Seriously, this steampunk thing is getting out of hand. Like with this Casio G-Shock G8100A-5 wristwatch. They took a Casio watch, slapped on some bronze paint, and now everyone and their steam-powered mechanical dog is calling it steampunk. Enough! If you're going to charge US$100 for a bronze-coloured watch and have people start calling it steampunk, it had damn well better come powered by a miniature lever-pulling version of K.W. Jeter. [Casio via OhGizmo]

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The cat is out of the bag--Darth Vader is a sick, perverted voyeur. First he sat atop your computer monitor and watched your every move. Now he his getting serious and starting to record the action (or lack therof) by using his Tie Fighter as a webcam. In addition to capturing audio, video and images, it also features sound effects from the movies. Just don't be surprised if your private moments end up all over the internet. Vader just can't be trusted with a YouTube account. Available soon for around US$33. [Play via Technabob]

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Not only is this second generation USB Pole Dancer actually worse looking than the first, you actually have to DO SOMETHING to make it perform. The anime-like eyes really makes this version much, much more creepy than the first, as if child labour laws don't apply to the plastic USB world. Nevertheless, US$22 makes her/it yours. [Latest Buy via Nerd Approved]

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Sergey and Larry's involvement with NASA seems to be getting ever deeper. Alongside the parking rights for the Google company jet at Moffat airfield, and using NASA data for Google, the Mountain View-based company is to build a brand new empire on 42.2 acres of land owned by the space agency at the Ames Research Centre in Mountain View. The high-tech campus will have around 1.2 million sq ft of offices and R&D facilities, and is costing around US$3.66 million per year of its 40-year lease.

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Sneaking a peek at a patent application by Nokia shows the company slipping into me-too territory, doodling an application to the U.S Patent Office that looks surprisingly like a T-Mobile Sidekick. Supposedly sidestepping any danger of patent infringement is one notable difference: an odd crank-like device on the side that must be turned to open up the screen, with a half-turn revealing the QWERTY keyboard nestled underneath. Too much like a sidekick to be a separate patent? Nokia knows what it's doing, but this could still end up more as a court decision than an actual product. [Unwired View]

Today's iApp-a-Day brought iPhone users a surprisingly fun game, Air Hockey. This 2-player game takes advantage of the multi-touch display by having the player's finger control their air hockey mallet. The game can be a bit buggy at times, especially when your mallet goes out of control and hits the puck into a million different directions, but overall it's an awesome game when you have a partner to play with. To use, iPhone users must jailbreak their phones to get installer.app, which will then allow them to install iApp-a-Day. [Instructions]

The Register is reporting that according to a manager at Spain's Telefonica cell carrier, Apple has plans to drop a sexy 3G iPhone on the world in May. Translated from the Spanish, the exact quote from the manager is: "OMG OMG iPhone OMG 3G OMG Apple May Rumors OMG!!!" OK, not really. Here's the real quote:

When iPhone will be launched in Spain? Telefonica expects it on May.

Will Telefonica release a 3G iPhone version on May?

Yes! They expect it.

AU: Very important rumour for Australia to hear. We need 3G for it to land here, as Telstra is the only Edge network and Apple and Telstra will never see eye to eye. Earlier thoughts were late next year, so May is a much more optimistic outlook. -SB

OK, you can take your tinfoil hats off now. German site Heise Online has tested Hackint0sh user XianLi's claims about the iPhone sending its IMEI to Apple while accessing the web. According to Heise and other sources, this is not true:

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The Gadget:The A747 is also the first AT&T handset to support the newly-launched Napster Mobile service (AT&Ts answer to Verizon's V Cast Music and the Sprint Music Store), allowing over the air downloads of MP3's, ringtones, and wallpapers on AT&T's 3G network. You can purchase MP3s one at a time for $1.99 or five at a time for $7.49. Fashioned in the likeness of the ever-influential RAZR, the phone has large backlit keys, a camera that rotates from back to front (for the video share service), and a bright screen.

Price: $149.99 after $50 rebate and two-year contract.

The Performance: The phone is solid..as far as non smartphones go. The keys are well defined the interface is well organized and responsive, but the screen is a little low-res for my tastes. As for the Napster service, I found the UI to be well organized and the downloads quick. On average, it took each track about 10 seconds to download. You can also have Napster email a link to your inbox so you can have the track on your computer as well. However, the service is limited by the size of the screen and the lack of a full keyboard. Unlike a device like the iPhone, which has plenty of screen space (not to mention resolution), Napster on the SLM takes a few extra screens to find what you want. Hacking out artist and song titles on the keyboard can also be a bit laborious. But for what it is, it worked well.

The Verdict: The phone itself is nothing to flip out about, boasting a solid, but unspectacular set of features (Bluetooth 2.0, microSD, etc...). The Napster service is also nice, proving to be a worthy competitor to similar offerings from Sprint and Verizon. At $150, it's a good buy if you want a simple phone that can download and play a couple of MP3s. It arrives in stores on Friday, November 23.

Putting a full-sized USB port in a phone is such a simple idea, even a caveman could think of it. Yet, until now, nobody has. Vincent Palicki's design features such a port by the number keys, allowing devices like thumb drives to plug in and transfer MP3s, movies and documents. Phone makers, pay attention... this is a good idea. [Yanko Design]

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