By Andrew Liszewski

Urban Outfitters doesn’t offer as much as even a one-line description about this walkman-themed basic MP3 player. Apparently hipsters don’t need technical specifications, just retro-themed crap and small ironic badges. But my powers of deduction tell me it’s got no built-in memory, instead relying on SD cards for storage, charges and/or shows up as a mass storage compliant drive when connected to your PC via USB, and at just under $70 (£45.00) it’s ludicrously overpriced.

[ MP3 Walkman ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Spain’s BBVA bank decided it was about time that ATMs got a much needed facelift, so back in 2007 they started working with design firm IDEO to redesign their ATMs from the ground up. Gone are the often confusing combination of buttons and LCDs which are now replaced with a large touch-screen display. And instead of multiple slots for receipts, deposits and cash, the ATM’s now feature a single all-in-one slot.

I also like the simple fact that these new ATMs are installed at a 90 degree angle to the wall providing more privacy. Far more clever than my bank’s addition of rear-view mirrors on their instant tellers. The best feature though is the ATM’s slick new UI which includes animations for every transaction as well as a customized display for each user, keeping track of their most oft-used functions and making them easily accessible from the ‘home’ screen. It will be a while before all of the bank’s ATMs get replaced with the new units, but it’s certainly something to look forward to, and maybe even a reason to switch banks.

[ BBVA - The Future of Self-Service Banking ] VIA [ designboom ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’ve never had the privilege of operating a motor vehicle in a country where they drive on the opposite side of the road, but I can imagine it would take a little getting used to. But I’m pretty sure the oncoming traffic would serve as a constant reminder of just what lane I needed to be in. However, if you don’t think that’s enough, and find yourself driving while traveling a lot you might want to bring this little contraption along. The Lanesafe is designed to suction cup to your windshield and project a green arrow/red X constantly reminding you which side of the road to be on. It’s got a built-in solar panel keeping it juiced up during the day for use at night, but a 12-volt adapter is also included. ~$33 (£21.23) from Wallace Cameron.

[ Lanesafe ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Today Samsung announced the follow-up to their NX10 APS-C sensor mirrorless camera with the new 14.6MP NX100 that includes ISO settings up to 6400, a 3-inch AMOLED display, 720P ‘HD’ video recording and an interesting new i-Function lens control mechanism. When the extra i-Function button on the lens is pressed, the manual focus wheel does double duty allowing a user to adjust parameters such as shutter speed, aperture, EV, white balance and ISO. It’s actually not a bad idea given how cramped these smaller interchangeable lens cameras are, allowing users to adjust settings without having to look away from the viewfinder.

When available (those details are currently MIA) the NX100 will have a couple of lens options including a 20-50mm compact zoom, followed shortly by a 20mm wide pancake lens. By the first half of 2011 a 60mm macro and 18-200mm super zoom lens will also be hitting the market. And by the second half of 2011 users will also have the choice of 16mm, 85mm and 16-80mm lenses.

By Chris Scott Barr

How fast is your internet? Mine is (theoretically) 20Mbps down, which isn’t too bad around here. Sure, there are other parts of the world where such speeds are on the slow end of things, but here in the US there still people that have to run on dial-up. So lets say you’re wanting to move to a city where you can boast about having the fastest internet in the country. Where do you move? Chattanooga, Tennessee.

It seems that the mayor of Chattanooga, along with the city’s power company, decided to upgrade the network infrastructure to handle the faster speeds while they were already upgrading the power grid. Supposedly coming at a “minimal cost” to the city, they were able to wire 100,000 homes with full 1Gbps up and down speeds.

Don’t start packing your bags just yet though, the speed comes at a price. While the company isn’t sure just how much they should charge for the service, they are talking in the ballpark of $350 a month. So unless you have a really good reason for needing that much bandwidth (and actually have a way to utilize it), I’d just stick with one of the other available broadband solutions out there.

[ ChattanoogaGig ] VIA [ Dvice ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s not quite as novel a design as the YI Zipper earphone concept we brought you last year, but Sony’s own zipper cord innovation, which is available with their MDR-EX59Z earphones, could go a long way to reducing cord tangles. One side of the cable above where the earphones split features a hollow tube design which the other side can slip into when you slide the small plastic ‘zipper’. The headphones themselves feature a 9mm driver and a 5-23,000Hz frequency response and will be available in white, red, blue, pink and black. Unfortunately they appear to be exclusive to Sony Japan, but Audiocubes currently has them available for $49.99 each.

[ Audiocubes - Sony MDR-EX59Z Earphones ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Post-it notes are a great way to organize your thoughts and to-do lists, in theory at least. Once your desk and monitor gets over saturated with little yellow reminders, your clever organization scheme goes out the window. But with these Commandments Sticky Notes and some clever phrasing, you’ll be guilted into getting things done. Though shalt remember to include TPS forms! Thou shalt not forget thine meatball sub in the kitchenette fridge! etc. A 2-pack of sticky note pads that includes both ‘Thou Shalt’ and ‘Thou Shalt Not’ versions is available from Perpetual Kid for just $5.99.

[ Commandments Sticky Notes ]

By David Ponce

HP is already offering a pretty sweet deal on the HP Pavilion dv7t since they’re taking $150 off the original $1,049 price, while throwing in a free 6GB memory upgrade ($100 savings), free 640GB hard drive upgrade ($50 savings), $20 off 15-month Norton Internet Security subscription and $10 off Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student. Visit the LogicBuy site to get an additional $50 coupon to bring the shipped price to $849.

[ HP Pavilion dv7t for $849 ] VIA [ LogicBuy ]

By David Ponce

When you’re about to post an infographic that does all the writing for you, what’s the point in saying more than, well… “here’s a neat infographic on the Origins Of Programming”? Click through for the full graph.

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