Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Kasper at Apple Insider is guessing that a RED Shuffle will be announced at the Apple event on September 5th, citing no sources, but when the man writes, I listen. This isn’t anywhere as cool of a rumor as the sensational iPod Touch and new nano shots we’ve been seeing, but I’d be a cold-hearted…
Many of our oenophile readers will dig this Riedel Amadeo Lyra Decanter, a gorgeous crystal vessel that will embrace your prized vintages in complete elegance. Now we can stop drinking that rotgut straight from the bottle, and maybe pour it into a glass or two. Or we could still quaff it straight from this curvaceous…
So last Friday, Wilson, intern Benny, videographer Alex, and myself ventured out to the putrid hellscape of New Jersey to visit the Panasonic US headquarters. What could entice us out of NYC into the insufferable suburban pits of the Jerz? Panasonic’s $70,000, 103-inch plasma TV, with the promise that we’d get to play with it…
Silly string seems to have lost some of its popularity in the past few years, but that might be just from my perspective. It’s kind of a kid-centric toy, as getting covered in stinky foam isn’t the most fun thing in the world when you’re a responsible adult such as myself. But if you’re still…
Honda’s ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) humanoid robot is back on his feet after a conspicuous face-plant late last year, and now he’s returning to the stage at Disneyland, running around at nearly 4mph. Besides all that robo-sprinting, this version of ASIMO reportedly interacts a lot with a live host in the 15-minute Say…
Click to viewIn an alternative Universe, this is what the Nintendo Wii’s Wiimote and nunchuck would have looked like: this is the amazing transforming GyroPod, a motion-sensing gamepad prototype that Gyration made for Nintendo back in 2001. Thanks to a recent chance encounter, we were able to uncover a couple of PowerPoint slides that showed…
With the big European consumer electronics tradeshow IFA just around the corner, the leaks are starting, and this spy photo of the Garmin Nuvi 700 pocket GPS navigator is one of the products about which we’re hearing a rumbling or two. There’s precious little information about it so far, but some wags are saying it’s…
Those sneaky folks at Bose just launched one of their “Press Conference in a Box” initiatives, this time unveiling the new Bose SoundDock portable: It’s a bit smaller than the original, with a new remote, retractable dock, lithium-ion battery and, yes, auxiliary input. You get three hours of battery life at full volume, though it…
Crocs, a shoe company suddenly famous for its clunky, gummy footwear made of what it calls Croslite, has decided to try its hand at making shirts of a similar material. And no, fetishists, this is not a rubber shirt. Jeez. Since the company’s been notably successful making ugly shoes for luminaries such as Jack Nicholson,…
Nokia says that Ovi —door in Finnish— is a new Internet service for Nokia users to access music, games, maps, guides, synchronize information and network with friends using their devices and/or the PC. We say that they put Xbox 360 Live, iTunes, Flickr and Google Maps in a Turbo Mix and slapped an exotic-sounding name…
If you love technology, then why hide it away? You’d show off a new cell phone, iPod or laptop, but not a vibrator. It doesn’t seem fair. The LoveHoney Dream Egg doesn’t shy away from attention though – not only is it bright pink, but it’s also a key ring. Check out a perfectly work…
The new D-Snap SV-SD950N from Panasonic is Bluetooth-enabled, so can pair with your phone and control some call functions. It has an SD slot, but only comes bundled with a rather stingy 1GB card. Battery life is good, at an estimated 60 hours, but is a drop from the previous D-Snap models without Bluetooth. It…
Anyone who thought that the Dutch were a liberal race might think again if they come up against the IDEE machine. Standing for Innovative Digital Enforcement Environment, this 13-feet-high speed camera has just about everything it needs to resist an attack from an angry motorist. The IDEE, which costs anything between $60,000 and $100,000, incorporates…
Panasonic has released a range of electric rugs into the Japanese market that heat up to a toasty 114 degrees. At first glance this seems like an extravagant waste of power, but it’s actually very green. If you’re sitting in the living room watching a movie, then you only need to heat the rug to…
Sony just opened the new season with an avalanche of HD televisions in Japan. With the KDL-70×7000 as its flagship —a battleship Yamato-sized 70″ Full HD LED-backlit LCD— the new army includes 15 Bravia models from the X, W and V series —starting at 40-inch— plus three models of the small new J3000 series. To…
Intelligent coconuts are the latest invention to come out of the MIT Media Lab, designed to combat excessive airport noise. They have built-in noise sensors, and will be hung on trees surrounding San Jose International Airport. When they detect a jet coming in louder than it should they use their built-in cellphone to call the…
There’s a South African zip line that claims to be the highest one in the world. But how about this one that takes Colombian kids from their hillside village to school? Well, faced with one minute of eyeball-spinning terror 1200 feet above the jungle, or a two-and-a-half hour hike, which one would you take? [Spluch]…
The Nokia XpressMusic line phones have been kind of junky and low end. That ended sometime between then and today’s unveiling of the 5310 slim candy bar (above) and the 5610 slider. Both have build qualities approaching that of the Samsung Ultra phones, with bright screens, textured backplates and aluminum bits all over. The 5610…
Sony has boosted the memory size of its Video Walkman up to 8GB. Available in four colors—white, black, silver and metallic pink, the NWZ-A818 still isn’t the most beautiful machine on the block. Specs, price and shipping date after the jump. Operating System Windows XP, SP2 or newer Format MP3, WMA, AAC-LC, Linear PCM10 Frequency…
You’ve already seen photos, but you haven’t yet been told why the N81, which just went live, is special. Unlike the N9x series handsets this one’s designed around music and gaming, not its camera-taking abilities. That explains why its MP rating is a mere 2MP and it’s not armed with a Carl Zeiss lens. That…