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Tech NewsLimited Edition Wall-E Roomba From Japan Sucks in More Ways Than One
Limited-edition Wall-E Roomba: that brings to mind a certain image of an already-fairly-cute vacuum bot taking on two puppy dog eyes, an adorable electro-babble voice synth and maybe even an inclination to maintain a little nest of sad artifacts it has horded from your waste in an unseen corner of your giant house. Or at … Continued
By John Mahoney -
Tech News
Sony To Bring DRM-Free Music to iTunes, Says Rumor
Word is that Sony is going to be joining EMI in Apple’s iTunes Plus. That’s the extra-cost, higher-MP3-quality DRM-free option in iTunes. EMI’s currently the only major label in iTunes Plus, so the addition of Sony would be a major coup for Apple to say the least. This is just a rumor though, so watch … Continued
By Kit Eaton -
Tech NewsGadgetsFirst Full Trailer for New Pixar Movie is… Interesting
The geniuses at Pixar have a new movie due out next summer called Up, and the first full trailer for it just hit the web. It’s about a 78-year-old man named Carl Fredricksen who travels the world via his house and a bunch of balloons. It’s a definite change of pace from Pixar’s past movies, … Continued
By Adam Frucci -
Tech News
Allio HDTV Integrates Media PC with Built-In Blu-ray
Allio has gone and done what we wish every HDTV manufacturer would attempt already. They’ve shoved a full-blown media PC into a 1080p LCD TV. Coming in sizes up to 42 inches, buyers can customize a set that features a Vista-powered PC with a Core2Duo, 4GB of RAM, Wi-Fi, 1TB of storage and a Blu-ray … Continued
By Mark Wilson -
Tech News
Novatel Ovation MC760 Is World’s Smallest USB EVDO Modem
We’ve been loving Sierra’s U597 EVDO card for a while because the form factor is so damn tight, but it looks like they just got one-upped (downed?) by Novatel, whose Ovation MC760 Micro Modem is the world’s smallest EVDO Rev. USB modem. It’s got onboard GPS, an integrated microSD slot, and a dual band antenna … Continued
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Tech News
Circuit City Goes Bankrupt, Files for Chapter 11 Protection
After closing 155 stores last week, Circuit City has finally bitten the dust. The electronics store chain-with 721 stores in the US and 770 in Canada-has filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Virginia, pressured by the recession and competition from Best Buy and Wal-Mart. However, it may not be … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech NewsGadgets
Etch-A-Sketch Mod Adds Memory, Ability to Reproduce Your Art
Rakesh Reddy’s Remember-it-All mod brings Etch-a-Sketch nearly up to the 21st Century, by adding a memory and stepper motors to the toy. It ends up being a tad like the Etch-a-Sketch clock, but niftily when you switch it into record mode it copies your every move into memory. Throw a switch and your crappy straight-line … Continued
By Kit Eaton -
Tech News
Unmanned Helicopter Flies Low, Dodges Obstacles With 3D Laser Camera
Click to viewEngineers at Carnegie Mellon University have paired a 3D laser camera system, capable of mapping out terrain and obstacles in real time, with an unmanned Yamaha helicopter, creating an autonomous, incredibly low-flying UAV. Once loaded with preexisting topographical data, the sighted UAV is able to hug the ground at altitudes of 5m, fly … Continued
By John Herrman -
Tech NewsGadgets
Navigon’s 8100T GPS Has 3D Terrain-View Maps
Navigon’s just announced a new high-end GPS unit, the 8100T, that actually displays the right terrain in its map representations. Dubbed Panorama View 3D, the system uses NASA-derived height data to accurately recreate the inclinations of the road as it crosses terrain ahead of you. The unit’s also got a 4.8-inch screen, includes free traffic … Continued
By Kit Eaton -
Tech News
Vudu’s HD Offerings Top Everyone, They Offer $200 In Recognition of Their Own Awesomeness
While standard definition digital downloads are still gaining in popularity, Vudu has been actively building their HD catalog of streaming films. This week, Vudu adds 389 HD movies to break 1,000 HD titles available for streaming (actually, breaking 1,100 but that sounds so much less impressive). Vudu claims their digital library to be the largest … Continued
By Mark Wilson -
Tech NewsCommerce
Kindle Goes All Old-Fashioned, With Periscope Booklight Case
Maybe I’m wrong, but a big part of the goodness of the Kindle e-reader is it’s easy-to-carryness, and its whizzy digital modernity: That’s where this Periscope Lighted Folio for Kindle gizmo has me confused. Because at one stroke it seems to take the Kindle soaring back 20 years, with a faux-leather case with built-in notepad … Continued
By Kit Eaton -
Tech NewsGadgets
Full-Length MGM Movies To Come to YouTube
MGM’s apparently due to announce it’ll be putting full-length movies from its impressive archive on to YouTube, essentially making them free of charge. Full-length TV shows will be kicking off the new partnership, with old episodes of American Gladiators at first, and movies like Bulletproof Monk and the Magnificent Seven to follow. MGM will be … Continued
By Kit Eaton -
Tech NewsGadgetsOzzy Osbourne’s Depressing Incoherence Used To Sell Messaging Phones
AT&T, who currently has a thing for cheap, underwhelming messaging phones, has teamed up with Samsung for an advertising campaign to promote their Propel QWERTY slider phone. This isn’t some budget spot either — it’s got Ozzy Osbourne. Two things we can learn from this commercial: 1.) Osbourne’s most marketable asset is currently his senility … Continued
By John Herrman -
Tech NewsGadgets
Paper Shredder Reinvented In Sculpture-Like Paper2Dust Concept
Paper shredders are usually simple and utilitarian-designed boring boxes, which may be why Bluelarix Designworks went to town on this reimagining of the machine. Paper2Dust is bizarrely sculptural, and works by having a “fast turning cord” spinning inside the top that literally rips the paper you slide into it into dust. The glass lid of … Continued
By Kit Eaton -
Tech News
Honda’s Groin-Threatening Robo-Legs Demonstrated On Video
Why Honda took a few days to seed a video of their potentially emasculating robotic legs is beyond me, but here it is: a faceless man running the “Walking Assist Device” through its strides (ha, ha). My fears of testicular danger are only partially mitigated, and the fact that the legs have a hilariously feminine … Continued
By John Herrman -
Tech NewsGadgets
Dell Ditching Zing-Based MP3 Player Plans, Says Rumor
In July there were some strong rumors that Dell would be bringing out a Zing-based MP3 player that would be a “Zune killer“: but now it looks like those plans have been canned. According to the Wall St Journal, Dell had been as close as this Autumn to making at least one Zing-device, but the … Continued
By Kit Eaton -
Tech News
MIT Team Tapped to Design the Airliners of 2030
A couple of lucky ducks at genius factory MIT have been chosen by NASA to create the planes of the future. The future in this case is the year 2030, to be precise, and they’ll have $2 million with which to do it. The Seaquest DSV-inspired image above is one of the initial designs pumped … Continued
By Jack Loftus -
Tech News
5.11 Tactical Series UC3.400 Flashlight Might Be the Last Torch You’ll Ever Need
And it does it all without batteries of any kind. That is, if it ever comes to light (ugh). Slated for release in 2009, the 5.11’s Light for Life UC3.400 LED flashlight uses the almost mystical power of an ultracapacitor to achieve a full 23.5-hour charge in 90 seconds. This torch is expensive at $170, … Continued
By Jack Loftus -
Tech News
Deconstructed DSi Reveals Beefier Processor Might Be Draining Battery Life
When the DSi specs were first revealed in front of the Nintendo money vault this past October, we noticed the battery life of the DS line went from “pretty awesome” to “WTF?” The brighter, larger screens were initially blamed for the 1-6 hour drop, but a field stripped DSi we discovered today hints the drain … Continued
By Jack Loftus -
Tech News
LED Motherboard Menorah Is Hanukkah 2.0
The Christmas ads are already hitting the airwaves, so it’s only fair that we bring you this LED motherboard menorah way too early too. There are few surprises with this 5.5-inch tall by 9-inch wide menorah, other than the geek factor that comes alongside celebrating eight crazy nights with a motherboard and some LEDs. For … Continued
By Jack Loftus