B&W XT Speakers:

B&W XT Speakers:

B&W must be really proud of itself, releasing these svelte-looking XT speakers that would look great pretty much anywhere. There's four models in the XT series and they each serve different purposes. The XT4 is a three-way speaker; the XT2 is a two-way speaker; the XTC is a two-way center channel speaker; and the PV1 is a subwoofer, which may or may not fit in your low-rider.

Each model comes with the high quality components that you might expect from Bowers & Wilkins. The XT4 has a Nautilus tweeter located on the top, which is supposed to provide "wider dispersion for a better image stability." The XT2 also has its tweeter up top, but is a little smaller than the XT4. Meanwhile, the XTC can be used vertically so as to function as front speakers and not just a center channel. Finally, the PV1—that's the one that looks like a bowling ball—performs as admirably as a subwoofer can be expected to. It produces 500 watts of "ICEpower amplfication" and can accept both speaker and line level inputs. The PV1 can be had in a number of different colors, including silver or gray, and the other three can be gotten in the silver you see here in the picture.

The XT4 costs about £1700 per pair; the XT2 costs £700 per pair; the XTC is £550 and is sold singly; the PV1 is £950, also sold singly.

Electronic Bluetooth Btush:

Electronic Bluetooth Btush:

You've certainly heard of the electric fork (haven't you?), and now close on its heels comes an equally valuable item, the Bluetooth toothbrush. This skillfully crafted one-of-a-kind item was received as a going-away present, and at first glance it looks real—it's packaged and presented just like an actual product.

Lawd have mercy, the thing actually turns on. Now if we could just get it to brush teeth remotely, we could save a few steps in our morning ablutions

Samsung™ s Robot Vacuum Cleaners:

Samsung™ s Robot Vacuum Cleaners

Not sure where you all stand on the hoovering the house scenario but if youre anything like me, then dust is your friend and the mere mention of vacuuming brings you out in a cold sweat. Which is why Samsung has overhauled its robots vacuum cleaners with the addition of two new models, designed to allow you - like the photo above clearly promises â€" more time to waste your life watching TV with your kids.

Surfboard USB Drives:

Surfboard USB Drives:

Surf's up, dude, even if you live in the Midwest. Wal-Mart, of all places, has these gnarly 1GB USB 2.0 flash drives in four radical styles for around $33. You gotta love the design on these things. Nice. Even I like them, even though, as you know, Charlie don't surf.

Sony PSP:

Sony PSP:

It figures that in the strange world of Sony, a downgrade to previous software would be an improvement. That's the case with the PlayStation Portable (PSP), where hackers have released a firmware downgrader that turns a 2.6 or 2.5 version of the PSP into the more hackable and homebrew-friendly version 1.5. Our beloved Kotaku nerd brothers warn you about fooling around with this firmware update (downdate?), though, because if you don't follow the instructions to the letter, your PSP might become an expensive, shiny, black doorstop

Mobile Phone 6x Telescope Attachment:

Mobile Phone 6x Telescope Attachment:

If you really need some up-close-and-personal shots using a cellphone camera, Brando of Hong Kong offers its 6x telephoto attachment that works with certain Nokia 6000- and 7000- series cellphones.

The lens is held in place by a replacement battery door, and then you focus the lens using the view screen of the cellphone. If you think your cellphone camera shots look crappy now, wait until you try holding this still. Good luck. It's $19

New thumb keyboard for iPAQs:

New thumb keyboard for iPAQs:

"This thumb keyboard is designed as an iPAQ Expansion Pack which includes a screen cover protector in addition to being remarkably small and lightweight. The slim keyboard fits seamlessly and securely to your iPAQ Pocket PC and will fit into your desktop cradle while attached. The ergonomic design and standard QWERTY layout enables you to conveniently type quickly and comfortably from anywhere. Productivity on the go!"

The new HP keyboard pictured above is now listed on the HP Web site as "Coming Soon" for $59.99, and is compable with 3800, 3900, and 5400 series iPAQs.

BenQ Blu-ray Burner:

BenQ Blu-ray Burner:

BenQ decided it didn't want to let those other weasels steal all the thunder, so it decided to finally release its own Blu-ray burner next month. We saw the model BW1000 back in April—a shiny, strange toaster-like device which will be able to burn BD-R discs at 2x, and will also handle most flavors of DVDs and CDs. A collaboration between Philips and BenQ, this writer will be able to store 50GB of data.

Now it will be a race to see who can pump the most volume into the Blu-ray burner market, with Sony, Pioneer, Philips, Panasonic and now BenQ all vying for market share. There have been numerous rollouts, announcements, introductions and launches, but it's mostly talk with a few units trickling out here and there so far. Ironically, BenQ may just beat one of the main inventors of Blu-ray, Sony, to the punch, if it delivers this unit in August. Even if the burners ship in volume, will anybody want one? If anybody's actually interested in buying one of these BenQ burners, they'll have to shell out $1022.

Blackberry to Get Wi-Fi, Other Added Features

Blackberry to Get Wi-Fi, Other Added Features:

Research in Motion Chairman and co-CEO James Balsillie said that RIM plans on adding some nice features to the Blackberry line of devices by the end of the year. Added features includes the always anticipated Wi-Fi, an audio player, video player, memory expansion, digital camera and even integrated GPS. Now even the classiest Crackberry-using businessmen can take pictures of drunken co-workers for blackmail purposes.

Magnetic Floating Bed:

Magnetic Floating Bed:

Every so often, we like to take a look at things whose functionality isn't measured in gigabytes or megabangs, but instead just look amazing. This magnetic floating bed, I submit, may be among the coolest things we've ever covered. Designed by Dutchman Janjaap Ruijssenaars, it's got enough magnets to keep 900 kilograms (1,984 pounds) floating in the air. To make sure that the bed doesn't float away should it become windy (or "interesting," wink wink), it's tethered to the walls by four cables.



Technically, the magnetic floating bed is for sale, but at a price of 1.2 million euros ($1.53 million), you're not likely to find it in your local mattress store.

Latest Display Technology SED:

Latest Display Technology SED:

LCD, LED, HDTV, plasma, they don t have anything compared to the latest and greatest display technology that should begin appearing next year. The next big thing is called Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display, or SED for short. Basically it combines the terrific contrast, responsiveness and sharpness of conventional CRT monitors with the power efficiency, size, and thickness of LCDs or Plasmas. Like any new display technology, it will probably cost an arm and a leg.

JVC Surround adapter:

JVC Surround adapter:

Japanese stuff is so cool. JVC Japan, for example, made this super cool adapter that hooks up to an optical audio port and translates high-quality optical signals into some sort of analog surround sound for headphones. It takes two AA batteries and is covered with unnecessary lights and lines.

This new adapter from JVC plugs right into the optical port of an audio device, adding a surround sound-like signal to any standard pair of headphones.

Japan Victor Corporation announced the "SU-DH1" headphone surround adapter, which will produce a pseudo 5.1ch surround signal through a connection with normal headphones. It will be released in mid-March. It is Open Price, and estimated to be around 10,000 yen.

This new product is an adapter that includes a Dolby Headphone function for producing a virtual 5.1ch surround signal to any standard pair of earphones. It supports Dolby Digital (Doly Surround EX), Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS (DTS-ES 6.1ch), MPEG-2 AAC, and PCM (Fs=44.1kHz, 48kHz). It also contains Doly Pro Logic II Auto/Movie/Music for extending any non-5.1ch stereo audio signal into a 5.1ch signal

It features an optical digital mini-jack for input, and a stereo mini jack for output. With two AA batteries, it will last for about 10 hours. It also supports power from an AC adapter, which is not included.

The size is 82 x 86 x 26mm, and the weight 99g.

The Match Lighter:

The Match Lighter:

Amaze kids and drunkards alike with this lighter that's shaped like a match. What is it about stuff that's shaped like other stuff that's so cool?

Whether it's a vibrator shaped like a rubber duck, a cellphone strap shaped like a space invader, or a boat shaped like a spider, we love when something looks like something else. – Jason Chen
Product Description Big match lighter. Ideal for lighting gas cookers or barbeque's safely. It is about 40cm in length so will keep your hand well away from the flames. Could also be used for lighting huge Cuban cigars.

Length: About 40 cm in length
Refillable with butane (lighter gas)
Price: £6.99
Brand: c/o The Flying Duck co.

The Media Center PC:

The Media Center PC:

After hearing Bill Gates makes his keynote address at CES yesterday evening, we're pretty convinced that The Register was dead wrong when they asserted that Microsoft had decided to kill Windows XP Media Center Edition. Practically all of the new products seemed to have something to do with the Media Center PC, and it's pretty clear that Microsoft seems to believe that its future lies with home entertainment (or at least a big part of its future does).

Transparent Screen iMac Mockup:

Transparent Screen iMac Mockup:

Take a gander at this speculative iMac mockup, commissioned by MacFormat magazine. Obviously the missing tech for this idea is a screen that fades in from totally transparent to a usable opacity, something that is theoretically possible to do with today's screensâ€"if you didn't backlight them.

Dell XCS Snap On PC Concept:

Dell XCS Snap On PC Concept:

This concept for a future Dell XCS PC is called evolutionary by its designers, but it looks pretty revolutionary to us. The developers have somehow determined that consumers are afraid to get their hands dirty under the hood of a conventional PC, and would be more likely to tinker with their hot rods if they consisted of snap-together modular parts.

So they've designed a PC with an easy-as-pie numbering system, where all those megahertz and gigahertz and other complicated numerologies are replaced by simple single-digit numbers. Plus, they've made it impossible to insert one of these modules into the wrong place.

But wait. If you take away the degree of difficulty, doesn't that diminish the degree of satisfaction once the job is done? Nevertheless, this is one badass-looking PC. Maybe someday we'll see one in the real world.

This concept for a future Dell XPS PC is called evolutionary by its designers, but it looks pretty revolutionary to us. The developers have somehow determined that consumers are afraid to get their hands dirty under the hood of a conventional PC, and would be more likely to tinker with their hot rods if they consisted of snap-together modular parts.

ATM Card Comes With Its Own Keypad:

ATM Card Comes With Its Own Keypad:

For people whose paranoia leads them to believe that there are boogeymen actually living inside ATMs, this invention from Innovative Card Technologies and eMue Technologies lets them input their PIN—and presumably encrypt it—before they approach the machine. Cool as it is, I have a problem: I only remember my PINs from muscle memory, so this would need a standard telephone numberpad to work for me. How many problems can you spot with this admittedly slim piece of high technology?

Asus Eee PC :

Asus Eee PC :

Asus' tiny Internet PC just got a little sweeter. The 7-inch handheld is rumored to be coming out this August for a mere $199. That's less than half the price of the Palm Foleo. There's even rumblings that future versions might have a 3G radio embedded. So between the Foleo and the NanoBook, the Eee PC still has the upper hand in my book. – Louis Ramirez

Asus EEE PC Specification:

Display: 7″

Intel CPU & Chipset

Operating System: Linux, Windows XP compatible

Ethernet Communication, WLAN

Memory: 512 MB (DDR2)

S.S.D. Storage (Solid-State Disk): 8G, 4G, 2G

With Camera

Audio: Hi-Definition audio, Stereo speaker, Microphone

Battery: 4 Cells: 5200 mAh, 3.5hrs*

Weight: 0.92 kg

Full Body Gaming:(The Dream Machine)

Full Body Gaming:(The Dream Machine).

The Dream Machine is a not just another gaming chair that has speakers in the headrest, it's the "world's first multi-modal-physio-interactive game controller". Yeah, that's right. Bet you didn't see that one coming.


In other words, the Dream Machine is a giant PS2/PS3/XBOX360/PC joystick with a chair hanging on for dear life. Vibrating handles hold at least 10 buttons, and you can steer by twisting your hips. I got some hands-on butt-on time with the machine playing an ATV title, and I really enjoyed leaning to control the bike and pressing the peddles for extra control, but was a little taken back that you never actually move the handles.

Audi Roadjet's Rear-Console Espresso Machine:

Audi Roadjet's Rear-Console Espresso Machine:

Our commute to work most days is the five inches we reach to get the laptop off of the bedside table and into bed, so we read stories about Extreme Commuting with great horror and begin to think things like the working WMF espresso machine Audi placed in the rear-seat console of its Roadjet concept car might be good ideas. The Roadjet is reportedly going into production for the European market (the US is expected to get the more SUV-like Q5), so it'll be interesting to see if the espresso machine makes it into the final model as an added feature or if the in-car coffee machine will remain just a dream for now.

Zink Pocket Printer :

Zink Pocket Printer:

Zink is using a new kind of printing technology utilizing crystalized-ink embedded in paper. The result is a heat-activated printing solution that will create quick, great looking photos. Zink’s first product is a small pocket printer that is about the size of a deck of cards and is priced to sell for less than $100.

The printer will easily connect to a mobile phone or a computer to print out fun little prints that you and your friends can throw up on the fridge. Little details are available on a release date, but this could really bring Polaroid (Zink’s parent company) back into the limelight.