Filed under: GPS
Aw JVC, we knew you couldn’t keep your feet out of the overcrowded GPS biz for too long, and while you certainly tried to assure us that you were callin’ it quits earlier this year, we suppose the two new navigators you’ve got on the horizon act as proof to the contrary. Apparently, the outfit will soon be launching the KV-PX701 and KV-PX501, which are both slated to utilize NAVTEQ maps and a 400MHz Samsung processor. The former boasts a 4.3-inch touchscreen, a SiRFstarIII chipset and integrated RDS-TMC capability, while the latter packs a 3.5-inch touch panel, a Media Tec GPS receiver and has its RDS-TMC module built into the car mount. The duo is expected to ship later this month for €399 ($565) and €349 ($495), respectively, but we’ve no idea if either will be headed to America.
 
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Office Depot Featured […]

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Wireless

A report into the feasibility of space-based power rigs that would beam solar power down to earth in the form of microwaves has been published, with its findings being along the lines of “yes, it’ll happen, but only when the money’s there.” The Pentagon is itching to get its hands on the technology, which would include mirrors several miles wide focusing sunlight onto solar cells, highlighting the potential for beaming energy to remote regions of the world (read: wherever they’re fighting.) The problem is more of an economic one, with the technology behind the project apparently being feasible since the 70s: only now that oil prices have tripled, and the technology has become greatly more efficient, is an actual space installation seeming realistic. In fact, we could see early efforts for the giant mirrors as soon as 2012: any bets that they’ll double as death rays?
 
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Original post by Conrad Quilty-Harper

Filed under: Gaming

var digg_url = \’http://www.digg.com/hardware/Xbox_360_Arcade_unboxed_and_turned_on\’; Thanks to Emanuel, an intrepid tipster who went above and beyond the call of duty, we managed to get a full unboxing of the Xbox 360 Arcade before Microsoft has even been able to send out a press release about the thing. Whenever the console officially lands, you can expect to pick up the hard drive free console for $279.99, which includes a 256MB Memory Card, a Wireless controller, an HDMI port minus the cable, and a disc that includes copies of Xbox LIVE Arcade games Boom Boom Rocket, Feeding Frenzy, Luxor 2, Pac-Man Championship Demo, and Uno. Check out the full gallery below.
[Thanks again, Emanuel E.!]

Gallery: Xbox 360 Arcade unboxed

 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Original post by Conrad Quilty-Harper

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Ever wonder if you could tap the electrical current on your phone company’s landlines (does anyone still use those anymore?) to supply low-powered household gadgets with juice in an emergency (or financial pinch)? Turns out that apparently it ain’t too hard to get between 40 and 70 volts (no word on wattage) with a few components and a little time spent soldering. Now comes the second, more PSA-style half of this post. How ridiculously guilty might you feel if a power outage occurred and people couldn’t call for help because enough nerds trying to save a buck by charging their gadgets via landline took out the phone company. Sure, it’s a dramatic scenario, but we’re just saying it’s also potentially dangerous, so use this technique wisely. Embedded video after the break.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in, via Instructables]
Continue reading Tap into the phone company’s current… if […]

Original post by Ryan Block

We haven’t tried this ourselves, but word is iJailbreak, an iPod touch version of Jailbreak for Intel Macs, has been released for download. At this point it is only reported to work with Intel Macs. We are testing it out on our iPod touch right now, check back for updates. Hit the link to download it yourself, be sure to let us know how you get on! Update with pictures within [iJailbreak]

We can now confirm iJailbreak officially rocks, as does Arix, the 13 year-old prodigy behind the application. Here is how the process works, which we tested using an Intel Macbook Core Duo @ 2.0GHz:
•Download the application using the link above, copy across the disk image to your application folder. Slightly confusing as the disk image and the application itself have the same icon.
•Be sure to move the disk image and not the application on its own to […]

Original post by Haroon Malik

We haven’t tried this ourselves, but word is iJailbreak, an iPod touch version of Jailbreak for Intel Macs, has been released for download. Not only is this awesome in its own right, but it was apparently written by Arix, a 13 years-old hacker! At this point it is only reported to work with Intel Macs. We are testing it out on our iPod touch right now, check back for updates. Hit the link to download it yourself, be sure to let us know how you get on! [Google Code]

Original post by Haroon Malik

Julian Oliver, from New Zealand, has put together an awesome interactive cube game, called levelHead. The idea behind it is pretty simple; software is used to detect the cube’s motion and a set of digital cameras are then utilized to display an appropriate image, depending on your response. Jump for a video.

The game being worked on currently relies upon guiding a wondering, lost sole through the cubetastic world. Each tilt of the hexahedron guides the walker in the corresponding direction. The aim is to direct the bi-pedal show off to the exit of the virtual world contained within. Eventually, there will be multiple blocks, all interlinked, making for one crazy toy, indeed. Julian plans to release his work as an open source project in the near future, designed primarily for Debian, Ubuntu or Linux. If that explanation has left you confused and itchy, catch the video and all will make […]

Original post by Haroon Malik

Laptopmag has just run an article on what they reckon (hope) the next few celebrity mobile phones are likely to be. Apart from the fact that celebrity mobiles help us see Beyoncé’s left breast, they are pretty useless, so we are glad some comedy has come of it. Among the bunch, there’s the JLo phone with an extra large battery pack and the Lohan, which comes complete with an integrated bottle opener. Check out the equally genius KFed and Sheen phones by following the link. [Laptopmag]

Original post by Haroon Malik

When will T-Mobile put us out of our misery and launch that Sidekick LX we are lusting after? Not too long now, my precious. The manual for the device has been uploaded to T-Mobile’s support website. Noteworthy features include the LX’s new broader range of media file compatibility, including support for MP3, WMA, AAC, MIDI, AIFF and WAV files. Thanks to the earlier UI walkthrough, there doesn’t seem much more that can be learnt from the manual, but by all means share any nuggets you find. Hit up the link to get your bookworm skills flexing. [T-Mobile via Boy Genius Reports]

Original post by Haroon Malik

Filed under: Handhelds

Sony was surprisingly mum about what improvements were made to the on-screen performance of its new E Ink-based Reader PRS-505. So we caught up with Russ Wilcox, CEO of E Ink, who helped shed some light on the benefits of the 505’s new display chemistry, called E Ink Vizplex:

According to E Ink, this Vizplex chemistry is ~20% brighter than the 500. “You can see it best on the black and white menus compared to the old 500 which are twice as fast.”
Page turns are only a little faster, though; Sony said something like ~20% (but our unit seems like it might be even faster than that). Because…
When out of the menus and in text-reading mode, most of the new E Ink chemistry’s horsepower goes into the reduction of ghosting (a bit of a problem on the 500) and the 8 grayscale levels (doubled over the 500’s 4 levels).
Contrast […]

Original post by Ryan Block