In gaining a USB cable, used for both audio input and power, the neatly-kickstanded OrbitUSB loses its batteries, and by extension, its 3.5mm jack. In practical terms, this means that the speaker is eminently more useful for anyone trying to coax a little more sound out of their notebooks—or even more so, netbooks—but that it's totally limited to that one application: You won't be able to use this to impose your iPod's contents unto others.

If that's exactly what you need, though, the OrbitUSB will be available starting in Mid-September for $50, case included. [Altec Lansing]

The Expressionist Bass speakers ditch the 3-piece setup in favor of built-in subs in each speaker, saving space under the desk if that's something you need. Separate drivers for mids and highs too, for $130.We know Altec can build a solid iPod dock already, so the inMotion Moondance GLOW ($180) above will look slick on the bedstand, featuring dual alarms and a really sweet looking ziggurat-shaped remote. The inMotion MAX (below) brings more power with four drivers for $200.
And the quirky Orbit speaker we've seen before also got dropped into a more industrial-looking enclosure with the iM237 edition, which will give you OK sound in a tiny package for $40.
All of the redesigned gear should be out in October. Now that the NYT deemed it a fad (typically a few years too late), it's interesting to see subtle steampunk-ish cues pop into a major CE company's design schemes. [Altec Lansing via Crave]

The Giove-B is a half-ton, 2.4x1x1 meter box which contains a passive hydrogen maser clock, the most stable clock ever to be shot into permanent orbit. The clock is designed to keep time with an accuracy of better than one nanosecond in 24 hours. If everything goes well and the clock stays ticking, the Giove-B's launch will be a template for about 30 operational platforms necessary to build Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system - one of the continent's key high-tech ventures.

Galileo, meant to be complimentary to GPS, will improve the availability and accuracy of timing signals delivered from space. Users will be able to pinpoint positions with an error of less than three feet, making those movie scenes where a sat-nav system zooms down on someone so close you can see their pores much less of a fantasy scenario.

A video of the launch is available on the BBC website. [BBC]

By using thermal shielding and special coating, the creator can bypass current problems with spinning crap around really fast and throwing it. But be careful, if we make like Supes IV and launch all our nukes into the Sun, it's just an open invitation for General Zod to come and enslave all of us. And I for one do not welcome our chin-bearded overlords. – Jason Chen

Project Page [Slingatron via Danger Room via Sci Fi]