TRON's Cross-Promotional Branding Madness Continues (Xbox Controller Edition)

Only 250 of these things were made to coincide with the release of TRON: Legacy, and will sell direct from PDP's website in "late December" for $50.

 

 

Unlock the Door to Your Computer's Heart

USB drives have become cheap to the point of disposability. I think there are four lying underneath my bed like dust bunnies. So a drive has to be particularly eye-catching to make anyone care—like these 3D printed "keys.

It's not the smallest, or the highest-capacity, or the fastest. But it's easy on the eyes, and you could put photos of your crush on it and wear it around your neck! Actually, that would be sort of creepy.

 

 

31 Port USB Hub, Why Not?

This unique mod combines nine USB hubs for an ultra, uber USB hub ready for global domination.

Space Invader Soap Has Me Pew-Pewing In the Shower

Pom... Peem... Pom... Peem... Pom... Peem. Blawp. Blawp. Pom. Peem. Pom. Peem. Blawp. Blawp. Pom. Peem. Peeeweweweweweweweweweweweweweweww. Blawpblawpblawp. CGGHHHKKHKHKKH. Pompeem. Pompeem. Pompeem. Pompeem. Blawp. Blawp. Pompeempompeempompeempompeem. Blawp. Blawp. CGGHHHKKHKHKKH. Shower over.

 

 

Stolen iPhone Provokes Aussie Police to Fire Up the Helicopter to Track it by GPS

The iPhone was stolen from a hospital in Heidelberg, Melbourne, a 16 year old kid who pedalled away furiously on his BMX. It was another successful result for Apple's "Find My iPhone" service though, which allowed the police to track the kid using GPS from a helicopter.

 

 

Some Things Are Much Older Than You Think

Apparently, humanity has been WTF'ing since 1620. Rest in peace, Walter Tobias Franfettfuckster. You won't be forgotten.

Want To See What Your iPad Videos Look Like Projected at 100 Inches?

The SHOWWX+ laser projector is 50% brighter than its predecessor, throwing video at 15 lumens with a 5,000:1 contrast ratio for 2 hours with a built-in battery. It's designed specifically for iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches, so it has a dock connector and can project all your Netflix goodies without any DRM hang-ups.

Because it's a laser projector, the SHOWWX+ has "infinite focus," as MicroVision calls it, allowing the image to be projected crisply on curved surfaces, or when the device isn't perfectly perpendicular to the surface it's projecting on. Its native resolution is 848 x 480, not quite HD, and it includes composite cables in the box for non iOS devices. But pair this thing with some AirPlay speakers and your iPad theater just got a lot more compelling. Available now for $450.

 

 

Panasonic's G2 Camera Now Compatible With 3D Lens

Thanks to the 1.11 update for Panasonic's $600 DMC-G2, the camera is now compatible with Panny's $250 3D lens. Now you can get started filming the Avatar sequel too.

 

 

Unfortunately, You Can't Eat These Radioactive Jars of LED Jam

Considering I've just polished off half a jar of jam, you could say I'm a fan of all things preserved. But inedible LED jams? JellyLamps' bright hues make me sad I can't slather a knife-full on a bit of crust.

When turned upside down, the LED light inside each jar of JellyLamps jam switches on, and glows neon. When flipped over, rightside-up, it looks just like a normal jar of jam—albeit, one that's made from fruit plucked from the bushes of Chernobyl.

Unfortunately they're very pricey for what they are. Each jar runs off two AAA batteries (which casts 50hrs of light, apparently), and costs $45

 

 

These Headphones Are the Closest You Will Ever Get to the World of Tron

Disney has teamed up with Monster to create these official Tron: Legacy T1 headphones, which have lights that glow and move and generally please the eyes.

These noise-isolating cans are designed for gaming, and as such, come with a detachable boom mic so that you can make yourself heard while raiding or rushing in whatever Blizzard game.

Available in White/Silver or Black, the lines and general styling of the headphones certainly aren't lacking in flair, but I would have preferred something a bit more minimal to go with all those nice blue lights.

 

 

Watch With Real Dinosaur Bone Fragments

Some watch manufacturers think adding a sapphire crystal face, compass or having a diving depth of 1,000m is enough. Me? I won't consider strapping something to my wrist unless prehistoric animals have been set in the dial.

Louis Moinet's Jurassic Tourbillon watch has fragments of fossilized dino bones set in the dial, and is encased in 18K white gold with 56 diamonds equating to 3.46 carats. A watch sparkling with diamonds—however ugly it may be—would attract a pretty penny alone, but the addition of dinosaur bones? Well, the one thing I'm certain of is that you won't be able to barter a cave drawing for one of them.

 

 

LG Optimus 2X: The First Dual-Core Smartphone

LG pulled the covers off their Android-powered Optimus 2X smartphone, revealing the first handset to pack a Tegra 2 chipset—featuring a 1 GHz dual-core processor—under its hood.

The added processing power apparently allows the Optimus 2X to playback 1080p video with no lag on its 4-inch, 800x480 screen, and can supply visuals to larger displays thanks to HDMI mirroring. And you can even use the HDMI connection to play Android games on a larger screen, still using the phone as a controller. Toss in 8 gigabytes of internal storage, along with front and rear cams (8 megapixels and 1.3 megapixels, respectively), and you have yourself a seemingly solid handset.

The Optimus 2X, slated for a 2011 release in Asia and Europe, will ship with Android 2.2 (Froyo), but of course, a 2.3 (Gingerbread) update will follow. There's been no announcement about a U.S. release yet. Specs below:

Key specifications:
1Ghz Dual-core Processor (NVIDIA Tegra 2)
4-inch WVGA screen
8GB memory (up to 32GB via microSD)
1,500 mAh battery
8 megapixel rear camera and 1.3 megapixel front camera
HDMI mirroring
1080p MPEG-4/H.264 playback and recording

Over 300,000 Android Phones Are Being Activated Each Day

This is a jump-up from the 200,000 sold each day which Eric Schmidt confirmed in August.Andy Rubin, Android's creator, took to Twitter to make his proud boast—only the second time he's ever tweeted. @Arubin  @morrildl

Follow Me. Call Me. I Love You. Be Stupid.

What do you have to say in ten characters or less? You'd better think of something clever, because Diesel Watches wants you to have a brand-new LED panel watch, into which you can program anything you like. Ideas include: BrushTeeth, Pay Bills.

Diesel's new watches feature a scrolling LED message display, a silicone strap, and come in black, blue, white, purple, grey, and glow-in-the-dark.

 

 

Listen Exclusively to the Mos Eisley Cantina Band On Coloud's R2-D2 Headphones

Need some R2-D2 cans to match your bathing-suit and Droid phone? These headphones could be clamped 'round your head for 50 notes. Boba Fett, Stormtrooper, and Darth Vader and models are also available, but you can't go wrong with Artwo.

You can probably guess that Coloud's headphones are going to put style over substance, especially at that price-point. Nonetheless, for people who don't feel the need to spend hundreds, a bit of off audio quality or tinny bass won't be too much of a problem. Surprisingly, they even have an inline-mic on the headphone cable, for receiving phone calls.

Available now, the headphones are 39.90 Euros, which converts roughly to $53.

Not Just Another Face In the Facebook

With most Facebook updates there is, inevitably, backlash against the changes that greet users when they sign in for the first time. Not so with artistAlexandre Oudin. He saw an opportunity.

For anyone who wants to copy his style, all you have to do is block the other photos you're tagged in and upload photos to your profile pictures album that are the exact size (yes, down to the pixel) of the display on Facebook and voilà !

 

 

Zuckerberg Will Donate the Majority of His Wealth

Joining up with Bill Gates, George Lucas, Warren Buffett, and 50 other billionaires, Zuckerberg has agreed to donate the majority of his wealth to charity, as part of the Giving Pledge movement Gates launched back in August.

It's the largest philanthropic work ever done, with over 50 billionaires pledging to give away most of their fortunes to various charities. They're not legally bound to do so, but if they renege then I imagine all hell would break loose. Just imagine having Gates' beady glare on you, wherever you go. *shudder*

15 other billionaires signed up recently, alongside Zuckerberg. AOL's co-founder Steve Case, and investor Carl Icahn are just some of the names you might recognize. The charities on the receiving end of the Giving Pledge's handout haven't been named yet, but considering Gates fascination with green issues, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw some funky eco-friendly initiatives start looking or greener.

 

 

Military-Designed "Bat Hook" Lets You Charge Your Phone from Overhead Power Lines

It's ridiculous all the half-baked solutions we depend on to resuscitate a dead phone. Especially when there's a potent supply of free power just waiting to be tapped, right above our heads. No, not the sun—overhead power lines.

The Bat Hook is as simple as any plug-in charger, but it's great for on-the-go. It's just a weighted hook with a razor blade in it, strung on the end of a cord: you toss it over the nearest power line. Its blade pierces the live wire, neatly and safely conducting electric current down to you, for convenient charging of gadgets, jumpstarting cars, or powering your roadside business. It even works in the rain!

The explanatory video from the Department of Defense says something about how it's only for trained Special Operations soldiers, and "you should never throw something over power lines," but that is clearly just marketing hype, calculated to give the Bat Hook an air of exclusivity.

 

 

In the Future, Even Our Cookware Will Be Modular

Ever have those moments where excess spatula handles run wild in your kitchen? Yeah, me neither. Still, you shouldn't deny yourself a snap-together cookware system, if only for the purpose of saying you have a snap-together cookware system.

Even Earbuds Can Be Beautiful

The a-JAYS series is designed specifically for iOS devices—check out how the L-shaped plug aligns perfectly with the starkly top flat of an iPhone 4. The cables themselves are completely flat—which means fewer tangles in addition to an appearance unlike your typical headphones. Form following function! And aside from sound, the only thing I could ask of my headphones is that they don't collapse into a tangled piled of hell after a few days of use.

If they're anything like their standard earbuds, they'll probably sound pretty good too—but so do a lot of hideous audio products.