Amazon Caves to Snippy Authors: Kindle's Text-to-Voice Feature Now Optional [Kindle 2] | read this item
We reported the Author's Guild's litigious anger about the Kindle 2's text-to-voice feature, claiming it violates audio book copyrights. It's an arguable position, but Amazon has gone ahead and caved to the literate man.
Amazon has backed down for the Guild's comfort rather than for any legal motivation, since it's pretty clear that a robotic reading isn't the same as an audio book. "We strongly ..Shop Now
Asus P835 Touchscreen Phone Packs WVGA Display [Asus] | read this item
Asus' out-of-nowhere P835 smartphone is packing some pretty decent specs, from an 800x480 touchscreen to HSPA support for lightning-fast downloads, but it's still packing Windows Mobile 6.1. Still, it's worth a look.
Here's the rundown:
• HSPA (DL: 7.2Mbps, UL: 2Mbps), UMTS 900/1900/2100 EDGE/GPRS/GSM 850/900/1800/1900, Class 12 • Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 • 3.5" WVGA (800x480), no word on resistive or capacitive • 4 GB ..Shop Now
How Broke Would You Have to Be to Revert Back to Dial-Up? [Recessionomics] | read this item
In an effort to cut costs wherever possible, some consumers are going back to the cheaper, crappier-in-every-way dial-up we all cast aside years ago. This recession has just gotten serious.
Sales of the often sub-$10 dial-up subscriptions have increased after the stock market crash and many report that they've switched from broadband, though NetZero CEO Mark Goldston was quick to note that "this is not ..Shop Now
Bluetooth Headsets Will Never Be Attractive or Cool [Bluetooth] | read this item
This water droplet-shaped concept from Ilshat Garipov makes a good run at it, but no matter how small or slick or arty they are, Bluetooth headsets are just never going to look good.
Is it the association they have with bankers, lawyers, and other douche-types? Is it the inherent awkwardness of watching somebody talk into a machine you can't see? I think we can all ..Shop Now
How To: Rip Blu-ray Discs [How To] | read this item
Included digital copies are still the exception rather than the norm in the Blu-ray world. Lame. You'd like to rip those discs for playback elsewhere, right? But there is something you should know first.
And that is this: Ripping Blu-ray discs sucks. Hard. It takes forever, eats up a ton of hard drive space, and for all practical purposes requires software that isn't free. It's ..Shop Now
Would You Buy Steve Wozniak's PowerBook on eBay? [Apple] | read this item
Looks like Apple Employee #1's old 17", maxed-out PowerBook is for sale on eBay, remarkably devoid of Cheetos fingerprints. But who acquired it from Woz to begin with? The answer might surprise you.
It's those guys from that webcomic The Joy of Tech! But don't let that dissuade you, because the PowerBook looks like it did indeed belong to Woz and you can just pretend ..Shop Now
Obama's New 2010 Budget Promotes Radical Pro-Science Agenda [Science] | read this item
President Obama's proposed 2010 budget goes where no Bush has gone before by including significant spending for scientific agencies, including NASA, the EPA, and Department of Energy, on top of the stimulus package.
NASA will get $700 million from the budget, which isn't all that much, but combined with the $1 billion from the stimulus bill, they're still getting a substantial increase on last year's ..Shop Now
Carlin-esque Architects Put Driving Range Atop Water Filtration Plant [Drink And Drive] | read this item
Somebody wanted to build a water filtration center on the spot of a Bronx, NY golf-course driving range. Bad idea? It was until the architects decided to build the plant and keep the range.
"Green roofs" are nothing new—one day soon all of us will have grass for a roof, especially if the economy continues to plunge into its fiery little hellpit. But at the ..Shop Now
DAB Kitchen Digital Radio Should Withstand the Ultimate Food Fight [Concepts] | read this item
Designed with greasy hands, soapy gloves, and cookie-dough-covered fingers in mind, the minimalistic DAB Digital Radio was created for a nitty, gritty kitchen environment.
With a splash-resistant design featuring large touch-sensitive buttons, users can power on ths battery-operated radio, turn up the volume and control this gadget using their elbows and knuckles. Users also don't have to worry about knocking it over with their clumsy ..Shop Now
Microsoft's Child 'I'm a PC' Ads Only Works With Little Girls Apparently [I'm A PC] | read this item
The first two I'm a PC ads from Microsoft used little girls, and were super super cute. This latest one? Not so much. Nothing against little boys, but nobody likes them using a computer.
Ryanair's New Emergency Instructions Could Be Real One Day [Fakemodo] | read this item
After today's $1.40 airplane lavatory charge, the disco girl with the long legs and the lovely smile has sent us proof that Ryanair is going way too far in their demands to passengers.
$200 Acer Hornet Is Nvidia Ion-Based PC-Wii-Console Hybrid Thingie [Nettop] | read this item
Apparently, the Acer Hornet is an Nvidia Ion-based Atom-powered small PC which can be mounted on displays. The most interesting thing: Acer wants to sell it with a Wiimote-like device for gaming and remote control.
Or that's what turkish site Donanim Haber says, posting some images of the computer, which can be mounted on the back of any VESA-compatible display.
These Shoe Phones Are Made for Walkin' (...and Talkin') [Spy Gear] | read this item
Apparently a shoe phone similar to this was a really big deal in some dumb movie or TV show. But now the thing actually exists, using common cellphone gear and a hollowed-out heel.
Australian Paul Gardner-Stephen originally created his Gen 2 prototype shoe phone for his church group by carving out the heel of a dress shoe and stuffing in parts of a cellphone, along ..Shop Now
Four "Tropical Skyscapers" Commissioned To Keep Shenzhen Stock Exchange HQ Nice and Shady [Architecture] | read this item
Steven Holl Architects' winning design from the "4 Tower in 1" competition calls for a quartet of towers to be built around the brand new Shenzhen Stock Exchange and its surrounding plaza.
The four buildings in the complex have a variety of features typical of environmentally friendly and sustainable structures of recent, and the kind we may see in the future.
Flame War: Plasma or LCD? [Weekend Flame War] | read this item
Which flat panel technology is the best? LCD or plasma? Get mean, get personal, because you can't be banned for anything you say in this thread. And anecdotes are as valid as scientific study.
Mad Catz Street Fighter IV FightSticks Review [Review] | read this item
Just a few months ago, Mad Catz was known for making generic, mediocre console accessories to undercut companies like Sony and Nintendo. Then they announced their Street Fighter sticks and the gaming world went nuts.
While Matt Buchanan already reviewed Mad Catz' SFIV FightPad, the company's two arcade sticks for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, coinciding with the release of SFIV, have had more ..Shop Now
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