Carbon fiber desk is what you want for a little light office work

Carbon fiber is an amazing material that we see more and more in applications where incredible strength combined light weight really matter. The fact that it also has a super cool high-tech look doesn't hurt much either.

Most of us don't schlep our desk around the office on a regular basis, so I suspect that it's this visual aspect rather than its light weight that prompted Turkish designer Can Yalman to use carbon fiber for his Hexa Desk from Nurus. With both its base and desk surface fashioned from the woven composite, it looks like just the thing for a Formula One team owner's office.

No word on the price, but I'm guessing it's not cheap.

GScreen's Dual-Screen Spacebook Coming Soon(ish)

The Alaska based company, started by Gordon Stewart (yep, that is where the G in gScreen comes from), is aiming its dual screen laptops at professional designers, filmmakers, photographers and really anyone who can't live without a dual screen for everyday productivity. They have also been in talks with the military. The chassis (which we expect is at least 12 pounds) is built around the 15.4 inch screen (though the first units that come to market will have 16-inch or 17-inch screens) and its twin, identically sized screen slides out from behind the first using a uniquely designed sliding mechanism. [Read more...]

Just when we thought we had finished our P55 pictorial process, several more motherboards showed up for the launch article. We decided to continue with the pictorial process as the early September launch is quickly approaching and figured early coverage now would assist you while wading through all of the P55 choices available at launch. [Read more...]

Revisiting Linux Part 1: A Look at Ubuntu 8.04

After I threw this idea at Anand, the immediate question was what distribution of Linux should we use. As Linux is just an operating system kernel, and more colloquially it is the combination of the Linux kernel and the GNU toolset (hence the less common name GNU/Linux), this leaves a wide variation of actual distributions out there. Each distribution is its own combination of GNU/Linux, applications, window managers, and more, to get a complete operating system. [Read more...]

'Arrandale' chip will be an Intel laptop first

Intel's upcoming "Arrandale" will be the first highly integrated chip of its kind from Intel and is expected to run the gamut of laptop designs, from ultrathin to mainstream. [Read more...]

How Much Does it Cost to Build a P55 Motherboard?

he socket itself costs a couple of dollars, but even that is significantly more than LGA-775. The motherboard makers I spoke with pegged the LGA-775 socket at well under $1 per socket. The bulk of the 1156 socket isn’t the cost of the device, but rather the licensing fee that has to be paid to Intel for each socket. I’ve heard numbers approaching $7 per socket, per board once you include the licensing fees. As volumes go up, the price per socket will go down, but for smaller manufacturers this is a tough pill to swallow. It’s far easier to build an expensive motherboard than it is to build a cheaper one. [Read more...]

$70,000 Dynaudio speakers

Dynaudio makes some of the coolest high-end speakers around, and they like to point out that unlike most ultra fancy boutique speaker companies, they build all of their own drivers in house. The new Consequence Ultimate Edition looks like a good way to hammer that point home, hosting no fewer than five of the Danish manufacturer's best drivers in a neat inverted stack.

The price tag for all of this driver envy? A cool $70,000, but you do get a choice of real wood veneers. They will be available starting this fall.

Zachary Quinto grabs a joystick for Save the Arcade

With arcade gaming in danger of going the way of the dodo and multiple iconic arcades in jeopardy, Zachary Quinto appeared at Video West Arcade in Glendale, Calif., to take part in STRIDE gum's Save the Arcades campaign. [Read more...]

$2,100 phone has the heart of a $15 phone

You know, if you're going to charge $2,100 for a cellphone, you need to at least make the phone work well. Sure, this Gresso Grand Monaco is built from materials from the world of F1 racing, such as titanium superalloy, hi-tech ceramic and carbon fiber. But it looks like just your standard junk dumbphone with no features. No web browser? In the age of the iPhone, it's going to take a lot more than a fancy case to make people shell out that much money for a phone. Like, you know, phone features.

Big Bang animation, best demo of universe's birth ever

Not just our ONE universe...But, possibly multiple universes (mega-verse). [Read more...]

New technology gives LED displays a twist

U.S. researchers said on Thursday they have found a way to make large-scale flexible display screens that can be stretched to fit the contours of a bus yet are transparent enough so riders can see out windows. [Read more...]

What's "64-bit" on Snow Leopard?

There’s a little bit of confusion out there on the Web about what parts of Snow Leopard are running in 64-bit mode and what parts are running in 32-bit mode. A report by Thom Holwerda of OS News says that under Snow Leopard, most Macs will boot using a 32-bit kernel and drivers, not a 64-bit kernel and drivers. And Holwerda points out that many Mac models don’t have 64-bit EFI, either. [Read more...]

Linux is booming, but unpaid adoption may hurt vendors

IDC is projecting Linux revenue to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 16.9 percent from 2008 to 2013, topping $1.2 billion in 2013.

As IDC notes, this growth will comprise just 4 percent of total software market revenue by 2013, up from 2.2 percent in 2008. However, for the second time, IDC has also examined nonpaid deployments of Linux, revealing some troubling data. [Read more...]

WindowPhone concept points to future of touch cell phones

At this moment the only phone I would trade for my prized iPhone is the amazingly cool concept Window Phone from designer Seunghan Song. The phone would essentially be translucent, displaying information and images on a window-like surface in a form factor relatively similar to the iPhone's.

The killer feature of this concept phone is its ability to change the look of the display glass to match the current weather conditions of your location (i.e. sunny day equals clear screen, rainy day equals virtual droplets on your screen). The weather screen functions would also be interactive, allowing you to draw a message during a snowy and have it instantly transformed into an SMS message. Of course there are some impractical aspects of such a design, but with the newfound success of smartphones it's clear that some iteration of this kind of concept phone will likely see reality in the relatively near future.

Playstation 3 gets leaner and less shiny

Starting September 1st, you'll be able to get a revised Playstation 3 for $299 (i.e. the same price as the current Playstation 3, which comes with a smaller hard drive). So what's different?

The internal design architecture of the new PS3 system, from the main semiconductors and power supply unit to the cooling mechanism, has been completely redesigned, achieving a much slimmer and lighter body. Compared to the very first PS3 model with 60GB HDD, the internal volume as well as its thickness and weight are trimmed down to approximately two-thirds. Furthermore, power consumption is also cut to two-thirds, helping to reduce fan noise. While inheriting the sleek curved body design of the original model, the form factor of the new PS3 system features a new meticulous design with textured surface finish, giving an all new impression and a casual look.

A "casual" look? I wonder why they used that word. The charcoal finish will save you a fortune in Windex, which was an unlisted ancillary cost of owning the original glossy black PS3.

Logitech's latest trick: a mouse that works on glass

You love your glass desk. Being able to see your shiny shoes while you work is a major plus, and wood is so overrated. One problem: You need to use an archaic throwback of technology — a mousepad — since your computer mouse won't work on glass. Life really is a burden, isn't it? [Read more...]

2D is the new 3D in the slick and gratifying Shadow Complex2D is the new 3D in the slick and gratifying Shadow Complex

Sometime over the last decade, when I wasn't really looking closely, all videogames went 3D. All of them. RPGs went 3D. Turn-based strategy games went 3D. The Prince of Persia went 3D. Metroid went 3D. Even Mario went 3D. At first, I was pretty sure it was wonderful. Now I'm not so sure, particularly when I come across something wonderful and 2D. Space Invaders Extreme, Patapon, and Castle Crashers, for instance. [Read more...]

Netgear offers 8-port Gigabit Firewall for small business

Netgear on Monday announced the availability of its ProSafe 8-Port VPN Firewall (model FVS318G). It's priced at $139.

The device is intended for small businesses that need remote access and Internet access for employees with secure connections. It provides Virtual Private Networking (VPN) access using the Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) standard, and sports eight Gigabit Ethernet ports, one Gigabit Wide Area Network (WAN) port and up to 25 megabit per second broadband throughput. [Read more...]

IBM uses DNA to make next-gen microchips

International Business Machines Corp is looking to the building blocks of our bodies -- DNA -- to be the structure of next-generation microchips.

As chipmakers compete to develop ever-smaller chips at cheaper prices, designers are struggling to cut costs. [Read more...]

Hubless Monster Motorcycle Rolls Without Spokes

The biker boys at Amen Design have built a chopper based around Franco Sbarro’s hubless wheels. And it really rides!

Hubless wheels work by fixing the rotating parts (brake ring, bearings, hubless rim) onto the outer side of a non-rotating inner ring that attaches to the motorcycle’s swingarm or forks. [Read more...]

Who needs a Wii when you can play Half-Life with real guns?

Waterloo Labs is a group of breathlessly enthusiastic engineering nerds in Austin. For their latest project, they rigged up a big screen with accelerometers that sense the position of any impact. They then projected Half-Life onto the screen and hired a shooting instructor to shoot guns at the image. The shooting instructor is so cool he not only wears sunglasses at night, but he wears sunglasses at night when he's shooting.

The best part of the video is when the lovable engineering nerds decide not to miss out on the fun and take shovels to the screen. They have no illusions about being cool and instead giggle like schoolgirls as they whack away with the shovels. Great job, Waterloo Labs! But next time, if you really want to endear yourselves to us videogaming nerds, bring crowbars instead of shovels.

Google Testing Next-Generation Infrastructure

Google wants feedback on its super secret next-generation architecture. Right now, the company only wants feedback on the differences between Google's current search results and the new system but this could be expanded in the future.

Twitter outage reveals popularity of service

The outage that knocked Twitter offline for hours was traced to an attack on a lone blogger in the former Soviet republic of Georgia -- but the collateral damage that left millions around the world tweetless showed just how much havoc an isolated dispute can cause. [Read more...]

PS: It's Knocked Out again (August 11, 2009 @ 2pm)

Apple adds antiglare to 15-inch MacBook Pro

Apple finally adds antiglare screen to their 15" MacBook Pro!

Win7: “One Disc to Rule Them All” Is No More

One of the nice things to come out of Microsoft’s complete overhaul of the Windows installer for Vista and beyond was that it did away with the idea that different variations of Windows needed different discs. Previously each distribution of XP (Home/Pro/MCE) required its own disc, and then each license type (OEM/Retail/VLK) also required its own disc. This lead to an astounding number of disc types, and complete and utter frustration when for users attempting to install Windows and not having the correct disc to go with the key they had. [Read more...]

Spy video: Zune HD interface

Yes, there are other highly capable audio and video players other than iPods. Case in point: Microsoft Zune HD, which you can see in action for the first time in the spy video above. Since we showed you the product shots of the gorgeous 720p player that'll be available on September 8th, pricing has been leaked, too — the 16GB Zune HD will retail for $220, and the 32-gig version will be $290. Those prices undercut Apple's iPod touch products by a country mile. [Read more...]

Battery-bot breaks world record at Le Mans

You're looking at a world record holder. Sure, Evoia looks like a ridiculous toy, but this mini robot is really a proxy for Panasonic EVOLTA AA alkaline batteries, which allow this little sucker to "race" at Le Mans for 24 hours. That, my friends, is a world record. To be exact, this guy smacked down any allusions that the Energizer Bunny is the king of going and going, circling the Le Mans track 5.6 times and traveling a total of 14.82 miles. [Read more...]

Three top Hollywood studios bring films to Web

It is a dash of Hulu and a sprinkle of YouTube, features a crystal clear picture, can rewind or fast-forward at lightning speed, and doesn't require a download of any special software.

But epixHD.com, the soon-to-launch video website, will have its success dictated more by the movies, concerts and original programs it offers than the technology behind it, said the executive charged with creating and running the site. [Read more...]

MagLevAir system launches planes with magnets

Designers Leonie Lawniczak, Deniz Örs and Georg Milde have dreamed up a magnetic launch system that gives airplanes of the future a boost at take off in much the same way as an aircraft carrier's catapult. The separate shuttle would remain on the ground, but the helping hand it offers would allow the craft to carry less fuel, making it lighter overall. As for the plane itself, the designers aren't holding back for its method of propulsion: scramjets.

Trainer gain weight to prove a point

Paul 'PJ' James, an Australia-based personal trainer and former runway model made a rather interesting New Year's resolution - gain weight then take it off, basically to show his clients, the process of losing weight is not difficult. [Read more...]

Also, Morgan Spurlock's "really great bad idea," as it would later be called, came to him after a gluttonous Thanksgiving meal. Jeans unbuttoned, stomach engorged with turkey—and eyeing a second helping—the 32-year-old playwright noticed on the television news that two teenage girls from New York City were suing McDonald's for allegedly making them fat. [Read more...]

Hong Kong rolls out world's first fleet of solar ferries

We've already told you about solar-powered cargo ships, now Hong Kong has decided to combat the area's pollution problems by deploying solar-powered ferries. According to the makers of the vehicles, Solar Sailor Holdings Ltd., the ferries will operate using three-quarters solar energy and only one-quarter liquefied petroleum gas, potentially reducing carbon-dioxide output on the route by roughly half. [Read more...]

Lamborghini gears up to make hybrids, no kidding!

Hot on the heels of Lamborghini's Estoque family sedan, the Italian manufacturer has made another bid to become the Toyota of supercars, by letting slip that they plan to start building hybrids by 2015. CEO Stephan Winkelmann told the German magazine Automobilewoche that much like the Toyota Prius, the Hybrid Gallardo's electric motor will power the car around town, before switching over to a V-10 or V-12 motor on the open road. [Read more...]

Tool Link: RFID tells you if you've left anything behind

Always losing stuff? If you carry an assortment of expensive gear around, here's a great idea that will assure you you'll never again leave anything behind. DeWalt teamed up with Ford Trucks to create Tool Link, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag reader that electronically accounts for each item on which you place a small transmitting tag. Using two RFID antennas in the truck bed, when you press a button on the in-dash computer screen it does an electronic roll call, showing you if any of those valuable tools are missing. [Read more...]

The PRC is your Personal Rockin' Chair

This hanging circular chair is called the PRC, which stands for the Personal Rockin' Computer, but it's not a computer at all. No, it's just a weird, hanging, circular chair. But apparently you're supposed to use your computer while sitting on it. OK! It'll set you back $4,200 and certainly doesn't look like your standard Laz-e-boy.

Depositing checks via iPhone: Last link in paperless revolution

This could be one of the last links in a completely paperless existence: depositing a paper check with your iPhone. Stepping up to do its part in the paperless revolution is the USAA bank, rolling out an iPhone app this week that lets you snap a pic of each side of a check and e-send it into the bank for deposit. [Read more...]

Project TOPLESS: OLED lamp uses 14x less energy

Behold the future of lighting. British lighting company Thorn and the U.K. government created this remarkable OLED desk lamp prototype. Part of Project TOPLESS (Thin Organic Polymeric Light Emitting Semiconductor Surfaces), the lamp emits high-quality white light using a mere 3.5 Watts, giving you the same amount of light you'd get from a 50-Watt halogen desk lamp.

Robot Operating System gives 'bots a common, DOS-like brain

What a Robot Operating System would do is create a space where programmers could code functions for robots even without knowing much about the robot itself. Programming could then be adapted and tailored to each 'bot, cutting out a lot of the legwork. At the same time, robots could be built around the ROS, giving the field a bit more structure and allowing it to move forward faster, as well as giving robots a standard architecture that will allow them to interact with one another more easily. [Read more...]

GM turns to eBay to sell car

General Motors Co and eBay Inc are launching a test program in California that will allow consumers to negotiate with dealers and buy vehicles online, the companies said on Monday.

The car shopping website -- gm.ebay.com -- marks a departure from the way new vehicles have traditionally been sold in the United States and is aimed at helping GM recapture lost market share a month after it emerged from bankruptcy. [Read more...]

Nortel loss balloons, CEO steps down, board shrinks

Nortel Networks said Monday that its chief executive will step down immediately and its board will shrink from nine directors to three as the bankrupt telecom equipment maker sheds major assets. [Read more...]

The U.S. has the most advanced military organization the world has ever known. And it's planning to keep that status. Already dozens of federal agencies, private contractors and intensely smart and motivated people are crafting new and sophisticated weapons that will give America the high-tech edge in warfare for years to come. [Read more...]

NASA: next gen ion engines could be ready by 2013

Exciting news is coming out of the world of propulsion. In a talk this week in Denver, Michael Patterson, the principal investigator on NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (or NEXT) program, said that the next generation ion engine could go into production as soon as January 2010, and be completed sometime around 2013. The news comes after NASA completed testing for the NEXT ion propulsion system. [Read more...]

Syd Mead explains the evolution of the TRON light cycle

The proof-of-concept footage for TRON Legacy has been online for a while. But it wasn't until Comic Con that the hi-res version of the videos was put online (check it out at Sci Fi Wire here or in a variety of formats and quality levels here). And, of course, the various YouTube videos of a practical version of the light cycle, proudly displayed at a promotional event at a recreated arcade from the original TRON (here's one that cuts to the chase). After all this footage, I am officially psyched, and more so about the light cycle than anything else (frisbees haven't aged as well as supercool virtual motorcycles). So I reinstalled TRON 2.0 and even dug up the notes from an interview I did with Syd Mead, the designer of the light cycle, back in 2003. [Read more...]

10,000mph hypersonic scramjets on the way

Jet engines that might make it possible for passenger planes to someday travel at 10,000 mph will soon take to the air. Hypersonic scramjets have been in the works for years, but the Boeing X-51A demonstrator will contain the first scramjet that's actually mounted on board an aircraft. The X-51A is not really a plane but a missile, built to prove that a scramjet can actually work. Its first flight is set for this December. [Read more...]

Touchable holographic display uses hacked Wiimotes

Take a tour of KNB, one of Hollywood's creepiest F/X shops

Howard Berger is a little nonchalant about the stack of limbless bodies all around him.

"This is our order of bodies for Quentin Tarantino," Berger says about the bloodied stack of decapitated carnage around him. "He wants it real." Berger's creative team was making bodies for Inglourious Basterds, starring Brad Pitt, which comes out Aug. 21. [Read more...]

Zune HD

Well, having just geeked-out with a pair of Zune HDs for about an hour, I am tentatively reaffirming my faith in Microsoft. This thing was worth the wait, folks. Mind you, it's not going to crush the iPod Touch--a product that for all intents and purposes is more mobile computer than media player--but it's safe to say that the Zune finally has the power to make good on the promise of delivering one of the richest music experiences on a portable device. [Read more...]

What Do You Get With a $298 Laptop?

In the past few weeks a new market has emerged for ultra-cheap laptops priced under US$300 that boast some of the features found in more expensive, mainstream laptops.

Laptop prices don't generally dip that low, but some sub-$300 laptops from Wal-Mart and Best Buy this week have included large screens, reasonable graphics and DVD drives. Considering the price the laptops are a step up from low-cost netbooks, which have smaller screens and often cramped keyboards. [Read more...]

DIY home surveillance with a Webcam

Got a house sitter or an alarm system? Good for you. If not, there are a handful of ways to turn a computer into a tool that will alert you if someone's there who shouldn't be.

For the sake of this guide we're keeping things simple and limiting our list to free apps that work on PCs, Macs, or both. A few simply use your browser. Later on we also have a section on specialty hardware that can take you beyond what most Web cams are capable of. [Read more...]