Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

This morning Elecom released a whole slew of new card readers, and while most of them just seem to feature a new color or slightly more compact design, this particular model, the MR-C20, stands out thanks to its magnetic backing that lets you stick it to a filing cabinet or PC tower instead of having it cluttering up your desk. It’s also available in trendy colors like black, white, fluorescent green and hot pink, but like most readers these days it eschews support for compact flash in order to stay compact.

[ PR - Elecom's New Card Readers ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The company that introduced the world to the netbook with their EEE is now introducing a system at the other end of the performance spectrum.

The Asus ESC 1000 is essentially a desktop supercomputer with a speed of 1.1 teraflops thanks to a 3.3 GHz Intel LGA1366 Xeon W3580 server processor, 960 cores inside three Nvidia Tesla c1060 graphics processing cards coupled with a Quadro FX5800 GPU. The system also includes 24GB of DDR3 1333 MHz RAM, a 500GB SATA II hard drive and a high-capacity 1100 watt power supply. All for just over $14,500 according to PC Advisor.

[ Softpedia - ASUS Launches Its First Supercomputer, Packed with NVIDIA Graphics ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Remember that interesting BlackBerry watch that I told you about last week? Details were a bit sparse, but Allerta, the gadget’s creator, has finally released some of the more important details. The watch features a 1.3-inch full color OLED display, Bluetooth 2.0, glass lens, vibrating motor (for alerts) and a microUSB port for recharging. Firmware updates will actually be done over-the-air. Battery life is expected to be around four days.

As for which phones will work, it seems that any running BlackBerryOS 4.3 or higher will be able to install the necessary application. The device will ship in February 2010 and can be pre-ordered now for $149.

[ Allerta ] VIA [ GearLog ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Back in August we told you that Microsoft had signed an exclusive deal with Netflix, making the 360 the only console which could stream their movies. Well it would seem that either the exclusive deal was carefully worded, or was only for a very short period of time. Why? Because the company just announced that later this year the PS3 will get a similar treatment.

That’s right, PS3 owners will soon be able to stream the very same movies to their console, with the added benefit of not needing to pay for something like Xbox Live Gold. The downside is that in order to stream the movies, you will need a special Blu-ray disc. This will be provided free of charge to all Netflix subscribers who request it. A minor annoyance, likely in place due to the existing agreement with Microsoft. There’s no word on exactly when this is going to be rolled out, but you can reserve your Netflix Blu-ray disc now.

[ Netflix ] VI A[ Crave ]

By Andrew Liszewski

As long as your nightclub/hotspot of choice has plenty of black lighting installed you can now wear your glowsticks with the ‘Flash For Fun’ clothing from Diesel. Everything in the new line, which includes denim, tees, underwear and sneakers, is specially coated so that it will glow with unique patterns and illustrations when exposed to a black light. And the glowing designs are completely invisible in regular light, allowing you to wear them during the day without looking like a complete and utter tool. Men’s jeans seem to run around $150 (100 Euros) while tees are about $38 (25 Euros) but this time you’re paying for more than just a name.

[ Diesel Flash For Fun Line ] VIA [ Cool Hunting ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’ve yet to make the move from analog cassette tapes to digital audio files, the Tape Express from ION Audio will make the transition a bit easier for you. First of all, the device looks like an old-school Walkman, and if you’re still listening to cassettes on a daily basis, there’s a good chance you’re a master of that technology. Converting your tapes to MP3s is as easy as connecting the device to your PC via USB and hitting play. The included EZ Tape Converter software will take care of the rest.

And if you’re having a difficult time transitioning to this futuristic circa-1995 digital MP3 technology, the Tape Express also works like a regular tape player, allowing you to listen to your music the old-fashioned way. IWOOT appears to have it for just over $80, though they’re sold out at the moment.

[ ION Audio Tape Express ] VIA [ Retro To Go ]

Stanford University is already famous for its autonomous robotic vehicles, including Stanley (who won the DARPA Grand Challenge in 2005) and Junior (runner up in the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007). This weekend, Stanford held an event to showcase their partnership with Volkswagen on a new $2 million autonomous innovation laboratory. On display was Stanford’s latest autonomous vehicle, a robotic Audi TTS named Shelley. Shelley currently holds the unofficial world speed record for an autonomous car at over 130 mph, and will be racing up Pikes Peak all by herself next year:

Stanford also demonstrated an autonomous valet parking system, where an almost stock Volkswagen Passat entered a parking lot, located an empty space, and parked itself:

We’ve got a bunch more details over on BotJunkie:

[ Pikes Peak Audi TTS ]
[ Autonomous Valet Parking ]
[ Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Epoch’s new Sound-Touch Pudding is supposed to be along the same lines as those keychain bubble-wrap simulators, but instead of popping plastic bubbles it lets kids enjoy the feeling of pudding, without getting their hands dirty. Yeah. Apparently my parents were mistaken when they thought pudding was a dessert, and not a toy. As an added bonus when you touch the pudding it triggers a cute female voice, which is another area where my childhood puddings were lacking. Anyways, if you want one you’ll probably have to head over to Japan or have them imported once they’re available on November 21 for about $7.

[ Sound-Touch Pudding ] VIA [ Japan Trends ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Whether you can’t afford an iPhone (what are they? like $7 now with a 10-year contract?) and want to look like you can, or you need a prop for a photoshoot or something, iPhoneDummy.net will sell you a non-working iPhone 3G display model for just $19.95 with free worldwide shipping. The iPhone ‘dummies’ as they’re called feel and weigh exactly like the real thing, but don’t contain all the electronicy bits inside that are necessary for them to turn on, make calls, etc. And if you send them videos or photos of your iPhone dummy “smashing/crashing/trashing/microwaving” you’ll get 25% off your next order!

[ iPhoneDummy.net ] VIA [ The Gadgeteer ]