Gadgets and New Technologies

Toshiba put HD-DVD out of its misery today. Reuters confirmed this afternoon that it will cease manufacturing HD-DVD equipment, following earlier reports from Japan’s NHK public broadcasting network.

This leaves Blu-Ray as the presumptive victor in the irrelevant optical disk format war. It now must face up to the real competition: the continuing success of DVD and the growing popularity of downloads, both on the internet and on-demand cable TV.

The end comes only a day after Wal-Mart announced it would no longer carry HD-DVD stuff.

(Read the full post about ‘HD-DVD Death Made Official. Downloads To Kill Blu-Ray Next.’…)

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It’s hard not to see the handwriting on the wall. Literally. But let’s recap. First, it was select studios announcing the dropping of HD DVD and focusing on the better selling Blue Ray Line. Then, it was Best Buy announcing it would only sell Blue Ray. Then, Amazon announced a 50% off clearance on 150 HD DVD movies. Microsoft drops the price of their XBox hd dvd add-on player to $129. But the real killer was when WalMart announced it would drop HD DVD effective in June. So what to do when the war is over? Toshiba finally raises the white flag. The news came from a report by NHK in Japan, which stated that Toshiba plans to withdraw from next generation high-definition DVD production and close plants in Japan. (Read the full post about ‘With Toshiba dropping HD DVD, it’s all over but the shouting’…)

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There’s a great debate in the Bar-b-que world that meat only tastes better when cooked over an open flame, and even more so when cooked with charcoal (I prefer Applewood, actually). But historically sspeaking, the charcoal grill has been more of an exercise in frustration for backyard warriors only seeking to start the flame, much less cook on it. The 60 second charcoal starter from Hammacher changes all that. It looks more like a lightsaber than a charcoal lighter (although I bet Luke Skywalker could light one lickety split), but instead of light plasma, it uses hot air heated to nearly 1300 degrees Fahrenheit. The wand is buryed inside the pile of coal to heat until the briquettes begin to spark. (Read the full post about ‘New BBQ lighter gets coals flaming in seconds’…)

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Posted Feb 16th 2008 2:42PM by Darren MurphFiled under: Storage We’ll be honest with you — it can’t get a whole lot easier than one-touch backup, but that hasn’t stopped ClickFree from serving up an alternative that quite literally removes the whole “one-touch” requirement from backing up your data. Similar to other devices we’ve seen in the past, the HD700 arrives in a 4.52- x 0.67- x 2.99-inch enclosure and houses a 120GB 5400RPM SATA drive. Additionally, the unit is USB 2.0-compliant, requires no additional power source and immediately starts duping your data as soon as it’s plugged in to your Windows-based computer. So, how do you put a price on simplicity? Ask ClickFree — it’s the one that tagged this p (Read the full post about ‘ClickFree HD700 removes the “one-touch” from one-touch backups’…)

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Posted Feb 16th 2008 3:22PM by Chris ZieglerFiled under: cellphones, Handhelds There’s a reason phones don’t remotely resemble PC cases, and we think this mockup does a fabulous job demonstrating why that is. Okay, look, we’re totally cool with Dell and Alienware producing an Alienware-branded handset — especially if it runs Android, a platform Dell has been rumored to be very, very interested in — we just really don’t want this (or anything like this) to be it. The morphing keypad and user interface look awesome, but we have a very simple rule when we purchase a new phone: under no circumstances should the slider have physically painful ridges digging into your hands during use. (Read the full post about ‘Concept Alienware Android phone makes our brain, hands hurt’…)

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Posted Feb 16th 2008 6:10AM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Gaming Well you knew it was coming. That PSP hack we told you about a few weeks ago has hit the interblogs, and we predict all hell will be breaking loose any moment. Un-retired homebrew mastermind Dark_AleX has come up with a little number called Timemachine, which is capable of spinning your PSP back to all sorts of crazy firmwares at the touch of a button. We know you can hardly stand finishing this post due to excitement, so… get out of here and grab it![Thanks, Craig] (Read the full post about ‘PSP super-hack hits the internet’…)

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Posted Feb 16th 2008 8:05AM by Richard LawlerFiled under: Home EntertainmentSamsung’s See’N'Search set-top box that intelligently and automatically pulls content from the internet to match whatever TV show is on sounded nice enough, but we wanted to see it in action. Apparently the good people at Samsung have also perfected their wish-granting technology to match the the unit’s metadata scrapers, because here’s a demo video. Check it out after the break, and be mindful of your thoughts, wouldn’t want to distract Samsung’s R&D from preparing that sandwich we just telepathically requested. (Read the full post about ‘Samsung’s See’N’Search set-top TV / Internet box demo video’…)

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The AT&T branded Centro has not officially been announced yet, but that is not stopping at least one AT&T retail store from selling the phone anyway. A lucky user over on the Treo Central Forums was able to make the purchase at a Denver retail store. What else is there to do after you purchase an unreleased and unannounced phone, unbox it and post the pictures. We can only assume that the official release will come Tuesday February 19, unless you are also lucky enough to get yours early. As you can also see from the above image, the Centro appears to be running the phone app from the Treo 680. Looking good. Read [Flickr] Via [Treo Central Forums] Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! (Read the full post about ‘AT&T Palm Centro in the wild’…)

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Posted Feb 16th 2008 9:31AM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Misc. gadgets Sure, it seemed like the Pentagon had things wrapped up when they told us that they’d be aiming their rockets skyward and blasting that pesky zombie-spore and / or Alien-carrying satellite out of the sky. Of course, they failed to tell us the price: sixty million dollars. What seemed at first to be a simple game of Missile Command has become an extensive military operation, involving modified rockets and control systems, hundreds of industry experts and scientists, as well as the Aegis sea-defense cruiser accompanied by two destroyers. The Navy will wait until the space shuttle lands next Wednesday before beginning operations, and they say they’re fully prepared to bring W.O.P.R. (Read the full post about ‘Cost of shooting down a spy satellite: $60m. Look on Alien’s face when the missile hits: priceless.’…)

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Sonance FS1B IPORT iPort Freestanding Unbalanced Audio/Video Docking Station Bring your ipod into your home theater system with style. Sonances FS1 iPort dock fits in perfectly, anywhere you place it. It works seamlessly with your home stereo, A/V distribution center, or personal computer through unbalanced RCA, composite video, and S-video connections. Technorati Tags: Sonance (Read the full post about ‘Sonance FS1B IPORT iPort Freestanding Unbalanced Audio/Video Docking Station’…)

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