Astronaut Runs Marathon In Space April 3, 2007
READ MORE Entertainment , Science , Sport , Technology
There are those uber-fit people out there who will be able to boast soon that they completed the 2007 Boston Marathon on April 16th but, how many of them will be able to say they did it from space?
You read correctly. Astronaut, Sunita Williams is currently on-board the International Space Station but has every intention of running the 26.2 mile race on a treadmill, 200 miles above our heads. She even has her bib number [14,000] having qualified for the marathon by posting a time of 3:29:57s in Houston last year.
The little problem of operating in zero-g will be handled by a specially designed treadmill with bungee cords. However, since she is on a six-month stint in space, it will be summer before she gets her medal.
If this doesn’t get her in the Guinness Book Of Records….-Martin Lynch
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Sony’s 'Invisible' Home Cinema April 3, 2007
READ MORE Gizmodo UK , HDMI , HDTV , Hi-fi , Home Cinema , Home Entertainment , TV
Clutter. Anyone with a healthy gadget obsession will have lots of it. In the modern living room, it’s usually in evidence through a mass of wires and cabling snaking around the floor and walls and more remote controls than the fingers to use them. Sony thinks that by hiding the home cinema in the TV stand, it will make life easier and less cluttered. It could have a point.
This is the Bravia Home Theatre RHT-G800, a TV stand that cleverly houses a home cinema speaker set-up. The stand is home to the S-Master Amp powering 5 x 70W speakers and a pair of subwoofers rated at 120W. It uses pseudo [fake] surround technology - Sony S-Force PRO Front Surround – to produce the rear effects and there are six sound fields to choose from: Standard, Cinema, News, Sports, Music and Night Mode.
It also comes with a handy pair of HDMI inputs and can take up to four devices (TV, DVD recorder, PS3 etc).
However, this is more than just a shell for audio/video components because it also features its own touch-panel control that uses the new Bravia Theatre Sync technology. When used with Bravia TVs and new Sony DVD players, one button will turn everything thing on, and off. Anything requiring less remotes is a good thing.
Due out in May, it will cost around £700.-Martin Lynch
WiRanger Extends USB Over Wi-Fi April 3, 2007
READ MORE Online , PC , Peripherals , Wireless
Icron's WiRanger USB hub looks like a normal USB hub except for the wireless antenna that connects it to the USB receiver which hooks into your PC. So we suppose it doesn't really look like a normal USB hub after all. Unlike other wireless USB solutions, the WiRanger uses 802.11g, but in all other respects it behaves just a normal hub. That means all your standard USB gadgets will work just like in a standard hub.
What's the point? Mostly to hook up a USB printer or some various low-bandwidth devices at a distance. But hooking up a USB hard disk over its 802.11g may not deliver the kind of performance anyone would like. – Jason Chen
Product page [Icron via Everything USB]
Toshiba Slashes HD DVD Prices April 3, 2007
READ MORE Blu-ray , HD DVD , Home Cinema , Home Entertainment , Movies , PS3
A cynical person would say that Toshiba is only slashing the £450 price tag of its entry-level HD DVD player, the HD-E1, because the newly arrived Blu-ray enabled PS3 is £25 cheaper. And, they’d be right.
With the PS3 offering Blu-ray, gaming etc. etc. for £25 less, Tosh really had to do something, starting with £100 off, bringing the HD-E1 down to £350. This is a lot more attractive. The new HD-EP10 will arrive in at the £450 price point [probably] but the high-end HD-XE1 will still cost a hefty £650.
For those of you thinking that £350-£450 is still a lot to pay for dedicated high-def movie player then remember that Sony’s first player for the UK – BDP-S1E - due this summer, will cost you £900.
That’s twice as much as your fellow US consumer pays. Aren’t we lucky? Don’t you feel loved?-Martin Lynch
HD DVD news blu-ray movies PS3
Will Phones Replace Wallets? April 3, 2007
READ MORE Gadgets , Mobile phones , Technology
According to Mike Elgan, the wallet is an endangered species. That's because phones are primed to become upgraded, more secure, and more convenient versions of the standard wallet.
He talks about things like the fact that credit cards are woefully inefficient in that they store a miniscule amount of data on a relatively bulky object and that the Near Field Communications systems already being put into place to handle credit cards as reasons that we may be saying goodbye to the wallet sooner than you might think. It all sounds pretty cool to me, as anything that can clean out my pockets even more is awesome. –Adam Frucci
Opinion: Why your next phone will be a wallet [ComputerWorld]
Japanese Wooden Automatic Butt-Spraying Toilet April 3, 2007
READ MORE Entertainment , Gadgets , Storage
Check out this new portable, auto-butt-cleaning toilet bowl from Toto. It has a folding top for comfortable sitting and controls on the side for a bidet, butt spray (strong), butt spray (soft), and most importantly, the OFF button. It's made of wood (I have no idea why) and all the waste falls neatly into the tray below, so that you can pull it out, throw shit out, and then take the 44-lb potty to the next bed-ridden user. –Lisa Katayama
Portable Heated/Water Spraying Toilet [TokyoMango]
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