Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

Lik-Sang, one of my favorite places for imported game systems and accessories from the Far East has been unexpectedly shut down as a result of increasing pressure from pending litigation from Sony. The nail in the coffin appears to be a recent judgment that ruled their sale of PSP consoles from Asia to Europe was unlawful.

The ZScanner 700 from Z Corp lets you scan three-dimensional objects without requiring any complex mounting hardware or tripods. Typical 3D object scanners have to be mounted with a tripod or mounting arm, and it’s almost impossible to scan small, enclosed spaces or objects which could not be brought to the scanner.

This has gotta be one of the creepier robotic animals I’ve seen from Japan in some time (or at least this week.) This frightening little guy sits on your dashboard and uses GPS technology to point you in the direction of your destination.

The oh so small netstix series of computers from gumstix are full-fledged Linux systems in the form-factor of a pack of gum. Now the maker has announced a significant speed bump from the earilier 200MHz processor to a new Intel XScale 400MHz processor.

Face it, the reason we play sim games is so we can act out our inner God complexes. Who here among us didn’t just build up our SimCities just so you could unleash Godzilla and a tornado on them?

Want to make sure your kids have a truly white Christmas this year? Well with a little elbow grease, some cold weather and some cold hard cash you can. The SG4 and SG5 snow makers from Snowathome.com

I’ve seen phones with GPS and PDAs with GPS, but this is the first time I’ve seen a full Windows Mobile phone with built-in GPS navigation capabilities. The Dopod P800W is a full Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphone with 802.11b/g wireless, Bluetooth and an integrated SiRF III GPS receiver.

With all the ridiculous looking gameplay videos we’ve seen coming out for the new Nintendo Wii, I thought you might find this amusing: I can’t decide whether I like the tea time or the tattoo artist game better.

One of the concerns about conventional CDs and DVDs is that they will eventually lose their data at some point in the future. In order to solve this problem, a Japanese recording engineer has developed the first compact disc made from glass.

Artists Jess Giffin and Jim TerMeer have created this ingenious design which integrates those ugly power supplies into a work of art. Designed to accommodate the many power adapters cluttering our living space, this ship powers our electronic devices with their cords in its wake.

We’ve seen tons of retro LED clock designs emerge over the last couple of years, but this one takes the cake. The $89 Open Edition LED Clock breaks the digits of the clock into four self contained displays (2″ x 1.5″ x 1.5″ each), attached by cables.

At this week’s Korean Electronics Show, LG Electronics showed off their new series DLP “hand-held” projectors. The mini-projectors are small enough to throw in a backpack or small briefcase, and use LED lamp technology to keep their svelte figure.

If you have fond memories of Berkeley’s After Dark screen saver, you can now relive them thanks to UNEASYsilence’s retro ToasterClone screen saver. The screen saver is available for free in both OS X and Windows version here.

Pictures of the 20GB and 60GB models of Sony’s Playstation 3 console have surfaced and we can finally see the differences between the two models. While the 20GB model features a completely black case, the 60GB model features some (IMHO, tacky) chrome accents.

Samsung’s upcoming CLP-300 and CLP-300N claim to be the world’s smallest and lightest color laser printers. The printers measure just 15.4″ W x 13.5″ D x 10.4″ H and weigh less than 30 lbs each. They feature a unique toner system which minimizes the size of the printer as well as cutting down on the noise of mechanical toner systems in competitors’ printers.

LG is showing off their new HT702TN home theater setup which they’re calling a “5.3 channel” system. LG is using the term as a result of additional woofers in the front left and right channels which are supposed to improve low frequency response.