Yesterday PENTAX announced their new Optio RS1000 14MP, 4X optical zoom P&S digital camera that also happens to have a removable transparent acrylic panel on the front allowing you to customize it with swappable skins. But even more exciting is the RS1000′s fraternal twin, the NB1000, which features a studded building-block friendly faceplate instead. Now before you get too excited, the NB1000 is only designed to be used with a Japanese building toy called Nanoblocks(hence the ‘NB’) which looks to be incompatible with LEGO given the stud sizing and spacing. But it is the first camera that can technically be customized in 3D, so there’s finally a reason to get excited over that buzzword!
Now I have no idea why anyone would want a building block lion or bicycle hanging off the front of their camera, but the Optio NB1000 will be available in Japan in the two base sets pictured above for ~$240 (¥20,000) later this year.
Well here’s a clever way to encourage people to conserve water while they’re washing their hands. As you use the Poor Little Fish Sink, designed by Yan Lu, the water in the fishbowl slowly drains away. So if you use too much the goldfish will meet an untimely demise. According to Yan the “Poor Little Fish basin offers an emotional way to persuade consumers to think about saving water, by making consumption tangible” though I’m sure there are still a lot of people who would value clean hands over the life of a small fish.
Of course thanks to some clever and hidden plumbing in the base of the sink, the water that comes out of the faucet doesn’t actually come from the fish tank, nor will it ever drain out completely. And when shut off the water in the bowl does slowly refill so the fish is never in any real danger, though I suspect it might suffer some emotional distress every time its home drains away.
At the moment there are two things that have kept me from switching to an alarm clock with a built-in iPhone dock. While I’d love to wake up to my own music in the morning, they’re usually pretty monstrous and would dominate my small bedside table, and at least once a week my current alarm clock gets knocked to the floor as a result of my half-conscious attempts to silence it. So while it doesn’t solve the issue of my iPhone taking a nasty tumble, I really like the small form-factor of XtremeMac’s new 3 in 1 Microdock. (I’m halfway there!)
At just 4.7 oz it looks to be just slightly larger than the iPhone itself, but it includes a built-in speaker with “surprisingly big sound” and of course can be used to sync or charge your phone while docked. I think it’s the ideal alternative to other alarm clock docks that seem to be gaining weight every year, it comes with a travel pouch so it was probably designed with portability in mind. And while you don’t necessarily need the 3 in 1 Microdock to use it, there’s a basic but free XtremeMac Alarm Clock app you can download if you’d like your on-screen aesthetics to match the hardware. $59.99 available now.
ThinkGeek has a set of vinyl wall decals that are a perfect alternative to framed photos of your loved ones for the gamer who cares more about the years they spent playing classic Atari titles, than the friends and family they grew up with. Available in three different sets allowing you to recreate scaled up versions of Asteroids, Centipede and Pong, the decals are re-stickable (except for Pong for some reason) allowing you to create a different ‘screenshot’ of games of yesteryear every day. The Asteroids and Centipede sets are $44.99 each, while the simple dots and dashes that make up Pong are a bit cheaper at $34.99.
For a while now I have chosen to delve back into the world of PC gaming. We recently received a new product at the office and it sparked me back into the gaming world on the platform with which I once lived. The package that arrived was indeed the Mionix Naos 5000 gaming mouse. The box came looking professional and little did I know that it would change my gaming experience in magnitude for the better.
Out of the box the Mionix Naos 5000 already looks amazing. Its sleek, black design makes it perfectly aesthetic to my style. It’s ergonomically designed, with grooves in the left and right for your fingers and thumb, so it feels comfortable while in use. The scroll wheel has grooves crafted on it that make for easy scrolling, zooming, and moving around the screen. The entire mouse is covered in a comfortable rubber coating that ensures maximum grip.
These days it seems as though there are a lot of really cool ways to interact with our technological devices. Touch screens, accelerometers and motion-tracking sensors are among the most exciting currently. However, many are wondering how long it’s going to take for us to control them with our mind. Well thanks to PLX Devices, we can now control our iPhones and iPads with a mere thought.
The new XWave is a small headset-looking device that is paired with your iOS-enabled device. When combined with the free XWave App, you can control objects with your mind, and even train your brain to control its attention and meditation levels. While this may not seem terribly exciting, the company is offering an SDK program where developers can create their own software to be paired with the device. I’m excited to see what can really be done with this sort of technology. It is available now for $100.
If you’re a tech-savvy consumer, it’s not hard to find ways to get your favorite music into your car without relying on FM radio stations. MP3 players are generally the most popular, but you’ve also got satellite radio, HD radio and other options as well. However, if you’re terrified of technology and have no desire to install new hardware into your vehicle, your selections are limited. That’s where the Carmen by Livio comes in.
The Carmen is designed to be a very simple way to get the music you want into your car, without all of the hassle. The idea is simple, you plug in the device to your computer, select a music genre and start capturing music from one of over 42,000 stations streaming online. Once you’ve captured your fill of audio, you take the device to your car and plug it in. Tune your radio to the proper frequency, and your music plays. The question is whether or not it lives up to those expectations.
If you’re in the market for a 52 inch LCD, then you’re in luck as today’s deal will allow you to save $850 on a Sony Bravia KDL-52EX700.
The new BRAVIA KDL52EX700 features Motionflow 120Hz, Amient Sensor, light sensor, USB. It also features BRAVIA Internet: streams movies, tv shows, videos & music using apps from Netflix, Amazon Video, YouTube, Slacker and more.
Over this past weekend I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Metroid: Other M to try out for the Nintendo Wii. Now I have loved the Metroid series since I first picked up Super Metroid years ago. There’s just something about Samus that makes me feel invigorated whenever I pick up the controller and this game is no exception. Needless to say that when I saw the copy I received I wigged out in joy. But enough of my blubbering, let’s get on to the review!
In Metroid: Other M we find Samus intercepting a distress signal, Codenamed: Baby’s Cry, from a dormant “Bottle Ship”. The game takes place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion, which is perfect for me. Other M opens up with a cinematic displaying the violent final battle between Samus and Mother Brain at the end of Super Metroid. After escaping Planet Zebes, Samus finds herself waking up on a Galactic Federation ship on what looks like an operation table, surrounded by scientists. After she leaves the ship is when she receives the distress signal that leads her to the setting of the new title.
Related Tags: Digital Cameras, Toys
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