University of Newcastle scientists have discovered that radio waves of a similar frequency to those transmitted by cell phones can damage sperm DNA in mice. The tiny mouse genitalia were exposed to electromagnetic radiation at a similar frequency, but there’s no word if the transmissions were at similar power levels, as well. Bad news for … Continued
ZDNet UK is reporting that British Telecom’s ‘Bluephone’ is almost ready to launch. The project aims to create a hybrid Bluetooth/GSM phone that can make calls using a landline when at home (using Bluetooth for cordless connection) but can make cellular calls when out of the house. Useful, perhaps, but not too useful—it’s likely calls … Continued
Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone is producing these e-paper price tags as part of a new billing system being rolled out to Japanese retails stores. Using ‘Electro Liquid Powder,’ the displays have a quicker refresh time than earlier-generation e-paper solutions and are able to be printed on a substrate just 0.12mm thick. Electronic paper for shelf … Continued
A couple of quick updates regarding the open Editorial position here at Gizmodo. We’ve gotten a ton of good submissions, so I’ll be going through them over the next few days and contacting the ones we’re interested in early next week. If you’d like to send in your applicaton, feel free to look at the … Continued
Sony has just taken the wraps off their new NW-HD5 hard disk-based music player, a tiny little thing with 20GB of storage. It weighes just 125 grams, which I’m told is less than the weight of a heavily-iced cupcake (I’m not very good with weights, you might have noticed). Sony is also promising an ample … Continued
PSP411 has more information on the South Korean PSP Wi-Fi portal, apparently to be called ‘NESPOT’ (or ‘Any Spot,’ not ‘NES POT,’ although someone will surely get an emulator working on the PSP soon enough). It’s nothing terribly unexpected, with lots of planned music and video downloads, as well as a web browser that is … Continued
Music has gone vintage-chic. Fat, bleep-y 60s- and 70s-era synthesis sounds are hot, and it’s no fad—classic electronic sounds are here to stay. Audio electronics inventor Bob Moog is now a virtual God, with a movie and soundtrack out. But maybe you can’t afford shelling out a few grand for the original, or $2000+ for … Continued
I sort of understand why this simple ‘OnTime’ digital clock is $200. It operates on only power-over-Ethernet and syncs up with any SNTP (Simple Network Time Protocol) server it can find on the network. And it’s designed to be seen from over 150 feet away, so we’re talking about something that would live in a … Continued
Smaller than the death-dealing, missle-launching UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehice) drones is the MAV—the Micro Air Vehicle. This particular model, called the Wasp, is currently being tested with the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group and weighs just seven ounces. It can be controlled from the ground (via a taut string and an 11-year-old) or can wirelessly follow … Continued
A Japanese company called “Uchida Yoko” plans on selling this “Projection Table” doohickey which employs small acrylic cubes and RFID to bring a new kind of museum experience. It may cost some 9 million yen, but hey, it’s bizarre Japanese technology. The Projection Table is for displaying contents read from RFID tags inside of the … Continued
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has announced a new storage technology allowing for a density of 230 gigabits per inch. For us consumers, this means we’ll start seeing 3.5″ hard drives with a 1TB capacity in 2007 (not too hard to believe), and Microdrives with 20GB capacities. Expect Apple’s product announcement of an “iPod mini photo … Continued
Sakakibara Kikai’s new “Land Walker” robot may look ridiculous, but it has guns. There is no word from the company on whether or not it has any ammo, but the mere fact that it has guns makes it awesome. It may look like some cheap attempt at creating a first “anime-like” robot (or “ED209-like,” if … Continued
This is a tad late, but last week, Pioneer announced the world’s first hybrid video recorder with DVD-R DL (Dual Layer) support. The “DVR-555H” has an estimated 80,000 yen price tag, comes with a 250GB hard drive, and can accept image files by way of USB for writing to DVD. Only PictBridge cameras are supported … Continued
In yet another example of Apple’s growing presence in Japan, “Apple Store Mobile” has opened for Japanese AU and NTT DoCoMo handset users. The store allows shoppers to view all iPod family products, the Mac mini and iPod accessories, then purchase them on the spot. An “Apple Store” map is also available on the site … Continued
I really like solar backpacks like the Voltaic and Eclipse, but sometimes—especially sunny, sweaty days—an over-the-shoulder bag is a better choice. Eclipse already has a model, and now it looks like Solar Style is planning to offer a 2.6 Watt bag of their own for $50. It won’t charge your laptop, of course (you probably … Continued
Syntax is preparing to launch another Olevia flat-screen LCD television, this one a 42-inch widescreen with a 1,366 by 768 pixel resolution and an 8ms response time (pretty decent, as these things go). The biggest thing, though, is that it’s Syntax’s first HDTV with a built-in ATSC and HDMI tuner, meaning it’s effectively a plug-and-play … Continued
I4U has a few details on an impressively lightweight LCD screen from Scalar Corp. that can be mounted on ordinary glasses that weighes a scant seven grams. The screen offers a simulated 14-inch screen with 180,000 pixels (roughly television resolution). It’s not terribly expensive, either, at just $460 or so. I don’t have a subscription … Continued
We’re not the only country that is still in love with the Nintendo Entertainment System. To complement the Famicom TV Remote Control (the NES was the Famicom in Japan), Banpresto is offering the Official Famicom Cashbox, a piggy bank that plays back one of four tunes when coins are inserted. https://gizmodo.com/gizmodo-japan-famicom-tv-remote-control-31866 Catalog Page [GoldenShop via … Continued
For the life of me, I can’t figure out how to configure my phone to pair with my Bluetooth headset and still ring, which means I miss a lot of calls if I’m not paying attention. The (relatively) new Jabra BT800 headset has a built-in vibrate mode that would alleviate that problem, while giving me … Continued