The LG-GD910 Wrist Phone

LG, one of Korea’s largest electronics makers has introduced its newest mobile gadget, the LG-GD910 wrist phone.

This masterpiece has a HSDPA radio, a 1.43-inch color touchscreen LCD display, text-to-speech, and an MP3 player.

The device also offers Bluetooth and voice dialing with speech recognition. It will be introduced next month at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

European and Korean customers will have the first chance to acquire the new wrist phones, although pricing has not yet been announced.

(Via Electronista)

John Lennon resurrected for charity ad

John Lennon is appearing in a charity public service announcement 28 years after his death.

The former Beatle has urged support for a campaign to get “One Laptop per Child” for the world’s poorest kids.

Through digital technology, he has appealed for help to deliver the tough, solar-powered XO laptop computers.

A voice and video image of Lennon has been created to say: “Imagine every child no matter where in the world they were could access a universe of knowledge.

“They would have a chance to learn, to dream, to achieve anything they want. I tried to do it through my music, but now you can do it in a very different way.”

“You can give a child a laptop and more than imagine, you can change the world,” says the musician.

This isn’t the first time a celebrity has been integrated digitally for commercial means: Fred Astaire danced with a vacuum cleaner during a Super Bowl ad, and Elvis Presley and Muppets mastermind Jim Henson have also posthumously appeared in commercials.

The ad was created by Taxi, New York, which was given permission to use Mr. Lennon’s image free of charge by his widow, Yoko Ono.

The One Laptop Per Child Association, Inc. (OLPC) is a U.S. non-profit organization set up to oversee the creation of an affordable educational device for use in the developing world. Its mission is “To create educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.” Its current focus is on the development, construction and deployment of the XO-1 laptop. Source: Wikipedia

D+caf: The caffeine detector

I love coffee. It makes me do stupid things faster with more energy!

But for those who are cautious about their caffeine intake, comes a new product that can test if you’re drinking real coffee instead of decaf.

D+caf test strips are simply little strips of paper coated with antibodies. You take the test strip and you dunk it in the coffee and it takes a minute to let you know if it’s decaf or not. The antibodies in the strip produce colored lines if the sample contains caffeine.

The strips are 98 percent accurate for detecting caffeine, plus you have to use them before you add anything else to your beverage, like milk or sugar.

Some notes from the product page:

• D+caf™ Test Strips enable you to test the caffeine concentration of coffee and tea.

• 20 single-use test strips

• 98% accurate for detecting “NON-DECAFFEINATED” beverages - above 20 mg caffeine per 6 oz. serving

• D+caf™ is a lateral flow immunoassay, similar to the technology used in home pregnancy tests

• D+caf™ Test Strips can be used on hot or cold beverages

• Produces a result in as little as 30 seconds

• Test beverage before adding milk, cream, powdered creamers, syrups or other additives

(Via Gizmodo)

Kill the virus playing Swinefighter

A Flash game aimed at tackling the global spread of swine flu has become an internet hit.

In Swinefighter the player needs to shoot as many pig-like viruses as possible using a huge needle to stop the spread of the disease.

Wasting 20 seconds of my time this afternoon, I killed 21 green pigs before they fly off across the globe to cause yet further panic.

The web game was designed by the guys over at Heyzap. And with over 150,000 game plays in just 24 hours, it has really done quite well.

Click here to play.

HTC Magic - now available

Some of our readers will remember the HTC Magic, that we featured on the site previously, it is now available to pre-order on Vodafone, here is a round up of the specifications.

The HTC Magic features a 3.2 inch HVGA touchscreen display, there is no physical keyboard like the T-Mobile G1, and it measures 113 x 55 x 13.65mm and weighs ion at just 118.5 grams with the battery.

Other specifications on the HTC Magic include HDSPA, GPS an 3.2 megapixel camera, and a trackball for navigation, it is also quad band and features built in Bluetooth, WiFi.

The HTC Magic is now available to pre-order on Vodafone.

LaCie Rugged XL

LaCie has added a new portable hard drive to their range, with the launch of the LaCie Rugged XL external hard drive.

The LaCie Rugged XL features an aluminum chassis, and is protected by a shock resistant rubber sleeve, it also has internal anti shock bumpers to ensure the hard drive is protected.

It comes with high speed USB, and eSATA interfaces, and has 1TB of storage, it will go on sale for around $159.99.

Press Release via Tech Fresh

Image Credit: Crunch Gear
This is a Syndicated post from Geeky Gadgets.

RROD Xbox 360 Arcade Stick Mod

What happens when you get a RROD (Red Ring of Death), on your Xbox 360? do you send it into Microsoft to get it repaired, or do you turn it into this awesome Xbox 360 Arcade Stick like one gamer did?

A gamer by the name of Seppun decided to use his dead Xbox 360 to make this awesome Arcade stick, unfortunately there arent to many details available on the mod, here is another photo of this cool arcade stick.

Necktie Spy Camera

Here is a fun spy gadget for all the James Bond fans, the Necktie Spy Camera.

The Necktie Spy Camera is the ideal accessory for your latest spy mission, you are bound to go undetected with this covert necktie, apart from the fact that everyone will realise you don’t normally wear one.

The Necktie Spy Camera features a tiny pinhole spy camera hidden in the pattern and it can record video at a 352 x 288 resolution at 12 frames per second.

The video is recorded in AVI format, and it comes with 2GB of built in memory, transferring files to your PC is easy as the nectie can be plugged directly into a USB port, and it even comes with a remote control so that you can start and stop recordings.

The Necktie Spy Camera is available for $66 from Brando.

This is a Syndicated post from Geeky Gadgets.

VHS USB Drive

Who said USB tapes were dead? The guys over at Hacked Gadgets have come up with the ultimate solution to recycle all your old VHS tapes and turn them into this cool VHS USB Drive.

This fun USB drive uses, and old VHS tape, a USB drive, some LEDs, a recycled DC motor and a small petf board, the total cost to make one is about $15.00, check out the video of it in action below.

Very cool!, if you want to make your own head on over to Hacked Gadgets for full instructions.

This is a Syndicated post from Geeky Gadgets.

EagleTec USB Nano Flash Drive

If you are looking for a small USB drive to store all your files on, the check out the EagleTec USB Nano Flash Drive.

The EagleTec USB Nano Flash Drive measures just 19mm x 15mm x 6mm and weighs in at a tiny 3g, although it is extremely small, there is plenty of room to store all your data on as it comes in a choice of either 4GB or 8GB.

Here are the specifications.

• Nano Size USB Design
• Compact & trendy
• USB 2.0 High speed data transfer
• Compatiable with USB1.1 & 2.0
• Up to 15Mb/s Read; Up to 6Mb/s write
• Password protection (Optional download by user)
• Support Windows 2000/XP/Vista, Mac OSX (10.2 or above)
• Dimension: 19 x 15 x 6mm (approx.)
• Weight: 3g

The EagleTec USB Nano Flash Drive is available for $22 for the 4GB version and $32 for the 8GB version from Brando.

DIY LCD Gift Wrap

I know what I am wrapping all my Christmas presents in this year, this fun DIY LCD Gift Wrap.

The DIY LCD Gift Wrap features a segmented LCD pattern that you can write on to make your own custom LCD messages!

If you want some, it is available for $19.50 for a set of 5 sheets from Yellow Owl Workshop.

Handmade Star Trek Clock

Check out this amazing handmade Star Trek clock, a must for Star Trek Fans.

The Star Trek Clock features 12 vintage classic action fleet micro machine starships, warships and other vessels, and each one is hand finished in a black and silver pewter colour.

This amazing Stark Trek clock is the work of YOUgNeek, and each clock is a one of a kind, you can also order a custom version with your favourite ships or vehicles.

The Star Trek Clock is available for $109.99 from YOUgNeek.

Crabble Folding iPhone Stand

If you use your iPhone on a plane of train you will know how hard it can be to watch a film on it without an additional stand.

The Crabble Folding iPhone Stand looks like the ideal solution, it can easily be folded away and stored in your wallet, and it will let you watch or use your iPhone in portrait and landscape modes.

If you want one, the Crabble Folding iPhone Stand is available for $4.99 from Think Geek.

Violet RFID Mirror

Here is a fun gadget, that is bound to provide hours of endless fun, the Violet RFID USB Mirror.

The Violet RFID USB Mirror connects to your PC via USB, it can then recognize objects and perform tasks which have been assigned to specific objects, that you have added RFID Ztamps to.

“This mirror is the first consumer RFID reader with a rich set of applications and services. It is designed to be so simple that a two-year old can use it. With this empowering, intuitive and revolutionary device, Violet is once more expanding the Internet of Things, bringing the magic and the power of content, personalization and interactivity to the thousands of inanimate objects that populate our lives and homes.”

Here are the specifications.

• Can be used with blank user programmable RFID Ztamps
• Detects up to four objects at the same time
• Movement detector to activate standby mode
• Loudspeaker (buzzer)
• 3 color LEDS to dynamically express feedback and information
• USB 2.0 connection
• Dimensions: 4″ dia x .55″ height (10 x 1.4 cm)
• Weight: 3.2 oz (90 g)
• Comes with: Mirror, 3 Ztamps RFID tags (random colors), 2 programmable Nano:ztag Micro-Rabbits, Quick start guide

The Violet RFID Mirror is available for $59.99 from Think Geek.

Belkin Micro Auto Charger

Here is the perfect car charger for your iPhone or iPod, the Belkin Micro Auto Charger.

As you can see from the photo, the design is simple, and there is just one USB port, which makes it perfect for charging your iPhone or any other gadget in your car.

The Belkin Micro Auto Charger is available for $15, or $20 with a USB cable included.

Cardinal recommends Twitter for prayer

The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland has urged believers to send their prayers the modern way.

Cardinal Sean Brady, speaking at a Mass in County Mayo on Sunday, urged social network users to start sending daily prayers by text, Twitter or e-mail.

The cardinal made the appeal as he unveiled a statue of Fr. Patrick Peyton, known as “the Rosary Priest”.

Peyton, a priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, founded the Family Rosary Crusade for which he coined the famous slogan “The family that prays together, stays together.”

“In the name of Fr. Peyton, I appeal to every Christian in Ireland today who sends texts, Twitters or uses e-mail to think about setting up groups of prayer between you and your friends using these modern means of communication,” said the cardinal.

“I ask young people in particular to think of sending their friends and family an occasional Twitter or text to say that you have prayed for them.”

Peyton lived in the Philippines for a long time, promoting prayer and devotion to the Blessed Virgin. He died in 1992 and is now on his way to sainthood.

Joey Velasco, a Filipino painter and sculptor, made the seven-foot bronze sculpture of the Irish priest.

HP unveils ProBook S-Series notebooks

HP has launched their new ProBook S-series which they claim has been designed as affordable business centric laptops.

The standard series (s-series) of the new HP ProBook models incorporate a mercury-free design, and features high-definition (HD)⁽¹⁾ LED backlit displays in a choice of 14-inch, 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch diagonal widescreen sizes.

The ProBook s-series models will offer Novell SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 pre-installed alongside Windows.

The ProBook series starts at $529 and have these features:

-800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM two slots expandable up to 8GB
-Up to 500GB SATA HDD internal storage
-Wi-Fi a/b/g/n
-ExpressCard/34 slot

-Media Card Reader
-Ports: four USB 2.0, VGA and HDMI
-Full-size keyboard

-Options include: Blu-ray ROM DVD+/-RW SuperMulti DL LightScribe Drive5; 2 MP webcam; and Bluetooth 2.0

Specifications for each models:
4410s (Intel) and 4415s (AMD)
-14-inch diagonal widescreen with 16:9 ratio
-ATI Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics, ATI Mobility RadeonTM HD 4330 discrete graphics, with 512 MB dedicated video memory
-6-cell Lithium-Ion battery
-Weight: 5 pounds with optical drive
-Dimensions: 1.22 (at front) x 13.2 x 9.15 in

4510s (Intel) and 4515s (AMD)
-15.5-inch diagonal widescreen with 16:9 ratio
-integrated number pad
–HP un2400 EV-DO/HSPA Mobile Broadband Module that HP says will work with multiple mobile broadband carriers
-Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD, ATI Mobility RadeonTM HD 4330, with 512 MB dedicated video memory (4510s)

- ATI Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics, ATI Mobility RadeonTM HD 4330 discrete graphics, with 512 MB dedicated video memory (4515s)
-8-or 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery
-Weight: 5.7 pounds including optical drive
-Dimensions: 1.24 (at front) x 14.6 x 9.83 in

4710s (Intel only)
-17.3-inch diagonal widescreen with 16:9 ratio
-ATI Mobility RadeonTM HD 4330, with 512 MB dedicated video memory
-8-cell Lithium-Ion battery
-Weight: 6.8 pounds with optical drive
-Dimensions: 1.26 (at front) x 16.17 x 10.63 in

Models come in glossy noir (black) and merlot (for 14″ and 15″).

[hp via pcworld]

Bionic animal legs built for theater

Bionic animal legs made for costumers, performers and actors everywhere!

These “digitigrade leg extensions” are the work of Seattle-based sculptor Kim Graham.

Cool huh? Reminds me of Jar Jar Binks.

Samsung I7500 powered by Android

Samsung just unveiled the I7500, the company’s first ever Android phone. The Samsung I7500 is a cutting-edge smartphone, featuring a 3.2″ AMOLED full touch screen and 7.2Mbps HSDPA and WiFi connectivity, giving users access to Google™ Mobile services and full web browsing at blazing speeds.

Specifications:

Network: HSDPA 7.2Mbps / HSUPA 5.76Mbps (900 / 1700/ 2100MHz), EDGE / GPRS (850/ 900/1800/1900)

OS: Android

Display: 3.2″ HVGA(320×480) AMOLED

Camera: 5 MP Camera (Auto Focus), Power LED

Video: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV

Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+, WMA, RA

Features: Full Web Browser Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Android Market

Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, WiFi, MicroUSB, 3.5mm ear jack Internal memory: 8GB

External memory: Micro SD (Up to 32GB)

Battery: 1500 mAh

Size: 115 x 56 x 11.9mm

The Samsung I7500 will be available in major European countries in June 2009.

[via Engadget]

TIME names Christopher ‘moot’ Poole the most influential person in the world

Time Magazine has named 4chan.org founder Christopher Poole (a.k.a. moot) the most influential person in the world.

The 21-year-old college student garnered 16,794,368 votes and an average influence rating of 90 (out of a possible 100) to beat the likes of Barack Obama, Manny Pacquiao and Stephen Colbert.

But according to Erick Schonfeld of TechCrunch, the magazine’s annual online poll of the top 100 most influential people in government, science, technology and the arts was flooded with fake votes by followers of 4chan.

Not only did moot’s followers manage to get his name to the top of the Time 100 reader’s list, they also manipulated the next 20 spots. If you take the first letter of each name, it spells out the cryptic message, “Marblecake, also the game.” (See image below).

According to a tip, marblecake was also the name of the chatroom “where Project Chanology was born (4chan’s war against Scientology).”

Last year, Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto topped the list.