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I’d probably never use an electric blanket—I’ve just heard too many horror stories that include elements like burn marks and houses transformed to ash. But a water cooled/heated mattress? That sounds downright brilliant. The ChiliBed is similar to all the memory foam mattresses you’ve seen advertised lately, but inside its core, water is either heated…
Normally hyper-intelligent robots terrify me, but this little guy has officially won me over. It uses Lego Mindstorms parts, a Lego programmable robotics kit and—of all things—a Nokia N95 mobile phone to unlock the mysteries of Rubik. It’s by no means the first Rubik’s Cube solver we’ve seen, but it’s definitely the first I’ve encountered…
The latest and greatest Nehalem-based Xeon Mac Pros are the fastest Apple computers you can buy. Unfortunately, they seem to have a serious problem when processing audio, a task that sucks 20% of its power while making the processors overheat. According to Ars Technica, the problem—which happens with Early 2009 and Late 2009 models—doesn’t only…
While the Lego Airbus A380 at Legoland is the biggest Lego airplane out there, this one is much cooler. To start with, there are motherf*cking snakes inside, along with five other movie scenes. And then, it’s computer-controlled, using a touchscreen. The PC program running on the touch screen controls eight Mindstorm NXT engines and six…
The beardier parts of the web-o-sphere have been abuzz about HTML5, the next version of the language that powers our internet. Will it revolutionize web apps? Will it kill Flash video? Will it fix our gimpy iPads? Yes… and no. The tech press has transformed HTML5 from a quiet inevitability to an unlikely savior: When…
The original solBAT was a neat idea—a backup battery that charged through an integrated solar panel, which in turn charged any USB device. The solBAT II is the same thing, but it charges devices even faster. Mounting to a window thanks to some suction cups, or hooking to pretty much anything with a clip, the…
When I first saw this, I was tempted to call fake. I mean, why the hell is a desktop version of Firefox running on Android? What happened to Fennec? But rest assured, this is real—and actually, very encouraging. Explaining the awkward UI, developer Vladimir Vukićević: You’ll note that this is the full Firefox interface, and…
Good meat is about more than proper marbling. Apparently quality of fat has a lot to do with its flavor, which is why researchers are re-purposing cameras to tell the best cuts from the just OK. Two teams of Japanese researchers have been using infrared cameras to detect Oleic acid (which signals the presence of…
With the Concorde long gone, it’s up to big-thinking companies like Seymourpowell to dream up new transatlantic travel routes. Enter the Aircruise, which would be powered by solar power and a hydrogen fuel cell, sailing in the air at 90mph. Ok, it’d take a while to get from London to New York (37 hours, in…
Why hello there, slightly smaller Droid! I have so many questions for you. Like, why do you have Motoblur? How much do you cost? When can people buy you? Why aren’t you officially part of the “Droid” line? Apparently nobody’s awake in Motorola land right now, so I’ll hazard a guess at answer these questions…
This Photoshop illustration makes me cringe, but I can’t peel my eyes off it, cutting them like the blade in Un Chien Andalou. [Walee via Likecool]
Intel and Micron are growing their latest 25nm flash memory in this new production facility. PC Perspective gives us a tour of this strange world where men wear cleanroom suits, lest they contaminate the robots. [PC Perspective]
I just want to take anyone from Sony who’s related to the development of the PS3 platform in any way, and shake them until the saboteur witch doctors hired from Nintendo and Microsoft lose their hold. The latest idea from the Sony braintrust? No more big downloadable titles. So you’ll still be able to download…
You think you’re better than me, TouschSmart 600? You think because you’re now configurable with Core i7 720QM (1.6 GHz) or i7 820QM (1.73GHz) processors—starting at $1700—that you’ve defeated the long-standing caste system separating man and machine? Well, at least this new option makes you a viable (though a bit Pontiac-looking) replacement for an i7…
Gateway’s introducing two new Core i7 gaming desktops today, and you’d be forgiven for not being able to tell them apart at first glance. The lower-end model is essentially the same rig—but $400 less than its $1700 counterpart. Let’s go to the tape: both run on Core i7-860 processors. Both house ATI Radeon HD5850 graphics.…
The CX2 dipped its toe into the pool last August, but already there’s a successor—the CX3. The main difference is the 10-megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor (upgraded from the 9.29-megapixel used in both the CX2 and CX1). https://gizmodo.com/ricoh-cx2-has-better-optical-zoom-still-cant-shoot-hd-5341525 The US pricing hasn’t been confirmed yet, but over in Australia they’ll be able to pick one up…
As strangely sleek and prettynaff this fiberglass F1 lounge chair is, I can’t believe the designer—Hungarian Alexander Christoff—missed the opportunity to make it wheeled. What’s wrong with you, Alexander? You are making office chair racing fans weep all around the world. Are you happy now? Fine. Be that way. [Behance via Examiner via Born Rich]
We’ve been through so many ups and downs with Pleo. We saw him crumble in the face of a battlebot. We cuddled him. We cried over his extinction. We rejoiced when he survived! And now, we choose his color. https://gizmodo.com/pleo-gets-thrashed-at-the-hands-of-a-battlebot-389198 It’s an obvious campaign to remind people of the clever little tyke, but when it…
When Nokia announced free Ovi Maps for all, I was a bit ho-hum about it all. NOW I am excited. But not to the point where I’ll actually buy a Nokia phone to play Ovi Maps Racing on, mind. https://gizmodo.com/nokias-free-ovi-maps-give-away-has-resulted-in-1-4milli-5463047 As the name suggests, the game actually uses real maps to race on, so you…
A whopping 40-megapixel beauty from Hasselblad has been outed before the official February 10th launch. At $19,995, it’ll only be within arm’s reach for a few people, though as you know they’re a big name in the pro-photography world. While full specs haven’t been announced by Hasselblad yet for the H4D-40, we do know they’re…
