The show's lead character will be Tom Rhodes, who sounds more than loosely based upon Steve Jobs. According to Deadline, the half-hour, single-camera comedy is "a savage satire, a study of ego, power and greed." To us, that sounds a lot like Curb Your Enthusiasm, played by a Fake Steve Jobs. But to be fair, that's our interpretation, not the pitch.

If you haven't heard of EPIX before, join the club. Apparently this original series is supposed to put the service on the map. Hopefully, the show is hilarious and the plan works perfectly, but I've yet to see a Steve Jobs impressionist who is all that funny (other than in print). [TechCrunch and Deadline]

The Icon system lets dentists halt decay between teeth. Usually when a dentist spots an early cavity-when bacteria have eaten away enough tooth such that it's a weak lattice but hasn't yet degraded into a true cavity's sinkhole-he prescribes an enamel-strengthening fluoride rinse and hopes the tooth heals itself. If that doesn't work, the only option is drilling through healthy tooth to get to the problem spot.

Icon, developed by dental-materials manufacturer DMG, does away with both the drill and the waiting time. A dentist simply slides a thin plastic applicator between the patient's teeth and squirts the cavity with hydrochloric acid, which etches away the enamel to access the tooth's deeper layers. Using a fresh applicator, he then injects a low-viscosity resin into the gaps in the tooth's lattice and hardens the resin with a quick flash of high-energy blue light to fortify the tooth.

DMG is working on a version that could hold up to the wear and tear of a tooth's chewing surfaces, which company president George Wolfe hopes to have ready in a year. The sooner the better, he says: "One of my greatest fears is having to hold down my scared kid for a filling. Hopefully, I'll never have to."

Popular Science is your wormhole to the future. Reporting on what's new and what's next in science and technology, we deliver the future now.

The Price

$100

What's New?

There are no major audio enhancements here; the company's made tweaks to its NoiseAssassin noise canceling tech, but I compared it to the last new Jawbone product, the Jawbone Prime, and neither I nor the person I called could hear a difference between the two. That means it sounds fine, not noticeably worse than normal phone use, although I did notice that the volume was a little bit low, even at its highest settings. But even standing on a busy street, calls were pretty clear on both ends. One really nice addition is volume equalizing—if you're in a conference call with a loud talker and a soft talker, it'll even them both out to a comfortable level. Basically, it sounds fine, which is about all you can ask for from a Bluetooth headset—but I would definitely have liked to see some kind of major improvement to warrant a whole new product.

Physically, it's shorter and more squat than the Prime, as well as lighter (though it's not like the Prime was weighing down your ear). It also comes in six different colors and patterns, each of which is named after a broad stereotype (The Hero, The Bombshell, The Rogue). Each caricature has its own appropriate voice actor to read notifications (the Bombshell sounds like Jenna Jameson, the Rogue sounds like Batman; all are hilarious, possibly unintentionally), though you can choose which one you want in the MyTalk app store (more on that later).

You'll be hearing those voices a lot, since they've replaced the previous Jawbone's bleeps and bloops with vocal notifications ("Incoming call," "You have four hours of talk time remaining," things like that). It's not a bad system, but most of the voices are so laughably cheesy that it can be more distracting than a simple "beep boop." Also, while it does read caller IDs, it only reads the number, not the name—pretty much useless, since who memorizes phone numbers anymore?

There are some minor design changes as well; the Icon charges by standard microUSB instead of a proprietary jack, it has an actual on/off slider (instead of a hidden button), the position of the LED is moved to be less ostentatious, that kind of thing—all of those changes are welcome. Oh, and a bonus for iPhone users (and only iPhone users): The Icon's battery life gets its own little icon, right next to the iPhone's, which is convenient.

In terms of comfort, I actually found it less comfortable than the Prime—the Icon is so short that it doesn't get up much leverage to press against your jaw, making it feel less sturdy. It's not, though; a vigorous and childish head-shaking proved that it stays in your ear just fine. That could just be personal taste, of course, but the Prime just feels more solid to wear.

The Unnecessary App Store

Aliph also created what's essentially an app store for the Icon, called MyTalk. Why? Fuck if I know. They've only got a couple language packs and some simple stuff like one-touch Free411 calling in there at launch, because a Bluetooth headset does not deserve an app store. I pressed Aliph for some details on where they thought MyTalk might be headed, and they didn't share any ideas beyond the omnipresent Twitter. They may not actually know what to do with it—they seemed unwilling to commit to anything complicated or cool like, say, a Google Maps app.

For now, it works mostly like a firmware update (which makes sense, because firmware updates are a major part of MyTalk right now). You plug in your Jawbone, log into the website, and choose which app you want. Then another program, the Jawbone Updater, loads the apps onto the headset. The apps themselves are triggered with a long press on the Icon's only button, which brings up the most salient point about why a Bluetooth headset doesn't need an app store: It doesn't really do that much. It only has one button, it has no interface to speak of, no screen, and connects only via Bluetooth. So I'm not really sure how they plan to flesh out the store—they mentioned Twitter, but it's unclear exactly how that would work.

As it stands: This is a bridge too far, you guys. What's good for the goose (the goose being smartphones, obviously) is not good for the goddamn Bluetooth headset. Kill it, Aliph. Update firmware some other way.

The Verdict

It's probably the best Bluetooth headset on the market—it does the job, it's cheaper and smaller than its predecessor (the Prime was $130), and sound quality is still tops in the category. Of course, it's also gotten oddly silly since the last generation; the designs are pretty tacky (they may look cool in photos, but they're very plasticky in person), the new voices are a big old pot of savory fondue, and the app store is ill-conceived but easily ignored. All that considered, if you're looking for a Bluetooth headset, I don't have any hesitation about recommending the Icon—just don't expect any huge changes.

Very good sound quality

Lower price

Smaller size, but feels less secure

Cheeseball voice actors replace bleeps and bloops

Doesn't read caller ID names

App store is a ridiculous idea

The ICON A5 has been flown successfully, but a funny side note—the company announced the plane before testing it in the air. Good thing it works!

Finally she [Susan Kare] came across a floral symbol that was used in Sweden to indicate an interesting feature or attraction in a campground. She rendered a 16 x 16 bitmap of the little symbol and showed it to the rest of the team, and everybody liked it. Twenty years later, even in OS X, the Macintosh still has a little bit of a Swedish campground in it.

It certainly marks the spot in this case.

I'm back from Lego's headquarters in Denmark, frantically writing features, editing video, and preparing images showing the amazing brick manufacturing process, the Lego cathedrals with billions of pieces in them and giant robots moving them around, the Lego secret vault with every single set ever produced, and many more awesome things. I've to say that I've been blown away and, trust me, it's not just fanboyism. [LEGO in Gizmodo]

Because when the A5 isn't being flow around...wherever people fly these days...its wings can fold up (manually or automatically) for storage in a large garage—which makes a lot of sense for a plane that features a dash that more closely resembles a car than a jet.

But maybe the best part is that the A5 comes with a parachute for the whole plane. So if you are too nervous/inebriated to land, just let the wonder of cloth do the work for you, landing you safely on someone's roof (and subsequently their living room). Order yours today for a refundable $5,000 deposit. [ICON via popmech]

With Linux under the hood, it's fueled by a Lithium Ion battery, and the Icon boasts a sizable 30GB HDD with room for expansion via a Mini SD slot. The device is fully wireless, sporting both Bluetooth and 802.11b, which is nice for users on the go who want to keep up with their audio books, podcasts and music.

It's a little large at 5"x3", but it only weighs half a pound so it's still portable. The Icon Mobile Manager also has stereo speakers built in, though the package comes with a set of earbuds to take advantage of the unit's headphone jack.

To fully use of some of the Icon's more advanced features, such as Web browsing, we imagine users will want to buy the dock that comes with a Braille or QWERTY keyboard. Besides that, the device does everything you'd expect for a handheld. Be ready to pay a lot more, however. The Icon Mobile Manager costs $1,395 for the unit alone, and is available only inside the United States. – Kevin Hall

Product Page [LevelStar via popgadget]

First up are the USB drives: Heart Beat is a two-piece heart-shaped locket drive, and the cool retractable padlock-shaped one is called Lock Out. (Philips says they're keeping things simple, and those names sure do, well, smack of simplicity.) They both hold 1GB of files, and will retail for $179.

The USB drives are bubbling with little Swarovski crystals, while the earphones are set with one big jewel for each ear. There will be four headphone styles in all:

An over-the-head set called Icon ($79) and a set of earbuds with neckstrap called Amazone ($149) plus two shown below, the Space sealing earbuds ($99) and the Mirage earhook ones ($129).

Whether the Philips-Swarovski combo has produced a silly novelty or the must-have gift item of the holiday season is still up in the air, but frankly, they are classier looking than I had previously imagined. And hey, is it any stranger than Porsche Design conceiving of a power drill? – Wilson Rothman

Press Release:

Philips and Swarovski partner to deliver a range of innovative fashion accessories

NEW YORK - Fusing lifestyle, technology and fashion, Philips is showcasing a new partnership with the world famous crystal and jewelry company Swarovski at the 2007 Holidays in June event. The alliance combines Philips leadership in developing innovative consumer lifestyle electronics products with Swarovski's expertise in creating fashion crystal jewelry and handbag collections to produce meaningful fashionable accessories for women.

Leveraging both companies' strengths, Philips and Swarovski have jointly designed and developed a range of unique products that will take technology to a fashionable new level for women. The Philips and Swarovski alliance will develop exciting market opportunities for each company by integrating high fashion and technology.

The initial innovations created by Philips and Swarovski are the Active Crystals range of products. These will be launched this summer and include sound accessories and storage devices.

"Philips' alliance with Swarovski combines two distinct and strong brands in order to create a unique proposition for consumers," said Rudy Provoost, Chief Executive Officer, Philips Consumer Electronics. "The outcome of the alliance is a range of products that go back to the essence of what many women are looking for: the fusion of functionality and fashion through a unique combination of technology and elegance. We are combining luxurious design with the practical, everyday benefits of consumer electronics to complement Philips' brand promise—Sense and Simplicity—and Swarovski's brand promise of Poetry & Precision."

Merging Simplicity with Poetry & Precision
The new range is the first result of the Philips and Swarovski alliance focusing on providing performance and class, offering technology with style and demonstrating a feeling of movement and activity combined with fashionable innovation. Targeted towards style-conscious women, the products combine the technologies of both companies to create unique, high-end products with a luxurious look and feel.

"The Philips and Swarovski alliance brings together the greatness of two companies with common values of quality, design and technological innovation," said Daniel Cohen, Member of Swarovski's Executive Board. "Both brands have distinct identities, rich histories and a passion to re-invent and enhance their value propositions, pursuing both brand repositioning and commercial goals. The result of this partnership will be a series of products that will provide women and consumers with meaningful and fashionable products that will enhance their lives."

Swarovski is a well-known brand in the fashion and jewelry industry. It brings credibility, style and design to the alliance, creating a unique product proposition with Philips. Unlike other products using the Swarovski crystal stones, the Active Crystals combine unique elements of functionality and fashion: truly jewels with a soul.

The full Philips and Swarovski Active Crystals range will be commercially available in department stores, consumer electronics retail and Swarovski stores in August 2007.

The QDA Icon qomes with a 4.0 megapixel qamera, OMAP 200MHz proqessor, EDGE, FM radio, and pretty muqh the same speqs as the QDA Lite. We wouldn't expeqt these before late this year at the earliest, sinqe they were just displayed at QommuniqAsia Singapore this week. – Jason Qhen

Qool Labs unveil QDA Lite and QDA Icon [uber gizmo]

Qool Labs Reveals the QDA Lite and QDA Icon [Poqket PQ Thoughts]