Gadget Access

I am not a skins guy; I am ok with the bland silver bars and such, but this is pretty cool.  Showing XP still has some life left, Hyperdesk was just announced from the Skins Factory and aims to skin your Windows XP machine.  The graphics look pretty sweet and they’ve even liscensed some themes from Disney.  Prices range from free to $19.95.

The free one, a Sony Ericsson version is a 70MB download.  The company says one click can turn the skin on an off and uses Microsoft’s own skin engine to get things moving.

I downloaded the free one and found it to be OK.  There doesn’t seem to be any lag time, though the skin colors the task bars above applications as well and seems a bit much to me, but it proves the concept that these folks know what they are doing.  This product is from the design team responsible for Alienwares skins.  From the release:

By utilizing Microsoft’s own skinning engine, Hyperdesk presents the user with a “native” way to theme Windows XP. Because the magic of Hyperdesk occurs entirely in memory, the user’s system files are never touched or replaced. And just as it takes a single click to make the magic happen, so will a single click revert the user’s desktop back to the Windows XP default environment.

A Vista version is said to be coming soon.

Try it out at: [Hyperdesk]

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Ever wish you could stand out from the rest of the crowd? Well, that is now possible by revamping your wardrobe and taking a look at these Watch Cufflinks.

Watch-Cufflinks.com offers the most original cufflinks available by creating stunning, one-of-a-kind pieces from vintage jeweled timepieces. Each piece is hand made from specifically selected watch movements of the finest craftsmanship from Switzerland, France and across the globe. Because all of the items on Watch-Cufflinks.com are unique, hand-crafted pieces, all items come with a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.

Well, if you’re into the whole “stiff upper lip” thing who wants to live the life of a modern aristocrat, perhaps ordering one of these cufflinks would do your public image a whole lot of good.

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There’s a close look at the BACTrack breath tester over on our sister publication coolest reviews. Follow the link to see how well it worked in the real world…

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The typically content-stingy NFL has made the decision to broadcast it’s games live over the net.  Heck yeah!  This is super-exciting news not just for sports fans but for those who can’t wait for the TV to Internet transformation.  Soon your TV won’t be held hostage to the Cable company for content.  And content is king.

Those of us that caught the webisodes of Joss Whedons Dr. Horrible know that good stuff can be made just for the net and it has the interest of a lot of indie type players to widen our content options.  TV as internet will do for TV shows what the internet is doing for music.  You’ll find new stuff you never even knew was out there.  Build your own TV station.  The trick is, can anyone figure out how to make money off it.

NBC will be selling the predictable advertising that will go along with the stream.  Surely, we’ll be forced to sit through some pitch for an amazing new laundry detergent.

Now that the NFL is jumping on board, how can the rest of the non-concussed content makers not take notice?

Read [ars techinca]

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Sometimes I’m amazed at the sheer amount of Lego inspired gadgets and even furniture that pops up.  Well here’s one more for you and this one comes in a chic smoky white form.  For once, this one won’t actually cost you a small fortune either.  So many vendors take advantage of the fact that Legos have so much geek appeal that no matter the price, someone will buy it.  This light actually has an extra perk thrown in.  It has an extra layer that can be snapped off or on that has little cups to hold your pens and other little things you keep on your desk.

Then if you don’t need that, it can pop off.  It doesn’t mention if the lamps will snap together or not.  It may be that the bottom of the lamp itself isn’t equipped for that.  It would be fun to have a full tower of brightly shining Legos though.  To pick one up it will actually only cost you $15.  The down side is though that this is a Japan product.  Hopefully a US or UK site will pick some of these up too though to make it easier for those of us outside of Japan.

Source: technabob

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Well you’d have to be in first-class, but Emirates Airlines will offer showers on their London-Dubai trip in Dec for the mere price of $9,381 (well at today’s exchange rate anyway). The shower last for 5 minutes on EA’s new Airbus A380 planes. Oh, btw, other amenities include flat beds, massage-equipped suites with remote controlled doors, a work desk and a mini-bar. A freaking mini-bar. I wonder how mini it is…

via Born Rich

Posted in Miscellaneous

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 31st 2008 at 6:14AM
DJ MoCAP, master of time and white space, has developed a camera-based controller for the TRAKTOR Scratch DJ System. Just sketch the deck onto a piece of white paper and turn any high contrast surface into a mixing table. There seems to be a bit of latency but overall the system looks fairly responsive. Why? Why not, we say. Video demonstration after the break.

[Thanks, Brian]

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets

After much speculation on what the latest Sidekick device from T-Mobile will be called, the carrier decided to just name it Sidekick, plain and simple. There won’t be any other code name attached to it, bringing us back to the basics. You will be able to choose to fit one out of two shells that come with each Sidekick purchase - black and metallic green. There will also be a wide range of pre-designed shell patterns and colors for you to pick up at T-Mobile retail stores or online, and I’m pretty sure we won’t have to wait for long until someone with an excess amount of Swarovski crystals and super glue decide to bling up their Sidekick. Granted, other luxury labels might also think of blinging this up with diamonds and precious jewels, but that’s another story for another day. For now, we will look at the features right after the jump.

• Exterior shells that can be personalized
• Capability to record, play and share videos: record videos using the camera; receive video attachments from e-mail, picture messaging, or side load videos to the microSD card; play video using the built-in media player; share videos via e-mail, Bluetooth or picture messaging
• Horizontal swivel screen and full QWERTY keyboard (manufactured by Sharp)
• WQVGA screen with high-definition LCD technology
• Enhanced Web surfing: PC-like, full-size layout or standard Sidekick screen-size layout to scroll and read a page; use Mini Page to zoom out on an overview of an entire Web page; save images from Web pages to the microSD card
• Customizable IM experience: create and join group chats, set custom status messages, search for friends in a buddy list and see who is logged into IM to immediately start a conversation
• Easy download capability: install and use downloads without the need to restart the device; set a theme as the device’s default instantly
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP supports stereo Bluetooth and Bluetooth file transfer to other Bluetooth devices including Bluetooth photo printers
• 2.0 megapixel camera
• Included 512MB microSD memory card
• More storage: Up to 25 ringtones, add up to five slides to multimedia messages, and up to 60-second voice messages
• Quick Find to search across all applications
• T-Mobile myFaves® enabled
• Dimensions: 4.7” x 2.3” x 0.7”, 5.3 oz.
• 2.6-inch display, 400×240 pixels
• Quad-band world phone 850/900/1800/1900 MHz; GSM,GPRS,EDGE
• 1030mAh Lion battery

You can pick this up for $149.99, which is pretty reasonable although you’ll be tied down to a 2-year contract in the process. Image courtesy of Gizmodo.

Press Release

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by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jul 31st 2008 at 3:28AM
It’s been a while since we’ve reported about the doings of our robotic friend on Mars, but a press conference tomorrow (Thursday) could uncover Phoenix’s first positive report of water on the red planet. NASA’s conference will be held at 2 p.m. Eastern Thursday and we’re hearing that Pheonix Mission is ready to report that water ice is not only confirmed, but the research robot has dug some ice out of a trench, heated it, and confirmed that it is, in fact water. If this all holds true, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will be able to determine whether or not the atmosphere could sustain life and lead to manned missions to Mars. We call shotgun.

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Filed under: Robots

Sylvania, best know for their TV’s that are sold mainly at Wal-Mart has decided to enter into the already overcrowded netbook market. Sadly the MESO seems to be just another netbook, and overall nothing really special.

The MESO will feature an 8.9-inch display, 1.6GHZ Intel Atom processor, 80GB hard drive and a built-in card reader and webcam. The Sylvania will be running either Windows XP Home or Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Again similar to other netbooks, the MESO will be available in a variety of colors which include onyx, snow, solar and blossom, which are better known as black, white, yellow and pink.

Although it has not officially been announced, the MESO is expected to be available through Wal-Mart and retail for $299 and up.

[Out of the Box]

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