The summer may be officially over, but the temperatures are still warm enough to cook an egg on the sidewalk and there’s enough time to hit the beach and soak up the sun. I like to frolic in the ocean and often times I wish I had a waterproof digital point-and-shoot to capture all my shenanigans while surfing. I’ve tried the disposables and the surf-specific cameras, but they’re awkward to use and picture quality is nothing to boast about. Is it too much to ask that someone manufacture a decent underwater digi that’s still worth using on dry land? Seriously, though, it can’t be that hard. There’s a bevy of very good point-and-shoots available on the market, but only a few underwater cameras and of those only one or two are worth the money. Many would argue that it’s better to spend a little extra and get a housing rather than wasting your money on an ok camera.
The Pentax Optio W30 is the latest addition to the waterproof line and I’ve spent more than enough time to realize it’s any waterman’s dream come true. We’ll take a quick look at the W30’s features before moving onto the goods. The W30 is encased in a full aluminum alloy shell that’s tough enough to withstand most of the abuse you can throw it into. Surfers won’t have to worry much unless they’re in shallow waters with a reef or rocky floor. Kayakers might want to steer clear of boulders and free divers probably shouldn’t take it any deeper than 10 feet and they’ll want to surface around the two-hour mark. But if you’re using the underwater mode to capture photos of mermaids and fishies then you’ll only be able to stay submerged for half an hour in 5 feet of h2o. There’s a bit more so keep reading to get the scoop on the W30.
Read More
Of all the gadgets I own, one I absolutely cannot live without is my George Foreman Lean Green Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine, aka the George Foreman Grill. It’s the butt of many jokes, sure, but ask anyone who’s got one, and they’ll agree that they love theirs. It’s been a huge success and made Foreman a ton of dough.
One of Foreman’s old opponents is entering the ring as a challenger to the champ (I know, I know). Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield is set to launch his own competing grill. No, really, Holyfield is really putting together a copycat grill to compete blow-by-blow with Foreman’s (I know, I’m sorry).
It’s set to launch this week, and look for ads in your Black Friday circulars. I wish this was a joke, but alas, it’s not.
Holyfield vs. Foreman II: Battle of the grills [MSNBC]
I shed a tear while watching the video after the jump. Watch ^ first then the subsequent one. Awesome.
Read More
The conceptual P’gasus wheelchair provides a cool look into what the future of personal transportation for people with disabilities will be like. It it based on technology similar to that of the Segway as movement is controlled by shifting the riders weight. Best of all, the chair can be adjusted into an upright position which would help the rider accomplish every day tasks. There are still a few problems to work out such as effectively balancing the chair in the extended position.
A similar chair is already available but it doesn’t look nearly as cool.
Pegasus WheelChair Concept [tuvie]
I came home from my week in Washington, DC to find a new DVD player waiting for me, a Pioneer DV-400V. DVD players usually aren’t the kinds of things that we jump up and down about, but the DV-400V features the ability to upconvert your regular DVDs to HD resolutions. We’ve heard of this before, it’s nothing new, and I’ve been actually avoiding the upconverting world because I sort of thought it cheating. It’s not, the video off this thing looks great.
While it’s not true HD, the 720p output of the DVD player looks much better on my HDTV than the 480p my old progressive scan put out. I don’t notice any flutter in pans, which can happen with some upconverting players. What’s more, the DVD player has extenstive controls for customizing itself to look great with your TV. Right now, I’m watching Ghostbusters, and it’s never looked better.
Read More
Could it be? Were the rumors true? Has the Falcon Xbox 360 landed? It appears so. According to the blokes over at Xbox Forums, the Halo 3 edition is juiced with the 65nm CPUs that are purported to run cooler, which in turn would reduce any further RROD units. Pretty sure those price cuts were a direct result of the switch.
65nm (Falcon), BenQ, Heatsink Discussion [Xbox Forums]
There was a time in college that I wanted to buy a Golden Tee arcade machine because…well…it’s just about the coolest game ever. I also hated going to Clodfelters and paying up to $20 to play the damn thing when I was getting crunk. So my roommates and I had it all planned out. We were going to get one off of eBay and to recoup our costs we’d hold tournaments and leave it coin-operated for everyone to use. It was a brilliant plan, but no one wanted to front the money for it. We were, after all, poor college students who spent money on booze, bud, and boobies. But don’t get me wrong. I enjoy playing other arcade games like Mortal Kombat and Pac Man, but Golden Tee was the bomb and something I was good at.
So you can imagine the tingling sensation I felt in my pants when the X-Arcade Tankstick arrived at my doorstep. I knew exactly what I wanted to play the moment I unboxed it. Even now I won’t play anything other than Golden Tee. Even though I can purchase adapters for use on any game console, I still haven’t done so, but maybe you will. In case you didn’t know X-Arcade is a gawd among retro-arcade enthusiasts. The level of accuracy the sticks and trackball provide are phenomenal. Not to mention the fact that combo moves are way easier on an arcade machine than any game console controller. But the fact that I can play thousands of classic arcade games has me tickled pink. There are also four pinball flipper buttons in case you’re into that sort of thing.
Read More
Backpacks are like shoes, you can never have too many of them. At least that’s my logic. Backpacks are one of those things that I always seem to keep buying not matter how many I have. But this time around I decided to pick up one that offered something special. There are a number of MP3 player specific bags with built-in speakers, but I’ve found that most of them sound like garbage. I was skeptical when the Spyder Groove arrived at my doorstep. What is NXT? Is this even going to sound decent?
We’ll start with NXT and figure out what that’s all about. The Groove features an NXT flat panel loudspeaker that’s built from EVA foam, which is pretty durable. The EVA panel is coated in jersey and comes with two 25mm exciters that are powered by a stereo amplifier. You can connect to virtually any portable music device so long as it has accepts a 3.5mm jack. I’m inclined to believe that the front panel is durable and rugged enough a day on the slopes or venturing through the streets of Manhattan. It’s even water resistant! Now that we’ve covered what NXT is and how it’s involved in the Groove lets move onto the functionality of the backpack itself. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about sound quality, but I’m not a cheap slut, either. Keep reading to find out.
Read More
After getting three dodgy iMacs in a row, some guy decided to email the big man himself: Steve Jobs. Obviously the CEO of a multimillion dollar hardware company has nothing better to do than sit in his basement and respond to random guys who feel that they are important enough to contact him, but I digress. He reached one of Steve’s minions who seemed extremely concerned about the issue and even offered him a free iPod in exchange for his soul.
This is pretty cool on Apple’s side considering that lately they haven’t been doing a lot of nice things for their customers. What with locking them out of their own hardware and all.
The office of Steve Jobs called me today…
The irony here is extraordinary, check out this pic captured just moments after a giant Razr 2 crashed through a Benz on a busy corner in Moscow. Looks like Putin didn’t see this coming when he began enforcing strict cellphone use laws. We have to admit the marketing here turned out awesome, who wouldn’t want a car crushing phone?
For those of you who haven’t figured it out yet, this is a marketing stunt. Don’t feel bad though I had it confused at first too.
RAZR 2 cuts off the mighty Merc [TechTicker]
So apparently there is a new clause in the AT&T terms of service which says that they have the right to shut down your interwebz if you complain about the service or billing publicly. Now, we would usually discourage anyone from trying to anger a conglomerate with lots of money and legal resources. But this is just ridiculous, folks. Go out and vBlog about them sucking to your hearts content.
They don’t really go into details other than that you aren’t allowed to do anything which would damage the already excellent reputation of AT&T.
Update: My deepest apologies for misspelling a word, sorry for any confusion and/or pandemonium it may have caused. The necessary changes have been made thanks to the dedicated community we have established here at CrunchGear. Please feel free to correct any other mistakes you may have found. Or not.
AT&T T.O.S via [BoingBoing]
So here we are, entering the fall of another year. This is the time, traditionally, when we prepare our brains to be assaulted by hundreds of ads for electronics (as well as less important stuff) that will be available at low, low prices in just a few months, in time for the holiday shopping season.
There will be specials on iPhones, Centros, Oceans, and other high-end cellphones that will, with time, become mid-range. That is the color of it, the way that it works. What is shiny and new and bright today may, no, will become the stuff of landfills and junk drawers tomorrow. What is sad is the emotionless way in which this happens, top-of-the-line technology that is loved and cherished for but a few months, a couple years at the most, is discarded as if it meant nothing.
So I’m suggesting that you, the reader, join me, the writer, as I look back at some of the hardware I’ve owned and thrown aside for the next big thing. I feel guilty for my sins, let this be my crucible. Today, we’re going to revisit my cellphones.
Read More
If someone says something feels good in their hands one more time, I swear my head is going to explode. Here’s a decent video walk through of the Centro’s interface. I guess it’s not that exciting, which is probably why I skipped the unveiling at Digital Life. Maybe your mom will like it.
Get ready to rock! Pricing and launch dates have been announced for Guitar Hero’s closest rival, Rock Band. The MTV and EA mashup will be available on the PS3, PS2 and Xbox 360 platforms with varying kits that include guitars, drums and mics. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions will begin shipping November 23 for $169.99 and will include the aforementioned accessories. The PS2 version, which was initially announced for 2008 will actually make it in time for the holiday rush on December 10 for $159.99. The guitars for the Sony platforms will be wireless while the 360 version will be wired. That’s a bummer.
“Rock Band” PS3/Xbox360 Price Set, PS2 Release Moved Up To 2007 [MTV Multiplayer]
Do all the varying memory cards require you to travel with tons of readers and cables? Not every USB card reader supports all the cards you have either, right? I feel your pain and so does Elecom, which is why they’ve introduced the MR-C12 USB 2.0 card reader. It comes in a tidy package with a flipup lid that stores your SDHC, SD, MMC, xD, and Memory Stick MagicGate/Pro/Duo cards. It starts shipping October 20th for $28.13 and will be available in black, red, blue and white.
Product Page
This is a neat present for that person in your life who seems to have been swayed into submission by pictures of the Loch Ness monster and ghostly ladies at the side of the road.
The point and shoot single-use camera adds a ghost into every picture so you don’t have to invest in film editing equipment to get that perfect shot of the Jersey devil. All the fame and fortune of being a ghost hunter is yours for only $10, Spectre Snare and Dematerializer not included.
Ghost Finder Camera via [NerdApproved]
Here’s the Sidekick Slide in action demoing the MySpace app. Videos of the LX after the jump.
Read More
Ah, acronyms. The downfall of society. It started with “lol” and now this backpack for Geniuses, Artists, and Innovators is continuing the tradition. OK, so it’s really the Booq Boa, a bag which has won multiple awards for being totally awesome but that’s beside the point.
I mean is this thing gai or what? It has a whole lot of James Bond-y features like a rain proof coating and plenty of pockets to conceal even the largest bag of whatever you are trying to smuggle into the country. Oh and it’s also good for carrying MacBook’s and MBP’s unfortunately however, this model is incompatible with PC’s. Sorry. It’s available right now for $165.
Boa backpack by Booq
Transferring numbers from your old cell phone to your new one can be a royal pain and I’m sure most of you have experienced this at some point. Sometimes you forget to backup your contact list onto your SIM before it gets tossed, which will certainly make you want to kick yourself for such a grievous mistake. Well, the Backup Pal takes all the worry out because it backs up everything on the handset as well as the SIM because sometimes your inebriated ass will even toss a SIM out or you choose to get a new number. It may or may not be compatible with your device so check out the site before you shill out the $40.
Product Page
We’ve told you about the Armani phone a few times in the past but this weeks launch of the device revealed some sweet details. The phone sports an innovative “help, I’m being taken against my will!” alarm which sends a text message to five preprogrammed numbers after the volume control is rapidly pressed four times. We suggest you choose wisely though as your room mate might not always be the person you’d entrust your life to. Said people can assess the situation and notify authorities who will then track you down via the phones GPS beacon. Just in time to collect your remains.
Mr. Armani even included an anti-theft system which texts you when a new SIM is inserted. The phone will run you a cool $760 and is apparently a very sought-after accessory.
Armani launches mobile phone with built-in ‘rape alarm’ [DailyMail]
