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More Hands-On With Million Dollar Ulysse Nardin Watch

Posted: 30 Dec 2010 05:13 AM PST

I previously wrote about the Royal Blue Tourbillon here (where you can get more technical details). The timepieces is a statement-making watch for both the wearer and Ulysse Nardin as a brand. Without trying to piss off Ulysse Nardin, I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that this watch doesn't need to cost a million dollars for Ulysse Nardin to make a profit. Instead, it is a sign that they can charge it. Popular among demographic groups with lots of money, the limited edition watch will enjoy sales – I know it.


Slatepad TA117: Onkyo Rolls Out 10.1-Inch Android Tablet

Posted: 30 Dec 2010 03:08 AM PST

Japanese PC maker Onkyo, which rolled out three Windows tablets in its home market earlier this year, has unveiled an Android-based tablet that will go on sale (again, in Japan first) this week. Dubbed SlatePad TA117 [JP], the device features a slew of nice features.

Here are the main specs of the TA117C3 (Onkyo also offers another model, the TA117C1, with just 512MB RAM and 8GB flash memory):

  • 10.1-inch LCD screen with 1,024×600 resolution
  • Android 2.2
  • NVIDIA Tegra 250 processor (1GHz)
  • 1GB RAM
  • 16GB flash memory
  • one HDMI interface, two USB ports, one micro SDHC slot
  • IEEE 802.11b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
  • 1.3MP camera
  • internal mic, speakers
  • 3-axis acceleration sensor
  • 6.5 hours battery life
  • size: 267x173x14.8mm, weight: 800g

No word on an international release (in Japan, Onkyo will be offering the SlatePad with an open price model).

Ford’s Sync Destinations App Plans Your Route Before You Get In The Car

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 09:01 PM PST

Smartphone integration with car-bound OSes is going to be a hot thing next year, and of course Ford’s Sync system is among the major players. Just a week ago they showed off AppLink, which allows a driver to control certain apps (Pandora, a news stream app, and a Twitter app) from the in-car touchscreen.

And now you’ve got stuff going the other way: the Sync Destinations app lets you set up a route or destination while waiting for your coffee, then have it load automatically when you get in the car.

Continue reading…

Kinect-Controlled Humanoid Robot – Bring On The Robo-Gladiators!

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 06:58 PM PST


Seriously, how long will it take before we have Robot Jox happening for real? Except in real life the robots will be tele-operated by guys with Kinects. Seriously. This will happen. Watch this video and tell me it won’t.

This robot is called the Veltrobot, and is gyro-stabilized and has a significant amount of limb freedom. Engineer Taylor Veltrop created a system for controlling it by mapping Kinect output onto a skeletal frame with certain limitations, and then firing that information off to the robot. As you can see, it works quite well.

It’s really blowing my mind how much stuff is being done with the Kinect. I mean, I was pumped for it, but I was also pumped for the Move, and thought the latter would have some cool hacks too. But a few months later, the Kinect is far and away the hackers’ favorite. Just think, if this guy can put this together in a month, what can a team of engineers do in six?

[via Fast Company]

CrunchGear PSA: Don’t Game For 12 Hours Straight. It’s Bad For You.

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 05:56 PM PST

I’m not making light of this, I’m actually quite upset and disappointed. Another gamer, this one in South Korea, has gone for a marathon 12 hour gaming session, and then collapsed and died. Wake up people! No game is worth playing that long.

This is seriously getting out of hand. I realize that gaming can be addictive and fun, and that it can eat time like crazy. I’ve been known to let myself get pulled into an extended session of Civilization just like the next guy. But c’mon people, 12 hours is too long. The poor gamer, who was only identified as Moon in the original article started playing at 2:00am, took a break for some food at 10:30am, and then collapsed around 2:00pm. He was then taken to the hospital and pronounced DOA. The game he was playing was not identified (thankfully) however his family did describe him as someone who enjoyed an online shooting game.

Seriously, if you play for 12 hours straight, someone needs to pull the plug. I’m tired of reading (and writing) about this happening to people. I realize that we may not have a huge Korean readership, but I hope this wakes some people up. If you have a friend who has a gaming problem (and 12+ hours is definitely a problem), get them some help. Eventually, they’ll thank you for it.

[via Kotaku]

Review: Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Mechanical Keyboard

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 04:30 PM PST


Short version: This new mechanical keyboard from Razer is clicky and attractive, but some layout and design choices irk me, and this thing ain’t cheap.

Features:

  • Specially-designed mechanical keys with low-pressure actuation
  • 5 additional macro keys, 5 backlight brightness settings
  • Gaming mode and on-the-fly macro recording
  • USB, microphone and headphone ports
  • MSRP: $130 (Ultimate), $80 (no backlight or ports)

Pros:

  • Solid to type on
  • Clicky sound for those of you who like that kind of thing
  • Ports and media keys work no problem

Cons:

  • F-key clusters too close together
  • Key labels can be confusing
  • Macro lovers may want more

Full review:

I was excited for the new mechanical keyboard from Razer; my two favorite keyboards of the last few years are the SteelSeries 7G and Razer Lycosa, and I figured this one couldn’t help but put the two together. As it turns out, it’s not quite the monster I thought it’d be, but it’s a solid and good-looking keyboard anyway. I’m using Razer’s product shots since mine (except for the above one) didn’t turn out very well.

The keyboard itself is a nice wedge of glossy plastic, and the main layout change you’ll notice is the five macro keys on the left side. As I often have occasion to say, I’m not a big macro guy, but I appreciate them nonetheless. From the side, it’s apparent that the keys have a shallow arc to them, as opposed to the flat layout of keyboards like the Sidewinder X4. The 7G also has a slight curve, but this is more pronounced (and not visible in the pictures, for some reason). It seems to put the top two rows of keys slightly closer to your fingers — not a bad thing, but worth mentioning.

The famous clicking noise of mechanical keyboards is prominent here. I find that different keys have different timbres you can actually pick out: the space bar is lower, the backspace key louder, and the number keys have a different sound than the letters. I’m not crazy – it’s actually just a function of the angle you press the key at and the shape of the key itself. At any rate, the sound is nice and slightly varied. But those looking for a quiet keyboard should move on.

I found the labeling on the keys distracting. Razer uses a sort of squared-off typeface for the key caps, and while readability isn’t really a problem (I think we all know where the letters are by now), they have opted to put the shift characters on the bottom instead of on the top, something that bugs me, though it more looks wrong to me than causes much of an effect. It does make me second guess myself occasionally.

There is a blue backlight behind the whole thing, or rather behind the keys individually, and the lighting options are off, dim, bright, really bright, and pulse. I found pulse just incredibly distracting, and the brightest setting far too much so. I would have preferred something like the WASD lighting from the Lycosa, or a customizable zone-lighting system. Why can’t I light up just WASD and the numbers? Or the numpad and macro keys?

I also found the location of the “function” button, which allows access to the media and mode keys, to be troublesome. Most of the mode buttons are for hitting with the right hand, yet the key to activate them is also a right-hand key. You can thumb-index it for the gaming, brightness, and sleep function buttons, but it’s extremely awkward to pinky-thumb it for the media keys. If the function and Windows keys switched places (the 7G has this), you could hit the function key easily with your left pinky and then easily reach any of the functions with your right hand. As it is, you have to think about it, take your hand off the thing, cross over, and worry about whether you’re going to hit the context button by mistake. Take my advice, Razer: switch these two and never look back.

And another thing! The F-keys are way too close together. There’s an inch-long gap between F1 and ESC that could have been used to make the three F-key clusters (1-4, 5-8, 9-12) more distinct. As it is, it looks almost like a mistake on the keyboard the way they’re spaced. If you don’t look, it’s hard to tell whether you’re hitting F4 or F5.

The USB and audio ports are on the right, which is of course where most people’s mice are as well. Wouldn’t you want the cables protruding from the other side? That might be more a matter of taste. At any rate, they work fine, though of course the USB isn’t high-speed. Plenty useful for wireless accessories and thumbdrives.

Conclusion

As I wrote this, I felt more and more that this particular keyboard is a “don’t buy” at the moment. There are too many other good keyboards on the market, and even if you were to opt for the significantly lower-priced basic Black Widow (no backlight, no ports), I still don’t feel you’re getting their best. I still prefer the aging but sleek Lycosa over this, and the 7G is both more tastefully designed and better laid out. It’s not a bad keyboard, but in the face of truly excellent competition, I just can’t recommend the BlackWidow.

Product page: Black Widow Ultimate / Black Widow

IMG_1316 header mid down


KLOKKERENT Extra Normal Grande Watch Is Minimal, But Still Maximal

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 04:01 PM PST

Check out the new Extra Normal Grande watch from KLOKKERENT. This one ain’t just for the ladies. It looks like a minimal watch, but if you notice closely, there is a spinning disk atop a numbered face that tells the hour. Water resistent up to 100ft with a Japanese Miyota movement. All for only 259EUR or about $340 USD.

Mod Your Fender Blues Jr.

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 03:46 PM PST

That your musical “sound” depends more on your hands/skill than the gear you play is a philosophy with which I personally agree. Too many times have I seen a very talented musician make a piece-of-junk guitar sound incredible while a mediocre guitarist (like myself) will make a beautiful, expensive guitar sound mediocre. One guy I know, a Mr. Charlie Pate of Nashville TN, has an interesting strategy for acquiring some of his guitars; he buys cheap, used Ibanez semi-hollow bodies for $200 or less and then spends the rest of his dough on custom pickups, to get a sound he likes. It works for him, but then again, this guy could play a cardboard Ukulele with one string and you’d think it was an old growth Gulse.

I can wax philosophical about talent all I want, but it is also true that good, solid gear makes great players sound greater. A link came my way today that reminded me of Mr. Pate’s strategy and it was successfully demonstrated. This “mod” strategy for optimizing cheaper musical equipment may be a way for the budget-minded shredders out there to use whatever post-holiday funds you have left to make some of your mediocre gear better.

This guy Bill Machrone is an amp artist for sure and if you are looking for a way to make your $499 Fender Blues JR. sound like a new amp, send it to him. His list of mod kits is extensive and affordable.

The Hex iPod Nano Watch Band Instructional Video: What the Hex?

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 02:04 PM PST

The Hex Watch Band didn’t make it into our iPod Nano watch round up but by gum it should have been there, especially considering this truly magical example of videography provided by the company itself.

The band costs $29 and holds the Nano in a handsome rubber case. It’s really nothing special but this video, as we can plainly see, definitely is.

Free Song From Bing? Why not?

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 12:55 PM PST


Here’s a simple little giveaway that might perk your day up a bit. Bing is giving away half a million songs, one each to whoever puts an email address in their little box. Of course, they’re also giving away their newsletter. What, you thought it was going to be easy?

Head on over to Bing and follow the instructions to get your free song. Interestingly, the songs aren’t from Microsoft’s own Zune service but from Amazon. Whatever, guys! Whatever.

‘Spotify’ Now A Real Word In Sweden

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 12:00 PM PST

What’s the best streaming music service around? My guess would be Spotify, but the only catch is that it’s not available here in the U.S. (unless you’re willing to use a European VPN). In fact, the service is so well-like, so influential that "to spotify" has now become a fully recognized word in Sweden [Swedish, obv], Spotify’s home base.

The word, "spotifera," has two distinct meanings. One means to use Spotify, like how "google" means to search for something online. So, I’m going to spotify terrible trance music while I play World of Warcraft later today.

The second meaning is a little more abstract, and it means to take a service and make it free on the condition of accepting advertising. Think along the lines of, "We’re going to spotify our TV streaming service in the hopes of attracting new customers."

Olympus XZ-1 Joins The High-Powered Compact Camera Battle

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 11:30 AM PST


It’s a good time to be looking for “the little camera that could.” If you’re willing to spend $300-$500, there are some really compelling options out there. The Panasonic LX series is great, and for a little more you can pick up the excellent Nikon P7000. Now Olympus has a new entry to this particular arena, the XZ-1, and although the price and specs aren’t published yet, I can see from here that it’s got a sweet little lens.

It’s an F/1.8-2.5 4x zoom from Zeiss (28mm equivalent at the short end), and from the HD logo on there we can guess that it does shoot HD video of some sort. Beyond that there isn’t much to say, but it does look like an effective little camera, and depending on its performance, a worthy competitor to Panasonic.

Personally, I’m still waiting for the Fujifilm X100. The metal!

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Added To National Film Registry

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 11:00 AM PST

Attention, Star Wars fans! The Empire Strikes Back, generally regarded as the best of the Star Wars films, has been added to the National Film Registry. It joins the likes of Airplane, All The President’s Men, and The Pink Panther (the original one, the good one) as the class of 2010 inductees.

This means that Empire will forever be preserved at the Library of Congress, where it will sit amongst other films deemed to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." So if a giant asteroid smashes into the planet and destroys all of civilization, Future People will stumble upon the Registry and note, "Man, the people before us sure did love their Star Wars."

And we did, and still do!

I, of course, have not seen The Empire Strikes Back, and have only seen Episode I and Episode III. As hard as that is to believe, it’s the cold, hard truth.

Nintendo Warns Parents Not To Let Children Under 6 Play 3DS

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 10:00 AM PST

A note on Nintendo’s Web site says that children under the age of 6 should not play its upcoming 3DS console, at least not in 3D mode. The warning says children’s eyes at such a young are still developing, and that it wouldn’t be safe to subject them to the 3D effect generated by the 3DS. Of course, youngsters are still welcome to play the 3DS in 2D mode. But where’s the fun in that?

The rest of the note contains the same warnings we’ve seen with other 3D gadgets: don’t sit there all day long looking at the screen, give your eyes a rest every once in a while, etc. Nothing too out of the ordinary, to be fair.

In other 3DS news, a juicy little rumor suggests that the 3DS will be bundled with The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time… well, the other way around—Ocarina of Time will be bundled with the 3DS.

I think we all can agree that would be pretty great.

The Lumimask: A Mask That Wakes You As Gently As Mother Nature

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 08:44 AM PST

There are plenty of clocks that “light” the room slowly, flooding your optic nerves with crisp morning luminosity in order to wake you the way Madre Natura wanted us to. But until now there’s never been a mask that will wake you with the same soothing change in luminosity.

This device, called the Lumimask, is currently on Kickstarter and $50 gets you a pre-order unit while $100 gets you the device and a pair of pajamas (pre-washed). If it doesn’t get funded it doesn’t get made, so this guy is sending out his heartfelt entreaty to you, the Internet, in hopes that someone out there will help him.

Generally, this mixes two tested products – the sunrise clock and the sleep mask. While I, personally, can’t wear a sleep mask but that shouldn’t stop you.

Here’s how it works:

Before sleep, dial in your wake-up time on the alarm controller. Put LUMI on, and fall asleep. In the morning, 30 minutes before your wake-up time, LUMI's soft light gradually grows brighter. If your alarm is at 7 am, the light will gradually brighten beginning at 6:30. An audible alarm sounds at the end of the sunrise sequence, letting you know it’s time to start the day.

If he actually gets these made, good for him. The world needs fewer cranky, over-tired people.

Spring Design’s Lawsuit Against Barnes & Noble Nook Must Continue

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 08:00 AM PST

Flickr’d

Bad news for Barnes & Noble this morning. A judge has decided that the lawsuit being pursued by Spring Design against it can continue. Spring Design alleges that B&N ripped off its idea of a dual-screen e-book reader, and must now feel the wrath of its mighty lawyers.

Spring Design claims that B&N must have stolen its idea of a dual-screen e-reader owing to their 2009 discussions over a possible partnership. Nothing came of the partnership, but B&N did launch the Nook later that year, complete with second display (the navigation display along the bottom).

Alex, Spring Design’s e-reader, launched back in April of this year.

So, the lawsuit continues. That’s news in that the judge could have said, "Hey guys, knock it off, this suit is without merit~!" But no!

This Portable Wii Wins Our Mii’s Hearts And Respect

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 07:30 AM PST

We love homebrew, custom-made, DIY solutions. They scream geek love and dedication louder than even dumb fanboy tattoos. This Wii laptop, and the word laptop is used loosely, is about the best thing since, well, this Wii laptop. This solution is a tad bit smaller thanks to the exclusion of the optical drive in favor of a game loader chip called SunDriver. Click through for a video look at the impressive portable rig. [via SlashGear]

Videos: Three Super-Quick Mini Humanoids

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 07:22 AM PST


One weak point many humanoid robots have in common is that they move too slow, including most super-advanced models. But a robot event, which recently took place in Japan, shows that there are some exceptions.

Here’s a video of a quick mini robot developed by FrostyDesign [JP]:

This video shows KHR-3HV, a humanoid made by major robot maker Kondo:

My favorite video shows mini robot Neutrino1 running backwards:

Via Plastic Pals

In Russia, Linux-based GLONASS GPS “iPhone” Follows You

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 06:55 AM PST


Oh, those Russians. Sistema, a mobile operator over in Putin Country, just released the first GLONASS/GPS phone in the country. GLONASS is Russia’s GPS solution that doesn’t depend on America’s capitalist satellites.

Read More

Irony: Read Kindle Books On Your Rooted NookColor

Posted: 29 Dec 2010 06:29 AM PST

Just when we thought the NookColor was just a B&N reading device, hackers have rooted the devices and ported the Kindle reading app to the platform, ensuring plenty of migraines around Barnes & Noble HQ this week.

To root the device you need one of the Autorooter images and Win32ImageWriter for Windows or Mac OS/Linux tools to write the image to an MicroSD card. Then you upload the Kindle app from the Android store and rock out. This process also adds GMail, YouTube, and a number of other standard Android goodies to your previously stripped-down NookColor.

The whole process is right here and it should be a fine ride. Apparently the NookColor is a great Android hacking device, which makes things even more compelling. We’ll give it a try when we get our hands on another one. Here’s hoping the NC doesn’t become the CueCat of e-readers.
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