Charlie White

Your GPS Unit Can Tattle on You In Court

A lot of us gizmo goons use GPS all the time now, but it may not have occurred to many of us that our mild-mannered and innocent GPS units are constantly gathering data, including rate of speed, location, and time of day. Not that we’re ashamed of anything we’ve done or anywhere we’ve been, but…

Projection Clock Mixes Up Past and Future to Give You the Present Time

We’ve seen our share of projection clocks, but not like this futuristic bullet-shaped timepiece that tosses a clock face with Roman numerals onto your wall. Don’t worry if it’s too bright for you, you can dim that display, or even throw it out of focus if you want. Put it on the other side of…

Nanometer-Wide PicoToilet, Plus a Gallery of Micrographs

Man, you’re going to need to have a tiny butt to use this toilet—less than a nanometer wide, to be specific. Taken with an electron microscope by nanotechnologist Kaito Takahashi, this pic not only shows the intricacies of objects that can be constructed at the nanoscale, but it also demonstrates the astonishing smallness of the…

Nokia Develops Eyes-Free Touchscreen Controls

Nokia has invented a way to let you use a touchscreen on a cellphone or mobile device without looking at it. It’s done with this special lid that has a slot in it with slightly raised places on it that you can use as a guide. Working with the software on the screen underneath, certain…

Tiny Chairs Let Your Gadgets Have a Meeting

Looking for a place to park that new Zune? Brando suggests pulling up The Chair, a $6 gadget stand that looks like those stackable chairs you lugged outside to the church picnic back in olden times. Now when you play Bag Lady Barbie with those mini shopping carts Jason introduced you to last week, at…

Gates Talks Zune 2

So let’s hear it from the main man himself, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, introducing his new Zune babies and ticking off the new features and interface in this Microsoft-produced video. Although Gates mentions a November ship date, he’s not as specific as Amazon’s precise November 13th rollout day. The MS chief also touts wireless auto…

iLuv Portable Video MP3 and DVD Player, for Music and Movies Everywhere

Watch movies on the go and listen to music, too, with this iLuv Portable Video MP3 and DVD Player. Its 8.4-inch widescreen LCD will show you those DVDs in slim style, and when you’ve had enough of that, your 30GB, 60GB or 80GB iPod stands at the ready, nestled within its chic confines, complete with…

Roomba Driving Owners Crazy with Anthropomorphic Robot Love

A study of 30 Roomba users found the owners of the robotic vacuum cleaner often developing emotional attachments to their little bundles of plastic, metal and wiring. Of the 30 people in the study, 21 of them named their Roombas, 16 of them referred to it as a “he,” and some even went so far…

Broadcom VideoCore III multimedia processor could bring 720p HDTV to cellphones, mobile devices [TG Daily]

Baguette Computer Wrist Rest: Staff of Life Protects Your Carpal Tunnels

Maybe it’s because it’s around lunchtime, but this Baguette Computer Wrist Rest is looking pretty good right about now. Made of cell foam that looks good enough to eat, all its makers need to do is infuse that unmistakable smell of baking bread and the illusion will be complete. Its $19.95 price is not much…

Yamaha Down-Firing Subwoofers, Compact But Packing a Punch

Sure, these Yamaha down-firing subs that will be released tomorrow don’t quite qualify as the mother of all subwoofers like the JL Audio Gotham mutha we showed you yesterday, but these are reasonably priced, with the 130-watt YST-FSW150BL costing $249.95, and the 100-watt YST-FSW050BL costing $179.95. Both have 6.5-inch drivers, pointing straight down so those…

Marantz PMD620 Professional Handheld Field Recorder Might Sound as Good as It Looks

It’s hard to tell from this pic of the $400 Marantz PMD620 Professional Handheld Field Recorder, but this relatively small solid-state device is slightly larger than a deck of cards. Despite its diminutive stature, it’s packing pro-level features that podcasters will like, recording MP3 or WAV files in 16- or 24-bit rez. Its display screen…

Joost Beta 1.0 Debuts, Everybody Can Try It Now

Until late last week, if you wanted to use the potentially cable-TV-replacing video streaming service Joost, you had to have friends. But now anybody can watch Joost online from dusk until the dawn and beyond, because Beta 1.0 of the P2P (peer-to-peer) video service just hit the streets. The good news? The company’s just about…

Gibson Powertune Automagically Tunes Up Guitars, Tin-Eared Guitarists Rejoice

Thanks to Gibson’s Powertune system, now even tin-eared guitarists can push a button, strum the guitar a few times, and then it’s as if a ghost has taken over the machine, turning the tuning pegs until the guitar is accurately tuned. It tunes each string to within .02 cent, which is pretty damn close to…

Rube Goldberg Machine, Opus 2: Goldbergian Concerto Kicks Major Ass

After seeing that Rube Goldberg masterpiece we showed you yesterday, we didn’t think it could possibly be topped, but wait a doggone second. Here’s another elaborate machine, and this one actually has a dubious purpose: to unroll toilet paper. While this presentation is not a one-shot proof that this outdoor machine can make it through…

Coleman FlashCell Cordless Screwdriver Charges in 90 Seconds

If you’re like us, you might use a cordless screwdriver once a year, long enough for its charge to trickle away. But get this: The Coleman FlashCell Cordless Screwdriver will be ready for you in a jiffy, charging in 90 seconds or less. That’s because it’s not charging batteries, it’s charging a large capacitor, sucking…

3.8-Kilowatt JL Audio Gotham G213 Subwoofer is The Mother of All Subs

The long-awaited Gotham Home Theater Subwoofer G213 from JL Audio is finally shipping, and judging from its formidable spec sheet, it might be worth the wait if you feel like simulating an earthquake that can be felt within a radius of a half-mile. Billed as “The Mother of All Subs,” to call this a powered…

Coolness Roundup: iPhone Firmware Rant, Blu-ray vs. HD DVD

This week on episode 105 of the Coolness Roundup, Stephen and Charlie rant about Apple’s iPhone firmware update, and get their hands on the just-released Slingbox Solo. They also find time to bash Hello Kitty, and place their bets on the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD battle. [Free Podcast on iTunes or at Coolness Roundup]

First Pink Gadgets, Now Pink Shotguns?

Hunting season’s coming up, and a lot of guys are getting sick and tired of looking at each other’s ugly mugs, longing for a woman’s touch. What better way to attract those lovely ladies to the hunting festivities than a pink shotgun? Offered for the first time this season exclusively by sporting goods and gun…

Amazing Rube Goldberg Machine Goes On and On, Does Nothing

Sit back and enjoy the Does-Nothing-o-Matic, an incredibly elaborate Rube Goldberg machine. It’s the most complicated and imaginative we’ve ever seen. [College Humor]