Gadgets

Amazon Invests in Demand-Based Pricing Digital Music Store

Amazon recently dumped an undisclosed amount of cash into AmieStreet.com, a start-up digital music store that throws in an element of social networking: track prices rise with their popularity. A song’s price starts at nada, but as more people download it, the price tag balloons until it hits a 98 cent ceiling. The cool twist…

Ooma, the free-VOIP-for-life-after-you-pay-$400 service is now taking pre-orders for mere mortals (non-beta testers). If you take the leap, it’ll hit your doorstep next month. [Ooma] https://gizmodo.com/400-ooma-gives-you-free-voip-and-landline-calls-for-li-280087

Piss-Screen Urinal Game Discourages Drunk Driving

Forget the Wiimote, this humble German-engineered device houses a racing game controlled by your powerful stream of urine. Designed to promote taxis as an alternative to drunk driving, the Piss-Screen shocks drunkards with a brutal car crash when they inevitably ram their virtual roadster into oncoming traffic. Apparently if you’re too drunk to play a…

“Baby Einstein” Turns Your Baby Into “Baby Stares at Mirrors for Hours”

In a serious blow to the convenience model of parenting, a new study found that 8-to-16-month-old infants who are plopped in front of “Baby Einstein” videos understand on average six to eight fewer words per hour watched than kids who didn’t watch Einstein. Chalk up another win for real parenting over virtual babysitting—at least until…

Backpack Laser…not for Killing (Yet)

You’d expect a $53,700 backpack laser to be some DARPA super weapon that’s stuck in a perpetual “five years away” as more and more cable specials are produced on the matter. But actually, the backpack laser already exists and it’s reserved for the men and women risking their lives to restore old buildings. Clean Laser…

Head-Mounted Gun Patent Blows Minds, Literally

‘Albert’s Helmet-Mounted Pistol’ is a patent back from 1953, when life was simple and people just wanted new hats that could blow away their adversaries. Intended to free the user’s hands (hopefully for more guns), the pistol was supposed to be fired by blowing into a tube—like blowing bubbles in milk through a straw, but…

XMI X-Mini, Tiny Subwoofer/Speaker

XMI’s X-Mini claims to be the “the world’s first pocketsize speaker with a built-in bass support and rechargeable battery.” Apparently either feature alone is not a world’s first, but together…stand back. You have the stuff PR is made of. Focused on portability, the X-Mini features an extendable, accordion-style vacuum tube that attempts to mimic the…

The Perfect Bottle Opener for Parties Comes with Built-In Chick

Being a girl, I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that boobs are the best gadget evah. And some of them can even open a bottle of beer. [13gb via Fleshbot]

Video of Rollerman Racing Against 600cc Sportbike (Spoiler: He Wins)

Rollerman, aka Jean-Yves Blondeau, a crazy Frenchman whose Buggy Rollin’ suit effectively turns him into a 60-mph trolley, was pitted against a racing motorcyclist for a TV show earlier this year. Check out what happens at 1 min 10 secs in [Updated with more info about it.] https://gizmodo.com/look-out-here-comes-the-human-skateboard-203877 —for a moment, I thought there was…

Microsoft rolled out final versions of those two proto-SP1 erformance and compatibility patches for Vista. Manual install only for now. [Microsoft/Microsoft] https://gizmodo.com/vista-service-pack-0-5-patch-leaked-284140

Magellan’s Triton GPS Features Touch Screen, National Geographic Maps

Unleash your inner explorer with the adventurous Triton handheld GPS from Magellan. There are six models in total, all sporting QVGA touch screens (2.2″or 2.7″) that are waterproof up to one meter. Some feature expandable memory via an SD slot alongside a 2-megapixel digital camera and digital audio player. The top-of-the-line Triton 2000 has a…

Xbox 360 Input Machine Has Gamer Playing Halo 2 With Wiimote

Click to view It’s impossible to ignore the unique brand of fun the Wii brings to the table with its motion-sensitive controller, but if you aren’t into minigame fests, you don’t have a lot of options for taking advantage of it. That’s why one dedicated gamer decided to meld the power of the Wiimote with…

DARPA Wants to Engineer “Kill Proof” Soldiers with Hardwired Animal Characteristics

The gang at DARPA — you know, the ones working on invisible, shoot-through, self-healing armor — want to create kill-proof soldiers that have characteristics of animals that can survive in extreme conditions. They’re researching things like allowing soldiers to redirect oxygen demand throughout their bodies to allow them to stay underwater for hours. Dammit, DARPA,…

New iMac Commercial Features an iMac, Not Much Else

Here’s the new iMac commercial, which features some of the hottest slow-rotation action I’ve ever seen. It is pretty nice looking, I’ve got to admit.

Worst. Keynote. Ever! Shirt Still Available, Topical

Just so you guys know, the “Worst. Keynote. Ever!” shirt from WWDC is still available for purchase. I’m just saying, you know, if you think it’s pertinent… And hey, you dorks who bought one a few months ago finally have a reason to wear one again! You can thank Steve for that, at least. [Product…

Haptic Glove Transmits Feelings to Your Hands; Porn Industry Excited Already

Apple isn’t the only event happening today, you know. SIGGRAPH (a conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques) is happening in San Diego as well, and there’s some pretty neat stuff being shown off there. This Haptic Glove, for example, transmits the feeling of holding an object in your hand from afar. Imagine shaking hands…

New AIBO in the Works, Could be PS3-Compatible

According to an interview with game designer and Sony buddy Masaya Matsuura, a new AIBOesque device is in development. From his interview with Kotaku: “The engineers behind the Aibo are doing the PS3. We are talking about making something like the new Aibo.” I ask if it will connect to the PS3. Because that’s what…

Lufthansa May Add Beds to Coach; Mile High Club to Add Thousands of Members

Sleeping while flying coach is damned near impossible, especially if you’re over six feet tall. Sure, you could drop three times as much (or more) for one of those fancy business class seats that fold into a bed, but only suckers and jerkbags do that. If you’re flying to Germany anytime soon, however, you might…

Judge Tosses $1.52 Billion MP3 Patent Infringement Verdict Against Microsoft

The dubious $1.52 billion judgment delivered against Microsoft for infringing on Alcatel-Lucent’s MP3 patents back in February was set aside by a federal judge. In a 43-page judgment that would probably take longer to read than The Deathly Hallows, Judge Rudi Brewster said that “the jury’s verdict of infringement was against the clear weight of…

If Apple Made a Touchscreen Computer…

This is an absolutely brilliant piece from The Joy of Tech. I love the line, “It will be sold as “the 30 in iPhone.” Hit the jump for the full, unshrunk masterpiece. [joyoftech via newlaunches]