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Amazon is going to take the unusually forward-thinking step of promoting Blu-ray “more prominently” on its site over HD DVD. The good news for those of you who wanna expand your movie collection for dirt cheap is that they’re going to keep selling HD DVD stuff for the time being. [CNN Money]
Out in Japan at the end of next month, U-Mate’s Lap-Around-Japan pedometer is a novel idea to get people walking. Instead of noting the same old landmarks (skyscraper, dog toilet, convenience store, interminable roadworks, pervy builders, etc. etc.) the miles you cover are transposed into miles around the japanese coastline. The device also keeps you…
Given how delicious we all think Microsoft’s touchscreen table, the Surface, is (apart from the $10,000 price tag) here’s a more basic version from ToyQuest. The Touch Table EES (that stands for electronic education system) boasts a 21-inch touchscreen from which you can play games and DVDs (hmm, very educational). It does redeem itself somewhat,…
The Wedisk USB 2.0 thumb drive has its USB connector located where the IR receptor is, coming out only when you press the A button. The Wedisk is available in either 1GB, 2GB, 4GB or 8GB flavors, but apparently it’s only available as a mass-produced item, on request. [SolarMemo — Thanks, Chris]
Sony has just released its first Bluetooth (A2DP) enabled PMPs; the NW-A829 (16GB) and NW-A828 (8GB). With support for MP3, WMA, ATRAC, Sony PCM and AAC/High Efficiency AAC, as well as MPEG-4/H.264, these players come with enough playback potential to make them contenders for a space in your pocket, as well as your heart. More…
The process of converting your HD DVDs to Blu-ray is time-consuming, potentially costly and sucks balls. Really, there’s almost no reason to, since you can bet most everything on HD DVD will be released on Blu, and if you have a million HD DVDs you don’t wanna rebuy, you should just buy a dual format…
Sony’s latest additions to its E series range of MP3 players come with interchangeable jackets, and have a USB plug for direct connection to your computer. The player itself comes in black or white, and there are twenty different designs of the outer “Style-Up” panels available. In 1GB, 2GB and 4GB versions, the NW-E023F, -025F…
If you just got an N95, are drooling over its successor, the N96—or any Nokia E or N series phone—GigaOm has a great list of apps you should load up to the get the most out of Symbian. Here’s a few: Gmail for Mobile (mercifually designed for numeric keypads); GooSync to bring your Google and…
This is a cheap, quick way to make a small remote shutter trigger for Canon Digital Rebels. Basically, you just need a $3 hands-free phone headset with a 2.5mm plug (NOT 3.5mm). Pop open the case and cut the wire leading to the ear piece, tie it off, then close it back up. Plug into…
ASUS’s P22 Nova is a small (9x7x2 in, under 4 lbs.), attractive PC designed for the living room. Like we’ve mentioned before, It has a 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 160 GB HDD, Slot Loading DVD Burner, Bluetooth, 1 GB RAM and 802.11n WLAN. The cool thing is it has built in Hi-Fi Speakers,…
In an attempt to revitalize Thunderbird in version 3.0, Mozilla has announced “Mozilla Messaging” which promises significant improvements to the email client—like calendar integration, better search, and a chat app. While the core focus will still be on email, Mozilla seems committed to developing a product that will offer a broader range of communications tools.…
Okay, so every major provider now has unlimited access plans. But what do you really get with each provider, and for how much? Here’s everything broken down into a single chart. Note: These are for your phone only, and don’t include tethering. https://gizmodo.com/at-t-now-99-for-unlimited-voice-and-35-for-unlimited-358178 It looks like AT&T has the best deal, at $135 for unlimited…
Have trouble waking up in the morning? You could use a really loud alarm, or an alarm that forces you to engage what little hand-eye coordination you have in the morning—but for real torture, you will have to step up to the squirt gun alarm clock. The only problem is that you have to build…
According to a new Amazon product page, the 8G Asus Eee PC is once again up for sale. The 8G was recently delayed after “minor hardware issues”, which explains the three to six weeks ship estimate. Amazon appears to be the only site giving a ship date, so if you’ve been waiting for a 8…
Microsoft likes doing things in pairs, which is why they’re on the verge of releasing this Wireless Laser Keyboard 7000 to go along with the Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 they announced a few weeks ago. It’s pretty similar to other Microsoft ergonomic keyboards, except there’s a neat glass frame around the edge of the entire…
Unless I’m in a fancy restaurant, I generally don’t need to interact a whole lot with the wait staff. When I’m dining at Chili’s, its all about getting my fajita as quick as possible. The folks in Japan realize that a middleman is not always necessary, which is why they are developing products like the…
When it comes to convergence, the trend these days is to cram all sorts of functionality into a single device—even if those functions seem to be massively impractical given the limitations of current technology. However, a UK based design firm named Alloy has taken a more practical approach with their Couple-IT concept. The unit consists…
This cross section of a rocket ship appeared in the 1956 book The Complete Book of Space Travel. The space suit we looked at back in December can be seen hanging up at the rear of the ship. See also: The Complete Book of Space Travel (1956) Wernher von Braun’s Space Shuttle (1950s) Space Suit…
Speaking of crazy motherboards, Intel’s absolutely insane Skulltrail motherboard officially launched at the Game Developers Conference today, renamed the Intel Dual Socket Extreme Desktop Platform (blah). The Dual Extreme supports dual quad-core processors, and both ATI (Crossfire) and NVIDIA (SLI) graphics cards. In addition, the motherboard has a 400 MHz front-side bus and a hefty…
This spectacular rock outcropping on a hillside in Colombia isn’t a rock outcropping at all; rather, it’s the Biblioteca Parque España, a library, museum and cultural center that offers amazing views of Santo Domingo. It both stands out from and blends in with its natural surroundings in a completely unique way. I think I’m in…