Tech Gadgets Reviews

The Beijing Olympic Games are rapidly approaching. One day in the near future the Olympic Torch will be lit, and some of the finest athletes in the world will compete for their countries. Sadly, there’s no Olympic category for “speed computer assembly” or “fastest software coding”. Us geeks are typically left in the dark when it comes to athletic prowess, other than that one year we were on the track team in high school.

But never underestimate the mind of a geek. Just because we don’t have the proper coordination or balance for athletic competition doesn’t mean our involvement in the Olympics is ruled out. I mean, for one, you’ve got to imagine the judges are major nerds. If you need more proof about geek involvement, just check out this amazing Lego structure called Sports City, a total recreation of some of the venues which we’ll see in Beijing.

HKLUG erected this awesome Lego sculpture which is both impressively realistic and pretty massive in size. The replica of the National Stadium itself took over 100 hours to complete, measuring about 40″ x 48″. Also included in the sculpture is the National Aquatics Center (”Swimming Cube”), and Olympic Village.

If you’re lucky enough to be in Hong Kong within the next month or so, you can check out the Lego Sports City yourself at Grand Century Place between now and August 31, 2008. Check out the HKLUG website for much more information about this massive Lego project.

Source via The Brothers Brick

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by Darren Murph, posted Jul 26th 2008 at 1:23PM

Hold onto your dollar bills, y’all — the WhiteKnightTwo is set to be unveiled (and swooned over) on Monday. We knew the fabled space tourism vehicle was set to be unwrapped this month, but knowing that said event is merely hours away just gets our juices flowin’. Richard Branson and “other dignitaries” are preparing to officially launch the ship at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California (a short drive from Zzyzx, we hear), and we’re still being led to believe that test flights should begin as early as this fall. Hey, at least you know what you’re doing next year if your ship comes in.

[Via The Register]

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Filed under: Transportation

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 26th 2008 at 9:41AM

Just because you haven’t been remotely interested in seen a mirror TV in, oh, years, doesn’t mean that companies aren’t still interested in exploiting the niche. Take Pantel, for instance, who is totally stoked about debuting a trio of ‘em at CEDIA 2008. Set to launch in 20-, 32- and 42-inch flavors, the Mirror TV line is aimed at folks looking to add a multipurpose display in their bathroom, shower or sauna. The 20- and 32-inch editions arrive with a 720p panel, while the 42-incher checks in with a full 1080p resolution. Price wise, you’re looking at $1,200 for the little guy, $2,755 for the 32-inch sibling and $5,800 for the mack daddy.

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

I don’t know why, but I love hose nozzles, maybe not so much for the device itself, but b/c I get to play with water! Probably goes back to being a kid. After all, what kid do you know doesn’t like splashing around or squirting someone else, and it just gets better with a high-powered nozzle!

This nozzle has 5 spray settings, and a 2-way shut-off. It’s heavy-duty, and is guaranteed for life. It’s made with stainless steel, fiberglass, brass threads and has a comfort-grip of santoprene rubber.

Summer is here, and you need one of these to replace that leaking, clunky garden hose nozzle you have now.

Gimme!

Price: $29.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Posted in Miscellaneous

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 26th 2008 at 12:15PM

At this point, we’ve seen the Tube from everyone but Nokia — heck, even Morgan Freeman got a chance to show it off — and it looks like that trend isn’t going to abate any time soon. Another round of in-the-wild shots of the supposed XpressMusic 5800 have popped up (yes, the latest prototype seems to have dropped the “XpressMedia” badge), showing off a pretty uninspiring keyboard that we can only hope has no bearing on the final product. Guess that’s why they haven’t announced this sucker yet, eh? We hope?

[Via The Nokia Blog]

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Filed under: cellphones, Handhelds

If you’re an avid jogger or cyclist who still wants to enjoy listening to your favorite tunes while working out a sweat on the pavement, perhaps it would be more prudent to invest in a pair of AirDrives? These allow you to groove to your tracks without missing out on ambient sounds that could mean the difference between life and death as a vehicle bears down on your six. The AirDrives rest just outside the ear, allowing you to stay alert to traffic, announcements and people around you. Audio from your mp3 player are transmitted using bone conduction technology. You can choose from adult, kids, and iphone versions which retail for £49.99, £39.99 and £59.99, respectively.

Source: Shiny Shiny

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by Darren Murph, posted Jul 26th 2008 at 7:12AM

So yeah, quite a few NVIDIA GPUs have been acting up. Nothing new there. However, Dell’s attempting to help its laptop owners out by making a few notable BIOS updates readily available for download. Apparently the issue “is a weak die / packaging material set, which may fail with GPU temperature fluctuations.” In order to combat the problem, Dell’s BIOS flashes “modify the fan profile to help regulate GPU temperature fluctuations,” though the Round Rock powerhouse only promises that the updates will “help reduce the likelihood of GPU issues.” Hit the read link and give it a go — it can’t hurt… we hope.

[Via Electronista]

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Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

It seems like Fujitsu is prepping a new mini laptop/tablet pc called the Lifebook U2010. Don’t be confused by the model name though as it certainly is different from the Lifebook T2010 which was previously announced by Fujitsu.

For one the U2010 sports a 5.6-inch 1024×768 display while the T2010 has a full 12.1-inch LED display. The U2010 also features a 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz Intel Atom processor, a 80GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, a 3G radio, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

We don’t know about you, but those features are certainly top-notch for a tablet PC as small as the LifeBook U2010, hence it is expected to hit the streets with a retail of around $1300. Unfortunately, no official word about the Fujitsu Lifebook U2010’s release date and other whereabouts are available yet. As we wait for perhaps an official announcement coming from Fujitsu, continue reading to see another picture of the Lifebook U2010.

Via [Engadget] Via [Tihn Te]

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Back in the 80’s Journey gave us a bit more than fantastic music; they gave us the classic Journey arcade machine. Now’s a chance to get your hands on their really cool MP3 player that adorns the group’s iconic airbrush winged scarab and flamejob art. ZVUE’s Journey mp3 player comes with pre-loaded with 22 songs from their recent Revelation album, including 11 new tunes, and 11 classics re-recorded by Pineda. Specs include 1GB of storage and plenty of nostalgia.
[ Source ]

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “what the heck is this? Fish Tank Fridays used to be cool.” Well, this is a USB hub. With fish in it. Again. I can’t help it, people just keep on makin’ these things! And I can only assume that people (other people) keep on buying them. This one has a magnetic paper clip holder on top and four USB ports in the bottom, with 2 fake fish, some LEDs, and…

And…

Sigh. You know what? You’re right. This is NOT a cool Fish Tank Friday. I’m in the mood for something bizarre and random, not a lame fake fish USB hub that holds paper clips. Soooo, how about this:
[ Source ]