Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
When I first heard about Gateway’s XHD3000 Extreme HD 30-inch monitor, I actually thought, “Here is the one screen to rule them all.” You guys were excited when we told you about it a week ago, but you wanted to know more about how it holds up. It has a few flaws, sure, but given…
Last week, magician and paranormal debunker James Randi (pictured above left) offered the makers of Pear speaker cables $1 million if they could prove in double-blind testing there was a difference between their $7,250 cables and ordinary Monster Cables. Now, Adam Blake (pictured above right), CEO and co-founder of Pear Cable, has called Randi’s offer…
iRiver’s new media player, the DP350, came out in Japan today. Flash memory-based, it comes with 2GB and 4GB storage, and can play MPEG-4, WMV, MP3, WAV, OGG and image files, so you can use it as a storage device as well. Um, what else? Windows-compatible, you get five hours’ video playback and 18 hours’…
If you are looking for a wearable monitor but don’t want to look like a myopic cyborg (those of you who already do, please accept my deepest sympathies) then you could do worse than Teleglass’s limited edition T4-N video glasses. Its titanium frames were designed by spectacle designer Kazuo Kawasaki and the rig, which is…
As CEATEC goes on, the weirder ideas find their way onto the web. Here’s Hitachi’s concept RC device with an intuitive user interface. Below the bump is a pic of the prototype that they’re currently working on. I can’t decide whether it looks more like an MP3 player or a sex toy. [Aving USA]
Today is Friday. It’s also a Woot-off, so get yourselves down there if you want to pick up anything cheap, but I don’t mean Britney, I mean gear.
The Nike Store has just dropped the Nike Amp+ Sport Remote Control. We brought you news of the range of devices back in January, but it looks like the first line of watches has been released without much ado. The new model, paired with the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit and Nike+ Ready shoes, will allow…
Thanks to the 1.1.1 update, TV out on the iPhone is a reality—you can even preview what you are watching on the iPhone itself. Unfortunately, the cables won’t work with your dock (although this should be corrected with the new Universal Dock) and if you have a hacked iPhone you may be out of luck—but…
Apple’s new iMac has been plagued by random—but reproducible for some—freezing issues, and it appears that the ATI Radeon HD graphics card and its drivers could be to blame. According to users participating in official Apple support discussions (here and here), the iMac continues to run during the freeze, but users are unable to control…
The days of cut hands and busted scissors at the hands of the ubiquitous no-one’s-getting-the-merchandise-locked-inside-this-sarcophagus plastic anti-theft packaging might be at end courtesy of OpenIt, which are like short pruning shears with orange plier handles, allowing you to cut your way through the shell by brute force. There’s also a retractable box-cutter built into the…
In an idea that’s pretty much identical to MITs plan to install energy-mooching floors in places like malls and airports, Enviu, a Netherlands-based research group, has proposed creating a nightclub that generates energy from the dancers within. Sections of floor would depress 2 cm when people stepped on them, generating energy to run the lights,…
People in developing countries may lack luxuries like electricity, but what they lack in modern conveniences they more than make up for in bacteria. Fortunately, a team of students from MIT has put two and two together and developed a microbial fuel cell (MFC) that harnesses electrons released by bacteria feeding on sugars, starches and…
This Candle Holdem USB holder is one of those designs that really isn’t necessary, but is so cool we’d go out of our way to make use of them. It’s essentially a key hook set for your USB drives that holds five and lights up when they’re plugged in. Plug in all five and you’ve…
Weird watchseller Tokyoflash is now shipping Kyokusen, another puzzle posing as a timepiece, and this one has a brighter digital tube LED display that gives you a wider viewing angle than ever. It’s available in a variety of display colors, and you can also specify a case in either black or silver, with matching bands.…
Pop Sci took a trip to Casio headquarters in Tokyo to scope out Casio’s new camera, which uses a CMOS image sensor and a processor that clearly possesses some snappiness to shoot 60 6-megapixel shots or 300 video frames per second. (We saw this at IFA but didn’t get a chance to fire it off.)…
CrunchGear is claiming that the AppleTV may soon receive a sudden gush of iTunes HD content. As the story goes, iTunes will go through a major update this month, finally offering lots of commercial 720p HDTV programming. Unfortunately, there isn’t much evidence: “Apple has apparently placed a gargantuan order for more Apple TV units,” say…
There’s an image floating around the web today of a Palm Centro running AT&T software. Now, we’re just trying to figure out if this an actual future GSM model or just the bastard offspring off a failed deal between Palm and AT&T. Given the trumpeting of Sprint exclusivity, the latter is more likely. Thoughts? (Here’s…
What the Hell. When I saw this morning’s post on the awesome Sony Bravia Bunny Ad, featuring multi-hued rabbits climbing through a cityscape transforming into a tidalwave, I assumed it was the work of my favorite artists, the LA-based kozyndan. By my front door, I have a framed print of one of their limited edition…
Our buddy Sean Captain got to see this weird Free-Viewpoint Video scheme at CEATEC, which takes a scene and renders it in full 3D—allowing you to zoom around like it were a virtual room in The 7th Guest. The secret is setting up a crapload of still cameras around the side and taking loads of…
This ad for FlyJumper bouncy stilt shoe… things is refreshingly honest. Sure, it looks like they’re a lot of fun, but at the end of the day, you’ll probably end up killing yourself with them in a horrible, gruesome way. I still kind of want a pair. [Consumerist]