Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
It is the sometime dream of every trodden-upon desk jockey to turn their desk into the nexus of killing that will finally show them all. Takara, a favorite inventor of throw-away plastic gadgetry, has finally announced the first part of their series “Secret Base Station”, which will be launched on June 24th—including, somehow, its own…
Rollei rolls out two new low-end digital cameras, the ds6 and da10, each of which is not exactly a Rolls Royce. The ds6 is a 6-megapixel still camera that can also record 640×480 video at 30 frames per second. Using SD cards, it has a 3x optical zoom and integrated voice recording. Its macro capability…
I know the Jetsons got us all geared up for the videophone, but I have to admit, I’ve never been a big fan. First of all, companies have been trying to perfect this technology for like 10 years and its still kinda crap. Never as good as it looks on any given TV show that…
Another dual-core notebook appears. The Fujitsu N6410 is based on Intel Core Duo mobile technology and with its 17-inch monitor, is probably meant to be a desktop replacement rather than just a totable laptop. Features include an Intel 945 Express chipset and Intel PRO Wireless/3945ABG for 802.11 a/b/g wireless connectivity, ATI Mobility Radeon x1400 graphics…
Some of the girly girls we hang around with were just dying for the new pink Razr V3c from Verizon, so Gizmodo got its greasy paws on one last weekend. It’s the usual Motorola Razr stuff, with its effortless good looks but labyrinthine user interface. Its 1.3 megapixel camera is bad (see pic after the…
Unlike the US, RIM is having some good luck in Germany, where a patent court ruled in its favor against patent-holding company InPro, which claimed that certain BlackBerry products had infringed a patent in Germany. Woohoo RIM! Way to go. The hearing in the US is set for Feb 24, so lets hope this is…
Tongues are wagging from Ireland and back about the new red iPods that just might be surfacing any day now. Certain eavesdroppers report that main U2 dude Bono was gabbing about a new red iPod in a Dublin restaurant, while others began putting two and two together when they heard about Bono unveiling a red…
Mashups for the Masses: When Mom Meets Gadget by Denise Gershbein Everywhere I look recently, I see possibilities for personalizing or customizing products and services. I m not talking about choosing a nice skin for your media player or downloading ringtones for your Razr. I’m talking about a quantum leap that’s occurring as consumers morph…
Want another Apple surprise after the big Macfest a few weeks ago? Looks like a new series of iBooks could be rolled out this spring, all built around a 13-inch screen and Apple’s Front Row software. Supposedly, the new laptops will sport the first major design revision to the iBook in several years and come…
The Fraunhofer scientists who developed the transparent OLED technology I told you about on Friday are not the only ones with see-through powers. An outfit called Universal Display Corporate also has the technology, which they have dubbed TOLED. Universal also claims a patent on transparency, but the two technologies are different. Universal has developed a…
Looks like an intrepid haxor has dumped Vista on a MacBook by fooling Vista into thinking that the MacBook has a BIOS in there somewhere. The instructions are kind of convoluted but we encourage you to try this at home and confirm that it works. No screenshots, unfortunately. Using the Bootable Acronis Disk Director CD…
Here’s another tiny hard drive, this time from Western Digital, which has cleverly named it after fish eggs. The Caviar SE16 has a 300MBps transfer rate, spins at 7200RPM spindle speed and comes with 16MB of cache. But the interesting feature here is what Western Digital is calling WhisperDrive, a technology it believes will lessen…
Gotta give Bill Gates credit where credit is due. I mean, look at that face? It’s obvious that the guy does know what he’s talking about sometimes. Like his prediction that Asian software piracy will be under control in 10 years time. We all know piracy is never going away full stop, but Gates talks…
HP, maker of all things bland, has decided to spice up their rack-mounted server line with some nice water-cooled action. This setup, which is entirely self-contained so some Doom-addled sysadmin won’t fall over it at 3 am and spill hot juices on your Lotus Notes server, is for server farms only, proving once again that…
Here’s yet another reason to dump your landline phone service, as if you needed one. Corega, a Japanese company, has introduced this neat-looking 100% Skype compatible phone. The company is supposed to be renowned for its network products and the CG-USBPH01 phone works with USB 1.1 and comes with echo cancellation for better noise reduction…
Looks like we’ve got some footage of the DS Lite in the wild, although it may be some sort of very good CG OR a real DS next to a mock-up/homebrew mock-up/something fishy. If we find anything else, we’ll let you know. Otherwise, we essentially see a skinny DS with a nice relief logo on…
Well, the Japanese certainly love their humanoids. And though the HRP-2 Promet reminds me a little too much of an uncomfortably constipated Boba Fett, at about 61 inches and the ability to turn your TV on and off, I’m going to assume it’s a lot more fun. The HRP-2 reacts to voice commands such as…
The folks at Rainy Day Magazine decided to turn a Neuros MPEG4 recorder into a sassy little head-mounted video camera. Called the AdventureCAM, they decided they needed something “to hike and shoot video footage at the same time,” which is kind of granola for our taste, but whatevs. Anyway, the solution is pretty ingenious. They…
If the Magenta RAZR was a little too much for you, Verizon has launched a soft pink version of the v3c for about $50 more than the original silver it put out last month. So, to review, it’s got a 1.3 MP camera, Bluetooth and weighs 3.49 ounces. The cost from Verizon is $250 with…
The weekend, a favorite time for all. The perfect time to drink away the week that was. Here we have illuminating shot glasses that were developed by students at the University of Pennsylvania for an undergraduate project. They are frosted shot glasses that illuminate when tapped on a hard surface. Once tapped, or “slammed,” as…