Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Listen up, you HD-mongering American Xbox 360 owners: it may be time to invest in a little Japanese-import HDTV for your Xbox 360. Here is the deal: in the US, HDTV A/V outputs support 480p, 720p and 1080i, correct? Well Japanese HDTV components run on all of these and one more, that is 750p. That’s…
Not much information out now, but looks like Bill Gates has reached an agreement with MTV Networks to go up against iTunes with a joint digital music service. Very succinctly called Urge, the service will be out sometime next year and will be integrated into a version of Microsoft’s Windows Media Player. Urge is said…
Wisair is taking a huge step in the quest to give our brains enough Wi-Fi cancer to feed a horse. Okay, there isn t proof that Wi-Fi can give us cancer, but if cell phones do it, then why not this? Here’s the wireless USB PC dongle and hub. Works pretty easily, just plug your…
It was only a matter of time before Roomba fans decided to turn their robot vacuum cleaners into pets. Many users have already named and spoken to their Roombas, so it’s really no surprise that they would be interested in these absolutely ridiculous (and somewhat sick, if I may add) animal covers, making these household…
Projects like this usually inspire the DIY part of me to get motivated to do something similar, unfortunately, I usually fail and ruin my ’94 Geo Metro to boot. The Audi A6 has factory-installed GPS, including the screen shown in the picture. With a little help of a Audi-certified technician, this guy managed to get…
Model cars? Nah, this isn t 1996, and we are more hardcore than that. It’s time for model RFID projects. Ubiquitous ID Center presented some RFID goodies at the TRON show. These little devices are RFID active tags with sensing capabilities. They can sense temperature, acceleration, light, infrared and even act as a sensor network…
Is it any wonder Coca-Cola Blak, a combination of Coke Classic and coffee extracts, will be launched in Europe first? As much as we love our Starbucks here in the US, it probably makes sense that it would debut in France, since the French take their coffee beans a bit more seriously. The drink, which…
Who needs a package to pop bubble wrap? In Japan, it seems it’s perfectly sane—as well as logical—to buy a product called “Pucchin Sukatto!” It’s basically a pack of 15 square sheets of—yes— that’s right, bubble wrap, just to pop. For fun. I like the fact that it’s noted as a “toy, a gift, a…
This week at Lifehacker: Build your own gingerbread house. Finetune Firefox for fast or slow connections and computers. FTP to your Gmail account. Finally, stuff stockings with a narrated Ken Burns style photo movie. https://lifehacker.com/build-your-own-gingerbread-house-142638 Plant spearmint leaves in the front yard, hang peppermint candy wreaths and pave your walkway with Spree: it’s time to…
We mentioned earlier that Vonage is releasing a WiFi phone, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that Korea has been using these VoIP phones for a while. The recent NetCodec uVP-2100 is a WiFi phone with a 240×320-pixel display that actually uses compatible H.263 / MPEG4 video phone technologies that operate on 7.5 frames per…
In cooperation with Professor Kawashima from the Tohoku university, Sega has developed the “brain trainer.” According to the good professor, repeating simple math tasks stimulates and trains the human brain—and “Brain Training Drills” have become extremely popular in Japan as a result. The target age group is not only the real old folks but especially…
Yeah, we report on hot gadgets and products daily, but we want to hear about your favorites for 2005. We’ll tally the entries and let all of you sexy people vote on the best laptop of the year. Tell us, via email or in comments, what your favorite laptop was from 2005. Send picks to…
Coden Japan developed a fishing boat of a very different kind. It is a remote-controlled boat, with GPS, radar and all. You hook your fishing line on Kamome and then direct it to the spot where the fish are swimming (using the color radar display). Find the hotspot, release the hook and start reeling them…
Put an impact-resistant digital camera inside the nose of a rocket and what do you get? High flying fun for all. It’s the Digital Video Rocket. That’s right, this 3-inch model rocket comes with a digital camera inside its nose and can record video at 320×240-pixel resolution, in case you ever wondered what it would…
This Toshiba TDP-FF1ADLP projector is among the lightest and smallest on the market, weighing in at a mere 1.2 lbs. and measuring 5.5 x 4 x 2.2 inches. (Even lighter than Samsung’s SP-300M, but bigger than the Epson and Sony “pocket projectors” also due early next year.) To make it even more portable, the TDP…
If you’ve ever wondered exactly what that cellphone camera is good for, Israeli doctor Nitzan Yaniv has come up with the perfect use. By installing extra software and adding a basic IR camera, a cellphone be be used for early self-detection of breast cancer. The results, according to the good doctor, could be immediately transmitted…
Skype has certified the Sennheiser PC series headsets. You know, just in case you didn’t already know that Sennheiser makes top-notch headsets, and you needed to hear it from a company that provides VOIP that sounds like someone speaking inside a tin can piled under eighteen heavy rugs. Okay, Skype isn’t all that bad… The…
Thanks, JVC. These headphone/ear warmers arrived just time for us here on the icy east coast. Stoked with Polartec Wind Pro and Thermolite Active 100 materials to keep you warm, these babies promise good tunes and toasty earlobes. Well, warm earlobes anyhow. The cool cats in NYC are opting for ginormous earphones with earcups that…
Here is the timepiece for the Gary Wallace, Brian Ralph Johnson, or Farmer Ted inside of us all. Forget stainless steel, let’s talk about that waterproof plastic wristband—comes in black or white!—and those rubbery little buttons that are perfect for cheating on math tests. Now on sale from Paul Frank for $75. Paul Frank Calculator…
Not everyone can afford a RAZR, so here’s a Nokia phone for the rest of us. The 6061 costs only $40 with a 2-year agreement with Cingular and runs on the Series 40 interface. It’s dual-band, has a color TFT display, an MP3 player and a built-in speakerphone. It may not be gold or magenta,…