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Black and Decker LightsOut IR Gizmo Turns Lights Off For Lazy, Green Types

My old office used to have those irritating IR-sensor lights, so if you were working late and popped out—say to the loo—for more than a few minutes, you’d be welcomed back to uninviting darkness: now you can have the same facility in your home thanks to Black&Decker’s LightsOut. Well, actually it’s quite a neat gizmo—it’s…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Oct 27

MacBook Pro Dissected in Stop Motion

We’ve already seen the new MacBook and MacBook Pro dissected, but that’s no longer enough. We’re internet readers. We need larger and larger doses of information injections lest our bodies drop to the floor in Hello Kittyless convulsion. So here’s an entertaining, if not a little superficial, disassembly and reassembly of the new MacBook Pro.…

Tech News Mark Wilson Oct 27

Casio’s W63CA Exilim, World First 8.1-Megapixel Cameraphone Hits Japan

For some reason, the W63CA cellphone hit the FCC over on this side of the Pacific in August, but now it’s officially hit the stores in Japan. It’s got a couple of claimed world’s firsts, apparently: the world’s first 8.1 megapixel cameraphone, and the first with a 3.1-inch 480 × 800 pixels organic EL display.…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Oct 27

Violet Mir:ror is USB RFID Enhanced-Reality Gizmo for Your Gadgets

You won’t be chanting “Mir:ror Mir:ror, on my desk” rhymes if you buy Mir:ror and want it to tell you some interesting info: instead you’ll be waving your possessions over its USB-connected sensor, whereby small RFID stickers ID the objects, and prompt your computer to display enhanced-reality style info. For example, wave your brolly near…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Oct 27

Motorola’s Aura Luxury Phone Given First Groping, General Thumbs-Up

News on Mototola’s crazy high-end Aura cellphone surfaced last week, and over at Mobile Review they’ve actually managed to get a hold of a pre-production example and given it a good playing-with. And as the gallery confirms, the round-screened phone really does seem to impress with its shiny looks, whizzy screensavers and clocks, and circularly-tweaked…

Gadgets Kit Eaton Oct 27

Concorde Still Most Amazing Flying Experience Five Years Later

This weekend marked the fifth anniversary of the last commercial flight of the Concorde. Capable of flying at a cruise speed of Mach 2.02 thanks to its four Olympus 593 Mk 610 afterburning turbojets, the Concorde bridged London to New York in just 3.5 hours. Still today, this supersonic jet remains one of the most…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Oct 27

Apple Accidentally Censors iTunes UK Songs, Shows Dumb Political Correctness In the Process

Thanks to a f*****g stupid error, the iTunes Music Store in the UK has accidentally censored thousands of songs, albums, and artists’ names. Innocent songs—like Danny Kaye’s “I Thought I Saw A P***y Cat”—and not-so-innocent ones—like Nirvana’s “Smells Like T**n Spirit”—have been asterisked by what an Apple spokeswoman has described as a “database glitch”. Why…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Oct 27

Report From the Year 2050 (1984)

My interest in futurism can probably be credited to two things: Disney’s EPCOT Center and children’s science books of the 1980s and 90s. One of my earliest posts here at the Paleo-Future blog covered the EPCOT Center book, The Future World of Transportation. I vividly recall checking out the three books in this series from…

Tech News Matt Novak Oct 27

Solar Furnace Melts Steel, Our Minds

Looking for the best way to feed the world’s hunger for energy, James May visited a solar furnace to see how powerful they really are. Usually, solar furnaces are used to boil water into steam to generate electricity or make hydrogen fuel. But May thought that the best way to make people understand their insane…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Oct 26

Apple Ships Tiny iPhone USB Power Adapter in Huge Anti-Green Package

This one will probably make the Greenpeace douchebags moan with pleasure: It seems that the Apple replacement parts department didn’t get Steve’s memo pushing for green this, recycled that, and reduced packaging materials. At least judging from the needlessly huge box used to ship this iPhone tiny USB power adapter replacement: Have you noticed the…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Oct 26

Netflix Streaming Video Finally on Macs

As promised, you can finally use Netflix’s Watch Instantly streaming video service on a Mac. The juiciest, most ironic part? The magic happens with Microsoft’s Flash-wannabe Silverlight—which you probably grew to know and maybe hate during the Olympics—since it keeps the DRM voodoo intact. The only real catch is that it works exclusively on Intel-based…

Tech News Matt Buchanan Oct 26

Dell Inspiron Mini 12 Officially the Biggest Netbook on the Block

A truly bizarre day to announce a new notebook, Dell’s Inspiron Mini 12 is officially the most gargantuan netbook on the block. I wasn’t exactly blown away by it when I scoped it briefly a couple months ago, but Laptop was sufficiently impressed in its more in-depth hands on to compare it to the MacBook…

Tech News Matt Buchanan Oct 26

Love For My Robot Shorties And All That Nazi Zombie Talk Translated

This week in Cult Scifi, I’m bringing you a few shorts, including some from the lovely Imagine Science Film Festival. Plus a translated trailer of Dod Sno (Dead Snow) so we’ll finally figure out what’s going on with the crazy Nazi undead.The first clip is Automated Assets written by James Dastoli and Robert Datoli. That’s…

io9 Meredith Woerner Oct 26

Mad Men Vector Illustrations For Your iPhone/Computer Desktop

Tonight is the season 2 finale of Mad Men. Will Don continue to revel in the shirtless, poolside-martini-sipping, Lolita-tinged free love of euro-riche California? Return to Betty’s arms back home in the ‘burbs? Or will everyone be stricken simultaneously with lung cancer and cirrhosis of the liver? While you wait to find out, dress your…

Tech News John Mahoney Oct 26

Texting Thumb Sore? Adapt Your Body to Fit Your Technology

Technology and design don’t always mesh well with the human body. You get earbuds that fall out of your ears, glasses that slip down the bridge of your nose, and keypads that leave our thumbs worn ragged. While designers try to create designs that better fit our bodies, photographer Marcia Nolte imagines a world where…

io9 Lauren Davis Oct 26

Let’s Call it Like it is; the Porto Decanter is Most Definitely a Bong

The Porto Decanter’s product description pretty much says it all. “Sure to spark conversation, these sophisticated, hand-blown serving pieces date back to 17th century Europe where they were known as Schnapps Pfeiffen,” it reads, lacking only the prerequisite “munchies” reference to all but confirm this $40 decanter set is smoking paraphernalia waiting to happen. Even…

Tech News Jack Loftus Oct 26

Making Star Wars Look Like Star Wars Is More Difficult Than It Looks

What makes Star Wars look like Star Wars? That’s one of the questions that The Old Republic’s lead designer, Jeff Dobson has to face repeatedly in the course of working on the upcoming MMO set in George Lucas’ playground and, as he told us, he still can’t really come up with a comprehensive answer. He…

io9 Graeme McMillan Oct 26

Lightning Review: Griffin Simplifi iPod-iPhone Dock/Card Reader/USB Hub

The Gadget: Griffin’s Simplifi dock for iPod or iPhone, which aims to de-clutter your desk by tossing in a reader for CF, SD, XD and Memory Stick Pro cards and a two-port powered USB 2.0 hub. The right kind of convergence. The Price: $70 list, $40 on Amazon The Verdict: It does exactly what it…

Reviews John Mahoney Oct 26

Mercedes Formula Zero Envisions Eco-Friendly Green Racing in 2025

The Formula Zero racecar, pictured above in all its conceptual glory, is the Mercedes-Benz take on racing in the year 2025. Designed by the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Center of North America, the car aims to mash together the “the thrill of Formula One, the track dynamics of the bobsled or luge, and the grace and…

Tech News Jack Loftus Oct 26

Cosplay Abounds at Zombie Fest in Pittsburgh

We’ve already shown you zombie Simpsons today, but where were Zombie Bride, Zombie Jesus, and Zombie Sarah Palin this weekend? They were chilling with over a thousand of their undead cohorts at the Monroeville Mall in Pittsburgh, where the horrific and the consumer-driven collided for a gory two days. There to celebrate World Zombie Day…

io9 Nivair H. Gabriel Oct 26

Black and Decker LightsOut IR Gizmo Turns Lights Off For Lazy, Green Types

MacBook Pro Dissected in Stop Motion

Casio’s W63CA Exilim, World First 8.1-Megapixel Cameraphone Hits Japan

Violet Mir:ror is USB RFID Enhanced-Reality Gizmo for Your Gadgets

Motorola’s Aura Luxury Phone Given First Groping, General Thumbs-Up

Concorde Still Most Amazing Flying Experience Five Years Later

Apple Accidentally Censors iTunes UK Songs, Shows Dumb Political Correctness In the Process

Report From the Year 2050 (1984)

Solar Furnace Melts Steel, Our Minds

Apple Ships Tiny iPhone USB Power Adapter in Huge Anti-Green Package

Netflix Streaming Video Finally on Macs

Dell Inspiron Mini 12 Officially the Biggest Netbook on the Block

Love For My Robot Shorties And All That Nazi Zombie Talk Translated

Mad Men Vector Illustrations For Your iPhone/Computer Desktop

Texting Thumb Sore? Adapt Your Body to Fit Your Technology

Let’s Call it Like it is; the Porto Decanter is Most Definitely a Bong

Making Star Wars Look Like Star Wars Is More Difficult Than It Looks

Lightning Review: Griffin Simplifi iPod-iPhone Dock/Card Reader/USB Hub

Mercedes Formula Zero Envisions Eco-Friendly Green Racing in 2025

Cosplay Abounds at Zombie Fest in Pittsburgh

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