Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
If the rampant out- and cross-sourcing between LCD and plasma TV makers didn’t tell you that it’s a nasty and brutish time in the TV biz, this should: Philips is officially pulling out of the US market, and is licensing its brand name for TVs over to Funai—best known for supplying Wal-Mart’s Black Friday TVs…
Forget the crapness of the Beamz laser-harp music thing with a real touchless music system: the Theremin. The guys at Popsci have a MAKE-style DIY project online that shows you how to build a pocket-sized version of the classic device. Since it uses a light-level input system, it’s a little simpler to build than the…
Since the Tahoe snowboarding meetup was such a success, we’re gonna do something similar over on the east coast. Specifically, in NYC. Right now, I’m thinking it would be a blast to go to a Brooklyn Cyclones game at Coney Island, either preceded or followed by some good beer drinking/hot dog eating/roller coaster riding. Anyone…
According to NetBlender, iPhone and iPod touch users will be able to control their Blu-ray players using an application called BD Touch. The application will use the network capabilities of Blu-ray hardware and Apple’s handheld devices to transfer data, allowing you to do many different things beyond controlling movie playback. Update: we have spoken with…
Fitting a 1TB into a box measuring 5.31 x 3.22 x 1.57 inches isn’t all that easy (most NAS boxes we’ve seen would crush a squirrel easily) but Buffalo seems to have not only accomplished this but shoved in a whole bunch of other features as well. The Mini’s got a Gigabit Ethernet port, support…
Wal-Mart is a little late to the HD DVD pity party, finally deciding to offer tokens to suckers who threw in with the dead format. Until April 30, they’ll refund any HD DVD player bought after Nov. 1, as long as you’ve got the original receipt, though you don’t need the original packaging. If you…
When we bring up Blu-ray Profile 2.0 with BD-Live, you guys are divided. Some of you say “Who gives a damn?” while others say “PS3 FTW!” But a small minority say that the PS3 doesn’t meet your other hardware requirements. Well now it might not matter: by the end of this month, when CyberLink’s latest…
When a team of Cornell students put Ranger to work tottering around the running track it just kept on walking, eventually achieving 45 laps before its batteries died and the poor thing toppled backwards. This 5.6-mile hike smashed the previous 20-lap record. The kneeless Ranger is designed to investigate aspects of locomotion so that robot…
Click to viewThis video shows Microsoft Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 running 108 applications at only 30% processor usage, according to Reader Daniel Smith, who sent it to us in response to the picture of Mac OS X Leopard running 150 applications this weekend. His specs are nothing to write home about: https://gizmodo.com/mac-with-150-apps-running-shows-teeny-weeny-dock-expos-376497 I’m…
Phones with little scented tissues in them are just soooo 2007. In two days, NTT Communications will start testing something bigger and weirder. It’s a freestanding $195 device, possibly due out March of next year, that holds 16 cartridges of base scents, like an inkjet printer’s basic colors, that mix up more elaborate odors when…
Hal is no ordinary hamster. While other hamsters find themselves confined to the dancing gifs of 1990s novelty websites, Hal has grown into an autonomous force of the entertainment world. Dancing to Styx’ Mr. Roboto on command, Hal is recommended as a loyal companion in all environments not including pod bay doors. For those of…
Ever feel the need to wear a face mask? Ever felt hot inside one? Well, Thanko’s new fan-cooled mask may be just the ticket, with its USB power. USB? I’ve only ever worn a face mask when working with chemicals, and I’ve never strolled around in public wearing one. Both of which, presumably, would be…
Microsoft’s Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000 has been around a while, but just like the Model T, it came in any color so long as it’s black. Those days are over, as the 3000 now comes in five—dare I say fruity?—new colors. The lineup includes Pomegranate, Dragon Fruit, Aloe, Milk Chocolate, and Creme Brulee. Too…
Sony has announced their firmware 3.95 update should be coming soon. It’s a minor upgrade, only adding two small features to the platform…but one that I find completely necessary and long overdue. First, shutting off Remote Play will now no longer necessarily shut down your PS3. Second, and more importantly, PSOne classics can now be…
Forget DIY camera stun guns: they’re just a stunt. If you want real pocket protection, these charmingly disguised stun guns can deliver 350,000 volts of agony to an assailant. Will they think it looks like you’re just brandishing a tube of lippy at them? Probably not an experiment to try. They have an LED flashlight…
We are fans of huge LEGO things, from airplanes to ships to spacecrafts, but this colossal version of the legendary Legoland Yellow Castle—for some one of the best LEGO sets in history, including Joel—has to be the most amazing giant concepts we have seen so far. It may look small, but hit the jump to…
Hello, I’m a sexy lady who has been Swarovski-encrusted by my PR people in order to publicize something called the Urban Performer Unit. It’s basically a handbag with a little pocket for your iPod which enables you to control your music from the outside of your bag. Nice idea, don’t you think? There is, however,…
Does this make up for the “no PS3 Blu-ray to PSP” transfer story? Kind of. Sony’s new BDZ-A70 Blu-ray recorder system won’t do that either, but will record your TV shows, and can transfer that video content to your PSP or Sony Walkman. That’s kind of a consolation, and there’s even a “one touch” button…
Designed by Esti Barnes, El Luminoso is a made-to-measure carpet that mixes LEDs into the pile. Given that the last rugs I writhed upon with gay abandon wrote about were the Wurst rugs, a selection of sausage-inspired floor coverings that looked like a pool of puke, Esti’s design is bleedin’ gawjus. No idea of the…
The iBig Box is… THE BIGGEST IPOD DOCK IN THE ENTIRE KNOWN UNIVERSE! It’s red, it’s gigantastic, it goes to eleven, it makes soccermoms laugh and kids dance like the Bangles, and because its inflatable, it can be filled with hydrogen and take you floating around the world or burn down like the Hindenburg. Either…
