Devices Site

Posted Feb 29th 2008 1:24PM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment As if seeing the Commodore logo slapped on a whole slew of thoroughly unremarkable devices wasn’t enough to make folks of a certain age feel a little wistful for their early computing days, legendary game developer Microprose is now getting in on the action as well, and seemingly outdoing Commodore to boot. As the Classic Gaming website reports, Microprose, once known as the name behind Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and other classic games, is now set to release a bundle of new products that likely wouldn’t garner a second glance if not for the brand. Those include the MPI-500 digitial TV receiver and MPI-100 HDMI switch pictured above, as well as a series of REDLINE cabling products aimed at gamers, a battery pack/stand for the PSP, and the Microprose Arcade Professional PC joystick (pictured after the break), which at least brings a little old school flavor with it (including a trackball). No word on a price for any of ‘em just, but at least the joystick will apparently be available in May.

[Via Classic Gaming, thanks Curt]

If the concept design for the paper weighing scale designed by Duck Image Studio sees the light of day, then I will no longer have to worry if someone else is looking down at the embarassingly high figures on my scale while I am standing on it.

Ask how? Because the paper weighing scale is different from other weighing scales – it is inconspicuous, almost like paper, and can be placed anywhere in the house as it is ultra-thin and flexible. The figures are depicted via large numerals flashed on an e-paper display – easy enough to let you steal a sly glance as you are walking down the hallway, for example. And you can leave the paper scale out on the floor through the day since it is waterproof and easy to clean. The flexibility aspect ensures that you can even roll it away for storage if you are not comfortable being reminded of your weight so many times in a day. Methinks this is a great design for something as simple as a scale.

Via Yanko Design.

I think that I was born to be a writer, looking back it’s obvious really. First, I’ve always had horrible handwriting, which means I could have become either a doctor or a writer, and since I had no desire for an extra 10 years in school, there wasn’t much of a chance for being a doctor. When my school finally received new computers they began testing our typing skills, which I excelled at. We had boring typing games to track out WPM count, nothing cool like this cool USB Speedometer.

I honestly don’t know how many words per minute I can type anymore, as it’s been a long time since I really cared. I type fast enough to keep up with my thoughts most of the time (which either means I’m a fast typer or a slow thinker) and I’m cool with that. However, I’m almost positive that I’d never be able to hit the top speed on this gadget. The highest WPM it registers is 260, which is 48 higher than the world record. If you want to impress yourself with your extreme tying skills, this gadget will set you back $39.

Source: Technabob

I don’t know much about fashion (that sound you just heard was my wife choking back a huge laugh), but even I can tell that the new ipod/iPhone case from design duo Working Class Heroes is the kind of understated form-plus-function goodie that would dignify many an urban ensemble.

Their case/sleeve is made from wool felt and leather and includes a credit card sleeve and earbud retainer. They’re $50 or so.

Finding a new soft spot for your iphone [Refinery29]

Nothing helps mythologize a steamy tension between Apple and Sony quite like the Vaio Premium SZ, a sub $3k notebook that looks like the 13.3-inch MacBook’s evil twin.

Where the MacBook is smooth, minimalist and Zen-like, the Vaio, which has 4 GB of RAM, a cellular modem, DVD burner and a 250 GB hard drive, is sharp and splendid. Where the MacBook balances consumption and performance, the Vaio’s muscular engine, powered by a 2.5-GHz T9300 Core 2 Duo and an Nvidia 8400M video chip, all but roars as it murders the battery. Where the Apple logo gently glows, the Vaio’s similarly placed marque glistens in chrome.

And where the MacBook is a pure, robed priest of a notebook, the Vista-sporting Vaio SZ is a dashing mustachioed villain, clad in tight-fitting leather, an unhinged glint in his eye. The conceptual relationship could not be further illustrated without writing slash fiction.

Like any good villain, however, the SZ is wracked by flaws. The battery life really is abysmal: Working full-tilt, you’ll be lucky to get much more than an hour out of it. Even with the GPU turned off, it didn’t reach 3 hours. A cascade of craplets and other pre-installed junkware annoys from the very first boot: Who the hell pays three grand for a laptop with an integrated cellular modem, only to use AOL? Fumigating it required a long session in the Add/Remove dialog. The keyboard is neither as attractive as the Vaio TZ’s, or as usable as traditional extruded keys.

If you want an uncompromising 13.3-inch notebook and have buckets of money to spend on one, the SZ is a fine choice. But when you’re 90 minutes into a transcontinental plane flight and the battery sputters out in the middle of The Wire, don’t come whining to us that your lovable rogue suffers from premature capitulation.  —Rob Beschizza

WIRED Gorgeous, sleek and sharp. Overwhelmingly powerful for a 13.3-inch model. You could own it for years and love every minute of them.

TIRED Jaw-dropping expense for a mainstream notebook. Battery life just not cricket. Fancy case attracts fingerprints. Why pay for all that performance? Power users can get more for less elsewhere, and Vaio SZ-lovers can buy a more modest model for half the price.

$2,700 as tested, SonyStyle

The Bike Cuffs that you see here are no ordinary cuffs or lock that helps being a theft deterrent - they’re harder to crack than a complicated Sudoku puzzle.

The heavy-duty cuffs attach around the fork and disc rotor so would-be thieves can’t make off with your bike unless they’re armed with some kind of Fort Knox-busting wonder weapon. This nifty arrangement means you won’t have to faff around taking off your wheel for full lockdown. You don’t even need to use the keys to secure your bike, just click the cuffs using the integrated buttons. Of course no locking system is completely impenetrable but Bike Cuffs are highly-rated by crime prevention bods. Police-approved security assessors, Sold Secure, have awarded Bike Cuffs their highly coveted Silver Rating (Gold’s for humungous locks only), a judgment that should reduce your insurance costs.

Perfect for those who use the bicycle as their primary means of transport. The Bike Cuffs will go a long way in providing you with peace of mind for £79.95. I just hope frustrated thieves won’t end up slashing your bike tires though.

Do you happen to own a HTC-based product? Well, there is now a 3-in-1 ExtUSB Headphone Adapter that enables you to use a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone with your HTC devices instead of HTC’s proprietary headphones which frankly, aren’t up to par when it comes to audio performance. Not only that, you will be able to hook up a microphone to it as well while the additional USB port offers an extra avenue for charging your HTC device. It retails for an affordable $15 a pop.

Microsoft has decided to cut the price of its Ultimate and Premium editions of Windows Vista so that they will be able to move more copies. This comes after Vista Service Pack 1 failed to see folks rush to computer stores for an upgrade, sticking to the good old Windows XP at this point in time. Microsoft hopes that such a price cut will be able to stimulate sluggish sales figures. The following will be the revised price.

• Windows Vista Ultimate - $319 (from $399)
• Windows Vista Upgrade - $219 (from $259)
• Windows Vista Premium Upgrade - $129 (from $159)

Will these price cuts make you rethink your decision?

It might look like a retro cross between the original iBook and an OLPC, but this solar powered notebook concept from Nikola Knezevic is all about the future. The future of the planet. The made-up specs include satellite phone, satellite link, GPS and “World Wide Web access”.

The point, though, is the solar panel, something which would ideally provide wall-wart independence to every notebook. Why, then, do we not see more sun-powered laptops? Because to generate enough power, they have to look like this:

Pictured is the Solar Power System, a $400 nerd-pack from Radiolabs . Give me a power-brick any day.

Product page [Nikola Design via Digg]

iRiver will be releasing the E100 portable media player in Europe next week, bringing the following to the table :-

• 2.4″ 262k color display at 320 x 240 resolution
• microSD memory card slot
• FM radio with recording
• Video playback
• Line-in connectivity
• A pair of 1W speakers
• Support for MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF and FLAC audio formats
• Support for MPEG-4, WMV9 and XviD video formats

The iRiver E100 will be available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities which retail for 79€ , 99€ and 129€, respectively.