Who Loves the Sun: The Solar-Powered DS Lite March 30, 2007

READ MORE Consoles , Gadgets , Games , Portable Media

The maniacs at Tom's Hardware behind the solar Wii have done it again, this time making a solar Nintendo device that's a bit more portable. Yes, they've brought their sun-loving ways to the DS Lite, making a version that lets you have marathon Mario Kart DS sessions without needing to plug in and get rejoiced.

Personally, I'm not exactly a whiz with the soldering iron, so I'd be afraid of accidentally fusing two of my fingers together, but this looks like a pretty sweet project for the more handy of you out there, so be sure to check out their step-by-step guide showing how they created this monster. –Adam Frucci

How to Make a Solar-Powered DS Lite [Twitch Guru]

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iTunes Discount Scheme: About Time, But Good March 30, 2007

READ MORE Apple , Digital Audio , Music , Online , iPod

ipod silhouettes.jpg One of the most annoying aspects of iTunes, or any other music download service, is that once you’ve bought a few single tracks for your 79p each and you decide to opt for the full album, you end up paying for those few tracks again. Apple’s new ‘Complete That Album’ offering will now do away with that, thankfully.

If you buy a track and then decide later to get the album, you pay 79p less for the album since you already bought one of the tracks.

Somewhat overdue, it’s a good idea and certainly one of the best iTunes facilities yet. You have 180 days from your single track (s) purchase to get the rest of the album at the reduced price. Anyone see the High St. record stores following suit? -Martin Lynch

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Nokia 5700 Makes European Debut March 30, 2007

READ MORE Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Mobile phones , Music , Smartphones

nokia 5700.jpg

For those of you not obsessed with anorexic phones, Nokia thinks it has just the answer with the musically inclined 5700 XpressMusic and its twisty bottom.

This is the successor to the old 3250, which also had the rotating rear, but comes with a few more tweaks and a cooler look. The design is a little more curvy and there’s a proper 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s 3G with quad-band GSM and Bluetooth and, I do like that widescreen display which has a resolution of 240x320 for viewing videos and photos. The camera stays the same at 2MP but the whole thing is 15g lighter than the 3250.

The twisting base offer access to the four key functions: music player, camera, video call and smartphone. Memory can be expanded up to 2GB using microSD cards. The downside seems to be that there’s no mention of an FM radio and internal memory is a measly 35Mb.

The price, when it ships in Q2, will be around £240 before taxes and subsidies.-Martin Lynch

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iPod + Driving = “Danger, Danger, Screech…” March 30, 2007

READ MORE Cars , Gizmodo UK , MP3 , Motoring , Music , iPod

nissan simulator.jpg

We all know using mobile phones while driving is a bad thing, punishable by law and floggings etc.

However, I’ve been in cars with drivers attempting to sort out a portable GPS on the dashboard at 60mph and it’s a pants-wetting experience.

Now, some US researchers have tested the impact of using an iPod while driving and, to be expected, the results are not good. Drexel University took 12 people and stuck them in a Nissan 240sx Simulator. They were asked, while driving on a simulated motorway, to select and play some music, a podcast and a video. The study found that 84 per cent of the participants paid attention to what they accessed. OK, they’re listening but what did it do to their driving?

• Selecting a song or video on an iPod while driving significantly affected driver performance as measured by vehicle deviation from a lane’s center veering left or right.
• Selecting media also affected the driver’s speed. Drivers reduced speed while searching for tunes on their iPod.
• Watching videos significantly affected car-following speed.

If there is an upside, even a tiny one, then it’s that using an iPod makes you drive slower, even if it is in the wrong lane.-Martin Lynch

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