Friday, October 3, 2008
Cameras
Hitachi DLNA Camcorder Concept Streams HD Video to TVs As It’s Shot
11:45PM John Mahoney | Hitachi showed off a cool-looking camcorder concept at CEATEC this week, which adds a Wi-Fi module for streaming video from its hard drive or what’s being shot live over WLAN to your TV. For recorded video it uses DLNA, which means it will work with any number of DLNA-compatible HDTVs or a PS3. More »
Random Stuff
Criminal Uses Craigslist to Escape From Armoured Truck Robbery
11:30PM Jesus Diaz | A bank robber got away with a bag full of mucho money from an armoured truck after successfully pulling out a perfect escape plan, straight out the final scene of the Thomas Crown Affair. The criminal–who was wearing a yellow vest, safety goggles, a respirator mask and a blue shirt–used Craigslist to hire a dozen of decoys to confuse the police and the public around the scene. Mike, one of the hired decoys, gave the full details: More »
Design
Hanging Enclosure Concept Piggybacks a Hard Drive on Your Laptop Lid
11:20PM John Mahoney | As tiny 1.8″ hard drives continue to get larger in capacity and smaller in size, this design concept for hanging one from the back of your laptop display seems like the way to go–it’s using a 2.5″ drive, but a 1.8″ would really be better. I’ve got a 3G card that hangs like this already, but piggybacking an external drive would be far more useful–especially when you have to pick up and go in a hurry. [Yanko Design via BBG] More »
Games
Microsoft Surface on a Wii Balance Board
11:00PM Mark Wilson | It’s tough to imagine the eureka moment when an engineer, equating the Microsoft Surface with a fat person with a penchant for curly fries dipped in ranch, decided to place the Surface on the Wii Balance Board. But the result, coupled with a custom-coded Surface app, creates a tilt screen of epic proportions. Pushing on one edge of the Surface works just like rotating an iPhone. And we can’t wait to see the technology manifest to an insane 4-player co-op game of Monkey Ball. [Stimulant via ubergizmo] More »
Games
Pandora’s Nintendo DS On Steroids Will Be Out for the Holidays
10:40PM Jesus Diaz | Pandora, the muscled-up Nintendo DS frankenmonster with Linux OS, will be finally available for the holidays shopping season. With only 3,000 units planned, the $US350 game console has no commercial games and is aimed at the homebrew market. Obviously, it’s not going to be a hit but its final feature list looks impressive nonetheless. More »
Games
Club Nintendo Finally Coming to America
10:20PM Mark Wilson | America will soon join Europe, Japan and some other lucky folks and have access to the elite Club Nintendo…club. Sure, it’s a Nintendo marketing ploy to get users to register products and fill out surveys, but Club Nintendo is also the only outlet to buy the most sacred, extra limited edition Nintendo gear. We’ll keep our ear to the ground and let you know when registration begins, but until then, check out this awesome SNES Virtual Console controller that was offered earlier this year by Club Nintendo Japan. Pretty great, right? [Kotaku and image] More »
Games
Nintendo Pedometer Is Made for Walking (Game)
9:58PM Jesus Diaz | Nintendo has confirmed the existence of their rumoured pedometer with the release of a Wii Fit meets Brain Training meets Nike+ game. Your Life Rhythm, as it is called, uses the little pod to record your physical performance, and it looks a bit weird to me. More »
Online
iTunes Shutdown Scare Officially Over, Officially Dumb
9:10PM John Herrman | The National Music Publishers Board didn’t get their request to the Copyright Royalty Board for a larger cut of digital music sales, putting a definitive end to a miniature media crisis over the “possible” shutdown of iTunes. Apple threw a minor shit-fit over the prospective hike last year, insinuating that they might not be able to continue business if they were “no longer able to do so profitably” (what business sense!), after which the British press decided that music was going to go away forever, or something. In any case, iTunes’ profitability was never really at stake, Apple wasn’t actually planning to shut down the largest music retailer in the US, and the press needs to calm down. [BBC] More »
Phones
Nokia Releases 5800 XpressMusic ‘Tube’ Full Video Tour
8:20PM John Herrman | Our hands-on with the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic ‘Tube’ was pretty conclusive: the 5800 is a solid, capable but somewhat underwhelming music phone. For a first attempt at a full touch interface, though, the adapted S60 operating system is actually pretty good. Slashphone has unearthed a mountain of demo footage displaying the different functions of the OS, so you can make your own judgment, but as with our hands-on video, you’ll just have to try to ignore the damning, repeatedly unregistered touches that keep happening whenever the screen isn’t pre-rendered. More »
Cameras
