Have you been watching the 2008 Olympics in Beijing? Between Micheal Phelps becoming an Olympic Legend and all the other drama unfolding, this year has been very exciting. Lenovo has now released Olympic themed USB Flash Drives in all different shapes and sizes. Lenovo is the creator and designer of the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch. They have released many special edition flash drives to promote this year’s Olympics.

The most popular and my favorite is the silver and red swirled 4GB thumb drive. Made from the same materials as this year’s torch. It looks almost exactly the same except it’s ten times smaller and is not on fire. This one will run you about $142 USD.

Read the rest

All of the new features that have been added to the Apple iPhone 3G are great but wouldn’t you rather have a battery you don’t have to charge every 5 minutes? Sources say they are not sure if the battery life is any shorter on the new iPhone, but it may have to do with the faster Internet or all the new applications built in. But whatever the cause is, I have some simple tips to make your battery last a little longer, without sacrificing any of your precious web surfing time.

1. Lower the Brightness - The iPhone 3G is brighter than the original iPhone, but do your self a favor and crank it down to 10 - 20%. Go to Settings, then Brightness.

2. Turn off your Wi-fi - If you are not using your Internet constantly, turn off your wi-fi connection. Also, you should disable the new wi-fi network scanner. This will save some of your valuable power bars. I would do the same with your Bluetooth option. Go to Settings then Wi-Fi.

3. Only use 3G when you are ready - Just use EDGE when you are checking email, the weather, and other simple tasks. Turn on 3G when you are surfing, watching videos, or downloading apps. Apple should have made this happen automatically but they didn’t so try it out. Go to Settings then General then Network.

4. Don’t use vibrate when playing games - If the game allows you to turn it off, then that is one more way you can save a little juice. Most games you will not even notice when it’s off.

Read the rest

Within in the next two years, Italian company V12 Design will revolutionize the way we use our computers. If you love your brand new iPhone, you will just go bananas over this new laptop. Well it is really not a traditional laptop; it is so much more than that! V12 designed this dual LCD computer called the Canova four years ago and is closely working with a US manufacturer to develop a Canova 2.0.

The picture to the right is of the original Canova, which was designed for artist and designers. It was constructed with carbon fiber and stainless steel. It had no underlying operating system but had a electronic pen so you could use it as a sketch pad, a writing pad or even as a electronic newspaper.

Valerio Cometti, the managing director and founder of V12, said in a interview “We developed a brand-new style for the second generation. We did stretch the potential of the Canova noticeably, making it able to do things no notebook has been able to do so far…” He also said it will support multi-touch input and have a built in Microphone. Cometti stated, “Voice recognition will become a more popular and widespread feature in these dual-screen notebooks.” Another great feature will be its e-book reader, where you can just flip the page like it is a real book. Great, no more little paper cuts!

Read the rest

All new instruments are coming this summer starting June 22nd through August 1st. Mad Catz will release wired premium drums, wired guitar, wired bass, wired microphone, and a portable drum kit. This is huge for all of you Rock Band Fans out there. Mad Catz is an officially licensed 3rd party manufacture, backed by Rock Band creator, Harmonix.

First instrument to hit the shelves is the newly designed bass guitar. It is modeled after a Fender Precision bass guitar, with dual strum bars. This allows you to strum up and down simultaneously. It’s coming this Sunday, priced at $69.99.

Portable drum kit is small, with quiet drumstick and noise reducing pads. This is great for bands that love to travel and are always on the move. I’m not sure if it includes a stand or you set it on your lap. It should be in stores July 15th, priced at $49.99.

Read the rest

Making all your nerd dreams come true, finally your very own R2-D2 Radio Controlled DVD Projector. It does all things you have seen in the movies and much more. It walks, talks, and can play all of you favorite media. Movies, games, pictures, and even your whole music library. The coolest thing of all has to be the Millennium Falcon remote control. You can drive R2-D2 around, position him up or down and sit back and watch movie magic. But at a steep $2,995.00 price tag, I’m not sure if I’ll be getting one of my own any time soon.

Check out this video that highlights all of his features from Nikko America. This video is so mesmerizing you might end up blowing your whole life savings on a piece of Star Wars Nerdvana. You can buy this amazing “nerdtastic” projector at StarwarsShop.com. For some more info visit www.NikkoR2D2.com.

Read the rest

       View More Images - Click Here

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a case mod look so amazing. They managed to fit an entire NES system into an original Nintendo cartridge.

It’s journey began as a Super Mario Brothers cassette was sliced open and they transferred the original components out. Replaced by a NES on a chip (NOAC) system clone. Also added to the new mod; a power switch, a reset button, two controller inputs, a cartridge slot, and video and audio outputs. Amazing!

It takes me back to my childhood, remembering taking the game out and having to blow down the cartridge and positioning it in the slot just right. What happened to the good old days? Now it’s all High Definition 1080p mumbo jumbo.

I would like to thank Kotomi, the French modder, for this great piece of ingenuity and design. I hope to get my hands on one of these mini consoles, or build one myself.

[technabob]

The ASUS Eee PC 4G will go on sale today for £219 (including VAT).  It will be available in Pearl White and in Galaxy Black.  There will be limited stock available today in select London stores, with the unit going on sale nationwide this Wednesday.

The Eee PC is Windows XP compatible and has over 40 built-in applications. It’s not all about the software though as the 7” Eee PC is only 0.92kg with large flash-based storage capacity and built-in webcam. Snazzy!

“This delightful little computer is incredibly easy to use but at the same time is packed full of technology,” said Sean Maloney, Intel Executive VP, GM of Sales & Marketing Group, “Intel is delighted to partner with ASUS on the development on this project, and we would like to once again extend our congratulations to the ASUS team of engineers and researchers.” Read the rest

Can’t get enough of his infectious laughter? Enjoyed the many youtube clips of him scaring the crap out of pets and small children or indeed causing them to laugh until they hurl green stuff out their face? Well you will be pleased to know that there is a new special edition of Tickle Me Elmo coming out for Chrimbo.

At first we were rather under whelmed as it was listed that the special edition comes with a gold badge. Whoop! What joy, a badge and “special edition” tag on it. But then we were informed that the new special edition T.M.X toy has some secrets. Read the rest

UPDATE: Seems we were informed wrongly. This is actually regarding the iPod TOUCH not the iPhone, though it is highly likely that it will actually break you into both devices. Either way it is about the version 1.1.2 firmware which HAS been hacked. You can get the direct dish over at TUAW. Our original coverage remains below for a little extra enjoyable reading.

The Brits have their release of the iPhone today and most were worried that the new iPhone firmware was going to mean they are pinned to O2 like a tail on a donkey for the foreseeable future.

Well it looks like they will for a few days, maybe less, but if you own an iPod Touch then you need not worry your noggins any longer as that crazy Erica Sadun just announced that the new version of the Firmware for the iPhone iPod Touch (version 1.1.2) has already been hacked like a Piñata.

If you want to check out the details and hack the 1.1.2 firmware on your iPhone iPod Touch then simply head over to TUAW for the juicy goodness.