Gadgets

Au Claims Its W61SH Widescreen Cell has a 2000:1 Contrast Ratio, We Say, ‘Blimey It’s Pink’

Au, the company that brought us the rather sexy Infobar 2 has released a high-res widescreen phone in Japan that they claim has a 2000:1 contrast ratio. Manufactured by Sharp, the hot-pink number has a 2.8-inch Acquos screen, 240 x 400 resolution and this rather crazy 2000:1 contrast claim. You can find a mini-gallery after…

Toshiba Releases First HD DVD-RW Laptop in Japan for Christmas

Toshiba has upgraded its 17-inch Qosmio G40 laptop and its smaller brother, the 15-inch F40. The two laptops, the G40/97E and the smaller F40/88EBL now sport HD DVD-RW drives as opposed to HD DVD-R, and will be released in Japan on December 21. More info below. While the G40 has a 400GB hard drive and…

The New Dark Knight Trailer

Some of you may have already seen this new trailer for The Dark Knight (Batman Begins II) in theaters this weekend, but it’s just hit the web. Here it is for your “behind closed doors” enjoyment. There’s a ton of new footage of the BatChopper (which is looking even better on film than what we’ve…

Addy’s Best Christmas Gadget Ever

A couple of weeks back, our Dear Leader Blam sent round an email asking the team what we wanted for Christmas. So I thought. And I thought. And all I could come up with was this: • A new sofa cover • A cute, copper-colored snakeskin clutch—that’s a handbag, not something found on a car—by…

Smart Cookie is Smarter Than an Average Cookie

We are all familiar with the magic 8-ball and the fortune cookie, but what happens if you put the two together in one device? The Smart Cookie is the result; a fortune telling cookie that dispenses answers to life’s most pressing questions with quirky witticisms such as; try the eggroll, answer sweet and sour, future…

Wooden SNES Gives Us An Erection (wait, did we screw up that joke?)

Benjamin Heckendorn is an unquestionable talent, but talent thrives with competition. That’s why we hope he notices this fantastic portable wooden SNES system. Its screen grabbed from the PSOne portable add-on, an SNES and speakers (along with optional mic jack) have been crammed into this completely custom wooden case—look at those buttons…so, so, so hot.…

Sony to Sell 11 Million PS3s By Fiscal Year End

It looks like all that was wrong with the PS3 was the price, because despite a very slow start, Sony has announced that their console will reach worldwide sales numbers of 11 million units by the end of this fiscal year (March 31st, 2008). That’s big news for Sony and the gaming industry, as developers…

Asus Eee PC 2G Surf Launches, Eee PC 8G Now Available at Newegg

Speaking of $300 OLPC killers, the SF Chronicle’s reporting that the $299 Asus Eee PC 2G Surf has officially launched. It has half the storage space and RAM of the 4G models, plus it’s soldered on, so noodling around’s dicier. The Fresno school system’s already handing out 1,000 of ’em loaded up with Windows and…

Activision Calls Harmonix a Punk, Says They Were “Misleading” About Blocked Patch

All the back and forth between Activision and Harmonix, it’s starting to look like Poison vs. Motley Crue or Sammy Hagar vs. David Lee Roth or something. Today, Sammy (Activision) said that MTV Games/Viacom shot down a deal to use Guitar Hero’s guitars with Rock Band—it wasn’t just Activision throwing a bitch fit. But, since…

CellCoach Trains You To Not Use Cellphones In the Car

Aimed at parents of teenagers who just can’t get their offspring to stop using a cellphone in the car, the CellCoach emits a high-pitched beep whenever it detects cellphone traffic. The result? A really annoying noise that reinforces the fact that they shouldn’t text or call while driving. It installs “permanently” under the car’s dashboard…

Hand-Held Doppler Lets You Listen to Your Own Brain

This is a handheld Doppler unit, and it’s designed to let you listen to the blood rushing around inside your head. Why would you want to do that? Well, detecting how regular the bloodflow in your head is is how one detects a concussion, so having this on the sidelines of a football field or…

Hollywood Puppet Congressdude Wants Harder, More Draconian DMCA With No Safe Harbor

While overseeing a hearing on the PRO-IP Act, a bill that might make statutory damages for copyright infringement even more obscene, Rep. Howard Berman, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, pondered out loud about other ridiculous copyright stuff he wants to do. Like make the DMCA an even more…

Fancy Soccer Ball Knows When it Crosses the Goal Line, Saves Refs From Beatings

In the soccer world (or “football,” to freedom-hating ale swillers), you do not want to be a referee who makes a questionable call. I mean, soccer fans are animals. Europeans seem to just accept the fact that after a match a roving pack of belligerent, mulleted steakheads will roam the streets of their towns looking…

Green Plug Is Promiscuous and Energy Efficient Like a Lady of the Night

As much as we loathe the thought of yet another kind of plug, we do like the idea of a universal one that’ll hook up with anything like Paris Hilton but is energy efficient like Nicole Ritchie. The idea behind the green plug’s a lot like the energy-saving chip Marvell showed us. Green plug hubs—which…

Like a predestined domino, Gateway’s CEO falls out the door for Acer’s chief to take over, following Acer’s scoop up of Gateway in August. Insert “cows come home” tag. [NYT] https://gizmodo.com/taiwan-based-acer-the-third-largest-pc-company-in-the-293619

Nintendo Losing Out on $1 Billion from Holiday Wii Shortage?

Nintendo has already gone on record stating that the Wii shortages have been a detriment to the company—that they’ve lost out on potential sales since much of Nintendo’s target casual gaming audience won’t bother with it down the line—even if this NYT article has statements that differ. But while we knew Nintendo had screwed up,…

Guitar-Activated Vibrator Will Get Your Girlfriend to Listen to You Practice Scales

We all know that musicians have an easier time picking up the ladies than mere mortals. Something about being artistic, talented people that have the confidence to put themselves out there on stage rather than curmudgeony shut-ins who only express strong opinions when behind the protective wall of a keyboard, I don’t know. In any…

Celebratory Santa Drive? Or Grotesque Idolatry?

Oh, cute, a Santa USB drive! This will be great for saving all those obnoxious eCards you send me! Wait….oh that’s just sick. You have to rip him apart to access the storage—like some festive Mortal Kombat fatality? Please think of the children first next time, Mr. Chinese “Scrooge” OEM. And no, we don’t want…

Shark Attacks Let’sGoDigital Reporter as She Reviews Underwater Cameras in the Bahamas

This is the kind of thing you really don’t want to happen to you, but if it does, and you survive, you will never have to buy another drink in a bar ever again. Karin Brussaard went shark-hunting in the Bahamas to write a tech review of the Nikon D80 in a Sea and Sea…

Take-A-Seat Concept Has Your Library Chair Follow You Around Like a Dog After a Bitch on Heat

This idea, by Eindhoven graduate Jelte Van Geest, is for a smart chair. Wave your library card in front of the chair’s sensor and it will follow you around like a lovesick puppy, providing somewhere for you to park your butt while you flick through various tomes in the library. Now, is this where I…