Its Electronica

With all the dire reports about identity theft, it seems like pure idiocy not to have a paper shredder (I’d put mine right by my mailbox and ask the mailman to feed all the junk mail from credit companies directly into it). But, seriously, how do you manage the flow? There’s just so much, every single day. It never lets up. How many hours per month would you have to spend shredding mail if you really heeded all the advice about protecting your personal information when it seems to be free-floating everywhere?

The hand-held paper shredder by Ziszor may not be big or fast enough to handle the mountain of mail with sensitive information that we pile up every month, but I have to say, it would give me some satisfaction to feed the more outrageous mail I get through this little device. The Ziszor, which operates on 4 AA batteries, has 28 blades within, and can hanle 5 layers of paper at one time. Now priced at $39.95 (down from the regular price of $49.95).

What you see is what you get. Apparently, these Toshiba 815T PB phones have come in contact with the Allspark Cube from the Transformers movie and now have bodies of their own. Now all they need are guns and missiles like that one crazy Nokia phone.

Apparently, this is all part of promo for a new show called Ketai Sousakan 7. To be honest, I don’t know how anyone could make a show about transforming cell phones, but how can you not, really? Especially ones with faces like those. I wonder what the plot will be about. Maybe it’s about cell phones that want to be human. Very silly, really.

By the way, these Toshiba 815T PB phones are fully functional as they are 3G network enabled, and come with a 3.2 megapixel camera.

All right, those are the facts. Now here comes the part where I make fun of this concept. This time, it is just too easy. Do we need phones that can transform, even if their limbs did work? If so, they had better have more of an Autobot rather than Decepticon streak.

So far, there is no set availability date but sometime in April. There is also no set price, and it is predicted that this will only be in Japan.

Source

Scene It? Music Edition DVD Game
CAUTION! Seriously eliminates mass tedium. Dinner parties expose you to many dangers - perhaps the biggest being tedious conversation.

See price

Posted Feb 27th 2008 10:56AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Laptops

It looks like MSI has some big plans for CeBIT, if the company’s latest news is any indication. The computer-maker is gearing up for two innovative new laptops, both of which are part of its ECOlution “green” line of systems. The first model will bizarrely feature a high concentration of anions — negatively charged ions which the company believes will “enhance the body’s condition, promote nervous stability and recovery from fatigue, and encourage circulation of halted blood.” The second, less magical entry from MSI comes in the form of the GX600-08 laptop, which utilizes a new battery design intended to extend life up to 20% by engaging a “Turbo Battery Mode” which automatically adjusts the system’s workload to conserve power. We’ll undoubtedly be hearing more about these from CeBIT, so keep your eyes peeled.

[Via Fareastgizmos]

Posted Feb 27th 2008 4:45PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Misc. gadgets

Although Gibson’s self-tuning Robot Guitar is mighty snazzy, buying an entirely new instrument in order to ease your tuning woes isn’t exactly practical. Truth be told, the N-Tune won’t do the tuning for you, but it does make adjusting those flats and sharps a lot more interesting. Essentially, the chromatic tuner replaces the volume control on your electric axe and can be retrofitted in most every guitar / bass out there. Once installed, users simply pull the knob up to mute the volume and turn the tuner on simultaneously, and then you can check out the on-knob LEDs to gauge how accurately your strings are tuned. Best of all, this thing is slated to ship within the next month for just $100, but alas, it’s recommended that you pay a professional to actually rig it up.

Owning a home theater in your bungalow or house is definitely a dream of many, and is yet another sign to the world that you’ve “arrived” in your station in life. This minimalist home theater design is different from everything we’ve seen so far, featuring a Radiant Lighting system that ensures the room never stays completely dark, while beanbags and telescoping angles enable the display the look much larger whenever you’re sitting close to it. I like the idea of it not being totally dark, as some lighting makes it cozy while you’re munching on some home-baked popcorn with a loved one, enjoying your favorite movie.

Being caught in a fire is one of my greatest fears, which is why I believe all homes should be equipped with some sort of smoke detector or alarm. The OneLink Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Detector with Voice Alert is an intelligent gizmo that can be programmed with alerts related to its location, so that you know which is the (literal) hot zone whenever a fire breaks out. This alarm wails at 85dB that ought to get even the heaviest sleeper up and about. Just make sure that the batteries inside are functional, so periodic spot checks are a must. This home improvement device retails for $99.99 a pop, and the voice alert does away with the need to look up any display whatsoever.

Posted Feb 27th 2008 3:01AM by Ryan Block
Filed under: cellphones, Robots

We kind of wish this was fake — and we’re tentatively overjoyed that it’s not — but we can’t help but feeling a little freaked at the Toshiba 815T PB on Softbank, developed to coincide with a new show featuring (you guessed it) robo-phones called Ketai Sousakan 7. Yeah yeah, QVGA, 3G, 3.2 megapixel camera, that’s all well and good, but our latent fear of cellphone brain cancer kind of just went out the window.

Vtech’s V.Smile gaming consoles are aimed at kids so squarely that you might never notice how interesting the technology is. Take, for example the handheld V.Smile Pocket.

That it uses the exact same cartridges as the standard set-top V.Smile console is a neat touch that parents will appreciate. That it’s basically a handheld $40 SNES equivalent is an even neater one.

There’s even a 3D-accelerated version called the V.Flash, sold for about $60.

Of course, the games you can actually buy aren’t of much interest to mature gamers: they’re kids’ stuff, like alphabet learning games and basic platformers with movie tie-in themes. If you’ve ignored these things in the past because you thought they were overpriced gimmicks, you can at least rest assured: these new ones are respectably equipped, solidly designed, and will get Junior off the family PC so you can get back to doing the taxes. The games have good production values, crisp graphics and plenty of stuff to learn and do.

The standard V.Smile is about the size of a shoebox, and the handheld version is also quite big: about the size of an airport paperback. It’s easy to hold, though, even for kids, and is built of sturdy stuff.

In its console incarnation, V.Smile has a graphics tablet and an external mic for games that use them. The Pocket version lacks the tablet and has a built-in mic, but retains the joystick and the four button layout. Each button is identified by color in both machines. In addition, each version of the system has a power button, help button, volume controls and so on.

One especially nice touch, for the left-handed, are the portable’s direction-pad and main button. A switch behind the unit allows each to be internally rotated, converting the d-pad to a button and the button to a D-pad.

V.Smile pocket comes in orange one or pink. Extended-life batteries and a car charger are optional. Games are $20 each and can be bought just about everywhere.

I wonder how difficult it would be to hack one of these? Specifications are not listed anywhere. I’ve sent questions in to V.Tech, but never got an answer–they probably thought I was a crazy person. The unit is not screwdriver-accessible.

Product Page [Vtech]

As hardware prices fall and military tech trickles down into the civilian world, hi-tech weapons will inevitably fall into the wrong hands. According to Noel Sharkey, a robotics professor at the University of Sheffield, killer robots could soon be used by extremist militant and terrorist groups. He estimates that an autonomous, GPS guided flying drone could be built for as little as $500.

But technology is morally agnostic. Even weapons designed to kill can be used for good. So should we worry? Anecdotal evidence says that criminals escalate their use of technology to match or outdo that used by the law enforcers: gun crime is higher where the police carry guns, for example.

On the other hand, law agencies are playing a continual game of catchup, as seen in the absurd hoops that air travelers have to jump through just to get on a plane. In order to succeed, the defenders have to cover all possibilities, all the time. The bad guys have to break security only once. So, while killer robots might possibly be the next shoe bomb, they will probably be used only once before the villains jump ahead to the next thing. Meanwhile, us hackers will have a whole bunch of cheap new toys to play with.

Killer robots pose latest militant threat: expert [Reuters]