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When an employee tried to order a special CD-DVD of REM’s “Accelerate” for the Fred Meyer’s retail chain, he(she) mistakenly entered “LP.” Sure enough, vinyl records showed up at many of the stores. While some sent them back, others kept the 20 records and sold out the next day. Because of the good results, the chain, owned by the Kroger Co., are now selling them at 60 of its stores in the Alaska, Oregon, California, and Washington. Abbey Road tops their best-seller list. We think that is a fine idea, since we miss the sound of music on vinyl, and hope they give that employee a raise.
Read More 
| Post-Bulletin
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Xeros Washing Machine Needs Only 1 Cup Water
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Smart Home, Misc. Tech, Science,
Imagine having a washing machine that only needs one cup of water for a full wash. That may not be so far away since researchers at Leeds University in the UK are already working on it. Xeros uses thousands of 1/2cm plastic chips to absorb and hence remove dirt. When the water heats up, about 20 kilos of chips are added to the water and detergent. The chips can be used up to 100 times, about 6 month’s worth. The team is hoping to bring the prototype out to the public by 2009. The scientists say that it could save billions of gallons of water a year, not to mention how it would cut down on your electric bill.
Read More | Far East Gizmos
How about a Radio Control Beverage/Snack Float to bring the chips, dips, and brew to your pool guests or jacuzzi buds? Load the gadget with up to five drinks and some nachos and pass it to your left. The 2-part motorized float system has been safety tested so you don’t have to worry about electrocuting your guests and uses one 9-volt and 6 D batteries, not included. Pick yours up for a cool $49.99, and don’t let anyone cannonball during the festivities.
Read More | After 5
Latest Gear Live Videos
This is not your ordinary webcam. The ANEO ANWC0804 comes with three interactive games: Kungfu, Super Knight, and Funny Stair. The little guy is about 90 x 44 x 40mm and weighs 54g with a manual focus range of 5cm to infinity, a 24-bit RGB format, and a USB 1.1/2.0 interface. While the camera supports both Windows and Mac, the games will only work with MS. Brando claims that they are simplified for the kids, but we know that sometimes they are better at these things than adults. You can have your own ANEO for $33.00.
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Speck is so excited about the Apple unveiling that they have already released two models of cases for the iPhone 3G. The ToughSkin is the cover for klutzes, made of rubber and a textured pattern to keep out bumps and bruises. It will be available in July for $34.95.
The SeeThru shells are for those who want everyone to know that they own an iPhone. The cases have rubberized side strips to save from slipping, and the bottom slides off to double as a stand. Available iSpec Cases for iPhone 3Gn several colors, it will also come out next month for $29.95.
(Thanks, Jen)
Read More | Speck Products
We already introduced you to Hop-on’s disposable phone, and it seems they have done it again with their inexpensive HOP1800 series smartphones. Their 1801 features a GSM tri-band 900/1800/1900 MHz, a 2.5-inch QVGA 320 x 240 262K TFT touchscreen, and a CMOS cam with 2 Mpixels. At a size of 116 x 64 x 14mm, it also has an external Micro SD card memory slot and Midi 64 polyphonic ring tones.
By the way, we love the comment by Hop-on’s CEO Peter Michaels, “Since Apple is launching their new 3G iPhone, maybe I can talk to Steve Jobs and see if he’ll buy our $10 phone and include it as a give away in their packaging. This way, if you drop your 3G iPhone in the water, you can use the backup to call Apple for another $500 phone. They can call it the Back-up iPhone…”
Read More | Hop-On via Pocket-Lint
HP TouchSmart PC gets refreshed, unboxed
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Galleries, Home Entertainment, PC,
HP just announced their newly updated TouchSmart PC. We were able to get our hands on one a little early, and figured we’d do our obligatory unboxing gallery. When we first saw the original back at CES 2007, we thought it was a huge, clunky computer. This new design actually seems to almost one-up Apple in a way. After all, the computer has a similar profile to an iMac, and is touch sensitive - you know, hence the whole TouchSmart name.
The model we got also features a wireless keyboard and mouse, both of which operate over RF technology rather than Bluetooth, which means sync issues should be non-existent. Oh, don’t get us wrong, this computer does include Bluetooth, as well as a host of other technologies. It’s packed to the brim with the latest technology too. While we’re on the subject, might as well list it all out, right?
Well, we’ve got an Intel Core 2 Duo T5850 processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive, SuperMulti DVD burner, 802.11b/g/n support, NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS HD graphics card, and ships with Vista Home Premium 64-bit edition.
Hit up out HP TouchSmart PC unboxing gallery for the full goods.
HP TouchSmart PC unboxing
Gallery:
WWDC Keynote video 2008 now online
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Internet, Software, Videos,
We know that all this talk of the iPhone 3G has you chomping at the bit to see it in action yourself. I mean, we live blogged the keynote, and we threw up our iPhone 3G gallery, but sometimes images don’t do products justice, right? Well, you are in luck. Apple has just posted the video of the WWDC 2008 Keynote Address. Hit the link below to watch the entire thing, highlighting the iPhone 3G, App Store, MobileMe, and more.
Read More | WWDC 2008 keynote video
We’ve been waiting for it for a year, and Apple has finally delivered - the iPhone 3G was announced this morning during the WWDC 2008 keynote, to a rage of applause. Time to run down the entire feature set.
For starters, it’s an iPhone with 3G capabilities built right in. It is almost three times faster than the original iPhone even dared to be (actually, closer to 2.4x as fast). Since it’s using 3G technology, that means that you can surf the Internet, download email, and even watch video while you are on a call. Try doing that with your iPhone OldSchool. According to Apple, the iPhone 3G actually loads pages 36% faster than the Nokia N95 and Treo 750, both of which are also 3G phones. If you’re keeping track of which wireless technologies the iPhone now takes advantage of, that would be UMTS, HSDPA, GSM, WiFi, EDGE, GPS, and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR.
That’s right, we said GPS. On iPhone 3G, the Maps application takes advantage of the built-in GPS chip. So while you are driving around, or even walking around, the iPhone finds your exact location. You are representing by a pulsating blue dot right on top of the Google Maps interface. Of course, you can get turn-by-turn directions to a destination, get live traffic info, and more.
How about battery life? All this extra stuff should result in a compromise, right? Wrong. iPhone 3G features 300 hours of standby time, 8-10 hours of 2G talk time, 5 hours of 3G talk time (which is amazing), 24 hours of audio playback, and 7 hours of video playback.
As for pricing and availability, this should be the best news of all. iPhone 3G is launching at half the price of the currently available iPhone. You can pick up an 8GB iPhone 3G at launch for just $199 USD. If 16GB is more your thing, that will run you $299, down from $499, and that one is available in both black and white. The phone launches in 22 countries, including the US, on July 11. Of course, you can hit up the Apple Store online to
see more images of the phone. No pre-orders after all.
Gallery:
Live blogging the WWDC 2008 Steve Jobs Keynote
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds, Internet, PC / Laptop,
In just about five minutes, Steve Jobs will be taking the stage to give his WWDC 2008 keynote. We are monitoring all the news, and will be bringing you updates on everything going on, live, as it happens on stage. In case you’ve been summering in Antarctica, we are expecting the new 3G iPhone to be launched (and not expecting it to be as radical as others think it will be - no front-facing camera, no iChat video chat - just some 3G and GPS goodness), Snow Leopard should be given out to developers to take home with them in anticipation of the launch of OS X 10.6 at MacWorld 2009, and the new .Mac replacement we’ve all been hearing about, Mobile Me, should be announced and shown off to the masses.
Well, it’s just about time. Let’s get started…
Click to continue reading Live blogging the WWDC 2008 Steve Jobs Keynote
