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Apparently the latest twist in an ongoing tussle over separatist Abkhazia, this video shows an "unarmed, umanned aerial vehicle" belonging to the Georgian Interior Ministry performing "basic reconnaissance over Georgian territory," according to the Georgians. Whether or not you believe the details in that statement, it’s pretty hard to argue with what happens at around…
Does a water-resistant and dust-proof camera really have to be as fugly as this? Ricoh’s ten-megapixel, shock-resistant G600 sits alongside its Caplio 500G, and boasts, as well as a 5x zoom, flash with a ten-meter range, 52MB internal memory and hi-def 2.7-inch display. The G600 does movies too, shooting VGA video at 30fps, and you…
This has to be the most jaw-dropping NES mod ever … putting a whole system-on-a-chip NES console clone into an original game cartridge. Talk about how to demonstrate the advances in shrinking electronics over the years! Modder Kotomi took an original Super Mario Brothers cartridge, gutted it and somehow squeezed in all the circuitry, chips,…
Behold the 24 karat gold MacBook Air with a bejeweled version of the classic rainbow Apple. Why anyone would want a heavier, fingerprint-magnet version of a MacBook Air except a rich oil tycoon from the United Arab Emirates, I don’t know. But even while all the shiny gold and colored sapphires may look tacky at…
Designed for the XXIst Century Man exhibition in Tokyo, this monocycle by Ben Wilson is pretty damn cool. While not as ornate as last year’s steampunk monocycle, Wilson’s one-wheel wonder is stunning in its simplicity, like many of the other product designs on his website. The Brit, who has several other bike designs under his…
The iMac has spawned a couple of lookalikes in the past, but none quite so similar to it as Fujitsu’s new FMV F-A50. Ok, so it’s the previous gen white iMac we’re talking about, but look at that slot-loading DVD drive… right where it should be! We almost prefer the design of the Fujitsu’s stand…
Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee has resigned today after the $113 million tax evasion scandal investigated in a special prosecution probe, which has finally led to formal charges, but no arrests. Kun-hee apologized deeply, taking full responsibility. Other members of the board are resigning too. We can only hope that the Samsung product shot ninja…
Window’s XP Service Pack 3 has gone to manufacture, according to its release manager, who posted the news on Microsoft’s forums. And April 29 is the date that we’ll be able to get our unwashed paws on it, via the web. Full text is after the jump. Today we are happy to announce that Windows…
Samsung SDI has just made a bold assertion about OLED technology: TVs and monitors will be using the tech just next year, and it will be in flexible displays by 2010. And Samsung’s putting its money where its mouth is by doubling Active Matrix OLED production capacity from 1.5 to 3 million panels per year…
PlayStation Home, the long-awaited PlayStation 3 social networking++ app, is finally going to see open beta starting Fall 2008. Before that, if you’re one of the few lucky users chosen by Sony, you’ll be able to participate in the closed beta expanding some time in Summer 2008. No other real features have been announced lately,…
Hello there. Here’s a personal note: Lisa’s book has been getting some fine praise around the web, particularly from BB’s Cory. And here’s my plug for my sweetheart’s work, a fun collection of Urawaza, or Japanese lifehacks that’ll help you do just about anything better. Urawaza is a term that originated in Japan to describe…
Honda’s new GPS warns drivers when they’re about to leave their car in places where it is likely to be stolen, broken into or otherwise vandalized. The new technology, available from today if you live in Japan, links to local police stations and provides crime ratings by location, and if area is particularly dangerous it…
I can’t believe it’s been a year since we last looked at the book, The Tricentennial Report: Letters from America. Published by the Atlantic Richfield Company in 1977, the book collects the hopes and fears of common people looking forward 100 years to the United States Tricentennial. The advertisement below appeared in the June 16,…
The LA Times and “studio executives familiar with the plan” are predicting a summer 2008 launch for the PlayStation 3’s video download service. Whether this service is a rental scheme—like iTunes or Xbox Live Marketplace—or a download scheme where you get to keep your videos and transfer them to the PSP, is uncertain. What we…
NPR has this fascinating piece on the custom microphone building threaded with history of Neumann Microphones. Neumann made the smooth-sounding U47 that the Beatles recorded on almost exclusively on from 1962 to 1970, as did Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, and others. When I say others, I mean Hitler. Before its glorious…
Gonorrhea isn’t just an STD known for causing burning sensations when you pee; it’s the strongest organism known to man. Able to pull 100,000 times its body weight, the clap may soon serve a purpose greater than painfully reminding you of nights spent cruising the Red Light District. Scientists hope to use gonorrhea bacteria in…
Just when we thought Dubai couldn’t make more absurd architectural decisions, they go and commission a Dutch dude to make floating islands in the shape of Arabic letters that spell out a part of a poem. This floater of an idea has been tried before, albeit on a smaller scale with cruise ship terminals, mosques…
This is HTC’s first big TV ad in the US. Rather than focus on their devices individually, HTC’s going for a general "brand" awareness. Seeing as how they’ve previously marketed their phones under the four big providers’ own names (AT&T TilT, T-Mobile MDA, Verizon 6700), it’s a smart step in breaking away from their control.…
What’s the best way to punish the same early adopter customers that helped make your service a success in the first place? If you’re Netflix, it’s charging them extra for renting Blu-ray. CEO Reed Hastings justifies this action by saying “consumers are used to paying more for high-definition,” basically punching this next generation of early…
There’s a gem of a story—one of many—in Leander Kahney’s new book, Inside Steve’s Brain, about the biggest OS X mistake Apple never made: The original plan UI was to take the old crusty crap interface from Mac OS Classic and drop it on top of the core. Thankfully Steve Jobs called the entire UI…
