If you are anything like us Gizmodoites—you probably have chargers scattered all over your dwelling to accompany the various gadgets you own. Sligh is trying to solve the charging problem (since when was it a problem?) plaguing many of us with the Family Communication Center, or FCC.
The FCC is really just an over glorified surge protector. It is a cabinet desk that conveniently has a boatload of power outlets so all of your gadgets will get a nice charge in the same place. It also includes data ports for a laptop. The FCC is available in a mahogany finish for $2,945 or painted black for $3,395. – Travis Hudson
God bless the Japanese for coming up with totally weird gadgetry, the latest example of which is this Z-Agon Video Cube, erm, thing. The cube is made up of six 2.5-inch screens that display all types of video content. So, rather than settle for a PMP with one lousy screen, be a man and upgrade to a PMP with six (lousy) screens. All content is beamed to the cube by something called Wi-Fi, which is apparently some sort of wireless means of transmitting data. Maybe it'll catch on.
The Z-Agnon is still only a prototype right now, but if you're feeling generous, throw some VC money at the developers and maybe we'll see it one day. After all, six screens are much better than one. – Nicholas Deleon
If you've got it, might as well flaunt it, so how about cruising around in this 485-foot extreme super yacht with transatlantic range at sustained speeds of 40 knots? This tri-hull concept has four engines totaling 33,000hp, pushing individual water jets that get it sprinting up to 50 knots. It's not the fastest yacht in the world, but close to it, and rarely do such speedy boats boast such spectacular luxury. Its creator, Craig Loomis Design, has already built similar yachts, one that's almost like this except 75 feet long.
Inside is a master suite that's three decks high complete with a private elevator. Topping off the luxo-sport atmosphere is a helicopter pad, an internal harbor for that submarine you've always wanted, and enough split-level luxury staterooms for 28 of your closest friends. Even though the designers say its three slim hulls give this trimaran a smooth, level ride with minimized pitching, we get seasick too easily, so perhaps we'll stay ashore. – Charlie White
Maybe if you could actually see how much energy you're using, you wouldn't leave that PC running all night. That's the idea behind the Static Energy+Design Network's Power Aware Cord, a power strip whose connecting cable glows and pulses. Its electroluminescent wires embedded inside get brighter when more power flows through, pulsing and scintillating with various patterns that are difficult to ignore.
While this appears to be just a design concept so far, it looks purty and might just remind us of what power-sucking bastards we are. We're usually trying to hide power cables, wall warts and power strips, but this eye-catching design might give us an excuse to leave that spaghetti bowl of wires right out in the open. But don't the lights in the cord suck up even more energy? Maybe not much. – Charlie White
Sensing that the RAZR craze is dying a slow, painful death, Motorola is starting to pepper the market with all sorts of other horrifically name cellphones such as the just about to be released MOTOSLVR L7e. Slightly different than its vanilla MOTOSLVR brethren, the L7e distinguishes itself with a metallic blue paint job and some speed bumped features. Here you'll find an MP3/AAC player that's compatible with Bluetooth headsets, a 1.3-megapixel camera (yawn) and EDGE Class 10, among others.
Even nicer is the Push technology they've thrown on here: Push-to-share sends your dumb friends your even dumber photos and Push-to-talk keeps one lucky person always within the reach of your sharp talons.
This slightly upgraded SLVR should be in stores sometime before the end of the year. For what wireless carrier, um, we don't know, but considering it's GSM, you can probably rule out Verizon Wireless. Hopefully the cellphone performs better than its silly name would lead you to believe. – Nicholas Deleon
If writing on paper and on touchscreen devices isn't enough functionality for your pen, this acupuncture pen lets you do "hand acupuncture". We're not quite familiar with this technique despite playing the five finger game with butter knives all the time, much to the chagrin of our wives. It's just a guess, but we're probably safe in saying that the pen doesn't actually pierce the flesh the way acupuncture needles do.
You should probably have some kinda training at this other than reading the included instruction manual, otherwise you're just poking yourself with a pen—something you can do with the ones lying around the house. – Jason Chen
The Saint B is an MP3 player concept out of Russia. The unit hangs around your neck where OLED beauty glistens through a flexible black plastic cover. The player charges/syncs via USB. But what we like most about the Saint B is the sinful bang for your buck:
Sin 1: Bastardization/misuse of the cross Sin 2: Cross is jet black (the color of sin, along with red and hot pink) Sin 3: The Mariah Carey album you still listen to on it
Plus, the Saint B is completely protected from those pesky vampire muggers who like the iPod so much. – Mark Wilson
Product Page [via newlaunches]
I've put a lot of thought into what would be cooler than a liger - we're talking hours of wasted sketching and planning. The answer was obvious. A miger, or mechanical tiger, is a fusion of form and technology that even Napoleon Dynamite fans can appreciate.
Shiva is a miger by artist Kezanti, and apparently you can ride it. Hit the jump for the ultimate fusion of man, beast and machine...be it a little slower and less fierce than we are eventually hoping for. Just remember, migers need to walk before they can fly and shoot lasers out of their eyes. – Mark Wilson
Artist Gallery [via digg]
Apparently chocolate comes in more flavors than black...err...dark. We recently talked about the white version of the LG Chocolate coming to the states. It's officially available for order along with a pink version on Amazon. There is no price premium for the different colors (all models run $375) - but the pink may cost you a bit of manhood/self-respect. – Mark Wilson
Our even more jaded friends at the Consumerist received an interesting tip regarding big cellphone insurance provider Asurion's exclusion of coverage. This is direct from the policy:
L. Any Loss or damage caused by or through or in consequence, directly or indirectly, of Nuclear Hazard, meaning any weapon employing atomic fission or fusion; or nuclear reaction or radiation or radioactive contamination from any other cause; but we will pay for direct physical Loss caused by resulting fire, if the fire would be covered under this Certificate.
Great. So while my ghost is growing a third eye, it will need to write the insurance company arguing that my phone was burned in a fire after the nuclear explosion hit. – Mark Wilson
I have a fairly nice Sony CD Alarm clock. Whenever the power goes out, I need to reset the year, date, SSN, etc, and it's a pretty big pain in the butt. So most of the time, I don't bother to program the real date in because it doesn't even appear on the display.
About a week ago we had another momentary power outage. Knowing that the end of daylight savings was fast approaching, I spent the extra 10 seconds to save 10 seconds later, thinking my clock might update automatically. It did not. So why does my alarm need a date at all? For its own peace of mind? So it knows to call its mom on her birthday? WTF? I realize not everyone celebrates this joyous event, but most of us do.
Anyone else out there have a stupid gadget that should auto update, but doesn't? Anyone hate that I incorrectly said "savings" instead of the technically proper "daylight saving"? Anyone just hate posts about clocks? – Mark Wilson
Our keyboard is a gross pile of chips, cat hair and coffee spills topped by a neatly organized layer of buttons. We could use the Sucky Ducky.
Plug him into your USB and a simple on/off switch toggles moderate suction power. The naturally slim bill shape makes for an easy fit between the keys, as if God intended ducks to one day suck crap out of your keyboard. About $12 if you can translate your way through the site. – Mark Wilson
While we've already posted an extensive Halloween Roundup, it has come to my attention that there is one necessary addendum: the Corpse Solar Light. The zombie is 17 inches of the most gruesome plastic you've ever seen. He holds a solar powered lantern in one hand...where is his other...maybe BEHIND YOU! Whoa. It's ok. Just relax. I didn't mean to actually scare you.
We're glad to see that even zombies are beginning to see the benefits of green technologies. $89 and you can still rush deliver for Halloween fun. Oh, and that Mike Tyson tattoo on his face is just the watermark. – Mark WilsonThanks Michelle!
Product Page [via AmericanInventorSpot]
While we would never bastardize the cold, black steel of our cellphone with accessories of any type, eventually we will probably find ourselves mixed up in some sort of cult. The leader of said cult (possibly Lam) may require us to tag our electronics with a mark of identification. Since he enjoys fast food (we're not sure if Our Herald actually does), we will suggest purchasing these food charms.
Unfortunately, there is no word on price or availability. This is more of a "check out my awesome charm collection that you know you want for your gadget cult, bitch" sor< of posting.
Hit the jump for more yummy plastic cellphone charms.
Our "we think we're cool because we wear Mario underwear" friends at Kotaku posted that Sony's new SIXAXIS controller has been meticulously dissected. The verdict? To their chemically-induced point of view, the controllers have plenty of room for vibration in the handles. And we agree. Just check out those hollow caverns of wasteful nothingness.
While vibration wasn't the most important feature ever to grace a controller, we'd rather have it than not. What do all you readers think? Hit the jump for more photos of the carnage. – Mark Wilson
Owning a killer killer robot is so cliché. Instead, we recommend you invest in a plush killer robot by PlushBot. While most mad scientists prefer harsh materials like steel and electrophoresed kitten blood, you can be original by making novel use of more classic materials like felt and string. Caution: while he looks cute, the robot will eventually turn on you, and the soft felt may make the cutting out of your internal organs even more excruciating.
But for £10 this seems like a bargain to us. – Mark Wilson
Apparently these were recently featured on Ellen, but since we don't frequent that show, this is the first video we've seen on the T-Qualizer.
Running off a pair of AA batteries, the T-Qualizer is perfect for dark places, so people can better find you to kick your ass for wearing a T-Qualizer. Seriously, we would like to see the technology in athletic apparel, so people can kick your ass while running at night, too. – Mark Wilson Thanks Michael!
Consumer Reports recently posted this chart showing the percentage of laptops that need some serious repair - we believe/hope over the life of the product. These numbers are staggering, as is the fact that there is only a 3% difference between leaders Sony and Lenovo and losers Compaq and Gateway.
Everyone's products suck. Great. But at least it's good to know that the companies with the best reputations rose to the top, even if it's only by a margin of 1% in some cases. I guess we recommend buying that overpriced extended warranty after all. – Mark Wilson
All Laptops Break. Period. [consumerist]
I like taking baths. There, it's out there and all of the Gizmodo readers have to deal with it. I find them relaxing and even enjoy the occasional bubbles or bath bomb. That's why I think the Neptuner surround sound system by Neptune is the greatest invention ever.
The design prevents you from even realizing the technology is present. Speakers aren't housed outside in the scum of the bathroom, but within the tub itself. Sound waves shoot through the water, creating what feels like complete sound immersion. We're guessing it's more like 2.1 immersion, but cool nonetheless. Runs about £300 for 2 transducers, freaky woman taking a bath without water not included. – Mark Wilson
Are you an "artist" who likes to wear all black, and because of being so spiritual/misunderstood/poor refuses to go to normal store to buy furniture? You might want to check out the Sketch Furniture Project by FRONT.
Using motion capture, a computer records your pen strokes and places them real-time within the scene. This motion capture is finalized as a 3D image file and then sent through the Rapid Protyping process. A laser hardens liquid plastic 0.1mm at a time, and in a few hours you have a chair that will shock/impress/probably kill your friends. Awesome. Hit the jump for pictures and a video of the entire process. And maybe some brilliant commenter can explain to us why the girl on the right draws slower than her sketch appears...maybe the motion cap is feeding faster than the video? – Mark WilsonThanks Mr. JustElite!
Here's a bit of weirdness for you on a Monday morning. I was setting up a set of Dell monitor-attached speakers just now, hooking it up to a Dell monitor and a PowerBook. Everything connected fine, but then I discovered that if I turned the volume knob all the way up on the speakers, U2 would come on. That's weird, I thought, since I didn't even have that song.
This Lego Branded Bosch dish washer runs a special 104 degree cycle for rinsing away the dirt, grime, saliva, mud, bacteria, ebola, cooties, asbestos, lead paint chips, rat poison, peanut butter and jelly, and cigarette tar off of kid toys without melting the plastic. I gotta go wash my hands now.
There's even a special tray for Lego bricks. (Jump for a photo)
This "Dion" robot from China can both "sing" (in Chinese) and look sexy. Yes, simultaneously. That's two more than Britney Spears can currently do. Check out the video to see her in all her slutty, nipply, mid-drift-revealing glory. – Jason Chen
We can see how these Remix and Beatz iPod cases can get pretty annoying after a while. But the first couple hours you play with this thing will be pure delight.
The two cases—one which lets you drop "funky beatz" and the other lets you "remix"—can be chained together so you and your buddy can work together. We just wish they hadn't destroyed one of our favorite Jamiroquai songs. – Jason Chen
Intel's quad-core chips are expected to go on a rampage next Wednesday. Codenamed Kentsfield, the brawny chips are single-socket CPUs with four processing cores. The Core 2 Extreme Quad QX6700 (gotta love the name) will be clocked at 2.66GHz with a 1066MHz front side bus. AMD's response, the 4x4 platform which marries two of its dual-core chips, isn't expected till a few weeks after. While the chips will be the "latest tech," there won't be that much of a performance jump for your everyday Joes (not unless you're running multithreaded apps like video editing). In other words, you can still brag about your Core 2 Duo system. – Louis Ramirez
Oho! Sony's finally let fly with what formats the 1080p-capable PlayStation 3 will be able to support. Will it play the bare minimum of MP3s? Will it go above and beyond and play back DivX? Can you watch your iTunes movies on it?
We were never too keen on the disco age, but show us something we can operate with a remote and we're happy. DR Cooker's Star crystal ball is a hood made of glass and stainless steel that can be operated via remote control to make your kitchen look far out. It can also pass for a chandelier should you need to impress that special someone. More groovy pics after the jump. – Louis Ramirez
Looks like mum won't be the only person to appreciate our face. NTT DoCoMo has created a cell phone (P930i) with the ability to recognize your face and lock down should someone else try to use it. You'll need to store three or more snapshots of your mug on the phone before it can "recognize" you, but once it's set it'll prevent thieves from using your phone. The phone can also lock itself down if it gets separated from you in a bar or in a cab. It's only available in Japan, but if face-tracking is more your thing. . .
Good ol' Bang & Olufsen is making some noise with the Serene, a clamshell cellphone jointly developed with Samsung. Unlike other cellphones on the market, the screen is on the bottom and the buttons are up top. Try it out with your phone and see how it feels. In fact, check the jump for some more glamor shots and a virtual simulation of just how such a cellphone would look like.
The fresh Macbook Pros with Core 2 Duo chips inside have touched down. Since Apple tends to only give traditional publications loaner notebooks, the first hands on reviews are coming from the common folk. The day 1 response is overwhelmingly in favor of the seemingly stably and robust revision 2 of Apple's pro line of laptop.
The best of the citizen reviews come from some dude named Brian. His FAQ reveals that the mooing is gone, and we're assuming it won't have any shutdown issues. The CPU seem to be idling at around a relatively cool 120 degrees, alleviating any worries about Core 2 Duos being way hotter than the old Macbook Pros. And WiFi bonus: 802.11 is built on an Atheros chip that supports 802.11n draft, even though you can't yet access it in OS X. Also interesting: The 160 GB hard drives are built on the perpendicular HDD technology that packs data in sideway slices to help performance and info density. Brian also did some benchmarks, but nothing comparative. Useless.
The drink cooler is a stainless steel ball with a "super-secret liquid core", and you put this shiny orb in the freezer for an hour and then it can chill down that cocktail really quickly. It's supposed to be able to keep that drink frosty for a lot longer than ordinary ice without watering down your drink. It's £15.00.
The USB mug warmer is a variation on similar items we've seen before, but now you can keep that bottomless cup o' Java toasty warm and use its two-port hub for two other weird USB attachments. It's £10.00.
We're thinking this drink cooler might be good for quickly cooling off some of our favorite beers, killing off whatever weak taste remains without watering them down any further.
Cowan's line of flash-based digital audio players, specifically the F2, U3 and T2, will be getting bumped to up 4 GB. These versions will be made available in November, so if you are in the market for a Cowon DAP, or looking for some holiday presents, it may be worth waiting a little while. – Travis Hudson
Nothing beats a sweet surround sound set up, but when you're pressed for space (or don't want a buncha cables all over your room) you gotta go virtual. Niro can help with their new 1.1 virtual surround sound systems. Each model (from the 420 to the 1000) comes with a speaker bar and subwoofer. Looks-wise, they resemble previous Niro systems (which is a good thing), but the new models have re-designed grills and a wider speaker cabinet to better emulate surround sound. We've been fans of Niro in the past and hopefully these won't disappoint. They start at £300. – Louis Ramirez
The Wii Kiosks are going up all over Japan, allowing Nintendo faithfuls, a.k.a. the entire population between 2 and 80, to have a go at the Wii before launch. And by "have a go", we mean look but don't touch.
The big screen shows the instructional video over and over, similar to the infinitely repeating instructional video at the Star Trek: The Ride Ride we rode on in Las Vegas—much to the despair of said ride workers.
As much as we hate to admit it, we grew up watching Flipper reruns on the old tube, so our jaw dropped to the floor when we came upon this. The bionic dolphin is part speed boat, part submarine. It seats two people and is powered by a 425-horsepower Corvette engine. It can stand upright (just like Flipper), cruise at 55mph, and is constructed of Kevlar. Its creator, Thomas Rowe, is still awaiting approval before he can start cranking them out, but expect to pay up to £200,000 clams for this aquatic beast. We think it'll be worth every penny. – Louis Ramirez
This week marks the fifth anniversary of the beloved Windows XP operating system. And I think in honor of this birthday, we will spread the love towards the often-hated Windows XP operating system. (If you recall, we did a similar thing for the iPod earlier this week).
With Windows Vista on the horizon, it is important to look back at the life of Windows XP and commemorate it with a list of why we love that old workhorse of an operating system.
• The Right Mouse Button
Sure, the competitor has been supporting the right mouse button for quite some time now, but they still neglect to include it in their packaged mice or touchpads on the laptops. XP has always supported the beloved right mouse button and always will. How else can you quickly steal images from the internet without the right mouse button?
We've seen criminals use technology in their favor, but this is one of those cases where it works against them. An 18-year old kid in Wales had his friends film him as he swiped a pair of glasses off a charity worker on the street. He then posted the video on YouTube and got busted by the cops, which let him get away with a "caution." We woulda fried him and posted that on YouTube. Video after the jump.
There’s nothing more embarrassing than companies trying to be hip. It’s like watching your 60-year old Dad, wearing orange and pink lycra cycling shorts, parading around the kitchen in front of your mates talking about how cool YouTube is.
Only Ricky Gervais managed to pull off anything remotely funny for Microsoft, but Dell’s efforts to emulate a Monty Python cartoon is so bad (all 4 minutes of it), it makes your skin want to crawl right off your back.
Let’s just say that there’s Michael Dell in a knight's armour – that’s ‘K’niggits’ to those in the know - singing and rousing the peasant masses to move away from Proprietaryville. Oh Lord. You can already feel your skin crawling, can’t you?
Just press the link, if you dare. Feel free to describe your reaction in the Comments section.-Martin Lynch
Following on from the early – and boring - PS3 ad, The Wait, Sony's latest PS3 advert amps up the weird factor with this animated baby. Think the freaky spider-baby's head from Toy Story, just freakier.
I’m sure these ads are designed to lodge somewhere in our subconscious and make us more amenable to forking out hundreds of quid when the time comes but, frankly, they are a load of old bollocks.
Tell me what you think this ad signifies and I’ll throw up some of the best/funniest responses later in the week. Look deep into those eyes.- Martin Lynch
Welcome to Gizmodo’s First Fiddle – a new spot that will see us play, damage and evaluate new pieces of tech. This week, I have been mostly fiddling with Cleanaer, an air purifier no less.
It’s not that I’m all that smelly, or a smoker, it’s because a company sent it to me for a possible review. I figured I’d give it a week and if I noticed anything, I’d write up. If not, the Bin Of Shame awaited. Unlike many others of its type, Cleanaer comes with positive reviews from the The National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit.
Apart from allergens and dust mites, it's also handy at knocking down and killing house flies and other airborne insects. That alone, was reason enough to try it since my home becomes Ibiza every summer to the insect set. The unit works by dispersing electrostatically charged droplets of liquid in to the air. These droplets bind with airborne dust, smoke, smelly pet odours and allergens, knocking them to the ground.
The unit also disperses a light fragrance which, so far, everyone visiting to office has commented on: “Oh, something smells good.” What they’re really saying is: “Thank God that horrible stench that pervades his workspace is gone.” I’ll let it slide. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure what to expect with Cleanaer, since I’ve always considered most air purifiers to be a bit of a con. This one costs £30 and comes with a wall bracket and batteries. Refills are £7.50 and each one should last two months.
If you are anything like us Gizmodoites—you probably have chargers scattered all over your dwelling to accompany the various gadgets you own. Sligh is trying to solve the charging problem (since when was it a problem?) plaguing many of us with the Family Communication Center, or FCC. 
Sensing that the RAZR craze is dying a slow, painful death, Motorola is starting to pepper the market with all sorts of other horrifically name cellphones such as the just about to be released MOTOSLVR L7e. Slightly different than its vanilla 
I have a fairly nice Sony CD Alarm clock. Whenever the power goes out, I need to reset the year, date, SSN, etc, and it's a pretty big pain in the butt. So most of the time, I don't bother to program the real date in because it doesn't even appear on the display. 
Our keyboard is a gross pile of chips, cat hair and coffee spills topped by a neatly organized layer of buttons. We could use the Sucky Ducky. 
Owning a killer killer robot is so cliché. Instead, we recommend you invest in a plush killer robot by PlushBot. While most mad scientists prefer harsh materials like steel and electrophoresed kitten blood, you can be original by making novel use of more classic materials like felt and string. Caution: while he looks cute, the robot will eventually turn on you, and the soft felt may make the cutting out of your internal organs even more excruciating. 
Welcome to Gizmodo’s First Fiddle – a new spot that will see us play, damage and evaluate new pieces of tech. This week, I have been mostly fiddling with Cleanaer, an air purifier no less. 
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
