Author: Kat Hannaford

Those crazy cats at OK Go are tugging at our heartstrings yet again, with the release of a brand new video for the song This Too Shall Pass. It takes the Rube Goldberg machine concept to another level completely.

Not familiar with the Rube Goldberg machine? Oh, but you are—it’s that Mousetrap-like series of chain reactions that come from just one small action. In this case, driving a toy truck into a line of dominos. But, but! Did I mention the video is embeddable? Looks like lead singer Damian Kulash’s open letter to their fans (reprinted on Gizmodo here with permission) worked a charm on their record label EMI. [LA Times]

ASUS has come good with its promise of a netbook with a 14-hour battery life: the Eee PC Seashell 1015. Also joining it is the aluminum Diary 1016P and thinnest Eee ever, the Prime 1018P.

That Seashell 1015 has the white plastic shell that ASUS’ Eee line-up has become famous for, though the 14-hour battery life is a definite improvement over the 3 hours the original Eee had. The battery is removable too—another bonus.

The 1016P is for “mobile professionals,” and has a brushed aluminum casing with “long-lasting battery”—though ASUS doesn’t specify just how long.

My pick of the bunch is the 1018P, which is the thinnest Eee PC ASUS has ever produced, at 18mm thick. It has USB 3.0 ports, a fingerprint reader, and 10.1-inch LED-backlit screen. The tiled keyboard is almost full-sized, and it comes in four different colors. Pricing, availability, and other worthy tidbits of information haven’t been proffered just yet. [TechInStyle]

You’ll have to travel to England’s Peak District to collect—and when I say collect, I mean “bunker down,” but the 50ft x 50ft bunker in a genuine souvenir from the Cold War, used by the Royal Observer Corps.

It’s got electricity, a chemical toilet, and “panoramic views” according to the seller—but you’re obviously not buying it for a viewing point across the dales. You’re buying it IN CASE OF NUCLEAR WAR.

The 1950s-era bunker is buried 15ft underground, and was used by the Corps to monitor the the threat of nuclear attacks. This particular bunker now lies in private land, but was fully operational until 1991, with three staff working in shifts within the two rooms. eBay seller Chantburgess says “the bunker can continue to be used as limited living accommodation for short periods or adventure holidays.” Did he say “continue”? Does that mean there’s a slight possibility the sale of the bunker may provide some comrades in friendly wargames? [eBay via Daily Mail]

Along with the fairly staid C5 phone, Nokia today announced a new structure for its phone series—as we heard a few weeks back. Now, all Nokia phones will come in four different classes—the classic C-series, entertainment and media-themed X-series, business E-series and flagship “high end” N-series. [Nokia Conversations]

Remember December 31st, 1999? The lines of people at supermarkets, stockpiling tins of baked beans and bottled water, convinced the millennium bug would strike at midnight? Turns out the PS3 Error 8001050F was a millennium bug 10-years in the making.

The PlayStation blog has been updated with Patrick Seybold, the senior director of corporate communications writing:

“We are aware that the internal clock functionality in the PS3 units other than the slim model, recognized the year 2010 as a leap year. Having the internal clock date change from February 29 to March 1 (both GMT), we have verified that the symptoms are now resolved and that users are able to use their PS3 normally.”

According to Wikipedia, other electronics such as debit card machines in shops, and phones have been affected by the “Y2K+10” or “Y2.01k” millennium bug, due to problems encoding binary numbers. Apparently even Windows Mobile has had problems this year! Apart from the obvious, of course. [PlayStation blog via Kotaku]

After what feels like years of concept renders and photos of the hairy David de Rothschild accompanying gushing magazine pieces about his plastic bottle boat, the Plastiki will set sail this month across the Pacific Ocean.

If you’ll remember, the boat was constructed using 12,000 plastic 2-liter bottles, which have been pressurized using dry ice powder, making it buoyant enough to carry four people on the 11,000 miles from San Francisco to Sydney. It’ll take 100 days they think, with the electricity coming from solar panels, wind turbines and exercise bikes that the four crewmembers will be using.

It’s the ultimate eco-warrior ship, with even a small garden growing herbs and veggies included on the 60-foot boat. At least if they sink, they’ve got an awful lot of bottles to put messages in. [Plastiki via TG Daily]

He may have plastic boobs saggier than Dame Judi Dench, but as Wired points out, this RoboThespian “shows more acting range than some Hollywood stars.” The British robot has been programmed to show off a variety of acting abilities.

His creators, Engineered Arts, have made him completely self-supporting, with his torso capable of bending and turning, his arms able to move about, and even basic facial gestures performed. He is powered by compressed air, with the control system sitting in his torso along with the air valves that help him move.

The best bit however is that he can be fully-programmed to perform a script on cue, translating text to speech in English, Spanish, Germany, French and even Mandarin Chinese.

Seen in the videos below is the third version of RoboThespian, the most advanced so far—but also the coolest robot you’ve never heard of. [RoboThespian via Wired]

It’s subconsciously getting drummed into us from all sides, but just in case you haven’t heard it yet: the Nokia N900 is the most hackable phone around. It may not be the best phone, but it sure is open source.

A blogger at DoItDifferent created a widget for the N900 using Shutter—which uses LIRC to control the Nikon remotely—and Flashlight, which turns the N900’s flash into a torch. Then, using the IR transmitter in the phone, it paired up with the Nikon D40’s IR receiver for the remote shutter release. When the widget was clicked on the N900, the LED flash strobed and the D40 was triggered, taking a photo instantly.

The video below shows the hack at work, but for a more detailed explanation head on over to the blog. [DoItDifferent via NokNok]

Using an N900 as a remote flash with a D40 from Iain W on Vimeo.

The half ereader/half netbook from enTourage eDGe was one of the best gadgets CES threw up in my opinion. While the sale date has been pushed back by a month to March, some more details have been drip-fed to us.

In an interview with e-reader-info, enTourage’s President and CEO Asghar Mostafa detailed when the two different displays could be used together:

* Drag the stylus across grayscale images on the E-Ink screen to view them in color on the LCD screen
* Attach Web pages, notes and video on the WiFi-enabled LCD screen to passages in an e-book
* Export PDF notes or revised documents (such as contracts that are marked up on the E-Ink side) so that they can be emailed to colleagues
* Open hyperlinks or view video embedded in an e-textbook on the netbook side

Tackling the omnipresent iPad issue, Mostafa fingered the larger e-ink screen that “offers a comfortable reading experience,” and because of the LCD screen it makes it “simple to mark-up documents and books with the stylus to save notes or export to colleagues.”

At $490 though, it’ll be going head on with the iPad, so enTourage has got a tough ride convincing people to go for a chunky, clunky, plastic device rather than a sleek iPad. During my hands-on at CES I felt it was the build quality which was the only downside to it, but there’s enough features and capabilities tucked within that it should do well. I want it to do welI, anyway—I fell in love with it last month and have the slightly zany device’s best interests at heart. [e-reader-info]

It may be small, but it’s HD-compatible when connected to a monitor or TV, and has all the trimmings you’d expect from a larger machine.

An Intel Atom D510 1.6GHz processor and NM10 Express chipset are combined with an Nvidia GT218 graphics card, and connections-wise there’s five USB ports, VGA out, a LAN port, memory card reader and of course the HDMI-output. Inside, there’s a 2.5-inch HDD—though at what capacity it hasn’t been said yet—and an optical drive. Shuttle will put it up for grabs sometime in the next couple of months, though for how much it’s your guess. [Shuttle via SlashGear]

Mario Kart is one of the most popular games on the DS, but imagine using a virtual steering wheel to control your car. A patent has turned up showing just that, taking the DSi’s touchscreen control to the next level.

In typical patent jargon, the document says:

In one exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementation, a video game or other application displays an image of a steering wheel. Such display may be on the same screen as one that displays other information such as a race course or other environment through which the vehicle may be maneuvered in a simulated fashion, or it may be on a different screen. The steering wheel display is, in one exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementation, displayed on a screen that is touch sensitive. The touch-sensitive functionality of the screen is used in at least some exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementations to allow the video game player to control the position of the steering wheel displayed on the screen. The displayed vehicle steering wheel position, in turn, is used to control the travel motion or direction of the vehicle being simulated. The resulting simulation provides a realistic input control interface obtainable using relatively inexpensive and compact input devices such as those available on conventional portable or other video game play and/or simulation platforms.

It’d do what the Wii did to racing games with the steering wheel peripheral. It’s instantly more accessible to non-gamers, which is what Nintendo’s all about these days. Sigh. [GoRumors]

Sprint’s 1.4 webOS update for the Palm Pre and Pixi has turned up a day late and a dollar richer, with both handsets now capable of recording video. The Pre also has Flash 10 capability, via an Adobe plug-in.

The full list is below, and while it’s just available for Sprinters at the mo, Verizon Wireless Palm customers should expect it sometime soon too. Interestingly, Sprint’s blog post on the update got yanked almost immediately after being published, with forumgoers speculating it’ll be republished later in the day once the update actually goes live. [Sprint via BGR]

Fixes:

* Time Zone bug fixed
* Network time sync bug fixed to reflect accurate Network time
* Bluetooth car-kit transition to device corrected
* No EV icon bug fixed (random)
* Random browser formatting bugs fixed
* Fixed bug that incorrectly displayed Sprint when actually was Digital Roaming
* Missing Contact issue specifically with swap down to 1.2.9.1 or less

Feature Updates:

* Phonebook Transfer (import & export)
* Adds Video Capture capability & edit
* Calendar Enhancements
* Messaging Enhancements
* Improved Performance (Phone & CAL)
* Email Enhancements
* Notification Enhancements
* Adds Adobe Flash 10.0 (Pre Only)
* NOTE: The 1.4 software adds the ability to use the Flash 10.0 Adobe plug-in which will be available shortly from the Palm Appl Catalogue.

Three of ASUS’ CeBIT-bound Eee PCs have been revealed early, and they couldn’t be further from the plastic Fisher Price-look of their original models if they tried. A brushed metal finish, wide touchpad and comfortable-looking keyboard all seem present.

Blogeee doesn’t have many details on them, and only pictures of the 1015P and 1018P models, but so far we can spot tiled keyboards, and what looks like 10-inch displays. The 1018P is only 18mm thick apparently, and will have a fingerprint reader and 10-hour battery life along with USB 3.0 ports.

The 1016P, which Blogeee doesn’t have images of, has a supposed battery life of 14 hours. Say what? I think we’re looking at the most pricey Eee PCs yet. [Blogeee]

It won’t turn you into Tony Stark—or Robert Downey Jr—but it will power the electromagnet in your heart, protecting you from all that shrapnel. Just eight bucks, but check Matt’s video on it. [Entertainment Earth via Fashionably Geek]

If you visit the US embassy in London now, it’s a pit of concrete, barbed wire, bollards and soldiers with machine guns. You feel like a criminal just walking past it. This carbon neutral redesign is radical in comparison.

It’s been described as encompassing the United States’ “core beliefs of our democracy – transparency, openness and equality.” It’ll cost at least $1 billion to construct, and should be opening its doors in 2017. The current building was constructed in the 1950s, but didn’t open until 1960—and certainly can’t boast anything like a moat, that’s seen in the plans for the new building.

Surrounded by an “Embassy Park,” with moat, the glass cube building will also look like a certain Apple building in Manhattan, don’t you think? It’ll be covered in solar panels, and lined with energy absorbing material. Because you know London is the sunniest place on earth, obviously. [KieranTimberlake via Construction Europe via The Reg]

Both the Incredible and Supersonic have had their leaky moments, and due to the similarities it’s difficult to tell which model is shown here. I’m leaning towards the Incredible, which is meant to be the Verizon version of the Desire.

The video’s in pretty poor quality, but you can see it’s got the same ridged back as previous photos have shown—and while the back is red, I wouldn’t read too much into that, as HTC always does colored parts for prototypes, favoring pretty basic colors for the launch. It’s definitely a US-only device, shown running Verizon Wireless—but also lacks the chin that European Android phones from HTC always have.

When I had a briefing with HTC about the Legend and Desire, they told me every Android phone destined for the European market will have a chin, with US launches lacking one.

Check out the video for a shakycam look at the Incredible (or Supersonic), and let me know what you think. There seems to be a deeper bezel on the bottom half, like the Incredible—is that where the optical trackpad is? It’s a bit hard to make out. [Phandroid]

Samsung’s first 3DTV has been reviewed ahead of release by the UK’s largest tech site, TechRadar, who has has nothing but glowing words to say about it, claiming “we don’t reckon you’ll be sorry you bought this Samsung.”

They watched Monsters Vs. Aliens on the 40C7000 TV, with a BD-C6900 Blu-ray player from Samsung. The active LCD shuttered glasses were of the SSG2100AB model, which cost £100 each ($152). While they do point out that they used two different 3DTV sets to complete the review as “neither were 100 per cent finished), between the two models they “experience all the major features.”

For anyone considering a 3DTV, it sounds as though TechRadar had a pretty good experience with it. They found some “unpredictable results” with the frame-delay technique, and the connections proved rather fiddly, but it stands up as a great TV that just so happens to be 3D—at a premium.

I’d be wary buying a 3DTV in the first wave however, as prices will come down and technology will improve—and besides, my personal opinion is that 3DTV just isn’t worth getting het up about anyway. [TechRadar]

Lomography already makes an instant back for its more popular Diana F+ camera, so it was about time they did the same for their classic LC-A+ model too. It brings Polaroid-like instant photos to the highly-saturated, soft-focus photography format.

The instant back will set you back a rather steep $100, and if you think you can write that off against the saving you’ll make on rolls of 35mm film, think again. You’ll need to load it with Fujifilm Instax film which you can pick up on Amazon (which in my experience, is heaps cheaper for Lomo products and film than the actual Lomography store) for $20 for two packs—each pack can produce 10 photos. So you’re looking at around a dollar a photo, plus the cost of the instant back. Better use that film wisely. [Lomography via CrunchGear]

It’s not the first peripheral that turns an iPhone into a universal remote control, but this Power A case means you don’t have to slip it off when you’ve stopped using it at home—it’s got two functions.

The app is free to download for both the iPhone and iPod Touch, and provides the interface for controlling any IR-equipped device in your house. The case meanwhile, has the IR transmitter and looks like a discreet offering from Griffin—not too big and bulky, in other words. It’ll go for $60 when it goes on sale soon, and as with all iPhone apps, there’s the very real possibility of OTA updates to add more functions. [Power A via SlashGear via Geeky-Gadgets]

Hey magpie-eyes, instead of saving up for a 3D TV why don’t you cash in your prized teaspoon collection and spunk $16,000 down on a square meter of Philips’ Mirrorwall, which uses dozens of OLED panels to reflect motion.

Some may say it’s just a fancy mirror, and while they’re kinda right, does your mirror have hundreds of OLED screens and a camera glued to it to detect motion and reflect it right back at you? No?

Philips is offering up the custom installation at €10k – 12k per square meter (around $13.5k – $16k) or will rent out the full Mirrrorwall for €10,000 a week, but you’ve got to fork out extra for the delivery, installation and insurance of the glorified vanity screen.

Check out the video below for the Mirrorwall in action, and if you still want it (and don’t own a club, bar, or reputable excuse for owning one), then please seek help. [OLED-Info via TechRadar]