Archive for April 2007

HD Radio is a fairly new technology that broadcasts local digital radio stations over AM or FM without the static, crackle and pop that are often found in analog AM and FM broadcasts. While the volume of available programming is more hit-and-miss than XM or Sirius satellite radio, HD Radio is totally free, with no subscription fees.

While there aren’t a tremendous number of current titles to get excited about on the PlayStation 3, one future title that does have me in a lather is the upcoming Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction.

A group of scientists working with the National Human Genome Research Institute claim to have identified the specific gene that controls the size of dogs. Without getting into all of the scientific details (I flunked biology,) the researchers screened a group of almost 500 Portuguese water dogs (a breed with lots of size variance,) and sequenced their DNA to identify the differences.

This tiny media player from Epoq is just a hair larger than a typical book of matches, yet packs a rich set of features into its diminutive package. For starters, the minuscule player features a high-resolution, scratch-resistant 2.4-inch color (320×240) display which dominates the face of the device.

There’s a rumor floating around today that Nintendo is going to release a series of new controllers for the Wii in at least three new colors. Both the Wii-mote and Nunchuk controller are expected to be released in silver, blue and pearlescent pink sometime later this Spring.

Sony has introduced the latest in their Digital Media Port line of accessories for their Bravia audio systems, the TDM-NC1. The $199 device lets you wirelessly stream music (ATRAC, AAC and WMA formats) from your PC to your Bravia home entertainment system (assuming you have one of the models with Sony’s proprietary Digital Media Port.)

Now you can bring the famous Northern Lights inside your house with this nifty light projector from Japan. The Genso Kukan Aurora simulates the beautiful atmospheric phenomena known as the Aurora Borealis and projects the images on your wall or ceiling.

Apple today revealed new Mac Pro workstation models which features up to a whopping EIGHT CPU cores. Fully maxed out, the systems can have two Quad-Core Intel Xeon 3.0GHz processors, up to 3TB of hard disk storage and up to 16 GB of RAM.

This electronic toy out of Japan lets you create your own pixel art animations. The Dot Creator from U-Mate has a small 21 x 21 pixel LCD grid on which you can draw your own animated art and then record frame by frame animations.

While Logitech’s z-5500 5.1 speaker system has received high marks for its sound quality, its looks are a little too high-tech plastic for my tastes. Seeing that nobody was really doing case mods for speaker systems, modder Antti Hakala took on the challenge of converting this rather ordinary looking set of speakers and transformed them into a work of art.

I recently stumbled across this funny picture which came from one of Worth 1000‘s brilliant Photoshop contests… I think the picture pretty much speaks for itself.

I was on the Microsoft Xbox website when I stumbled across this interesting form… Apparently, Microsoft is now offering a disc replacement program for certain Xbox 360 titles. According to the site, they will replace certain discs that have been damaged for any reason for $20 bucks each.

This new home gadget is sorta like a giant mood ring, only a few thousand dollars more, and rack mountable. The moodSeer home media system automatically creates playlists for you based on your current mood. Just tell the moodSeer how you’re feeling: relaxed, romantic, inspired, etc… and the system automatically generates a playlist that suits your desired state of mind.

Sure, you could have one of those shiny new Apple TV set top boxes, but why be a lemming? Instead, why not pick up Apple’s original set top box, designed back in 1993, at the low point in Apple’s industrial design heritage.

If you’re looking for the ultimate gag gift for the home theater buff in your life, you’ve gotta check this remote control out. This new universal remote control is guaranteed to make ’em cringe. The $15 remote control features the likeness of Sesame Street’s most annoying character of all time, Elmo.

For some time now, there’s been buzz about the Military working on a new “crowd control system” which works by blasting people with an invisible, yet highly uncomfortable electromagnetic blast. Well it turns out that they did a little demonstration of the weapon on some members of the press back in January, and here’s a clip of the reaction of one such test subject: The device, known as the Active Denial System (which probably refers to the fact that the Military will actively deny using it if it ever comes to real world use) hits its victims with a non-lethal blast of EM radiation at a range of up to 500 yards away.