The US army must have some serious gadget fans on staff, as evidenced by the news that they just greenlit for production of a 1 pound reconnaissance aircraft that will -they  hope – soon be able to not only follow targets, but perch like a bird and perform additional tracking and targeting duties.

The Persistent, Perch and Stare Air Vehicle System (SP2S) is being built upon AeroVironment’s Wasp platform. A similar UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) kicked off the movie Eagle Eye, and was featured in our article <>Top 10 Movie Gadgets of 2008.

What price tag can you put on fun? Apparently $10 million Washingtons.

If tests pan out the program will be refined and expanded. Why do spies get all the cool toys?

Read the full Wasp SP2S Summary.

The iGala Wireless Digital Picture Frame from newcomer Aequitas LLC is quickly turning heads among photo fanatics. The iGala may prove to be the best digital picture frame in a market already crowded with lackluster products. We can’t help being reminded by the iPhone in many respects – the touchscreen, the attractive uncluttered on-screen interface and internet capabilities (via built-in wireless). Oh, and the name. The iPhone was definitely on iGala engineers minds during the design process, and that’s not a criticism.

Also like the iPhone, the iGala finds itself in a maturing market crowded with digital frames that may look good on the Target shelf but ultimately disappoint due to dubious photo quality, poor design and more emphasis on swappable faceplates (hey, extra revenue right?) than usability. In that context iGala’s specs are pretty impressive and we like its chances. Peep this:

• Touchscreen Interface
• Built-In WiFi wireless
• 800 x 600 Resolution
• Automatically updates photos over internet from email (Gmail) and Flickr
• Load more photos via SD Media Card or any USB drive/device
• 1GB internal memory; store up to 5,000 photos
• Auto Power Save, Alarm and Clock functions
• No PC Needed
• No subscription needed

The screen is plenty bright, sharp and nicely offset by the understated clear plastic bezel. Configuration of the unit with iPhone-esque buttons and keyboard via the touchscreen interface is a snap – you don’t want to set Flickr and Gmail configuration/url/username/password via two arrow buttons and an enter key, right?

For such a unique and powerful photo frame, the price (roughly $239 at the time of this writing) in our opinion is justified. There is really no other entry that can compete with the iGala at this time.

This is also a device that would look right at home on any executive desk and, if we may say so, would complement a high quality set of GLA-55 speakers very nicely.

 
LINUX provides the UI and performance muscle under the iGala’s pretty skin. So naturally we hope iGala will expand further on the nice start they’ve made. We see support for Facebook albums, TwitPic and more as smart next steps to make this the must-have digital photo frame for the well-connected geek. This would be a great project platform if it’s ever released to open source or supported by an extensible plugin architecture. But we digress.

As it stands already the iGala is a sweet looking, cutting edge picture frame that’s sending the competition scrambling back to the drawing boards. That’s going to be good for all of us.

I Want One!

Available from ThinkGeek (UPDATE: BACK IN STOCK 4/24).

Mt. Haleakala, the dormant volcano that dominates the Maui landscape and attracts thousands of visitors every year, is getting some geek cred too.

The University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS program (Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System) is proudly detailing the design of a 1.4 gigapixel digital camera capable of snapping some candid photos of the night sky. The design not only has impressive stats but the utilization of a large number of small CCD’s increases data read speeds and minimizes impact of an occasional bad chip.

The primary goal of Pan-STARRS is to detect potential earth-impact objects presumably so they can call Bruce Willis and take care of the issue as only he can.

Sorry all you DSLR adopters out there – the ante has been raised by *just a bit* now. Still, Pan-STARRS probably can’t even use all the neat interchangeable lenses you bought with the kit. And we’re guessing the gigapixel camera might be a bit of a budget-buster for the prosumer out there.

The Nikon D-90 DSLR is out and it is a stunner by all accounts.  But here’s a question noone is asking: Is it better to get the Nikon D60 (the previous generation) or the D90 ? This may sound like a no-brainer until you realize that these cameras are $600 apart in price! Both Nikons are excellent cameras, considered to be at the top of the prosumer camera category. So with that context, here are the key differences:

 
Gonzo Recommendation: Nikon D60 Learn More about Nikon D-60

 
Summary: The Nikon D60 may be missing some bells-and-whistles offered by the new kid on the block, but the Nikon D60 is a rock solid DSLR camera available now from folks like Amazon at unheard of prices while (or because) the Nikon D90 grabs all the headlines.

Those who can afford to join the state-of-the-art will find the Nikon D90 is a step up from the D60 in nearly every respect. It offers incredible photo quality and usability, as well as the all-new movie mode, next-gen accessories, better optics and additional megapixels. Learn More about the Nikon D-90.

In this economy many consumer will side with the D60, choosing to avoid the additional expense of joining the latest generation of digital camera technology. Those who opt for the D90 will be very pleased. We feel the Nikon D60 is the best overall value but this is one of those cases where either choice is a good choice, provided you are aware of your budget.

Read More Information & User Reviews: Nikon D60 w/ Kit Lens
Read More Information & User Reviews: Nikon D90 w/ Kit Lens