Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Apparently cellphone charms aren’t enough for the Japanese now, as evidenced by these Hello Kitty iPod Earphone Charms. You read that right, Hello. Kitty. iPod. Earphone. Charms. Let’s repeat. Hello. Kitty. iPod. Earphone. Charms. Our heads asplode at its uselessness. [Kittyhell via Techie Diva]
As a former ski instructor (best high school job ever) and resident of the mountains of New Hampshire now living in the relatively mountain-free areas of Brooklyn, skiing gadgets bring a tear to my eye. One the one hand, they’re awesome; like this speedometer for skiers and snowboarders that clips onto your chest or boots,…
These $28,000 keyboards from Fairlight aren’t made for you, they’re designed for media professionals who need different keys for different tasks. It’s the world’s first “Self Labeling Illuminated Computer Keyswitch Technology,” beating the full-sized Optimus keyboard to market by a good few months. Of course, that price tag is prohibitive to all but the wealthiest…
Microsoft Flight Simulator X just got cooler: when you strap the $400 Vuzix VR920 headest on and look around, the camera follows your movements. The goggles show you an interactive 3D cockpit, while onscreen, onlookers see a 2D version. Vuzix (which was called Icuiti until a week or so ago) will soon launch an A/V…
Steinway & Sons might be best known for their pianos … some of the finest in the world … but now they’re looking to get into the living rooms of really rich guys who don’t play piano in addition to those who do. Hence their new “Model D” stereo system, a half-ton, $150,000 behemoth that’s…
Just a word of caution in case Apple decides to release an iPhone firmware update, say… tomorrow —or next week or whenever: if you have a software-unlocked iPhone, don’t update until it gets confirmed that the unlock is not affected. All software unlocks are vulnerable to Apple’s firmware updates, say the Dev Team. As someone…
For those of you who were waiting, praying for the Motorola Q to come to AT&T, we have two things to say. One, you can quit it, because AT&T’s just put up a promo page detailing that their Q wil have WM6, 3G, integrated GPS, quad-band GSM, BlackBerry Connect, Push Email, XPress Mail, and the…
Canon’s 40D DSLR has been shipping for a few weeks now, and Crave’s Stephen Shankland notes that samples shots abound on Flickr, if you’re curious to see just how good modern DSLRs are. He also points to Wyofoto’s comparison of the 40D image quality, and found it to be within spitting distance of Canon’s higher…
Samsung’s just announced the availability of their tiny quarter-sized WEP500 Bluetooth headset for the US. It’s definitely small—weighs less than 9 grams and is the size of about a quarter—but suffers in low battery life because of it. 3.5 hours talk time and 80 hours standby time isn’t fantastic, but it does have 2 microphones…
HP will be launching PCs with Blu-ray/HD DVD dual-format burners in them next month, which will definitely be really expensive and probably not worth it to 95% of consumers. But hey, thanks for not taking sides, guys! [Digitimes]
Physics researchers are hard at work making sure you can store those episodes of House on your hard drive for as long as possible without deleting them with a new breakthrough using the magneto-electric effect. Drives can possibly have a storage density of 1 terabit per square inch (up from 200 gigabits now), and a…
The previously mandated analog TV cutoff date of 2009 has just been extended by the FCC, meaning that even though broadcasters (the people like NBC who send out the shows) will be dropping the analog feed, cable operators (the local cable companies that take your money every month) will still have to support old ass…
Karl Jacob, an ex-Microsoft employee, has the world’s fastest ethanol-based car. He took his run-of-the-mill Dodge Viper and had it converted from a regular gas guzzling monster to an ethanol chugger. While Jacob didn’t drive the car himself, a driver from Super Viper hit 218 mph in July, a top speed record for an ethanol-based…
Phil over at DP Review is previewing the D300, and although they call it a preview, without verdict, it is a 12- page affair with almost every detail of the new camera. That photo above is a representation of the camera’s 51 AF segments. Nuts, huh? He also runs down the liveviewfinder LCD and the…
Want to win an 8GB iPod nano? Sure you do. All you have to do is answer a few survey qustions, then email what the last question asked to [email protected], and you’ll have a chance to win one for yourself. Standard Gawker contest rules apply. Ends 9/22. https://gizmodo.com/ipod-nano-review-298676 The Survey!
Three more big disks from LaCie today, one called the 2big Dual, one called the 2big Triple and the last the 2big Network. They all look pretty much identical except for their connectivity ports on the back, since the 2big Triple has USB 2.0, Firewire 400 and Firewire 800, the 2big Dual has eSATA and…
And now, the thrilling conclusion to the 1992 US West concept video Flowers by Alice. See also:Flowers by Alice (Part 1, 1992)Flowers by Alice (Part 2, 1992)Flowers by Alice (Part 3, 1992)Flowers by Alice (Part 4, 1992)
IBM is gathering some goodwill points by partnering up with a nonprofit to help monitor a 315-mile stretch of the Hudson River. They’re going to be using a combination of sensor-laden buoys and solar-powered robotic underwater vehicles numbering in the hundreds. The vehicle, which sort of looks like a yellow sting ray covered in solar…
Initial tests show the iPod Nano and Classic outperforming Apple’s claims on battery life, sometimes by up to 6 hours.[iLounge via PowerPage]
I really hope this trend dies soon: Yet another high-end auto maker is jumping into the gadget/home appliance business, giving non-rich people the chance to spend way too much money on something just because of a brand name, even if they can’t afford a six-figure car. This time it’s Bugatti, bringing their experience with engineering…