Leaked faceplate pretty much confirms a Facetime-equipped iPod Touch

It makes sense that the next version of Apple's iPod Touch would come with a couple of the features from the iPhone 4; mainly, a front-facing camera for Facetime chats and the higher-resolution Retina display. And a leaked faceplate makes at least the first of those seem very likely.

The leaked photo, which purports to come out of a an Apple parts supplier, clearly shows what would be the faceplate of a next-generation iPod Touch, complete with a conspicuous hole for a front-facing camera.

It'd certainly be nice to expand the number of devices that are able to have Facetime chats from one, wouldn't it? It sure looks likely.

MacRumors via Gadget Lab

Scoot over, bullet trains! Jet-powered school bus goes 367mph

Indy Boys Inc, an Indianapolis-based group of gear-heads, has fitted a jet engine from a warplane to an iconic yellow school bus. It may not be the fastest ground vehicle out there, but at 367mph and with its 80-foot-long plume of flame, it's quite the sight.

The bus guzzles a whopping 150 gallons of fuel in a quarter of a mile thanks to its 42,000 horsepower jet engine, which was taken from a Phantom fighter jet. Indy Boy Paul Stender, the mastermind of the project, said that while it's not supposed to get kids to and from school, it is supposed to impress them. "I guess this is my revenge for all those days riding on the slow journey to school, now it goes at my kind of pace," he said.

While it still looks like the kind of bus you and I are used to, Stender estimates that only 5% of the original vehicle is left. The entire thing had to be reworked as a bus would come apart under the pressure put on it by a jet engine like this.

"I built the bus for two reasons. The first is to entertain people because, come on, it's a jet bus," Stender said, concluding, "The second, is to keep kids off drugs. Jets are hot, drugs are not."

Telegraph, via Auto Motto

Apple eyeing Chinese gaming company?

According to reports from Reuters, Agence France Presse, the IDG News Service, and others, Handseeing Deputy General Manager Tian Bo on Friday said the two companies have been huddling.

"We are indeed in talks," Tian told AFP, and have been for "a certain period of time." Reuters, meanwhile, reports that Tian said to expect an announcement in the next two months. LINK

Apple v. Google: One year on...

As we wait for Apple's next moves, among the furor over Android overtaking Apple in terms of smartphone OS marketshare in the US, it seemed a good moment to reflect that Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, only finally resigned his seat on Apple's board of directors this week one year ago.

We saw it coming at the time. First of all Apple rejected Google Voice from the App Store.

Then came the bombshell, a short statement dated August 3 2009, in which Schmidt finally quit his seat on Apple's board. And finally admitted just how big a competitor to Apple Google had become. LINK

A Ghost Busters-style backpack water cannon for firefighters

This is designer Jan Thinius's conceptual "Impulse Gun," and it's basically the Proton Pack from Ghost Busters, but made to fight fires instead of Slimer. Instead of having to rely on running a hose back to a hydrant, every fire fighter has the water on their back.

So, you may be thinking, "Why not just use a fire extinguisher? Isn't that about the same thing?" I thought that, too, but fighting fires with high-pressure water shot out of a nozzle is different as it penetrates deeper into a serious blaze.

Man, it'd be great if some of these futuristic firefighting techs actually came about. At least this firefighting motorcycle is real, and can help tide us over.

Check out more of the HPI 1000 Impulse Gun in the gallery below. LINK

Via Yanko Design

Secret compartment to hide all your stereo components

Your A/V equipment is great to have around, but it adds a stack of clutter and sires to your living room that can be a bit of an eyesore. One solution? Build a secret hiding place for it behind your TV.

That's just what architect Dan Herchenroether did, creating a panel that his TV is mounted on that lifts up to reveal all those ugly components. It's a pretty clever solution, albeit one that requires that you dig a big hole in your wall. But if you're committed, this is one way to clean up the clutter in your living room.

Apartment Therapy via Lifehacker

Mobius strip library bends in on itself

Here's a mindbending design for a building: the design for Kazakhstan's new National Library is shaped like a Mobius strip, folding around and in on itself.

The building will actually be comprised of two interlocking structures in order to make the whole thing work, but it looks like it'll be stunning. With an area of 33,000 square meters and with a facade of twisted metal and glass, it's certainly going to be a lot cooler looking than any library I've ever been into.

Apartment Therapy via Neatorama

Google and Verizon set to kill net neutrality

Do you like paying one flat fee to access the entire internet? Well, enjoy it while it lasts, because Google and Verizon are about to create a tiered-access internet.
When the deal is finalized, companies such as Google will be able to pay to give bandwidth priority to their services, while small fry websites will get stuck in the slow lane.
It could also go the other way, in which you pay to access certain websites and not others, sort of like how cable TV works now.
All in all, there are absolutely no upsides for the internet-loving consumer here, only for gigantic companies like ISPs and, well, Google. It's still not finalized, however, so if this sounds lousy to you, call up your government officials and tell them what you think about it.

Via NY Times

Thought-controlled prosthetic arm is about to change everything

For the current crop of state-of-the-art prosthetic arms, you have to control the fingers and finer movements with your feet. It takes a lot of getting used to and is completely unlike using a normal arm. But a new model purports to be controlled by thoughts, which could be revolutionary.
It's especially good news for quadriplegics, who don't have the option of controlling an arm with their feet. That's who will get the first system, testing the arm's ability to sidestep spinal injuries. It will be controlled via sensors implanted in the brain, and it'll work both ways, with sensors in the fingers sending signals back to the brain. Pretty amazing stuff.
Will it work? We'll see, but I sure hope so. It could be revolutionary.

Singularity Hub via Neatorama

The least watch-like watch ever

This is the Mutewatch, although it sure looks more like a bracelet than a watch. And I guess that's the point!
The flat, white face of the Mutewatch hides a hidden screen that can be activated on touch, allowing you to swipe between a timer, clock and alarm. And that alarm just vibrates rather than beeps, which adds to the subtlety of the piece. You can preorder this $260 accessory now, if you like the simple approach to things.

Mutewatch via Engadget

Moisture-free dryer uses a vacuum to dry your clothes

The DryMate is a concept for a tumble vacuum dryer that uses vacuum condensation technology to dry clothes at lower temperatures, conserving energy all the while.
Just what the specifics of said technology are aren't entirely clear, but it sure sounds good, right? And I do like the look of this thing. So yeah, as long as that tech actually, you know, exists, this could be pretty cool.

Coroflot via Gizmodo

Motorola partners with Verizon to shake Apple's iPad market

Motorola and Verizon joined hands to introduce a tablet PC focused on television-content, taking a plunge into the burgeoning tablet market set afire by iPad.

The tablet device will feature a 10-inch screen and will be based on Android operating system. The differentiating factor for the product would be access to Verizon's FiOS cable service. It will support Adobe Flash, a platform of choice for more than 90 percent of web videos.

There has been a buzzing rumor since the start of the year when it launched a prototype of Motorola tablet at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Motorola has been successful in raking the smartphone market giving Apple iPhone stiff competition with the launch of its Droid X model. The model sold more than 350,000 units since it hit the market last month. Currently the smartphone is out of stock. It is also due to launch its Droid 2 and will follow-up with Android 2.2 or Froyo updates to Droid phones. LINK

Incredible cylindrical video display lets you move around objects

If you thought today's 3D-TV had crossed the final frontier towards visual reality, then you haven't experienced what a true volumetric 3D display can bring you.
In fact to be strictly accurate, the current generation of so called 3D-TVs should really be called stereoscopic TVs, because they can only bring you the perspective seen by the camera used to shoot the event. In other words, if you move over to one side of the room, it won't allow you to see more of the side of the presenter's head.
Sony wants to change that using a volumetric video display, which is basically a cylinder where your perspective changes as you move around or simply rotate the display. The Sony RayModeler doesn't require special glasses, and can be spun to give a different perspectives using a motion sensing gesture controller.
The main catch is that the system only works for relatively static people or objects that can be placed inside the ring of eight cameras, so you're not about to get a baseball game where you can change seats with each inning. What it can do is provide an all-round perspective view of things like gemstones, and you've got to figure that the gaming possibilities should be pretty awesome.
While it's hard to tell from the 2D video what the RayModeler can really do, I think you can get the idea. I particularly like the cylindrical Breakout game.

Via Wired Gadget Lab

China hatches plans for 1,000 kph maglev trains for 2015

China is hoping to complete a massive rail network that would help the country cut down on pollution in addition to moving folks around on trains that are as fast as jets. To get them going that fast, though, Chinese engineers are considering a special tunnel system.
Even though maglev trains glide along without feeling friction from the track, there's still one big force acting on them and slowing them down: air resistance. As such, Chinese engineers want to do away with that barrier, too, and get the trains moving faster.
So, what's the solution? Well, have the trains travel through tunnels, and then suck all the air out of them. (The tunnels — not the trains.) The vacuum-sealed environment would allow the trains to carry on at unheard of speeds, which could be as fast as 1,000 kilometers per hour (or 620 miles per hour).
The big hurdle, as it usually is, is cost. The special tunnels would make each and every kilometer of track a whopping $3 million more to construct. Considering China is looking to lay down 16,000 kilometers of track, that's a lot of scratch!

Bloomberg, via CrunchGear

Good riddance, Google Wave

Ever since the launch of Google Wave, I've used it a handful of times for both work and pleasure. We gave it a fair shake here at DVICE, trying to use it to plan projects. Just last week, some friends of mine used it to coordinate a dinner party. In both instances it was clumsy and awful.
When we first heard about it, it seemed like such an awesome idea. A service that combines email and chatting, wiki-like forums and an open-source environment for clever-types to crank out unique widgets? It sounds like a surefire winner, but there was one problem: Google's various services already did all that, and they didn't look as awful and ugly as Wave does. (I don't get to talk about it in the past tense, sadly, as it's still up and available for you to log in to.)
So, why has Google finally decided to pull the plug on Wave? "Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked," Urs Hölzle, senior VP for operations, wrote on Google's blog. "We don't plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects."
That means that some of the features Google tried to make popular with Wave — we're guessing the widget support, for one — though hopefully Google will keep that godawful layout away from my precious Gmail.
For the fans of Wave out there, Google has vowed to help both of you out by developing tools though would extract your saved projects on Wave.

Google Blog, via PCWorld

Anatomical art shows tech's organic core

Do you ever think of your tech devices as having a living, breathing core of their own? Apparently Danish artist Madspeitersen does, judging by his awesome anatomical cutaways of familiar everyday tech.
Instead of chips and circuit boards, his iPhone 4 has a complete digestive tract including intestines and a liver. His PS3 controller on the other hand is all muscle and teeth, while his Xbox controller has a ribcage containing lungs and a beating heart.
I'm sure there's plenty of other tech that would look cool when given the Madspeitersen treatment. How about something like a camcorder with human eyes and ears?

deviant ART, via Gizmodo

Quirky hotel rooms come with awesome model train sets

What do you look for in a good hotel? Free Wi-Fi in the rooms? A good workout center? A pool? In Japan, it turns out some people look for something rather odd: a fully working train set.
This is Washington Hotel in the legendarily nerdy district of Akihabara, where guests share a room with a model train set over 60 square feet large. The set itself is modeled after the surroundings of the hotel, and there's an option for guests to bring their own trains if they don't want to use the one's provided.
It may sound weird, but for a serious fan of trains, being able to see the train of your choice cruise around on such a large and familiar set sounds like some geeky fun.
The rooms are damn expensive, too, ranging around $265 a night. Want to see it for yourself? Check it out in the video below.

Via OhGizmo!

Has Intel finally met its match?

When Jen-Hsun Huang (pronounced Jenson Wong) was 10 years old, his Taiwanese parents sent him to a boarding school in rural Kentucky. It turned out to be a reform school, where Huang was the youngest kid, and he and his brother the only Chinese. "I got beat up now and then," he says. "But I learned how to survive."

Disposable printer lasts only as long as the ink cartridge

The Instant Cartridge Printer, by designers Yuexun Chen and Chia-Chen Hsiao, is a striking concept that is not only a neat idea, but makes you think about just how much your printer really does for you, acting as a middleman between you and ink cartridges.
Instead of buying a new ink cartridge when your printer runs out of ink, the cartridge itself is the printer. That'd make buying a "printer" the same as picking up a disposable camera. Need to print something during your lunch break? Go pick one up. On vacation but want to print out some photos for the family? Same thing.
The size of the cartridge would also determine what kind of paper you'd need. With today's cameras and digital storage able to talk directly to printers without the need of a computer, something like this could be really awesome. Sure, they make some portable printers nowadays, but disposable ones?
The designers also envision the Instant Cartridge Printer as recyclable, which is a nice thought.

Via Yanko Design

U.S. Navy looking to protect drones from laser cannons

Remember that big scary laser the Navy showed off a few weeks ago? Well, not that ray guns and cannons are looking like they could be a real thing, the Navy wants to figure out how to guard against 'em.
The Navy refers to them as DEWs, or Directed Energy Weapons, and it's an emerging technology that could, one day, change the nature of warfare as laser weapons don't run out of ammunition in a traditional sense, and can attack a target with a great deal of accuracy.
So, how do you protect against a threat like that? Right now, the threat that lasers pose is that they could pinpoint the electrical systems on a target, from a spy drone's cameras to a bomb's guidance systems. To counteract this, the Navy is awarding contracts to companies such as Texas' Nanohmics, Inc., which is developing an early warning system that would detect laser weapons and have a drone take evasive action.
There's also plans in the works to shield components from laser hits using absorbent coatings. This would work well against low-energy weapons designed to screw up electronics, but may not guard against a high-powered cannon looking to destroy a target outright.
Here's a video of a drone taking it from a laser, in case you missed it.

Camera lens coffee mug gives you serious focus in the morning

This may look like a standard Canon 24-105mm lens, but it's really a coffee mug. A very awesome coffee mug.
It's got all the details you expect to see on a lens like this, including a lens cap for a lid, rubber grip focus and zoom rings. It even has an auto-focus switch that really thwacks back and forth. Just don't try to take any pictures with it, or you'll ruin both your camera and a perfectly good cup of coffee.

Photojojo via Boing Boing

Japan radically redesigns the gas pedal for the better

Think about it: how much sense does having the gas and brake pedals right next to each other make? Not a lot. In a panic, you're going to stomp down, but you might end up hitting the wrong pedal, turning a bad situation worse.
But the Naruse Pedal, developed in Japan, solves this problem. It replaces the gas and brake with one pedal. To accelerate, you push a lever to the side with your foot. To brake, you push down. This cuts out any confusion or panic you might have in the heat of the moment. If you want to brake, just stomp down. No problem.
It's a design that makes sense, although it would be sure to hit some resistance from people who like their pedals as-is. But it's a safer and more sensical setup, isn't it?

Via NY Times

Racer, a video game that uses real tracks and real cars

Racing games such as Mario Kart and Wipeout feature some pretty insane courses. Designer Malte Jehmlich and his team wanted to recreate that for real, rather than building a digital world, deciding to drive a real car through a real track.
It still plays out like an arcade game — you even sit down at a proper arcade cabinet and everything — but you're guiding a remote-controlled car though a track that's in the same room as you. It's an idea that's been done elsewhere: Disney World has an Indiana Jones-themed RC car game at its multilevel arcade, DisneyQuest. Jehmlich's Racer, on the other hand, is all about speed, and features a neat two-story track.
Check it out in the video below.

Nvidia reels as ATI grabs market share

Graphics-chip manufacturer Nvidia ( NVDA ) is suffering through a rough week.

The company announced Wednesday that it expected its chip sales to be weak in the second quarter, due to sluggish demand from China and Europe. Also weighing on results, Nvidia warned, were high memory costs.

Some computers come equipped with graphics chips integrated into their motherboard; these systems are less profitable for graphics processing unit companies like Nvidia and ATI - now owned by AMD. Integrated-GPU PCs may be growing in popularity and pressuring Nvidia's earnings.

Investors may be worried further by the news that Nvidia is losing share to ATI. In the first quarter, the former held 19.7 percent of the GPU market, while the latter occupied 24.4 percent. Intel ( INTC ) made up the difference.

This week, Apple ( AAPL ) announced that it was revising its desktops - and one of the changes is a shift from Nvidia GPUs to those made by ATI. Apple's share of the desktop market is small, but the change to ATI graphics chips could signal further share erosion for Nvidia.

The heat is on for the next videogame interface gimmick

Okay, enough of this motion controller hoo-ha and 3D nonsense. Let's move on to the Next Big Thing. Temperature! The MIT Technology Review has a short article about experimental controllers that can heat up and cool down.

A pair of thermoelectric surfaces on either side of a controller rapidly heat up or cool down in order to simulate appropriate conditions in a virtual environment...The temperature difference isn't large - less than 10 degrees heating or cooling after five seconds, but the researchers involved discovered that...just a little sensory nudge can be enough to convince involved participants in a virtual environment that they are experiencing something like the real thing.

There's even a graph that proves users notice faster when the controller cools down than they notice when it heats up. Do you know what that means? Me neither.

(Thanks Slashdot!)

Did Christopher Nolan incept the latest Modern Warfare 2 demo?

It's not often that a publisher offers a new demo a year after a game has been released. Of course, it's also not often that a game has an opportunity to subtly tie itself into a summer blockbuster.
So perhaps it's not that surprising that Activision announces a demo of the Cliffhanger level from Modern Warfare 2, which came out a year ago. Does the description of Cliffhanger remind you of any movies you've seen recently?

One of the most recognized levels in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Cliffhanger thrusts players into an epic fight of a lifetime amid near-blinding snowstorm conditions high in the frigid mountains of Kazakhstan. One wrong move and it's certain death as players scale a frozen mountainside, battle their way through a raging firefight, and race for survival aboard a snowmobile under heavy enemy fire.

Starcraft II: Once upon a time, it was a dark and stormy night

I've just finished the single-player campaign in Starcraft II. I hated it. I only played through to the end because I had to review the game (the review is posted here; spoiler: I gave it a B). Aside from the rare interesting mission, I'm glad that's over. Partly because I don't care for the usual scripted shenanigans in single-player missions. I play strategy games as strategy games, not puzzles. But I'm mainly glad it's over because the writing is so clumsy, superficial, earnest, and ubiquitous. I mean no disrespect to 12-year-old boys when I say it's something a 12-year-old boy might enjoy.

iPad 4G Access, Cheap: Clearwire Goes After Apple Customers With "iSpot"

Want super-fast wireless Internet access for your iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone, and don't want to rely on AT&T's pokey network?
Wireless provider Clearwire has a new gadget out today that could be especially useful for iPad owners who live in the Clearwire's limited 4G wireless zone: The new iSpot base station, which provides unlimited 4G access for up to 8 Apple wi-fi devices for just $25 per month, with no contract or overage charges. LINK

Giant 'GOLD' balloon takes down dangerous orbital debris

I don't know when you were in space last, but it's pretty messy up there. Even the smallest piece of debris is dangerous to the operational satellites, spacecraft and the International Space Station. So, how do we clean it up? With balloons, according to Dr. Kristen Gates.
The "GOLD" envelope she's proposing — or the Gossamer Orbit Lowering Device — is basically the toughest balloon in the world. It's sent up to orbit in a box no larger than a suitcase, and then it's fastened to a dead satellite or a piece of space junk. After that? It inflates into a massive balloon, enveloping whatever it's designed to lower.
Lower into the atmosphere, that is, where the piece of debris will burn up and trouble the Earth's orbit no more. The balloon's size amplifies the amount of drag acting on the space junk already, which slowly decays an object's orbit.
Best of all, Dr. Gates's GOLD system would be cheap to make, and if something went wrong — say, the balloon popped — there's a chance all that another GOLD balloon would do the trick.

Space Daily, via Fast Company

Why cellphone bandwidth is running out (and what to do about it)

Conventional wisdom holds that we need to build more highways in order to curb congestion. But what ends up happening is, more highways encourage more driving, creating a Möbius strip of never-ending highway building and even more entangled traffic jams. But there's only so much room to build new highways, which means eventually we'll be living in eternal gridlock.

Crazy huge Chinese bus drives right OVER cars

Do you hate waiting behind a bus as it loads and unloads? Well, friend, does China have the craziest solution for you! A Chinese company is looking to build buses so big cars can drive right under them, which will ease congestion. The company is serious about it, too.
Being developed by the Shenzhen Huashi Future Car-Parking Equipment company, the buses are currently planned for Beijing's Mentougou district, where tracks on the road will make sure they stay straight as cars drive under them — and they drive over cars. Passengers get on and off at elevated stations, as the bus/trolley/what-have-you are so tall.

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Do you hate waiting behind a bus as it loads and unloads? Well, friend, does China have the craziest solution for you! A Chinese company is looking to build buses so big cars can drive right under them, which will ease congestion. The company is serious about it, too.
Being developed by the Shenzhen Huashi Future Car-Parking Equipment company, the buses are currently planned for Beijing's Mentougou district, where tracks on the road will make sure they stay straight as cars drive under them — and they drive over cars. Passengers get on and off at elevated stations, as the bus/trolley/what-have-you are so tall.

ChinaHush, via Engadget

PVC pipe speakers are plenty classy, thank you very much

You know, speakers don't need to be encased in some endangered Brazilian hardwood in order to sound good. Speaker makers only do stuff like that in order to weasel you out of more money. So why not go the opposite route with a set of speakers built out of PVC pipes?
These PVC speakers by Etsy seller ikymagoo go for $200 a set, but I'm sure if you're handy you could put a pair together for even less than that. But even at $200, they're reasonably priced and have a pretty sweet aesthetic to them. Who needs fancy enclosures?

Etsy via Make

Are tablets really little TVs? Motorola thinks so

What do you think tablets are best used for? Reading e-books like on a Kindle? Playing games? Maybe you've found you're most fond of watching TV. At least, that's what Motorola hopes, as it's making a tablet with Verizon that will stress its FiOS TV connection.
Details are still early, but according to a Financial Times piece we could see a new tablet in town as early as this Autumn. It's about time, too — everyone has really let the iPad run the show.
So, what's Motorola's response? A 10-inch screen with cameras both up front and on the back — which sets it apart from the camera-less iPad — one for taking pictures and the other for video conference.
The FiOS TV thing being one of the major selling points. Apple has its own plans to roll out television subscriptions, but for right now the iPad still has to rely on third-party apps from networks such as ABC and CBS.
The Motorola tablet is supposed to run Android, making it one of many Google OS-powered devices racing to a market that's received the iPad really well.

Financial Times, via All Things D

LED equipped tires keep you safe while looking pimped

Any driver knows how tough it can be to spot bikes on a dark street at night, especially if they aren't using any kind of lighting. Sure you could add those little flashing LED lights to your ride, but these special tires with their embedded LED lighting would be even harder to miss.
The Cyglo Tyre was invented by James Tristram (note the British spelling of 'tire') as a safety feature, with a ring of LEDs embedded in the tread or side wall lighting up the tire as it spins. A motion powered generator built inside the tire delivers the juice needed to keep the LEDs lit, so they actually work any time the bike is moving. Other options include constant or flashing LED modes, and several different color choices.
Safety is a wonderful thing, but I think most kids will want these so they can have the most pimped out bike on the block.
Cyglo appears to be currently looking for a manufacturer.

Cyglo Tyres, via Wired Gadget Lab

NASA decides Canada is the perfect substitute for space

To train for future missions to space, NASA needs a place that's as close as possible to the barren landscape of a distant planet. Now they think they have found the perfect spot, on a remote island in the Canadian Arctic.
The Haughton Meteor Crater is over 1800 miles due north of the USA-Canada border on Devon Island, and as you can see it's pretty barren up there. In fact the North Pole is only about 1000 miles away.
In a series of tests being run this week, scientists from the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA's Ames Research Center in sunny California, are testing out various robotic systems, and working out the kinks for a possible future mission to Mars.
The Haughton-Mars Project 2010 is scheduled to run through August 8th.

Via Cnet News

Super adapter turns any normal iPod Touch into a working cell phone

If you're one of the skeptics who held off on picking up the controversial iPhone 4, one company is rewarding that prudence by introducing a device called the Apple Peel that turns any iPod Touch into a working mobile phone.
When you slide your iPod Touch into the new Apple Peel adapter the device--complete with a SIM card slot and Infineon baseband chip--allows you to make calls, instant message friends and also acts as a 4.5 hour backup battery. The bad news is that the Apple Peel, which retails for roughly $250, is currently only available here.

Via Engadget

Sharp's 3D cellphone is arriving soon, no glasses required

Sharp isn't exactly a household name when it comes to cellphones, but they're looking to change that later this year with a new 3D smartphone that doesn't require 3D glasses.
Presumably using a similar parallax barrier display like the Nintendo 3DS, it would be 3D only if you were looking at it straight on. Which isn't really a bad thing for portable devices such as cellphones, as it's rare that a bunch of people gather around one to watch something.
Of course, the other big question is just who would want a 3D cellphone. It doesn't seem like it would be much more than a gimmick, but it's possible that Sharp has something up their sleeves to make it a little more interesting. We'll see!

Reuters via Gizmodo

How crud filled is the air you breathe? This purifier shows you

Air purifiers seem like a good idea especially if you live in a big city like New York, but how do you know if they are having any effect?
This purifier from Coway lets you know with a little glowing circle in the upper left corner. If it's blue you can breathe easy, but as it changes to purple and then red, it warns you about increasing levels of pollution in the air passing through it.
The AP-1008 appears to be a pretty powerful device, with a multistage HEPA filter and a wide array of automated controls. It can even be set to work automatically, turning itself on when the pollution level becomes elevated.
The biggest obstacle I see is the $499 retail price. But what price can you put on breathing clean air? LINK




Coway, via Oh Gizmo!

New BlackBerry is badly needed flagship for RIM

BlackBerrys still fly off the shelves. They still convey the message that their owners mean business — that they're people who are important enough to need e-mail access all the time.
But BlackBerrys are now being challenged by phones that say you can have your e-mail, and have fun, too.
Research In Motion Ltd., the maker of the BlackBerry, revealed a new phone Tuesday that says the company is still in the game, but it's doing so by catching up to the competition rather than by breaking new ground.
The Torch will be RIM's first device with both a touch screen and the BlackBerry's signature full-alphabet keypad. It hits AT&T stores on Aug. 12 for $199 with a two-year contract. LINK

Super sexy iPod dock looks like an iMac made just for music

A lot of the iPod docks on the market are pretty lame, failing to capture the elegance and style embodied in the actual player itself, and I've often wondered what an iPod dock would look like if Apple actually designed one themselves.
This concept from Bluelarix Designworks in Holland is probably pretty close, with a basic form that strongly resembles the current iMac design. More than just a simple iPod dock, the Wireless Music System streams files wirelessly from your computer, and includes a built in hard drive, CD/DVD player, and an Internet radio tuner. The entire system is controlled using an Apple-like remote control.
Right now it's just a concept, but hopefully this one will make it into production. LINK

Bluelarix, via Yanko Design

Does AMD’s Rise Help Explain Nvidia’s Fall?

AMD, which has battled Intel since the 1980s in the market for microprocessors, four years ago announced a deal to pay a whopping $5.4 billion for ATI Technologies. The deal saddled AMD with a crushing debt load, but it also provided two new weapons: graphics chips–the complex processors that make videogames look realistic–and accessory products called chip sets that connect a microprocessor to the rest of a system.

AMD CEO Dirk Meyer and other executives argue that both are crucial to competing with Intel, which sells complete technology platforms to computer makers that consist of a microprocessor and a chip set. Intel’s chip sets often include graphics as a built-in feature. Such “integrated” graphics can’t match the performance of stand-alone graphics chips, but are good enough for many applications–and are particularly popular to help hold down the size, price and power consumption of laptop computers. LINK

1962 glass could be Corning's next bonanza seller - Gorilla Glass

An ultra-strong glass that has been looking for a purpose since its invention in 1962 is poised to become a multibillion-dollar bonanza for Corning Inc.

The 159-year-old glass pioneer is ramping up production of what it calls Gorilla glass, expecting it to be the hot new face of touch-screen tablets and high-end TVs.

Gorilla showed early promise in the '60s, but failed to find a commercial use, so it's been biding its time in a hilltop research lab for almost a half-century. It picked up its first customer in 2008 and has quickly become a $170 million a year business as a protective layer over the screens of 40 million-plus cell phones and other mobile devices. LINK

Comic book buff selling rare copy of Batman No. 1

A longtime Alaska comic book buff is selling one of the gems in his vast collection, a rare copy of Batman No. 1 published 70 years ago.

Mike Wheat of Fairbanks has put the 1940 comic book on the auction block through Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries, where it's expected to fetch more than $40,000. Online bids already have climbed to $35,000 for the book, believed to be one of fewer than 300 still in existence.

Online bids will compete with a live auction set for Thursday.

The second and fourth Batman issues also will be part of Thursday's auction. They are expected to bring more than $5,000 combined. LINK

Scubacraft gives scuba diving some serious horsepower

The Scubacraft is an open-cockpit submersible that's like a four wheeler, but under water. In order to use it you need to be in full scuba gear, but then it can take you down 100 feet with the push of a button.

The sweet pseudo-sub can also carry two additional passengers in addition to the pilot, if you've got some people you want to impress. The 250hp engine can keep you moving at a pretty good clip, and I assume it wouldn't be too tough to stick a harpoon gun on the front for shark deterring.

Sure, it's a whopping $120,000, but I'd like to see you tool around underwater this quickly with just a pair of flippers on.

Scubacraft via Uncrate

Jailbreak your iPhone 4, improve its features?

Much to Apple's chagrin, jailbreaking your iPhone isn't illegal anymore. What's more, Apple's maintained that doing so will lessen the handset's functionality. Will it act a little different? Yes. Will it do less? Absolutely not.

Jailbreaking your iPhone does two important things: it frees you up to use free apps not supported by Apple, and it lets you use the phone in ways that Apple doesn't want you to, or didn't think of first. Of course, the flip-side here is that your iPhone is, in effect, no longer an Apple product after you do this. You won't get any support from the company is something goes wrong.

That said, the early benefits of the iPhone 4's jailbreaking are already becoming apparent. Using the My3G app from Cydia, a "black-market" app source, users have been able to make FaceTime calls using 3G. Right now, the iPhone 4 can only do that over Wi-Fi. The visual quality itself doesn't look like it gets any better, but, if you enjoy a solid 3G connection, you should enjoy less stuttering.

It's a neat taste of things to come, but in the end jailbreaking your phone really comes down to how curious you are to stretch its features. The official App Store and the jailbroken alternatives tend to mirror one another — though the latter is usually where the quirkier ideas land first. LINK

Nvidia's Share Tumble Drags Other Chipmakers Lower

Nvidia Corp shares tumbled 10 percent on Thursday, as analysts slashed price targets after the graphics chipmaker cut its sales outlook.
Nvidia's slump helped drag chip stocks lower, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index <.SOXX> down 2.8 percent in midday trading.
Nvidia said cost increases led to a greater-than-expected shift to lower-priced graphics chips, as well as personal computers running lower-end integrated graphics. The company also cited economic weakness in Europe and China.
Nvidia now expects revenue of $800 million to $820 million in the quarter ending August 1, down from its estimate of $950 million to $970 million. LINK

Microsoft CEO Ballmer talks up iPad competition: Does he have Apple's magic?

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer needs to step it up if he wants to catch up with Apple's iPad. Although he stated on Thursday that Microsoft is working hard preparing a Windows-based alternative to the iPad, he's probably wishing for a little of  Apple's magic right now.

 

"Apple has done an interesting job of putting together a product," Ballmer said, and admitted that "they've certainly sold more than I'd like them to sell. We think about that." LINK

Apple, Amazon block lower e-book prices

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. are trying to stop competitors from offering lower e-book prices.
Blumenthal announced Monday that his office is investigating agreements made by the two companies that deter publishers from giving discounts to other e-book providers.
Blumenthal says the agreements hurt competition. He says he hopes to meet with representatives from both companies to discuss them.
Telephone messages left for and e-mails sent to Amazon and Apple representatives on Monday were not immediately returned.

Mouse shaped just like your hand looks incredibly comfortable

The G50 Vanguard is a concept design for a mouse that is shaped like a hand. You know, to fit your hand. It's kind of a wonder that this seems so strange compared to a normal mouse.
I mean, doesn't this look comfortable? It's designed to fit your entire hand rather than just an object your hand can fit over. It also raises your hand off the table and reduces wrist anchoring and finger clamping, which all cause Carpal Tunnel.
Of course, if the Magic Trackpad is any indication, mice aren't long for this world, so this design might be too little, too late.

Via Yanko Design

Android Sales Top Apple IPhone In First-Half 2010, Says Nielsen

Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android has overtaken Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone in the high-profile smartphone sweepstakes, according to one market research firm.
New smartphone subscribers choosing Android handsets accounted for 27% of U.S. smartphone sales in the first half of the year, surpassing the 23% share held by Apple's wildly popular phones, the Nielsen Company said Monday.

Stop the Killing - Microsoft on iPad

Soon, Microsoft will launch an iPad killer. I know this because Steve Ballmer made some comments about how Microsoft doesn’t like to see rival Apple stealing the show with their tablet, and the Microsoft CEO claims the company will have an answer to Apple’s product soon. So, CNN emblazons its home page with a declaration that an iPad killer from Microsoft is on the way. LINK

Digital Storm Unveils Black OPS PC with 3D Vision Surround

Computer maker Digital Storm has announced its latest gaming desktop computer called the Black Ops with NVIDIA 3D Vision technology. The computer is capable of supporting 3D across multiple screens for immersive gaming.
The machine uses the NVIDIA 3D Vision system that has active glasses. The PC has GeForce GTX 400 GPUs inside and supports resolution of 5760 x 1080. The NVIDIA software converts more than 425 games to 3D with no patches needed.
The machine can be customized with all manner of CPUs from AMD and Intel as well as different video cards. The machine starts at $2833 with more fully optioned rigs going for $3499.

Futuristic prototype helicopter promises to be world's fastest

The Sikorsky X2 isn't even a finished vehicle yet and it's already broken the rotorcraft speed record of 249 mph set in 1986 — though just barely. Then again, at 258 mph, the X2 is just getting started.
The first thing anyone notices about the X2 — Sikorsky, it's worth noting, was founded by rotorcraft pioneer Igor Sikorsky in 1925 — is its double-decker, triple quadruple blade design. It's also got a six-bladed prop in the back, and it's all designed to give the craft excellent handling even at high speeds.
The X2 will definitely need that kind of control, as the designers want it cruising at over 285 mph by the time they're done. That'd be over 100 mph faster than, say, an Apache attack chopper, which tops out at around 175 mph.
Check out more of the X2 in the gallery below. LINK

Sikorsky, via Jalopnik

WowWee Roboscooper: finally, a robot that picks up after you

A Roomba is great for when you're too lazy to vacuum for yourself, but you still need to pick up so it has room to do its thing. Now, the Roboscooper can do that for you, too.

Floating wind lens farms could triple offshore energy production

The Wind Lens is a new design for offshore wind turbines, turbines that would not only be quieter than traditional models but would also be three times as efficient.
The layout of the Wind Lens is a series of interlocking "hoops" with turbines on the edges. The turbines focus the wind into the center of each hoop, increasing the amount of energy generated.
They were announced at the Yokohama renewable Energy International Exhibition 2010 earlier this month and will most likely be installed off the coast of Japan in the next couple of years.

Via CNN Go

$15,000 porta-potties are WAY nicer than your bathroom

These aren't the green closets of horrors you see at concerts and the like. Instead, each one of these $15,000 porta-potties is the size of a trailer, and comes complete with urinals, stalls, fully working sinks with hot water, and even a stereo system to pipe in some tunes.
The toilets are even porcelain and everything. It looks more like the kind of setup you'd see at a hotel, not at a wedding. Well, unless that wedding is for Chelea Clinton — then it all starts to make sense.
The Clintons are said to be getting between four and six of the trailer-sized bathrooms for the event, with the rental costs coming to somewhere around $15,000.

TMZ, via Gizmodo

Least and Most Expensive Cities For Living in the U.S.A.

We compiled our rankings based on the ACCRA Cost of Living Index produced by the Council for Community and Economic Research. The Index measures relative price levels for housing, utilities, transportation, grocery items, health care and miscellaneous goods and services (it does not include taxes). A composite score of 100 reflects the national average. So scores lower than 100 reflect a lower-than average cost of living, and scores higher than 100 reflect a higher-than average cost of living. Median household income and average home prices are from the Toronto-based Martin Prosperity Institute. We sampled all U.S. cities with metropolitan area populations of at least 75,000. LINK

Yellow lobster 1 in 30 million

It's not made of gold, but a yellow lobster pulled from Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay is very rare. (Aug. 1) LINK

Brazilian men swapped at birth work, live together

SAO PAULO – Two years back, Dimas Aliprandi and Elton Plaster didn't know of each other's existence. Then they learned they had been accidentally switched at birth more than 20 years ago.
The discovery didn't bring bitterness or recrimination. Rather, it led to the creation of a bigger family.
Today, the two 25-year-olds are living and working together with both sets of parents growing vegetables and coffee on a small farm in southeastern Brazil. LINK

Cooling system shut down aboard space station

Several power systems have been shut down aboard the International Space Station after a cooling system malfunctioned.
NASA says in a posting on its website that one of two cooling loops aboard the space station was shut down Saturday night. A module that pumps ammonia coolant to prevent equipment from overheating was still shut down early Sunday.
The problem also forced two of the station's four gyroscopes to shut down along with several other systems.
NASA says the crew was not in danger but was awakened by several warning alarms when the cooling loop went down. Tracy Caldwell Dyson was working to fix the problem while her crewmates went back to bed. There are two spare coolant pump modules on board in case the astronauts need to replace it. LINK

Japan gets 3D Blu-ray recorders, US customers can suck it

It's been nearly four years since Blu-ray was launched, yet it's still almost impossible to buy a Blu-ray recorder in the US. Now Japanese customers are getting 3D Blu-ray recorders.
Toshiba has announced five 3D recordable Blu-ray recorders for home market, all of which have built in hard drives. The flagship RD-X10 with come ready for 3D out of the box and includes a 2TB HDD for 220,000 Yen ($2,550), while lesser "3D ready" models will start at 80,000 Yen ($925) for the D-BZ500.
Sure, most Americans these days record things to a DVR, but even with a 1TB HDD, my own DVR is starting to get pretty full. No to mention the possibility of losing everything if that sucker ever crashes. It would be nice if we could archive things permanently onto a disc with a recorder like this.

Toshiba (Japanese), via Crunchgear

Nvidia to Pay Fees to Import GPUs after Rambus Ruling

The U.S. International Trade Commission found late on Monday that Nvidia and many of its customers had infringed patents held by Rambus. Nvidia indicated that it will post a bond to continue supplying its chips.
Specifically, the ban applies to "certain synchronous dynamic random access memory controllers and products containing the same," reportedly found within the GeForce, Quadro, nForce, Tesla and Tegra lines, as part of the original 2008 complaint, filed after Rambus filed suit earlier that year.
The ruling shouldn't affect consumers too much. The ITC determined that Nvidia or its customers could pay a bond of 2.65 percent to allow the products to be shipped. That would equate to about a $12 premium on the price of a GeForce GTX 480, Nvidia's top-of-the line desktop graphics card, which costs about $459.99. LINK