Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

Apparently, it’s official. Robbie Bach, who oversaw development of the original Xbox, is now working on a device and music store combination to try and grab up market share from Apple’s iPod and iTunes services. Supposedly they’ll be doing more to inject a sense of community into the music/video store experience than Apple has, so that MIGHT be interesting, but it wouldn’t take long for Apple to do the same.

Microsoft’s announcement from E3 that they would be making portions of the XBox Live system available through other mobile devices was cryptic at best. Now, we see exactly what Microsoft was talking about. At the 2006 Qualcomm BREW conference, it was revealed that the Live Anywhere service will be running on non-Microsoft platforms, and a variety of intriguing screenshots have now been posted at QJ.NET.

Here’s a strange one for all you USB device freaks… The head comes off, and you plug the neck into your USB port. Everyone should have one of these. Read More [via The Raw Feed]

Three companies in Germany demoed their prototype Cinevision 2006 digital movie theater system yesterday with a 10 megapixel resolution.

Time magazine has selected the recently-released Nintendo DS Lite as their favorite gadget this week. By pushing hard on brain teasers like Soduku, Brain Age and Big Brain Academy, it looks like they’re trying to broaden their demographic appeal to an older audience, and potentially more women.

Word on the street is that Apple is working on a series of “ultra-portable PCs,” potentially for release at the upcoming MacWorld event in January 2007. Speculation is that these devices could operate either entirely from flash memory or from a flash memory/hard drive combination.

Looks like modern technology has finally caught up with the concept of the old Dick Tracy communicator watches. These geek-chic watches claim to have a range of up to 3 kilometers. Looks like a great idea for hikers and other outdoorsy types.

When Sony prepared their PS3 mockup at their Ginza showroom in Japan, it appears that the translators had the day off. The picture speaks for itself. [via kotaku]

LCD panels have traditionally been lagging behind CRT monitors in terms of color response, saturation, accuracy and overall black-level response.- However, a company named eCinema Systems has announced a new LCD technology that it claims surpasses CRT in virtually every respect.

Two bundles, one for USD 299 and one for USD 199, MGS 4, next-generation graphics and the secret of what is hidden under the front flap of the Wii are just some of the Nintendo secrets revealed by a controversial forum post last week.

Even though the full 802.11n spec hasn’t been ratified, it’s not stopping manufacturers from shipping products using the draft standard. Despite concerns Dell is going ahead with plans to release notebooks in Q3 that utilize 802.11n draft standard wireless modules.

With all the news about larger and larger LCDs, plasmas and RPTVs, it’s nice to see that front projection is alive and well. The story here is miniaturization thanks to super-bright LED projection technology. Mitsubishi has had a similar projector for about a year now, and Sony is now releasing what they claim to be the “world’s smallest projector.”

Want the look of a flat-screen? Want a HUGE screen? Don’t want to mortgage the house for the world’s largest plasma display? Optoma has released it’s unique Bigvizion modular 1080p DLP rear-projection system. These displays are recess-mounted into your wall, providing the clean lines of a flat-screen, while offering massive 80″, 90″ or 100″ screen sizes for under $20k.

This was just too odd for me to not include… “Bandai proudly presents “Little Jammer Meets Kenwood” an all new unique system features five little professional musicians on five high quality speakers. While the music is playing from the control box, each little jammer performs the music for you.

Sony will be releasing their first laptop to include a built-in Blu-ray drive by the end of June. The VAIO AR Premium Edition will include an Intel Core Duo CPU, 17-inch widescreen monitor, 1GB RAM and a copy of “House of Flying Daggers” on a Blu-ray disc.

I don’t know about this one. Apparently the guys over at JAVOedge thought it would be a good idea to design a skin for your iPod that changes colors when you touch it. . Apparently the same idea that drove Mood rings and Space Fidgits is now called “Hyper Touch Technology”.