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LED Laser Fingers! Finally!

Posted: 16 Feb 2010 05:30 AM PST

Oh snap, my main man! I've been waiting on LED Laser Fingers for disco get down. Hot dog! Give me your dials, pretty lady. Let's talk, why not?! Hot for party!

Okay you guys, for real. Here's the score. You get eight "multi colored mini lights that can shoot beams of light out from your hand" for just a little over $8. Don't worry about your thumbs. This is a fingers-only affair.

Chinavasion says,

"You can use these to enliven many activities including:

Clubbing and Raves

Poetry Slams

Sporting events (support your team in the home color!)

Concerts

Walking, jogging, hiking or bicycling

Bedroom exercises

Holiday parties

Sleep-overs

Just about anywhere you want to show off your glow!"

Poetry slams – yes! Bedroom exercises – yum! Clubbing and raves – oots! oots! oots!

Better stock up, though, as the batteries are only good "for one or two nights of partying." As such, Chinavasion encourages "customers to buy in multiples of 8, it helps to keep the party going strong!"

LED Laser Fingers [Chinavasion.com]

There’s a Wii game that’s just walking

Posted: 16 Feb 2010 05:07 AM PST

Konami, you magnificent bastards. I've seen Wii fitness games before but this brings the idea to a whole new level.

Walk It Out! is a game where the goal is to… wait for it… walk around. According to the product description, you "explore an in-game world where the more you step, the richer your world becomes." So basically the more you walk around the more new places you discover. Kind of like real walking.

You can play with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, Balance Board, or DanceDanceRevolution controller. It's on sale for $20 today, normally priced at $30. And my oh my, does it have positive reviews – 4.5 stars out of 5 on Amazon.

Walk It Out [Amazon.com]

No web filter: Sony to stop offering the XEL-1 OLED TV (in Japan)

Posted: 16 Feb 2010 03:01 AM PST

Say what you want about it (too expensive, too small etc.), but I’ve always liked the world’s first commercially available OLED TV, Sony’s XEL-1. It’s just an 11-inch screen and costs $2,200, but the picture quality is just gorgeous. Today, however, Sony announced they won’t produce and sell the device on the Japanese market anymore.

The company says a Japanese Internet law aimed at the protection of children [JP] requires them to integrate a “child protection function” for the display of websites into the device (TVs without said function can’t be sold in Japan starting April this year). Sony says they looked into integrating a web filter into the XEL-1 but finally decided against it.

The company will now sell the rest of the TVs it still has in stock and then stop distribution on the Japanese market. Sales in North America and Europe, however, will continue, according to Sony. The XEL-1 first went on sale in Japan in December 2007.

Via AV Watch [JP]

Video: HTC Legend, Desire, and HD mini promo spots

Posted: 16 Feb 2010 02:40 AM PST

We’re not sure when HTC plans to make these videos available through their own channels, but we just got a trio of videos showing off the three handsets they just announced at Mobile World Congress: the HTC Desire, HD mini, and Legend.

Check out all three after the jump.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch>>

HTC announces the Nexus One’s slightly cooler twin, the Desire

Posted: 16 Feb 2010 02:30 AM PST

What’s in a name? Would a Nexus One by any other name still be as sweet? Yep. In fact, it might just be a bit sweeter.

Though it lacks almost any indication as such, Google’s Nexus One is actually made by HTC. HTC reserved the rights to the hardware design, and today they’re making good use of that decision with the announcement of the HTC Desire. It’s essentially the Nexus One reflavored to HTC’s liking.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>

There’s a new Hero in town: HTC announces the Legend

Posted: 16 Feb 2010 02:30 AM PST

As we expected after the leaks last night, HTC has just dropped the good word on three brand new handsets at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The first up is the Android 2.1-powered HTC Legend, which is essentially a spiritual successor to the much-loved HTC Hero.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>

HTC makes the HD mini official

Posted: 16 Feb 2010 02:30 AM PST

Only when you’re talking about a phone designed in the same vein as the massive (though drop-dead gorgeous) HTC HD2 with its 4.3 inch display would you ever call a phone with a 3.2″ display “mini” . That’s exactly what HTC’s doing this morning in Barcelona, with the announcement of the Windows Mobile 6.5.3-powered HD mini.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch>>

Panasonic announces new, expensive 3D monitor

Posted: 16 Feb 2010 02:00 AM PST

There’s no doubt Panasonic really believes in the future of 3D. After having announced a number of 3D TVs and 3D-enabled Blu-ray recorders and players just last week, the company in Japan announced [press release in English] a new 3D monitor today. It’s a 25.5-inch IPS LCD screen with full HD resolution, and it’s very expensive. More so than the (much bigger) 3D TVs.

Details are relatively scarce at the moment, but Panasonic says the monitor is made for “reviewing 3D footage at a work station or in the field” (it has a “ruggedized frame”). The BT-3DL2550 features dual HD-SDI (to connect other 3D hardware such as 3D cameras) and DVI interfaces. Panasonic plans to deliver the monitor with two polarizing (passive) 3D eyeglasses and a desk stand.

The monitor will go on sale sometime in September this year at a suggested list price of $9,900.

Daily Crunch: Writer’s Block Edition

Posted: 16 Feb 2010 12:00 AM PST

Nine mechanical engineers build a spokeless bicycle

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST

Nine mechanical engineering majors had a dilemma: what do you do for your mechanical design class when you only have a semester? Well, this guys decided to build a spokeless bicycle. Admittedly, only the back wheel is spokeless, but there are reasons for that.

The student that posted this up didn’t mention exactly what school they were attending, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s a very impressive project, and make sense when you think about it. The design allows for the possibilities of an electric motor, or even (as the student put it) “some sort of gyro balanced storage basket”. Keep in mind, this is a prototype so it’s a little rough around the edges, but the concept is sound. Also, the design called for both wheels to be spokeless, however due to budget and time restraints they stuck to just the front wheel.

iPad of paper

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 08:30 PM PST


The Notepod+. Really? Well, I guess it would be handy for sketching out iPad app UIs. Or just as notepaper for a really dedicated fanboi.

[via TUAW]

Time Sink: Cement Tower puzzle game

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 08:00 PM PST

A wise man once said, "I’d say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work." If that sounds eerily similar to your current work schedule, you may enjoy this browser-based puzzle game, Cement Tower.

It's an addictive mix of Tetris and Jenga with the welcome addition of explosions. The goal is simple: stack blocks up into the sky until one of them touches a strategically placed glowing star. You'll need to battle the laws of physics and hovering helicopter mines along the way.

Touch a mine and your structure explodes, forcing you to start over. Fail to outwit gravity and your structure will topple to the ground. You have the ability to cement your current structure in place even as it's falling over, although you'll need to use your cement bags sparingly while attempting to pick bonus bags up along the way.

The first 10 levels are free to play, which ought to be enough to either get you hooked or remind that Tetris, Jenga, and architecture aren't your strong suits. Additional 10-level packs run a buck apiece, for a total outlay of three bucks should you take on all 40 levels.

Cement Tower [Wild Pockets]

Verizon going BOGO crazy, launching Buy One, Get One promo on six phones tomorrow

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 07:06 PM PST

We just got a hot tip from one of our Verizon buddies. Apparently Verizon Wireless is starting a new BOGO campaign tomorrow that includes both of its Android handsets - the Droid and Eris - both Palm phones - the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus - along with the LG Chocolate Touch and Samsung Alias 2 features phones. We hear the promotion will allow you to mix and match any of the eligible handsets or even a Winmo/feature phone of equal or lesser value. Of course the buyer will be required to sign a two year contract but that's par for the course on these types of deals.


Question: Why does the iPhone still have the best touchscreen in the industry?

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 05:32 PM PST


I don’t have an iPhone. And I’m happy with my other devices. But while I laugh at AT&T issues, mock iPhone users for lacking features I have on Android, and so on, there has always been one thing I’ve been desperately jealous of: the touchscreen.

Now, I’ve had my share of touchscreens of all sizes and shapes. I’ve demoed phones and devices of varying quality for years. And somehow, Apple got themselves a better touchscreen in 2007 than any other company in the world has been able to buy or develop in the succeeding three years. Are you kidding me?

I guess I’m a little bitter about it. I mean, seriously. It’s kind of an indictment of the industry, isn’t it? Years now they’ve had to match it in terms of responsiveness and accuracy, and no one has hit it. This little informal test really draws out the issue. The Droid and Nexus One, flagship phones for the competition, completely fail where a years-old device excels. It boggles the mind!

And this isn’t just a rhetorical question. It’s a serious question that HTC, RIM, and everyone else should be asking themselves, and probably have been. Literally years after a device is introduced, with touchscreen technology advanced (one imagines), higher-resolution screens, and vastly improved processors and other components, no one in the industry has matched that device. The original iPhone, to say nothing of the 3G and 3GS, lets you point more quickly and precisely than phones coming out this week! This is a genuine mystery, my friends.

You would think that by now, someone would have thought to put together a phone with similar components and carefully fit the software so that it worked as well. But no! Even phones like the Storm and Nexus One, where the hardware and software were designed for one another, can’t stand up to the iPhone. That’s pretty embarrassing, guys! And I can’t imagine there’s a good excuse. It’s not like the iPhone uses unicorn tears as conductive lubricant or something.

The only thing I can think of is that these other companies think it doesn’t matter. That’s really the only explanation. Otherwise they would certainly have matched or exceeded its performance, you know, some time in the last few years they’ve had to do the R&D. Well, if that’s the case, then they’re blowing it in more ways than one. I exhort all them to get their collective shit together and make something that doesn’t fail miserably when compared to retired hardware.

Whether it’s buying a better screen, working more closely with the UI designers, or inventing something from scratch, it needs to happen, because the rest of the industry has been getting schooled for way too long at this point. Step up, guys.

New helmet tech acts as a second skull, skin and all

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 05:00 PM PST

Helmets have been around since the first time some cave dweller put a coconut shell on his dome to protect against sabre-tooth tiger attacks. But lately, they seem to have stalled somewhat. I mean, bike helmets appear to be more or less the same as they were when I was a kid, and motorcycle helmets seem to have stayed the same for the better part of the century. But there has been an advance, or so a UK-based design firm claims.

The advance is a second layer on top of your usual shock-absorbing shell, but of a thin skin-like material, and a buffer of jelly in between. Sounds kind of gross, doesn’t it? Yeah, and guess what it’s there for — essentially, it is meant to shift along the outside and, if necessary, tear away. This prevents twisting forces from being transferred to your head.

So basically, it’s a second skull. I think it’s pretty cool-looking, though. They call it the Superskin, and it should be available this summer from helmet manufacturer Lazer.

[via Core77]

Color e-reader uses butterfly-based technology to save power

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 04:30 PM PST


Oh, biomimetic desigin. Is there anything you can’t do? Well, at any rate, you’re doing this, which is cool enough for now. Qualcomm is putting out a new display technology they call “Mirasol,” which uses reflective bits of color to display an image, much like the way the iridescent scales on butterfly wings do. They claim it draws even less power than e-ink, which is really saying something.

The little prototype they use to demonstrate it is… just that: little. I wonder if that’s just a choice they made, or if the display technology is actually limited to smaller sizes due to some technical quirk. Who knows? It’s brand new at the moment and I’m sure we’ll be hearing more soon, so let’s not think too hard about it.

This new Kingston 16GB microSDHC card is fast, really fast

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 04:00 PM PST

MicroSDHC might soon be able to play with the big boys. This Kingston model is the first Class 10 microSDHC memory card and has a minimum data transfer rate of 10MB/sec. That’s over twice as fast as the current Class 4 standard with its 4MB/sec speed. Too bad these cards are more than three times the cost of Class 4 16GB cards right now.

Of course the SDC10/16GB-2ADP is pricey at first with a price tag of $140. But give it some time and they’ll drop down to a more reasonable price. Hopefully they’ll also increase in storage size, too. A 32GB or 64GB microSDHC card could solve all the problems in the world.

Aperture 3 is making Macs freak out – be careful out there, children

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 03:20 PM PST


Just a quick PSA: Aperture 3 is causing some Macs to write an enormous page file taking up the entire hard drive. If you were thinking of installing it and transferring over your collection, you might want to wait until they iron out this particular wrinkle. No official word on a fix yet.

What did you expect? It’s a new release from Apple.

Microsoft Turtle and Pure deets are revealed

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 03:15 PM PST

With the huge announcement of Windows Phone 7 out of the way, we’re anticipating what was rumored about another Microsoft phone last week: news about a project Pink revival. Before Microsoft can say anything officially, however, the folks over at WMExperts have unearthed some gritty details about the coming phones.

Read the rest of this entry at MobileCrunch>>

Review: Brooks Glycerin 8 Running Shoes

Posted: 15 Feb 2010 03:00 PM PST


As a chronic sufferer of a variety of foot ailments, most of which result directly from running, I can’t stress the importance of good shoes. So when Brooks sent over their 2010 Glycerin 8 shoes – I was keen to try them out.

The shoes are supposed to be made of non-Newtonian material, Brooks DNA, which means the soles can “tense up” as you run. Presumably this gives you more support during hard strikes and a softer ride when you’re not running as hard.

At first glance we’re talking about good design and normal weight (12.6oz). The shoes fit well and don’t pinch anywhere. There is excellent airflow through what looks like > 85% of the upper. These shoes also have an outersole is made of HPR Plus that is supposed to reduce wear and prevent scuffing. After using them for 3 months I can say that it works. Only the laces show wear and dirt.

For me, the most important thing for a running shoe is if it can handle the harsh impacts of running on NYC city streets. Brooks DNA material disperses these forces so well, that I have not had any recurring issues with my feet, knees or hips. I had my doubts at first – but they really work, which is mostly the reason I’m talking about it on the site. After lots of Vibram Five Fingers coverage, we thought it would be interesting to explore something a bit more traditional.

These shoes also pay attention to the environment thanks to the use of BioMoGo, the world’s first-ever bio-degradable midsole and laces made from 100% recycled materials.

Bottom Line: For a person that never tried Brooks shoes before, I’m quite impressed – excellent quality and performance. Try before you buy for fit and padding.
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