Archive for April, 2010

Sony unveils water resistant Walkman NWZ-W250 series

Posted in Walkman by Conner Flynn on April 12th, 2010

Without any fanfare whatsoever, Sony has just unveiled a new water resistant, wearable Walkman in the NWZ-250. This version comes in both 2GB and 4GB models and is said to deliver up to 11 hours of battery life.

It weighs only 43 grams and will be available in black, silver, lime green, and magenta. You’ll be able to get one later this month for just $60 if you dig the heart shape.

Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two announced

Posted in Mobile Phones by Conner Flynn on April 12th, 2010

Remember Microsoft Pink? It’s just been unveiled as a pair of handsets from Sharp called the Kin One and Kin Two. The devices are mostly based on Windows Phone 7, but they offer a totally different experience.

The entire user interface is custom to Kin and has a heavier social media slant, a custom browser and what’s this?, no support for third-party apps. The displays support multitouch with no support for in-browser Flash or Silverlight.

Concept car turns carbon dioxide into oxygen

Posted in Concepts by Conner Flynn on April 12th, 2010

The “YeZ” takes solar-powered car design one step further, by acting like a tree. Just like a tree, it sucks in carbon dioxide and releases it as oxygen. Plus there’s the whole tree design to really drive it home. The canopy over the driver and passenger looks like a big leaf.

The energy created by this process, small wind turbines fixed to the wheels and solar panels on the vehicle’s canopy are what will keep it rolling. Right now it’s just a concept, but who knows, you may be riding in one soon.

GE and Konica Minolta show off World’s first flexible OLED lighting panels in a table lamp

Posted in OLED by Conner Flynn on April 12th, 2010

GE is showing off some lighting application ideas that have a lot of potential at Light + Building 2010 and LightFair 2010. At the shows, the company will be showcasing OLEDs in several configurations, focusing mainly on the flexible and ultra-thin form factor.

The flexible OLED materials can produce an energy efficient white light and have a low-carbon manufacturing footprint. The thinness allows it to be applied to many products. Like the cool desk lamp above for instance.

Bionaire Odor Grabber Litter Box

Posted in Pets by Conner Flynn on April 12th, 2010

It looks like a strange astronaut helmet, but you don’t want to have this thing anywhere near your head. It’s actually the latest in cat box technology. The Bionaire Odor Grabber Litter Box filters the air coming from the litter box, pushing it through a filter, getting rid of litter dust and fur and making sure your house doesn’t smell.

It’s compatible with all kinds of litter and the 12-foot power cord should be long enough for you to put it anywhere you like.

Sony Nunchuk called the Navigation Controller

Posted in PS3 by Conner Flynn on April 12th, 2010

We know that Sony’s upcoming PlayStation Wiimote will be called the PlayStation Move. And now we know what to call the nunchuk part. The Navigation Controller.

The info comes from the device’s filing with the FCC, which had to disclose its final title. Sadly we don’t have any shots of the Navigation Controller’s insides, since Sony has opted to lock those down for another six months. Oh well.

Seagate and Paramount pre-load movies onto 500GB FreeAgent Go drives

Posted in Seagate by Conner Flynn on April 12th, 2010

Seagate has just announced the latest FreeAgent Go USB 2.0 drive, a small external HDD with a 2.5-inch 500GB disc, with about 20GB that’s already claimed. That’s because Seagate has partnered with Paramount Pictures in order to pre-load these drives with Star Trek, which can be unlocked after you register the drive.

There are also 20 other titles pre-loaded, which can be unlocked through the online purchase of a license key, with pricing ranging from $9.99 to $14.99 per film. And if you aren’t impressed, you can always just delete them.

Chat Stick lets you find and view Chat Logs on your computer

Posted in USB by Conner Flynn on April 11th, 2010

The Chat Stick from Paraben is a flash drive type of device that scans your entire computer for chat logs from Yahoo, MSN 6.1, 6.2, 7.0, & 7.5, ICQ 1999-2003b, Trillian, Skype, Hello, & Miranda. It then creates a report in an easy to read format.

It’s useful if you think a family member has been up to no good or if your kid is wasting time chatting when he should be doing homework. The device will cost you $99.99 and will uncover the truth about who has been chatting about what.

Ivy Carat Jewelry Case with multimedia videoshow

Posted in Accessories by Conner Flynn on April 11th, 2010

I’m probably in the minority here, but I’ve never understood the whole men/women/diamonds scam. Diamonds are so over inflated in price, monopolized and all played out. But what are you gonna do? It’s what the ladies want as a symbol of love. Might as well spice things up with this Ivy Carat Jewelry Case.

When you pop the question, the ring is still in the front, but there’s also a 2.0 inch LCD screen with a speaker, which will play music. You load and charge it via a laptop and USB port. Just pick your content and you are good to go.

Death Star Planetarium

Posted in Star Wars by Conner Flynn on April 11th, 2010

You and I both know that you have enough Star Wars collectibles. You probably don’t need another one. But we both know that you are going to buy this no matter what I say. I mean, how often to see a Death Star Planetarium?

You can pre-order it now for $25 and it will arrive sometime during the third quarter. It will help you learn the stars in the Star Wars universe and our own, instead of destroying Princess Leia’s home planet.

Roboplant, the walking robot plant team

Posted in Robots by Conner Flynn on April 11th, 2010

Roboplant also known as the Nomadic Plant is a working art project by Gilberto Esparza. It’s powered by microbial energy and it’s sole goal in life is to supply its microbes with nutrients, while at the same time cleaning up the environment. It’s a win for the Bot and a win for the environment.

A plant is riding along and getting some extra nutrients for itself. So when Roboplant finds polluted water and takes a drink and top off its microbial fuel cells, the plant eats too.

Young Explorer PC is like an educational arcade cabinet for your kid

Posted in Computer Cases by Conner Flynn on April 11th, 2010

Here’s a great way to geek up your little tyke from an early age. The Young Explorer PC gives your kid his own Windows-powered computer with a plat panel LCD, 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive.

And it looks like an arcade cabinet. Maybe in the future schools will be full of little zombies sitting in front of these things. Maybe not for awhile though, since it costs $2,599.99.

USB SNES controller with an Accelerometer

Posted in DIY by Conner Flynn on April 11th, 2010

Imagine if the old SNES controllers had accelerometers inside. You won’t have to imagine any more. Someone with some extra time on the hands has done it. This controller has been programmed to play Portal. You can watch a video of the controller in action here.

Obviously it can be programmed to play other modern games as well. Pretty neat. I can think of a few PS3 games I’d like to try it with.

Mysterious square MOTOBLUR handset shows up

Posted in Motorola by Conner Flynn on April 11th, 2010

Here’s something you don’t see everyday. A square Motorola handset from squaresville. This oddity is apparently running Android 2.1 with MOTOBLUR and is a QWERTY slider.

We have practically no details aside from the image itself. We know that it’s square. That much is obvious. We will hopefully learn more soon. And when we do, we will let you know. Any of you want a square phone?

Adjustable Grill Light for that midnight barbecue

Posted in Outdoors by Conner Flynn on April 11th, 2010

Sure, in an ideal world, you wouldn’t need a light for your grill, since most of us prefer to grill during the day. But some of us have to work and can’t even get to the grill until the sun goes down.

That’s where this Adjustable Clamp Grill light comes in handy, shedding a spotlight on your burgers and hot dogs. It’s made of heat and weather resistant high-density plastic, with 15 bright, energy saving LED lights that swivel 180 degrees.