RevolutionEyes Your Summer May 09, 2008

Read more Gadgets , MP3 , Music , Sample , Sport

Summer appears to be upon us, so it’s time to hit the high street to try and buy a pair of sunglasses that don’t make you look like a reject from a Wacaday audition.

A pair of Oakley’s might be nice, and if you’ve found it all but impossible to combine gadgets with style in the past you might want to take a look at its Split Thump glasses with built-in MP3 player.

Toshiba Mounts Late Charge In Fuel Cell Production May 09, 2008

Read more Portable Media , Science , Technology

If you’ve been keeping an eye on the development of fuel cells (who hasn’t) you might remember Toshiba’s announcement back in 2005 of commercial availability by 2007.

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that convert chemical energy from substances such as methanol into electrical energy.

Facebook To Protect The Kiddies May 09, 2008

Read more Broadband , Entertainment , Gizmodo UK , Laptops , Online , PC , Technology

Facebook has agreed to add up to 40 new safeguards to protect children using its site from bullies and ‘sexual predators’.

The news, coming out of the US, is in response to the growing unease that social networking sites are not doing enough to ensure the safety of kids using the service. Just a few months ago, a UK government report proposed that Facebook, MySpace and others carry ‘999’ emergency numbers for quick reporting of on-site abuse.

Gear4 Offers iPod Speaker With A Twist May 09, 2008

Read more Home Entertainment , Music , Portable Media , iPod

Gear4, wanton producer of accessories and all things iPod, today launched the DUO, a 2.1 home stereo system with a detachable portable speaker.

Phew – we’re glad there’s something unique about it since iPod speakers are barely worth announcing these days there’s so many of them.

Shhh….Quieter Xbox 360 Coming In August May 09, 2008

Read more Consoles , Entertainment , Gadgets , Games , Gizmodo UK , PS3 , Wii , Xbox

As you may well know, the Xbox 360 is not a discreet console. If it was human, it’d be Janet Street Porter going at it hammer and tongs with Gordon Ramsay in the corner of your room. I know, because I have all the consoles side by side and the 360 shouts down the Wii and PS3 every time.

But now, rumours of a new chipset arriving at the end of the summer could make the next wave of Xbox 360s come across all demure and quiet. The 65nm Falcon CPU went some way to dropping the decibels but that larger graphics processing unit (GPU) has kept things too loud.

Now from Asia are reports that Microsoft has sourced the companies it needs to produce a 65nm GPU, codenamed Jasper, for release in August. The result will be cooler and quieter Xbox 360s – a very good thing indeed. There’s also unconfirmed talk that TSMC will also be sourced to build the oft-speculated Valhalla super-chip, which will see both CPU and GPU combined on a single 65nm chip by later next year.

Still, with the PS3 having just overtaken the 360 in Europe, will anyone really care by then? More extreme voices argue that the 360 is on its way – slowly but surely - to the console dustbin.

I think that’s a little harsh, since the games are much better than those for the PS3 so far, but what’s your take?-Martin Lynch

[Joystiq]

xbox microsoft ps3

Bat-Cuffs For Those Who Don’t Have £250,000 For A Batmobile May 09, 2008

Read more Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Movies

Seeing as we won’t be able to afford a £250,000 fully-functioning Batmobile this week, we’ll probably settle for some Bat-Cuffs.

What better way to get your whole, Men-in-Tights fantasy life off to a flying, crime-busting - somewhat kinky - start than with these JLA Trophy Room Batman Bat-Cuffs Replica. The makers say:

Sony Adds HD Tuners To New Bravia Range May 09, 2008

Read more Entertainment , Gizmodo UK , HD , HD DVD , HDMI , HDTV , TV

We’ve just had Panasonic launching the first TVs with in-built Freesat tuners and now Sony has joined the party by launching a new series with HD tuners on-board.

The good-looking Bravia V4500 series, which comprise 26in, 32in and 37in models, come with an integrated MPEG-4 AVC HD tuner, allowing you to enjoy terrestrial HD programmes, like those from Freeview. Well, in 2009 that is, when Freeview HD launches in some regions but, not across the UK, until 2012. A Freesat tuner might have made these more appealing to UK shoppers wanting free HD channels now.

Guns Get Fashion Makeover May 09, 2008

Read more Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK

Maybe you can use these weapons with your new camouflaged Iomega eGo Camo portable hard disk drive (HDD) but somehow I doubt they’d fit in with regular combat clothing. You may need to add a Philip Treacy hat to pull it off.

We see lots of blinged gadgets and items here but it’s not often that the world’s leading fashion labels are used to adorn deadly weapons. Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Coach, Gucci and other fashion labels are used by artist, Peter Gronquist, to soften up the fact that these babies can kill you.

GTA Beats All Competition May 08, 2008

Read more Announcements , Consoles , Games , PS3 , Xbox

The gaming industry is currently being dominated by talk of a rather understated new release called Grand Theft Auto IV. Heard of it? This is the title that was rated ‘perfect’ by a range of reviews, racked up 80 orders per minute on play.com and broke the UK sales record in just 24 hours.

Well, Rockstar can add an even more impressive statistic to its list of accolades. GTA IV has now been officially announced as the biggest media launch of all time, and in this we’re including music, video and literature.

Wii (are) Fat May 08, 2008

Read more Consoles , Gadgets , Games , Wii

Nintendo has managed to stay away from the kind of controversy that has often affected rival consoles in the past by sticking to family-friendly titles and inoffensive genres.

The gentle Japanese giant tends to adhere to an ethos of ‘fun’, leaving more contentious efforts to the Xbox and Playstation, but may find itself in hot water with its latest Wii Fit gizmo.