Hitachi Maxell SVOD Disks May 8, 2006
READ MORE Storage
Talk about floppy! These new "blue-violet laser" disks is actually made of a very thin film and hold about 9.4 GB on each side. The really draw is that they've figured out a way to put 100 of these in a cartridge for almost a terabyte of storage.
The disks are recordable and there are plans to make a blue-laser version of these to offer up to 5 TB in one cartridge. Not available to us average Joes yet, but keep your eye open. Maybe this will be the next Bernoulli disk!
Hitachi Maxell develops optical storage technology [LetsGoDigital]
|
|
Griffin PowerDuo iPod Charger May 8, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
It's a home charger! It's a car charger! It's a home charger! It's a car charger! Silly gadget fan, it's both! The Griffin Powerduo has two adapters—one for your car, boat, or hovercraft and another for the "plug" in your "wall." Pop in a USB cable, hook up your 'Pod (that's what the kids are calling it now) and charge away. Only $39.
Product Page [Griffin]
Bye-Bye SGI: Former Workstation Giant Bankrupt May 8, 2006
READ MORE PC
Back in the day, some of us older codgers here at Gizmodo used to drop our jaws at whatever SGI would do. But now, Silicon Graphics Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and things aren't looking good for the once-dominant giant of the techno-mofo workstation industry. SGI will restructure in an attempt to keep away those vultures to whom it owes money, until the company can figure out something. Why did this happen? According to SGI, the company was...
"...challenged by delays in introducing new technology, a focus on more specialized markets and more intense competition from larger rivals."SGI used to be the bad boys who would astonish everyone with multiprocessor monster workstations, usually costing well over $100,000. Now similar computing power is available hanging in packages on either side of the checkout line at Wal-Mart. Bye-bye, SGI.
Silicon Graphics goes titsup [The Register]
Asustek PW201 20.1-Inch LCD with Webcam May 8, 2006
READ MORE Peripherals
The Asustek PW201 does a purely logical thing, following Apple's lead and placing a 1.3- megapixel webcam right in the top/middle of the bezel surrounding its 20.1-inch LCD. The PW201's spec list isn't too shabby, either, with 1680x1050 resolution, 800:1 contrast ratio and 300 nits of brightness. It has a full complement of inputs including component, S-Video, composite, DVI-D and D-SUB, and it even has in-a-pinch audio facilities with a couple of 3-watt speakers built in along with a headphone jack.
Asus isn't saying when we'll see this baby or how much it will cost, but we're hoping the company's idea of placing a webcam front-and-center will set a trend.
Asustek introduces 20.1-inch widescreen monitor [DigiTimes]
HTC “Star Trek” Phone Launches May 8, 2006
READ MORE Mobile phones
We've been hearing about it for months, but now HTC finally launches its Star Trek handset, or as it will be hereafter known, the Qtek 8500 or STRTrk. It's small, about the size of a RAZR at 16mm thick, and it's light, around 3 ounces. It has a 1.3 megapixel camera, and its 320x240 LED-backlit screen is 2.2 inches across.
It has smart phone features as well, and since it's running Windows Mobile it has the ability to sync up with Outlook, Word and PowerPoint files. It's also compatible with Bluetooth and best of all, it's music friendly. See those controls up front? Those are play, fast forward and rewind controls, and it can handle WMA, MP3 or AAC files packed onto a microSD card. Available in pink or black, it goes on sale starting a couple of weeks for around $634.
Pink and Proficient [GadgetCandy]
Tivo Series 2 DT Hands-On May 8, 2006
READ MORE Home Entertainment
I’ve invented a new hardware test—it’s called the Carmine. Carmine is my neighbor. He’s a former tattoo artist, rides a Harley, and rarely takes much of anything from anyone, so if he likes a product, you know it’s good. Unfortunately, the DT scored a 3, at best, on the Carmine scale.
The DT, which stands for Dual Tuner, has thus far been under-hyped and under-reviewed, for good reason. It’s just an 80GB TiVo with two tuners. “Well, duh,” you say. “What were you expecting?” Nothing, really. Just a product I could foresee buying.
One-off upgrades are alright in the PC world—add Wi-Fi to this laptop and make it Centrino. Add… nothing… umm… to that PC and make it Viiv. But add another tuner to a piece of CE equipment and all you do is piss off current TiVo owners and confuse potential converts.
Xbox 360 Officially Jumping on the HD-DVD Bandwagon May 8, 2006
READ MORE Home Entertainment
It's E3 week and with E3 week comes the big announcements, the first of which was just revealed. Microsoft has officially announced the much talked about HD-DVD add-on for its Xbox 360 game console. Connecting to the 360 via USB, the HD-DVD add-on will usher in an extension to what Microsoft calls "the era of high definition." As of yet, hard details are still on the sketchy side, such as price, release date, what on earth makes Microsoft think that a console add-on will be successful, etc. Makes no mistake, however, Microsoft really does give Blu-Ray a solid beating in its press release. Why not take a look for yourself?
Press Release [Microsoft via Kotaku]
MiniHitch: Mac mini Papoose May 8, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
Here's a clever idea sent to us by our friends at Lifehacker: CompWave's MiniHitch, a holder that lets your Mac mini hitch a ride behind an LCD display, where the little computer is held in place by mounting holes found on the back of most LCD monitors.
In the pic on the right, the Mac mini is attached using the MiniHitch ($49.95), and notice how there's also an iSite camera along for the ride, using another product from CompWave, the CamHitch ($15.95). Made out of clear acrylic, these nicely-designed mounting brackets make it look like that there's no Mac involved at all—just a monitor with a little camera poking out the top. Neat stuff.
Product Page [CompWave, via lifehacker]
Wolf Claw Devour Keyboard for Gamers May 8, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
When attending the next LAN party, why not be the belle of the ball and bring the Wolf Claw Devour gaming keyboard? You may remember the old Wolf Claw II from last year, but the Devour improves upon that design by being actually useful, which is quite a novel idea. Rather than try to cram a full-sized keyboard into some nifty 1337 design, the Wolf Claw Devour is more of a mini keyboard with only the 55 keys necessary for fragging and gold farming included, arranged in a manner that is conducive to those all night endurance raids. There's a splash-proof casing, so you don't have to worry about spilling all those incredibly healthy soft drinks on the keys. The $35 (well, once converted from the keyboard's native Singapore dollars) USB Wolf Claw Devour is only compatible with Windows (98, ME, 2000 and XP), so for the five or so people who play games on a Mac, prepare to be disappointed. Again.
Product Page [Wolf Claw via Everything USB]
Pet Umbrella May 8, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
What better way to let your animals know you love them—aside from feeding them, obviously, and not killing them—than by attaching an umbrella to them. Yes, for those of you for whom a Burberry jacket is not sufficient to keep little Shitheel warm and dry—the pet umbrella.
You hook this thing to the pet's collar and hold on to it with your free hand and then, as the rain pours down around you and your miniature Scotty, you notice your sagging, withered dugs and tanned, taut, death-mask of a face in the Sacks Fifth Avenue mirror and realize that you are old, horribly, horribly old, and your husband doesn't love you, not that he ever did. Then you go into Barneys.
Product Page [RescuePetStore via MobileWhack]
Samsung Q1 Reviewed (Verdict: Impediment) May 8, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
Q1 UMPCs are starting to tumble out of Samsung's greasy maw and into the hands of reviewers. Luckily, the folks at the Washington Post caught one and were unimpressed. The paltry 36GB hard drive and tiny screen make things tough to install and ultimately use and the entire package just seemed underpowered. While we were sure this would be the case—since when has anyone put out a Tablet PC worth a lick... except maybe the Nokia 770, which is actually usable simply because it doesn't try to do too much at once.
Sigh.
Turning a Miniature Into a Lightweight [WashingtonPost via MobileWhack]
World Cup on your Celly May 8, 2006
READ MORE Mobile phones
The worst part about watching football is having to endure the 85 minutes of the game where GOOOOOOAL(s) are not being scored. 3 Mobile will be helping this growing concern by offering steaming video of World Cup highlight five minutes after the game is over. Unfortunately, they aren't streaming the entire matches, but this is good enough. This could be an excellent way for Europeans to be less productive workers and better multi-tasking hooligans.
3 to broadcast footy World Cup highlights [The Register]
DaySwitch Turns off the Light For You May 8, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
DaySwitch claims to reduce lighting costs by 30% by using a simple concept: when it gets bright in the room, turn off the lights. Why people can't do this themselves, we don't know, but it might have to do with getting up off their lazy asses every once in a while.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lighting Research Center who designed the light-sensitive switch say that it's so inexpensive, it could pay for itself in a year. There are already dimming systems available, but they're expensive and difficult to program and install.
Scientists Develop Simple Alternative for Harvesting Daylight and Saving Energy [Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, via treehugger]
Consumer MacBook Tomorrow? May 8, 2006
READ MORE Laptops
Those nasty little rumours are at it again, messing with ultra-secret company launch plans, undermining the value of PR people and generally ruining, in this case, Apple’s latest surprise. The company is planning to launch a series MacBooks for consumers tomorrow that will replace the iBook. If true, they will the first Apple consumer products based on Intel chips, specifically Core Duo processors. Additional gossip holds that the machines will be slightly smaller than the MacBook Pro models and will come in the all-conquering white – of course - with other colours on offer too. Other features will include a magnetic latching system, iSight video camera and MagSafe power adapter, while software including Apple's Front Row and PhotoBooth will be thrown in too. Via AppleInsider
laptop Notebook technology apple
TiVo Offers Commercials-on-Demand May 8, 2006
READ MORE Home Entertainment
We'll be doing a hands on with the Series 2 dual-tuner TiVO and we're still a little angry at the waste of natural resources involved in making one of the silliest, on-off TiVo upgrades in the known universe but we still love our TiVo and we know they wouldn't do anything else stupid... wait a minute. This just in... there are now commercials-on-demand in your Now Playing screen. See, these things are longer-form advertisements offered to subscribers alongside their standard content. The ads masquerade as cooking shows and financial tips and you choose when, where, and if you want to watch them.
Revenue, we suppose, is revenue, but please, TiVo, give us Series 3 and stop with all the futzing.
TiVo Launches Product Watch: Commercials On Demand [ZatzNotFunny]
Pop Music: Cebob Pop Dual Speaker May 8, 2006
READ MORE Home Entertainment
Overinflate these Cebop Pop speakers and you give new meaning to the term "pop music." The idea here is that when deflated they're nice and small, fitting into your bag so you can take them on the road, but when you inflate them to their full 8.5-inch height, theoretically you'll get the bigger sound of larger-sized speakers.
The speakers work differently from garden-variety boom boxes, using what the company calls an "NXT Exciter" to rock sound waves across the entire plastic skin, spewing sound in all directions. They're cheap, at $49.50, and they look cheap, too. Sounds like a lot of hooey.
Product page [via productdose]
Alcohol-Fueled Robot Muscles May 8, 2006
READ MORE Robots
University of Texas researches have created a form of "shape memory wire" that expands and contracts when cooled and heated. To make the muscles contract, they coat it in a catalyst that reacts to alcohol and begins to heat up. These muscles can be used in robots or in prosthetic limbs.
Bender, it seems, wasn't so far-fetched after all.
Video [ScienceCentral via TheInquirer]
Self-Watering Flower Pot Makes Irresponsibility Fun Again May 8, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
Perhaps you're tired of seeing plant after plant die while in you were supposed to be taking care of them. Designer of all things fancy, Eva Solo has come up with a flower pot that automatically waters whatever plant finds itself in your possession.
It's actually a very simple concept: a plain ceramic pot containing the plant is set atop a well of water, with the roots of the plant extended from the pot to the well via a set of nylon strings. Just as it would naturally, the plant's extended roots soak up water whenever is needed. The well holds enough water to last about a week, so you have just enough time to conveniently forget to water your plant without it dying on you (again). The pots come in two sizes, 5" or 4.5" and in four colors: chalk white, light terracotta, red terrracotta and dark grey. Plant peace of mind retails for around $35-$40.
Product Page [Eva Solo via Popgadget]
Fold-Up DVD Player Concept May 8, 2006
READ MORE Portable Media
Here's a techno-concept that's more like real origami than those overblown PDAs we've been ridiculing reporting about for the past few months—it's an e-paper DVD screen that folds up into a tiny package that's easy to carry around.
Of course, this is not really real; it's a design concept from Inventables, a concept studio just north of Chicago. But it's a nice, fanciful graphic and we thought it might give you a peek into what technology could be like a few years from now. That e-paper screen itself is actually being developed by Mag-Ink in Israel (among others), but no one is saying when we might see a product like this in the real world. This concept is a little anachronistic, though, because by the time we see screens like this, won't DVD players be a forgotten relic, long since discarded to the ash heap of history?
Origami DVD Player [Inventables, via bornrich]
Telephone Bag for the Ladies May 8, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
If we had to guess, we might wager that men outnumber women readers on Gizmodo. With that in mind, here's a kitschy telephone bag aimed at members of the fairer sex, all ten of them on here. From La Pochette, maker of other fancy purses, this day purse is shaped like a 1970s telephone. Even better, it actually works. Just plug it into any standard telephone jack, and you'll be gabbing about the day's gossip in no time at all. The handle functions as the phone's receiver and the numbers on the front, believe it or not, actually function as the phone's number pad. Telephone bags most likely to be used by high society socialites don't come cheap, so be prepared to fork over £160. The telephone bag, available in both a passionate red and a sensual black (hey, we try), will no doubt be found wrapped around hotel heiresses' arms sooner rather than later.
Product Page [La Pochette]
Beat Me, Hurt Me: Ricoh Caplio 500G Wide May 8, 2006
READ MORE Digital cameras
If you need to take shots of big, wide things and you like to drop, sit on and otherwise abuse your digital camera, the 8-megapixel Ricoh Caplio 500G Wide is one that doesn't seem to mind a good spanking. Its 28mm wide-angle zoom lens lets you fit more stuff into the shot, and its ruggedized body can stand a butter-fingered drop of up to 3 feet.
You can even take it 3 feet underwater and shoot in below-freezing temperatures, too. It's hardened against dust, dirt, and sand as well, making it great for construction sites or for people who just like to abuse digital cameras for fun. Pricing and availability wasn't announced yet.
Ricoh Caplio 500G wide [Let's Go Digital]
Beatles Losers in Apple vs. Apple Case May 8, 2006
READ MORE Home Entertainment
When the Beatles and Steve Jobs somehow both decided to call their companies Apple, someone would inevitably be singing the song "I'm A Loser, Bay-bee." In a court battle over whether iPods and iTunes will still be allowed to carry an Apple logo, a British judge ruled that Apple Computer has a store and a music player, and the music itself doesn't have Apple logos on it, so there's no harm, no foul.
Taking a conciliatory tone toward Apple Corps, the Beatles' company, Apple CEO Steve Jobs held out the olive branch: "We have always loved The Beatles, and hopefully we can now work together to get them on the iTunes Music Store."
But former Beatles roadie and now Apple Corps manager Neil Aspinall was obviously not happy with the decision: "With great respect to the trial judge, we consider he has reached the wrong conclusion...We will accordingly be filing an appeal..."
Beatles lose Apple court battle [BBC News]
Intel Names Next-Gen Chips: Core 2 Duo May 8, 2006
READ MORE PC
Intel has decided to name its next-generation processor Core 2 Duo, so we can throw away those weird-sounding meaningless codenames such as Conroe (the desktop version) and Merom (the notebook version), and get on with the next version of Intel's dual core chips. Keeping with this numerical naming scheme, Intel will also call its next single-core chips Core 2 Solo, and will also bring back the "Extreme" designation it used with Pentiums, showing us a Core 2 Duo Extreme processor for gamers at some unknown time in the future.
To tell the Conroes from the Meroms, Intel will add numbers to the end of each chip name between the 4000s to 6000s for Conroe processors and the 5000s to 7000s for Merom. These numbers get higher as the clock speed increases, where the Core 2 Duo processors are expected to launch with five versions starting with the 4200 model at 1.6GHz, up to the fastest 6700 model at 2.66GHz. Look for these new processors to be available in the third quarter of this year.
The second coming of Intel's Core Duo [c|net]
Shocking Lie Detector May 8, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
Hide this Shocking Lie Detector from your wife, or the next time she asks you where you were until 2am, that "I was working late Honey" is going to cost you all the feeling in your fingers.
As she feeds you some easy calibration questions—what are our children's names—you'll be wishing this device didn't strap your hand tightly to prevent any last second fidgets. Good luck gentlemen.
Shocking Lie Detector [igadget]
Computer Desk-Bed May 8, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
For city dwellers tight on space and students in dorms, the Computer Bed combines a computer desk with a bed. A stylish wooden desk by that folds down to reveal a hidden twin sized bed.
Although the bed is useful and practical, it doesn't look very sturdy. Even with the new "metal bed frame" and "wooden slate foundation", a well-fed fellow would probably be too much for the joints and come collapsing down all his equipment.
The Computer Bed [Euro FlyingBeds]
Japanese Ultimate Fighting Robots League May 8, 2006
READ MORE Robots
Nerds Fans of the Robot Wars are proud of their metal creations. But in the end, they're just lawn mowers with hammers and saws attached.
Our tech-inclined friends over in Japan, however, have taken it to the next step. We've never lost money by overestimating their love of humanoid robots, but this just blew our minds. The Japanese have an actual Ultimate Fighting Robots league where the contestants actually look like robots should.
Unfortunately, the bots are only about a foot tall, but this is a step in the right direction. Kudos, Japan. You're working hard to bring the inevitable Human-Robot Wars upon us that much quicker.
Ultimate Fighting Robots Part 2 [TechEBlog]
Cloaking Device For Real May 8, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
Two math’s boffins are claiming that a cloaking device may be possible. I can feel Trekkie ears perking up all over the globe but according to Nicolae Nicorovici and Graeme Milton a certain type of ‘superlens’ can make objects appear to have disappeared. They have come up with a complex mathematical outline of how it can be done. In a nutshell, it’s about manipulating light waves. Placing an object near a superlens would prevent light that hits that object being scattered, thus rendering it invisible. They say:
“The making of an object invisible through some cloaking device is commonly regarded as science fiction.
But we have found that, after a sufficient period of time, superlenses can cause objects near them to become essentially invisible through localised resonances generated by the interaction of the object
(assumed to be a finite collection of polarizable point dipoles) and the superlens.”
Sadly, we are only talking about specks of dust at this stage so you’ll have to leave that prototype Klingon Bird of Prey in the garage for a few more decades. Via BBC
science technology sci-fi Science Fiction
The Computer Bed May 8, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
Strapped for space but like computers but don’t like sleeping upright in the corner of your bedsit? Then you need The Computer Bed. Unlike many of those snap-together, flat-packed wobbly PC desks you can buy from the catalogue, this one is also a bed so has been built to last. What you get is a sort of Transformer desk that turns into a decent single bed when you have finished working long and hard downloading Net material of dubious legal status. Described as a model of the a “European Murphy Bed” its operation is powered by gas-assisted pistons so no putting your back out when you need to catch some zzzzs. Sadly, the major difference with this and other desk products is that this baby will set you back around £1200. That’s right, way too expensive for most people in bedsits. Via Engadget
PC technology furniture Design home
- Blogroll
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
RSS Feed
