blongo3

VinylDisc: Hey You Got Vinyl on My CD

The concept behind VinylDisc is valid, that there are people out there who want to hear their music in pristine digital sound, yet are still drawn to the eclectic analog nature of vinyl, yet want it all on one disc. And they’ve even found a band who wants to try it out. British rockers Fightstar…

Psst! Who wants $100?

Okay, guys, here’s the deal, you take this little survey (it’s only 6 questions) and then you’ll be entered to win an Amazon gift card worth $100, courtesy of the Giz.

Impact Jackets (a.k.a. Wearable Airbags) Finally Make It to the US, and Are Immediately “Tested”

Impact Jackets, originally designed to save Japanese construction workers from long falls by inflating prior to impact, have finally made it to the United States. Only instead of construction workers, it’s our motorcyclists that seem to be reaping the benefits. And it didn’t take too long to see some results. Joeseph McPhatter of Baltimore, MD,…

The Supper Surround Stereo: When a Mug isn’t a Mug

This concept stereo designed by Taguchi Craft, is made to blend in with your kitchen. There’s currently no word on pricing, but they’re scheduled to pop up around winter 2008. Might be better in a shelf in the kitchen than on the table. I’d keep trying to drink from the midbase driver or something. [Design…

Independence, the iPhone jailbreak, activation and SSH installation app, has been updated to 1.2.2, and now supports iPhones running the infamous firmware version 1.1.1. [TUAW]

U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi Lets You Reach Out and Touch a Virtual Friend

U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi is a system that lets you both see and touch a virtual humanoid. Developed by Michihiko Shoji, it works by combining a head mounted display with a creepy green sensor-laden robot. As you interact with the bot, not only will it react accordingly, but you’ll be able to see the virtual buddy via the…

Mechanical Patent Dispute Could Result in Hard Drive Ban

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s potential Australian plasma ban, comes news of the U.S. possibly banning many popular hard drives due to a patent dispute. The issue involves a patent for “dissipative ceramic bonding tips,” also known as wire bonding tips, which Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, HP, and Dell either use in their own…

’80s Stereo Turned Into a HTPC

With everyone trying to slap more chrome and neon on to their custom PC creations it’s nice to see someone going old school for a change. This enormous stereo form the ’80s has been modded and prodded into a decently capable HTPC complete with built-in 15-in LCD, Hauppauge TV tuner, 1.83GHz Athlon XP 2500+ processor…

Australia to Ban All Plasmas

And it looks like it just might happen, which would spell bad news for the gadget gurus down under. ABC Australia claims that If a revised Australian energy rating guide gets passed, then all current plasma televisions would be banned from sale by 2011. That’s right, all plasmas and even many power-hungry LCDs would be…

DirecTV Sat-Go Gets a $500 Price Drop

For those of you who wanted the Sat-GO, DirecTV’s briefcase shaped TV that can pull in satellite broadcasts, but weren’t willing to pay the exorbitant $1499 price tag, good news! DirecTV dropped the price of their Sat-Go portable satellite system by $500, to the still relatively expensive price of $999. But hey, $500 is still…

Slight MacBook Upgrade in November?

In the face of ultra-thin MacBook rumors, Think Secret claims that a modest processor bump for the MacBook will be the only hardware refresh for the rest of the year. Keep in mind, however, that Think Secret only says there won’t be any more hardware updates. They don’t say anything about new hardware announcements. Still,…

AT&T Palm Centro?

There’s an image floating around the web today of a Palm Centro running AT&T software. Now, we’re just trying to figure out if this an actual future GSM model or just the bastard offspring off a failed deal between Palm and AT&T. Given the trumpeting of Sprint exclusivity, the latter is more likely. Thoughts? (Here’s…

Leopard to Ship on October 26th?

Rumor has it that Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard is going to be shipping in just a few weeks on Friday, October 26th. Although it’s not very surprising, given that Apple usually releases new OSX versions on the last friday of the release month. If we were betting people, our money would be on the…

$75,000 Swami Conversational Robot is a Very Expensive Psychic

Sure we’ve covered other robotic fortune tellers in the past, but none of them have cost anywhere close to $75,000. Now, to be fair, as far as robotic swamis go, this one looks amazing. Utilizing “cutting-edge” AI and over 30 facial motors, this swami can learn his own name, wink at you as you walk…

Computerized Pillow Reduces Snoring and Gives Neck Massages

German scientist Daryoush Bazargani has invented a computerized pillow that can stop you from snoring. Where this one improves on previous attempts is that it actually tries to stop your snoring itself, rather than just telling you how you should have slept the next morning. Bazargani’s pillow inflates and deflates different chambers to adjust your…

Vers 2X Wooden iPod Sound System

Metal or plastic, it seems like if you want to be a part of today’s gadget world those are your options. Well, no one told Vers Audio that. Their new iPod sound dock, the 2X, is handmade with cherry veneer. I know, veneer? Yuck, but it’s better than plastic and is hand-crafted. It comes with…

Linux Based Palm OS Pushed Out to End of Year ’08

Yesterday during Palm’s Q1-08 Conference call, CEO Ed Colligan dropped some tidbits about their release schedule for the Linux-based Palm OS “[The Palm Centro] team is now totally focused on delivering our next generation platform, which we expect to have available by the end of the next calendar year.” By the end of 2008? Are…

Vertu Goes “Budget” With the $6,600 Ascent Ti

We told you about Vertu’s Ascent Ti a few months ago when it was found in an FCC filing. Well, it’s been a couple of months and the Ascent Ti is finally being released along with official details. So what does $6,628 get you? For starters, a quad-band GSM phone with 3G and a 3MP…

USB Whack It (Like Whack-a-Mole You Pervert)

At first glance this USB Whack-a-Mole–like game stirred up all kinds of great Chuck E. Cheese like emotions. Then we realized that Whack It doesn’t have two things, one being moles and the other being fun. Everyone knows that the fun part of Whack-a-Mole is when you get to take out all your pent-up aggression…

Spin and Mist Your Way to Cleaner Air With the Antibac2k

Is your air too dirty to merely filter? Then check out the Antibac2k. This little rotating sphere one-ups all of the gigantic air filtration systems in the US by proactively sending out an air filtration mist that rids your room of bacteria and dust. Think of it as Purel for the air. And if that’s…