IBM Outs Integrated Circuit Smaller Than a Grain of Salt

Graphene's the thinnest electrical material, comprising just a single atomic layer. In addition to its electrical, thermal, mechanical, and optical properties, researchers dig it because it has the potential to be less expensive, more energy-efficient, and more compact than your garden-variety silicon.

So imagine IBM's delight when a team of company researchers built the first circuit that fits all the components, including inductors and a graphene transistor, on a single wafer -- a setup that consumes less space than a grain of salt. The advantage, scientists say, is better performance than what you'd get from a circuit combining a graphene transistor with external components. 

Ricoh Waterproof, Dirt-resistant PX Camera For Outdoorsy Photographers

This small warrior packs a 16-megapixel CCD sensor along with a 5x optical wide zoom lens and is capable of booting up in just 1.4 seconds. The device also supports subject-tracking and face-priority auto-focus features, in addition to a host of shooting modes, including toy camera, soft-focus and high-contrast black and white, among others. Most alluring, however, is its resilience. According to Ricoh, the PX can survive drops from an altitude of up to five feet, remains waterproof at depths of about ten feet, and is impermeable to dust, sand and dirt. There's also a 2.7-inch, scratch-resistant LCD on its backside, meaning you won't have to worry about casually tossing it in your backpack as you make your way along the trail. 

 

 

More flamboyant hikers, meanwhile, can add their own personal touch to the PX by wrapping it in a protective silicon sleeve, available in five, vibrant colors. If you're interested, you can grab a PX of your own when it hits stores later this month, for$317. 

Samsung Spinpoint M8 Puts 1TB Drives On a Diet, Just In Time For Bathing Suit Season

The trouble with high capacity hard drives is that they're about the size and weight of a brick, and just as bad for throwing in glass houses or ultrathin laptops. Samsung is slimming up the beastliest of disks though, with the just announced Spinpoint M8. Inside this 1TB drive are a pair of 500GB storage platters, instead of the three 334MB ones found in most storage solutions of this size. By using AFT, Advanced format technology, Sammy was able to up the storage density and trim its latest Spinpoint to a svelte 9.5mm thick (your average 1TB drive is 12.5mm). 

As an added bonus, the increased density also boosts performance and power efficiency since the drives heads need to move less. If you want to slap one in your notebook you can pick one up for $129.

 

 

Will It Blend? - Justin Bieber

Not Just Any Old Bottle Opener Case, It Also Tracks Which Drinks You Guzzle

Bottle opener cases have been kicking around the block for ages, but the iOpener case is a lot cleverer than it looks. It actually contains an accelerometer, which detects when it's being used, and then opens a drink-tracking app.

The app, BevConX, lets you input the drink you just opened with the bottle opener, with the time and location also recorded. You even have the option of updating your Twitter or Facebook friends with the fact you just opened a cold brewski. Of course, not all your drinks consumed will come in a bottle—nor be opened by your fair hands—but for any serious drinker, that blind eye being turned by the app is probably for your own good.

On sale now for $30, it's only available for the iPhone 3G or 3GS—apparently an iPhone 4 model is coming soon.

 

 

Retrieve Lost Balls With the Golf Ball Wrangler

Somewhere in our extended circle of friends and family we all have a golfer who loves to talk about the many balls he lost in water hazards and the crazy ways he's retrieved them.

He's probably tried a few visual ball finders, but they don't work underwater. Before he rents some scuba gear, you should tell him to checkout the Golf Ball Wrangler.

The Wrangler is low-tech, but it gets the job done. It's basically a series of plates mounted on a spindle. You toss the Wrangler in the water, pull it across the bottom of a pond, and the balls get trapped between the plates. It's simple and brilliant.

 

 

Woman Gets Massive Tattoo of All Her Facebook Friends’ Faces

The latest edition of absurd Facebook-related tattoos: This lady got a tattoo of her 192 Facebook friends' faces on her arm. Ugh. If this is going to become a trend, then Facebook needs to add a privacy setting that lets you not allow people to get your Facebook profile picture tattooed on a person's arm.

 

 

Japan Scores Official Bluetooth PS3 Keyboard For ¥5,000

If you've ever seen a Bluetooth keyboard there isn't much surprising here, though it does feature a PS button for powering the console on and off. Instead of a touchpad Sony went with a Thinkpad-style nub which will be loved by some, but loathed by others.

And don't worry, pairing this thin one-pounder with other devices should be quite simple. Folks in the Land of the Rising Sun can pick one up on June 30th for ¥5,000 (about $62), but there's no word on a stateside release.

The Wii U Controller, Revealed!

Woah! The rumors turned out to be true: a 6.2-inch screen will be built into the controller for Nintendo's next-generation Wii U console. It'll also feature a microphone, a gyroscope, dual analog controls, two shoulder buttons and two triggers, a front-facing camera, a stylus, and yes, it's a touchscreen, too! The Wii U's controller was "not designed to be a portable game machine," even if it shares some characteristics with handhelds. You will, however, be able to game and video chat even without a TV. The Wii U controller is backwards compatible with all current Wii accessories.

 

 

Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel Will Arrive in Early October for $60

Microsoft's Kinect motion controls may be infiltrating all sorts of games this, but the Xbox maker isn't neglecting those in need of a more tangible control scheme. A new Wireless Speed Wheel has just been revealed, with a reasonable $60 price tag and an early October launch date. 

As you see above, it's technically three-thirds of a wheel, but that does allow for extra green bands of lights to be applied and, slightly more importantly, a set of directional and action buttons to be added to the handles of this steering implement. There's a rumble pack inside for force feedback and a pair of trigger buttons on the underside for smashing the gas or dabbing the brakes.

 

 

Test Your Browser’s IPv6 Readiness With a Simple Web Page

In preparation forWorld IPv6 Day, Google's set up a simple test page to allow users to check whether or not their current browsers, systems, and networks are set up to handle the impending changeover. 

What’s Apple Hiding on This WWDC Mystery Banner?

OSX Lion is coming. iOS5 is coming. iCloud is coming. The banners for these products are already flapping in the air conditioned wind at Moscone Center. But what is behind this mystery banner, shrouded in black?

Full size would it be a new iPhone? A new Time Capsule?Some other, unforeseen One Last Thing?

HTC EVO 3D launches on June 24th for $200, joined by EVO View 4G tablet at $400

The HTC bonanza that Sprint has been cooking up for a while now has its official launch date: June 24th. That will be the day when the 4.3-inch EVO 3D and its tablet buddy, the 7-inch EVO View 4G, launch on the Now Network, both equipped with WiMAX radios and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) as their OS. The 1.2GHz dual-core EVO 3D costs $200 on contract, with pre-orders available right now provided you buy a $50 Sprint gift card, whereas the 1.5GHz single-core EVO View 4G will set you back double that, at $400, while still requiring a two-year contract. 

 

 

Official Steve Jobs Biography Gets a Cover and Price Thanks to Amazon

Amazon is now taking pre-orders for the Walter Isaacson-penned Steve Jobs biography, iSteve: The Book of Jobs, slated for release March 2012. Along with the listing is what might be the final cover and price for the tome.

It's a little generic, no? As though someone photoshopped it together for this express purpose. And note how the iBookstore only has a placeholder up.

 

 

LG LW5600 3D LCD HDTV

Right out of the box the LW5600 impressed with its design, it's a slim edge-lit LED model and while the bezel is wide, from the side it is incredibly slim measuring at just 1.2-inches thick. There aren't any annoying lit-up logos on the front, with the only light coming from the power / standby indicator that can be toggled to off in the settings. The power and volume controls mounted at the lower right are touch sensitive and although easy to use and responsive, they can be hard to find since they don't light up. The stand matches the rest of the frame with an unassuming design that keeps the 49-pound screen steady while also easily swiveling left or right so we could access the inputs on the back. HDMI (2) and USB (2) jacks are mounted on the side where they're easily accessible.

That slim frame means you'll need to use the included dongle to connect any component video inputs, Ethernet cables or headphones in the rear. 

 

 

Government: Tasers Are Totally Safe! (Unless You’re Drunk, Crazy, or Stressed Out)

Bad news for anyone who might be thinking about committing a crime anytime soon: the National Institute of Justice, a division of the Department of Justice, just put out a report saying tasering is A-OK. With a few important caveats.

The study found that "There is no conclusive medical evidence in the current body of research literature that indicates a high risk of serious injury or death to humans from the direct or indirect cardiovascular or metabolic effects of short-term CED exposure in healthy, normal, nonstressed, nonintoxicated persons." That's great! So incapacitating most people via shock is a great police tool.

But a quick thought: aren't a large number of criminals intoxicated, stressed, or mentally ill? This is the exact group that was found to be an exception to the it's all good study. Which is troubling. Drunk, disturbed, and strung-out people tend to be the ones who need to be tasered the most. And just because they're drunk, disturbed, or strung-out doesn't mean they should be at an increased chance of dying. 

  

 

Mad Catz' Exclusive Xbox 360 Wireless Headphones With Integrated Voice Chat, 5.8GHz Base Station

According to IGN, the new Mad Catz Warhead 7.1 will get everything it needs from a base station connected to your console. String USB and optical cables directly from the Xbox 360 to that tiny tower above, and you'll reportedly get enough 5.8GHz bandwidth to deliver virtual Dolby surround sound to four pairs of headphones at once -- plus wireless Xbox LIVE audio chat thanks to some native support from Microsoft. What's more, the USB base station will also give you an on-screen battery readout, and if the Warhead runs out of juice, you'll find a second swappable battery pack sitting in the base station's charger. 

If that sounds too rich for your blood, the Devastator will ditch the surround sound and rechargeable batteries while retaining the same connectivity and 50mm drivers of its premium brother. How much that'll cost you is still to be determined, though Mad Catz told IGN they'll all ring up under $300.

 

 

Froyo Is Still Leading the Android Race, But Gingerbread’s Gaining

Hey, look at that—Gingerbread is gaining in popularity after more phones are either shipping with it, or receiving the OTA update. From 3 per cent last monthto 8.1 per cent now, a Cupcake is weeping somewhere.

Fujitsu Fingerprint/Palm Reader Does Large-Scale Biometric Identification, Won't Tell Fortunes

So it can't predict the future, but the latest biometric reader from Fujitsu can tell that you're one in a million -- quite literally. Looking something to the love child of Simon and a Polaroid camera, this as-of-yet unnamed device is apparently the "world's first biometric authentication technology that combines data on palm vein patterns with fingerprint data from three fingers." 

That's a mouthful, but Fujitsu says the combination of these two biometric authentication techniques allows for accurate identification of an individual in a pool of one million in just two seconds. What's more, it expects to up that capacity to groups of ten million by the end of 2011. For professional evildoers rocking three fingers and a palm, maybe now's a good time to start rethinking your career path.

 

 

An External Battery for Your iPhone that Doesn’t Quite Look Stupid

If you want extra juice for your iPhone, there aren't that many options out there that don't look rather goofy. They're bulky, corded, or just plain ugly. But the PhoneSuit battery is a nice cange—only 17 mm thick.

The PhoneSuit Elite claims it'll double your iPhone 4's life with its 2100mah lithium-ion polymer, and charges to the top in less than two hours. Not too bad, if true! Still, any phone purist will scoff at the notion of adding any extra flesh to their cell.