Archive for April, 2009

Ctrl-Alt-Del pillows for a style reboot

Posted in Home by Conner Flynn on April 8th, 2009

Ctrl-Alt-Del pillows for a style rebootThe Mac fanboys have their Mac-O-Lantern pillows. Your laptop has the Log pillow. These pillows can be just for you.

They’ll give you a style reboot just by being there. But be careful. Leaning on all three at once will warp time and space, changing the reality around you. Might be a good idea to have a task manager blanket handy.

Amazon selling Xbox Live Arcade game codes

Posted in Amazon by Conner Flynn on April 8th, 2009

Amazon selling Xbox Live Arcade game codesSure, Amazon makes most of it’s hard earned dough by selling and shipping physical items, but they don’t need a crystal ball to know that digital content is the future and they are positioning themselves accordingly. The company is expanding its downloadable video game catalog to include Xbox Live Arcade games today.

The process will no doubt be streamlined in the days to come, but for the moment you buy a code from Amazon that you have to enter into your Xbox. Amazon charges you real money instead of Xbox Live points. The service is live now if you want to take a gander. Does that make the digital content taxable? So many questions. Might as well just get shopping.

Barnes & Noble working on an e-book reader?

Posted in ebooks by Conner Flynn on April 8th, 2009

Barnes & Noble working on an e-book reader?Peer pressure. It affects companies too. And since everyone else is getting in on the e-book reader craze, why not Barnes & Noble too? That’s the rumor anyway. Why wouldn’t they want a slice of that action? Some “insiders” have supposedly been talking about the possibility.

Just like the Kindle, it would supposedly be connected to a cellular carrier for some connectivity. According to one mysterious someone, Barnes & Noble had been in talks with Verizon, but that didn’t pan out. Now it would seem that Sprint is a possibility. Some aren’t ruling out AT&T.

Exmovere Chariot is a wearable robot

Posted in Robots by Conner Flynn on April 8th, 2009

Exmovere Chariot is a wearable robotDid a robot swallow that guy? Is this the next part of our evolution, where our legs are replaced by robots? Could be. In which case this is an evolutionary mullet. Business suit on top, partying robot on the bottom.

It’s actually for amputees. They will be the first to be assimilated by this contraption, trading in their crutches for this strikingly scary wearable commuter named the Chariot. The Exmovere Chariot makes it so that you are basically one half Segway. It’s all self-balancing and hands-free, making it easy for the disabled to get around and do normal things.

The Chariot has a maximum speed of 12 miles per hour and the upright design ensures that the wearer can communicate and interact just like any normal person.

[Botropolis]

Mobile phone-controlled vacuum cleaner

Posted in Robots by Conner Flynn on April 8th, 2009

Mobile phone-controlled vacuum cleanerSouth Korean telecom company KTF just announced a cleaning robot that can be controlled by a 3G cellphone. The Roomba can’t do that, now can it? The robot is called the CW100 and is the result of a collaboration with Microbot.

It’s a “smart” vacuum, like the Roomba. It can be controlled by phone, which the Roomba can’t, unless modded to do so. It uses an onboard video camera to send live images to the mobile phone, so if you see an untidy spot, the user can remotely control it using the keypad and clean it up.

Amazon also uses variable pricing

Posted in Amazon by Conner Flynn on April 8th, 2009

itunesprice-sbIf you thought you could count on Amazon keeping the price of their MP3s under the $1 price point after Apple introduced variable pricing to their tunes, think again. And disregard the comparison above. Sorry to dash your hopes and pour salt in your music-loving wounds, but Amazon has decided to go the same route.

They meet the $1.29 price point on iTunes, at least where tracks by popular artists are concerned. Walmart however, throws all caution to the wind and rolls back the price to $1.24 for selected titles. If you like songs that nobody else likes you’ll pay $0.79 and $0.64 on Amazon and Walmart.

Sony PS3 outsells the Wii in Japan

Posted in PS3 by Conner Flynn on April 8th, 2009

PS3 price cut coming soon?The unthinkable has happened. For the first time in 16 months, sales of the PS3 in Japan jumped 80% in the last five weeks of March compared to a year ago. At the same time, demand for the Wii went down by almost 63% to 99,335.

You can chalk up at least part of this to the release of a few new popular games like Resident Evil 5. Which helped up the PS3′s sales figures beyond the Wii’s for the first time since November a few years ago. It should also be noted that nearly everyone in Japan seems to already own a Wii.

82-Inch Mitsubishi WD-82737 3D-Ready TV for $4200

Posted in Television by Conner Flynn on April 8th, 2009

82-Inch Mitsubishi WD-82737 3D-Ready TV for $4200Mitsubishi just announced a whole bunch of new LCDs. DLPs too. The one that has us most interested is an 82-inch DLP for $4200. It isn’t just frakkin huge, it’s also equipped with “3D-ready viewing technology.”

With this baby you’ll be all ready to go whenever 3D content enters your home. It’s part of their 737 “home theater” TV line. The company also updated their soundbar-integrated LCD TVs, which start at $1800 for a 40-inch model up to to $3,300 for a 52-incher.

Riiflex Wiimote weights available for pre-order

Posted in Wii Accessories by Conner Flynn on April 8th, 2009

Riiflex Weights for Wii FitToday we bring you something new in a Wii peripheral to throw at/into your TV. Both the two and four pound Riiflex Wiimote weights have become a reality and you my scrawny friends are just months away from getting all buff in the arms.

One is for your Wiimote, one is for your nunchuck. A pair of the two pounders will set you back $34.95. The heavier ones will cost you $5 more per set. They won’t make you Lou Ferigno, but they will help with your flabby girlly arms.

WildCharge universal adapter kits now available

Posted in Mobile Accessories by Shane McGlaun on April 8th, 2009

wildcharge-sbI think that most of us who often forget to plug our mobile phones in to charge could remember to sit the phone on a pad to charge if that was all we needed to do. A company called WildCharge has a system that can make that a reality.

The company announced that it now has a universal wire free mobile charge adapter kits available. Kits to fit mini-USB, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson phones are available. The universal chargers plug into the charge ports on the compatible devices and then the devices can be placed on the charge pad to be powered.

Get your geek on with Star Trek Scene It

Posted in Games by Shane McGlaun on April 8th, 2009

startreksceneit-sbAnyone who has seen pictures of rabid Star Trek fans knows that geeks don’t get much geekier than these people do. Star wars fans can give them a run for their money, but Trek fans take the cake in my book. Hard core Star Trek fans can show off the Trek knowledge in a new board game based on the series.

The Star Trek Scene It game has been announced with two collector’s edition bundles. The game uses a DVD to play actual clips from the variety of TV shows and movies in the franchise. Players try to answer trivia questions that relate to the scenes to win the game.

Sanyo whips out short throw projector with HD resolution

Posted in Sanyo by Shane McGlaun on April 8th, 2009

sanyoplc-wxe45-sbI really like projectors; they allow you to get larger images from your TV or movies without having to spend $10k on a massive LCD TV. With a projector you can get images 100-inches or bigger for only a few thousand dollars. Sanyo has announced its latest HD projector called the PLC-WXE45.

The projector has a 16:9 aspect ratio, 500:1 contrast ratio, and 2000 lumens of brightness. The screen resolution for the projector is 1280 x 800 making it capable of 720p HD resolution. The device is designed for short throw distances and can produce and image of 80-inches from 34-inches away.

Intel announces new Atom Processors

Posted in Intel by Shane McGlaun on April 8th, 2009

intel-logo-sbIt’s hard to believe that with the popularity and adoption rate of netbooks today that the devices only hit the market at the end of 2007. At the beginning of the netbook revolution the machines lacked a purpose built CPU for their portable nature. However, it didn’t take long for Intel to offer a CPU just for the class with its Atom line.

Intel is celebrating the 1-year anniversary of the Atom processor by announcing a pair of new Atom parts. The high-end part is the Z550 and the bad boy runs at 2GHz and features Intel’s hyper threading technology. All of that performance is crammed into a power envelope of 3 watts so it shouldn’t be a battery killer.

cect m188 puts an iphone nano in your hands

Posted in iPhone by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2009

cect m188 puts an iphone nano in your handsThe rumors of Apple releasing an iPhone Nano are still going strong, but they remain just rumors. You can own a miniature iPhone right now if you don’t mind that it’s a cheap Chinese knock-off. The CECT m188 clones the look and menus of the original iPhone in a package that’s just 86mm x 48mm x 11mm. Or about the size of a credit card.

The screen measures 2.6″ diagonal, and it’s touch-sensitive, so it sucks to have large fingers with this one. Using a stylus is probably best. The phone is completely unlocked and works on 900/1800/1900Mhz GSM networks around the world.

Acer Aspire Timelines get 8-hour battery life for $699

Posted in Acer by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2009

Acer Aspire Timelines get 8-hour battery life for $699The Aspire Timeline notebooks manage to get 8-10 hours of battery life and they start at just $699. It accomplishes this through Intel’s ultra-low voltage processors, LED-backlit screens and dual graphics cards. Apparently you’ll get 8 hours with a regular hard drive, and 10 with an SSD.

The charger helps keep the power consumption down by cutting the power when it senses a full charge. The notebook is a tad over an inch thick, by 13.3, 14 and 15.6 inches at 3.5-5.3 pounds.