Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Oh no! Turns out Apple s OS X may not be nearly as non-BIOS compatibile as everyone s been led to believe. From Digg and OSx86 Project, Maxxuss says he has proof that OSX can be installed anywhere and he has the patches to prove it. So it appears that MacIntel on commodity hardware won’t…
TiVo has upgraded its TiVo Central Online interface. The Ajax-based website lets users view TV schedules and record shows via the Web, but the upgrade s beauty goes more than skin-deep, too, because now users will find it easier to search and customize the site to their liking. Maybe this website update is a signal…
Just got a Pathfinder PAG-80 to play with and we’re very pleased. We’re usually kind of down on digital watches, but that’s just disgusting snobbery. Anyway, it’s been reviewed over at Friend-of-Gizmodo site, WristWatchReview. The PAG-80 has three major features – a compass, an altimeter, and a barometer. These are relatively standard features on wrist…
The Soap Genie will automatically dispense soap or lotion of your choice by using IR technologies to sense a hand presence. What makes this so much better than the average automatic soap dispenser is that it plays a jingle while dispensing. Additionally it has a no-drip technology to prevent a puddle of old soap from…
This product falls into the category of excellent idea, but bad execution. It uses a retractable USB mouse that has a miniature USB hub at the connection point. It is an optical two-button mouse with a scroll wheel that functions at 800dpi. The USB connector hub has two additional USB ports to use with any…
T-Mobile has launched its version of the HTC Tornado candy bar, a slim smartphone based on the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system. Along with a 1.3-megapixel camera with video capture, the handset features a QVGA 605K color TFT display, Bluetooth, EDGE and WiFi support, and a 200MHz OMAP processor. Available now, you’ll pay $249.99 after…
Apple Insider has brought up some more news about the potential of having an iPod dock integrated into the next line of Mac Minis. According to sources the dock plans have been scrapped just weeks before production begins on the next wave of Minis. There are a couple possible explanations on why the plan was…
Over at The Consumerist, our poor mother needs a cheap American pay-as-you-go cell phone plan. John Brownlee explains how these type of phones work in Europe: The way these phones work is this: you buy a phone for maybe €60-€100. It comes with a certain amount of credit, which you can use to make phone…
The saga of the incredible shrinking drive continues, with Seagate announcing its ST1.3 12GB 1-inch hard drive. Using perpendicular technology, Seagate’s drive not only holds 50% more data, but it s 23% smaller and consumes 30% less power. It’s also tough, too, able to survive a 4.5-foot drop onto concrete. This makes it especially well-suited…
This week in TreeHugger: Check out the Easy Glider, an electric scooter that recharges itself when cruising down hills. No need for the local utility with these stove fans that run on heat, no electricity required. Plus, make your own milk with “world’s first Raw Hemp Milkmaker — that’s right, hemp is good for drinking,…
Just got a tip about WikedLasers, a company that sells high power class 3b lasers that can pop balloons and generally make you look like a Jedi. They’re a bit pricey, but for about $499.99 you can “scare away birds and animals,” according to one testimonial. They sell multiple models, including a $99 classic and…
This $29 VOIP phone actually looks like a phone I had as a kid. It was flat and you laid it down on a desk and if you knocked it off said desk it would pick up and then you’d freak out wondering why the phones weren’t working. However, this one is digital. Compatible with…
We’re suspecting this is as old as my grandma, but it’s still cool. It’s a dual-bit drill: you just flip the next bit into place when you’re done with the first one. Perfect for countersinking then screwing in stuff, I suppose. Any other potential uses for this high-tech hyrda-like drill? Oh, and it also kind…
Fujifilm announced three digital cameras, the 6-megapixel Finepix F650, the 6.3-megapixel Finepix A600 and the 6.3-megapixel Finepix F30. The F650, to be available in June for $349, is a pocket-sized camera with a 5x optical zoom Fujinon lens and a 3-inch LCD viewfinder. The entry-level Finepix A600 has a 3x optical zoom lens and a…
As a recent convert to the magic of HD, this is actually a pretty interesting concept. MovieBeam, which was founded—then seemingly abandoned—by Disney, is now streaming HD movies by piggybacking over PBS data signals. The service sends ten new moves per week and they can be stored on a storage box by Linksys that can…
Panasonic released two Lumix cameras that it says are the world’s smallest in their categories. The DMC-TZ1 (pictured at left) is what Panasonic calls the world’s smallest 10x optical zoom camera. Equipped with a Leica lens, it has optical image stabilization and high light sensitivity with its Venus Engine III LSI. The camera has a…
Generation MP3 has a piece up (warning: FRENCH) about the Aigo MP-335,which is going to debut at CeBit in March. According to the translation, they claim it uses USB 2.0 and has compatibility with WMA,MPEG-1/2/4, AVI, Divx and text files. The tiny handheld runs off a Linux type OS , and is about five inches…
Apple begins shipping its MacBook Pro notebook computer today with a surprising announcement. Apple has increased the processor speeds of the notebooks from previously given specs. The $1999 MacBook, previously announced to be shipping with a 1.67GHz processor, now includes a 1.87GHz Intel Core Duo; the $2500 model now ships with a 2.0GHz Intel Core…
Still snowed in? Well, go make an igloo! And here s a nifty way to do it: Grand Shelters Icebox is a tool used to mold your igloo, snow brick by snow brick, with a form attached to a pole. The tool has settings adjustments for each layer and weighs about 5 lbs. sans snow.…
I’m a little skeptical about calling this the world’s smallest external hard drive, but whatevs. This isn’t Guiness. This is more a USB-key than anything else, but it has a 4-GB hard drive inside and is about 2.6 inches long, so I guess it qualifies. Japan-only at this point and it should sell for $220…