Gadgets

Sony Selling Sin with Memory Sticks

In the days when portable flash memory is becoming quickly commoditized, companies like Sony are obviously trying new tricks to differentiate their product. Because now Sony will begin shipping a poker game along with their Memory Stick Micro and MicroVault Midi USB keys in marked packs. The game, Midnight Hold’Em Poker, can be played on…

Samsung’s Unleashes World’s Densest Flash Memory

Samsung has just rolled out a 30nm 64Gb NAND flash memory chip, which happens to be the world’s densest. By packing together the maximum of 16 of the multi level cells, a memory card containing 128GB of storage space can conceivably be created. Samsung has managed this feat by developing a new process they are…

Oi Modular Sofa Makes me Think of Albino Tetris, Shipping Now

The Oi sofa concept was launched in New York last year, but it’s taken almost a year and a half to make it available. Made out of L- and bar-shaped components, you can make loads of different-shaped sofas with it, including one with a neat side table add-on. It packs up/down into a 30-inch cube…

Hitachi to Install its Fingervein Security System in Steering Wheels

Remember a couple of months back, and Hitachi’s announcement that it had developed fingervein-scanning technology? Well, according to a Hitachi press release, it’s going to be deployed in vehicles in the hope of cutting car theft. And that’s not all that the technology will be able to do. https://gizmodo.com/screw-fingerprint-scanning-fingervein-scanning-is-wher-282443 Mirrors, seats and air-conditioning will be…

Vestax VCI-100 Mixer Modded with Arcade Game Buttons

Here’s what you do if you think your Vestax mixer looks dull as day-old dog doo: mod it. One of the guys from DJ Tech Tools swapped his boring old black knobs for arcade game buttons. How-to video is after the jump. [YouTube and djtechtools.com via Create Digital Music]

The Sony Building in Ginza is a Museum of All Things Sony, Except the PS3

The Sony Building in Ginza stands tall just off the main department-store strip in the neighborhood, featuring a multi-story showroom of all things Sony. They’re showing off their latest and greatest tech, such as their super-thin, 8-inch XEL-1 OLED TVs and the Rolly speaker, as well as pretty much everything else they sell. It’s kind…

Nigerian Man Builds Working Helicopters from Junk

A 24-year-old undergraduate from Nigeria is building helicopters out of old car and bike parts. Mubarak Muhammed Abdullahi, a physics student, spent eight months building the yellow model seen here, using the money he makes from repairing cellphones and computers. While some of the parts have been sourced from a crashed 747, the chopper contains…

Japan Gets a Zaku 2-Style Helmet Phone from Sharp and Softbank

This must be the only cell phone I can think of whose charger is larger than the phone itself. Sharp and Softbank’s charmingly-titled 913SH Full Face is a slider (closed, its looks give more than a nod to the iPhone, IMHO) which comes with an enormous Zaku 2 helmet that you stand the phone on…

Neon Paperclip Lights Perfect for Fans of The Office

UK-based furniture designer Ga l Horsfall’s bespoke Neon Paperclip Lamp is a simple design, with a neon paperclip holding the shade in place. There are two sizes: the 31-inch model has a 23-inch paperclip and is suitable for the floor; while the smaller table version measures 15 inches with a 12-inch clip. Both sizes are…

Japanese Rube Goldberg Machine Makes Ramen in Six Long Minutes

While this bowl of Ramen may not be instant &mdash just the way Adam Frucci likes ’em &mdash its creation is utterly, butterly wonderful, if a tad long-winded. Six minutes in the making, this Japanese Rube Goldberg-esque machine uses skittles, model cars and what looks like miniature junk sails to make a bowl of steaming…

Nissan X-Trail Branded Laptop from NEC Comes in Rust(Bucket)

I am not convinced by car manufacturers lending their names to gadgets, and NEC and Nissan’s X-Trail-branded laptop does not convince me otherwise. Basically an NEC LaVie G Type J with a rust-colored jacket whose panels might just remind you of a car (actually, it made me think of the radiator in my bedroom when…

Samsung G800 Is 5 Megapixel Camera with Video Editing Functions

Europe is the first port of call for Samsung’s G800 multimedia cell phone. With a five-megapixel camera, 3 x optical zoom, Xenon flash, face detection and WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) technology, as well as the ability to take panoramic shots, multi shots and macro shots it’s being marketed as the photographer’s choice of cellphone. And…

Samsung’s 40-inch TFT-LCD is Just One Centimeter Thick

Samsung is to unveil a bunch of new screens in Japan at the end of this week, including the 40-inch beauty you see here, with a thickness of just 1 cm. The first of the Korean electronics giant’s next wave of large-screen TVs, the 40-incher is as thick as a 10- to 20-inch LCD desktop…

Thanko Charger Bracelet Has More Wrist Power Than The Hulk

Of all the crazy thing’s Thanko’s come up with, this USB charger bracelet’s probably the least crazy. Instead of having a separate charger that you have to keep close to a PSP, DS Lite or a cellphone by putting both onto a table, this wrist charger lets you wear the power on your person and…

Western Union and GSM Assocation Hooking Up Global Cellphone Money Transfers

To the delight of Nigerian spammers everywhere, Western Union and the GSM Assocation are cooking up a global money transfer service that’ll let you to send “small money amounts” to your mom or some other soul in need of funds halfway around the world via cellphone. Of the world’s 700+ GSM carriers, 35 are expected…

Copyright Board of Canada Plans to Tax Legal Music Downloads

Oh, Canada. You already tax MP3 players and blank CDs. Now you want to tax downloads themselves? The Copyright Board of Canada has given the thumbs-up to a tax of at least 2.1 cents for individual tracks and 1.5 cents per track for whole album purchases from online stores. Even subscription services will have taxes…

Despite record sales and boosted revenues compared with last quarter, thanks to the debt-loaded ATI acquisition and the bloody price war with Intel, AMD’s finishing Q3 $396 million in the red. [Ars]

Boob-Shaped Cushions Could Almost Turn Me Lesbian

Most people think that all boobs are cushions, but these Funwari Milk-chan, or Fluffy Milk, are real boob cushions. Like the real thing, they come in all different shapes and sizes. Unlike the real thing, however, they’re furry. There are five different boobs to choose from, each with its own character: Funwari Milk-chan, in the…

Man Builds $30,000 Jumbo Jet Simulator in his Bedroom

Click to viewJohn Davis spent eight years and 15,000 building a Boeing 747 flight simulator in a room in his house. And now the 47-year-old’s hobby has turned into such a full-time occupation that he has jacked in his job as a graphic designer to run a full-time flight simulation business from his home in…

Pentangle Design USB Extractor Fan Keeps Laptops Cool, Witches Happy

Designed with witches and warlocks in mind, this USB extractor fan with its “mysterious touch” pentangle on the top should prevent Gandalf from burning his penis (and, lest we forget, there’s a lot of it to burn.) Attach the two-speed, 60g gadget to your laptop via the USB port and keep your machine cool. You…