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This week at Uncrate: We keep track of our 2008 appointments on the Pentagram 2008 Typography Calendar, stay warm — and mobile — with the Lippi Selk Sleeping Bag, and find new appreciation for our evolutionary ancestors with Monkey Picked Tea. We also star in our own Custom Mark Weber Comic, get funky, Kama Sutra-style…
Click to viewUh oh. You’ve done it this time, Jeff Jones. As the security strategy director in Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing group, you’ve just made the bold claim that Vista, from a first year on the market comparison, has been more secure than Windows XP, Red Hat rhel4ws, Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, and Apple Mac OS X…
If you couldn’t escape to experience the Great Outdoors because you were stuck in an office cubicle, or happened to be living through a rain-lashed Winter, then this ambient light mousemat complete with mini-lawn might be a tiny desktop alternative. Sara Rossbach’s concept has a patch of grass curling around your mouse, and lights the…
Going once, going twice, sold to Verizon! Or something like that. The FCC’s 700MHz spectrum auction starts today, and you can watch all of the hot bidding action right here. It’s auction 73, and the page is so exciting I nearly peed my pants. Don’t know what the hell we’re talking about? No worries, scan…
This anti-terrorism concept from researchers at Purdue University puts together miniature radiation counters built right into cellphones across the US. Each solid-state sensor would be able to sniff out radioactive sources from up to 15 feet, and then would send in the location to Homeland Security, the FBI and Jack Bauer, resulting in huge dirty-bomb…
In a surprising turn of events, UK-based firm Plextek has confirmed today what we thought was impossible yesterday: they are working with Carl Freer to bring the infamous Gizmondo back to life. Knowing that the original Gizmondo was a front to defraud investors, don’t hold your breath on this one. Things still look quite muddy…
Click to view The so-called “four horsemen” of Apple product reviews have weighed in on the near weightless MacBook Air. You may have seen our post on it last night. You may have even caught one or two of the reviews. But only now can you sit back and enjoy the best quotes from all…
Starting right now, the price of the standard Vudu setup is $300, down from $400, but still a tad higher than we’d like to pay for the convenient no-subscription pay-per-view VOD box. What? You bought one during the past month and are kicking yourself? That’s okay—check in with Vudu customer service, and you’ll get $100…
Every year Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) distinguishes the top achievements in robotics. So who/what won 2007? Fanuc’s industrial robot system. Two arms are driven by advanced visual tracking to, well, just watch the clip. What you see is not automated movement, but a series of real-time decisions allowing 120 items to…
One of our sources at AT&T has leaked to us an internal document; the memo details the process for obtaining a contract bundle without the obligatory 1 or 2-year commitment term. The basis for the non-commitment bundles is the customer must pay for the handset in full, losing the subsidized rate that is offered with…
According to Samsung, the SGH-L310 and SGH-L320 are specially made for women because “they know what women want:” cellphones with “female applications” inside like a shopping list function, a perfume-matching system and a calorie counter. Of course there’s techy stuff like Bluetooth, 2 mega pixel cameras and concealed external screens too, but the slightly patronizing…
In his 1986 essay titled, “The Home of Tomorrow, 1927-1945,” Brian Horrigan describes the shift of emphasis to gadgets inside the “house of tomorrow,” rather than the homes themselves. The essay can be found in the book Imagining Tomorrow: History, Technology, and the American Future. An excerpt appears below. Although, like the public at large,…
These two high-end consumer cameras from Fujifilm both have fairly high zooms (12x on the S1000fd which is a 33mm-396mm equivalent, and 18x on the S8100fd, which is a 27mm-486mm equivalent), but they’ve got a few other interesting functions as well. The S1000fd succeeds the Fuji S700 by having 10-megapixels, that 12x zoom, facial detection,…
I’m a fan of Fujifilm’s “Most advanced” S100FS, even though its 11MP rating is less than the F series point and shoot they just released. Why? Because screw MP ratings! By dropping the MP count even further to 6, it can hit a light sensitivity of ISO 6400; drop it to 3MP and you’ve got…
The Fujifilm FinePix F100fd, which follows up the F40fd and F50fd with 12-megapixels, 360 degree facial detection, 2.7-inch LCD, dual image stabilization, red eye removal, dual-shot mode, and IR image transfer. It’s a lot of spec for the money. Available in March for $379. But with a lens and sensor likely smaller than the S100FS…
Fujifilm has delivered an upgrade to its stylish Z-series lineup with the Z20fd. This 10-megapixel “ultra-glam” cam is available in four colors: Jet Black, Wasabi Green, Hot Pink and Ice Blue. Its face recognition tech catches 10 faces in a scene, and sets exposure. “Beam it” referrers to Fujifilm’s IrSimple technology that allows users to…
Fujifilm is releasing the FinePix J10 and J50 for budget conscious consumers this March for $149.95 and $179.95, respectively. •The J10 features include: 8.2-megapixels, a 2.5-inch LCD, and a 3x optical zoom lens •The J50 features include: 8.2-megapixels, a high resolution 2.7-inch, 230K pixel LCD, and a 5x optical zoom lens. FUJIFILM DEBUTS NEW J-SERIES…
The rumors are true. Canon’s took power features from the high-end EOS models and creature comforts from the PowerShot line, and merged them into the 12.2-megapixel EOS Rebel XSi DSLR, with Live View LCD view-finding (previously only seen on EOS-1D Mark III and 40D), a 3″ LCD screen with 230,000 pixels, and the Digic III…
Canon’s PowerShot A590 IS is not just a budget camera. Hell, it’s not even a “no-compromise” low-end camera. On paper, it looks a hell of a lot like something that would’ve cost $500 not long ago, but now it’s a ridiculously low $180. If that’s not enough of a slap in the face of its…
Last year, Canon’s entry-level Digital Elph was the 7-megapixel PowerShot SD1000. Priced at $250, it was thin and pretty but not quite a powerhouse. This year, the SD1100 IS adds image stabilization without growing more than a millimeter in thickness, and bumps the sensor up to 8 megapixels. There are behind-the-scenes improvements too, including motion…