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We got our hands-on with the Optimus Maximus OLED keyboard back at CES, but now you can get your own on eBay. What? Apparently some guy received one of the earlier shipments of the keyboard (the one with unfinished software support) and is now hocking it. It’s unclear which model this one is (we think…
Those who bought Airs while Jobs was still on stage two weeks ago should be receiving ship notices any minute now. SSD versions not yet arriving. [Macrumors]
Shaking a phone to read text messages is as intuitive as swiping your finger across the screen to unlock it, but once you’re trained it becomes second nature. In this case, ShakeSMS is an app for Nokia phones that lets you jostle your phone to view an incoming SMS. Jigger it again to go back…
Click to viewLong the well of gadget blog content, the FCC website is chock-full of unannounced gear ripe for the plucking. Finding these gadgets is a simple process, but for many, knowing where to begin is a difficult task. We’ve decided to throw together this how-to guide so you can find your own treasure chest…
Not much detail here, but we wanted to give readers the heads-up that a Seattle-based company called Intelius is creating a gigantic directory of unlisted cellphone numbers (that means you!). What could they do with this info? Probably sell numbers off to whoever asks to buy them. [NBC4]
Do you think Windows Vista is bloated? (I don’t.) A tool called vLite lets you pick and choose which one of the built-in applications (Windows Mail, Windows Media Player, Windows Photo Viewer, etc.) you want to remove for good. Nuhagic, the creator, says that he’s not just ripping out Vista’s guts to save hard drive…
The Otto may look like one of those suction cup gadgets that turns any surface into a sound generating speaker, but it’s actually more like a stethoscope than a speaker. If you latch it onto a window, a wall or a glass of ice water, you can hear “subtle tremors and vibrations.” Because if you…
Confounded and befuddled are two emotions that splashed across our face when we saw this USB Aroma Radio + Speaker. It’s a USB speaker, which is fine in itself, but in this case it lights up in one of seven different colors. But not only is it USB, you can throw in some aromatic liquid…
Panasonic, obviously eager to combine its skills in HD video and still photography, has built what might be a camcorder-killer: the $350 Lumix TZ5 9.1-megapixel camera with 10X optical zoom lens and 720p high-definition video recording. There are some features we’ve seen before from Pana: an optical image stabilizer, motion-sensitive ISO control and smart detection…
The FX and the mildly stylish FS series are Panasonic’s midrange Lumix cameras. We’ll start with the best: The FX35 is billed as being Panasonic’s first ultrawide-angle camera with a 25mm focal length at its broadest for squeezing “twice as many friends into a single shot.” The 10.1MP, 4x Leica zoom camera also does 720p…
Panasonic’s latest pair of Lumix LZ budget point-and-shoots dutifully follow Canon and Nikon’s handful of entry-level cams on the feature front. The 10-megapixel LZ-10 matches up neatly with Nikon’s P60 (though it bests it on MP count), while the cheaper LZ-8 (guess how many megapixels?) goes toe-to-toe with Canon’s A590. https://gizmodo.com/pick-yer-low-frill-nikon-coolpix-cam-130-l18-or-230-349916 Both Lumixes have 5x…
Worried about springtime pollen levels, Weathernews, Inc. of Tokyo is sending out an army of robot noses to monitor allergens. Two hundred 12-inch spherical robots are being strung up across Japan, each with monitoring gear that tests levels of airborne cedar and cypress pollen. Every bot hangs outside a volunteer’s home, its “eyes” flashing colors…
This week at TreeHugger: Intel announced it’s doing something cool (besides being in the MacBook Air); the company will become the largest buyer of green power in the United States. A big group of companies have put together a portfolio of patents called the Eco-Patent Commons that will (supposedly) be open for use by all…
Our favorite Japanese pseudo-citizen at Kotaku turns up some insider verbiage on that hot hot black-and-blue sex machine of a DS Lite that Circuit City pre-emptively had up for pre-order. The warehouse just started slapping the clamshells together, which in person, says the source, looks more “purplish blue” and “awesome.” https://gizmodo.com/nintendo-ds-lite-now-in-black-and-blue-we-think-its-th-349234 It is, in fact,…
This is a cheeseburger. In a can. It’s a cheeseburger in a can. I honestly can’t figure out how I feel about this: is it the greatest achievement of mankind thus far, or is it an abomination of foodstuffs that deserves to be hucked back into the gaping maw of whatever food processing plant it…
Maybe Sprint wasn’t pulling inventory, but the rumors about the LG Rumor’s shoddy firmware turn out to be, well, rooted in truth. Now you or your Rumor-owning loved ones can get a fast free upgrade: Either go Main Menu > Settings/Tools > Tools> Update Firmware, or get your sorry butt to a Sprint store and…
It was like a real-life scene from Blade Runner, well, except for the pleasure-model skin jobs, the handguns that sound like laser blasters and the whole Harrison Ford thing. An NYC couple stumbles upon a digital camera left in a cab on New Year’s Eve, and decide to turn all sleuthy. They pore over the…
Jim Rasenberger, author of America, 1908 wrote a fascinating piece for the January, 2008 issue of Smithsonian Magazine. As Rasenberger contends, in 1908 it seemed that anything was possible. An excerpt appears below. The illustration of a man with wireless telephone is from Harper’s Weekly. The year 1908 began at midnight when a 700-pound “electric…
Panasonic is apparently testing the “effectiveness” of RSS in the press room. Turns out, it’s very effective, since they’ve scooped themselves on their PMA lineup! All of the links go to blank pages for now, but at least we know what’s coming: New FS-series, FX-35 (their first w/ a 25mm wide-angle lens), budget LZ line…
From the bestselling cellphone in history to the most ignominious departure of a CEO not related to any criminal behavior, Motorola’s had a hell of a slide, but still, the latest speculation comes as a punch to the chin. Richard Windsor, an analyst with a firm called Nomura International, says that Moto may exit the…