Say it with me everyone: 8.9" screen, 1.6GHz Atom processor, up to 1GB of RAM, 120GB HD and...you get the picture. Toshiba's offering is definitely style-aggressive, packs Ubuntu and promises a (6 cell?) battery life of 4 hours, but it's pretty much the exact $US500ish system we've seen cloned and crapped out by every laptop manufacturer in the known universe. Is there some club we don't know about where hardware developers get together for rights of passage involving ritual branding, hallucinogenic concoctions and the release of one's first netbook? We sure hope so, because otherwise this beat is getting really tired. [Register Hardware]

Read More »

The Memorex MVBD-2510 fills that getting-the-job-done-for-cheap niche, but Gizmodo readers should know we don't actually recommend it for purchase. It costs only $US270, but sacrifices Profile 2.0 and the ethernet that accompanies it. So it's a pass, but a positive trend for the industry all the same. [prnewswire]

Read More »

We might still have to wait a while for the Google washing machine--but GE as we know is also a huge player in energy infrastructures, which makes notable their announcement of a partnership with those incessant innovators at Google to modernise our stone-age grid. If (if) we somehow do find ourselves with an administration in January that truly moves forward with forward-thinking energy plans, we don't want to losing a huge percentage of our fresh new juice to our inefficient grid, most parts of which date back to the disco era.

Read More »

Asus--makers of inexpensive Eeeverything--is now shipping illegal cracking software to make your computing life even cheaper. According to UK publication PC Pro, not only they have accidentally included a piracy tool with their recovery DVD, but they have also put several confidential documents and source code inside. So nice of them.

Read More »

The next-generation stealth bomber from Boeing/Lockheed Martin is out. Developed by Phantom Works, the large diamond-shaped body, with long wings and razor-sharp nose, resembles a long-range B-2 Spirit bomber that has been retrofitted at Darth Vader's garage: from the front, it looks kind of evil and menacing. Unlike Northrop Grumman's proposal, which is like the stealth bomber that eats too many Snickers.

Read More »

According to the results of a new study, a virtual-reality 3D-graphic colonoscopy is about as good as the real thing for screening for colon cancer. The virtual procedure is made by image processing the results of an abdominal CT scan, then a doctor views the results in a sort of first-person-shooter "fly through" of the patient's inner tubes, looking for abnormalities to shoot examine. The graphical technology is of course less invasive *ahem*, more convenient and preferred by patients...though it'll likely come down to a dollars-based calculation before you start seeing this in your local medical facility. [Medgadgets]

Read More »

Update: Asus tells us that the product wasn't supposed to be announced just yet. They're still tweaking the unit, so the specs listed below aren't the final specs. What we do know is that this device is coming and it is going to be something similar to this, but minor details will probably be changed. The original writeup and release are after the jump.

Read More »

While information has been arriving in fits and starts on Asus' new N10 non-Eee ultra-portable, over at Laptopmag they got a teeny hands-on view of the PC. The 10-inch machine (which Asus was keen to stress as a notebook not a netbook) is due to come in N10E and N10J versions, with the main differences being the HDD and graphics: the E version has 160GB HDD and Intel integrated graphics, while the J version gets 320GB and a switchable Integrated Intel or Nvidia GeForce 9300 MS package that we mentioned before. The battery life is now quoted at "6 to 12 hours" with a six-cell battery, which sounds even more incredible than the previous 6.5 hour figure. Finally, the pricing for the N10E's been set at $US599, and the N10J's gone down to $US699, which should be welcome news for Asus fans. [Laptopmag]

Read More »

Ah, shucks—it looks like Panasonic's funky new non-DSLR DMC-G1 camera actually doesn't shoot HD video after all. What those photos most likely represent is a mock-up of a possible future version of the cam, that might launch next year sometime. We know this 'cause DPReview got their mitts on a pre-production G1, and found it only shoots video in the non-HD formats as per the press release. Now we can't wait to see if Panasonic actually comes good with the HD promise of that mock-up, and lets the camera join Canon and Nikon's HD shooting party. [DPreview]

Read More »

Speaking of Sony, PS3 users can now try out its new Life With Playstation service, which gives you instant access to real-time news and information in a format that's much more graphically intense than anything you'll get on Wii News. The program works in conjunction with Folding@home, so you'll be helping Stanford researchers while you browse around Life. Download it onto your system by selecting the Folding@Home icon under "Network" on the XMB, and check out the Playstation blog for an interesting video explaining the service's features.

Read More »

Sony became the latest to jump on the app trend bandwagon, but not with a product you'd automatically equate with downloading itty bitty widgets. The company has released an App development kit for its line of Bravia television sets. It expects people to create things like small multiplayer online games, weather and news data aggregators and anything else you can program onto 1.3MB of memory.

Read More »

And here you have it! A couple of hours later, we have our first screen from the new Microsoft ad campaign. Now THIS represents me as a PC-user... I hang with SHARKS, man! [New York Times]

You know graphene, the super material that's strong enough to withstand diamond cutters? Turns out that not only may it replace silicon as the de rigeur component of microchips, it's on track to becoming the next megabattery as well. Engineers at the University of Texas in Austin have found a way to store electrical charge in graphene-based ultracapacitor devices, and their discovery could revolutionise the renewable energy industry.

Read More »

If I was one of those people who liked peanut butter - and I'm not - then I'd be all over this kitchen gadget like, well, like peanut butter on toast. Stick your peanuts in, select whether you're a crunchy or a smooth (but never oily or dry - wait was that the Kraft Peanut butter ad from years ago coming back to haunt this post? Anyway...) kind of guy and then blend away.

The best part is that it's not just peanuts that can be butterised - stick in macadamias, sunflowers, cashews... whatever nut job you want, it'll handle.

Of course, it's a $US50 US-only product at the moment, but one day we'll get the freedom to make our own nut butter down under.

Damn that sounded wrong...

[The Lighter Side via Babblebaby]

Putting it firmly in a price point to compete with the iPhone, the Android-running HTC Dream will cost $US199, according to the Wall Street Journal. The smartphone will also get an "aggressively priced" data plan from T-Mobile and receive some heavy Google branding. It'll be interesting to see whether Google's open source platform gives Apple's apps a run for their money on Sept. 23. [Wall Street Journal via Techland]

Read More »

Columbia professor Douglas Irving Repetto designed this crazy looking project which allows humans to write obsessive thoughts on scraps of paper, deposit them in one of seven squirrel cages, and spin them round and round to let the machine obsess for them. Made with grape arbor, glue, rubber bands and a laser cutter, the apparatus utilises "parallel processing to the age-old problem of broken human minds." Yeah, I'm not sure I quite get it either, but it sure is pretty. Check out Repetto's site to see a video of his Distributed Squirrel Cage for Parallel Processing in action! [Douglas Repetto via MAKE]

Read More »

Rather than bore you with some tedious statistics about the number of people who lose all their precious memories because they don't back up their hard drive, I'm just going to tell you that if you don't enter this competition, you're an idiot.

Why? Because it's free, it's easy, and you can walk away with a 640GB external hard drive (which is Mac-ready, Apple fans) which you can use to save all those special videos and images you keep on your PC's hard drive, should it decide to commit suicide. You know, the ones that give you a warm, fuzzy feeling? Yeah, that's them.

To enter, just hit the link and follow the steps. If the criteria seems too hard to enter, just think about how hard it would be to replace that rare collection of photos from Scandinavia. That's what I thought!

Get cracking - entries close September 30, 2008.

[WD Bizarre Storage Competition]

On Friday, we introduced you to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, a tiny interchangeable-lens camera that's not a DSLR, but rather built on the new Micro Four Thirds standard will most likely shoot HD video, even though the original US press releases were mum on the subject.

Read More »

Back when the latest iteration of Foxtel's iQ launched, one of the most interesting aspects was that there was a 4th HD digital tuner inside, except it was just lying there like some kind of fairytale princess waiting to be woken up by a digital Prince Charming.

Well, the good news is that the digital prince will be rolling out to iQ2 boxes around the country starting next week to activate the sleeping 4th tuner. Once it's been woken up, Princess Tuner Number 4 will allow you to record two channels at the same time as watching a third channel live (at the moment you can only record two and either watch one of them, or watch something already recorded to the HDD or watch one of the On Demand movies or shows).

All iQ2 subscribers should be getting the update rolled out by December 1, but you won't be notified when it's been upgraded. It's also a staggered rollout, so you'll just have to keep trying to record Futurama at the same time as The Daily Show and Star Trek Voyager to see if you've been updated yet.

[Foxtel]

Alas, the Abbott and Costello-esque partnership between funny man Jerry Seinfeld and billionaire nerd Bill Gates is now officially over, after Microsoft decided to go with a slightly less ambiguous advertising campaign. In their place is a direct shot at those Apple "I'm a Mac" ads, where a Microsoft engineer resembling John Hodgman's character greets you, "Hello, I'm a PC, and I've been made into a stereotype."

Read More »

French Gadget Site GeekInc, got an early HTC Touch HD unit to play with, and took a bunch of pics to show for it, including a couple of size comparisons against the iPhone. As you can see, they're pretty much the same size, save for some backend tapering. Their own impressions more or less coincide with our own hands-on, in that TouchFlo was super smooth, the screen was huge, and it appears the Touch HD camera handles low light pretty well. Check out a few more images at [GeekInc].

Read More »

A bit of fire goes a long way. The entries are coming in thick and fast for our UCHI giveway now that you guys have an immediate deadline - 12pm tomorrow. That's when I'll be judging the most creative entries - either multimedia (pics or vids) sent to uchi@gizmodo.com.au or comments answering the question on this post in 25 words or less.

So if you haven't already entered, now's your last chance. Go on - it beats working. Trust me.

Back from Hong Kong after a hellacious flight, so apologies for the late wrap today. On the upside, there's plenty of awesome content coming your way this afternoon and tomorrow...

Canon 5D Mark II Officially Awesome: 21MP DSLR First to Shoot Full HD Video
Okay, I know this hit yesterday, but I just wanted to read it again...

Google Buying Valve?
If they do, their cloud computing solution will get a lot better...

Full, Reliable Instructions to Load OSX on Eee PC
So if you were lucky enough to pick up an Eee PC yesterday, this might be good for you.

HP Denies OS Rumour, Most Likely Confused With Upcoming Touchsmart UI
They didn't deny it - they flat out smashed it. I know, because I was there (and asked the question).

NY Driver's Licence Embedded With RFID: Doubles as a Passport
This sounds like an awesome idea. Sometimes I wish Victoria was another country just so we could get cool things like this...

Microsoft Almost Bought Nintendo, And More Revelations by Peter Moore
If they did, the Wii would probably have a better name.

Secret Guitar Hero 4 'Instrument' Revealed
But the kicker? PS3 only.

If you're hoping Blu-ray will get cheaper, sooner—thanks to weak sales and that whole economy thing—hug your DVDs tight. Blu-ray Disc Association Chairman Andy Parsons says prices won't be deflating for a while. And it's precisely because you're not buying enough Blu-ray! "There's not enough market [volume] to lower the price."

Read More »

Sony's 4K Projector (or Super Mega Ultra HD Projector in my terms), provides 4 times the pixels at a 4096x2160 resolution. Akihabara News says the liquid crystal on silicon projector uses SXRD technology, has a 2500:1 contrast ration, a 2 kW lamp and it produces 11,000 lumens of light. At $US114,000 and 268 pounds with no media that can take full advantage of the hardware, I doubt you'd have much use for this...yet. [Akihabara via Electronista]

Read More »

Education is a bitch. Teachers usually leave the profession within five years, kids either bomb standardized tests or learn them so well they bottom out immediately after, and funding is scarcer and scarcer to come by. The solution? Interactive multi-touch desks, naturally!

Read More »

Mary Jo Foley, who revealed that the first Windows 7 beta would drop in December and could still make its late 2009 release date, has seen the latest build of Windows 7, Milestone 3, which is just preview build away from becoming Beta 1. The verdict? Other than Office 2007's loved/hated Ribbon UI sprinkled throughout, showing up in WordPad and Paint, well, "The latest build seems quite stable... From what admittedly little I had a chance to see, Windows 7 does not look or feel like a major departure from Windows Vista." Update: Actual screenshot of Ribbonized Paint.

Read More »

Mastering Engineer Ian Shepherd is among those who believe that the distortion Metallica fans have been complaining about since the release of Death Magnetic is not present in the Guitar Hero III version. As he notes: "In comparison, the released CD version is - to coin a technical phrase - smashed to f**k." So who or what is to blame here? Shepherd believes that the album was the latest victim of the so-called "loudness wars" going on in the industry right now. That is to say, engineers are over-editing and sacrificing sound quality to achieve a higher level of louditude. The GHII version strips away the clipping and focuses more on dynamic range.

Read More »

Many people swear by polyphasic sleep, or the idea of taking frequent naps throughout the day as opposed to sleeping in one long chunk. Leonardo da Vinci was one of the most notable proponents of this seeping method, noting that it helped him be