Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Listen up, kids. Your life just got a little worse. A new service from Sprint Nextel allows parents to pinpoint your location on their cellphones or on the computer. There is even a feature that will send the parents a text message when you arrive at a specific destination. This service is available for $9.99…
If the impending arrival of peak oil and the effects it will have on heating costs have you in a tizzy, look to the new temperature adjustable seat cushion from Cool or Heat. It’s not much to look at, but this back-and-ass-pad is capable of being powered by the included AC and car adapters. This…
This isn’t as much an intelligent spoon as much as a spoon studded with sensors. We’ve got a thermometer, a pH sensor, a viscosity sensor, and salinity sensor, all designed to test and upload food data as you eat it. This is an MIT design project for use in recipes and formulas. For example, sticking…
Industry analyst Colin Sebastian said that Sony is expected to cut the price of the PS2 from $149 to $129 by the end of the month. The purpose of the price cut is to reignite the console sales to appeal to the more value-oriented customers. Sebastian also said that Microsoft may be cutting the price…
BMW has announced an upgrade to their iPod integration into BMW vehicles. Starting in July of 2006 all BMW models will include this integration. Almost every aspect of the iPod will be able to be controlled by steering-wheel mounted controls. All dock-connecting iPod are supported. Now, if only I could afford a BMW. iPod Your…
For those extra-secure computer users, this USB flash drive may just what you need to protect the cherished pictures of your pet cat you store on that flash drive. The flash drive includes a RF transmitter. Once the transmitter is 2 meters out of range the drive will lock and nobody will be able to…
Yes, that wasn’t a typo. Adobe, makers of all things graphic-y, has released the ultra messenger bag. They worked in conjuction with the MEDIUM Design Group. This bag was designed with the creative professional in mind. It has all kinds of room for large laptops and all of the regular gadgets that creative professionals need.…
Hrm… well this looks promising. Averatec has a UMPC coming out with a fold out keyboard a la the Sidekick and still maintains the bells and whistles stance of so many other UMPC manufacturers. Webcam—check. Thumbstick—check. Touchscreen—check. No CPU info, but it’s got at least 512MB, 30GB hard drive, WiFi, as well as embedded 3G…
Thomas Dolby is on the road again after 15 years, and to any music gear geeks willing to listen, he’d love to tell you all about his new road rig. Power Mac G5 with Logic, three keyboards, soft synths and vocal plug-ins, and lots of hardware and software. The coolest bit: he’s retro-fitted some old…
If you dream of multiple monitors, try this on for size: a dozen 30″ Dell flat panel displays mounted on one wall, hooked up to one PC. A guy nicknamed “Crazy John” used six NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB graphics cards to light up the wall of monitors, and needed three 1000-watt power supplies to…
Headphones Redux: Banish Ye Cords By Brendan I. Koerner A few days before Yannick Noah’s offspring and his Floridian chums waxed my mom’s alma mater in the NCAA tourney, I conducted a little Final Four of my own, pitting some of the cheapest headphones that 125th Street has to offer against one another. Silly me,…
Apple has reportedly run into trouble with its upcoming video iPod, where it can’t seem to get the display and touchscreen interface to work properly, according to Think Secret. The Apple rumors website reported that Apple had hoped to deliver the new video iPod in April, but sources said Apple engineers decided to redesign a…
Toshiba applies the thin trend we’ve been seeing lately to a full-sized LCD monitor, slimming this one down to just 2.9mm thick. The 1280×800 LCD is using a low-temperature polysilicon liquid crystal, and will enable even thinner notebooks. Its ultra-efficiency will save battery power, too. Toshiba Unveils 2.9mm LCD Display [TechEBlog]
Not unlike P2P systems of yore, PeerBox is piracy with a heart of gold. This first version allows you to search the P2P networks for music and download it to your Symbian phone. You know, for free. Future versions should have paid content on there, thereby proving to potential investors that PeerBox has a dubious,…
Wall Street Journal’s tech columnist Walter Mossberg is doing their Annual Buying Guide and put together a feature on how to tell if the new computer you’re getting this spring will be be able to run Microsoft’s Vista operating system, due out next January. He points out that just because machines on the market now…
Every once in a while we’re going to give out things that are hanging around in the office. Today it’s three little gargoyles designed for computer users. Actually, they look more like angels. Whatever. They’re perfect for the lady with too many cats. How can I win one of these jolly little imps? Send an…
The Samsung Q1, that ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) we’ve been hearing so much about, will reportedly be available worldwide on May 1. It’s going to be expensive, too, selling for around $1400. That sounds like a lot to pay for a glorified-yet-smaller tablet PC with a 7-inch 800×480 LCD. It has a few mildly interesting features,…
It seems that Vista’s new GUI, Aero, won’t play for free. Windows will “confirm” that you own your copy of Vista—we all know who hacker proof that was for XP— before it shows you all the goods—translucent windows, fancy buttons, animations—and if you don’t pay up, it will dump you back into Windows 2000 mode……
We told you about the partnership announcement between Intel and Lamborghini, and now that’s come to fruition with the Asus-Lamborghini VX1 notebook. The VX1 has a 2GHz Intel Core Duo T2500 chip and Intel’s Centrino technology with a WiFi adapter built in. Alongside that there’s a gig of RAM and 120GB hard drive, as well…
Looks like they finally got portable XM right. The Inno looks cool and even works, unlike previous XM2Go offerings. The device records up to 50 hours of XM radio, plays MP3s and WMAs, and integrates with Napster. Priced at $399, it’s pretty expensive for a portable device but not so expensive for a portable XM…