Gadget Access

If you tend to spend a whole lot of time soaking yourself in a tub until your fingers and toes turn all wrinkly like prunes, then the Underwater Light Show is the perfect gadget to own.

There are five lighting effects in all, from a fast random color changing light show that’s all very Night Fever, through a flashing single color, slow seductive phasing through all four colors, constant single color and finally a sequence of all the effects back to back. It looks a little bit like the rose off a watering can, but is of course considerably more fun, and deeply funky.

At £7.95 a pop, it is definitely affordable although I’d suggest you stock up on rechargeable batteries as the trio of AAA batteries won’t last for too many baths in succession IMHO.

As much as I love the Star Wars universe, I’m not quite a die-hard, follow every piece of news fan. So I only saw the bit about the new movie yesterday. Lucasfilm is releasing a brand new (animated) movie about the Clone Wars. It will be released Aug 15 in North America. This is to be followed up with a weekly TV series on the Cartoon Network. They’ve already got 30 30-min episodes in the bag.

Fans will also love that Lucasfilm is also putting out Web-only documentaries on the making of the Clone Wars. Well it has been a while since I’ve gotten a brand new Star Wars fix, so I can’t wait!

Isn’t it just wonderful to look back and see what we thought our “future” would bring? Such is the case of the “House of the Future” in Disneyland. This was an exhibit that lasted ten years (1957-1967), and had things like a microwave oven, speakerphones, and a big-screen color TV.

It is nice to know that most homes have those features, so it is about time Disney put a modern-day (or should I say futuristic?) spin on the House of the Future.

House 2.0 is going to be a lot more expensive at a cost of $15 million. It will also be quite large with 5,000 square feet of floor space. It will also have actors living in it that will represent a “family of the future”. Let us all pray that they do not use the same fake family as Phil of the Future.

Unlike the original House, which was sponsored by just Monsanto, the House of the Future will be sponsored by many big companies including Microsoft, HP, and LifeWare.

I can’t really imagine what kind of things this House will have, but I’m guessing it will probably be one of those “smart-homes” or something. Except don’t we already have those? Well, you can see if this House of the Future is truly beyond imagination when it debuts at the Magic Kingdom in May of this year.

Source

Everyone knows Sesame Street’s Elmo, and that red colored furry creature has seen his fair share of (monster, pardon the pun) sales in the past especially during the holiday seasons of yore where parents were frenzied enough to line up outside toy stores just to pick up a Tickle Me Elmo for their kids. This year, Elmo is back with a vengeance from Fisher-Price, whom the latter touts the former to being the most engaging and entertaining Elmo to day. Known as Elmo Live, this feature plush ups the ante where realistic, interactive play is concerned.

For the first time in our lives, we will be able to see Elmo open and close his mouth while speaking just like the real muppet as seen on TV. Not only that, his mannerisms are impeccable that you’d think you were actually sitting in a live Sesame Street shooting, as his head bobbles back and forth each time he opens his yap. In addition, the Elmo Live has learned how to wave his arms, sit, stand and cross his legs while belting out a story or two. Heck, he was even programmed to tell jokes, sing songs and play games. He will only start to entertain you if you tickle or squeeze Elmo’s foot, tummy, back or nose.

According to Neil Friedman, president of Mattel Brands, “Initial reaction from industry insiders has been so strong and so decisive – even greater than the initial response to T.M.X. Elmo two years ago — that we just couldn’t keep this a secret and realized this story must be told now.” Another person has commended that “Elmo Live is way too innovative and exciting to keep secret! The level of technology and reality is industry changing to be sure, but even as amazing and awe-inspiring as that may be to adults and even as that may create a new standard for interactive plush, Fisher-Price hasn’t forgotten that the people who really need to be wowed are the preschoolers who adore Elmo. Elmo Live delivers a rich play experience that is engaging and interactive. It’s as close to being with Elmo in the fur as any toy has ever been!” Elmo Live targets children (and adults hoping to make a quick buck) aged 18 months and older, retailing for $59.99 each.

Press Release

Posted Feb 14th 2008 10:06AM by Sean Cooper
Filed under: cellphones, Misc. gadgets, Handhelds
The long wait is over, the Polymer Vision Readius has finally made an appearance and from our quick — and loving — glance, it’s the stuff. Featuring Bluetooth, dual-band HSDPA, tri-band GSM / EDGE, expandability via microSD, and it’ll also SMS — albeit, without a keyboard, it’ll be tough — and can make calls. The cellular calling and messaging features are likely an afterthought since connectivity to get at the content via the Readius portal was the goal. The site will push content to your device based on choices made there for feeds, newspapers, mags, audio books, and whatever else Polymer Vision sees fit to add. The device will support books in HTML, text files, and PDFs, though, we expect as they gain ground with partners the list may expand. Hit the gallery at Engadget Mobile for a pile of pics of it in action.

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Red Mile has produced some shockers in the past, I don’t think that Grip Shift ever really did it for everyone and Jackass the Game was a stinker in every possible way.  The news that Red Mile has recruited some major talent in the form of Jeff Braun makes me hopeful that the 2009 release of the Sin City game has some real potential.  Jeff Braun, was the founder of Maxis and a co-creator of the SimCity franchise.  With Braun on board as strategic adviser, Red Mile should be heading in the right direction, for once.

Source: JoyStiq, e-on Software (image)

The latest, and still yet to be confirmed details on the highly anticipated white AT&T branded Palm Centro places the availability date as of February 19, 2008. A forum member over on the Everything Treo forums is claiming that he has received “confirmation” from his local AT&T store manager.

“I spoke with my local AT&T manager today and he told me he has a SKU and inventory listing for the AT&T Centro, but no pricing. Should be around the corner folks, hopefully later this month!”

If this release does come true I just hope that AT&T will keep the $99 price tag that we have seen with Sprint. As with all rumors, only time will tell just how accurate they are, thankfully this date is less than a week away, which just means we will not have to wait that long to see if its true.

Via [Everything Treo] Via [TreoCentral]

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Electronic sports as we know them really got a boost back in the days of the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Nintendo World Championships were based on a monstrosity of a movie called The Wizard, which hopefully you either don’t remember or are too young to remember. The movie just seemed like one long commercial for the Power Glove which came out in the same year. Still, it was a golden time for Nintendo, way back before Sony had ever considered throwing their hat in the gaming console ring and PCs were still fetching as much as a good used car. It was the beginning of the gaming renaissance and the gold cartridges that were given to the winners quickly became hot property. One is selling on eBay for the starting price of $15,000:

For the competition, 116 special game cartridges were manufactured. 90 of these copies exist in a grey cartridge and were given out to semi-finalists of the 1990 NWC. 26 of these cartridges are gold - like the Legend of Zelda cartridge - and were given out to winners and runners-up in a contest held by Nintendo Power magazine.

To play the cartridge, one must have a controller inputed both controller ports and press start on the second player’s controller. For the competition, there was a special switch that would start all cartridges simultaneously.

Both versions of the cartridge feature DIP switches on the front, which can alter the time limit. Answers.com

Seller udisi is selling this special piece of gaming history over at the bay.  He seems a trustworthy chap with a satisfaction rating of 100% and having been a member since 1998, that is no small feat.  It will be interesting to see if one of the most coveted items of eight bit gaming memorabilia will actually change hands.

Born Rich, eBay

The latest rumor is with Sprint who will start offering the Cradlepoint PHS300 as of March 1, 2008. The PHS300 is a personal and portable hot spot that allows you to create a Wi-Fi hot spot and share the access from your 3G modem or 3G phone.

The PHS300 is currently available as a stand-alone device from Cradlepoint and retails for $179. Hopefully Sprint will see this as a great addition to have with 3G modems and start to bundle it in.

Via [Gizmodo]

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Posted Feb 14th 2008 6:15AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: WirelessReady for untethered 3Mbps to 5Mbps downloads and 1Mbps to 1.5Mbps upload speeds while on the go? Us too, especially our Chicago-based brethren waiting for Sprint to properly soft-launch their Xohm service onto the nation. Backed by 50 or so WiMax exhibits with product on display at Mobile World Congress, Sprint’s VP for technology development, Ali Tabassi, assured us that April would indeed see the fledgling Xohm service soft launch into Chicago, Baltimore, and the DC areas. However, he conceded that the billions required to reach the goal of 100 million subscribers by year end have not been approved. Sprint would however at least cooperate with Clearwire — a former Xohm partner — on roaming agreements so that the two don’t duplicate coverage. Come on Sprint, we know it’s been tough for you lately as you bleed subscribers (and profits). But if you build it, we will come back.