Archive for February, 2008
February 26, 2008
The Lights Out Sleep Mask is suppose to allow your eyes to see only pich black, no matter what the light in the room is. This is accomplished by the unique contour over the nose. The site noted below gives a really thorough review of the product.
“This mask has indispensable for daytime naps or when sleeping in barracks or tents with other people who like to stay up late. I was stationed for a couple months in Qatar and am currently stationed in Kuwait (that’s as much as I am able to tell you without breaking OPSEC). The mask is more effective and comfortable than the other ones I’ve worn. You can open your eyes no matter the time of day and think it’s the darkest time of night. It blocks the light most effectively due to the contour over the nose. With normal masks you get gaps on the sides of your nose, no matter how you try to position it or if it has a nose cut-out. When I got back from basic training five years ago I discovered I liked to take mid-afternoon naps. I found a silly sleep mask, pink with fake daisies on it. I was able to sleep, but I would wake up with my eyes all dried out. I eventually lost it and went through a basic satin sleep mask and also a silk eye mask that had little pillows attached to the bottom edge so it wouldn’t smash your eyes. Once again, though, both of them dried my eyes out something fierce. Since this mask does not press against your eyes, it allows for moisture to draw out out along your eyelashes”
February 26, 2008
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Those at all curious for some thoughts and initial reactions to Sony’s new S-AIR wireless system and their first big Blu-ray player launches since the end of the format war, head on over to Engadget HD! We’ll have more for you from Sony’s Open House 2008 shortly.
Sony BDR-S350 and S550 profile 2.0 player hands-ons
Sony S-AIR hands-on
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February 26, 2008
If you’re interested in a wireless audio solution for multi-room listening, then the Sony DAV-HDX275 Home Theater System is definitely worth considering. It features a maximum working range of 164 feet which ought to be sufficient for most folks, and this wireless multi-room solution does not come with the complicated set up requirements including IP addresses, WEP keys and pin codes. The Sony DAV-HDX275 will ship with the following features :-
- Option to purchase S-AIR Air Station receiver/speaker (AIR-SA10) separately
- Option to purchaseWireless Rear Speaker Kit (WAHT-SA10) separately
- Integrated five-disc DVD/CD player with upscaling to 1080p via HDMI
- Sony Digital Media Port
- Dialogue Audio Enhancer with night mode
- Portable Audio Enhancer
The Sony DAV-HDX275 will retail for approximately $300 when it is released this March.
Permalink | Comment | Uberbargain | Uberphones
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
We’ve seen quite a few efforts to use gardens and terrariums in cities to order to bring down overall CO2 emissions and reduce temperatures, but Tokyo’s earthquake-prone location means that structures there have to meet strict load requirements — so a company called Suntory Ltd., has developed a synthetic dirt substitute called Pafcal it says weighs less than half as much as real soil. The fake dirt, which is made of urethane, can reduce the internal temperature of a building with a roof garden up to 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit). Of course, there’s considerable irony in trying to save the planet by covering concrete buildings in fake plastic dirt, but then again, such a solution is about as Japanese as it gets, no?
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February 25, 2008
My woman says she’d do anything for me. Just to prove this point, I’m thinking about whipping up my own Strap-On Chair. If she’ll act as my own personal mobile piece of furniture for me, I can just about prove that she’d do most anything for me.
I’m already filled with doubt about the subject. The last time I asked her to use a strap-on, she lived at her mother’s house for a few weeks. Strap-On Chair, apply directly to the forehead. — Andrew Dobrow
February 25, 2008
Designer Alexei Mikhailov was inspired by the iPhone’s design, churning out the iStick concept as the perfect mobile convergence device. With such a small screen size, this definitely isn’t meant for movie viewing nor photo browsing, but it does visually replicate the iPhone/Touch space within a device the size of a lipstick tube. Interestingly enough, all four surfaces are touch screen sensitive, so it will probably take a while before somebody thinks of a way to harness all four sides effectively. Features include built-in WiFi for convenient iTunes download sessions. Would you buy something shaped like this, or do you prefer to stick to the tried-and-tested iPod Shuffle where portability is concerned?
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February 25, 2008
Filed under: Portable Audio
While certainly not the most bizarre (nor elaborate) musical apparatus we’ve seen, Future Retro’s intriguingly designed Revolution synthesizer still manages to stand out. Apparently, its creators firmly believe that “music is cyclic,” and it’s definitely practicing what it preaches on said device. The analog monophonic synthesizer is contained in a rugged aluminum chassis and is laid out in a way that makes “dividing a measure of music into equal parts” much easier — visually, at least. ‘Course, this bugger will put a $750 dent in your wallet, but it is shipping now for those simply enamored with the design.
[Via BornRich]
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February 25, 2008
Filed under: Gaming, GPS, Handhelds
Well, well — what have we here? Apparently, this PSP (developer’s edition, we’re told) was spotted at the Game Developers Conference in California attempting to showcase how well the gaming handheld could handle navigation. Unfortunately, the underground nature of the booth resulted in a slightly inaccurate reading, but we’re sure it’ll do quite alright under normal circumstances when it’s (hopefully) loosed in the not-too-distant future.
[Via NaviGadget]
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February 24, 2008
Filed under: Laptops
Look out, here comes yet another duo hopping on the Penryn train, and each of these buggers are sporting a Toshiba logo. Up first is the €999 ($1,480) Satellite A300 — the apparent successor of the A200 — which features a 15.4-inch display, a refreshed design, Harman Kardon speakers, built-in fingerprint reader, 1.3-megapixel camera, integrated microphone, up to 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and your choice of a Core 2 Duo T5500 (A300-124) or T8100 (A300-11I). As for the 17-inch P300 (seen after the jump), you can reportedly expect somewhat similar configurations, but sadly, we’ve no hard details on price or availability for it.
Continue reading Toshiba’s Penryn-based Satellite A300 / P300 uncovered
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February 24, 2008
Filed under: Digital Cameras, Transportation
Ever on the lookout for the next step in up in Big Brother policy, there’s a new camera technology being developed in the UK at Loughborough University which can count car occupants by figuring out how much water and blood content there is inside the car. The obvious application is for trimming down those carpool lane offenders, trying to squeeze by the law with a dummy or a pet in the passenger seat. Look, privacy concerns aside, there’s just something awkward about traffic cams tracking quantities of blood and water inside of commuter cars. Do we really want to let the Machines have that kind of inside (literally) information on us?
[Thanks, Richard W]
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