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Windows XP on OLPC XO Now Official [XP On OLPC]

Microsoft has officially announced that Windows XP is coming to the OLPC XO with trial runs beginning as early as June. The operating system has been specially modified to run on the computer and support its ebook reading mode, writing pad and camera. And according to the press release, the plan is to have both Windows and Linux running on the machines, to let users decide what's best. [Microsoft]

Singapore Airlines Flights Get iPhone/iPod Docks and 15.4-inch LCDs [Singapore Airlines]

Singapore Airlines is installing iPod docks and 15.4-inch widescreen LCDs in their all-Business Class Airbus A340-500 flights between NY/LA and Singapore, ensuring that we're going to be flying with them if we ever have to travel to that part of the world. Each business customer can dock their iPhone or iPod and watch their own movies on the included noise-canceling headphones—which will be interrupting when the captain wants tell you to look off to your left so you can see a drunken Superman mooning your plane. Flights from Newark with this will start May 15 (today), and August for the LA ones. Maybe now business passengers won't engage in business time whilst in the air.

First Spyshots of the Palm Treo 800w [Palm Treo 800w]

Remember that rumored mockup of the Palm Skywriter we showed you last week? Yeah, this spyshot (courtesy of aliased citizen Shadowmite) of the finished Treo 800w shows the prototype was pretty spot on with the button layout of this WinMo phone. While unconfirmed, the 800w is expected to run WinMo 6.1 on a 400 MHz processor with 128 MB of RAM and have 256 MB of flash memory. It's also rumored to introduce a few firsts for the Palm brand — namely EVDO Rev.A, GPS, and Wi-Fi.

Shadowmite also says it has a micro USB connection, which brings Palm out from the proprietary connector rock. It may be incremental, but it's good to see Palm playing a bit of catchup with the smartphone heavyweights. [Shadowmite via Palm Infocenter]

Work For Gizmodo: Asia/Australia Editor Wanted [Announcements]

Hey you! Want to work for Gizmodo? We're still looking for an editor in Australia, Asia (Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, India, etc.) or somewhere in the general region to work for us. We're still going through applications from our first call for submissions, so even if we turn you down expect an email back telling you so.

Blogging/Journalism experience is preferred, but not entirely required. You just need to possess a passion for both gadgets and writing, and have more than a cursory knowledge of both. That means your English needs to be GOOD. And if not good, then t the very least as lousy as ours.

Send emails to jchen@gizmodo.com with the subject "Asia/Australia Editor" with either three sample posts done in Gizmodo style (seriously, follow the template we have laid out), or a link to your current blog. Take your time with these so they best represent your writing ability. Also attach your resume and some information about yourself. It's a full-time gig, and you will be posting during normal hours (Asia/Australia's normal hours). Yes, you will be paid. It's a real job, even if we're in our underwear most of the time.

John Mayer Cheats On Apple With Blackberry Bold [Apple?]

Jesús has been doing a rash of John Mayer / Apple stories lately, for I don't really know what reason, but you guys seem to care about it a lot more than I do. Here's another: a Blackberry Bold, which is an interesting sign in terms of taste making and trendsetting by the guy who usually chooses all things Apple.

John's close to Cupertino, gets things like the Macbook Air early and has played the closing music at a keynote. So I wonder what they think about his latest blog post and I wonder if this is a good sign for the Bold. (Blackberry has more or less banned all blogs from their media plans, so I still haven't had enough exposure to tell you what I think, but maybe John will write a song or something in his next album.) God, I can't believe I just wrote this post. [Honeyee]

Question of the Day: What Do You Use To Record Your TV Shows? [Question Of The Day]

The news that TiVo has brought back lifetime subscriptions got me thinking about how many people subscribe to TiVo versus going with a cable DVR or a PC-based method. In my opinion, it doesn't really matter as long as I don't have to sit through LOST with a commercial break popping up every 5 minutes. So, the question is, what do you use to record your favorite TV shows?

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

The Slingshot Gets an Upgrade [Design]

Sometimes, you just want to take somebody's eye out and you don't have a BB gun on hand. In those cases, you've gotta turn to your trusty slingshot. This Ringshot concept by Shira Nahon, part of the H.I.T (Holon Institute of Technology) Industrial Design department's "Next Exit" Exhibition in Tel Aviv, Israel, puts a fresh spin on Dennis the Menace's weapon of choice. Just imagine, friends: what if we took all the guns away from all the world's armies? Just think about it. [Flickr via Notcot]

iPod, Sony Ericsson Phones Appear in Metal Gear Solid 4; No Xbox 360s to be Found [Gaming]

This is… weird. Apparently, in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4 (never heard of it), you can have a fifth-gen iPod in your inventory for some reason. Also, there appears to be a girl using a Sony Ericsson W62S flip phone as well. I'm hoping you can kill guards by jamming the iPod into their throats, but I'm not holding out hope. Hit the jump for a couple more screenshots of the sweet, sweet product placement in action.

[Cell Passion and iLounge via Engadget]

Pick Headphones Straight From the Tree: It's Even Weirder Than It Sounds [Gadgets]

For artist Alex Metcalf, the inner workings of trees has been a lifelong obsession. So, after he graduated from design school he utilized his artistic skills to create the "Tree Listening Installation"—a project designed to educate the public about what happens inside a tree. The system he created allows visitors to listen to a live performance of a tree sucking up nutrients using either a simple metal cone that looks like an old-timey hearing aid, or a set of headphones linked to a specially designed solar powered sensor placed on the tree.

Using these devices, visitors are treated to a clicking sound indicating water being pulled up from the roots to the leaves through the xylem tube. If this sounds like some weird hippie crap to you, I definitely hear that. However, I can appreciate Metcalf's unique artistic approach. Plus, it does represent an interesting way to fuse nature and technology. The Tree Listening Installation is currently on exhibit at the Royal Botanical Gardens just outside of London. [Alex Metcalf via Oddinstrument via Coolbuzz]

Crowd-Source Design Site Kluster Launches Digg Competitor Called Knewsroom [Crowd Sourcing]

What the hell does a product-design site like Kluster have in common with a community-filtered news service like Digg? They both use vibrant communities of enthusiastic—and perhaps overly opinionated—people to make decisions. Kluster, only in its infancy, decided to put its main design service on hold, and use its crowd power to publish a daily newspaper from its new service, Knewsroom.

Knewsroom works like this: Members submit story ideas, which can be as basic as "Apple Introduces 3G iPhone." Then, people find stories around the web that they like, maybe one from Giz, one from Engadget and another from, let's say, Ars Technica. Readers vote on the stories they like, but if someone doesn't like any, they are free to write their own, possibly combining those three sources for a better overall story. (As if.) The final product is a daily Knewspaper that runs only the biggest crowd pleasers, and the Knewsroom writer, if one is selected, gets paid for services rendered.

You may say, "That doesn't sound like Digg," and in truth, this once-per-day concept isn't very Digg-like. But if you belong to the community, you'll be seeing the popular stories rise and fall day in and day out, just like they do on Digg. Then, people with less time or maybe just better perspective will hit the daily site, to see what the top stories are and then get on with their actual bona fide lives.

The funny thing is, this all came from a guy who wanted to use the collaboration to create gadgets. Ben Kaufman—who at 21 is so much younger than me it's embarrassing—has already sold one company that was successful at doing just this: it was called Mophie, and now it's a part of mStation, an exotic iPod accessory product maker.

Ben wanted Kluster to be an expanded Mophie, a place where companies could go to find design inspiration for whatever they were trying to build—iPod docks, sunglasses, board games, you name it. It worked almost like a massive sim game—you bet on various ideas at various stages of development, and if your idea wins, you get a piece of the bounty offered by the client companies. That's right, you got real money.

The downsides were that the companies who most liked the service wanted it on their own terms, and a site with a broad mission to design anything and everything with a massive, nebulous volunteer workforce was hard to manage. As a result, Kluster pulled down its initial infrastructure, and is in the process of building mini Klusters for companies. It will also launch specific Kluster "labs" for specific product categories. Ben thinks a more focused studio breeds better and faster decisions.

It's all pretty crazy, and I don't blame you if it's hard to follow along. But what's important is that you go there, because shit, someone's got to start submitting those Gizmodo stories, and if it's not you, then who, baby, who? [Knewsroom]

Alltel Picks LTE for 4G Mobile Broadband [Alltel]

While Alltel isn't exactly the biggest fish in the carrier pond, its decision to use LTE for its upcoming 4G mobile broadband network further cements LTE's status as the dominant 4G tech. It's the third carrier in the US after Verizon and AT&T; to go for LTE (Sprint is going the WiMax route, but we can assume T-Mobile will go LTE as well.) Like Verizon, Alltel's current network is CDMA, so it'll have to perform some behind-the-curtains magic to make everything flow smoothly once its post-2009 rollout begins, since LTE is a GSM technology. (If none of this made sense, here's a handy guide to mobile mumbo-jumbo.) [Electronista]

Analyst Predicts $750 Million Worth of Kindle Sales by 2010 [Cash Dollaz]

It looks like Amazon's foray into the world of gadget making is going to be a profitable one indeed: CitiGroup analyst Mark Mahaney claims that in less than two years, the e-book reader is going to pull in a whopping $750 million. For those of you keeping track at home, that's a shitload of money.

The figure is based on calculations assuming that sales will grow from 189,000 by the end of this year to a whopping 2.2 million in a couple of years, when the price of the device should be below $300. And while there are doubters out there and people who really, really don't want to give up real books for e-books (myself included), you can't really argue with the natural progression from physical media to digital that e-books represent. And with Amazon offering up the largest catalog of e-books around from a store that most people are already familiar with and trust, it makes sense that the Kindle will be the iPod of digital books. Ka-ching. [CNET]

Comcast Blocks BitTorrent Traffic 24 Hours a Day [Comcast]

One of Comcast's main defenses of their BitTorrent blocking is to make sure the network isn't congested for other users during peak hours. This study done by the Max Planck Institute in Germany calls BS on that excuse by pointing out the fact that Comcast blocks torrents 24 hours a day, not just during peak hours. Not only that, they block every single day of the week as well, making sure that your uploads are minimal at best, killing your ratios on torrent sites. It's definitely not surgical blocking as they told us before.

Speaking of Comcast, my Comcast internet is down for the second time in as many days. This has nothing to do with BitTorrent blockage, but I just felt like I had to share. [MPI-SWS via Crunchgear]

Folding "Notebook" Grill (For Mobile Meat) [Summer Tech]

Even small BBQ grills can be awkward to lug to a tailgate, but this Notebook Portable Flat-Folding BBQ is just about as simple as carrying a meat-charring incinerator can be. Priced at around $40, the Notebook BBQ can fold up when not in use, leaving your friend who agreed to carry the charcoal SOL. Once we learned how long the grill needed to cool to a holdable temperature, we could bust this thing out on a whim to spite those damned vegetarian sunbathers. Then, once the testosterone wore off, we'd apologize for ruining their otherwise perfectly lovely afternoon. [Gadget Shop via Coolest Gadgets]

Sprint Says WiMax Is Officially Awesome, Ready for Service [WiMax]

So, Sprint's announcing that Sprint's WiMax network has officially passed Sprint's own tests for being ready for commercial service (and awesomeness). The criteria included overall and handoff performance, as well as handoff delay, with (semi) real-world testing going down in the Baltimore and DC-area networks. That's great, if it actually means the ball is finally rolling. But color us a believer when we can actually jump on to play with it. Witness WiMax's readiness in the press release below.

Sprint and Samsung Declare Mobile WiMAX Technology Is Now Ready for Commercial Service Samsung's Mobile WiMAX infrastructure and devices pass Sprint's rigorous commercial acceptance criteria with flying colors Herndon, Va. - May 15, 2008 - Sprint (NYSE: S) and Samsung Electronics Corporation Ltd. announced today that a new broadband wireless network offering the speed and mobility of WiMAX has met Sprint's rigorous commercial acceptance criteria including overall performance, handoff performance and handoff delay. This key technical milestone has been passed after extensive evaluation both in the XOHMTM lab environment and with the commercial service network being built in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area. Sprint plans on launching commercial WiMAX service in those cities later this year. Samsung has been working with Sprint in the United States to test and build Sprint's XOHM mobile broadband Internet service compliant to the mobile WiMAX standard. Since finalizing a supply agreement in 2007, the two companies have steadily made progress on the extensive project with previous key milestones including first data session in the lab (June 2007), first data session on the live network (October 2007) and successful interoperability testing with multiple other device vendors (April 2008). "This is a major step towards launch readiness and Sprint is extremely pleased with the performance of the mobile WiMAX network and access devices from Samsung," said BarryWest, XOHM president. "The collaboration with Samsung and our other partners has created a WiMAX ecosystem that has now proven that it can deliver this new technology to the marketplace well ahead of any feasible alternative." Last month, Samsung announced the introduction of several WiMAX-enabled devices. The Express Card (E100 PC Card) and WiMAX embedded UMPC (Q1 Ultra Premium Mobile PC) underscore Samsung's position as the leading provider of end-to-end mobile WiMAX network systems. With the technology proven to be ready, the Samsung mobile WiMAX systems being deployed for Sprint in Baltimore and Washington D.C. support the commercial introduction of XOHM service anticipated to begin later this year. "The wireless subscribers in the United States are ready to step up to the next level of a truly broadband wireless network that surpasses the performance of existing wireless networks today," said Dr. Hwan Chung, senior vice president of Samsung Telecommunications America. "Sprint's acceptance of Samsung's WiMAX technology shows Samsung's strong commitment to meet our customers' needs for the most reliable, seamless, and fastest wireless network. Samsung's mobile WiMAX expertise will help Sprint answer the mobile broadband needs of U.S.wireless subscribers." he added. Samsung is the global leader in delivering mobile WiMAX technologies and offers an end-to-end solution including chipsets, infrastructure, mobile devices and consumer electronics, including devices capable of accessing both mobile WiMAX and other wireless technologies. The XOHM business unit within Sprint specifically focuses on developing the WiMAX ecosystem and standards to bring the latest broadband wireless technology to the U.S. marketplace. Sprint is utilizing the significant spectrum holdings at 2.5 GHz that were combined in the Sprint Nextel merger to deploy mobile WiMAX technology from Samsung and other vendors.

How to Disarm Violent Audio Explosions on Beefy Surround Systems [Home Entertainment]

So, you dropped all of this money on a home theater system only to have it burst your eardrums, break your dishes and create a shockwave that can be felt 100 miles away whenever Bruce Willis blows up a helicopter with a police car. For some, this can be a good thing. After all, if you have a system with a dynamic range of sound you might as well get what you paid for. However, if you live in an apartment or quiet neighborhood you may want to check out a handy how-to guide on diffusing "big audio dynamite" (wasn't that a band?) put together by the guys at Sound & Vision.

The guide covers everything from making channel adjustments to positioning your equipment to reduce the effect of big bursts of sound. For the home entertainment aficionado, this advice may be old hat—but may prove extremely helpful for the novices out there. For more info, hit the following link. [Sound & Vision]

EchoStar Sling Modem Finally Official [Sling Modem]

The Sling Modem cable modem + Slingbox device we saw back in January is finally launching. The first network to carry it is EchoStar, which has a really tight relationship with Sling seeing as it purchased them last fall. With this, you'll be able to use the same box for your cable internet to surf and stream video to your portable devices. We're always happy when we can make two gadgets into one.

Spreadable Electronics: OLEDs and Solar Cells Sprayed From a Can [Displays]

Imagine being able to dip a brush into a bucket or spray a wall with paint and have an instant OLED screen or solar panel. The term "far-fetched" comes to mind, but according to Mitsubishi Chemical and Sumitomo Chemical, this is a very real possibility. The companies are currently working together on two different versions of a "molecular soup" that can be applied to a surface and dried to a thickness of 100nm—creating either a solar cell or OLED screen in the process.

Plus, the solar charging properties of the compounds means that there would be no need for a traditional power source. When applied to a surface, the OLED screen could run under the power that it generates for an indefinite amount of time. It could even be applied to the back of cellphones to provide a constant charge. Again, this sort of technology seems seriously out there, but the researchers believe that they can have a working prototype up and running within two years. I'll believe it when I see it. [Tech Radar via OLED-info]

AOL Desktop 1.0 Comes to Mac [Software]

Things I'd do before installing AOL Desktop software onto my Mac:

1. Eat a live cockroach.
2. Get a Darth Maul facial tattoo.
3. Start running.
4. Date any of the contestants from The Bachelor.

For those who have already completed alternatives 1-4, feel free to hit the jump to scope the details.

Speed Installs in seconds and launches fast — so you can begin browsing immediately, without signing in. The new browser has been completely rebuilt to allow for maximum compatibility and quicker page loading.

Tabbed IM and Browser
Tabs on the browser and instant messages give you easy access and an uncluttered, organized view for all of your windows. AOL Desktop for Mac — Your Online Life Organized.

Custom Toolbar
Keep your favorite AOL sites right at your fingertips. You can select from more than 25 different AOL channels and features to add to your AOL toolbar. Want to add a "Write Mail" icon to your toolbar? No problem!

Easy Transition
New functionality allows for fast, easy transfer of your AOL Favorites and mail (from AOL for Mac OS X personal filing cabinets) plus icon tooltips, a new AOL Support Portal for Mac and the Mac@AOL product blog to guide you through all the cool new features.

Tiger and Leopard Compatible
AOL Desktop for Mac runs natively on your PowerPC or Intel-based Mac. The all-new AOL application runs at full speed on any Mac that supports Tiger or Leopard (Mac OS X 10.4.8 or higher).

System Requirements
PowerPC G4 or Intel Macintosh (minimum)
Mac OS X 10.4.8 or higher
Minimum of 256MB of physical RAM
Minimum of 60MB of available hard disk space
28.8 Kbps or faster modem/existing Internet connection

Media Center's Do Not Record Broadcast Flag Is Still Alive [Media Center]

Recently, some Windows Media Center owners were blocked from recording American Gladiators and Medium because of an incorrectly set broadcast flag from NBC. What's the deal here? The broadcasters (NBC, ABC, HBO) can turn on a flag in their data stream that tells whatever DVR machine on your end that it's NOT alright to record a show, protecting Pay-Per-View or premium channel content from being archived. This has actually been around for years.

Microsoft's had this ability in Media Center to prevent specific shows from being recorded for a while, and the last time there was an error was a few years back during an episode of the Simpsons. It's not something broadcasters usually do. This also isn't a unique thing to Microsoft—TiVo has something similar but not quite as severe—it does illustrate the fact that if the providers wanted to, they could shut down your Media Center DVR right now and you couldn't do much about it. [JustinJas via Ars Technica]

Lightning Review: Sierra Wireless 597 Slim EVDO Card [Sierra Wireless 597 EVDO Card]

The Gadget: Sierra Wireless' Compass 597 offers the same 3G mobile broadband as its 595u counterpart, but in a much smaller package.

Price: $50 (w/ two-year activation and current Sprint web special — $250 normally)

The Verdict: Like other cards in the Sierra Wireless line, the 597 has a microSD reader, GPS, and 3G data speeds. But the two things worth focusing on are the size and software package. It's about half the size (in length and thickness) than the Sierra 595u, making it easy to carry around and set up. It doesn't fold up like the 595u, but it's unobtrusive enough that it doesn't really matter. It also has a soft orange glow coming from a light at the top, which could either be nice or annoying depending on preference.

The Sprint software works on Mac and PC, and is really worth using on the go. It allows you to tap into the GPS function to display current position, search for streets and locations or display the rate at which your moving. And it shows reception strength in decibels.

Speaking of reception, the 597 antenna is as good as any of the other Sierra products, though we haven't been able to compare reception to the similar Novatel U727 card. The 597 also sacrifices an independent battery pack in exchange for its small form factor, meaning it will likely drain your laptop battery quicker than other Sierra cards with battery packs. But all in all, The Compass 597 is a solid mobile broadband choice. [Sprint]

Fujitsu U2010 Packs An Atom, Too [UMPCs]

The Intel Atom-based UMPCs are finally rolling out, but not all of them are as inexpensive as we'd hoped. Fujitsu—never known for their budget systems—has announced their latest UMPC featuring a 5.6-inch rotating (touchscreen?), "3.5G" wireless and GPS. The catch? It's $1,300 in Taiwan. Even with the extras and the Fujitsu name, that's just way more than we want to spend on a 5.6-inch lappie with that feature set. Then again, at 1.3lbs, it's about a pound lighter than the original Eee. And that counts for something. [Digitimes via CrunchGear]

Giz Explains LCD TV Basics [Giz Explains]

If you guessed that Giz Explains Plasma TV was just the first of several TV-technology explainers, you were right. Congratulations! You win... this week's installment: Giz Explains LCD TVs. The little panels are in your phone, on your desk and maybe you're looking at one for your home theater too. Here's the quick and dirty basics.

Alright, so LCD stands for liquid crystal display. (Again, we're keeping this kind of simple, for simplicity's sake.) Basically, the liquid crystal part is a gel that sits in front of a backlight or—in the case of older panels such as those found in Game Boys up till like 2003—a reflective panel. (Remember those crappy lighting accessories?) The gel is divided up into a bunch of separate pixels, which can be fired individually. Color LCDs are a bit more complicated, made up of red, blue and green subpixels which combine to create pixels with the full range of color. To throw one more bit of tech at ya, most LCDs at this point are thin-film transistor LCDs, so that the control layer is embedded within the panel itself instead of off to the side. This provides better image stability and other benefits.

One of the problems with LCDs, and why plasma has an advantage in showing blacks, is that the liquid crystal layer is not opaque, even when all of the pixels are closed. On most LCDs, the bright backlight is on when the TV is on, so that will always bleed through at least a bit. LED-backlit LCDs can light up just a part of the panel instead of the whole thing, to an extent minimizing the problem.

Besides the "dynamic" backlighting described above, LCD technology is constantly improving its contrast through various crazier schemes involving pixel twisting and other light-blocking techniques.

The other notorious LCD problem is moton blur. If you've been buying LCD monitors for the past few years, you'll notice that advertised response times have dropped precipitously, down to as little as 2ms on some gamer-friendly computer monitors, and 6ms on big ol' TVs, so there's less true blurring of the picture. LCDs can also reduce motion blur further by processing the image: High-end LCDs use 120Hz technology to essentially double the framerate of source video, tricking the eye into seeing less blur.

Some 120Hz LCDs achieve this by tossing in a black frame of "downtime," but other sets morph two frames into a third, middle image that sits somewhere between the original frame and the next. As you might suspect, this can result in a weird, uncanny super silkiness that some reviewers object to.

Other reasons home theater buffs pick plasma over LCD in serious showdowns are that LCD naturally produces a less uniform picture and can't be seen as well (in color or brightness or both) from wide angles. LCDs can produce great pictures, and will keep getting better (LED backlights FTW), but in sets 42 inches and above, it just can't quite touch plasma, despite the fact that its cheaper pricer point has given it an overwhelming marketshare on the HDTV front.

Sony, which pushes Bravia LCD and hasn't sold plasma sets in years, is sending signals that it will soon focus on OLED instead. OLED pretty much makes both LCD and plasma look sad. They still cost a billion dollars and are a few years away, but the day of the OLED will come. [Giz Explains]

Electric Implant Device Could Do Away With Gastric Bypass [Fat Buster]

Thanks to the research team at EnteroMedics, there may be new hope in our quest to lose weight while avoiding regular physical activity and a healthy diet. The device they have come up with is implanted just under the skin and uses electrical signals to block the vagus nerve—which controls how the stomach expands when we eat. Naturally, if the stomach doesn't expand, that would mean that the user would feel full much faster than normal. It also reduces our craving for food in general.

Research conducted with nine patients fitted with the implant revealed that the average caloric intake went down by about 500 calories a day and the average weight loss over nine months was equivalent to 30% of the excess body weight. Those numbers pale in comparison to what gastric bypass can deliver, but the risk involved with the procedure is drastically reduced—so much so that it may be appropriate for individuals who do not fit into the "morbidly obese" category. Testing is expected to continue in the US and Australia with 300 more patients in the coming months. [Technology Review via DVICE]

Atari's Family Trainer Is Wii Fit Meets NES Power Pad Meets DDR [Family Trainer]

Atari isn't going to let Nintendo hog all the video game fitness money, as evidenced by the announcement of Family Trainer for the Wii. It's pretty similar to Wii Fit in that people stand on it and do activities, but it doesn't weigh you and actually has pads for you to jump or step on. No price yet, but is there enough room in your house for both this and the Wii Fit? How many more photoshoots of Japanese people jumping around their living rooms are we going to get in this console generation? [Reg Hardware]

Buy "Something" For $10 [Retailers]

"A boat's a boat, but the mystery box could be anything. IT COULD EVEN BE A BOAT! You know how much we wanted one of those." - Peter Griffin

For $10 with free shipping, you can buy "something" at somethingstore. You won't know what it is until you open it, but it's most probably new, and possibly a gadget or electronic equipment. Then again, the site explains that "you can be a 25-year-old man and your something maybe [sic] a white tank top embroidered with a pink heart." Still, way more fun than a gift card. [somethingstore via neatorama]

The Butt Station: Crap by Name, Crap by Nature [Desk Tidy]

Basically a desk tidy, the Butt Station, as it has been tastefully named, stores your business cards, sticky tape, pens and pencils, and has a little compartment for paperclips, in the toilet bowl. Lift up the little man and the clips will come out attached to said little man's bottom. It's classy, it's assy, and I think I'll pass(y). [Urban Outfitters via Bem Legaus]

These Prius Solar Panels Should Come Standard [Cars]

While the Prius is more practical than high efficiency solar vehicles, why not add some solar to the Prius anyway? This solar kit from SEV seamlessly installs onto a Prius' roof and claims to add up to 20 miles per day of electric mode driving/increase fuel economy up to 29%. Compatible with Prius models from 2004-06, I'm enough of a cynic that I figure if the installation worked that well, the panels would have come standard in the first place (though we've heard that they are under consideration for next gen models). Then again, the 2-3 year "break even" scenario that SEV pitches on their website may have something to do with it. [SEV via Jalopnik]

NYU Student Creates Virtual Girlfriend—Shame She's Only 2D [Nyu]

Created with lonely people in mind, Drew Burrows' INBED is an "infrared-sensitive" light projected virtual girlfriend. A sexy brunette, she's got about three tricks up her sleeve—and she does all of them from a supine position.

Kiss her on the cheek when you slide into bed and she'll bury her face in the pillow. Hmmm, that sounds wrong. She moves into a spoon position if you're on your side, and snuggles up beside you when you're on your back. Cute.

There are, however, two drawbacks to Drew's invention, which he was showing off at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program Spring Show at Tisch School of the Arts: first, she's only 2D, and second, she's fully clothed. Some guys may want to wait for version 2.0. [New York Magazine]

What Went Wrong With the First TV Remotes [Retromodo]

Zenith pioneered the TV remote control, but those early models were more drag than advantage. Electronic House has a full walk down remote-control memory lane, but first, here's a quick Retromodo look at Zenith's first three creative attempts—and what was tragically wrong with them:

Lazy Bones (1950) - According to Electronic House, it was the world's first commercially available TV remote control. It could only flip through channels by triggering a motorized knob. Needless to say, its secondary skill as a tripwire caused problems in the living room.

Flash-Matic (1955) - Billed as "absolutely harmless to humans," this focused flashlight could be aimed at one of four light sensors on the TV itself, in order to turn TV on or off, change channel or adjust volume. But like Gyration mice and other gestural devices of today, it was a challenge because people forgot where and how to point the thing to activate each function. Also, sunlight really played havoc with the sensors.

Space Command (1956) - A much better system than Flash-Matic and as comfortable as a pack of Benson & Hedges in the hand, the Space Command used ultrasound—ingeniously generated without batteries by plungers hitting aluminum tuning forks—to change channel, turn TV on or off, and adjust volume. It did have one problem, though: Some dogs couldn't stand the noise.

Check out EH's "A History of TV Remote Controls" for the full story. [Electronic House]

Alltel Adds 1 Million Subscribers, Makes Sprint Feel Even Worse [Cellphones]

Alltel, the runt of the nationwide carriers, added 1 million customers this past quarter, totally now over 13 million subscribers. Even though the CDMA-based carrier says it operates the "largest" network, we don't actually know anyone who uses it. Still, its aggressive pricing strategies and frogdesign-based interfaces have drawn our attention. Maybe Sprint, down a million this quarter, could learn a thing or two from the upstart. (Press release after jump, if you care.)

Alltel adds one million gross wireless customers in the first quarter

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Alltel achieved record customer growth in the first quarter, adding more than 1 million gross customers for the second consecutive quarter. Net customer additions also hit a new high with a 63 percent increase year-over-year.

"We are pleased with our results across the board, and I am extremely proud of our team for staying focused in our first full quarter under new ownership," said President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Ford. "We are off to a strong start for the year, with consolidated EBITDA up 18 percent year-over-year."

Alltel completed its merger with an affiliate of TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners in November 2007 and ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Among the highlights for the first quarter:

• Revenues were $2.3 billion, an 11 percent increase from the same period a year ago. The company reported a net loss of $125 million, due primarily to significant increases in interest costs and depreciation and amortization expense following the completion of the merger.

• Alltel added just over 1 million gross customers through internal growth, a 26 percent increase from a year ago. Post-pay net additions were 163,000, up 50 percent year over- year, and pre-pay net adds were 183,000. Reseller net adds, which Alltel is including this quarter in order to be consistent with industry practice, were 39,000. Total net adds were 385,000, an all-time high.

• Post-pay churn was 1.34 percent, essentially flat year-over-year, and total churn was 1.83 percent, up 6 basis points year-over-year.

• Average revenue per wireless customer (ARPU) was $53.64, up 2 percent from last year. Data revenue per customer reached a new high of $7.50, a 60 percent increase year-over-year.

• Consolidated EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was $847 million, an 18 percent increase from the same period a year ago.

A table describing consolidated EBITDA and reconciling net income to consolidated EBITDA is included in the schedules accompanying this release.

Alltel operates America's largest wireless network, which delivers voice and advanced data services nationwide to more than 13 million customers. Headquartered in Little Rock, Ark., Alltel is a Forbes 500 company with annual revenues of nearly $9 billion.

Alltel claims the protection of the safe-harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to uncertainties that could cause actual future events and results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on estimates, projections, beliefs, and assumptions and are not guarantees of future events and results.

Spritzer Cup Shoots Slurpie Into Your Face [Summer Tech]

We know that the Spritzer Cup—a $14.95 cup with built-in face spritzer—has separate chambers for your drinks and your water. But all we can imagine is somebody filling this whole thing up with artificially red high fructose corn syrup beverage and spritzing away. The resulting mental image of eyelash stickies coupled with the distinct possibility of interested picnic ants is, quite honestly, more than our pasty homebodies can tolerate without breaking out in hives. [Solutions via bookofjoe]

Intel Denies Atomic iPhone Rumor [Apple]

Rumors about an
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">Atom-powered tablet based on the iPhone are a bit premature and overwrought, says Intel. We all jumped on it after the head of Intel Germany made some cryptic (and perhaps poorly translated) comments. He was talking about types of gadgets, not specific gadgets. Sadly, we'll probably have to wait a little longer for this particular Jobsian riff. [I4U; Apple 2.0]

What's the Oldest Piece of Technology You Still Use Today? [Photo Contest]

I'm sure many of you have ancient, obsolete gadgets kicking around your home, maybe gathering dust in the back of a closet somewhere. You know, that old Mac Plus you didn't have the heart to throw away or an old cassette Walkman in the back of a junk drawer somewhere. But how many of you still use on a regular basis a gadget that the rest of the world considers to be an antique? Do you still do your taxes on an old Tandy? Will someone have to pry your Diamond Rio from your cold, dead hands? Send us a picture! We want to see your still-in-use devices from yesteryear. Send pictures to contests@gizmodo.com with the subject line of "old tech" and I'll post a gallery of the best and most amusing submissions next week.

Sizemodo: New Jawbone vs. Old Jawbone [Sizemodo]

See, I told you it was 50% smaller! And in case you missed it, check out the full review.

Double-Lidded Jar Took Way Too Long To Exist [Design]

Why do jars only have one lid? How many mothers have—upon discovering they were running low on peanut butter while readying her three kids from school—smashed the jar against the counter and filled their children's lunches with a deadly mixture of creamed legumes and shrapnel? It's a senseless loss of healthy youth esophagus, and an even more tragic loss of perfectly good eats. In the face of record global food crisis and acid reflux commercials, it looks like the double-lidded jar showed just in time. [Sherwood Forles via DVICE and Yanko]

Man Stuff - The Best of Uncrate [Roundups]

This week at Uncrate: We test our arctic survival skills on the Iceberg Water Climber, grill up some brats Zorro-style with the BBQ Sword, and spice things up with Dave's Adjustable Heat Hot Sauce. We also protect our body art with Tattoo Goo, spend a night beneath the waves at the Poseidon Undersea Resort, and take a spin in the new Ferrari California. Finally, we go in search of better vino with Gary Vaynerchuk's 101 Wines, get handy with the Spyderco Byrdwrench Multi-Tool, and kick back with a cool glass of Wailua Wheat Beer.

Soviet T-72 Tank vs Incrudo USB Flash Drive [Tankproof]

Incrudo makes water-proof, shock-proof, scratch-proof, and apparently T-72B tank-proof USB flash drives out of pure titanium. And to prove it, the crazy Ivans pitted the key—which also has a special metal-ceramics composite on the front and back panels, as well as a real ruby that illuminates from the inside—against the legendary tank. Sure, the test is on the mud, but that's 49.1 tonnes of tank. A Soviet tank. If there's something cooler than that, I don't know what is. [Incrudo]

Nespresso Contest Winners Could Make Tasty Coffee If You Knew How to Use Them [Coffee]

Nespresso—maker of single serve pseudo-coffee machines—has announced its design contest winners. The entries range from the abstract of the winner—"Untitled," by Brice Genre and Hanika Perez, left—to the 2001-like spiffiness of the second entry—"Pearl," by Andreas Diefenbach, center—to the completely absurd but pretty, as you will see in the full gallery with 21 concepts after the jump.

[Nespresso via Single Serve Coffee]

BLUE Bowl Shines Light on Your Fruit to Stop the Rot [Fruit]

This design concept from Ahmet Bektes, Koray Gelmez & Eda Kose uses "Action Fresh Blue" technology—apparently used in "many new refrigerators"— to keep your fruit fresh. It seems that this tech is essentially a blue light, which shines down from the bowl's handle, killing bacteria. Hmmm: I'm skeptical. But at least it's rechargeable, and has a nifty blue halo all around when it's in action so your kitchen looks all 21st Century. If it really works, it might be useful if you're like me: buying a lot a fruit when on a health-kick, and then just leaving it in the bowl to go moldy. [Yanko Design]