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Could I interest the gentleman in a $121,000 gold iPad?

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 06:41 PM PDT


Yeah, so this is just a mess. This is a solid gold iPad for $121,408 and weighs over 4 pounds. It’s made by a jewelry shop – although I doubt it’s a real object and they definitely don’t have one in their shop. It’s basically a concept to gain attention.

They’re only making “50″ of these and it’s pretty dumb.

via Gearfuse


First Wii Party gameplay: it’s like Mario Party Lite, if that’s possible

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 06:21 PM PDT


Think of the simplest mini-game you can think of. Like, you press a button to win. Now think of playing games like that a hundred times in a row, with intros and outros and Miis all over the place and boppy music. Welcome to Wii Party. Check out the footage above, the first real gameplay we’ve seen outside of a few trailers and such.

I don’t know, guys. I’m about ready to jump ship and just be satisfied with playing old Zelda games for the rest of my life.

Roi de France Henri IV, avec lightsaber

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 05:54 PM PDT


The well-known statue of Henri IV on Pont Neuf in Paris (well-known to the French, anyway) has been outfitted with a neon white box and a lightsaber. That is all.

Actually, that’s not all. I would just like to say that if you, the people of the world, decide to immortalize me with a statue after I leave this plane of existence (or before), feel free to add the lightsaber right off the bat.

[via NotCot]

Could I interest the gentleman in a bespoke toy car?

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 03:10 PM PDT

If you have $65 to spend and you want a Pinewood Derby racer that will literally outlive you and most of your descendants, drop over to this website and press the Buy Now button.

This racer, made of machined aluminium, comes from Karas Customs and can be engraved with almost any design or decoration. Sadly you shouldn’t give the car to babies because they can choke on it. *SAD CLOWN*

Sony Europe exec: 3D Blu-ray on PS3 in September, lots more to come

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 02:29 PM PDT


Sony has been pushing for 3D more and more, and this E3 was kind of a turning point for them. The combination of the Move and 3D gaming means they actually have a unique angle on gaming now, instead of just a different controller and hardware.

But it’s not like they rolled out all the new features at once; while some 3D demos are being rolled out with a smaller-scale update, the big stuff is coming later in the year. SCEE’s Mick Hocking confirmed that 3D Blu-ray support will be coming in September, and after that, support for 3D pictures and home movies.

I guess they were serious about that ten-year plan. The PS3 is a better deal every month, while the Wii and the 360, despite accessories and revisions, only seem to get older.

Other than those key announcements, there wasn’t much else in the talk but a bunch of fluff about how 3D makes things great. On that point I have to disagree. 3D doesn’t make games better; good game designers make games that make 3D worthwhile. It’s a meaningful difference.

[via Engadget]

I’d buy it: the tiny Apple mystery touchscreen as a new Shuffle

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 01:12 PM PDT

Cute mockup. That’s exactly where my mind went when I saw this little guy. Too bad the cost would be way too much for the Shuffle — I’m leaning more toward a laptop touch panel or something like that. Too small to replace the MacBook touchpads, if you ask me.

Fortune names Steve Jobs and Jony Ive as smartest CEO and designer, and I agree

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 12:50 PM PDT


After all, who but the very best could have foisted such transparent BS as a fix to a blatant design flaw?

Congratulations to Steve and Jony. In all honestly, these guys really are incredibly smart and good at their jobs, but their being honored at this moment of all moments is just a little rich.

Remembering the 2,500 page Real ID freakout on Blizzard’s official forums

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 12:30 PM PDT

In loving memory of the greatest message board thread in the history of the Internet: the nearly 2,500 page monster discussing the now-rescinded plan to use real names on the Blizzard message board. May the server it’s hosted on be donated to the Library of Congress.

The Firefly intro re-imaged as an ’80s-era show

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 12:00 PM PDT

Yeah, this is probably the best thing you’ll see on the Internet today — maybe this weekend. It’s that good. You’ll appreciate it even if you haven’t seen one episode of Firefly. Fun fact: I’ve only seen the series premier for some reason I can’t explain.

Impartial Woz prefers iPhone over Android

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 11:30 AM PDT


In a recent interview with The Seoul Economic Daily in Korea, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak praised the Apple iPhone over Android. Woz has three iPhones and an iPad, so it should be no surprise that he prefers them over Android, though he does give some tepid praise to the voice recognition of Android on his Nexus One phone. Woz also provided some advice to Korean companies, encouraging them to think outside the box and to not get distracted by feature-overload.

Says Woz:

“Human should be more important and technology should modify its shape and fit into the human world, rather than vice versa. Make sure everyone who uses your device loves it actually. If you develop that love relationship, they will buy your products next time, no matter what.”

I whole-heartedly agree with this sentiment. Technology for its own sake is pretty useless: technology should improve our lives, and the best devices are those the seamlessly integrate into our everyday lives. And the wild success of the iPod and the iPhone are clear examples that love for a product will result in repeat sales.

But let’s not pretend that Woz is an impartial judge of technology: he’s still an Apple employee and investor, so his opinions may be a bit colored. (The title of this post was ironic, you see?) I do take some exception with Woz’s praise for the iPhone. Since updating to IOS 4, my iPhone 3G has experienced more crashes than in the entire time I’ve owned the phone. I’ve heard a number of similar complaints from other iPhone 3G users, too. The calendar is nigh unusable because it takes so long to load. I’ve had the mail application bomb out at least half a dozen times. Everything feels slower and less responsive. I’m certainly not loving my iPhone very much any more.

The TF2 Engineer update’s little surprise: Engineer rocket jumping

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 11:00 AM PDT

It’s nearly impossible to play TF2 right now. The teams are nearly 80% engineers and min-sentries are scattered everywhere. But that’s only because Valve’s latest TF2 update turned the Engineer class into a bonafide fun class. Want in on a little-known secret about the update? Click through to see how you can now rocket jump as an Engineer.

Blizzard changes its mind, real names not required to post on forums

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 10:40 AM PDT

Well, well, well. Blizzard has announced that real names WILL NOT be required to post on the official forums after all. Your level one alt is safe!

To show just how much Blizzard cares, the news was penned by Mike Morhaime, the company’s co-founder and current CEO.

The money:

I’d like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. We’ve been constantly monitoring the feedback you’ve given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we’ve decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.

Isn’t this exactly what I said would happen yesterday?

Before I get into this—again—I'd like to preface it with the following: I would not be surprised if Blizzard announced the new system while having zero intention of actually implementing it. Perhaps all it wanted to do was gauge public reaction? Now that it knows the public is UP IN ARMS~! over it, maybe it will come back and say, "Due to the overwhelming response, we'd like to announce a few changes to the way our Real ID policy will work in the future…"?

To be honest, all that needed to be said about this issue has been said and said to death.

Personally, I don’t care either way: in my four years of playing the game I’ve posted on the official forums exactly once. Never has Blizzard “forced” me to post there.

But for those of you who were concerned: Victoire!

Fact: iPhone 4 takes 23 percent longer to charge via USB than via electrical outlet

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 10:30 AM PDT

Well look at this. The iPhone 4 takes an average of 23 percent longer to charge while charging via USB than it does while charging via a standard electrical outlet.


Want to tweet Andy Gray tomorrow on Fox Soccer Channel?

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 10:00 AM PDT


Sneijder is, in fact, the man diggity

Looks like Fox Soccer Channel has decided to embrace Twitter. It’s about time! Andy Gray, the former professional player turned TV pundit, will be on the channel’s Ticket to South Africa program tomorrow evening to discuss the ins and outs of the World Cup. How can you participate?

It’s quite simple, thank goodness. During the show, which airs live at 6pm ET/3pm ET, all you have to do is tweet your comment, question, or whatever, with the hashtag #fsctv.

Possible topics include: his thoughts on the Jabulani ball; who he thinks will win the final (and whether or not he believes that Paul the octopus is truly psychic; who the player of the tournament has been (I’d say either Sneijder, Xavi/Iniesta (they should win awards jointly), or Villa, or maybe even Forlán); and, I don’t know, what he thinks England should do to resurrect its national team.

Report: 2011 will be the Intel Celeron’s last hurrah

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 09:30 AM PDT

The Intel Celeron nameplate has been in use since 1998, but Digitimes is reporting that it’s to be phased out next year. That would leave Intel’s consumer lineup with just various forms of Pentium and Atom chips. Currently there are several Celeron chips available right now, but it’s not like Intel doesn’t have other low-cost options to chose from. What’s really happening here is Intel is eliminating some shopping confusion and killing a brand that’s always been marketed as a cheap alternative to the Pentium. It’s smart.

You must understand that most computer shoppers simply do not care or understand about computer hardware. However, they have been conditioned over the last 20 years to shop by specs alone and the Celeron has always been the chip you get with cheap computers. It doesn’t matter that the chip eventually grew into a capable form. The brand isn’t well-respected like Pentium. Intel could slap a different name on the same chip and as long as it’s marketed correctly, would sell like pancakes.

Onkyo presents super-cute Miffy netbook

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 09:20 AM PDT

Here’s your chance in case you want to surprise your daughter or little sister with a geeky present: Onkyo in Japan has announced [JP, PDF] a super-cute, kid-friendly, and Miffy-themed netbook today. It’s not only the hardware itself that’s covered with Miffy designs, but Onkyo (in cooperation with Bandai Namco) is shipping it with Miffy-powered software as well.

For example, Onkyo promises pre-installed Miffy wallpapers, screen savers, a Miffy calendar, Miffy widgets, icons etc. (see below for a selection).

Spec-wise, buyers can expect a 10.1-inch LCD with 1,024×600 resolution, an Atom N450 (1.66GHz) CPU, 1GB RAM, a 160GB HDD, two USB ports, Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, an SD/Memory Stick Pro slot, a 0.3MP web cam, Windows 7 Home Premium or XP Home as the OS, and 2.5 hours of battery life. The Miffy netbook is sized at 265×192×27mm and weighs 1.1kg.

The device went on sale today, but it’s Japan-only and limited to just 300 units (prices: a whopping $905 for the XP version, $1,017 for the Windows 7 model).

Nike’s 70 feet tall Ball Man art installation towers above Johannesburg

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 09:00 AM PDT

The World Cup is winding down (that psychic octopus has predicted a Spain victory, by the way), which means there will be a very real void in my life once again. I don’t even know of the Champions League or La Liga will be able to fill it. Sigh. I guess we should savor these last remaining moments while we can. One of those moments? As you know, Nike has pretty much taken over downtown Johannesburg, installing giant video screens and having Kobe Bryant throw down challenges left and right. Today’s note: presenting Ball Man! The name alone is a win.

The installation is located inside a Johannesburg mall, and took a full three weeks to physically put together. It’s 21 meters (nearly 70 feet) tall, weighs 4.75 tons (!), and is made of some 5,500 individual skill balls. (A skill ball is a slightly smaller ball than a standard soccer ball.) More than 10 kilometers (around 6.2 miles) of wire hold everything together.

And while I have zero proof that Nike scanned Cristiano Ronaldo’s body for Ball Man, I will say that it sorta resembles that little knee kick he does while at full flight.

Review: Cocoon Innovations Gramercy iPad Bag

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 08:28 AM PDT

Back when the iPad was new and the world was a different place, we thought we could have it all. This was before the Gulf oil spill, before the horrors of LeBron, before the East Coast heat wave of ought-ten. Back then we thought men could wear little purses to carry their iPads in. Sadly, those heady, care-free days are gone.

Cocoon Innovations is best known for their Grid-It system of gear control. The Grid-It is a sheet of oddly intertwined straps covered in sticky elastic fabric that will accept chargers and other odd things and allows you to carry your important items without them jostling in your bag. It is, in short, ingenious.

However, the Gramercy Bag, shown here, is not. This tiny little iPad murse is just big enough for an iPad and maybe a small bottle of Southern Comfort. Little else will fit in it. It is also far too small for the male of average size, as exhibited by this image:

There you see the bag, dangling like an unanswered question.

This is not to say, if you’re so inclined, that you can’t love this $29.99 bag. In fact, my good lady wife commandeered it for a while to use as he little summer purse. It’s cleverly shaped, waterproof, and it has a little panel in the front for your iPhone. We tried the orange and gray model, which is considered quite trendy on the beaches of Brooklyn.

But I don’t think the world is ready for the iPad Man Purse. If you own an iPad, you probably own all manner of accoutrements including, but not limited to, a camera, a notebook, a pen, a bottle of Advil, a yo-yo, the skull of a marmoset in lucite, and perhaps a lock-picking kit (I’m just going through my own bag for examples.) Sadly, this particular bag will not hold all of those and even if they did, you wouldn’t want to wear it.

Product Page

Tee Fury: Ape Kong

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 08:17 AM PDT


Awesome. $9 but only until the end of the day. Then it’s gone forever.

How to install Android on most Windows Mobile phones

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 07:47 AM PDT

There’s an active community of devs steadily porting Android over to different families of Windows Mobile devices. There’s a port for nearly every series now. However, installation isn’t that easy and you might not want to do it on your work-issued HTC Touch HD. But if you happen to have an unused handset chilling in a drawer someplace that you’re not worried about bricking, continue on for a list of the compatible devices.
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