Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

Samsung has unveiled this super-slick Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) portable television featuring a 4-inch widescreen LCD TFT display. The DMB-T450 will also feature built in MP3 playback, virtual surround sound, and USB connectivity (oddly it’s USB 1.1, though).

Throw out that old duct tape wallet! It’s time for the latest wallet for the

Ever wanted to be a gunslinger, but were afraid you’d wind up doing some bodily harm? Well don’t despair, because now you can play everyone’s favorite trailer trash game, shooting crap off of a log with a gun, with no risk of injury.

The folks over at OrbitCast came across a product page on the JJI Electronics website for Delphi’s new XM SkyFi3 satellite radio. Apparently the folks at JJI jumped the gun on this as yet unannounced radio.

Sony has finally rolled out details of their latest SXRD front projector, the VPL-VW50 (originally codenamed “pearl.“) The new model features an array of three 0.61-inch SXRD chips at a full 1080p (1920×1080) resolution, capable of outputting all currently available high definition signals at full resolution.

At this week’s CEDIA show, Optoma unveiled a new projector capable of displaying widescreen 16:9 high definition 720p images for just $999 USD. The Optoma HD70 projector features a single 0.62-inch DarkChip2 DLP chipset from Texas Instruments.

Mobility Today posted some up close footage of the new Microsoft Zune media player in action today. Note the huge album art, and video playback is done in landscape mode to provide excellent widescreen movie viewing.

Hot off Nintendo’s presses, we bring you the FINAL system specifications for the Wii video game console… Launch Date and MSRP: Nov. 19, 2006, in the Americas at an MSRP of $249.99. Color: White. Size: About 8.5 inches long, 6 inches wide and less than two inches thick (157mm x 215.4mm x 44mm).

Earlier today, we reported on the official launch announcement for the Nintendo Wii. More details have emerged on Nintendo’s interface which will be broken up into “Channels.” Below are Nintendo’s descriptions of the channels: Disc Channel: This channel allows users to play either Wii game discs or the entire library of Nintendo GameCube discs.

Hot on the heels of Apple’s iPod announcements, Microsoft has officially taken the wraps off of their Zune media player. As expected, the player can handle both audio and video playback on a 3″ LCD screen that can work in either portrait or landscape mode.

After much speculation, Nintendo has revealed that it’s anticipated Wii gaming console will be released in North America on November 19th, 2006 at a price of $249.99 USD. Additional Wii remote controllers will sell for $39.99 USD, “Nunchuk” attachements for $19.99 USD and a classic controller for $19.99 USD.

One of the great challenges of having an HTPC or Media Center PC as part of your home theater is finding a wireless keyboard that can actually be operated in a dimly-lit room. Microsoft seeks to change that with their Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 (not to be confused with Creative’s Keyboard with the same name), which is the first rechargeable wireless keyboard to feature backlighting.

At this week’s CEDIA show, Logitech showed it’s latest Harmony universal remote control, the Harmony 1000 Advanced Univeral Remote. The remote features a 3.5-inch programmable touchscreen, along with a variety of programmable, tactile buttons. The remote will control any device with an infrared receiver, and like other Harmony remotes, is set up through a simple web interface which contains discrete codes from over 175,000 devices.

The folks over at NewLaunches are reporting on a rumor out of Taiwan that the Xbox 360 may get a built in HD-DVD drive in 2007. Optical disc drive industry insiders say that Microsoft is working on a revision to the 360 that would embed the high-definition video player into a new version of the game console as early as the first half of 2007.

I couldn’t make this stuff up. Japanese gadget importer Audiocubes is selling this device which, when connected to your USB port, and placed under your rear end, cools off your seat. The Thanko USB Cool Cushion uses a USB powered fan to suck cool air in and pushes it out through small holes in the cushion and cool off your derriere.

Today, TiVo began selling its new Series 3 high definition recorder. The long-awaited Series 3 features a 250GB hard drive, enough to store about 32 hours of high-def content or about 300 hours of standard-def programming.