Latest Tech news - 25 January

MTV TV Shows for PSP

The Portable PlayStation from Sony will receive new content in the near future, that will come in the form of UMD, also known as Universal Media Disc, which is a format made specifically for the PSP that didn’t become very popular.

So in order to give more fame to the potential format, Sony decided to start offering TV shows in UMD, most part coming from MTV programming. With that being said, here are some of the upcoming shows: Beavis and Butt-Head, Viva La Bam, Jackass, and Wildboyz. As you can see, this is true MTV material made available to target some PSP users.

New Mobile YouTube

The first mobile version of YouTube was put live on November 2006, but the Google-owned company has released a new and improved version, yesterday.

The main difference is the quantity of content available, on the past version, there wasn’t much, but in the recently launched model, there are “tens of millions of videos”. Another new feature is the community functions that didn’t exist before, like adding friends, posting messages in special boards, and more.

Believe it or not, another important change is the exclusion of advertisement, in other words, this mobile YouTube won’t have ads. According to Mr. Walk, from YouTube, this move was made in order to gain more audience, and to turn YouTube users, into mobile YouTubers.

But not everything is good in this announcement, the small notes mention additional charges made by your mobile service provider, that is, unless you have an plan with unlimited data transfer, otherwise it might be too expensive to watch YouTube on the go.

Shure SE 110 Sound Isolating Earphones

So there I was, watching TV online at a library with cheap headphones, catching up on back episodes of Chuck when I decided to plug in the Shure SE110 Sound Isolating Earphones. Now, my normal headphones are just some things I pulled off the Wal-Mart shelf for about $4.50, and the Shure SE110 headphones completely rocked my former private world of sound.

As soon as I plugged in the SE 110, I had to turn down the volume immediately. I have had similar experiences listening to High Definition headphones. While the SE110 does not bill itself as HD headphones on its spec sheet, it certainly sounds that way.

The specs for the SE110 do brag about a Balanced MicroSpeaker for a “vivid and detailed listening experience”. Believe me when I say that I have experienced this experience.

As far as the Sound Isolating headphones are concerned, they can block out 90 percent of background noise. They certainly fit snugly into my ear canal, and they come with adjusters in case some other user’s ears are a different size than mine.

The SE110 comes with a carrying case and a three-foot extender, which you will need, believe me. The headphones themselves aren’t very long.

The Shure SE110 Sound Isolating Earphones are about $119.99, and are available at the Shure website.

Asus begins shipping Eee PCs with Windows XP in Japan

It’s no small secret that Asus made waves with their super-small Eee PC. It has so many good things going for it that one has difficulty focusing on the negative. No, you won’t find me ranting and raving about a small hard drive or the fact that it runs Linux, I think it’s great that they’ve managed to make something this great that runs under $400. However, if you’re still hung up on the lack of Windows, don’t worry, as it will soon be an option.

Sure, you can install a copy of Windows on the machine, but many people don’t care to put that much effort into a brand new computer. This is why I’m happy to hear that Asus will be offering the 4GB model with a copy of Windows XP Home Edition installed.

The Windows-based version is identical to its Linux predecessor, and is currently on sale in Japan. Don’t fret though, a US release is planned for late February or March. The Japanese version is currently being sold for around $470, which is an understandable premium to get a copy of Windows installed.

Prices and dates set for Rock Band instruments

I’m no stranger to the game Rock Band. In fact, I spend many evenings getting acquainted with the drums and guitar. Unfortunately for many people, especially those who play the game on their PS3, you’re limited to a 3-person band. That’s great and all if you’re lacking in the friends department, but if you have three buddies that want to do some serious jamming, you’re pretty much out of luck. Thankfully Harmonix has finally announced the release of their standalone instruments.

The first controller that we’ll see is the drum kit which will hit stores on February 12 for around $80. Guitarists will have to wait until the first of April in order to get themselves a second axe. This will set you back $60. While I’m a bit surprised that they haven’t announced a release date for the microphone, I can’t say that I’m all that worried about it. Almost any USB mic will work, so it’s not really a big deal.

I’ll be interested to see how many people actually buy just the drums and game. Bear in mind that the standalone version of the game retails for $60, which would bring the total to right around $140, which only saves you $30. If anyt

Brugo - Cools Coffee One Sip at a Time

This is a cool idea, a temperature controlled mug that only adjusts the temperature of the amount of liquid that is needed.

Compromise no more! The patented, thermodynamic science of BRUGO gives you the power to immediately enjoy the most vibrant flavor at the perfect drinking temperature. And because you only cool each sip, the remaining coffee stays hotter and more aromatic. Plus, BRUGO’s elegant design and sleek chrome accents will emphasize your discriminating taste.

No word yet on price or availability, though you can find more pictures over on My Favourite Things (not that more pictures really helps, it’s a mug) [via Crib Candy].

Flying Stick Cam – aerial surveillance … er photography for everyone

Everyone either made a whirlybird out of paper or had a wood/plastic toy version when they were a kid. The concept was pretty simple. Rub the stick body of the whirlybird between one’s hands and toss it up into the air (the paper version was merely dropped from on high). Using auto-rotation, the whirlybird would land under its own control anywhere from a few feet to several yards away. It was a fun toy for the helicopter pilot in all of us. Now, (thanks to our friends at Yankoo Design) one designer has taken that whirlybird concept and created a camera platform out of it.


Dubbed the “Flying Stick Camera,” it uses kinetic energy built up by rubbing the stick together between one’s hands like it’s smaller toy variant. The difference is that the Flying Stick Camera stores that energy and actually flies up into the air like a helicopter. When the energy is dissipated, it auto-rotates back down to the ground. Meanwhile, while it’s soaring high above one’s head, the Flying Stick will snap off an array of digital shots at a preset interval. And with face detection built into the digital design, the subject is always in focus.

No word on resolution, price, or when we all can get one, but this is certainly a design that’s more toy than functional camera platform, but there’s nothing wrong that. It keeps the fun in digital photography.

Pick Up Line and Insult Generators

For those of you whose wit is as dull as a putty knife, you can level the playing field with two random line generators.

The first is the Pick Up Line Generator, with such classics as “Is it hot in here, or is it just you?ac=658233465&” If that doesn’t do it, you might want to try the other 39 sayings available at the Push of the button.

Perhaps it is not love that you are offering, but a genuine dose of hatred. There is the Insult Generator for that. At a touch of a button, you fire away your taunting arrows like “you are pure inspiration for birth control” and many others.

Assuming that I was still single, I think I might be slightly embarrassed to buy the Pick Up Line Generator. I mean, I think it is intended to be a joke gift, really, and I would hate for any man to think that he needed it. However, the device itself might be enough to start a conversation with a very attractive woman. Thus the Pick Up Line Generator becomes a pick up line.

As for the Insult Generator, if you need a machine to express your indignation against someone else, you should probably ask yourself why you hate this person so much to begin with.

If you honestly think you need these products, then you can get them online at the Latest Buy site. Both of them will cost you $17.95 to $19.95.

Guitar Wizard teaches you to play a real guitar

As you probably already know, I’m a huge fan of Rock Band, as well as the Guitar Hero franchise. I’ve spent more time rocking out on a plastic guitar that I care to talk about. It’s ok though, because I decided to learn how to play a real six-string. My dad always told me that the first step to learning how to play a real guitar was buying one that looked good. I think he was right, because every time I walk into my office it taunts me with its good looks. I long to make it sound as good as it looks. My skills are far from honed, so any extra help is always appreciated. This is why I was stoaked when I heard about Guitar Wizard.

It’s kind of hard to describe, but think of this as Guitar Hero for the real thing. Your strings are color-coded and use a variety of shapes such as hearts, stars and other shapes to tell you what to play. There will be two kits, one comes with a Washburn guitar, one will just have a small device that will hook into your electric or acoustic guitar.

I’m interested in checking this out, however, by the time it hits stores this fall I hope to be good enough to not worry about something like this. The bundles will run either $99 or $179 depending on whether or not you get a guitar with it.

Fog machine and light show coming to Rock Band later this year

You guys might not know this about me, but I’m a huge Rock Band fanatic. I’ve met a lot of the gang at Harmonix and even rocked out in their Star Chamber. Trust me when I say you won’t find a place that’s more fun to hang out than there. Needless to say, my friends and I spend a lot of time rocking out. I’ve bought a mic stand, a drum throne and my own pair of drumsticks, but that’s really the extent of my extra hardware purchases for the game. Since you can’t currently buy standalone instruments, there aren’t a lot of extras to buy (aside from more songs). That’s going to change in the future, as GameStop has let slip a new kit that will add some effects to your show.

Specifically, this Rock Band Stage Kit will add lights and a fog machine to your performances. Supposedly the lights are going to be synced up with the music you’re playing. I’m a little torn on this one. My dad is a musician, so I can appreciate a good set of lights, but you don’t want to overdo it. In my opinion, a fog machine is overdoing it. That aside, I can’t really picture myself rocking out in my living room with something like this going. I think that it would be cool if you were having a tournament somewhere public, or you wanted to shoot a cool video. If this sort of thing would rock your world, you’ll be able to pick it up (allegedly) on 6/23/2008 for $99.99.

Exterminate Dust Mites with Raycop

When we sleep in our nice comfy beds we are often sharing them with around 2 million tiny friends, the dust mite. Not only do we share our bed with these ugly pests but they also use it as their own personal toilet, nice! Ewbank have introduced a solution to this bacterial infestation, the Raycop Vacuum Thing.

The Raycop functions like a conventional hand held vacuum cleaner, however it has a couple of extra tricks up it’s sleeve. Firstly it vibrates which helps knock the pesky mites (and droppings) from your mattress, these are then sucked in the vacuum. Whilst this is going on your bed is being cleansed with a UV-C sterilising lamp which is said to kill 99.9% of bacteria. So maybe you’ll be able to sleep that little bit better.

Further information over on the Raycop site, no indication of availability or pricing though.

Computerized Chopper

Look’s like I’m having a bit of a session on bikes at the moment and the coolest I’ve found so far has to be the operational concept chopper produced in collaboration between Intel and Orange County Choppers with just a little help from Black Diamond. The concept was to produce a product capable of operating under some pretty tough conditions and to show the potential of the current embedded technology. The result was the SwitchBack PC, a product which was already in development stages by Black Diamond. They just needed to make it dirt, weather, shock and vibration proof (easy peasy) and ensure it was also ultra-mobile. And what better way to demonstrate all of this by putting it into a motorcycle.

The finished bike has fingerprint recognition ignition system, digital dashboard with a complete infotainment system including web access and other processor based operations. Another neat feature are the rear mounted cameras to see what’s behind you, thus eliminating the need for rear view mirrors. Capable of wireless connectivity, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS and with plenty of other oh so cool features (I want one and I can’t even ride a bike!)

Guideline prices for the SwitchBack PC are from $6,000 to $10,000 (plus the cost of whichever bike you want to install it onto). Somehow I don’t think a little 125cc will do it full justice but I think that may be all I can get to start with.

Macworld – There’s something in the air

I’ve been a Mac user for a very long time. Well, I guess I can’t say that I am anymore, as I haven’t bought a new one in several years, and most of my work is done on a PC. I’m still a loyal Apple fan at heart, so I tend to follow the news waiting for that one announcement that’s going to make me finally take the plunge and buy a new one. While I’m not sure that this is the one, I’m very excited about the possibilities that the upcoming Macworld Expo have to offer. The biggest one is the Air.

There are a lot of rumors going around, but we do know that the banners hanging up for the show say “There is something in the air.”To me this cries out WiMAX, but others seem to think that it could be a new MacBook, named the Air. It would be an ultrathin 13.3-inch notebook that would have an external optical drive and possibly feature a completely wireless setup that would take advantage of a Power-by induction patent that Apple filed for a year ago.

Whatever it is, it’s going to have to be big to top the iPhone announcement from last year. I’d really like to think that it’s going to be a new smaller notebook, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Anyone for marmite

Whilst travelling back from a frankly exhausting CES 2008, I found a very small reference in one of the local UK newspapers referring to a new product just about to hit the market. Now, I’ve heard of some strange food and drink combinations in my time, but Marmite with Champagne is probably one of the weirdest. Now I’m one of the odd people in my family who actually likes Marmite and I also like Champagne, but both together, um, I’m not so sure….

This is being marketed as a limited edition valentine’s gift, with only 600,000 being made available. The jar has a gold-coloured label saying ‘I love you’ or ‘For my lovely Marmite lover’.

Prior to it’s full release on 21 January 2008, Selfridges are selling the Marmite with a hint of Champage for £3.99. After this date they will sell at the lower price of £2.99 for a 250g jar. Selfridges have also commissioned Theo Fennel, the jewellery designer, who has designed jar with a sterling silver engraved lid at £145. However, you’ll have to be quick to get these ones as there’s only going to be 50 made.

Therefore if you’re other half is more minted, perhaps this loving gift would be more appreciated (particularly if there was something with a diamond hidden in the black stuff). Mind you, think it would get a bit messy if everyone thought, ‘he hasn’t just bought me a jar of Marmite has he? There must be something else in here too’!

Now, this comment is aimed at one particular person, and I think you know who you are - if all you get me this valentine’s day is Marmite, albeit with champage, I will not be happy or impressed! Even if it has a silver lid!

I haven’t as yet tasted this product, but if you have or if you know of anyone who has, please share the taste experience.

iTunes to go Tall, Grande and Venti with Starbucks?

Everyone knows by now that Starbucks fans who have iPhones or the iTouch can order and download music directly from the iTunes store while they sip on the overpriced dark roast in Starbucks. What people may not know is that Seattle and Cupertino could be experimenting with the ability to order and buy your next round of double American half latte half caf with a shot from the iTunes store as well. Just don’t try and synch your ipod with it.

It’s just in a series of Photoshopped mockups at the moment, but word is that the software is also being developed which would allow iTuns fans to buy a Vente Frap (or other Starbucks frothy goodness) and pay using their their iTunes account. When ready, the customer would then provide the barista with a semacode digital “receipt” that can be scanned at pickup. The concept would even allow users to write up specific directions in the notes section via the multi touch screen interface or the popup keyboard. Running totals of coffee costs and iTunes account balances are also included in the mockups.

If this concept flies, what’s next? Heading over to Mickey D’s for a Quarter Pounder and a track of the latest Usher CD? Doubtful considering the war that’s being waged over Ronald McDonald and Starbuck at the moment. But how about going to the movies at the local multiplex and downloading the film or movie soundtrack directly to your iPod after the closing credits? I doubt Hollywood would think that differently.

Still, with Cupertino, it’s more a question of what piece of the pie Apple gets, not if they can actually do it.

Sports scores, wherever you are

Ambient Devices have some very cool technology. We’ve already seen the Internet enabled umbrella, but now they also have something for sports fans.

The Ambient Football ScoreCast and Baseball ScoreCast look a lot like portable weather stations, only instead of giving you a weather forecast they display up to date information on (American) football and baseball scores.

The information is pulled from a nationwide wireless network that reaches 90% of the US, so you don’t need a PC to use it; just insert batteries and turn on. Cute.

Personal rant: Why is Vista so bloody useless?

So I’m in a hotel room, trying to write up what I’ve seen at CES this year. I’m using the same HP core2 duo laptop I used last year, only this year it’s been "upgraded" from XP to Vista.

So now my battery life is down from a useful 4 hours to a dismal 2 and it’ll sometimes stall for seconds at a time - presumably because the thing spends most of it’s uptime swapping to disk. After all, it’s only got a measly gig of RAM and clearly web browsing / light photo resizing is harder work than I thought.

If it’s not swapping it’s thrashing the disk trying to second guess what app I’ll want next and pre-loading it for me. I’m sure it takes longer to start up too. Oh, and then there’s the new version of explorer. Don’t even get me started on that…

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing MS for the hell of it. I make a decent living using MS products and a lot of them are very good indeed. I can’t shake the feeling though that this OS just isn’t giving me as a consumer anything useful. It might have loads of cool enabling technology under the hood but if my end user experience is this frustrating I think they have some more work to do…

There you go, rant over - I’ll get back to some CES posts now!

BeerTender in your own home

Draft beer in your own home is most beer drinkers’ preferred way of having their pint (no tinny taste from the can). Krups are now about to launch in the USA the BeerTender which delivers a crisp, fresh perfectly chilled draft beer which will stay fresh for upto 30 days. The unit has been engineered to work exclusively with Heineken and Heineken Premium Light DraftKegs.

The BeerTender is simple to set up and operate, and you have a choice of chill temperature settings depending on your preference. It also has a display which tells you how much you have left, and how long you have before you need to re-stock. It’s the perfect thing to have when you’re having a summer BBQ or a bit of a gathering (which we seem to do rather too often, particularly when we decide to have a poker night!)

The BeerTender is due for launch in March 08, and should be available nationwide in the USA from April 08. Prices start from $380 to $400 depending on model.

Magellan Triton GPS

Magellan have refreshed their consumer hand held GPS lineup by taking the colour touch screen technology seen in automotive GPS systems and combining it with a ruggedised, waterproof case. "Waterproof" in this context meaning it’s too heavy to float, but it is rated to IPX 7 so it should take an accidental dunking for a few minutes with no ill effects.

The result is a range of units. The basic models have a mapping function and all the usual GPS goodies you’d expect (waypoints etc). The range topping Triton 2000 (pictured) increases the screen size to 2.7" and adds goodies such as a camera, voice recorder, expandable memory for detailed maps and a sensor suite such as a magnetic compass and altimeter.

Crap at Guitar Hero? Practice on the Move with Air Guitar

After the official day one of CES 2008 I think this has to be my coolest gadget of CES so far, Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker, practice playing any place, any time.

Air Guitar Rocker is officially licensed with Guitar Hero but you don’t need to own Guitar Hero to play. Simply wear the supplied ‘heavy metal’ belt buckle, attach it to the included processor thingie and you’re good to go. Play your air guitar by strumming the plectrum in front of your groin the belt buckle and play such classics as Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, etc. blast out and your adoring fans will stare at your groin in wonder.

Air Guitar Rocker will available from March 2008 for ~$30, you will also be able to buy exchangeable air cartridges for when you’ve bored everybody with Smoke on the Water for the billionth time.

Ceiva’s new Photo Frames unveiled at CES

While I was at CES this year, I saw a lot of digital picture frames. Most of them were pretty much the same, the usual downloading capability and good resolution, but I would have to say that the ones from Ceiva were pretty exceptional.

The Ceiva Pro190 is designed for those who have very little, shall we say, technical savvy. Downloading the picture on them is quite simple, and it can be done from a distance from the subscriber. In fact, all a user has to do is jack in a phone line, I’m serious.

The resolution of the Pro190 is a high 1280×960 pixels, and they have a huge 19 inch diagonal that is quite worthy of your wall. I found that there was some great anti-glare going on, so I could look at it from any angel without that weird effect I see on my laptop.

The Ceiva Pro80 is smaller at an 8 inch diagonal, with a resolution of 800×600. It has an easy wireless and phone connectivity, and has interchangeable faceplates.

One of the best things about Ceiva is that it is really a service. A user subscribes to their service, and can send and receive photos. I don’t really have a price on this service or these frames, and I also don’t have any images. The picture you see is one of their photo frames, which is quite good quality.

Mio C720t is one cool GPS

I believe I mentioned a few days ago an accident that occurred with a GPS device and an oncoming train. Just to let you know, I was able to use a GPS device to get me from where I was to CES 2008 in Las Vegas without any trouble.

While I CES, I found a GPS that was absolutely awesome: the Mio C720t. At first it seems like the C720t was just your average, run-of-the-mill GPS with a 4.3 inch TFT, landscape orientation, and text to speech. Blah, blah, blah, don’t all GPS devices have those?

However, the Mio C720t has some pretty amazing features. For example, the 2 Megapixel Digital Camera. I don’t know if there are many GPS devices with cameras, but I would have to say that this camera is unique. This one allows you to Geotag photographs, which will include the longitude and latitude coordinates.

The C720t also has some really fresh multimedia action, and is completely Bluetooth compatible. The C720t package also comes with real time traffic alerts, as well as 3 months of free service.

I believe that the Mio C720t was just released, and is the pride of the Mio collection. I believe the suggested retail price is about $499.

Belkin Flywire makes splash at CES 2008

At CES, I went to the Belkin booth and found M:i:III playing on a bigscreen TV. At first I was not that impressed (with the movie and the display), but then I found out that the 1080p Cinema quality was playing completely without wires.

I was then told a device was in motion called the FlyWire, a device that allows for the placement of your HDTV television anywhere, and transmits your content wirelessly. The content for the demonstration was Blu-ray, but I’m guessing it can do a DVD or HD DVD.

The Belkin Flywire comes with a transmitter and receiver and uses a 5GHz band frequency to do its work. Installation is very simple as the user just sets up the Flywire transmitter to the DVD box, and then attach the receiver to the HDTV. The Transmitter is that very cool flat box that you see here above, and the receiver is a smaller box that hides very conveniently anywhere.

I can see these wireless devices such as these catching on. After all, who really wants to go behind the TV set and install all those darn cables?

Unfortunately, you will have to wait. The FlyWire is planned to be released in sometime in the summertime, for a price of $499-599.