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We honestly haven’t kept up with the television documentary Vanguard or its sponsoring Internet/Cable channel Current TV, but this trailer for their upcoming show Japan: Robot Nation has our interest piqued. We’re digging all of the robots, the ties of said robots to evolving Japanese culture and the overly dramatic score supporting the whole thing.…
The sparkly, diamond-esque Philips Luxe mp3 player is a tale of contradictions. On the one hand, it’s an mp3 player with a mere 2GB of memory, a scant 10 hours of battery life, a one-line LCD screen, and an expected price of around $90. On the other hand, it’s a feature-packed Bluetooth 2.1 headset, providing…
The new DSi will not only feature a camera and SD-based music player, but some robust supporting software known as DSi Camera and DSi Sound. Demoed in these two clips, what can we say? Apparently, the only thing that’s been missing from the DS Lite was a way to turn an attractive Japanese model’s face…
Oh, hello! Good to see you! It’s been awhile. Glad you’re still with us. Haven’t blogged in a couple months but I hear it’s just like riding a bicycle, you never forget how. Unless maybe you go batshit crazy and drive around the West Coast aimlessly for two weeks. Then blogging is probably less like…
We’re not sure that there was anything particularly broken about pinball, but this Remote Controlled Upright Pinball machine attempts to reinvent the genre. Featuring LEDs and “hidden tunnels,” you play the game through an R/C remote from distances up to 20 feet (…if you can see the ball from that far away). But in spite…
Sure, iTunes’ new visualizer is pretty, but you can’t compete with the visceral, hypnotizing weirdness of Daito Manabe’s facial electric stimulus. He tapes electric stimulators, looking like the same type used for electroshock therapy, to his face, and syncs them with his music so his involuntary facial contortions match up with the tune. Shots of…
So here’s the deal. You don’t get copy/paste. You don’t get image or videos over MMS. And you still can’t type your emails or text messages in landscape mode. BUT! If you’ve been dreaming about Google Street View, or, uh, walking directions… well, you’re in luck, because Apple is listening to you and nobody else.…
It’s an unfortunate turn of events when Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Sulu don’t get along in real life. But we’d like to believe that through the magic of t-shirts and a night out drinking with the buddies that we can solve most any of the world’s problems. Bar Trekkin’ celebrates the original Star Trek cast…
Over on the T-Mobile forums, there’s a massive thread about the G1’s totally borked POP3/IMAP email service. Looks like receiving, sending, and even just checking email results in a nasty connection error for just about everyone (one user estimates 95%). A T-Mobile representative posted in the thread, and while it looks like they’re actively working…
We thought that we already knew just how glorious that Canon’s $2,699 EOS 5D Mark II would be, but the camera has one trick up its sleeve that’s more practical than another megapixel boost, or maybe even its ability to capture 1080p HD video. Seriously. The camera can keep track of up to six batteries…
Optimus has revealed their prototype of the 15-key Putius, that’s now been redubbed the Aux. While the case is metal, here we see the plastic circuit board chassis and the complete electronic heart of the Aux. No, it’s still not something you can actually buy, but we’re getting oh so much closer. [Optimus]
Instructables posted a guide to creating a plumbers’-crack detector, using a LilyPad Arduino controller, a vibrating motor, and a photoresistor to measure how much light is beaming into your crack. When the photoresistor comes uncovered, the motor starts to vibrate, letting you know that your “coin slot” is exposed and people behind you may be…
Death and Taxes 2009 is a detailed graphical account showing where your tax dollars will go next year in the most detailed and fascinating way: Everything is set to scale according to the amount of money spent on it, showing the amazing weight that military-related spending has in the total Federal budget. It’s just mindblowing…
Microsoft’s earnings were surprisingly solid—another reassurance the world isn’t quite melting to the core—with a revenue of $15.1 billion (beating Wall Street’s expecations) and profits of $4.37 billion. Notably, however, it’s still not selling enough Windows Vista. Sure, more people might be PCs lately, but they’re other, less profitable versions. Microsoft makes about $70 per…
Dell has just posted an update that should take care of the annoying partition error in Ubuntu Inspiron Mini 9s that would cause systems with 8GB or 16GB storage to only have 4GB of formatted disk space. Run the update manager, install the patch, restart your system and voila, you have all the space you…
When Microsoft announced its Surface multitouch computer, we knew it’d be a toy for well-funded, respectable news outlets long before Joe the Plumbers, since it was going to cost $10,000. Turns out, it actually costs more like $13,500. That’s with a 10 percent discount! Microsoft is still expecting good ol’ economies of scale to kick…
You know, there are certain things you just shouldn’t cheap out on—headphones, condoms, HDTVs, and I’m guessing stun guns. But since it’s probably more of a risk for the guy you’re zapping, why not? The Thunder Stun delivers 200,000-750,000 volts for just 13 bucks. I’m sure it’ll be fine, really. What could possibly go horribly,…
The Aeron chair was the most famous office seat of all time, but we never expected it to show up in a Burton CO2 snowboard binding. Craziness? No, just look at the picture.The binding borrows the chair’s breathable webbing and strong Y support core, creating a lightweight and flexible structure that will run interested snowboarders…
Major Nelson has just dropped the details on how to get into the New Xbox Experience early. They’re looking for a “few thousand” participants. All you’ve gotta do is sign up and answer a few questions (click here) to be considered for the Preview Update. Gold and Silver Xbox Live members can apply, but Gold…
Sony’s hurting, Apple’s soaring, and Samsung is doing fine, even as it definitely shows stress from the economy. Aggressive pricing and marketing are leading it to spend more to make more, driving overall profit down 44 percent from a year ago to $850 million. Its handset division led sales for the whole company, selling almost…
