Western Digital is really getting in bed with Thunderbolt. It already has a 2TB 10,000RPM monster, and now it's got an 8TB external drive with Thunderbolt.
The MyBook 8TB is the largest consumer level Thunderbolt drive, and it works with RAID 0 and RAID 1. It comes with a Thunderbolt cable, too, which is nice. On the downside, it doesn't have a USB 3.0 alternative, so if you have to work with an alternative machine that doesn't have a Thunderbolt port, well, you're screwed. It's $850, and available now at WD'sonline store.
Multi-tools pack everything you need into a small, convenient device. Sometimes they can go a little overboard. But this thing takes it to a whole new level.
The 9-in-1 Emergency Light stores a knife, scissors, Phillips-head screwdriver, bottle opener, carabiner, and a hammer all into the base of a flashlight/latern that also has a blinking red flasher mode.
Some multi-tools have much larger arsenals, sure. But this one's particular mix looks questionable—how impossibly difficult would it be to use a knife with a gigantic handle like that? There can't be a single way that allows you to make accurate and precise cuts. More here.
Rovio teased a certain film-inspired Angry Birds picture last week, and as expected, it's another new game -- Angry Birds Star Wars. Our furious feathered friends are assuming the likenesses of characters from the epic saga, with the trusty Red Bird taking on Luke Skywalker's role.
It wouldn't be the Rebel Alliance without a dark side to fight, which is where the Pigs fit into the storyline; even the music and levels for gravity-based play will hark back to the film franchise. In addition to the software, details of related merchandise have also been uncovered, including table games, toys and costumes. The game is out on November 8th for iOS, Android and computers, and if it follows the original storyline, we wonder how Red Bird's going to feel about his porcine family history. More here.
Everybody wants a better Captcha. Trying to type in those distorted words can be a serious pain, and it's becoming less and less of an impedance to ever-more-intelligent spam bots. The Civil Rights Captcha takes a different approach; you've got to have a little empathy.
Instead of your run-of-the-mill alphanumeric gibberish, or random selection of words, the Civil Rights Captcha presents you with a short blurb about a Civil Rights violation and asks you how you feel about it. Ostensibly robots (and trolls) won't make it through because they'll remark that a human rights activist's murder makes them feel "aroused" instead of "upset." And bots will still have to make it past standard Captcha hurdles before they can even pick one of the choices.
Code for the Civil Rights Captcha is freely available, so anyone who wants to can pick it up. It definitely makes better use of Captcha space than most traditional systems do, and it's an interesting take on a system; isn't empathy more exclusively human than text recognition? And so what if the robots learn to fake that. It could make the robopocalypse so much more comfortable for all of us. More here.
Apple has issued a support document about the “purple lens flare” issue on the iPhone 5, but don’t expect any type of recall or fix ad it is considered a common occurrence.
Following up on an email, Apple has now released a support document about the purple lens flare issue. As the document states, Apple feels this is an issue that happens in most small cameras, and has even been present in previous generations of the iPhone. The fix is fairly simply according to the statement:
Most small cameras, including those in every generation of iPhone, may exhibit some form of flare at the edge of the frame when capturing an image with out-of-scene light sources. This can happen when a light source is positioned at an angle (usually just outside the field of view) so that it causes a reflection off the surfaces inside the camera module and onto the camera sensor. Moving the camera slightly to change the position at which the bright light is entering the lens, or shielding the lens with your hand, should minimize or eliminate the effect.
Of course the issue is that you won’t normally see the problem until you look at the picture, and by then most moments are gone. More here.
The iPhone 5 may not be ready for sale unlocked officially just yet, but that doesn't mean T-Mobile isn't ready to be your service provider. As evidenced by the photo above, the folks at TmoNews and YouTuber BigRicksChannel have confirmed that the service provider is now selling iPhone 5-compatible Nano-SIMs. Of course, these'll work just fine with the Verizon-variant of the the 4-inch device, as it's technically unlocked out of the box. More here.
Eventually, that shiny new iPhone 5 will have to meet its untimely end, whether it's in a landfill or (preferably) a recycling company's machinery. When it does, you'll at least be glad to know that Apple has kept the toxin levels down. HealthyStuff and iFixit have dissected the extra skinny smartphone and put it in the same "low concern" category for potential harm that's normally occupied by phones wearing their green credentials on their sleeves.
Lets anyone rush to tell Greenpeace about the feat, just remember that there's a difference between proficiency at excising dangerous chemicals and getting rid of them completely: HealthyStuff still found small traces of bromine, chlorine, lead and mercury in the iPhone 5's construction, which could pose risks if the handset is ever broken apart or melted for scrap. Some concern also exists that the x-ray fluorescence spectrometer doesn't reveal the full extent of any toxic materials. Whether or not these remain sore points for you, the new iPhone is at least easier on the eco-friendly conscience than most of its peers. More here.
This is interesting. MacRumors reports that an iOS developer found a new, unknown iPad device showing up in his app analytics. Though that usually means the next version of the iPad, the unknown iPad actually had the same footprint as the current iPad 3—but with the faster processor of the iPhone 5. Hmm...
Here's what MacRumors found:
MacRumors has received word from a developer who has seen evidence of a previously unknown "iPad3,6" device showing up in his app analytics. Most interestingly, the device's processor targets the new ARMv7s architecture that supports the custom A6 system-on-a-chip found in the iPhone 5. This new iPad thus appears to be running either an A6 chip itself or a variation on Apple's custom A6 design.
What's interesting about this news is that there were rumors that Apple was going to update the entire line of iOS products this fall so that every new device will have the new racketeering Lightning connector. That would require an update of the 'new iPad' which was released in March of this year. This unknown iPad would be that updated iPad 3.
So when will it be coming? Well, if the iPad Mini is really going to be announced this month, that would make for a good platform to sneak in an update of the iPad 3. But the question is, at that point, what would happen to the iPad 4, which would theoretically follow in the Spring of 2013? Maybe that's too far ahead to speculate. As for this mysterious iPad 3, I guess we'll find out what happens soon enough. More here.
Just a few weeks ahead of Microsoft's release of Windows 8, Mozilla has pushed the first preview version of Firefox Metro out of the nest.
Though its designed specifically for Metro, it also works on the classic Windows desktop environment. You can download it here, and it will be updated nightly. It's the same Firefox you know, with some added Windows 8/Metro-specific features.
This bike, designed by Andy Martin for furniture manufacturer Thonet, is unlike any other we've ever seen. Save for its wheels and drivetrain, the whole thing is made from swooping lengths of steamed beech wood—and it looks just beautiful as a result.
The contours of the frame were cut using a CNC machine, and the joints are all—thankfully—reinforced by subtle spring rods, so it doesn't splinter easy. As Martin explains:
"The challenge was to take on the fairly low tech process of steam bending and then apply it to a 21st century bicycle with highly complex engineering."
He seems to have managed fairly well. One of the nicest aspects of the design is just how much of the bike is made from wood—even the saddle is hand-crafted from a lump of beech. To keep things simple it doesn't come with brakes, just a pair of carbon fiber wheels and a single-speed drive train.
Unbelievably, you'll be able to actually buy one of these things through Andy Martin's studio site—if you're prepared to stump up an eye-watering $70,000. More here.
After the iPhone 5 leak mega-saga—at this point you can call these renders sneak previews—the black anodized aluminum iPad mini seems like a done deal.
It would be a nice surprise for the rumored imminent presentation of the new 7.85-inch model: iPad Minis with anodized aluminum backs in different colors, just like the iPod touch.
It's pure speculation, but it kind of makes sense. The color backs would make the cheaper iPad mini quite different from the Kindle Fires and the rest of mini-tablets of this world. It's playful and aligns with the iPod touch theme. And it would certainly help Apple sell gazillions of them this holiday season.
It's all but guaranteed you've got at least one throne in your home that everyone fights to sit on. And thanks to the PeelAndStickDecals Etsy shop, you can make it feel as grand as the throne that serves the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.
And securing it doesn't even require you to wipe out opposing forces, or slay a single soul. You just need $30, a little patience, and a toilet that's not covered in knick-knacks. The decal probably works just as well with any chair in your home that's backed by a wall, but the gag works so much better in your bathroom. More here.
The bedside alarm clock is just one of many devices made obsolete by smartphones. But with their puny speakers it's not impossible to sleep through a phone's alarm. Unless you've got this questionable iBell Mini accessory that merges tried and tested old-fashioned alarm clock technology with new.
Instead of an electronic beep, or even your favorite song, it wakes you from your slumber with the ear-piercing sound of a metal hammer pounding away at a pair of metal bells. It's $38 and doesn't require any batteries, but that's because it leeches off your iPhone's power source. And since it's designed for the old dock connector, you'll want to factor in the cost of Apple's Lightning adapter too if you've upgraded to the iPhone 5. More here.
The Swedish web host PeRiQuito AB, PRQ, is one of the most controversial web hosts on the planet, valuing free speech so highly that it serves up web content for Pirate Bay, WikiLeaks. Yesterday, though, Swedish police paid a visit.
Forbes reports that Stockholm police raided the company yesterday. The process brought about technical issues for PQR, which shut down its own website and a swathe of torrent sites like Pirate Bay, but the police also seized a number of servers.
It's currently not clear which servers were taken. There're certainly plenty to choose from: among PQR's 2,000-or-so customers are WikiLeaks, the North America Man-Boy Love Association, the Chechen rebel site Kavkaz Central, and the defamation-accused Italian blog known as Perugia Shock.
PQR was founded by Pirate Bay members back in 2004, and has been raided by police twice before: in 2006 to gain evidence about Pirate Bay and 2010 during a more general file sharing investigation. The nature of the PQR business—a no-questions-asked set-up where clients often remain anonymous—means that even it doesn't know why the raid happened yet. More here.
Cruise lines will keep spending billions of dollars on ocean-going monstrosities that promise to be the most relaxing way to spend your vacation. But they can't hold a candle to this tiny seaworthy hot tub that's warmed with a simple wood burning stove and propelled with a quiet electric motor.
The HotTug will easily ferry six to eight passengers whether or not the glass fiber-reinforced polyester hull is filled with water. It works as both a floating hot tub or a regular boat, but presumably gets far better mileage when drained. A wood stove safely heats the water to whatever temperature you desire, and you can add a gas outboard motor if the built-in electric option doesn't have enough range or speed for your liking. The boat itself, stripped of motors and the stove, will set you back around $11,600. But fully equipped you're looking at spending upwards of $21,300 for what has to be the most relaxing way to enjoy the water. More here.
Adapting its military-grade gear for the consumer market, Fraser-Volpe's STEDI-EYE Mariner binoculars promise to remove up to 98 percent of unwanted motion from shaky hands, or vibrations from a moving vehicle. It's weatherproof and packs night vision too, making it an uber-expensive accessory for serious bird watchers.
Just how expensive you might ask? Try just north of $5,400. You could build your own private aviary with that much money. But the binoculars do seem to deliver impressive features for their high-end price tag. Besides being completely waterproof, buoyant, and working even in the dark, the Mariners feature a set of gyroscope-stabilized prisms sitting between its 14X magnifying lenses. The system is capable of instantly cancelling out vertical movements as drastic as 50 degrees, so even while running through the woods you're guaranteed a perfect view of that rare Green-breasted Mango. More here.
You go to a rocky beach, you dig for a few seashells, skip a few stones on the water, and make a couch. Wait, what? Ok beach rocks might not be the first inspiration that comes to mind when crafting new furniture, but in the case of GumDesign's Isola couch, the finished result came out quite well.
Comprised of multiple, modular pieces, the seating is designed so that no two pieces look quite the same when arranged (just like a real pile of rocks), and even works in a few current design trends, such as the use of solid neon colors and marble table tops. Depending on your tastes, you may not like the men's suit inspired fabrics, but all in all, it's a pretty fun take on furniture. More here.
ThinkGeek's adorable iCade is genius. It turns your iPad into a little arcade! Asteroids forever! If it has a drawback, it's that, well, it kind of destroys the iPad's portability. Meet the Bluetooth Duo Gamer controller, which sheds the cabinet for a dock that'll fit in your backpack.
The Duo Gamer looks familiar, like a 6-button controller you use with some consoles. What sets it apart from other mobile controllers, the iCade (Atari's joystick arcade) is its flexibility. The Duo Gamer can be used as a handheld controller, yes, but thanks to its cartoonishly large proportions you can set it down on a surface and use it arcade style. In addition to working with the iPad, it will also work with your iPhone or iPod Touch. (It plugs into the 30-pin dock, so you'll need Apple's adapter to use it with your iPhone 5.)
The Duo Gamer is available now for $80. It's immediately compatible with 10 games, including Asphalt 6: Adrenaline HD, Brothers In Arms 2: Global Front Free, Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation, NOVA 3, and Order & Chaos. More here.
Last year's floods in Thailand caused hard drive shortages after wreaking havoc on a number of electronics manufacturers, but new stats from IHS iSuppli indicate that the HDD market for PCs has fully recovered and is poised to hit an all time high. The firm expects 524 million units for internal use in PCs to ship this year, besting the previous record by 4.3 percent. What's giving the recovery an added boost? According to the analytics group, the extra demand comes courtesy of Windows 8 and Ultrabooks. Unfortunately for deal hounds, the company noted in a report earlier this year that prices aren't expected to dip below the pre-flood range until 2014. More here.
