Panasonic claims that they did this for safety reasons, and from the horror stories of batteries exploding in phones that have really cheap third-party batteries, we're apt to believe them. But you have to ask yourself, do you want to save $30 or do you want shards of plastic in your eye? The choice is yours. (And if you choose $30, don't update your firmware.) [Panasonic via Slashdot]

The Price: $160

The Verdict: The wireless Audex system which controls your iPod works like any other iPod RF remote. There's an RF receiver dock adapter and a wireless remote for controls. The system is advertise to work with 3rd Gen iPods or newer and from our testing we found the iPod touch and iPhone can not properly be controlled.

The iPod is meant to be housed in a padded pouch inside the backpack which features a headphone extension cable that is rerouted through the backpack and down the right shoulder strap where a female headphone jack is provided. For the remote Burton has made a rubber housing located on the left should strap which makes the buttons accessible at all times. The wireless controller is removable and works as it should, providing the basic play/pause, skip forward/back, and volume up/down.

This backpack has some pretty impressive storage for its size and with only two large sections which incorporate many unique storage compartments allow for nice organization of your laptop, gadgets and small gear. When packed to the brim the bag can be a little bulky and stiff but the heavily padded back and shoulder straps allow for a somewhat comfortable fit. This backpack is not intended to be worn while snowboarding and frankly because of the shape and lack of an extra cross strap we wouldn't recommend it. It seems more fitting that the backpack be used around town or on short trips when you want to easily control your iPod's music and need to carry your laptop and other gear.
[Burton]

Snowmodo is our snow sport winter meet up at Lake Tahoe, with prizes, discounts, tons of fun snow activities, a party and GADGETS. If you can make it (and people are coming from TEXAS) please RSVP. I'll let you wear my hat (below).

# Standby Time – Up to 350 hours
# Talk Time – Up to 6 hours on 3G | Up to 12 hours on 2G
# Internet Use – Up to 6 hours on 3G | Up to 7 hours on Wi-Fi
# Audio Playback – Up to 28 hours
# Video Playback – Up to 8 hours

According to Kotaku, the power pack gives you over 40 hours of gaming. It comes in the same color as your DS Lite, and can either be set to run off the DS Lite's internal pack, the battery pack, or four AA batteries.

If you can stand the fact that it's as thick as the DS Lite, then you've got a winner. – Jason Chen

Japanese Page [Ascii via Kotaku]

The Power Station has slots for two Wiimotes and two battery packs, plus a sort of docking device for your Nunchuks as well. The other side seems to be USB-compatible, so you can grab one of the PowerBlocks and charge this from any USB port—even the Wii's own USB ports.

The Power Station will be availalbe January 26 for $39. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Gameseek via Video Games Blogger]

The pack's beam creates a powerful recoil, and has damaging effects on material, usually combing to create extensive collateral damage. Early attempts to power the pack by wall current resulted in melted wiring. Instead, the pack is powered by...

an unlicensed mass of nuclear material with a half life of 5,000 years. Should the power source reach a critical thermal state, the resulting blast would affect half a square block.

The wand has controls for beam intensity, length, and polarization levels, with a maximum frequency adjustable to 500,000 Mhz. Crossing the streams from one or more wands was initially discouraged, as it was believed that "total protonic reversal" would occur; this effect would have catastrophic results, namely "the end of all life as we know it, and every molecule in one's body exploding at the speed of light." –Brian Lam

Proton Pack [Wikipedia]
HOW TO - Make a Ghostbuster costume (and accessories) [Make]

Google-tweaked version of Firefox, Adobe Acrobat Reader, antivirus software from Symantec, AdAware, Trillian, and Google's own offerings, including Google Desktop Search, Picasa, Google Earth, Google Talk, and all of the toolbar action you can shake a stick at. Oh, and I left out one other item: the RealPlayer.

Google to sell video, take on Apple; announces Google Pack [ArsTechnica]