B-Flex Be Dancin’: Tiny USB Speakers July 3, 2006
READ MORE Peripherals
B-Flex is a tiny speaker array you can plug into your laptop. Even the best internal laptop speakers sound like a tin can, so these couldn't be any worse. New company JLabs claims a frequency response range of 200 to 20,000 Hz with a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 80db. Plus, its flex cable lets you manipulate the speakers to their optimum listening position.
Perhaps the most appealing spec is the 3.24-inch width and 7-inch height of the speakers, small enough to fit in just about any briefcase. Plug it into a USB port, and you get instant tunes with no drivers, batteries or power cables needed for non-ancient Windows, Mac or Linux machines. Looks like a lot of speaker for $39.95.
Product page [JLab]
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BenQ to Ship Blu-ray Burner in August July 3, 2006
READ MORE Storage
BenQ decided it didn't want to let those other weasels steal all the thunder, so it decided to finally release its own Blu-ray burner next month. We saw the model BW1000 back in April—a shiny, strange toaster-like device which will be able to burn BD-R discs at 2x, and will also handle most flavors of DVDs and CDs. A collaboration between Philips and BenQ, this writer will be able to store 50GB of data.
Now it will be a race to see who can pump the most volume into the Blu-ray burner market, with Sony, Pioneer, Philips, Panasonic and now BenQ all vying for market share. There have been numerous rollouts, announcements, introductions and launches, but it's mostly talk with a few units trickling out here and there so far. Ironically, BenQ may just beat one of the main inventors of Blu-ray, Sony, to the punch, if it delivers this unit in August. Even if the burners ship in volume, will anybody want one? If anybody's actually interested in buying one of these BenQ burners, they'll have to shell out $1022.
BenQ unveils Blu-ray writer [Reuters]
Marantz SD4051 Dual Transport Cassette (!?) Deck July 3, 2006
READ MORE Home Entertainment
It is July, 2006, right? I'm just wondering because Marantz is coming out with a dual transport cassette deck later this year, the SD4051. That's right, a cassette deck. Color me surprised because I thought I had a better chance of seeing Windows Vista released than seeing a cassette deck ever again. While it does look nice, the mere thought of incorporating a cassette deck into my home audio system sends shivers down my spine.
Phobias aside, the SD4051 does have a few advanced features that might make you want to consider it, especially if you've got a bunch of tapes laying about. Users can control variables like pitch and playback transport in order to make sure that recordings sound as close to perfect as possible. Sound recording bias is automatically adjusted by the unit and the recording side makes use of auto reverse. Normally, I just burn MP3s, but this sounds much more fun. And easier.
Since your dusty old cassette tapes probably have probably been around for a while and don't necessarily sound as good as they used to, Dolby B attempts to decrease that annoying hiss.
It's scheduled to be released in late August in Japan for about $320.
Press Release (in Japanese) [Marantz Japan via Fareastgizmos.com]
Magnetic Floating Bed: Oh. Your. God. July 3, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
Every so often, we like to take a look at things whose functionality isn't measured in gigabytes or megabangs, but instead just look amazing. This magnetic floating bed, I submit, may be among the coolest things we've ever covered. Designed by Dutchman Janjaap Ruijssenaars, it's got enough magnets to keep 900 kilograms (1,984 pounds) floating in the air. To make sure that the bed doesn't float away should it become windy (or "interesting," wink wink), it's tethered to the walls by four cables.
Technically, the magnetic floating bed is for sale, but at a price of 1.2 million euros ($1.53 million), you're not likely to find it in your local mattress store.
Nederlander ontwerpt zwevend bed (in Dutch) [Revu via OhGizmo!]
Electric Bluetoothbrush July 3, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets
You've certainly heard of the electric fork (haven't you?), and now close on its heels comes an equally valuable item, the Bluetooth toothbrush. This skillfully crafted one-of-a-kind item was received as a going-away present, and at first glance it looks real—it's packaged and presented just like an actual product.
Lawd have mercy, the thing actually turns on. Now if we could just get it to brush teeth remotely, we could save a few steps in our morning ablutions.
The Bluetoothbrush - a blue Bluetooth toothbrush [4BG]
The Space Invaders Carpet July 3, 2006
READ MORE Peripherals
It was just a few months ago that we reported on the existence of Space Invaders wall stickers and judging by the overwhelming response, it appears that the public can't get enough of those evil, Earth-coveting space aliens. Carpet Invaders, created by Poland's Janek Simon, incorporates everyone's favorite Space-based invaders into a nice, Persian rug. Perfect for parties, as indicated by the pictures of youthful 20-somethings on the project's home page, or for keeping you company while you sit alone in your room, the carpet is "powered" by a PS2 that projects the game onto the carpet via an overhead projector.
Be warned, however, that the project's home page is full of half-crafted metaphors, explaining how the game is somehow a representation of our own lives or some other beatnik nonsense. Thankfully, it doesn't detract from the project's allure.
Janek Simon and his Carpet Invaders [Dis Location via Kotaku]
Copilot Live for Motorola Q Reviewed (Verdict: #1 Choice) July 3, 2006
READ MORE Mobile phones
You might be familiar with the CoPilot Live, a $299 software and hardware add-on for mobile PCs that turns that smartphone into a GPS unit. Its tiny GPS receiver communicates with the phone via Bluetooth, and the maps are stored in a flash memory card. Now the CoPilot Live's maker, ALK, has released a special version for the Motorola Q, and Mobility Today has reviewed it. According to reviewer David Ciccone, it looks like ALK has another winner on its hands, with this unit performing quickly and effectively:
This weekend I made 6 trips with numerous different changes in my route to see how the CoPilot reacted. Pleasantly suprised this unit responded quickly and effectively... CoPilot for the Motorola Q is now my #1 choice for navigation.Get thee hence, ALK! Time for us to try this one out for ourselves.
CoPilot Live for the Motorola Q [Mobility Today]
BlueBird BM-300, Looks Chocolatey July 3, 2006
READ MORE Portable Media
This smooth, black finish was coined as "chocolate" and made mainsteam when LG launched lines of chocolate phones that have the same look. Blue Bird is continuing with this popular reverse-iPod design with their BM-300 PMP. This device has a nice spec sheet that includes T-DMB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, expandable memory, etc. It is powered by an Intel Bulverde 520Mhz processor, touchscreen and Windows Mobile 5.0. Slim, small, pretty and should be available in Korea later this fall.
Bluebird to launch slim T-DMB PDA 'BM-300' [AVING]
Surfboard USB Drives July 3, 2006
READ MORE Storage
Surf's up, dude, even if you live in the Midwest. Wal-Mart, of all places, has these gnarly 1GB USB 2.0 flash drives in four radical styles for around $33. You gotta love the design on these things. Nice. Even I like them, even though, as you know, Charlie don't surf.
Product page [Wal-Mart, via Chip Chick]
Easybook M3 Digital Notebook July 3, 2006
READ MORE Peripherals
We're fortunate enough to live in a world where writing things down longhand is almost entirely unnecessary. So why not write things down just for the hell of it, aided by digital technology? Especially with college right around the corner, the Oxford Easybook M3 Digital Notepad could come in handy. Or not.
Using a special digital pen, the Easybook M3 is an actual notebook that can later sync with a PC to create e-mails, Word documents and other, you know, non-written down formats. The notepad is lined with "little dots" spaced 0.3 mm apart, which are used by the notebook to interpret your scribbles.
Granted, hand recognition technology is nothing new, and tablet PCs have been using hand recognition for a while now, but at least with the Easybook you don't have to lug around a whole PC when all you need is a notebook. It isn't particularly cheap, either, retailing around $461. At a price like that, you might as well spring for a laptop so you can play games in class.
Product Page [Oxford via Tech Digest]
Lego Mindstorms NXT Impressions July 3, 2006
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Although I received my Lego Mindstorms NXT kit in the mail early last week, it wasn't until yesterday that I really had a chance to dig in, spending a whole day working through the included instructions. It's difficult to completely review NXT in the entirety of its potential as it's the first set of new platform—more instructions and kits should be coming down the line soon enough.
Still, my initial impression is good. The included software—which was such a turd in the original Mindstorms that some builders rolled their own versions—is approachable and capable. It ran a bit doggishly on my Macbook Pro, especially when plinking together GUI bits of programming logic, but I rarely felt lost or overwhelmed.
Each step of the software leads you to the next: first a build phase, with zoomable instructions; Then, a programming phase; Finally, testing. The first model even has a separate box with its pieces, saving you the trouble of searching through the set when you're eager to dig right in.
After the jump: Where Lego went wrong.
Blackberry to Get Wi-Fi, Other Added Features July 3, 2006
READ MORE Mobile phones
Research in Motion Chairman and co-CEO James Balsillie said that RIM plans on adding some nice features to the Blackberry line of devices by the end of the year. Added features includes the always anticipated Wi-Fi, an audio player, video player, memory expansion, digital camera and even integrated GPS. Now even the classiest Crackberry-using businessmen can take pictures of drunken co-workers for blackmail purposes.
RIM to Expand BlackBerry Connect Service [eWeek]
Sony PSP, Where a Downgrade is an Upgrade July 3, 2006
READ MORE Portable Media
It figures that in the strange world of Sony, a downgrade to previous software would be an improvement. That's the case with the PlayStation Portable (PSP), where hackers have released a firmware downgrader that turns a 2.6 or 2.5 version of the PSP into the more hackable and homebrew-friendly version 1.5.
Our beloved Kotaku nerd brothers warn you about fooling around with this firmware update (downdate?), though, because if you don't follow the instructions to the letter, your PSP might become an expensive, shiny, black doorstop.
Roll Back Your PSP To Its 1.5 Glory [Kotaku]
HAVA Video Streamer, Better Than Slingbox? July 3, 2006
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By now everyone's heard of (and is using?) the Slingbox, which takes your home's TV signal and retransmits it to another device, such as your laptop, when you're on the road or just in another room. This idea of "place shifting" has really caught on, at least with the tech savvy crowd, as a means of liberating it from the icy grip of terrible hotel TV. Since success breeds competition (or is it the other way around?), Snappy Multimedia is trying to get in on the "place shifting" action with it HAVA Video Streamer.
Essentially very similar to the Slingbox, the HAVA Video Streamer distinguishes itself from its rivals by offering a number of advanced features that may endear it to power users. For example, in addition to being able to function as a wireless access point, the HAVA can wirelessly connect to routers. This means that if your router's in one room but the TV cable is in another, you no longer have to lay hundreds of feet of ethernet cable in order to retransmit the signal across the Internet. Snappy also claims that its HAVA is able to retransmit signals with DVD-level quality; the fact that it supports MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 certainly lends some credence to this claim.
It's also worth noting that the HAVA supports multiple simultaneous users watching over a home network thanks to super secret Space Age technology. Snappy Multimedia's HAVA Video Streamer is expected to be available on July 17 for $249, though you can grab it for a limited time for $199.
Product Page [Snappy Multimedia via The Red Ferret Journal]
Bronx Basement Tech School Sees No Student July 3, 2006
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A flickr blogger discovered a free technical school in the Bronx, staffed by a pleasant old man soliciting young adults on the street with the promise of education. Sadly, it sounds like few are taking the man up on his offer, leaving the gallery a quiet record of an underground lair filled with empty chairs.
Free tech school in basement: GO RIGHT IN [Flickr via BoingBoing]
Flying Car: LaBiche Aerospace FSC-1 July 3, 2006
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Just like our macho cousins at Jalopnik, our knee-jerk response to flying car talk is always laced with a couple of pshaws and a "yeah, right"—and so let's add another one to the "talk is cheap" list with the LaBiche Aerospace FSC-1, a $175,000 kit that the company says will fly at 275 mph. It's a pretty neat looking model they've created, though. And we'll all have our own personal helicopters by 1988. Pshaw.
Gimmie My Flying Car Already: The LaBiche Aerospace FSC-1 [Jalopnik]
Rumormill: Leopard to Use Mapping Software to Track Stolen Macs July 3, 2006
READ MORE Software
AppleInsider has been all over the Leopard—Apple's latest operating system—and the features that it may include. The good news for Apple computer-using iPoders is that Leopard will include mapping software similar to Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth that may eventually employ GPS tracking software to keep a watchful eye on iPods and other Apple products.
This could be some useful functionality with iPod theft on the rise every day. There is probably only one way to prevent iPod theft that I am considering—until Leopard is released, of course. Just get the iPod permanently embedded into your body. You carry it around all hours of the day anyway, why not just get it surgically attached? Leopard, which is tentatively named, will make its formal debut at WWDC on August 7.
VoIP features expected in Apple's Leopard [AppleInsider]
Triple-Decker Case Mod: Whoa! July 3, 2006
READ MORE PC
Case mods get more and more sophisticated, and here's a skyscraper of a PC created by Ediejo, which started out as a mild-mannered Lian Li aluminum PC case and now it's been taken to the extreme. Take a look at the worklog that describes the progression of techniques to put together this monster.
It's a liquid-cooled tour de force, with its top and bottom floors stuffed with liquid-cooling paraphernalia, with two cooling loops, one for graphics and one for the CPU chip set. The guy has obviously spent thousands of hours putting together this highly-detailed machine. It's hotrodding for the 00's.
The Extreme Lian Li by Ediejo [bit-tech]
Touch Typist: French Maid Keyboard July 3, 2006
READ MORE Peripherals
A black lace PC keyboard teddy, straining against its fleshy cargo. Imagine that. This $140 Angel Kitty keyboard actually works, taking the concept of touch typing to a whole new level. It's a little maid's costume with an 85-key USB keyboard top, and it's made to order in sizes that will accommodate even the most voluminously endowed office mate. Submissive Japanese babe not included.
Angel Kitty USB keyboard for the naughty geeky lover [Newlaunches]
John Flear Fireflies Wall Art July 3, 2006
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Throw that lava lamp right out the window and stick this hi-tech piece of art on your wall. Fireflies, the brainchild of John Flear, uses a number of LEDs to simulate digital fireflies. The LEDs seem to flutter about, almost as if in Disney movie. What motivates the fireflies to move around is temperature: the LED fireflies light up in search of the "ideal temperature for their existence," a metaphor for our own lives. Normally it costs £420, but if you act now you grab it for £190. Look how calming it is...
Product Page [Bit Editions via OhGizmo!]
Infrared Sauna, Burn Calories While Doing Nothing July 3, 2006
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Healthmate's sauna uses infrared technology to make your sauna-going experience all the more pleasurable. Rather than having to heat the air and have steam do all the work, the infrared heats the body directly. The company claims that within 30 minutes users can lose up to 1,000 calories. Additionally, all that warming warmth has other health benefits, including an increased blood flow that may help with things like arthritis and sprains.
Compared to regular saunas, which only eliminate three percent of body toxins (which are...?), this sauna eliminates up to 20 percent of said toxins, doing so while operating at a lower temperature. It's made from spruce or cedar and costs only about 50 cents per hour to run.
The single-person version costs £1900. For people who aren't terribly lonely, the five-person version costs £4500. Before you know it, your house could end up like Mr. Hefner's mansion.
Product Page [Healthmate]
Electronic Eyezone Massager: Not Creepy At All July 3, 2006
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I only assume that the Gizmodo crowd isn't exactly a bunch of party animals, but for those of you who buck that trend and have been known to get hammered from time to time, this attractive model may have just the thing to keep your eyes from looking like Nosferatu's the day after a bender. Known as the Electronic Eyezone Massager, this stylish gadget violently gently revitalizes your eyes back to their normal appearance using three separate methods. Like all good inventions (gunpowder, paper making, printing, etc.), it was inspired by the Chinese, specifically their use of acupuncture and magnetic therapy.
The massaging of the eyes stimulates blood vessels, leading to a reduction in the appearance of dark circles around the eyes. Such massaging also helps reduce the strains associated with prolonged staring at a computer monitor. I guess drunks aren't the only ones who will get a use out of this.
The electronic eyezone massager operates using two speeds, normal and liquify, though the latter hasn't been confirmed.
Product Page [Boys Stuff]
PSP-Controlled French Robot July 3, 2006
READ MORE Robots
France must be riding high, having just knocked Brazil out of the World Cup. When not crushing South American dreams, it seems the French have a passion for robots and devising unique methods of controlling them. Take this mod, for example, that uses the PSP's Wi-Fi capabilities—and a little homebrew magic— to control this haggard-looking robot. It's probably more fun to play with this robot than it is to play any of the PSP's absolutely stellar games.
PSP Robot Remote [TechEBlog]
Hot Stuff Hand Warmers July 3, 2006
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I know that right now you are probably sweating your ass off but it’s never too early to plan for winter. All this blazing sunshine and lobster red skin just won’t last and you know it, which is why how to retain just a bit of that warmth in chilly December should be a priority.
For less that £5, I have just the thing. The low-tech Hot Stuff Hand Warmers are placed in your pockets and by clicking the disc you get instant heat for up to 30mins. To recharge them again just pop them some boiling water. Boy, it’s good to know that while waiting for that late morning bus in a blizzard, with your blue nose and toes dropping off with frostbite, that your pinkies in your pockets will be, well, pink. Via Shiny Shiny
gadget technology Accessories fashion weather
The 2p-a-year Light Tray July 3, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets , Home Entertainment , Peripherals
From projectors to TV to novelty items, LEDS are lighting the way (sorry) to more energy efficient ways of creating light. Now we have LECD - Light Emitting Ceramic Device – from a new company called Firefly Lighting Innovations. The first consumer product out the door from this crew is the Firefly Light Tray which creates a soft glow and consumes so little energy that your kids pocket money for a week would keep it powered up for a century.
Power Up With Hydrogen July 3, 2006
READ MORE Gadgets , Laptops , PDA , Peripherals
It’s Monday and we are feeling particularly green today which is why you will find yourself wondering what the hell is that triangular plastic thingy. It might not look all planet-friendly but that triangle from Voller will recharge just about any battery or portable device you have using hydrogen. And there’s no nasty by-products, just water.
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Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
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