Friday, September 19, 2008
Gadgets
Majority of US E-Waste Gets ‘Recycled’ in Asia, Where Recycling Is Often Non-Existent
11:45PM John Mahoney | A new report by the US Government Accountability Office is claiming that the majority of US E-Waste recycling services should reconsider dumping our 20 million plus pounds of waste on Asia, where it’s cheaper but also less effective. Many of the major electronics manufacturers (Samsung, Sony, Best Buy, more) have been proudly rolling out recycling services in greater numbers over the last year or so, but the new information confirms that tonnes of recycled e-waste never makes it to the actual “recycling” part, at least as far as US standards go. More »
Games
‘Secret’ Document ‘Leaks’ Xbox Pure?
11:30PM Mark Wilson | A reliable contributor to the Cheap Arse Gamer forums (someone who supplied early leaks of the Xbox 360 Elite) revealed this document mentioning “Xbox Pure” as a proposed final product name needing approval. There’s also some allusion to metal plating. Since I’m about 90% certain that Microsoft purposefully leaked the Elite early to build publicity (through articles like this one), I’m guessing that the Xbox Pure is already a final product name and this document is just for our own amusement purposes only. In other words, let’s view it as what it probably is—a cryptic press release—and not pull out the decoder rings by candlelight just yet. UPDATE: It appears that we were misled by Cheap Arse Gamer as part of a prank contest. Running fabrications like this one does not help a site’s credibility. [Cheap Arse Gamer] More »
Vehicles
Spacecrafts to Unravel Earth’s Mysteries or Destroy It
11:15PM Jesus Diaz | This is the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer. Or GOCE for short. Or the most amazingly good looking spaceship orbiting around planet Earth. Or Darth Vader’s racing shuttle. Call it whatever you want but when it’s launched next month on a Russian Rockot, this vessel will be the first of the five Earth Explorers, which are here to save the planet even while they look like they can destroy it. More »
Software
Trism Makes $US250,000 Since Release
11:02PM Mark Wilson | Trism, a popular Bejeweled replacement available in the iPhone’s App Store, has reportedly made the developer $US250,000 in the two month since its release. While that’s not crazy-mad profit for a team of programmers to make on even a casual game, one must remember that Trism was coded by just one guy. Sales will probably decline over time as the title loses prominence in the App Store, but it’s not a completely absurd thought that the game could break $US1 million in sales eventually. And as everyone knows, a million bucks is officially a lot of money. [Wired] More »
Phones
Nokia E72 and E75 Leak Out, QWERTY Goodness in Slider and Candybar Shape
10:22PM Kit Eaton | Over at Symbianfreaks there’re a bunch of photos and this video which seem to be leaked data on two upcoming Nokia mobiles: the E72 and E75. Both have QWERTY keypads, with the E72 seeming to combine the S60 platform with a side-sliding keypad and the E75 looking pretty business-like in a BlackBerry-esque with its large candybar form factor. There’s precious little other info on the handsets, but knock yourself out with the images in the gallery. [Symbianfreaks]galleryPost('nokiae72e75', 3, ''); More »
Random Stuff
World. Shattered.
10:15PM Mark Wilson | Whaaat? John Hodgman, that PC guy from those Apple commercials, was spotted on the train with an iPhone. A voice of dissension from the Apple party for years, it’s a blow to PC users everywhere to see him caving to the casual cool hoodies of Justin Long. That’s good, Hodgman. Keep your daughter turned away. Don’t let her watch as a grown man abandons everything he believes in. [ISO50]
Software
Retromodo: Old Microsoft Ads Were Just As Weird As New Ones
10:00PM Kit Eaton | digg_skin = 'compact'; digg_bgcolor = '#f1f8fa'; digg_url = 'http://digg.com/microsoft/Old_Microsoft_Ads_Were_Just_As_Odd_As_New_Ones_VIDEOS'; Do a quick trawl through Microsoft advertising history and you find something interesting: as weird as the Gates/Seinfeld comedy duo Microsoft ads are—weird enough to get them set aside for the “I’m a PC” campaign—they’re just following in the footsteps of earlier ads. Check out this one, dubbed “Soar,” for Windows XP: what does it tell you about the software’s capability? Not much. But the Madonna sound track isn’t too shabby, and apparently using Windows can make you fly. Hmmm, that’s pretty odd… but then there are even more obscure ones. More »
Gadgets
Ion Audio’s Slides2PC Digitises Your Old Negatives Simply, For $US100
8:08PM Kit Eaton | Devices to digitise your old photo collections aren’t new, but Ion Audio’s new Slides2PC makes it about as simple and cheap as you might imagine. It takes a sled full of 35mm film negatives or slides, and turns them into 5-megapixel image files at the push of a button, with auto exposure control and colour correction. So it’s no pro-resolution image-cruncher, but 5-megapixels is perfectly serviceable—especially when the USB-connecting gizmo costs just $US100. [Everything USB] More »
Computers
Samsung’s NC10 Leaps Aboard the 10-inch Netbook Bandwagon, Is Bacteria-Phobic
7:43PM Kit Eaton | Samsung is the latest to join the UMPC/netbook party with the NC10, though it’s wrapping its tiny notebook with PR spin that it’s “a stylish alternative to existing products in the space.” There’s a 10.2-inch/1024 x 600-pixel screen, Atom processor, 8-hour battery life, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, memory card reader, and 80GB or 160GB HDD. Its “normal” sized keyboard is even sprinkled with nano silver particles to keep bacteria at bay. It’s due to hit the shops in October (in the UK at least) with pricing up to $US590. Oh, and that “stylish” thing? It’s probably ’cause it looks really shiny. [PocketLint and Akihabaranews] More »
Peripherals
