GadgetsLoverz: Jul 14, 2010

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Droid X available to buy now

Yes, the Droid X has joined the Kin... in being available to buy on Verizon's online Wireless store. Noshock or awe here

Viewsonic wasn't being too specific with a launch date when it announced its NexTV VMP75 media streamer last month, but it looks like that little detail's now been cleared up -- the device is shipping nowfrom both Amazon and Newegg.

The amount of dual-band products (you know, those that support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands) is slowly growing, but already a pair of companies are thinking about the next big thing: tri-band. Atherosand Wilocity have both been eying that 60GHz stuff that the WiGig Alliance is pushing around these days,

Yeah, we said trailer. The Droid family has seen its fair share of atypical ads, and while this one won't tug on your heartstrings, it'll definitely captivate.

We haven't actually seen it for ourselves, but we're hearing the Samsung Galaxy S can download an interesting little app.

Oh, sure -- SanDisk's 32GB microSDHC card has been "shipping" since late March, but have you actually tried to find one?

We're always skeptical when it comes to underground operating systems whipped up for one specific purpose, but Jolicloud has managed to continually impress us with each passing build. Now, at long last, the netbook-centric OS has arrived at the magical 1.0, and our comrades over at Netbook News have managed to score an early copy.

Dealing with warranties is one thing -- it's almost always a crap-shoot, and you're continually pressing your luck when trying to get something covered without any out-of-pocket expense. But how's about the tech support that's so whimsically promised with so many laptops these days?

It may not do much to speed up wait times, but Fujitsu is at least doing its part to make the time outpatients spend at hospitals and clinics a bit easier. It's announced a new wireless outpatient guidance system, which packs an electronic paper display, and accommodates a card that a patient would receive when they arrive for their appointment.

For the KIRFsters and Crapgadgeteers of the world, whipping up a retro game console is a quick and easy way to make a couple bucks.

While SMS and mobile email are great, they still can't match the emotion, interaction, and intonation of a live conversation with someone -- that's why our phones still ship with microphones and speakers, apparently.

The FCC is currently accepting comments about the replacement for CableCARD and amongst the usual suspects of cable companies, consumer electronics manufactures, and industry groups is a comment by one company that stuck out -- don't worry, we're still going to read the rest.

The Sony Defense Force has reason to celebrate today, as the circle is now complete -- where Netflix HD once spited PS3 for Xbox 360,

Acer's already offered some indication that it planned to launch at least one Android-based tablet before the end of the year, and it looks like we're starting to get few more tidbits of information.

The curious case of the Russian spies grows, well, curiouser, as the Washington Post reports that aMicrosoft Software Design Engineer named Alexey Karetnikov has recently been ordered out of the country for "immigration violations."

While not technically a CEO, Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner is not immune to a certain amount of executive level foot-in-mouth.

Buy a Core i5 laptop or a Toshiba TV, and if your country wins the World Cup Final, we'll refund your money. Simple and to the point, don't you think? Toshiba ran this advertising campaign in Germany, England, Portugal, Italy and Spain in the run-up to the global football tournament,

XStreamHD is the videophile's digital distribution dream, but a dream is what it has remained for almost three years.

Avid OnStar users received this here functionality a fortnight ago, and BMW owners have been bragging about it for years.

Open Source Hardware movement finally gets its Constitution

They, the people of the open source hardware movement, in order to form a more peaceful community for sharing, establish bigger and cuddlier Chumbies, ensure continued Arduino creativity, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of hackery to ourselves and our posterity, have established the Open Source Hardware Draft.

Another autumn is fast approaching, which to FPS gamers mean only one thing: time to prepare to heed the next Call of Duty. In a repeat of last year's controller bonanza, Mad Catz is producing a litany of licensed Black Ops peripherals -- for the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC -- and we've now got the first imagery of their appearance.

Right now, Intel has every right to lay contentedly atop the laurels of its biggest quarterly profit ever, but that's not what the company is doing at all. Instead of protracting the life of its current-gen processors unduly, Intel is planning to accelerate the roadmap for its next generation of multicore parts, codenamed Sandy Bridge.

Looking for a new, slinky Xbox 360 but don't have 250GB worth of stuff to archive on there? Sprechen Sie deutsch? Sehr gut! Amazon Germany has posted up what appears to be solid details about the cousin of the new Xbox 360 revealed at E3.

DoCoMo's glasses-free 3D LCD panel could make the 3DS look decidedly first-gen

At E3 this past summer, we got our first taste of the Nintendo 3DS, and early impressions were good: compelling 3D effect sans glasses from its Sharp-sourced parallax barrier LCD. But, as soon as we moved the thing it became clear that the viewing angle on the effect is woefully slim.

South Korea has been working on deploying armed sentry robots along the border with North Korea since at least as far back as 2006, and it looks like it's still keeping at it. While complete details are a bit light, they country apparently put a pair of new sentry robots in place in the Demilitarized Zone last month, which pack both a machine gun and a grenade launcher to ward off intruders.

Slightly ahead of schedule, Microsoft has dished out Service Pack numero uno for Windows 7. The hot-selling OS has been a revelation since its release and it's therefore no surprise that this update pack does nothing remarkably new or important.

Talk about a bad time to introduce your latest camcorder. Hot on the heels of Sony's category-redefining NEX-VG10, Canon is coming out with a humble refresher of its VIXIA line of consumer shooters (known as Legria in Europe).

OK GUYS, WE GET IT. Sheesh, it's like they think we're a bunch of klutzes or something. Sure, there was that one time with the garbage disposal... one time. But after that... alright, the time with the mud, and the thing with the ocean. Oh, and when we dropped 2GB of Word documents into a black hole.

We knew the original Droid's replacement was coming, but we were never able to nail down the market name with confidence -- until now, it seems. The Droid 2 makes a prominent appearance in an official catalog of Verizon devices leaked to BGR, talking up its 5 megapixel cam, 8GB of onboard storage, and 1GHz processor, positioning it just ever so slightly below the mighty Droid X. Also finding their way into the catalog are the recently-launched Pantech Jest, the self-branded Verizon Salute, and the Intensity II and Gusto both from Samsung, all dumbphones that just add more evidence to the theory that all the good names for mobile devices have already been taken. No date's given for the Droid 2, but we imagine it can't be long now that they're openly talking about it, right?

Kondo aims lower down the food chain with cute turtle robot kit (video)

Kondo's bipedal robots have always filled us with a sense of awe, whether they're duking it out in the arena or practicing touchscreen moves. However, we'd never quite seen a Kondo bot that we'd classify as cute until this robot turtle came along.

Sure, smartphone and tablets might be the Next Big Thing, but desktop computing ain't dead yet -- just ask Intel, which just reported its best-ever quarter with a $2.9b profit on $10.8b in revenue.

GPS-guided parachutes are nothing new -- in fact, we're guessing that a few are being dropped somewhere in this wide world right now -- but a new deal between the Armed Services Blood Program and US Joint Forces Command will allow these devices to start saving even more lives in 2011.

Collapsible Input Pen Lets You Draw 3D Images On a 2D Surface

Beyond – Collapsible Input Device for Direct 3D Manipulation beyond the Screen from Jinha Lee on Vimeo.

It's difficult to create 3D images on a 2D surface because, well, you're missing a whole dimension. Enter Beyond, a collapsible input device that virtually extends the pen into the screen to create the 3D effect.

Forget 3D, It's Time for Motion Sensing Movies

Wouldn't this be fun? I want to try it with the Marx Brothers' A Night at the Opera cabin scene. Next: Touch and Monica Bellucci.

This the Amazing Present and the Crazy Future of Dubai's Skyline

If you thought Shanghai's change from 1990s city to 2010s megalopolis was stunning, get ready for this:

Fight Weeds Like Superman: Flying Horizontally, Powered By the Sun

Weeds, aching backs, and dignity: all things that stand no chance in the face of the Wunda Weeder, a magnificent solar-powered gardening exo-skeleton that allows its wearer to soar over invasive plants like some sort of green-thumbed superhero.

I really do hate all these cables, and I will keep on hating them until all my charging and syncing happens over the very air I breathe. Until then, I guess these ice cream sandwich cables will keep me satisfied.

Goony Is the 10-finger Dismembered Hand You've Always Wanted

Most of us could use another hand every now and then, if only because, even with practice, it's disarmingly difficult to stick up one's middle finger.

I'd say my success rate at correctly plugging in a USB .connector on the first try is well below average. And honestly, the second time doesn't always work either. Embarrassing! But UltraTek's "Flipper" USB connector makes the point entirely moot.

The Big Lies People Tell In Online Dating

The Internet is a great place to pretend to be someone you're not. That's why popular online dating site OKCupid looked at statistics and its user base to discover the biggest lies we tell to potential mates.