Gadgets Base

There was no shortage of announcements at MacWorld. The biggest (and most expected) was the MacBook Air. However, the other big news (that was also predicted by many) was the iTunes Movie rentals. The rumors pretty much hit this one on the head, but there were a few surprises.

First up, all of the major movie studios (Paramount, Sony, Warner and Universal among others) are on board with it. The rentals will run you $2.99 for older titles, while new releases will be $3.99. You won’t be able to rent movies as soon as they are released on DVD though, you’ll be forced to wait 30 days.

When you rent a movie you’ll have up to 30 days to begin watching it. Once you have started watching it, you have 24 hours to watch it as much as you like. In all, it sounds pretty cool

Speaking of movies, Fox and Apple teamed up for something really cool. This actually pertains to movies that you purchase, rather than rent. When you buy a Fox DVD, you’ll be able to pop the DVD into your computer and create a “digital copy” which you can use on your computer, iPod, Apple TV or what have you. It looks like this will be showing up on new Fox titles, the first being the Family Guy special “Blue Harvest” (which rocks if you haven’t seen it).

Source: Apple

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It wasn’t so long ago when we featured the Geomesh time piece here in Gadget Spy. Whilst undeniably attractive, I hope it didn’t confuse you as much as it did me. This time, however, a glance at this watch would seem to confuse you, but a look closer would reveal its ingenious simplicity.

The Matrix M6001 features an LCD screen where the time is displayed as bars. If you take a gander at the pictures, you’ll see that the bigger bars at the top indicate the hour while the smaller bars at the bottom, indicate the minutes in intervals of five. The bottom-left part of the screen is occupied by another bar broken into four, signifying each individual minute. Simple, right? The direct-to-the-point approach is appreciated, although in my opinion, the watch lacks a bit of zing. It’s currently on sale in Funshop.kr for approximately 38, although you might have to call on a Korean friend to help you navigate the page.

via technabob

Posted Jan 16th 2008 8:03PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Robots
Finally your replicant Owl and Nexus-6 will have a new playmate over at the Bradbury — namely, Sega Toys’ newest iteration of its infamously creepy automaton, the Yume Neko Smile cat. When we last saw this little purr-machine, it was giving blank stares of disapproval while harmfully invading our dreams like a kind of down-coated succubus. The new version appears to up the gross-factor to 11 by including even more lifelike movements, all new speech (with moving mouth), and a healthy dose of allergy-irritating dander. Okay, we made that last one up, but with such attention to detail — including the common cat trait of perfect human speech — it wouldn’t surprise us to see this one causing all kinds of health issues. Watch the charming video after the break, you’ll see what we mean.

I’ll start out by saying that I’ve always enjoyed the Star Wars franchise (except for the Ewoks and Jar Jar), but I’ve never as nuts about the series as say, that girl on American Idol last night who showed up for the audition wearing a Princess Leia outfit, hair buns and all. These lightsaber lighting fixtures are made for her and for those who follow in her footsteps.

Sure, these aren’t the most beautiful lights you’ll ever lay your eyes on, but they are perfect for serious Star Wars junkies. They’re not fancy, running on AAA batteries, and emanating a subtle LED glow. They come in both green (Jedi) and red (Sith) variants, but no matter which one you choose, they’ll each bring a bit of the Light Side to your dark room. The sabers measure in at just under 16-inches tall, making them good for a bedside table, or on either side of your couch.

They’re available now from NCSX for $23 each.

read more about:

geek, lamp, led, light, lightsaber, star wars

The iHome2Go iH85B is the new speaker made specifically for bicycles, and to be used with iPods, that is, excluding the old-school Shuffle.

It was created by iHome, a company that already has a big list of iPod related products, so we’re safe to say that the quality should be good. The speaker case is placed on the bike’s frame, while the audio controllers are located on the handlebar - so you can easily keep cycling while raising the volume, or picking a specific song.

In case you don’t have a bicycle to use with the iHome2Go, that costs $80, it can also be used in other scenarios, like a picnic or the beach, and since it has the water-resistant detail, there isn’t much to worry about.

Product Page

Via OhGizmo

Toshiba has come up with the great solution of TV with DVD player in its 23HLV87 LCD TV with DVD player model. This 23″ diagonal widescreen TFT LCD is available with various updated features like HDMI™ (High-Definition Multimedia Interface), ColorStream® HD Component Video Inputs, S-Video, PC Input D-Sub 15 with L/R Audio etc. It is further obtainable with the accessories like 100 mm VESA® Mounting Holes, which enables you to decorate your room with its vivacious presence.

Audio and Video features

Its outstanding audio features like Dolby® Digital and DTS® Compatible Output, StableSound®, Bottom Mount Stereo Speakers, Bass/Treble Balance Controls make its unparallel in the market. Further, its video features included here are ATSC/NTSC & QAM Digital Television Tuners, DivX® Home Theater Certified,3 Mode Picture Size Adjustment, DivX®/WMA & MP3 Playback, Digital Zoom, Fast Scan, Slow Motion, Multi-Camera Angle Select, Digital Comb Filter etc.
To mention its more video features for excellent visual output are:

• Pixel Resolution: 1440 x 900
• Cinema Mode (3:2 Pulldown)
• Digital Cinema Progressive
• 480i/480p/720p/1080i Component Input
• Disc Play: DVD/DVD-R/DVD-RW/CD/CD-R/CD-RW/VCD

Features

For more benefits of the viewers, Toshiba 23HLV87 LCD TV with DVD player is loaded with multiple features like:

• Digital Audio Out 1 Optical (DVD only)
• V-Chip Parental Control System
• Tri-Lingual OSD (English, French/Japanese)
• Headphone Jack (1)
• Video Label w/ direct input selection
• RCA Video Inputs - Rear (2)

Auto Channel Memory

Moreover, Toshiba 23HLV87 LCD TV with DVD player is the product which is satisfying its owner with the advantages of various attributes like Clock, On/Off Timer, Closed Captioning, Multi-Subtitle Select, Channel Labeling, Unified Remote Control, Energy Star Compliant etc.
So, just possess this wonderful product only at $699.99 and make your every audio -visual experience best ever in the world.

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I have long had an interest in guitars and loud music.  The tragedy is the fact that I can’t play.  Don’t get me wrong, there was a time that I could whip out a little bit of old Bird on my sax, but years have past since I sold that.  Music for me is more or less about listening now, but then I saw this great looking Fender Stratocaster Coffee Table.

You don’t need to be able to play the guitar to enjoy this, you don’t even need to like coffee.  All you need is an appreciation for one of the brands behind a great music genre and the overwhelming awesomeness of a cool piece of furniture.

Nerd Approved

Japan, formerly an agricultural land, found itself with a dwindling number of farmers with that sector of the industry, dying. Many of those who choose to work their farms are those who are quite long in the tooth. As such, scientists decided to come up with a gear that could help them out.

Presenting the power-assist robot suit. Shigeki Toyama of the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, has designed and developed a power-assisted robot suit. Said suit has the ability to boost a person’s physical strength via controlling eight motors providing support to one’s legs, knees, arms and shoulders. Aside from doubling the strength of the one who dons it, it enables farmers to hold their arms up for a length of time without getting tired — something especially useful when pruning trees.

The picture shows a student carrying a 20kg sack of rice which to him would feel like a mere 10kg. The target release of the power-assist robot suit is in four years’ time for a price, which as of now, would seem to be between 2,400 and 4,800.

Robocop, here we come.

via Pink Tentacle