Author: Kat Hannaford

As someone who has an original AT-AT taking pride of place in her lounge, Lifegood Design’s AT-AT lamp has just been offered adoption by yours truly. [Lifegood via Design-Milk via Katiesol]

Dan was lamenting the fact that Fujifilm’s XP10 made him feel even more of a couch-potato than usual, but I’ve got to say, after owning one of Olympus’ µTOUGHs before, there’s a lot you can do with a waterproof cam.

If you’re even remotely clumsy, then it’s a practical investment. If you occasionally go boating, swimming or like partaking in shower-based photography, then the double waterproofing build of Olympus’ µTOUGH-8010 and µTOUGH-6020 will come in use. Really, you don’t have to be a rock-climbing steroid-pusher to appreciate a hardy camera model.

Both the 8010 and 6020 have 14-megapixel sensors and 5x optical zooms, with the only real difference being how far you want to test that hardiness—the 8010 can be dropped from 6.6-foot, resist temperatures up to -10°Ccrushed and crushed under 220 pounds of pressure and still survive. The 6020 is a little more weak-skinned, surviving under only a 5-foot fall.

Both models have 2.7-inch LCD screens and shoot in 720p resolution, with the 8010 containing 2GB of internal storage. On sale in February, for $399.99 and $299.99 each.

Great news—according to Nokia Taiwan’s general manager Michael Hsu, they’re going to be launching Symbian^3 in the third quarter of 2010, and the Android-looking Symbian^4 in early 2011. Maemo 6, meanwhile, will be seen on Nokia phones in the second half of 2010. [Digitimes]

If you’ve got your heart set on a new bridge camera from Olympus, here are the decisions you need to make—would you prefer a 15x or 30x optical zoom, and 12 or 14-megapixels?

If you think you can be quite comfortable with 15x optical zoom and a 12-megapixel sensor, then the SP-600UZ is the mystery camera hiding in the big black box. The screen is a 2.7-inch LCD screen job, and it’s capable of shooting in 720p resolution.

As you will have guessed, the more spec’d SP-800UZ is the 30x optical zoomed, 14-megapixel’d model, and has the same 2.7-inch LCD screen as the lesser-named model from before. Both cameras have a new ‘background defocusing’ feature for defocusing the background, which is a trick stolen from D-SLRs.

US pricing has been announced, with the 600UZ coming in at $249.99 and the 800UZ for $349.99, with both swinging their ways onto store shelves in March.

Sony Ericsson‘s image has been given a lift with the Aspen smartphone—which they’re billing as the “latest addition to Sony Ericsson’s Greenheart portfolio.” But that’s now what’s piqued our interests—this baby’s packin’ Windows Mobile 6.5.3.

It’s the first handset to run on the latest version of WinMo, and it’s surprisingly a huge step up over anything we’ve seen in Microsoft’s OS previously. It’s more intuitive to use, and supports capacitive screens with multitouch.

Moving onto the hardware however, this QWERTY dude has a 2.4-inch QVGA TFT touchscreen display, A-GPS, 3.2-megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. What makes the Aspen eco-friendly? The power-saving mode, eco mate application, GreenHeart panel and the charger and box are made from recycled materials.

Coming on iconic black and white silver, the Aspen will be sliding down the slopes in the second quarter of 2010.

The phone-botherers over at Recombu have cottoned onto the fact that there’s not a single perfect phone built for gaming on. Not even the iPhone, regardless of what the advertising tells us. So they’ve created a Nokia concept, the Orion.

Like N-Gage 3.0—but actually looking halfway decent—the Orion concept would be aimed at hardcore gamers who feel like smashing their heads against a brick wall every time they play Klondike on a BlackBerry or Bejeweled on Windows Mobile. It’s a heartfelt plea from those who remember the Nokia N-Gage glory days, and who realize there’s a major gap in the market waiting to be snapped up.

Check out the video concept below. [Recombu]

The iPhone Dev Team has put the latest redsn0w jailbreaking tool up for your downloading pleasure, for use with iPhones and iPod Touches running OS versions 3.0 and 3.1.2. [Redsn0w via SlashGear]

Fair enough, most Logitech products fall into the “so boring I fell asleep at first glance” category, but this PC/Mac-controlling iPhone app sounds simple to use—and is free.

You’ll have to download the app to your iPhone or iPod Touch, as well as the Touch Mouse Server software on your computer. The app uses Wi-Fi to turn the device into a wireless trackpad and keyboard, for those times when you’re lying in bed and wanting to pause a film or search for something. The app will display the text on the screen so you don’t have to strain your eyes at the computer screen, and supports two finger scrolling, landscape/portrait virtual trackpads and keyboards and the choice of either two or three mouse buttons.

It’s not revolutionary, with similar apps already available, but Logitech’s made quite a name for itself in the easy-to-use, safe product market, so it’s definitely worth trying out if the thought of getting out of bed really doesn’t interest you on this particular Monday. [Logitech]

Both 15 and 19-inchers have been shown off by LG, but they want to add another inch before mass-producing their OLED range this year. Next year they’ll raise the bar again with 30-inch panels, and in 2012, a 40-inch OLED.

Hitting the nail on the head, LG’s VP Won Kim said:

“They may be expensive, but it will be possible to buy a 40-inch class OLED TV in 2012.”

When Sony’s XEL-1 went on sale, all 11-inches cost $2,500. Working by the same measurement, LG’s 40-incher should be oh, close to $10,000. A veritable bargain. [Tech-On via OLED-Display]

Any chance the UN has a spare helicopter on a day Stephen Fry is free? Someone needs to fly him into this Nokia/Apple WARZONE and provide both sides with a box of tissues, cup of tea and a comforting hug.

Still, I can definitely see why Nokia’s got their panties in a twist after Steve Jobs smugly boasted they were the world’s “largest mobile devices company” on Wednesday, following their patent infringement lawsuit which has both companies countersuing each other.

Mark Squires, the head of social media for Nokia, wrote on the company blog that:

“sometimes there are articles floating around on the sphere that get my blood pressure rising to what my doctor is prone to call an ‘unreasonable level for a man of your years/weight/physical condition’. Reading coverage of one of our competitor’s much hyped web pad event this week, I was surprised to see that, by revenue, they were claiming in their leader’s keynote to be “the largest mobile devices company in the world.”

Promising a true “apples-to-apples comparison”, Squires snarked:

“The difference between the two companies is even larger if you use the more common measure: the number of devices sold. By that comparison, Nokia has been the largest mobile devices company in the world for a dozen consecutive years.”

Before I get too schoolmarm-ish on the two companies, I do hope Apple at least responds to that. [Nokia Conversations via Mobile-Ent]

This isn’t just the Atari joystick equivalent of the transparent Gameboy, which had no added features except for special see-throughness. This joystick is actually hackable, and can connect up to eight other controllers through the labeled solder points.

Retro Thing‘s joystick lights up blue when plugged into a USB port, and is compatible with Atari, Amiga and Commodore emulators. Bundled with the joystick is a CD with over 80 suitably-retro games, and the Stella Atari 2600 emulator. It’s only $29.95 too—or $44.95 with a retro t-shirt thrown in for good measure. [Reflex Audio via Retro Thing via Make]

If only Apple had recreated its app wall from WWDC last year, but with iPads! The 300 iPads used in this concept wall from Austraian architects would cost $149,700 if it was real. Apple could’ve afforded it, I’m sure.

ClarkeHopkinsClarke, the Aussie architects who mocked up the above concept wall, believe it’d be the perfect installation for a library, with hundreds of different ebooks displayed. But that’s not the end of this story—due to the size and weight of the iPad, we could be seeing a lot of innovative uses for them, as interactive wallpaper in clubs, teaching aides in schools, and so on. There’s the small hurdle of cost, of course. [ClarkeHopkinsClarke via TUAW]

Addy and I are both weeping dusty red-colored tears in honor of the Spirit Rover‘s new permanent surroundings after reading this xkcd chronicle of his poor little life. [xkcd]

Toshiba’s TG01 could’ve been such a great phone. On paper, the specs were great—it was the first phone to use a Snapdragon 1GHz processor, and the 4.1-inch screen was perfect for media playback. Yet it disappointed.

So it’s with great trepidation that I write about an FCC document showing up, detailing a few rough ‘n ready specs for the TG02. As you’d expect from a phone, the quad-band GSM mode will have GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, though there seems to be one small omission: no 3G for the US? Things could change, but with the year’s biggest phone scrum Mobile World Congress just ’round the corner, expect to see more leaks or even an actual product launch soon. [FCC via Engadget]

Nintendo’s often-outspoken President, Satoru Iwata, speaking about the iPad. [Yahoo News]

At least Vertu can point at its concierge service as one of the reasons its phones are so damn pricey. Mobiado can’t even claim its phones are stylish.

Still, the Classic 712ZAF candybar handset is made from aluminum, stainless steel, sapphire crystal and a ceramic coating, so at least it can withstand being dropped when you’re pummeled for being such an expensive jerk.

Don’t expect much more than a 2.2-inch QVGA screen, A-GPS, 5.0-megapixel camera with LED flash and noise cancellation via the two microphones. It comes in six different colors—namely, black, black satin, silver, grey, blue and red, with the price not yet known. [Mobiado release pdf]

T-Mobile is replacing the antiquated trackballs on BlackBerry’s Pearl 8100 and 8120, and the Curve 8320 smartphones for free from the 15th of February, to any customers who are having problems with them. It’s one of the reasons RIM moved from trackballs to optical trackpads, so if you aren’t having problems yet, mark my words: you will. [TMO News via Electronista]

Let’s pause for a moment and consider how many gadgets we insert into the couple USB ports on our computers each week. Around five? The mind boggles as to just what Thanko was thinking when they created the 80-port board.

The worst thing is, you can’t even transfer data through the 80 ports—they merely charge whatever you stick in. This could potentially work in an office, with everyone sticking their phones in, but if you’ve just pulled out a tape measure and are trying to see if there’s enough room in your lounge for one, don’t even bother. Let me spell it out for you: T-H-I-S I-S O-N-E G-A-D-G-E-T Y-O-U D-O-N’T N-E-E-D.

But you know, if I really can’t convince you to step away from the “add to cart” button, it’s $208.68 at Geek Stuff 4 U. [Thanko via Geek Stuff 4 U via CrunchGear]

When asking each member of Giz what they planned on spending their hard-earned pocket money on this year, Jason Chen chose this shower. I’m sure after eyeing up this “cocoon shower stall” he’ll change his mind.

Like an egg pod from space, the cocoon is not only a shower, but also a bathtub and hydro massager. Well, it would be, if it wasn’t for the small fact that Arina Komarova‘s creation is just a concept. Rats. Still, at least I now know what to take to Bathroom & Tiles Co. when I want a new bathroom designed! [Yanko Design]