Just imagine you can get a TiVo for 50 bucks (saving $200)! Yup, it’s true. This is a Series 2 dual-tuner DVR. You do have to purchase a plan to get it at that price, but honestly, TiVo’s are a bit crippled without the plans.
Naturally, this isn’t going to last forever, so get there before Oct 23, 2007 when this deal expires.
iRobot’s latest additions to its home robot lineup, the Looj, cleans your gutters. All you need to do is stick the Looj into your gutter, and then use the remote to move it back and forth to clean out your gutter, then you can hose it off.
Ok, so you don’t necessarily need to buy the Looj, but you do need to clean your gutters! They get clogged with leaves and dirt and debris, and then eventually water where they can be a breeding ground for all kinds of bugs, including mosquitoes. Now the advantage of using something like the Looj is that you no longer have to balance on your ladder or crouch dangerously on your roof while you clean out those horrible, but necessary attachments to your house.
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $169.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)
Hmm… perhaps Sony isn’t so screwed after all. 250k units moved in four days is pretty respectable. They sold just over that amount of the original PSP in Japan in all of July and August.
Good for them. I hardly want to see Sony go away. I feel that they’ve historically contributed significantly to the CE industry and that they probably still have a lot of cool stuff left in them. Wasn’t that long ago that I didn’t consider anything but a Sony TV. Hell, I have one sitting in my living room that refuses to die (so I can go out and get a huge ass LCoS, of course!)
via theglobeandmail.com.
Sling Media has just announced the latest addition to their product lineup, the Slingbox SOLO (pictured above). The SOLO is positioned between the Slingbox AV and the Slingbox Pro, and will have a retail price of $179.99. Already HD compliant, the SOLO is the box for you if you only have 1 input that you wish to ’sling’.
Helios Labs announced the introduction of their newest product called Helios Odyssey. The Odyssey is a networking media hub capable of streaming content to multiple X-Line players as well as any UPnP-enabled devices. The Odyssey supports up to 1 TB storage capacity, features a fan-less, and passive cooling design.
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Fellow gadget blog, Switched.com has put together a nice collection of videos (courtesy of YouTube) dating back to the late 70s of ads featuring big-name celebrities hawking PCs and video games from the likes of Atari, Apple, IBM, etc. Here is one for the Atari 800XL featuring Alan Alda.
Ah, I miss my old Atari 800…
via Switched.com.
If you’re concerned about people walking up to your desktop or laptop, plugging in a USB thumbdrive and walking away with your precious data, then pick up one of these USB Security Locks for $10 and lock your USB ports up. This USB thumbdrive-sized device has 4 metal blockers which can only be installed and removed with this tool. Once the metal blocker is physically in place in your USB port, you can’t plug in any USB device into the port
Don’t fool around with your data security any more.
Price: $9.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)
EchoStar Communications announced that they have agreed to acquire Sling Media, Inc., makers of the Slingbox and SlingPlayer, for $380 million, payble in cash and EchoStar options. Sling will became a full part of EchoStar in the 4th quarter of 2007.
It will be interesting to see how DISH integrates Sling’s hardware and software offerings into their existing lineups. While DISH already offers DVR capabilities (time-shifting) in their products, they don’t offer the place-shifting functions that Sling brings to the table. Hopefully, this will not mean that they work place-shifting out of the market, as Sling has really done a bang-up job in bringing the first generation of such devices to the market.
Nokia 6301, the first Nokia phone that supports UMA technology (Unlicensed Mobile Access), was unearthed by Nokia. The built-in UMA technology offers users seamless voice and data mobility across typical GSM wireless network and also WLAN (Wi-Fi networks) networks. One of the application for this technology is Nokia 6301 users would be able to get excellent reception in areas that where mobile phone reception has previously been poor.
Other than amazing UMA technology, the Nokia 6301 is also packed with decent features and specifications such as 2.0-MP digital camera with 8x zoom, MP3 player, Stereo Virtual FM radio, Video Player, and a 2-inch QVGA screen. With all these features packed into one single unit, the Nokia 6301 weights barely 3.3 oz (93.6 g) and measures 4.2″ x 1.7″ x 0.5″.
The 6301 will be on sales beginning the fourth quarter of 2007 with an estimated retail price of 230 euros and Orange is the lucky carrier to be the first to offer the 6301 phone in Europe. We expect the actual retail price will be much lower than the estimate retail price as Orange will give subsidies for new customers who are willing to sign up for years long contracts.
Apple has decided to stop new iPods (like the new Nanos and the Touch) from working with media players other than iTunes. In particular, this really affects Linux users as there is no version of iTunes for the Linux OS.
What the hell Apple? I don’t get it. Why would you cut off a whole swatch of your userbase like that? Given that iTunes is a freely downloadable application, it’s not like you’re getting additional income from cornering people into buying it. But wait… you do make money from the iTunes store, and you probably drive a lot of people there just by having them use iTunes. *sigh* Look, the way around that is to develop a version of iTunes for Linux! Although I question how effective that would be as I feel that Linux users are in general more savvy than the typical Windows or Mac user, given that they need to learn a bit about their OS to use it well, even more so if they have to find some other media app to hook up their iPod.
