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“Jill Stuart Sweet Package”: Japan gets very cute, very pink PSP

Posted: 02 Feb 2010 03:00 AM PST

Sony seems to believe in the power of pink PSPs. Not even four weeks after giving us the PSP-3000 Blossom Pink, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan today announced [JP] another pink PSP for the Japanese market. Dubbed “Jill Stuart Sweet Limited Package”, this new special edition was designed in collaboration with American fashion Jill Stuart.

Buyers will get exactly that Blossom Pink PSP linked to above, a 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo (Mark2), an AC adapter, a pouch and cloth designed by Jill Stuart, and an extra-cute box that makes this limited edition deserve its name.

The Jill Stuart Sweet Limited Package is scheduled to hit stores on March 4 for $230. It’s Japan-only, but specialized online game shops, for example Play Asia, should be able to ship the box outside Japan, too.

Daily Crunch: Night Scoot Edition

Posted: 02 Feb 2010 12:00 AM PST

DIY: Flat pack scooters and bike

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 08:45 PM PST

I’m not sure exactly how useful these things are, but as a concept they are definitely cool. Flat pack furniture, sure. But I’m not so sure about flat pack vehicles, these look like they might have some structural issues.

This is the work of french designer Nicolas Belly, who created these as a (winning) entry is a design contest for the L’ ARGUS Design Competition. Nicolas won 2nd place with his design, but I doubt we’ll ever see these in production. Made from mostly plywood, Nicolas’ vehicles look cool, and would no doubt make a cool display piece in some loft somewhere. I doubt they would be comfortable to use though, and not very durable. Maybe if they were constructed from carbon fiber.


Acriche unveils first 100 lm/W AC LED light

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 06:43 PM PST


I like the idea of LED lights, as I’m sure you do, too. Like you, I dislike the inefficiencies of incandescent bulbs, although I like the bright, warm light they produce. Like you, I like the power efficiency of CFL bulbs, although I dislike all that nasty mercury inside them. LED lights look like a big win, except, of course, for the fact that the light is either too diffuse to be useful, or too focused to make a general purpose bulb. Acriche, a division of Seoul Semiconductor, may be changing the game with their announcement of a 100 lm/W LED bulb.

PORTLAND, OR, FEBRUARY 1, 2010 — Seoul Semiconductor, a leading global LED manufacturer, announced today that it will introduce the first 100 lm/W AC LED light source during the first quarter of 2010. Offering 25% greater efficiency than existing LED light products, this latest offering from Seoul Semiconductor's Acriche brand will be available for sampling by March 1. It will be supported with a global marketing campaign.

Seoul Semiconductor, which has pioneered development and manufacturing of next-generation LED light sources since 1992, notes that Acriche outlasts incandescent and compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs, and due to its long life is less costly to use than traditional lighting methods.

Like other Acriche products, the new 100 lm/W LED needs no AC-DC converter. Additionally, it generates less than 1/10th the carbon emissions of an incandescent bulb, an important consideration in meeting new regulatory standards in markets worldwide.

Seoul Semiconductor is in the process of carrying out investment activities, active research and development activities, and marketing promotions to boost the supply of Acriche in the United States, and has thus far invested nearly $20 million with plans to expand the investment in the future. In particular, it is making a huge effort with Acriche's patented technology for use in multiple lighting applications through continual research and development for dynamic evolution of the product.

“We’re proud to introduce this next-generation Acriche with its environmentally friendly profile, and cost-efficient application,” said Mr. S.M. Lee, Vice President of Seoul Semiconductor in Korea “This new product represents great strides by Seoul Semiconductor’s Technical Research Institute. Acriche now has up to ten times the efficiency of incandescent bulbs and greater system level performance as compared to generic DC LEDs.”

The global market for LEDs exceeds $5 billion annually, and is expected to grow at a pace of more than 24% annually. Acriche is expected to appeal to the U.S. market, where the race to instill “green” living practices has intensified, resulting in increased numbers of lighting systems being replaced or upgraded with LED solutions.

Anticipating a continued robust U.S. demand for Acriche, Seoul Semiconductor is dedicating foundry resources to ensure supplies of the product are readily available. Mass production of the new Acriche will begin in the first quarter of this year. In addition, research and marketing campaigns are underway to raise consumer awareness about the benefits of LED technology.

What is Acriche?

Seoul Semiconductor's main product, Acriche, is an AC-driven semiconductor light source. Because the LED does not require a converter; it is more energy- and cost-efficient than DC LEDs. In addition, Acriche is officially recognized for its safety, having acquired CE and TÜV certifications as well as UL certification in the United States due to the reliability of its electronic parts. Acriche is easy to install. In addition, with a life span of more than 35,000 hours, Acriche LEDs meet Energy Star requirements for indoor and outdoor solid state lighting.

About Seoul Semiconductor

Seoul Semiconductor is the fourth largest LED company globally, according to IMS Research, a British electronics market research agency. The company has more than 5,000 patents and owns internationally recognized technology such as Acriche, developed by its own original technology; Deep UV LED; and Non-Polar LED implementations. The company runs 33 overseas operations, including three subsidiaries, and 150 worldwide distributor locations. Visit www.acriche.com for more information.


Successor to Canon’s T1i entry-level DSLR coming next week?

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 06:20 PM PST


Oh boy, I hope this is true. I’m shooting with an XSi, and it’s a great camera, but damn would I like to have me some movie-shooting ability. The T1i was a bad bet for that because it shot at 20FPS, which is ridiculous, but this new T2i allegedly has selectable frame rate modes. 1080p/24? Oh pleeeeeease!

According to Canon Rumors, the T2i is on its way next week and has, in addition to better movie-shooting, the following features:

  • Higher-resolution LCD
  • Revised body
  • New battery and battery grip

But no articulating screen, which personally I am okay with. I’d prefer that in-viewfinder LCD anyway.

Review: Booq Mamba Shift L laptop backpack

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 06:00 PM PST


Short version: An excellent backpack for bloggers or the Batman. It has a ton of pockets and compartments, lots of space, a padded laptop section, and a water-resistant exterior. Its main flaws: no good spot for a big camera, and no readily accessible outside pockets.

Features:

  • Laptop compartment fits up to 17″
  • About a gazillion sub-pockets
  • Water-resistant outside
  • Wide-mouth cargo section for easy access
  • MSRP: $149.95

Pros:

  • Comfortable
  • Roomy, lots of pockets for thermite, batarangs
  • Sleek and understated design

Cons:

  • No good place for your DSLR and lenses
  • Few outside pockets
  • Expensive!

Full review:

At the end of Bag Week, we had just received the Booq Mamba Shift, and I didn’t want to give it a rush review. We were about to head to CES, and I thought that’d be a great place to put the thing through its paces anyway — so I did, and it performed admirably with some minor caveats. Before anything else, though, here’s the video tour of the thing that I put together, so you know what I’m talking about.

So I won’t waste your time with descriptions — you can see for yourself above and in the pictures just how it looks. I want to add the result of some hands-on time with the thing.

Basically, it’s great. CES is a madhouse and not only are you trucking around the convention center for miles at a time, but whatever bag you’ve got is going to be a mess of cables and devices. Luckily, the wealth of smaller, well-laid-out pockets on the interior of the bag made separating my card readers, generic cables, power adapters, 3G modems, and all that stuff easy as pie.

There’s a ton of padding and the straps are comfortable. No complaints there. The backpack itself is very well put together, having very few seams to unravel or edges to catch on things. The counterpoint to that is that there are very few outside pockets, so if you like having a water bottle or point and shoot within reach, you’re out of luck.

The main trouble I had with it was that it was not at all optimized for camera gear. The bottom of the cargo pocket is quite narrow, and had trouble fitting my Rebel XSi, which anyone can tell you isn’t a big camera. Furthermore, the pockets are obviously designed for separating small items from one another, not for carrying anything bulky — so if you want an extra lens around, it too will have to sit in the undefined middle space. Obviously this isn’t a problem if you’re not a photographer, but the result for me was that I had to carry my camera separately most of the time.

There’s also the issue of price. $150 is a lot to pay for a backpack, though the Mamba Shift L is both large and high-quality. So it’s not that you don’t get what you pay for, but whether you’re willing to drop the cash in the first place. Personally, I might save $50 and go with the Boa Squeeze.

Conclusion

The Booq Mamba Shift L is a terrific backpack for anyone who carts a laptop around a lot, but doesn’t need room for a camera. The L of course means it’s the large version, so if you have a smaller laptop it might be worthwhile to wait for an M to come out.

Booq Mamba Shift L

Taking analog to a new level: the 01 wristwatch

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 05:30 PM PST

As much as I love digital watches (and watches that take some work to read), there is something comforting about an analog dial. And the 01 watch takes analog dials to a whole new turning disk level.

What is a turning disk dial? Well essentially, instead of hands your watch has two dials that turn, indicating the hour, minute, and sometimes even the second (but not in this case). Turning disks have been around for quite a while, but it’s rare to see them used in a contemporary timepiece. There are three models of this rather unusual timepiece; it’s available in black, brown, and white faces, all three with leather straps for $170 each.

Review: Cyber Snipa Silencer gaming mouse

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 05:00 PM PST


Short Version: While the Silencer is a welcome change from the eternal round of Razer, Logitech, and Microsoft mice, it doesn’t show the level of refinement those companies now include in their mice. I hope for more from Cyber Snipa in the future, but the Silencer just can’t stand up to the competition.

Features:

  • Aggressively molded right-handed shape
  • Robust macro editor
  • Four customizable DPI settings
  • Removable weight and grips
  • MSRP: $54.99

Pros:

  • Side grips are nice (it could have more)
  • Mode and DPI switching is instantaneous

Cons:

  • Tracking is unreliable
  • Button placement could be better
  • Configuration is limited, unintuitive

Full review:

It’s hard out there for a mouse. The competition is so good and so numerous that unless you bring something really new to the table, you’re going to be either outclassed or buried. For the Cyber Snipa Silencer, it’s a little bit of both. That’s not to say it’s a bad mouse &mdsah; those are increasingly rare these days — but even at its relatively low price of $55 you can find many mice that school it in various ways.

Form

Perhaps the standout feature of the Silencer is its form factor. It’s large and molded in an aggressive right-handed shape, much more swoopy than the Imperator or G500. It is of course impossible to know whether a mouse will fit your hand until you try it out, but in this case you can be sure of two things: it’s not ambidextrous, and it’s meant to take up your whole hand. The trouble is that, due to its extreme shape, it really only provides one way to hold it. The Xai design, at the very opposite end of ergonomic theory, attempts to place as few restrictions on you as possible. They’re both legitimate approaches to designing a device like this, but the downside of a specific-grip design is that if your hand doesn’t fit it exactly, you’re SOL.

In my case, it wasn’t a particularly good fit but if my hands were slightly smaller it’d be just fine. I can’t ding them for not making their mouse the exact size I require. The removable grip is great, although there are only two to choose from, and neither offers a drastically changed mousing experience.

The button placement is a little more problematic, though. The main buttons and scroll wheel are just fine, clicky and hard to miss. But the thumb buttons are trouble. They look like any other buttons on a gaming mouse, but there is in fact a little ridge right below them that interferes with my pressing the buttons — not least because it’s the same shape and a quarter inch away. I suppose it’s meant to be a little physical cue for where the buttons are, but it really does nothing to help and usually gets in the way. The buttons themselves are squishy and the shape is counter-intuitive; you never feel like you’re pushing them in the right way.

Performance

Tracking was a bit of a mystery. The Silencer has a “lift” button, which essentially focuses the laser sensor, a “feature” notably absent in every other mouse on the market. When you put the mouse on a surface, be it mousepad or table or what have you, you need to jiggle the mouse around with the lift button down, and it calibrates itself. If you forget to do this or somehow mess it up, the mouse will track extremely badly. Not that we’re all switching mousing surfaces every few minutes, but it does raise questions as to the reliability of the sensor. Once calibrated, I found it was reliable, but not on my cloth mousepad. Click the thumbnail at right to see how it performed on three different surfaces.

Configuration is straightforward but limited. Razer and others offer a pre-made set of actions to assign to buttons as well as the means to create your own. I had to create my own double-click macro, which is easy enough, but what if I want media functions or Windows functions like minimize active window? Also, while you can change the color of the profile LED, you can’t turn off the extremely bright red light on the base of the mouse. It pulses constantly and brightly, which is distracting if you’re trying to watch a movie or have a romantic evening.

Conclusion

I look forward to more from Cyber Snipa, but the Silencer has too many problems that are easily correctable, and which aren’t present on competing mice. Pass on this one, but don’t count them out.

Cyber Snipa Silencer

Pre-order your Alienware M11x right now

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 04:44 PM PST

Got a hankering for Alienware’s 11-inch ultra-portable like everyone else? Well then head over to Dell’s site where you can spec out your very own M11x right now with your choice of Core 2 Duo CPUs, up to 8GB of Dual Channel DDR3 memory, Verizon or AT&T mobile broadband and either a spinning hard drive or a 256GB SSD. It’s really not that hard to jump the M11x’s base $799 price north of $2,000. Whatever options you pick, the notebook won’t ship until March 1, 2010 though so don’t get that excited yet. You still have a few more days before your gaming addiction will hit a whole new level. [Dell via Engadget]

World of Warcraft headphones get pricing, details

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 04:30 PM PST

Creative is finally giving up some details on the World of Warcraft headset that they showed off at BlizzCon and CES. The price is a bit higher then we’d all like, with an MSRP of $159.99 for the wireless version, and $119.99 for the wired version. They do look cool though, I like the choice between the Horde and Alliance artwork lit up on the sides.

I tried these out at CES for a few minutes, and they have a good feel to them. Sound quality is acceptable for general computer and gaming use, but they definitely aren’t audiophile level. Given the amount of time spent on a raid, I think I’d probably recommend going for the wired version, instead of the wireless. The wireless version does use a rechargeable battery, and according to Creative you can charge it while using the headset. Of course, we don’t have an actual release date yet, but you can pre-order them on Amazon. MSRP on the wireless version is $159.99, and the wired version is $119.99. For the Horde!

From the press release:

Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headset Features
• Two sets of interchangeable headset lenses with 16 million color LEDs, featuring Horde and Alliance artwork
• Custom World of Warcraft-themed voice presets that allow you to alter the way you sound to other players
• Interface software designed to look and feel similar to the in-game interface
• Advanced uncompressed wireless technology
• THX TruStudio PC™ audio technology — the result of years of collective experience and research by Creative and THX, which delivers the fullest audio experience for games, movies and music
• Works on PC and Mac
• Cushioned earpads and light, flexible headband reduce listening fatigue during intensive gaming
• Rechargeable battery, recharges even while in use


Rumor: Apple Has Another Tablet In The Works. More Like A Mac Than An iPhone.

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 04:23 PM PST

In the movie Contact, when revealing to main character Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) that there is actually a second space travel machine that was being built at the same time as the first one, but in secret, S.R. Hadden (John Hurt) says, "why build one when you can have two at twice the price?" Apple, it seems, may have the same line of thinking. By now, we've all seen the iPad and know just about everything about it that we possibly can. But did you know that the secretive company may actually be hard at work on a second device already? Now, before I say anything else, take this information with a grain of salt. While it originated from a good source, it was a second-hand source. Meanwhile, I've corroborated some the main details with another source, but not some of the smaller ones. That said, from what I'm hearing, Apple is pretty far along on work on second tablet device. A bigger one. And this one may be much more like a Mac than an iPhone.


Terrible grammar? Blame Twitter.

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 04:00 PM PST

Who didn’t see this coming? Waterloo University, a fine institution of higher learning, in Canada, has found that 30 percent of incoming freshman cannot pass a “simple” English test. New communication methods, primarily Twitter, texting, and social networking sites like Facebook, are to blame. To quote a classic line from The Simpsons, “Me fail English? That’s unpossible.”

The story is that students these days simply have terrible grammar, end of discussion. It’s becoming so bad that many of these students are not being admitted to university, or, if they are accepted, they have to take basic English classes to merely get up to speed.

Blame Twitter. Well, that’s a little unfair, but only a little. For some reason, a certain percentage of young people today think it’s acceptable to use words, if you can even call them words, like “cuz” and “lol” in formal writing. It gets worse, says one professor at Simon Fraser university:

The words ‘a lot’ have become one word, for everyone, as far as I can tell. ‘Definitely’ is always spelled with an ‘a’ -’definitely’. I don’t know why. Punctuation errors are huge, and apostrophe errors. Students seem to have absolutely no idea what an apostrophe is for. None. Absolutely none.

This looks like a job for Mr. Period! (And what’s the deal with apostrophes? Do people still mix up “its” with “it’s”? Or do people needlessly pluralize words with the addition of apostrophes, like CD’s and DVD’s?)

Now, it’s one thing to blame Twitter and whatnot, but the problem is deeper than that. The fact is, well, grammar simply isn’t taught in school anymore. I, myself, didn’t learn a whole lot of grammar until 11th grade, when, all of a sudden, it became an issue in English and Spanish class. I think our English exam at the end of the year had a fairly thorough grammar section, while our Spanish teacher was shocked that we didn’t know the difference between an object pronoun and subject pronoun.

That makes for a wicked combination, minimal formal education on the subject combined with the carefree attitude of Twitter and texting. Melodramatic types might call that a toxic combination.

Now, CrunchGear obviously isn’t a shining beacon of English excellence, but we do try to meet a minimum standard of readability. I can assure you all that I’m trying to be annoying whenever I use phrases like “lol” or “jkjkjk”; I don’t use the phrases out of laziness or because I think it’s proper to write “lmfao” in anything but nonsense communication with friends. Granted, you could argue that CrunchGear is nothing if not nonsense communication, but that’s a subject for another day.

(And yes, I know that many of you will have only found out about this post because of Twitter, but I have no control over that since things tweet automatically here.)

via Slashdot

Even ScotteVest caught the iPad fever

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 03:30 PM PST


IPad accessories are popping up everywhere. Proof? ScotteVest is now advertising its 22-pocket Travel Vest for Men as the first clothing line with a pocket for the iPad. Maybe that explains where Colbert was holding his during the Grammys. He seemed to pull it out of nowhere. That’s what ScotteVests are known for after all — gadget concealment.

In truth though, the $100 Travel Vest isn’t new and improved for the iPad. It just so happens that the vest already had a pocket big enough to hold the iPad. Or the Kindle. Or Nook. Or just about anything along those lines. But it also helps that Steve Wozniak sits on ScotteVest’s board of directors.

[thanks for the tip, Riles]

Festo iFab in action: Ooooh baby

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 03:15 PM PST

Ladies and gentlemen: I present the first rapid prototyping porn video [SFW].

I know there’s only, only one like you
There’s no way they could have made two
Festo iFab rapid prototyper you’re my reality
But I’m lost in a-a-a a dream
You’re the first, you’re the last, my everything

via Make

Apple’s subtle, subliminal message during the iPad event

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 03:00 PM PST

Phenomenal.

[via HardOCP]

Microsoft to introduce Zune Phone with Windows Mobile 7 at MWC

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 02:45 PM PST

If there is one rumor that tends to come and go and agonizes Windows Mobile fans, it’s the one about a Zune phone. Although it’s not officially confirmed, Gizmodo has it on good word that Microsoft will be introducing a Zune phone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year. More specifically, it will be a Windows Mobile 7 phone with Zune features and capabilities, so it’s not a Zune phone, per se.

Read the rest of this entry at MobileCrunch>>

Avatar has made a billion dollars. Twice.

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 02:30 PM PST

Prepare yourself for motion picture history. Seems that Avatar is the first movie in the history of ever to pull in 2 billion USD worldwide. Uncork the champagne people.

It only took three weeks to hit $1,000,000,000. It’s been sitting at the number one box office spot for the past seven weekends, pulling in $30 million. It surpassed Titanic as the number one grossing movie of all time. It renamed a mountain for frak’s sake. Space Pocahontas Avatar is turning out to be a veritable gold mine.

[Film School Rejects]

In order to attack in this game you have to ROARRRRR

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 02:00 PM PST


I saw this over the weekend but didn’t realize there was video to go along with it. It’s really representative of the reasons I love the indie games scene. You get completely random ideas like this, actually made into playable games. It’s like the small-scale cinema scene, where every little idea gets filmed because hey, why not? In this case it seems that an experiment with color and volume turned into a game where you have to scream as loud as you can to destroy enemies or remove obstacles. So awesomeRAAAAAAAA

Of course, it’s just a short tech demo, but like so many indie games, what matters is the idea presented. Games occasionally use the microphone, but usually for communication or for some random things like blowing into your ship’s sails. How come there isn’t a top-tier game where you have to speak softly to open some doors, yell to scare enemies, or find a certain pitch and hold it to raise a bridge?

As always, you can find a ton of great free and independent games at TIGSource and Indie Games.


Scientists create coevolved Predator and Prey bots

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 01:30 PM PST

Some scientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne have built “evolving” predator and prey robots designed to, in short, learn from each other. Read that again: While we’re worried about Taylor Swift and and Lady Gaga, robots are now teaching each other how to hunt us.

The robots use Darwinian Selection to decide how to escape each other or work together to catch another robot.

Just a few hundred generations of selection are sufficient to allow robots to evolve collision-free movement, homing, sophisticated predator versus prey strategies, coadaptation of brains and bodies, cooperation, and even altruism. In all cases this occurred via selection in robots controlled by a simple neural network, which mutated randomly.

Presumably they kept running these programs over and over again and eventually produced Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, two Darwinian superrobobeasts designed to lull us into submission.

via Eng

Kinekt gear ring. It spins!

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 01:30 PM PST

Quite possibly the coolest ring we’ve seen in a long time. Maybe ever. It might not be as functional as my bottle opener ring, but this gear ring from Kinekt Design will certainly be more entertaining.

Made completely out of stainless steel, there are six internal gears than spin with the two outer ones. It’s simple, elegant, and totally awesome. You can pretend that you’re Vors Voorhorian, the genius engineer behind the Incom X-Wing starfighter. At least until you get a hair caught in it.

It’s currently available in US sizes 9 through 12 for $165.
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