Best New Technology

Egglings
What a cracking good idea! Egglings are the hottest new invention in home and desk plant growing.

You can have this for ?5.95

How does one choose a USB hub for their desk when there are so many different ones out there? Since most of them will be the same on the inside, there are only a few things to consider. One is whether or not you want a powered hub or not. Once you’ve figure that out you just have to find one that looks cool, because lets be honest, that’s really all it comes down to. If you’re a Transformer fan, then there’s a good chance that you’ll like this All Spark 4-port USB hub.

I’d love to tell you about all of the exciting features of this wonderful gadget, however, as I’ve said before, there’s not much to a USB hub. The only useful things to know are that it does not require power, it will cost around $35 and won’t be available until August of this year.

Source: EverythingUSB

If you’ve ever forgotten an anniversary or birthday of your wife, you’ve likely felt the fully wrath of a woman. Regardless of the gift you get her, you’re still likely to be in the doghouse after forgetting such an important date. But fear not, as modern technology has found a way to make sure you’ll never forget again.

The Remember Ring looks like an ordinary white gold wedding band which can be set with a specific date. 24 hours before the progammed date, the ring will heat up to 120 degrees for 10 seconds every hour on the hour for the entire day. This should be enough notice to run out and get a last-minute gift for your loved one.

These are currently only a concept item, however, they expect to sell it in both white and yellow gold for $760.

Source: GearFuse

Seascooter GTi
The Sea Scooter GTi, a fast and furious soft-top sea monster. If it had wheels, they'd be really wide.

You can have this for ?349.00

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 11th 2008 at 8:51PM

We’ve seen the official images, but those itching for a better look at 3DConnexion’s new SpaceNavigator 3D mouse for laptops can now get their fix courtesy of Flickr user zeta.phoenix, who has kindly chronicled the traditional unboxing process for us. As you can see above, the peripheral definitely won’t take up too much space in your laptop bag, and the just-long-enough USB cable means it likely won’t be doing double duty on your desktop (at least without an extension). If that’s whet your appetite, you can find plenty more pics where it came from by hitting up the link below.

[Thanks, Jon]

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Filed under: Peripherals

I’m sure you remember the recent move of Asus that shocked environmentalists and green peace movement supporters from around the world a few weeks ago. In case you don’t, I’m here to remind you. Actually, they unveiled plans for nature inspired laptops that are supposedly to be made out of bamboo. You read that right, bamboo laptops.

Another laptop maker, Fujitsu, meanwhile has recently displayed its own version of an “organic” computer at the Salone Internazionale Del Mobile furniture exhibition in Milan. But they were kind enough to Asus in that they did not take the route of the bamboo for this new product. Fujitsu made their own from cedar.

There are no details on specs, or if this will ever be available on the world market yet, but judging from the legacy of both wooden materials, I think bamboo takes the cake in this bout. But don’t worry Fujitsu, I’m sure you can prove to us how worthy you are somehow. Just make sure you’ll do it before Asus finishes trimming their bamboo plants though.

Via [Crave]

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It appears Cyberlink has finally heard the news that Blu-ray has won the HD format wars. In response, the company has announced that its latest movie playback software, PowerDVD Ultra, will now support Blu-ray, including the latest BD-Live Profile 2.0. BD-Live allows for additional downloadable content for Blu-ray discs, including interactive games, movie trailers, ringtones, and more.

For $99.95, PowerDVD Ultra will not only play HD movies on your computer, but will also feature HD audio (Dolby Digital/TrueHD and DTS-HD), HDMI input support, and DivX, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (H.264), WMV-HD, and AVCHD playback. Interestingly, Cyberlink didn’t stop there and decided to add a little social network feature by including Movie Remix and MoovieLive. Movie Remix allows you to make your own version of movies and share them online. You can re-order movie scenes, add subtitles, add voice commentary, and overlay animated graphics. MoovieLive lets users connect to MoovieLive.com to download or upload remixes, write/read movie reviews, and check movie stats.

Product [Cyberlink] Via [I4U News]

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A while back, we showed you the Asus M70, a laptop with the ability to store up to 1 terabyte of data. Well, Asus has finally launched the M70 multimedia notebook.

The notebook features a 17-inch LCD display, which supports up to 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA) resolution. Compounding this a ATI HD video card, which helps you view HD movies via the Blu-ray drive. Dolby Home Theater-powered audio is heard through the built-in Altec Lansing Speakers. When the touchpad is not being used as a default touchpad, it becomes a media button dock and has controls for volume, play, pause, stop, forward, back and more. A deft tap of your finger returns you to the normal touchpad functions of the special rectangular square.

The M70 also has two clever security technologies. First is the regular fingerprint scanner, which does just that; scans your fingerprints. However, the more innovative of the two is software that scans the face of the user, with the built in 1.3 megapixel webcam, to affirm identity. Nifty.

Via [PC Launches]

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 11th 2008 at 4:32PM

For some, tossing around phrases like “live preview” and “flip-out swivel screen” would be enough to sell Sony’s Alpha A350, but we know you’re more discerning than that, right? Right. Truth be told, Sony’s feature-packed Alpha only turned out okay — not great — during a review session with the folks over at CNET. Still, the unit did offer a sturdy feel, a fantastically useful lcd monitor and satisfactory color / dynamic range. Unfortunately, the extra $200 or so you pay for 14-megapixels (over 10MP on the A300) wasn’t deemed worthwhile, as the extra processing “exacted a performance toll” in real-world use. The bottom line? These critics felt the Rebel XSi would be a better bet if you’re just looking for a nice resolution bump, but for the vast majority of folks, you’re likely better off snagging the A300 and putting your leftover dough towards a decent piece of glass.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 11th 2008 at 1:58PM

Man, we know AMD’s had a bit of trouble meeting shipment (and chip performance) expectations lately, but it looks like things are really beginning to come apart at the seams. Merely four days after AMD trimmed its Q1 sales outlook and announced that it would be doing away with 10-percent of its workforce by Q3, the company’s CTO and senior vice president Phil Hester is voluntarily “stepping down.” According to Market Watch, the bigwig is doing so to “pursue other opportunities,” which is about as canned a reason as you can get. Still, the most intriguing part of the whole bit isn’t that Mr. Hester won’t be coming in to work on Monday, but that no replacement will be either. A chipmaker. With no chief technology officer. Sorry, but we aren’t buying that one just yet.

[Via PC Perspective, thanks Ryan]

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops