Gizmodo: Gift Guide, Home Entertainment

Popalive's LCD Remote Keeps Tabs on Your iPod

Louis Ramirez — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 09:45:11 EST

Despite its Fisher Price-sounding name, Alive-Style's new Popalive remote looks pretty cool. It's basically a wireless remote with an embedded 1.5-inch color screen that lets you view and navigate your iPod from afar. Dock your iPod with the Popalive Dock, connect it to your stereo or TV (the dock has audio and video outputs), and with the Popalive remote you can control what plays next. It uses bi-directional RF connectivity, which the company claims works through walls, etc. We'll have to try that out ourselves, but otherwise seems like a cool accessory. Pricing isn't out yet, but you can expect to see the Popalive by the end of the year. – Louis Ramirez

Press Release [Alive-Style Debuts Popalive LCD Remote for iPods via iPod Lounge]

How To Find Wii Component Cables

Jason Chen — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:10:00 EST

We have to admit, we're six years late to the party on this one. We just purchased a set of PS2 component cables this past weekend and have to say that there's a pretty noticeable difference between composite and component, even on an old system like the PS2.

What's the point? Well, despite the fact that the Wii only ships with composite cables, we feel it's our civic duty to remind you that you need to play the Wii with component cables. Seriously. Just get it already. And since the official ones are most likely sold out everywhere, you're probably having a hard time getting some.

Here's how to find them.

Wii Component Cables [PlayAsia - $9]

Mad Catz Component Cables [Mad Catz - $19]

Official Component Cables [Amazon - $19]

Nintendo Wii Component Cables [Nintendo - $29]

EBGames Component Cables [EBGames - $49]

React Component Cables [Best Buy - $24]

Griffin Component Cables [Best Buy - $59!]

ASiD Component Cables [Frys - $39]

Blaze Component Cables - $10 (Out of stock) [Superufo]

Psyclone Component Cables [Circuit City - $59!]

– Jason Chen

MojoPlay Monitor Makes Your 360 Mobile

Louis Ramirez — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:45:43 EST

I don't normally make it a habit of lugging my Xbox 360 around to other people's houses, but should the desire ever arise (or if you have a car to do the lugging for you), MojoPlay's MP-920XB is at your service. It's a 9.2-inch traveling display that connects to your 360 and lets you play games when someone else is hogging up the TV. The screen has an 800x480 resolution along with built-in speakers and dual headphone jacks. It's out today for $170 with PS3 and Wii equivalents slated for next year, though personally I wouldn't wanna play any console games on a display smaller than 26-inches. – Louis Ramirez

Product Page [via Electronista]

Ality Pixxa LCD Frame: Pick a Day, Display a Pic

Charlie White — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 16:32:38 EST

LCD photo frames are flooding the market, and now their makers are all trying to differentiate their products from each other. The Ality Picca 8-inch LCD Photo Frame's unique feature is a calendar that lets you display specific photos or movies on certain days and times.

If its 512MB of internal memory isn't enough, you can insert an SD, MMC or MS memory card and be sure it's well-stocked with as many photos as you'd like. You can also use it as an alarm clock, and can play your tunes through its tiny speaker. Still, you'd think for $300 Sharper Image could offer WiFi or Internet connectivity with a product like this. – Charlie White

Product Page [Sharper Image, via Coolest Gadgets]

MusicJam With Your iPod, Be Famous or Not

Charlie White — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:52:32 EST

Slip that iPod into the MusicJam, plug in the included microphone and your guitar, and you have yourself a $229 recording studio. It even has XLR inputs, tipping its hat toward professionalism.

If you're not looking for even 15 minutes of fame, there's also karaoke software included. Too bad it's not waterproof—it would be a perfect shower karaoke machine for our aqua-crooning editor. – Charlie White

Product Page [Cerventis LLC, via Slash Gear]

NES Skins Transform the Wii into 8-Bit Ancestors

Brian Lam — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:37:25 EST

This faux-NES skin for the Wii celebrates my childhood. Other kids played ball with the old man. But my dad was an engineer. We played NES.

So it's with great fondness that I fire up the Wii's virtual console, jack in the classic controller, and remember the days where pops and I would rock the 2P action until dinnertime. The skin is labeled with Revolution Entertainment System, mashing up the Wii's original name with the "ES" in NES. The labels are guaranteed to not peel, fade, or leave gunk on your Wii if you decide to transform back. And they cost $15 bucks.

The real-life photos of it look pretty good, too:

–Brian Lam

Wii Skin - Retro Revolution [via Uncrate]

First Look: Dell XPS M1710 with Blu-ray

Louis Ramirez — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 09:01:29 EST

Just when you thought they couldn't get any better, Dell has given its XPS M1710 a big shot of botox. As of this morning, the Media Center laptops have been fitted with Blu-ray drives giving the 17-inch gaming machines a high-def kick in the ass. Alongside their newfound HD capabilities (they pack a gorgeous 1,920x1,200 widescreen display), the notebooks also flaunt Intel's top of the line mobile processor and Nvidia's hypersonic GeForce Go 7950 GTX video card. We were lucky enough to score some play time with the new laptop....

Our $4,249 came with 2GB of RAM, a 100GB hard drive, and an overclockable T7600 CPU, making it the most powerful HD notebook out there. Pound for pound, the M1710 is one giant that won't be taken down easily. The laptop is identical to previous XPS M1710s. It has Dell's LightFX technology (ambient lights that glow from the side and front of your notebook), a full-size keyboard, and Dell's MediaDirect software, which mixes work with play by letting you access media files and office files (like calendars and PowerPoint slides) without booting up the OS.

A few major nitpicks. There's no HDMI out for connecting the laptop to your HDTV and there's still no TV tuner (that's optional). The inclusion of both would have made the notebook irresistible. With a $3,699 starting price (that includes a Blu-ray drive), this XPS delivers far more features for the price than you can find in any other HD notebook. – Louis Ramirez

$3,699 (starting price w/ Blu-ray drive)
$3,974 (with T7600 CPU)
$4,249 (with overclockable T7600 CPU)

Dell [Product Page]

Charlie Brown's Pathetic Christmas Tree

Charlie White — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 11:18:19 EST

Now here's a Christmas tree I can relate to: a 21" exact replica of Charlie Brown's pathetic tree before it was magically turned into something completely different by some energetic arm-waving.

It's yours for $24. Good grief. But I like it. And no, the psychiatrist is not in. – Charlie White

Product Page [Urban Outfitters, via OhGizmo]

Flybook Gives Its Notebooks a Rise

Louis Ramirez — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 16:40:33 EST

The Flybook VM may look like your standard issue ultraportable, but deep inside this notebook wants to be a desktop, albeit a small one. You see the 3.6-pound Flybook hides a telescoping neck that lets you perch the laptop's 12.1-inch display above the keyboard so the display is better angled with your line of sight. The VM is no slouch in the specs department either, featuring a dual-core processor and built-in DVD burner. Add some smooth angles, a glossy case, and a bikini babe and you've got one of the hottest ultraportables on the market. At least on paper. The Flybook VM is due out later this month for $2,899. – Louis Ramirez

Flybook VM [via Dynamism]

Wii Inventory Tracker

Jason Chen — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 13:28:21 EST

Even though Nintendo's delivering about 2,700 times the amount of Wiis as PlayStation 3s this quarter, demand is still outnumbering supply, and you may be having a hard time getting your hands on a console. Here comes the Nintendo Wii Console Status Tracker.

This website monitors the major sites—EB Games, Wal-Mart, Circuit City, Amazon—all on one page and will change color when the console is in stock. Pretty similar to all the 360 trackers that were the rage last year. Notably absent is Best Buy, but perhaps there's a problem with BB's website. – Jason Chen

Inventory Tracker [Refresh Thing]

JVC's Sophisti Speakers Upscale DVDs and Pack Wi-Fi

Louis Ramirez — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 11:35:49 EST

So now that you've taken advantage of all those Black Friday specials and scored a new flat-panel TV, it's time to pair it with some decent speakers. Stepping up to the plate is JVC's Sophisti line, a 3.1 system that cuts back on wires and looks good doing it. All three models in the Sophisti range (DD-8, DD-3, DD-1) can decode Dolby Digital, DTS, and Pro Logic II, but the DD-8 and DD-3 up the ante by upscaling your DVDs to 720p. The latter two models can also connect to your computer and wirelessly play back music, video, or photos stored on your hard drive. I'm particularly liking the DD-8, which is the only model to include floor-standing speakers. The models are available in the UK starting at $960. Pics of the full range after the jump.

– Louis Ramirez
[via CNET UK]

Dealzmodo: Pioneer 700W 7.1 Home Theatre Receiver, $88 AR

Travis Hudson — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 12:33:53 EST

BestBuy has one bitchin' deal on a Pioneer 7.1 channel home theatre receiver. The receiver normally retails for $199, add in $11 of instant savings (!!) and a $100 mail-in-rebate brings this baby down to $88 after all is said and done. It is also available for in-store pickup to avoid any nasty shipping costs on the 20-pound beast. – Travis Hudson

Product Page [Via Consumerist]

Wii and PS3: Complete and Synchronized Unboxing

Jason Chen — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 15:39:31 EST

An event that happens less than Neptune colliding with Uranus: two consoles arriving on our doorstep simultaneously. Actually now that we think about it, it's only happened once...ever. The Wii and PS3 have landed, and only Gizmodo has the exclusive unboxing of both next-gen devices. This is the retail PS3, which unlike the test PS3 units everyone else got, is the actual console you'll be getting in stores.

Even with the Sizmodo, it was hard for us to appreciate just how tiny the Wii is compared to the PS3. All that "next-gen" graphics makes Sony's console twice as tall and twice as fat.

Take a look at the gallery to see the consoles, controllers, accessories, movies, games, and connectors. If you want to know what your Nintendo and Sony experience will be like on launch day, this is the only place to see it. And if you want to know what it looks like when I stick the Wii down my pants, well, you can see that too. – Brian Lam and Jason Chen

Wii and PS3 Synchronized Unboxing Gallery [Gizmodo]

Shiny TiVo Glo Remote Available as Stand-Alone

Charlie White — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 12:39:11 EST

TiVo is shipping the Glo Remote, the luxo-premium controller that's normally included with the TiVo Series 3 HD box, as a $50 standalone product. Of course, it works with the Series 3 but also works with most Series 2 units, too.

We have one of these remotes in-house, and really like its shiny piano-black finish. However, we do wish it had a gravity switch to turn on the backlighting for the buttons, like the Logitech Harmony 880 does. This TiVo Glo Remote's backlight sometimes doesn't turn on when you want it to.

That said, it's still a first-class controller for TiVos, and it's a learning remote, too, so you can use it to control power, input, volume, and mute on TVs and A/V receivers. – Charlie White

Product Page [TiVo, via Zatz Not Funny]

Golf Launchpad Cures Those Winter Blues

Travis Hudson — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 16:19:24 EST

The Golf Launchpad is a USB golf simulator. Plug it into your PC or Mac, install a little Tiger Woods PGA Tour and hit the links, virtually. This time instead of throwing your club into the lake, you can simply bash it into your wall. The simulator is even capable of analyzing your golf swing to help your almost-worthless attempts at becoming the next Arnold Palmer. The Golf Launchpad is available for $250.

Product Page [Via Uncrate]

Hannspree Does Some Groovy LCDs

tgrumet — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 12:45:15 EST

We've shown you the child's side of Hannspree with its Disney-inspired LCD models, but here's something a little more sophisticated for the grownups. The Hanns Starlight is a 15-inch LCD TV that, strangely enough, is inspired by the contours of the moon in the starlit sky. I don't know what the Hannspree team was smoking the day they came up with this, but I'd like them to give me a call immediately. It's quite a pretty television, with "curves like orbits" and laser-polished buttons. Runs about $600 and comes with a metal stand designed in an "orbital pattern." Another fave is the Hanns Time Square TV. A 12-inch LCD model, this one is actually designed to look like a men's sports watch. On the front of the TV, it's got a Swiss movement on the right and a thermometer and hydrometer to track temperature and humidity on the left. The stand is wrapped in rubber and it's also got adjustable speakers. And what a bargain at only $450.

Hannspree Unique LCD Television Collection [Born Rich]

Pricing for Hannspree LCD TVs [Amazon]

Aurora Palette—The Magical Curtain

Noah R — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 10:43:42 EST

Japan's Banpresto is selling several types of room and bath atmospheric light gadgets, including this one called the Aurora Palette. It is a relaxing, interior light, that projects an aurora borealis-like light on the ceiling or wall at home. Along with the colors, it also wavers as if it were a real aurora. It includes a timer function for 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes and sells for about $30.

Product Page

Holiday Gifts and Listening for Geeky Musicians

johnb — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 12:40:07 EST

There's still time to run out and buy a gift for your favorite digitally-oriented musician at your local music store. From books and discs to tips for female musicians to gear and games, Create Digital Music has put together choices that won't blow the budget, like the $200 Alesis Photon X25 keyboard. (Hint: the recipient won't care about the solidly-built knobs, keys, and built-in audio interface as much as the glowing-red wheel controllers and wireless infrared X/Y/Z dome sensor.) But you'll have to pull yourself away from the groovy sounds of the vintage Moog sounds of Switched on Santa first. Make that a New Year's present.

Digital Musician Holiday Central [Create Digital Music]

Marty 101 Speaker — Timedomain

Noah R — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 11:25:08 EST

The Japanese company MET began selling the speaker system Marty 101 yesterday, developed in cooperation with the company Timedomain. I guess it is more for the real audio buffs among us, but after reading about its effects capabilities, I'm thinking it sounds quite intriguing. "Time domain theory aims to reproduce the original audio waveform, which contains the amplitude / phase frequency characteristics, through the speaker, without change. This theory is therefore considered to be an effective approach toward the reproduction of truly original sound." Surely someone can comment on this. They're sold as a pair in silver or white for about $250.

Impress
Product Page
Time Domain Technology

Epson Projector JUST Under 1K

tgrumet — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 15:39:54 EST

For a dollar less than a grand, you too can get yourself an Epson PowerLite Cinema Home 20 projector. Using a 3LCD projector, a new alternative to DLP, it has (shocker) three LCD panels and is also known as high-temperature polysilicon or HTPS. Also has 480p native resolution, 1200 ANSI Lumens of brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio and a short throw distance, allowing for projection of an 80-inch widescreen image from just 6.6 feet away. It also happens to include an optical/offset lens shift to easily set up a viewing space in any area without distortion.

Epson Budget HD Home Cinema Projector [Bios Magazine]

Specs and pricing on Epson Cinema projectors [Shopping.com]

Oregon Scientific Regional Weather Station Reviewed (Verdict: Not SPOTty At All)

johnb — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 15:05:39 EST

I've been watching SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology) for a few years now and I've never been blown away. However, this weather station seems to get a few things right—it uses a dedicated data stream to pick up excellent weather info, it never needs setting, and it does what it's supposed to do without lots of frou-frou bells and whistles. SpotStop says this thing is a bit 'spensive but it's very cool. This station comes with free Direct MSN service until 2010 and provides just about every weather function known to man.

Oregon Scientific Complete Regional Weather Station Review [SpotStop]

Specs and pricing for Oregon Scientific weather stations [Shopping.com]

Best of Gizmodo Home Entertainment (Vote Time)

Travis Hudson — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 14:15:56 EST

Here it is, the finalists for the best Home Entertainment product of the year. Put in your two cents, in the form of a vote, after le jump.

Best of Gizmodo Home Entertainment

Travis Hudson — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 18:00:12 EST

Did you rig up a hot media center this year? Got your hands on an Xbox 360? Or were you happy with just an HDTV? Send your nominees for the best home entertainment product to bestofgiz@gmail.com.

Hands Ass-On Pyramat PM220 Sound Rocker

Travis Hudson — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 13:41:05 EST

Ladies and gents, welcome to the modern age of gaming. No longer will your "Nintendo chair" just sit there and rock while you game away for hours at a time. Allow me to reintroduce the Pyramat PM220 Sound Rocker. This is a Nintendo chair for the modern gamer. It features ARX sound technology and integrated speakers near the head and a bass blasting subwoofer behind your ass. Check out the full review after the jump.

Pyramat Product Page

First things first: This thing weighs a ton and by ton, I actually mean 40 pounds rounded up. I believe I saw the UPS man have a hernia while trying to carry this up to my second-floor apartment. Be careful: wherever it is set up will be where it remains.

Setup. Firstly, there are a couple of options for audio playback: it can go through any device that uses component audio cables, and it can easily connect to MP3 players through the use of the standard 1/8" audio jack. Unfortunately the cable for the MP3 player is pretty short, so it made navigating between my favorite Hanson tracks a pain and I usually ended up unplugging the iPod, selecting my music and then plugging it back.

The home theater setup will depend on how easy this thing can hook up to consoles and whatnot. The instruction manual says to take the audio output cables from your console and run them directly to the rocker. My TV happens to have audio-out, so instead, I ran the rocker directly to my TV. This allowed me to enjoy all of my different consoles, DVD player and digital cable without any messy cable swapping. It also allowed for a nice surround sound environment since sound would still be streaming through the television speakers.

The sound controls are in a very awkward place. A birdie told me that they were going to be moved to the side of the rocker in the future, so that is definitely a plus, but the unit I tested had them in the middle at the front. There are three knobs: volume, bass and a switch between the MP3 player and other inputs.

Initial sitting test: it's a little stiff, but stiff in the way any new piece of furniture is. After many hours of gaming, I'm sure it would eventually conform to my well-sculpted ass. Unfortunately there is no type of headrest, but that's okay because in place of the headrest are two speakers that do their jobs very nicely.

Sound test 1, MP3 player. I loaded up my iPod with bass-heavy music and began a test for which my ass would love me for forever. Going in, I initially expected the speakers to be of lower quality seeing as how it was two speakers, a sub, and a chair for $99. But I was blown away with the sound quality I experienced. The sub nailed it, providing force feedback to my nether region while the speakers sounded clean and crisp. AJ from the Backstreet Boys never sounded so good until he was being delivered to me through a chair.

Gaming test 1. Once again, similar to the MP3 player test, this PM220 Rocker showed terrific sound quality. The online Halo experience can sometimes be a pain in the ass dealing with the little punk kids across the globe, but this chair made it ever so sweet when not only did I kill the kids many a time, but I also got to feel myself killing those punk kids through the subwoofer. A machine gun has never sounded or felt so good. To keep a variable intact I tried the rocker out with the Gamecube also; same fabulous sound as experienced with the Xbox.

Bottom line: The Pyramat PM220 rocker will enhance your gaming experience while also providing a great place to rest your ass for marathon gaming sessions. However, there are a couple of things that are needed on your part to make this product better: if you have multiple consoles, you should probably also have audio outputs on your TV to avoid a cable jungle and to also add the surround sound effect. This product also wouldn t fit well in a home where it would have to be moved around frequently—40 pounds is a bit much for a small chair. Lastly, if you perhaps, like me, live in an apartment complex and have old neighbors living below you, expect to be evicted quickly; the bass can get loud and furious.

Pros: Excellent sound quality, nice addition of MP3 player support, decent price, and nice cool look with the brushed metal.

Cons: Cords could get messy, it is a tad heavy, and awkward placing of controls.

The Pyramat PM220 rocker is currently available for $99 through Target retailers nationwide.

More Pyramat gaming chairs [Amazon]

Toy Laughs With, At Children

Gizloco — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 16:07:52 EST

If you find the need to get your small child more involved in what he watches, this could be just what you re looking for. The "Childs Developmental Synchronized Plush and DVD" (or as I call it, "Babysitter") is a set that supposedly gets your child to actively participate in the included movie. The plush toy, aside from looking a little creepy, will laugh, sing, or flash its lights in reaction to what is occurring on the screen. If the toy starts to walk around and mumble to itself in a drunken slur, however, we may have a problem.

Plush Toy Interacts with DVD Movie - Supposedly Supports Child Development [I4U News]

Blingin Out the 360

Gizloco — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 12:27:50 EST

So you were one of the lucky few to get your hands on an Xbox 360? Big deal. Is your faceplate made of solid gold? Thought not. But for the low, low price of $36,000 it can be! An enterprising person on eBay is auctioning off a 24-karat gold 360 faceplate. So for all you railroad and oil tycoons out there, game on!

Xbox 360 Faceplate is Good as Gold [Digital Media Thoughts]

Selection of Xbox 360 faceplates on the cheaper end [Amazon]

Microsoft Takes More of your Money with the LG LRM-519 DMR

Travis Hudson — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 07:36:58 EST

Microsoft is teaming up with LG to design the LRM-519 digital media recorder. This features all of the bells and whistles of the average consumer electronics home entertainment system: RF, digital audio, composite video, standard audio, s-video, telephone, Ethernet, DVD burner, USB, IR, and even old-school serial controller. This DVR works a little different than the average bear. It connects to a fee-based Microsoft Program Service to download program schedules. This is better than the average DVR/DMR because it has the ability to actually utilize the Ethernet port and pretty much become a networked media center. The downside—$600 for this, plus monthly Microsoft fees. TiVo-killer it is not.

LG LRM-519 Digital Media Recorder [Design Technica]

Deflexion Laser Board Game

Travis Hudson — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 14:38:58 EST

Just when you thought board games had hit their technological peak with Trivial Pursuit DVD Edition, a company has released a game that puts all other board games to shame. This is Deflexion, a board game that uses lasers and physics concepts for either hours of fun or a burned-out retina. The idea of the game is to build a setup using an assortment of djeds, pyramids and obelisks to bounce a laser around the board to hit and annihilate your opponent's pharaoh. Why they decided on pharaoh, who knows. Maybe the creators are anti-Egyptian. Or anti-Scooby Doo villains.

Deflexion Playing with Lasers [Coolest Gadgets]

Pricing for Deflexion Laser Strategy Game [Amazon]

LG 42" Xcanvas With 160GB Of PR()|\|

gizmodo.com — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 09:23:06 EST

LG is releasing the 42LP1DR LCD TV soon. The model number may not be that big of a deal, but the feature set is making me wiggle. The 42" HD-ready LCD TV will feature a built-in 160GB hard drive for recording your HD shows and movies. This is great because it allows you to ditch the PVR box and keep your living room (or bathroom, if you're that cool) looking streamlined and uncluttered. The TV can do 13 hours of HD recording, 63 hours of SD recording, and you can even pull in pics through the built-in 9 in 1 card reader. This of course means you can do your photo viewing, movie viewing, MP3 playing, etc. through the same TV interface. Keep an eye out for this hot number from LG as no pricing or release date is set.

LG 42LP1DR 42" LCD TV with 160 GB Hard Drive [New Launches]

USB Turntable (More Vinyl to CD Goodness)

tgrumet — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 09:53:15 EST

You kind of liked the idea of that TEAC turntable that could rip vinyl right into a CD (though many of you seemed to wonder why it took so long for the combo to be marketed together), so you may also want to take a looksie at ION's ITTUSB. This USB turntable is being touted as the first ever of its kind to let you instantly convert your vinyl to CD or MP3 with included recording software (no special drivers required). Basically, the ITTUSB is compatible with any software that supports USB audio input sound cards, but comes with Audacity software for Mac or PC. On the hardware side, the turntable supports 33 1/3 and 45rpm, has an adjustable anti-skating control for increased stereo balancing, supports high-speed vinyl recording, has adjustable pitch control (+/- 8 per cent) and comes with line level output that lets you connect to your home stereo with CD or auxiliary inputs. Just $139.

Ion USB Turntable [Bios Magazine]

Pricing for Ion USB Turntable [Amazon]

iTower Looms over Competition

tgrumet — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 09:29:50 EST

Well, it's big, I'll give you that. And because it's designed specifically for the iPod, the iTower will be bought by at least 3 billion people. The speaker system, featuring a 42-inch-tall and 9-inch-wide tower with built-in subwoofer and four aluminum cone speakers, comes with a wireless remote and several Zipconnect cables for compatibility with any flavor iPod you may have. It's designed to be paired with Apple's MP3 player—as if the "i" didn't tell you that already—but a standard cable allows you to plug in any old digital music player through the headphone jack. Available at Sharper Image for $200. If you want more than one, additional iTowers go for $100 each.

This is a different product than the other iPod Tower we wrote about.

42 inches tall iTower Ipod Speaker System [New Launches]

Pricing for iTower Speaker System [Amazon]

Squeezebox Serves Up Your Music Round the House

Gizloco — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 13:45:36 EST

Your impressive collection of mp3s is nice and all, but it does nobody any good just sitting on your PC s hard drive. Wouldn t you like to be able to play all of those files through your state-of-the-art stereo system that set you back a couple of Gs all those years ago? That s exactly what Slim Devices Squeezebox V3 aims for you to do. Styled like a svelte radio, the Squeezebox streams your digital music files from your PC to any stereo via its analog out, digital optical out, or digital coax or for an extra $50, it ll stream your tunes wirelessly. With its server software compatible with Windows, Mac, and—gasp!—Linux, the Squeezebox makes the task of listening to your awesome library throughout the house a breeze. As an added bonus, the unit s face can display RSS news feeds, perfect for keeping up with the weather, current events, or even Gizmodo.

Slim Devices Squeezebox V3 Network Music Player Review [I4U]

Pricing for Squeezebox [Amazon]

Snowboarding in the Living Room

tgrumet — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 15:58:25 EST

Haven't had the time to hit the slopes this year and fear you may not be at the top of your snowboarding game? Check out Hammacher Schlemmer's all-in-one snowboard simulator game, a nifty little package that includes a snowboard simulator with four games, all for $59.95. The game modes include time challenge, pipedream and Tokyo megaplex and you'll find a wide range of terrain and weird things to look at as you digitally board. Be on the lookout for half-pipes, forests, mountain ranges and of course, other snowboarders.

Snowboard Simulator for Your Living Room [i4u]

Epson Shows Off Large Projection TVs

tgrumet — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 09:56:24 EST

Bucking the trend, Seiko Epson has decided to throw some cash into the TV arena, showing off 2 HDTV projection TVs in Japan. Though other camera companies have been getting into the home entertainment space, many of them have recently come to realize that competition is intense and money is tough to pull, so let's give Epson a hand. Of course, instead of focusing on LCD or plasma TVs, the company has released 1080p rear-projection products, which are still cheaper to manufacture or buy than either of their large, flatter cousins. Look for the 65-inch ELS-65GL1 and the 55-inch ELS-55GL1 which will sell under the G-Series line. Both include a sound system from Onkyo, VGA interface, a USB port to attach a printer, and of course, a slot for a memory card to view photos.

Epson Launches 55 and 65 inch 1080p LCD Projection HDTVs [i4u]

TiVo Box Only $16.95

tgrumet — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 10:50:52 EST

I say it's damn good to see TiVo finally changing its business model. Right now, you'll actually get a free 40 hour TiVo box when you pay the $16.95 per month service fee. Of course, this is only a year agreement, so we can't be sure what the company has up its sleeve. But huzzah for progress.

Stop Watching the Old Fashioned Way [TiVo]
Get TiVo for only 16.95* including the box! [PVRblog]

Never Leave Your Room: Dell 37-inch HDTV

Noah R — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 11:19:36 EDT

The latest addition to Dell's flat screen LCD lineup breaks today, and this one is mid-upper size and priced at $2,199. The W3706C 37-inch LCD HDTV has mad adaptability, with extensive digital and analog connectivity, as well as VGA and PC inputs of course. There's Picture in picture which, when you plug your PC into the thing, makes multi-tasking so very easy. Thank goodness the remote is back-lit, it will make channel surfing simpler in the dimly lit, slightly narcotic TV-hole you fall into.

Dell 37" LCD TV [Product Page]

Zero To Drunk In Record Time: The Ubertap

Noah R — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 18:00:00 EDT

Born from the disturbing yet pragmatic copulation of Friedrich Nietzsche and Jakob Nielsen, the Ubertap promises to increase party efficiency fivefold. With three spigots and a foot-operated pump, buzz loss is now a thing of the past. Your parties in the past may have dragged on for a tedious hour, frustration building with each passing second. But now you should be able to drain the keg and cover the kitchen floor with a frothy layer of delicious vomit within 12 minutes.

Ubertap [Product Page] [Thanks, Jason]

Sony VAIO Living Room Computer

gizmogo — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 10:44:15 EDT

Sony launched a new VAIO for the living room dubbed the Type X. The VGX-XL70S was revealed at CEATEC 2005 in Japan, and it's a computer that easily blends in with any super-fancy home entertainment system. This thing is packed with a Pentium D 820 processor with 2.8 Ghz, up to 1GB of RAM, an Intel 845G Express chipset, an NVidia GeForce 6200 graphics card, and up to a whopping 1 Terabyte of hard drive space. That's reportedly enough to fit 87.5 hours of digital video and 250 hours of analog video.

It also comes with a DVD R/RW drive with DVD+R DL, analog and digital TV tuners, USB 2.0, Firewire, WiFi 802.11b/g, Gigabit Ethernet, and a 6-in-1 card reader. The box runs on Windows XP Home—why not Windows Media Center?—and will sell for approximately $1,500. No word on availability outside of Japan.

VAIO Type X Living (in Japanese) [Sony Japan via New Launches]