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Limited edition Steampunk Nixie Clock

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

nixie32ex

For those of you that enjoy all that is steampunk, you’ll have a slight chance to get the clock shown here.  It’s definitely a slim chance, but if you have the cash and hurry, you might be able to get your hands on one.  Then you can tell everyone that you own a limited edition clock that practically no one else owns.  It’s always fun to have something to make you superior, plus it’s also nice that it tells the time.

Let’s face it, you aren’t that excited over a clock.  You’re likely more excited over something that’s steampunk that just happens to be a clock.  As far as clocks go though, this one is pretty cool.  The clock portion of it does have an alarm, plus it can show you the date.  It’s made out of solid copper and polished brass.  Of course you’ll have to hurry to get your hands on one since these are limited edition.  There will only ever be a total of 10 of these in existence.  You’ll also have to contact them to find out just how much this clock by Kev Stenning will cost you.

Source: Gizmowatch

Introducing Foolish Gadgets because not all gadgets are cool :)
[ Limited edition Steampunk Nixie Clock copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]



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Nokia Delays U.S. Launch of Music Service

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

nokia-5800

Nokia will postpone the launch of its ‘Comes with Music’ music subscription service  in the U.S. to next year, according to reports.

Nokia launched  the service, widely seen as a potential iTunes competitor, in the U.K. last year by bundling free unlimited music downloads with some of its handsets. The first of Nokia’s phones, the 5310 XpressMusic, featured the service. Nokia would offer a year’s worth of music to its users free and charge users for it after that. Customers were allowed to keep all the music they already downloaded.

If successful, Nokia could be in a position to challenge Apple’s iTunes hegemony in the music distribution business, said some analysts.

However, the service met with lukewarm reception in Europe. In the U.K. only one carrier partnered with Nokia to offer the service.

The company’s problems with the service have been much greater in the U.S.  Nokia stumbled in its launch of the 5800 XpressMusic phones after users complained of crippling connectivity problems with the device. Nokia pulled the U.S. version of the phone off its shelves and offered the handsets a few days later after a fix.

The company is now reportedly rethinking its strategy for the music subscription service in the U.S. Without subsidies from carriers such as AT&T and Verizon, American mobile phone users are unlikely to pay the high cost of handsets that are bundled with music. Nokia will also have to simplify the Digital Rights Management (DRM) issues in the service that could potentially cripple how users listen to the music before it is introduced in the U.S.

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Photo: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone (manu contreras/Flickr)



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The Limousine, An Unrideable Stretch-Bike

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Limousine bike

This is “Limousine”, a stretch-bicyle from Wouter Mijland. It is completely impractical, the handlebars put out of the riders reach by the iron-pipe extensions, and even if you were Reed Richards that huge triangle would surely flex and buck like an unmanned fire-hose.

But I love it. Perhaps it is the ridiculous inclusion of the everyday practicalities like lights and a pump on such an outlandish machine, or maybe it is the clean lines and seamless construction. Either way, it actually starts to make tall-bikes look like sensible transport solutions.

You can’t buy it either. The description, “‘Limousine’, 2008, bycicle [sic], iron pipes”, combined with the Flash site, telegraph that this is art. And who would want it anyway when you could hop onto Mijland’s other cycle project, a bike/shopping cart hybrid (below)?

Product page [Wouter Mijland via Noquedanblogs]


cart-bike



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Audio Technica’s Candy Colored Headphones Are ‘For Women’

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

ath-on300-2

These awkwardly-named headphones from Audio Technica solve several problems for me. The ATH-ON300 ONTO (told ya) features a super-thin headband, which has been dubbed the “seamless headband”. This will let me keep my headphones on my ears while cycling — earbuds have a dangerous habit of popping out in the heaviest of traffic.

But better, they will let my stylishly wander the streets wearing both headphones and a gentlemanly Panama hat, as I drown out the din of the city and instead imagine myself in the depths of India, beating malaria with a cold gin-and-tonic. Delicious!

The ‘phones have 30mm drivers and output a dynamic range of 12-23,000Hz, enough to take care of all your compressed MP3 files. At once. The tunes are pumped at a coclear-rattling 100mW and have a 1.2 meter cord. All this for $50.

The downside? Audio Technica seems to have bought the colors from the 1980s. That, and the company says that its colored cans are “designed for women.” There goes my all-male explorer fantasy.

Product page [AudioCubes via Oh Gizmo]



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Manliest Man-Bags Ever Resemble Gun-Holsters

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

man-sacks

The hotness of the product is doused somewhat by the shots of bed-haired male models prancing in Wallpaper-style interiors, but in the end it triumphs. After all, what could be cooler than a leather gun-holster style case for your cellphone?

Sadly, the pitch is even lamer than the lifestyle photos:

It is not just a handbag for men but more a very special accessory for businessmen à la 007 and anyone else who values elegance.

The man-bags, from German company Koffski, are fashioned from calfskin leather and, with their angular shapes, resemble small pistols. The logo is burned into the leather, which is manly enough to make me beat my chest and roar.

Now, the trick lies in how you wear the bag. You can hook it onto a belt (please don’t) or sling it crosswise over your pumped-up pecs. But real men will go for the concealed holster-style strap which looks both comfortable and awesome. As a certain editor may have said on the Twitter, “If the Nazis had cell phone holsters, they’d probably look like this.”

Want one? Then you’d better brush up on your poker skills and win some cash. The bag is €350 ($500) and the strap another €100 ($140), or you can go downmarket for the No.2 bag and pay just €200 ($290) plus €60 ($85) for the holster strap.

Product page [Koffski]



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Leica ‘Teaser’ Promises M9 Next Week

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

The worst kind of puzzle is the one that is too easy to answer. Leica’s new teaser is this kind of “conundrum”. See if you can work it out.

The event will take place next week, on September 9th, 2009. That’s 9/9/09. Leica says that we shall “witness the unveiling of the next generation of Leica Cameras.” To me, this must be the M9, the follow-up to the German company’s first fitful foray into the digital rangefinder realm with the M8.

Rumors have been swirling about the M9. Some say it will have a full-frame sensor, others that this sensor will be the same as found inside the Canon 5D MkII. This would mean that all of Leica’s wonderful old lenses would be useful again, and that its M8 crop-sensor lenses would fade quickly into the mists of obsolescence. The Canon sensor seems unlikely, though, as one of the big problems with digital rangefinders is that the lens is so close to the sensor. Film doesn’t care what angle light comes from, but digital sensors are more fussy about anything that doesn’t hit almost straight-on.

The announcement (at 9AM EST, natch) will come via a webcast, rather than by the dusty fax we might expect. It hints at several new products, for both novice and pro, so we might also see Leica’s large sensor behemoth, the S2.

Press release [Leica]

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Canon’s New 18 Megapixel Monster, The EOS 7D

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

canon 7d

True to form, yesterday’s Chinese forum leak was swiftly followed by an official announcement from Canon, just as hunger comes a few hours after eating Chinese takeaway.

The camera is of course the brand new 7D, a crop-sensor (1.6x) body set square against Nikon’s D300s, and in the Canon line the 7D sits above the to-be-continued 5D. In fact, it is so closely pitched at the D300s that we put together a comparison table:

7D D300s
Sensor (MP) 18 12.3
ISO 100-6400 200-3200
Video 1080p MOV, 24fps 720p AVI, Motion jpg, 24 fps
Shooting speed (fps) 8 8
Focus 19 points (all cross) 51 points (15 cross)
Viewfinder 100%, 1.0x 100%, 0.94x
Processor Dual DIGIC 4, 14bit A/D EXPEED, 14bit A/D
Remote flash Yes, E-TTL II Yes, i-TTL
Price $1700 $1800

Other differences are the dual card slots of the D300s (one each of CF and SD) and an optional Wi-Fi adapter for the Canon which fixes to the base and also acts as a vertical grip. On its own this looks rather limited in use, especially as it won’t fit on any other camera, but in addition to slow old 802.11 a,b and g it has an Ethernet port and USB capability for hooking up to, say, a GPS unit.

This is a strong-looking camera, and we’ll have one soon to test. We don’t expect anything other than excellent: at this level, both Canon and Nikon are playing an good game, and it doesn’t look like either of them is going to slip first.

636332804_96p2s-l

Lenses

Also from Canon today are a clutch of new lenses. The first are for the crop-sensor cameras, and, as ever, the names tell you all you need to know. The EF-S 15-85mm ƒ3.5-5.6 IS USM ($800) and the EF-S 18-135mm ƒ3.5-5.6 IS USM ($500), both have four stop image stabilization and both have small, dark maximum apertures, worsening as you zoom. This is the reason I hardly ever use zooms: for a depth-of-field limiting aperture of, say, ƒ2.8 throughout the range, you’ll pay a fortune. Sure, carrying a couple of primes with you is less convenient, but its a lot cheaper, too. Especially if you buy second-hand.

The new EF 100mm ƒ2.8L IS USM is such a lens, and is the first to feature Canon’s brand new Hybrid IS stabilization, giving four more stops on an already wide-open lens, and up to two stops when shooting in macro mode. The price is $1050.

Canon EOS 7D Preview [DP Review]

Press release [Canon]

Lens press release [Canon]



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Review Time: JH Audio’s Ridiculously Expensive, Totally Awesome Custom Earbuds

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

pr_jh13_f

We all know a good earbud is hard to find. Just open up a new iPod, iPhone or hell any portable audio device out there and have a listen to the included ‘buds. They’re crap, right? JH audio is on the opposite end of the spectrum. Its newest bespoke earbuds, the JH13s, deliver some of the crazy-best aural experiences we’ve ever heard in an earbud. Here’s an excerpt from reviewer Jackson Lynch:

The buds delivered fantastic sound separation with uncompromising booming bass, rattling mids and crystalline highs. For a lark, we tried mating the JH13s with the Ray Samuels Audio P-51 Mustang high-resolution headphone amp and ALO Audio’s 30-pin iPod line-out cable, just to see if that could improve on what we deemed to be aural perfection.

Adding these two (expensive) components opened the floodgates of unadulterated sound, yielding the richest, most complete experience we’ve ever coaxed out of a set of earbuds. Yes, the JH13s are terribly expensive, but they also make for the most luxurious listening this side of heaven.

Check out the rest of the awesome write-up of the JH Audio JH13PRO Earbuds on our reviews site.

(Photo by Jonanthan Snyder/ Wired.com)



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LG Dazzles With 15-inch OLED TV

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

lg-oled-tvLG is set to show a 15-inch OLED TV that is striking in both its luminosity and design.

The TV is expected to be introduced at the IFA 2009 consumer electric show in Berlin in September and launched at the end of the year, says the website, OLED-Display.net.

LG hasn’t revealed the pricing for these beauties but it is not likely to come cheap. Sony’s 11-inch OLED TV costs $2500.

The new LG OLED display looks much like a photo frame with its controls and ports tucked in behind the screen. The screen can be wall mounted and tilted for best viewing angle.

OLED (organic light emitting diode)-based displays are taking off in a big way with companies such as Samsung and Nokia offering mobile phones with small OLED displays. The displays are attractive to consumers because they offer extremely vivid colors and high clarity. But so far the high cost of these screens has meant the technology hasn’t become widely used in consumer products.

The new LG 15-inch OLED TV could be a sign that these displays may now be ready to take the place of LCD and Plasma in HD TVs. With mass production and high sales volume, prices of these TVs could come down rapidly in the next few years. LG is also reportedly working on a 40-inch OLED TV.

More pictures of the LG OLED TV



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Leaked Asus Roadmap Shows Netbook With Ion Graphics and Multi-touch Tablet

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

asus-eee-pc

Asus, which set the netbooks market on fire with its Eee PCs, has some exciting new products coming up for release this year. Leaked slides of the company’s product roadmap for the U.S. show it is planning to introduce a new netbook with a 12-inch display and Nvidia’s Ion graphics chip and a tablet PC with multi-touch capability.

The new netbooks are expected to be priced from $300 to $500, says the Netbook News website.

Despite an overall slowdown in PC sales due to the weak economic environment, the netbook market has been going gangbusters. Sales of netbooks grew 40 percent in the second quarter, almost twice that of the growth rate of larger notebook PCs, says DisplaySearch, a research arm of the NPD Group.

Asus’ 1201N netbook is likely to have a 12-inch display, an Atom N270 processor, 2 GB RAM and 250 GB storage. It will also include Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capability and at $500 will be among the company’s premium products. The netbook is expected to be available in mid-October.

Around that time, Asus will also have a convertible tablet PC running Windows 7, says Netbook News. The $550 T91 convertible tablet is expected to come with a 32 GB solid state drive.

Check out a slide of the Asus Eee PC roadmap for details about upcoming netbook configurations and the company’s planned releases for the year.

[via Engadget]

Photo: Asus Eee PC (Axel Buhrmann/Flickr)



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