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If you liked that backpack laser we showed you the other day, here’s a much smaller laser that you can build yourself using an old DVD burner and a MiniMag flashlight. It’s not going to be anything lethal, but it can actually cause a bit of damage, lighting a match or even popping a balloon…
Grundig’s cult Audiorama speakers, a must-have in every ’70s shag-pad, are being re-released to celebrate the German firm’s centenary. Available in 2008, the speakers, which boast a 360-degree sound field, are expected to retail for 600 , around the $820 mark. [I4U News]
If Om’s solid word wasn’t solid enough for you, Symbian Guru got its hands on an official sales flyer (check it full size, post-jump) for the apparently AT&T-bound US version of the N95. Topping the list of improvements, the battery’s been bumped up from 950 mAh to1200 mAh, so you’ll be able to squeeze a…
This is Scott Dawson, from Houston, Texas. And these are the pictures of his car after he made a hole in its roof and decided to install a home window A/C unit on top. The reason: to save the $1,200 that was needed to fix its built-in air conditioning system. We can only hope Scott…
Ron Sole’s PC case thinks it’s a Battle Mech. It took him a year to complete Atlas and it has crazy fluorescent paint on the inside, and UV cathodes. Cool. See just how cool in the gallery. [Extreme Tech]
This is the Musashi 500, a do-it-yourself mirror telescope made of vinyl chloride pipes, a 21-inch metal pot and some custom-made wood and metal parts. Designed to be easily transported in five different modules, this 5.9-foot long, 44-pound stargazer maybe not be the biggest telescope in the world, but it sure is one of the…
Anyone with a yen for hi-tech wizardry on the decoration front will want to get their hands on Lutron’s Vierti LED dimmers. Touch sensitive, you just run your finger up and down the LED display strip to get the lighting you want. Touch the bottom section of the light strip and your lights go off…
This five-foot-tall animated Frankenstein’s monster will move its arms, twist its hips and play spooky noises through its integrated speakers whenever it detects someone walking past. Adults will get a kick out of it, and children will never sleep properly again. The monster is accurate all the way down to the neck bolts and sutured…
Set this panoramic camera down on a flat surface and it will spin around like a top to take a 360º image. It will record to a memory card, and can take video, too. Devices like this are fairly limited, but if you regularly find yourself in deserts, up on mountain peaks or in the…
This illustration is from a beautiful 1981 edition of the 1883 Albert Robida book Le vingtième siècle. La vie électrique. The edition I’ve linked to is in French and doesn’t include any color pictures such as the one above. For an English translation check out The Twentieth Century (Early Classics of Science Fiction), but again,…
Michael Smith, creator of the Perplex City puzzle game may be a little slow to deliver that second season, but it doesn’t mean that he’s been sitting around doing nothing. His next brainchild is Moshi Monsters, a mash of Tamagotchi, Pokemon and NintenDogs, with heaping helpings of MySpace and LeapFrog ladeled over it for good…
Universal announced it will start selling DRM-free music through a variety of outlets, but iTunes won’t be one of them. [New York Times]
Audiophiles will stop at nothing to reach aural nirvana, which is the only justification for RISE’s existence. Hand crafted in Italy, RISE is a CD player in which the various components (power source, control panel, and a Philips CD reader) are stashed in separate aluminum boxes to eliminate all mechanical and electromagnetic interference. Pricing is…
The Microsoft/Ford partnership in-car audio system, officially dubbed Sync, was priced today as a $395 option on this fall’s Ford Focus, Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX vehicles. Sync integrates your digital audio player and/or cellphone with your car’s stereo system, allowing you to control your listening experience via voice commands or the on-wheel buttons. Worried…
iPhoto + .Mac + iPhone = pretty cool syncing of photos to and from your handset and desktop. Couple of things not addressed in the video: a) images sent from the iPhone are actually sent using the mail program, to your gallery’s specific email address, and so images are 640 by 480. When you sync…
The winner of last year’s EA Sports Fifa case mod contest pulled a repeat this year, managing to outdo himself as well as the competition. The case itself is covered in a textured paint that simulates a leather soccer ball (sorry ‘the rest of the world,’ your sport is still “soccer” here) and even the…
Plasma displays are selling like hotcakes and revenues are expected to peak in 2008. The glory will be short-lived, however, as increasing pressure from the LCD market is expected to drive revenues back down through 2011. [iSuppli]
Lenovo is chatting with Packard Bell about a potential buyout to strengthen its position in the European market. Lenovo is currently the third-ranked PC vendor in the world. [New York Times]
The 1972 book Futures Conditional contains essays and lists from many different futurists of the era. This list of headlines of the near future, by Billy Rojas, presents readers with events that will “probably happen – in some cases undoubtedly happen – although not necessarily in the order presented.” 1972 February Chiang Kai-shek dead in…
After making an announcement back in June, Onkyo is set to release their first HD DVD player, offering HDMI 1.3a with Deep Color technology, 24p playback, HD Audio, and 1080p upscaling. The DV-HD805 will also be one of the first to offer high bit rate audio streaming via HDMI. https://gizmodo.com/onkyo-readying-its-first-hd-dvd-player-for-fall-07-266756 The upscaling duty will be…