I kind of hope so, cause when done right, it's beautiful. MoCo Loco has a nice look inside the factory, if you want to see the giant solid block of wood that will be your Pappa*Phone's, er, daddy.
You may have paid US$100 for that fancy Cab, but little did you know, its tannins have been seared crispy like hashbrowns in a semi left to sit in the sun. So just for you, dear learned consumer, wine makers are fighting back with a new digital thermometer that can tell buyers whether or not the bottle fell outside its ideal temperature after shipping from the vineyard.
Looks like Creative is getting set to unveil something new on September 17th: invites have gone out for a special event, bearing this mysterious image. Those darkened shapes in the image bear an X-fi logo, but that, apart from the "I am heard everywhere" slogan is all the info there is on exactly what's going to be demonstrated. Dare we connect it with Creative's internet tablet/camera/pmp device patent from yesterday? I think we dare. [Thanks Brandon!]
The NS series of laptops is the latest in Sony's Vaio update frenzy, and they're machines aimed at delivering HD video. Hence the NS is available with a Blu-ray ROM drive and has a widescreen 15.4-inch Xbrite-Eco LCD for showing video off. Trouble is, the screen resolution is 1200x800, just enough to deliver 720p, but not enough for 1080p. Ditto for the cool new CS, which already made it to Japan. They both also have minimum battery lives of 1.5 hours—likely what you'll get when you're trying to watch that 2-hour Blu-ray movie. More overall feature info below:
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT. (Agencies) The scientific world is shocked today as Michael Zeller--a professor of physics at Yale who has been working at the Large Hadron Collider--reportedly misquoted the Star Trek tagline "Where no man has gone before" and, further shattering the Universe time-space fabric, attributed it to Star Wars:
"What did they say in 'Star Wars'? We're going where no man has ever been? Well, that's where we're going," Zeller said in declarations to the Yale Daily News about the LHC first beam test last Wednesday. Professor Zeller helped create the zero degree calorimeter used in Atlas, one of the main experiments at CERN's multi-billion dollar Large Hadron Collider.
"No that's not where you are going, old man!" replied in a telephone interview with the Wichita Early Star a visibly angered William Shatner, "You are going to the cuckoo house, that's where you are going! Where no man has ever been? Are you out of your mind? Have you had way too much Alvanian brandy yesterday? Did you forget your red pill? I can't believe you are one of the guys in charge of that damn doomsday ring."
We showed you some of the video from Dean Kamen's appearance at the All Things D: D6 conference back in May and it included some demos of the amazing Luke Arm prosthetic limb. Now All Things D has made the three-part entire interview available, and it includes detailed explanations from Kamen about why he got into the research and development of the limb, and specifics of the development process from early prototypes up. It's fascinating, and Kamen makes for compelling watching.
Details on Philips' new sex toy products are out, including pictures much better than our comedy efforts earlier. The images reveal devices that, as you might expect from Philips design, are sleek, curvy and... um, purple. Looking like a good blend of form and *ahem* function.
The Eizo C@t-one is a curious product: one side is a regular wireless optical three-button mouse with scroll wheel, and the other is a basic 9-function TV remote. It's a 2.4GHz device, with a small USB dongle, and is designed to work with Nanao TVs, as well as third-party TVs, videos and tuners, and it looks like it'll work as a PC controller too, for media-centre action. Curious, but probably very useful if you've got your PC hooked up to your TV, and it may also stir some memories for fans of Apple's old round mouse. Available in Japan for around US$118. [PCWatch]
Regular arcade machines are neat and all, but if you have thousands of dollars worth of mahogany furniture in your mansion, they tend to clash with the environment. Luckily, Custom Arcades makes a gaming all-in-one that takes your expensive tastes into account. The Grand Daddy Arcade encases a 42-inch flat screen monitor, a 505W sound system, a two to four player control panel, and space to store other home gaming systems in an only slightly gaudy birch casing. Yours for just US$8000. [Custom Arcades via Born Rich]
Tesla Motors is finally rolling out its long-awaited single-speed transmission for the all-electric Tesla Roadster, which will pare down durability issues while upping torque and range. The new gearbox, made by transmission whiz kids Borg Warner, lets the Roadster hit its promised zero to 100 time of 4.0 seconds while upping travel distance to 392km per charge.
Blurring the line between single-lens reflex and standard point-and-shoot digitals, Panasonic introduces its first Micro Four Thirds-standard camera, the Lumix DMC-G1. At its unveiling, it's the world's smallest and lightest camera that takes interchangeable lenses. Here are the details on this incredibly cute not-quite-pro, not-quite-'sumer camera.
Not content with deploying their version of Apple's Genius tech support lackeys, Microsoft is now biting on the iTunes Genius song feature as well and the initial previews make it look... really awesome, actually. Wired got a sneak preview of the Zune 3.0 software, to be released on Sept. 16, and found it much more intuitive and encompassing than Apple's recommendation system.
Nothing brightens up a tech geek's room like an awesome LED cube, and Hack n' Mod has got a couple of do-it-yourself instructions for building your own glowy box thing. You can get started with a small, less ambitious 3x3x3 cube design, maybe step it up to a 4x4x4 design if you're more confident, and ultimately build your own 8x8x8 cube (like the one after the jump)! Of course, you could always just buy one from LED Cube manufacturers like Seekway, but where's the fun in that? [Hack n' Mod]
Is Photoshop CS4 coming earlier than predicted? A screengrab of NAPP Newswire shows that something is about to hit on Sept. 23... and that it's something to do with Adobe's Creative Suite 4. How disappointing would it be if whatever it is that's supposed to be "brilliant" turned out to be like... an ad? [-Thanks mrquintano2u!]
In a recent interview, Zune PR head Adam Sohn told the New York Times that "babies are born every day without an iPod. We will get there." There being, presumably, more than the measly 2% market share the player holds now. But babies? Really? Microsoft, I think I've figured out your problem--you're going after a demographic with no buying power. And just like John Kerry touring elementary schools during the 2004 election season, I predict this fool's errand won't win you many more points.
In case you weren't paranoid enough knowing that there's a 22.5km particle accelerator complete with Black Hole Button currently operational on this, your most favourite of planets, here's a dose of meta-reality that will make your palms even sweatier, a glimpse of live webcams monitoring the LHC Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment. Once you're sufficiently freaked out, you can share it with your most skittish and/or ignorant friends and family members, and watch them squirm with palpable existential terror. [Cyriak - Thanks Josh!]
Who doesn't love a Zip drive? With their sweet 100MB of magnetic memory, they used to save my arse back in the day. (My Performa 6400 even had an internal Zip drive.) And who doesn't love a marionette? With their beady eyes and history of horror-film animation, they touch the heart of any child from 1 to 100, sometimes with a knife. Put the two together, and what do you get?
Posted by Nick Broughall at 12:02 PM on September 12, 2008
Someone at Qantas loves the iPhone. Not long after they announced that they had an iPhone friendly website available, they're now unveiling plans to let travellers check in without paper, instead using their iPhone's screen as their documentation.
From the sounds of the announcement, it will be available for a number of mobile devices and PCs - not just iPhones. They're also planning on allowing online check-ins for international travellers (currently only domestic travellers can check-in online).
The process will involve having a 2D barcode sent to your phone after you check in online, which is aimed at speeding up the check-in process.
I like things that fly, especially when they're the size of a golf ball. Tomy's OFO RC toys are part of the Japanese Q series of all things minuscule, and are propelled by a rotor on its underside. The QFO will be available in Japan this month for about US$40, but more importantly, I keep thinking of how awesome it would be if 20 of these took to the sky at once in a public space. Check out the video below. [Akihabara via Oh Gizmo via Dvice]
To match the epic price slash Microsoft inflicted on its Xbox 360s in early September, the company's now offering the 120GB hard drive accessory for US$30 less, dropping the cost from US$179 to US$149. In case you were still on the fence about buying the system, picking up an Arcade SKU (for just US$199) and the hard drive would now get you to almost Elite SKU (retailing at US$399) status for just US$348. [Game Daily]
We were so over videos that smash gadgets—it's douchey, amateur, and nothing we want to condone—until we saw this. This, my friends, has go to be the most "artsy" gadget smash video we've ever seen. That's along the same lines as crowning the tallest dwarf, the fastest minivan or the least slutty member of the Kardashian family, but it's something. Watch and see, then hit the jump for a blooper.
Remember that first Seinfeld-and-Gates adventure into Shoe Circus, which alluded to something about Windows being "soft and chewy and delicious?" Well, the new Laural and Hardy of ambiguous advertising have a new spot out and it's... making fun of your average scalloped potato-eating, leather giraffe from Cabo-buying, grumpy Grandma-having Suburban family. The incredibly rich duo try to connect on a "normal people" level and kind of fail utterly. Like Windows Vista. I think.
The surprisingly well-liked cheap Peek e-mail handheld is ready for pre-order on its own site, at US$100, plus unlimited use on T-Mobile for US$20/month. It may be low-fi, but anything that works consistently well doing a straightforward but important task for a fairly low price has a place at my table. The only catch is—and I know you're gonna be pissed—you can't get it in Aqua Blue or Cherry. Whether they're sold out (as the company claims) or not in stock (the likelier story), you are out of luck. If you want one now, you gotta get Charcoal Grey. [Peek via Electronista]
Brando's Traffic Prompters are cheap at US$16 per light and are meant to promote highway safety. You can even combine a red one with a blue atop your car to emphasise your state of emergency. Just don't be surprised when you're busted for impersonating a police officer.
So here's the idea for the OHM portable device charger — you attach a few neodymium magnets to your back bike rim, place the dynamo on the underside of your seat so it has a direct line with the magnets, and thanks to the process of electromagnetic induction, it will begin collecting power each time the wheel rotates past the dynamo. Ride your bike for an extended period of time and you'll have enough energy stored up to recharge a gadget in a pinch. Sounds pretty sweet to me. Except I don't ride a bike. [Yanko Design]
