There are a number of reasons why HDTV and home theater gear are now mainstream: prices of Plasmas and LCDs screens have dropped considerably; personal video recorders (PVR) have kicked VCRs out of the living room; the offering of HD channels is growing rapidly; and Blu-Ray has officially buried its strongest contender, HD-DVD.
If you have recently purchased a home theater system, the next essential step is getting yourself a few DVD titles to show off your new toys, and impress the sexy chicks / stud who come over for a Friday-night movie.
…and when we say “EVAR”, we really do mean “EVAR”. Oh and don’t be fooled by the boring intro, this must be the most hilarious thing I’ve seen in years!
Starting today, the GPS system has a new power: sensing high-crime areas and warning you before you make a potentially dangerous turn.
Honda has just introduced its new SatNav system in Japan. International news agency AFP reports the system will use information provided by police to mark “crime hotspots,” then sound alerts when a driver is creeping too close to those areas for comfort.
AFP says the system will actually rank neighborhoods by a formulated risk level. A higher risk level means more past reports of car damage, theft, and break-ins.
The system adds to a list of growing GPS features available only overseas, including the ability to warn you about hidden traffic cameras that could land you tickets at intersections.
But it’s the crime spot sensor that’s stirring up the debate in the States. Some fear introducing that kind of feature here would open up a can of worms because of the number of historically high-crime areas that are heavily populated by minorities. Others say there’s nothing wrong with presenting legit police data for drivers to use as they please. However you look at it, though, one thing’s for sure: This one won’t go over quietly in the U.S.
At the moment, Honda has gone on the record saying there are no plans to offer the feature in America as of yet.
Recently, at the Fortune Green conference, Michael Dell unveiled one of his new babies, an eco-friendly PC made in part out of bamboo wood. Dell says this computer is 81 percent smaller than their regular desktop PCs and uses 70 percent less power. Also, a lot of the computer’s components are made out of recycled materials, such as old bottles and detergent cases. The new product could apparently be released later this year and be priced between $500 and $700.
Here’s a great 3 minute video tutorial on how Greasemonkey, a Firefox extension what lets you run user scripts on almost any html page you want, can help you fix sites that really annoy you, such as myspace.
The folks at LM3Labs have developed an extremely cool interactive hologram system that can be controlled via hand gestures. Check it out in the following video.
You can measure a man’s greatness by the number of cool gadgets in his home – or at least, the number of cool gadgets he’d like to have in his home if not for those pesky utility bills. So in the spirit of all things awesome, I bring you this list of 10 gadgets every geek should have (or, at the very least, want to have).
The filing details an online shopping atmosphere akin to Second Life, where users navigate through 3D stores, look at items for sale, and even interact with other customers browsing the goods.
Apple filed two other patents last week, both relating to head-mounted displays that would let you watch video on screens in special eyeglass-like devices.
Want a sneak peek into the inner minds of Apple’s engineers? Check out the original display patent applications for yourself here and here. You can see the online shopping patent here.