Gizmodo: Arena

750,000-Brick Kennedy Space Center Is the Mother of All Lego Models

Jesus Diaz — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:00:00 EDT

Forget about the Lego Airbus A380 and the Lego Death Star, because this video will show you the mother of all Lego models: the 750,000-brick Kennedy Space Center. Using 1,506 square feet, it took 2,500 hours to build. It includes a 6.13ft-tall Space Shuttle on the launch pad, the space center with a 9ft-long Saturn 1B rocket, and the Vehicle Assembly Building—8ft long x 6ft high x 5ft wide—made out of 50,000 Lego bricks. I know. Mindblowing. This thing is so massive that it can probably affect Earth's orbit. Update: if Lego's Kennedy Space Center is the mother of all Lego models, Giz reader Florian Frischmuth has sent us his pictures of the father: the 1,300,000-brick Lego Allianz Arena stadium in Munich, Germany. This titan contains a mindblowing 30,000 mini-figs inside.

The Allianz Arena Lego model was built following the original plans from Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron, using 4,209 hours of work and over a million pieces. It can glow red, blue, and white using interior LEDs, achieving the same lighting effects of the original stadium thanks to a special translucent brick specially manufactured for the project. [Giz's Lego Trip]

Speedo LZR Racer Swimsuit Spawns Copycats and Controversy

Jack Loftus — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT

Speedo's controversial LZR Racer swimsuit spawned its first copycat this week, a prototype from Arena International that pushes the definition of tight-fitting fabric. With a green light for the LZR from swimming's official body, and the Summer Olympics looming large on the horizon, I think it's safe to say that the swimsuit arms race has officially begun.

Known as "doping on a hangar" and the "Speedo surfboard," the LZR has hugged the bodies of 30 record-breaking swimmers since its introduction in February. Rivals complained about fairness, and the International Swimming Federation (aka FINA) scheduled a meeting with Speedo to discuss the seamless, ultrasonically bonded suit. The meeting went swimmingly, for Speedo. Not only did FINA dismiss rivals' claims, they also turned around and endorsed the suit for future pro swimming events.

In response, Arena fired off a prototype super suit of its own, complete with plastic inserts and who knows what else. "A new era in the sport kicks off today," said Christiano Portas, the head of Arena. "We can fight for ethics but we stood alone when it came to everyone saying that the word 'fabric' in the rules was just a generic term. Now we explore many other things." My money is on one of these custom-built Columbian submersibles, how about yours? [The Australian]

Quake 3 Arena Ported to iPhone; Let the Networked Games Commence

Haroon Malik — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:00:00 EDT

Holy butt-clencher, Batman! Quake 3 Arena has somehow found itself ported to the iPhone. Details are thinner than my scalp is on hair, but the video clearly shows a networked game going on in full swing. You may be thinking this sounds semi-neat, but let me tell you this; the game uses the freaking accelerometer for direction control, while shooting is done simply by tapping on the touchscreen. Now, I'm off to collapse in a euphoric pile, you check out the video and then do the same. There's no word on the release yet, but hopefully it will show up somewhere once I am out of my aforementioned, euphoric pile state. We'll keep you posted. [Crunchgear]

AT&T LG Vu Specs, Images Leaked

Haroon Malik — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 09:00:00 EDT

The chaps at Phone Arena have managed to gain some leaked press shots of AT&T's LG Vu, and it is looking tastier than before. The Vu will come in two primary versions; the CU915 will lack a mobile TV antenna, whilst the CU920 will be supplied with mobile TV antenna, which will support AT&T's new, streaming TV service. Checkout the gallery for some more great shots, then jump for the specs.

The features the handsets will share include a 3-inch WQVGA 262K color touchscreen, 2MP camera with autofocus, HTML web browser, HSDPA connectivity, 120MB internal memory, USB mass storage mode, and up to 4GB microSD card support. Standing in at 4.25"H x 2.16"W x 0.51"D, the LG Vu is slightly on the larger side, but we can look past its inherent big bones to the 1000mAh battery, which will supply up to 3-hours of talk time. The Vu is set to go on show at CTIA, which gets underway on April 1st, or is that whole event just a well planned joke? Oh, we just can't tell. Now, hit up the link to get your eyeballs filled to the brim with Vu goodness [Phone Arena]