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By detecting and processing electrical activity from lightning strikes, the Insight StrikeFinder helps pilots to avoid dangerous weather that can turn a small aircraft into a aluminum coffin. Compiling and interpolating data from thousands of strikes “gleaned from the background noise,” the StrikeFinder lets pilots determine if that impending storm cloud is really as dangerous…
Trusted Reviews takes a look at the Sharp LL-171A-B, a 17-inch LCD flat panel monitor that forgoes some of the extras (like a DVI input) but still keeps a few pleasant oddities like built-in speakers (which I’ve never been a huge fan of, but they do at least give Sharp an excuse to add a…
Forbes has a short write-up about an interesting upcoming product from startup Sling Media, called the “SlingBox Personal Broadcaster.” If it works as advertised, we’ll probably be hearing a lot about it. The idea is simple: hook up the little $200 box to your TiVo or your cable box and connect it to your home…
Okay! Here’s that proper announcement from Canon we were expecting about the EOS 20D. The 8-megapixel digital SLR definitely ups the ante in the whole Canon/Nikon game. I can’t wait to see some proper reviews. The EOS 20D wasn’t the only Canon announced, though, with the seven-megapixel G6, five-megapixel A95, and three-megapixel A400 all showing…
Griffin has added an XLR-to-miniJack version to it’s “GarageBand Cables” lineup. I’m sort of torn on these products (the other one is an 1/8th-inch-to-miniJack cord designed for guitars), as they don’t do anything you couldn’t do with just a regular audio cable and a converter plug, but they are white, and that has to count…
You know that Frank Lloyd Wright house that has the creek running through it? Think of this as the Brooklyn version of that, except instead of building a house over the sewer drain you just get a fancy table. Plus it’s not designed by FLW, but Oliver Beckert, and it’s not exactly a one-of-a-kind. If…
One of our more reliable tipsters had this little nugget to drop. Take it for what it’s worth: I was talking to guy in a waiting room while we were both getting our cars serviced. Turns out he is some sort of higher up corporate level Nextel employee and he’s impressed that my dad’s business…
Now I’m sure that I’ve seen the Sumajin Smartwrap Cord Manager before – right here on this site, I thought – but apparently not, so here it is. There’s not much too it, really – it’s just a smart, simple way to take the extra length out of any thin cord, especially those that are…
When size matters, Denon’s new AV rack with a deployable 80-inch screen should suit your fancy. Weighing in at 319 pounds, the “ARC-8000″ is completely integrated – there is no need for hanging hardware. I’m not entirely sure how you get a 80” screen to go up in the air on its own, but I…
So to encourage Japanese people to actually spend 120 yen (about $1.09) on a single can of soda, Coca-Cola today announced the “Cmode 2” vending machine, which allows customers with cellular phones to purchase drinks “cashlessly” one of three ways – two-dimensional barcodes, infrared, and the FeliCa contactless IC system. Though cashless “Cmode” vending machines…
Sony today announced the “QUALIA 005,” in their WEGA series of LCD TVs, which is the world’s first television to use Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) as a backlight. BUT WHY? According to Sony, this 46″ television has the most realistic color reproduction of any set EVER. I’d certainly hope so too, considering it will set…
Details are very slim about JVC’s new “product.” As a matter of fact, I can go ahead and list everything made public right here for you: “A new style,” “A new look,” “4GB,” and “MPEG-2.” Though these details could be describing a new type of turkey sandwich, the general consensus thus far is some sort…
Product Highlights • SONY DEBUTS NEW PHOTO PRINTER [Sony] • Micromechanical Flying Insect (MFI) Project [BerkeleyEDU] • Motorola Pininfarina i833 announced [MobileTracker] • Blaupunkt tunes into high-end in-car MP3 playback [GadgetryBlog] • Handtop roundup [Handtops] • Remote Controlled Weapons Mounts [PrecisionRemotes] • 3D Sci-Fi Imagery Closer to Reality [TomsHardware] • BlackBerry Sync for OSX [PocketMac]…
When I say “Marshmallow J-Turn,” two things should instantly spring to mind. “Oh, a Japanese product,” should be the first, and “Whaaaaa?” For once, though, the product name almost makes sense: the Aprica Marshmallow J-Turn is a hyper-padded, 5-point-harness baby immobilizer that masquerades as a car seat. It seems that Japanese babies have skulls particularly…
So I’m heartbroken. I’ve just spent a week using the T-Mobile Sidekick II, and I think it’s probably one of the best mobile devices I’ve ever used. And I can say, with total conviction, that I will never, ever purchase one and neither should you. In fact, after the experiences I’ve had today with T-Mobile,…
NEC JVC has three new high-definition plasma televisions coming out – two 42-inch models and a 50-inch. One of the 42-inchers, the GD-V422PCE, produces over a billion colors, which should make for a very nice, rich looking picture. They all are nice, of course, as far as plasma goes, plus each is capable of displaying…
A company called “Digital Lifestyles” has a new product line out called “hip-e,” which after you get done cringing over the name look fairly decent, but probably way overpriced to properly market to the teen segment. The whole concept revolves around the “node,” a Pentium M-based iMac-esque desktop PC, with a 17-inch built-in widescreen LCD…
So MCE Technologies has released a new version of its QuickStream DV, an external. ruggedized FireWire hard drive with a few tricks up its sleeve that makes it a useful companion to any DV camcorder. In fact, it pretty much removes the need for DV tape entirely by connecting directly to your camera’s FireWire port…
So just a little while ago I mentioned that Epson had created the world’s smallest flying robot. And while that may technically be the case, depending on how you define robot and if you define smallest by weight or by length or whatnot, this Pixelito helicopter hand-crafted by Alexander Van de Rostyne is pretty amazing.…
The GooRoo RugBoard is a 766MHz tablet-type computer with a 10.4-inch SVGA screen (the processor is listed as a “266MHz” on one screen and 766MHz on another, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt). In addition, it has integrated 802.11g and up to 512MB of onboard flash memory (which is to say, no…