Posted Feb 16th 2008 11:43AM by Darren MurphFiled under: Gaming Select owners of Guitar Hero III for Wii have been moshing uncontrollably as best they can in mono for months on end, but it seems as if Activision has finally got its interconnects sorted and will start issuing replacement discs. According to direct end-user reports and the (admittedly blurry) shots in the gallery below, the firm is now dishing out pre-paid envelopes in which customers have to ship back their faulty GH III disc and wait “3 to 4 weeks” before getting a new, stereo-enabled one free of charge. Live sans your favorite game for a month, or keep rockin’ in the monaural world? (Read the full post about ‘Activision cranks up Wii Guitar Hero III disc replacement program’…)
Posted Feb 16th 2008 3:22PM by Chris ZieglerFiled under: cellphones, Handhelds There’s a reason phones don’t remotely resemble PC cases, and we think this mockup does a fabulous job demonstrating why that is. Okay, look, we’re totally cool with Dell and Alienware producing an Alienware-branded handset — especially if it runs Android, a platform Dell has been rumored to be very, very interested in — we just really don’t want this (or anything like this) to be it. The morphing keypad and user interface look awesome, but we have a very simple rule when we purchase a new phone: under no circumstances should the slider have physically painful ridges digging into your hands during use. (Read the full post about ‘Concept Alienware Android phone makes our brain, hands hurt’…)
MYBAG - Fold Up Shopping Bag
Being eco-aware just got even more trendy. This fold up shopping bag comes in a range of lovely, bright colours. The handle becomes the case which packs up to the size of your phone and tucks nicely in your hand bag or as a key-ring. My Bagway is reusable and way cute, but it’s also way more comfortable than lugging plastic carrier bags around.
Technorati Tags: gadgets For Her
Tags: consumer technology, equipment, CD, mobiles
There’s a great debate in the Bar-b-que world that meat only tastes better when cooked over an open flame, and even more so when cooked with charcoal (I prefer Applewood, actually). But historically sspeaking, the charcoal grill has been more of an exercise in frustration for backyard warriors only seeking to start the flame, much less cook on it. The 60 second charcoal starter from Hammacher changes all that. It looks more like a lightsaber than a charcoal lighter (although I bet Luke Skywalker could light one lickety split), but instead of light plasma, it uses hot air heated to nearly 1300 degrees Fahrenheit. The wand is buryed inside the pile of coal to heat until the briquettes begin to spark. (Read the full post about ‘New BBQ lighter gets coals flaming in seconds’…)
Elmo coming back more funny than ever. Elmo Live waves his arms, sits and stands, crosses his legs, telling stories and jokes, singing songs and playing games. (Read the full post about ‘Elmo is back’…)
I can imagine them as a tool for pranksters. But really, everyone can have a bit of fun every now and then, and these Echo Bots sure can do the trick. Presenting Mel and Belle (decide which one is which), the two Echo Bots you can use to play tricks on unsuspecting passersby. Record anything you want on the Echo Bot — your voice, a TV commercial, your mum in the middle of nagging — as long as you get those juicy ten seconds in. With their three legs made of bendable material, you can leave or twist the Echo Bot anywhere you like, where it will repeat your recording like a parrot the moment it detects movement within 1 metre of its image sensor located in its single eye. (Read the full post about ‘Having Fun With Echo Bots’…)
Posted Feb 16th 2008 8:29AM by Richard LawlerFiled under: HDTV, Home EntertainmentJapan’s NHK has followed up The Hollywood Reporter’s earlier indications Toshiba was ready to dump its money-losing HD DVD business, with news that the company is prepared to cease manufacturing software and hardware, at a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars. This caps the worst week ever for red, when hd dvd was dumped by Netflix and Wal-mart, pushed to the background by Best Buy and put on — an apparently incredibly short — deathwatch right here. Toshiba is mum on the subject right now, but we hear there’s plenty of cheap players and movies in a dumpster around back of the HQ. (Read the full post about ‘Toshiba pulling the plug on HD DVD already? - Yup it’s over.’…)
The AT&T branded Centro has not officially been announced yet, but that is not stopping at least one AT&T retail store from selling the phone anyway. A lucky user over on the Treo Central Forums was able to make the purchase at a Denver retail store. What else is there to do after you purchase an unreleased and unannounced phone, unbox it and post the pictures. We can only assume that the official release will come Tuesday February 19, unless you are also lucky enough to get yours early. As you can also see from the above image, the Centro appears to be running the phone app from the Treo 680. Looking good. Read [Flickr] Via [Treo Central Forums] Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! (Read the full post about ‘AT&T Palm Centro in the wild’…)
Posted Feb 16th 2008 6:10AM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Gaming Well you knew it was coming. That PSP hack we told you about a few weeks ago has hit the interblogs, and we predict all hell will be breaking loose any moment. Un-retired homebrew mastermind Dark_AleX has come up with a little number called Timemachine, which is capable of spinning your PSP back to all sorts of crazy firmwares at the touch of a button. We know you can hardly stand finishing this post due to excitement, so… get out of here and grab it![Thanks, Craig]Tags: gaming, video games, toys, cameras (Read the full post about ‘PSP super-hack hits the internet’…)
We all know about microscopes from the biology classes or other places. They are bulky metal tools, created for magnifying something very small. The most unpleasant thing about them is that they are not portable, they are big, and it is hard to capture magnified image. Of course, there exist highly functional electronic microscopes, but they are very expensive. Portable and not so expensive version of electronic microscope could be very useful in biological laboratories or in small researches, when it is unnecessary to buy expensive fully functional electronic ones. The Digital Mobile Microscope (FUN-300) is a gadget that comes not only for entertainment (it is interesting to look at usual things in unusual way, many dreamed about something similar in childhood), but also for small researches and educational purposes. It is so small and portable, even can be compared in size with a mobile phone or mp3 player, and can be easily kept in a pocket. Bright 1.8 inched LCD screen, showing 65k of colors, will show magnified image from a 640 x 480 VGA camera. Levels of magnification are between 5x to 90x. There are four image effects, such as gray, emboss and inverse. However, the most interesting function is split screen photo, which makes possible to compare different images from different parts of object. This gadget is powered by three AAA batteries or it can be powered via USB if desired. Digital Mobile Microscope can greatly help in wide area of activities. For example, in counterfeit revealing - expertise can be done at place, without necessity of using laboratories for simple examination. It can be used even as a good gift to the student, because with this digital help it will be much more comfortable and interesting to explore our world, even its smallest parts. Price for this interesting device is 199 dollars. Related: USB Digital Microscope Portable media player 4″ Widescreen 160-megapixel digital camera Tags: laptops, Gadget, digital, amps (Read the full post about ‘Portable Digital Microscope that fits in palm’…)
