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Report: HP Moves Part Of Notebook Production From China To Japan

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 04:03 AM PDT

You don’t hear news like this too often these days, but according to Japanese business daily The Nikkei, HP is planning to shift part of its notebook production from China to Japan in the next few months. The Californian company plans to eventually manufacture all computers for sale in Japan in factories in Akishima near Tokyo.

For that, HP plans to hire 50% more workers in Akishima, boosting the number of employees there to 450. According to the Nikkei, labor costs in Japan are about four times higher than in China. But with this move, HP apparently wants to increase efficiency, be closer to the market, stand out with a “made-in-Japan” moniker, and push down delivery times especially to Japanese business customers.

The company wants to use existing production lines and utilize its global purchasing network in order to keep notebook prices in Japan at the same level. At the same time delivery time will go down from ten to five business days, if the report is to be believed.

HP just ranked 5th in PC sales in Japan last year (10% market share).

Sega Toys’ R2-D2 Homestar Planetarium Shows The Death Star

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 01:20 AM PDT

Second Sega Toys Homestar Planetarium news item in a row: following the version that’s good for travel from yesterday, maker Sega Toys took the wraps off a Star Wars model at the Tokyo Toy Show. It’s a fully functional planetarium, just in the shape of R2-D2, and it shows the location of the Death Star.

R2-D2 projects about 10,000 stars onto the ceiling in your living room and stands about 21cm high.

Here’s the Death Star:

This must buy for Star Wars and astronomy geeks (we know you’re out there) will cost $85 when it hits stores in Japan in September. Ask specialized online shopping services like the Japan Trend Shop, Rinkya, Flutterscape or Geek Stuff 4 U if you want to import one from Japan.

Via Hobby Media [IT] (thanks, Francesco Fondi) and IT Media [JP]

What Does The World Look Like Through 50 UV Filters? Blurry, Apparently

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 06:30 PM PDT


There’s some disagreement on UV filters in the photography world, but we can probably all agree that if you’re going to put one on your lens, it shouldn’t be some five dollar bargain bin filter. After all, you paid hundreds, or maybe thousands of dollars for that lens — why should you ruin all that beautiful glass with a sheisty frontispiece?

LensRentals has posted a fun little experiment where they stacked fully 50 UV filters one on top of the other, to show that A, they’re not just a transparent piece of glass, and B, some are better than others. Check out the results:

It’s pretty amazing that even that much of the image gets through. I mean, fifty panes of glass!

They’ve got more details on their conclusions, and some other pictures demonstrating the difference between a good and a bad filter.

[via Neatorama and Technabob]

Finally, A Ford Dealership In Playstation Home

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 06:00 PM PDT


The strange, sterile Second Life type world of Playstation Home has been missing something. No, not a soul or anything like that. It’s been missing virtual car dealerships. And Ford decided it was time that particular problem was addressed.

Yes, a Ford dealership is now open in the world of Playstation Home. The zero square foot facility will house electronic replicas of the Ford Edge and Ford Focus, two cars you are of course extremely unlikely to see on the street or at a real-life retailer. Strangely, despite there being almost literally infinite space available, only these two cars are available for examination.

Look around your Home area and I’m sure you’ll find your way there sooner or later. You can win a Ford t-shirt if you have skillz.

American Airlines Joins Alaskan In Shift From Paper Charts To iPad

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 05:30 PM PDT


Back in February, we heard about a charter jet company that was officially making the switch to iPad. And since then I’ve seen a number of apps and providing this function. But hearing that real live major airlines are doing the same thing is surprising. I figured they’d move to an electronic solution eventually, but using consumer hardware?

Interestingly, the switch mainly saves money on weight. According to American, they’ll save $1.2 million in fuel costs — no mention of savings on printing, that sort of thing. The apps I’ve seen weren’t bargain prices, so probably the companies involved know they can still charge a bundle. Though interestingly, Alaska’s pilots will be using GoodReader (a solid app) to read PDF versions of charts. Baby steps, I guess.

You as a passenger probably won’t notice one way or the other. And no, I don’t think this means you get to keep yours on during takeoff and landing. Apple, I’m sure, will be crowing about this soon, though.

[via AppleInsider]

Nintendo Bigwigs: 25th Anniversary Zelda Collection Wouldn’t Be Nintendo-Like

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 04:56 PM PDT


At this E3′s Nintendo press conference, we were treated to a nice little dose of Zelda music, and told there would be a sweet 25th anniversary soundtrack, as well as some traveling concerts and a free DSiWare game. All very good, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed at the lack of a collected edition like that issued for last year’s Mario 25th Anniversary. And according to Nintendo’s CEO Satoru Iwata, that’s not going to happen.

In a recent interview (translated in part by Nintendo World Report), Iwata said that he felt doing two such collector’s editions two years in a row wouldn’t be Nintendo-like (translator’s words). I guess I can see that, but really, a quarter century is a serious thing, and a collection of the early games (perhaps with commentary or extras, something the Mario release lacked) seems to be a perfect way to celebrate that. Gamers would love it. It would sell like hotcakes. And it could be a standard thing for the core franchises.

But no! Not Nintendo-like. Ah well.

[via Eurogamer]

Swing-Blade Sharpener For The Ritualistic Pencil-Lover In Your Life

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 04:00 PM PDT


There aren’t too many of us now who need to sharpen a pencil in the first place, much less do it in a poetically inefficient manner. But that shouldn’t stop you from appreciating this beautifully-designed little sharpener, which takes off little shavings the way you might peel a pointy potato.

If I were the kind of guy who designed pencil sharpeners, I’d definitely use this to sharpen my pencils.

[via NotCot]

Wifi Xoom Going For $500 At Costco

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 03:30 PM PDT


I’m not sure I can recommend the Xoom over any of the other tablets out there right now (especially that sexy little Galtab 10.1), but don’t remember ever hearing people complain about price drops. Costco has the 32GB Wifi Xoom for $500 in-store now (with a free case), $100 less than its original price.

That makes it a bit more credible in the market, but I still don’t think it’s going to crack a million units sold any time soon. This may be part of a larger trend in lower pricing for these things, but I wouldn’t hold out hope on that.

Oh, if you bought one from Costco recently, drop by the store and check if you can get the difference paid back to you. They’re good about that.

[via Electronista]

Mad Magazine Announces Their Own “Official” “Blog”

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 03:15 PM PDT

First Facebook, now WordPress? Mad Magazine just announced an update to their official blog, now called The Idiotical, following such greats as the New Yorker and Cracked into the cesspool that is Internet media.

In honor of the launch, Life magazine ran a gallery of some of Mad’s greatest contributors including William Gaines, Nick Meglin, and The Beard, wandering the world, wearing each other’s pants, and generally looking like the travelling cast of Call Me Baron Harkonnen: The Musical. The Pete Best of Mad, Dick DeBartolo, also appears.

Mad has gotten considerably racier in the years since I last read it but there are still plenty of innocuous sight gags and some great parodic writing. I, personally, wanted to become a writer after I met Bill Gaines at Mad’s offices when I was about thirteen. It was all downhill from there.

Here’s hoping Mad is around another few decades and I think a new, energized website is probably the way to go.

Heavy Metal Hits Blu-Ray

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 03:00 PM PDT

The cult animated movie based on the cult sci-fi magazine based on the French cult sci-fi magazine is finally hitting Blu-ray. Amazon calls it “an aimless, juvenile amalgam of disjointed stories and clashing visual styles,” which is about right. I’m not sure exactly how many people were waiting for this, but I like seeing these classic animated releases in HD, personally — and Heavy Metal is a classic, juvenile or not.

Pick it up here for fifteen bucks.

[via The Awesomer]

Kone 2: Non-Electric Roastaroo

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 02:30 PM PDT


All right, so the headline is kind of a stretch. Let’s just say mistakes were made, and move on, yeah? You might have heard about the Kone, a metal replacement for paper coffee filters. It’s been making waves over the last year or so, but no product is perfect (even a perforated metal cone), and they’ve made some changes to the hardware that I’m pretty excited about.

I’d heard that you have to be careful with your grind, since it was designed to work with a rather specific kind, and people complained about overly chewy coffee and some sludge at the bottom. Kone hears your prayers. They re-engineered the perforation pattern to be a bit finer, and now this should be less of a problem.

Some also received cuts from the top of the Kone, which is indeed very thin metal — so thin, in fact, that it also occasionally dented when the grounds were tapped out. So Coava got a more robust material to make the thing out of, and added a little removable silicone ring you can put on that dangerous top part.

Price is still $50 — a lot for a filter, but for coffee lovers partial to the pourover method, it’s an investment, and a better investment than it was last week. I think I may actually check one of these things out now.

[via Gizmodo]

Slacker Radio Launches An iPad App

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 01:07 PM PDT

Hot on the heels of rival Pandora's IPO yesterday, Slacker Radio has its own offering for the public: an iPad app. The app brings all three levels of Slacker service to the iPad – Slacker Basic Radio, the ad-free Slacker Radio Plus, and Slacker Premium, which offers music on-demand.

Of course, listening to music on the iPad app isn't too different from listening to music on Slacker's iPhone app, but the iPad's larger screen definitely makes browsing through artist bios, album reviews, artist pics and album art a much more pleasant experience.

A new feature also made its way onto both the iPad and iPhone versions of the app. From now on, you'll be able to create Pandora-esque custom stations by choosing multiple songs or artists. Plus, Slacker promises to bring ESPN Radio content to the mix soon. The Slacker Radio iPad app is available now as a free download from the Apple App Store.


Get You An Otterbox For Your Xoom

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 01:00 PM PDT


How to protect your precious Motorola Xoom? Put an Otterbox around it. Really, it’s a good idea if you don’t mind a little bulk. I found that the one for iPad was sturdy, practical, and worth every penny if your device will be exposed to peril.

Their new Defender case for the Xoom costs $90. Now you just have to figure out how to put the damn thing on (it takes a while).

ThinkGeek Crafts A Minecraft Section

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 12:30 PM PDT


Okay, last Minecraft swag post for the week. Promise. Yesterday we saw some cool Minecraft gear on Etsy, but it turns out nerd couture etailer ThinkGeek has a whole section of this stuff, some old, some new. If you’re running a Minecraft meetup, LAN party, con, fan site, or just like to dig, there’s probably something here for you (or a loved one).

I don’t really like the idea of dressing up a kid like a creeper, though. They’re scary enough already.

Joystick-It: Because Your iPhone Needs A Gigantic Oldschool Joystick, Right?

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 12:24 PM PDT

You know, just last week I was sitting there playin’ some Pac-Man on my iPhone when I thought to myself, “Man! This is fun and all, but it would be so much better if I had a big ol’ wonky metal nipple-joystick thing sticking out of my screen.”

Read the rest at MobileCrunch>>

Lomo’s New La Sardina Camera Is Cheap And Sardine-Can-Like

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 11:19 AM PDT


There’s a new Lomo camera in town, and this time it’s not an old Holga or whatever giving them design cues, but rather the tins sardines famously come in. Hey, if it’s good enough for the Beastie Boys, it’s good enough for Lomography. La Sardina has the standard features of this sort of all-plastic camera — which is to say, not many — and comes with a sweet new flash.

The little lens is a 22mm plastic fisheye, and the shutter has the usual 1/100 and bulb settings. No pinhole here. The new flash looks nice, though: three different levels of intensity, plus a set of gels (red, yellow, blue, and white).

It takes 135 film and comes in a number of bundles. Alone it’ll set you back $59, but for $100 you can pick up the flash as well.

Apple’s 5th Avenue Glass Cube Receiving A $7 Million Makeover

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 10:47 AM PDT


Everyone visiting NYC must see the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, and the Apple cube. It’s a rule. But that iconic glass entryway is currently closed to visitors as the cube and surrounding plaza receives some $6.6 million in updates. Guess you’re going to have to delay your New York City trip.

Engineers and workers will first completely remove the glass fixtures and the “make upgrades” to the surrounding cement plaza only then to reinstall the glass as it was. There’s no indication to whether the panels are being replaced or the old ones will go back up. The whole project is said to wrap up in November. [ifoAppleStore via TUAW]

Microsoft Launches Kinect SDK For Windows

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 09:59 AM PDT

Microsoft has just announced a new SDK for Windows that allows programmers to take input from the Kinect and use it in their homebrew projects.

This will allow users to create games, UIs, and apps with Kinect’s 3D sensing technology including 3D scanning, audio tracking, and the creation of 3D wireframes in real time.

The three major features include:

Raw sensor streams
Access to raw data streams from the depth sensor, color camera sensor, and four-element microphone array enables developers to build upon the low-level streams that are generated by the Kinect sensor.

Skeletal tracking
The capability to track the skeleton image of one or two people moving within the Kinect field of view make it easy to create gesture-driven applications.

Advanced audio capabilities
Audio processing capabilities include sophisticated acoustic noise suppression and echo cancellation, beam formation to identify the current sound source, and integration with the Windows speech recognition API.

You can download the SDK here.

Project Page


25-Year-Old Indian Man Electrocuted To Death By Shanzai Phone

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 08:55 AM PDT

With the exception of the Foxconn fire, we rarely, if ever, report on any real tragedy in this industry. The closest we come to reporting a tragedy probably involves RIM, or Nokia, or some form of a product delay, but very rarely do we write up anything truly horrific.

Today, however, a young man from the Panchmahal district of Gujarat, India was electrocuted to death by his shanzai phone.

Read More

Sears Is Now Hawking An Android iPhone 4 Clone

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 08:30 AM PDT


Need an Android phone but must have one that looks like an iPhone? FactoryDirect through Sears.com has you covered. This Android 2.2 phone packs dual sim slots, TV tuners, GPS, and a dual cameras — as a blatant iPhone 4 rip-off. It could be yours for only $263 and a bit of your soul. Stay classy, Sears. [Sears via 9to5 Mac]
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