Sunday, October 19, 2008
Vehicles
Mars Science Laboratory Shell Is Biggest Ever, Looks Like UFO
12:20PM Jesus Diaz | While it looks like an UFO from Area 51, this is just the bottom part of the Mars Science Laboratory Rover aeroshell, the largest aeroshell in the history of space exploration at 4.5 metres in diameter, bigger than the almost four metres of the Apollo capsule heatshield. However, this is just not a simple protective device. This aeroshell will actually float in the middle of Mars’ atmosphere, using a crane to softly land the rover itself in a complete new approach to planetary touch downs. More »
Gadgets
Freehands Gloves Shield Your Soft Hands from Mild Winters
11:00AM Gizmodo US Edition | Freehands gloves are a cute idea: uncover the thumb and forefinger so you can operate capacitive touchscreens, like the iPhone’s, without removing your gloves. Past touchscreen-capable gloves (like these and these) have some sort of attachment on the outside of the glove so you don’t have to expose your fingers. I’m singularly qualified to explain the problem here, because unlike the other Giz writers, I’ve lived in Canada.
Screens
Sony LED Bravia KDL-55XBR8 Reviewed: Best LCD TV Ever
10:30AM Matt Buchanan | In case you haven’t gotten enough of amazing TVs you can’t possibly afford in this awesome economy today, Cnet has reviewed the 55-inch, plasma-killin’ tri-colour LED-backlit Bravia XBR8 we saw a couple months ago. Spoiler: Sony’s setup didn’t lie—it’s the best LCD TV ever, falling just short of the best HDTV ever, nearly matching Pioneer’s PDP-111FD (Cnet’s best flat-panel period) in blacks, colour accuracy and bright-room picture quality. More »
Phones
UK to Require Passports for Mobile Phones, Still Better Than Japan
10:15AM Matt Buchanan | The implied indignation in Mike Elgan’s post about the UK’s audacity to require a passport to buy even a prepaid mobile phone shows that he’s never tried to buy one as a foreigner in Japan. It was among the most annoying things I did when I lived there—you don’t just need a passport (that would’ve been immensely easier), you also need your gaijin card—officially the gaikokujin torokusho—that takes at least a month to get (after you’ve gotten your visa settled), or at least the receipt showing you’ve applied for it, just to get a crappy prepaid phone. More »
Science
Buckypaper: Silly Name, Incredibly Strong and Light Material
9:45AM Gizmodo US Edition | Flying in a plane made of a material called ‘buckypaper’ may not seem too appealing at first, but this new type of carbon nanotube may be the future of lightweight, high strength composite. Discovered accidentally while trying to create the same conditions that exist in a star, buckypaper is far from reaching its potential, but what a potential it is. More »
Phones
Diseases Not Yet Associated with Mobile Phone Use
9:15AM Gizmodo US Edition | A British Association of Dermatologists’ study showed that the levels of nickel found in mobile phones can cause dermatological problems for many mobile phone users. As many as 33% of people are at least slightly allergic to nickel, and nearly half of the 22 phones tested had levels that could affect those poor souls. Luckily, the allergy causes friendly, non-fatal dermatitis: itchy skin and a mild rash, easily healed with a topical steroid cream. I feel like mobile phones get a bad rap, since even jewellery can cause the same reaction, so here’s an encouraging list of diseases you definitely won’t get from your phone. More »
Cameras
Nikon D3x 24-Megapixel DSLR in December?
9:00AM Matt Buchanan | The latest on Nikon’s long-rumoured 24MP D3x DSLR is about as barebones as they get, simply stating: “Went to dinner with Nikon this week. The Nikon D3X is due in December 08″ and reiterating that it’ll use the same massive full-frame sensor as Sony’s A900, as we expected when it first came out, since Nikon has long used Sony sensors (like in the D300). More »
Toys
Lego Sarah Palin Winks, Says ‘Pew Pew’ to Lego Bridges to Nowhere, Just Like the Real One
8:45AM Matt Buchanan | The debates are over, and we’re in the home stretch to election day. Since campaign ads are obviously full of crap, that means the only ways left to decide who you should vote for are Photoshop and Lego. Built at what OJ calls “marionette scale,” Lego Sarah Palin is maverick enough to field interviews from Lego Katie Couric, debate Lego Joe Biden and say “no thanks” to Lego bridges to nowhere. [Ochre Jelly via Brothers Brick] More »
Computers
New MacBook Pro Battery Has Less Battery Power Than Old One
8:15AM Matt Buchanan | This confirms what I suspected—the new MacBook Pro battery has a lower capacity than the old one. About 16 percent less to be specific. The old battery was rated at 5600mAh/60Wh, but the new ones are rated at 4700mAh/50Wh. This perfectly explains why you now need to use the integrated Nvidia GeForce 9400M on the new Pro to get the same five-hour (rated, not real world) battery life as you did with the discrete 8600M GT on the previous-gen Pro, despite its use of more energy-efficient DDR3 memory (which would negate drops from the faster FSB) and the same processor clock speeds. More »
Networks
