Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Mobile

Palm Pixi Gets Much-Needed WebOS 1.3.2 Speed Update

11:26PM December 2, 2009 | Kat Hannaford

The Palm Pre’s little brother Pixi has just grown up, with it receiving the webOS 1.3.2 update before the Pre. More »


Mobile

Stolen Belgian iPhones Traced To Russian Black Market

11:01PM December 2, 2009 | Danny Allen

Remember that $US3M iPhone 3GS heist in Belgium last month? Burglars nabbed 3,000-4,000 handsets. Now, according to blogs uncovered by Cult of Mac, they’re being offloaded in Russia (where the 3GS isn’t available) in batches of 100-cash only. More »


Bandai’s Mugen Tokoroten Repeats Niche Pleasure Of Squeezing Sea Algae

10:38PM December 2, 2009 | Kat Hannaford

Popping bubblewrap, or opening beer cans just not your obsessive compulsive cup of tea? Here’s another toy for Bandai’s Mugen range: the Mugen Tokoroten, which simulates squeezing a sea algae snack. 630 Yen for our Japanese brethren. [CNET Asia] More »


Mobile

HTC Touch.B Surfaces, Dismisses Rome Codename

10:31PM December 2, 2009 | Kat Hannaford

Moonlighting under the Touch.B name, more details on HTC’s Rome handset have been unearthed in France, including some dishy photos which show the two-tone phone properly for the first time. My, the family resemblance is strong. More »


Psst, Zune HD Now Available In Purple And Magenta

10:19PM December 2, 2009 | Danny Allen

As promised, you can now pick up a shiny, angular Zune HD in royal purple and magenta hues. They’re still $US220 (16GB) and $US290 (320GB). See our in-depth Zune HD review for the nitty gritty. [Zune Store] More »


Computing

Acer Wants To Be First With Chrome OS Netbook Next Year

9:58PM December 2, 2009 | Danny Allen

The dual-booting Aspire One AOD250 was the first Android netbook available, and even though it hasn’t been a hot seller, Acer wants to be first again with Chrome OS. More »


Gadgets

Every Single One Of Cormac McCarthy’s Works Was Typed On This

7:40PM December 2, 2009 | Rosa Golijan

Cormac McCarthy has spent many years bent over this typewriter banging out books and screenplays, including All the Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, and The Road. Now, after many decades, he’s giving up his trusty old gadget. More »


Energizer’s Next Gen Zinc Air Batteries To Triple Run Time

7:00PM December 2, 2009 | Rosa Golijan

The technology for Energizer’s Zinc Air batteries may go back 35 years, but it’s certainly being used well. These new batteries, which we’ll see this summer, will be smaller and have three times the run time of prior versions. More »


Science

New Spacesuit Design Is One-Size-Shrinks-to-Fit-All

6:20PM December 2, 2009 | Rosa Golijan

My dream of being a spacegirl faded when I learned that those suits take ages to put on. But thanks to this new pneumatic muscle-powered, shrink-to-fit spacesuit which can be put on in seconds, I can dream again. More »


Optical Sensor-Laden Skin Gives Robots A Softer Touch

5:40PM December 2, 2009 | Rosa Golijan

As robots become more involved in delicate tasks such as autopsies or surgeries, we need their touch to be as precise and sensitive as possible. To have that, we’ll need to give them a skin-like surface full of optical sensors. More »