Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Whether you have yellow teeth or yellow sheets, boy do we have the deals for you. Home Entertainment • Pioneer KURO 50″ 1080p Plasma HDTV for $1,949.99 plus free shipping (normally $2,399.99). • Zenith 32″ 720p LCD HDTV for $449 plus free shipping (normally $699). • Sylvania NB500SL9 1080p Blu-ray Player for $l89.98 plus free…
The concept of integrating speakers into shelving units is nothing new, but this Soundshelf design is easily the most elegant application of the idea to date. https://gizmodo.com/wazz-shelf-hides-those-unsightly-speakers-350865 In fact, Soundshelf goes beyond bookshelves into other areas—like DVD storage towers. Again, its still a concept, but there is no reason why it can’t become a reality.…
Bandai is bringing this Japanese pocket toy, 5 Second Stadium—the first of many, like Mugen Pop Pop—over here. You try to click precisely at the 5-second mark. I’m premature, as always. [Giz @ Toy Fair] https://gizmodo.com/mugen-pop-pop-infinite-bubble-wrap-toy-hits-the-us-5071681
The OK to Wake! alarm clock teaches your hellions when it’s okay to leave the confines of their bed by glowing green when you’re ready to deal with them. I’m sure it works perfectly.
R2 is squealing at me. Honest-to-God stormtroopers are standing guard nearby. Perfect conditions to prove that I’ve outgrown my Padawan pants, and can now move a plastic ball with my mind like a real Jedi. Since I’m no Yoda, I still need my EEG headgear-which Jedi Uncle Milton built for me and sells as the…
The Sony Ericsson W995 is a beauty, like all their flagship Walkman phones. This one has 3G, Youtube playback, stereo speakers, aGPS for use with Google Maps, and an honest-to-goodness 3.5mm jack. The slider has a 2.6-inch screen, and can serve up media files using DLNA over Wi-Fi, from its 8GB store. The 8MP camera…
LG previously used WM on one phone, but they’re signed up for 50 phones now, thanks to the enhancements of Windows Mobile 6.5 and whatever back end business room deals have come about from this. LG doesn’t know software, and to get a phone platform going, they’ve needed an outside OS for quite awhile to…
Acer has unveiled their rumored smartphones, the X960, F900, M900, and DX900. And they don’t look half bad, other than lacking WinMo 6.5 and being a tad on the chunky side. Here’s a rundown: https://gizmodo.com/acers-first-smartphone-has-awkward-style-solid-potenti-5146003 X960 • Pre-installed GPS software (Navigon try-and-buy, for Europe market) • 2.8″ VGA touch screen • High speed HSPA connectivity…
Sprint just added mobile 3G laptop access to their Simply Everything plan, calling it Simply Everything Plan + Mobile Broadband, which gives you unlimited everything for $150 a month. For business customers that call, text, email and surf a lot, this could be a rather good plan to cover all your mobile usage. Sprint claims…
You say "Cheese!" and dogs say "whatsthatsquirreldogtoyhuh?", "firehydrant!", "wanttoplaywanttoplaywanttoplay!", looking everywhere but the camera. This app’s 15 barking noises fix that. Some of them likely say, in barkenese, “Ifoundfood or Iwanttohavesex”, so your pup can’t help but look at you quizzically as you click the shutter. And eventually resent you for the continuous deception. [iTunes…
While most time capsules require a level of patience that’s not entirely suited for a child’s attention span, the Backyard Safari Time Capsule can be both buried and continually stocked with new items. It’s really a neat idea. You bury the $20ish capsule, then an artificial rock hides a tube that reaches the surface. Whenever…
LG’s previously announced KS360 is going to be the manufacturer’s first Android phone, and will hit this summer with the same slide-out QWERTY, same 2.0-megapixel camera and same specs as before. [T3]
I like the new Windows Mobile 6.5 interface, specially the new home screen, which is brilliantly executed. Running on the new HTC Touch Diamond 2, everything looked smoother, cleaner, and matched the iPhone’s lick factor. https://gizmodo.com/htc-touch-diamond2-and-touch-pro2-feature-bigger-screen-5154108 While everything seems to have been touched up, simplified, and polished to no end, what really makes this version…
Unless you can do better than this, I think the road sign hacking meme is over. This wins. Sorry, guys. [Boing Boing Gadgets]
Unlike the wet noodle Nerf blades of my youth, these new N-Force scepters are stiff enough to put on the hurt without flexing, but soft enough to not scare mom (too much). I want. Get a couple of these with some Daft Punk Olympic fencing suits—sounds like an evening right there. [Toy Fair 2009] https://gizmodo.com/the-tech-inside-olympic-fencers-amazing-future-warrior-5037598
While today’s Nokia announcement onslaught didn’t include the N86, some of the company’s own press materials leaked the handset. Its claim to fame? An 8MP camera with xenon flash, like the Memoir. [Nokia via BGR] https://gizmodo.com/samsung-8mp-touchscreen-memoir-cellphone-is-the-uss-fir-5146804
There are mods and there are Mods. And the VHS Toaster definitely fits into the capitalized category. (Read on for video.) The marriage of a Daewoo VHS deck and a Swan Elegance single-slot toaster, the only way it could be better is if it burned little tape spools into the toast. DVDs could work too,…
First Satellites colliding, now this. Two nuclear submarines carrying nuclear missiles, the British HMS Vanguard—in the image—and the French Le Triomphan, bumped in the Atlantic this February. https://gizmodo.com/it-finally-happened-two-satellites-crash-in-space-5151985 The news was confirmed by First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Jonathon Band: Recently, the two submarines came into contact at very low speed. Both submarines remained safe…
Hexbug’s touch-and-sound-sensitive mini-robots have always moseyed, not scurried. But their latest, the Ant, locomotes with wheel legs—not quite a wheel, not quite a leg—zippily enough to give real bugs a run for their money. https://gizmodo.com/bandais-hex-bugs-react-better-to-clapping-than-stamping-274194 It’s got a new butt sensor, in addition to the usual antennae. It’s cheap too, only $10.
You’ve got to be pretty bold to use your iPhone to count cards in a Vegas casino, especially now that they’re on the lookout for such behavior. Card counting itself is not illegal, but using a device to help you do so is considered a felony under Nevada gambling laws. Not that casinos are fans…