Top 10
Kindle 2 Review of What We Know
Review of What We Know
Amazon’s Kindle 2 eBook Reader is official and it looks amazing. Via press conference today Amazon took the wraps off the 2nd generation Kindle. While the photos we saw a few days before were indeed real and tantalizing, the details and capabilities revealed today continue to impress:
- Thinner than an iPhone
- Improved screen with 16 shades of grey (original Kindle had only 4)
- Improved memory holding 1,500 eBooks (original Kindle could store 200)
- New text-to-speech capability
- 600 x 800 ePaper resolution, with no backlight to improve battery life
- 4 to 5 days reading time with wireless on, up to 2 weeks with wireless off – on a single charge
- Built-in Oxford Dictionary for instant access to 250,000 word definitions
- Free 3G wireless coverage via Sprint’s WhisperNet
- Comfortable Reading: Adjustable type sizes & no glare in sunlight
- Bundled with free copy of Stephen King’s “Ur”
- $359 price – same as original Kindle
Units ship Feb 24th. Order now from Amazon.
Analysis
We had high hopes for the Kindle 2 and Amazon definitely delivered an attractive and feature-packed eBook reader in the Kindle 2. While price may be a barrier to some, consider the savings from libraries of classic ebooks online like gutenberg.org and the convenience of having an entire library of up to 1,500 titles in your pocket, er, briefcase or backpack.
We love the wireless ability – no wrestling with WiFi hotspots and no fees. This will allow Amazon to push software updates and customers to download books without a computer involved.
We have a feeling there’s going to be a very long line forming at Amazon.com!
Top 10 Movie Gadgets of 2008
Hollywood released some entertaining films in 2008 and as usual they wowed us with an impressive array of toys gadgets weapons machines and gizmos. Some are impossibly futuristic while others have resurfaced from technology (and movies) past. Sadly, good movies and good gadgets don’t always come hand-in-hand – we’re took a few bullets for “the team” in making this list.
The big screen is a vehicle for us to peer into the future and get as close as possible to experiencing not only what kinds of gadgets may exist but how they’ll work and behave. Each of the movie gadgets featured shows the the movie industry at its best – imagination come to life.
Read on as we count down our favorite gadgets from the movies in 2008.
**spoiler alert** We can’t talk about these great movie gizmos without giving away something of their role in the films. As such, read on with care. Skip the sections marked “The Context” if you have not seem a film from this list. You have been warned!
| #10 | Eagle Eye Miniature Unmanned Spy Plane |
The Movie. Eagle Eye may not be high art but it does warn us of the capabilities – and thus dangers – of the everyday technology in our lives. Cell phones, PC’s, ATMs, GPS, surveillance cameras and let’s not forget the Internet. Since gizmos today record, track and communicate, they can potentially be made into tools to monitor and influence our actions. Alas Eagle Eye doesn’t quite transform this concept into a great movie.
The Gadget: Micro UAV. A miniature unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV in the biz) capable of fast flight and cutting-edge surveillance operations. Offers extreme portability.
The Context. Eagle Eye offers up two cool unmanned spy planes. One is a Predator spy plane appearing several times in the film. Predator UAV’s saw heavy by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But Eagle Eye’s coolest gadget is the miniature UAV marvel launched by a soldier during the opening sequence to pursue, id and monitor a fast-moving target. The unmanned plane transmits optical and infrared images as well as long-range audio back to HQ. It has the muscle to pursue a speeding automobile. All this is delivered in a package small enough to fit in a backpack and provide true stealth reconnaissance. The Eagle Eye UAV appears to be a near-future iteration of existing military UAV’s like Dragon Eye and RQ-11 Raven. Good enough for #10 on this list.
Editor’s Note: We still aren’t completely over our beef with Shia LaBeouf after Indy 4.
| #9 | Jumper Paladin Tether Weapon |
The Movie. Jumper could easily contend for #1 in the ‘crap movie’ list but luckily (for it, not us) a film’s artistic qualities do not matter here. It’s all about the gadgets. Jumper concerns a genetic anomoly that allows a small number of individuals to teleport at will. Pitted against them are the Paladins – who believe teleportation is harmful to the fabric of the universe.
The Gadget: Paladin Tether Weapon. A compact weapon that fires a high-velocity tether “line” to ensnare, electrocute and disable its target.
The Context. Paladins constantly are trying to pursue and capture or kill Jumpers – not an easy task when a Jumper target can literally disappear and reappear instantaneously almost anywhere. To combat this ability, the Paladin forgo bullets and TOW missiles. They get a little primitive in fact yet do it with style. And anything fired in Hayden Christianson’s direction is pretty satisfying anyway. The tether weapon looks like a ninja lightsaber. It explosively and accurately fires a line at a Jumper. If it succeeds in snaring its target, it discharges electric shocks that disrupt a Jumpers ability to teleport. Pretty cool. But we still want that 90 minutes of our lives back.
| #8 | Hellboy 2 – The Golden Army Schuffstein Glasses |
The Movie. This film is a like modern fairy tail whose most prominent attribute is its whimsical and engaging fantasy creatures – so it may seem like unlikely source of a cool movie gadget. But nevertheless Hellboy 2 made the made the grade. It’s a fun ride throughout.
The Gadget: Schuffstein Glasses. Bizarre steampunk lenses which can penetrate the cloaking “glamor” aura of trolls and other fairy folk.
The Context. Hellboy and his team seek access to the underground troll market under the Brooklyn Bridge. Previous searches have been fruitless but the team is under new management in Doctor Johan Krauss. He provides crates containing the rare Schuffstein Glasses. Using Krauss’ superior investigative technique and the Schuffstein glasses, they find a mean old Scottish troll disguised as an old cat lady. Hellboys less gentle skills then take over and the team achieves its goal.
Editors Note: These gizmos remind us of two other famous movie spectacles – the rather infamous pair of sunglasses from They Live and Ray Stantz’s Ecto Goggles from Ghostbusters.
| #7 | Tropic Thunder The Goodie Room |
The Movie. Tropic Thunder is an irreverant send-up of Vietman movies like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. It’s also seeks to offend anyone it can and it covers a LOT of ground. Tropic Thunder features a number of great performances, most notably by Robert Downey Jr. There’s also an incredible cameo by Tom Cruise as Les Grossman, the Hollywood power-monger pulling the strings behind the filming of the fictional movie Tropic Thunder. We always knew Tom Cruise had some moves, we just didn’t expect these moves.
The Gadget: The Goodie Room. Les Grosman won’t win any beauty awards, but he has a certain panache greatly enhanced by a killer stereo system and remote-controlled mood lighting. He also has a hilarious obsession with tough-guy rap songs like “Low” by Flo Rida and “Get Back” by Ludacris. Les gets what he wants and the Goodie Room is well equipped to back him up with some crazy freaky dance floor ambiance.
| #6 | Futurama – The Beast With A Billion Backs Barb-o-Mite |
The Movie. It wasn’t a theatrical release but it is a feature-length film, and hey, we’re making the rules here. Futurama’s goofy spin on the human race in the 31st Century always contains imaginative gadgeteering.
This time out, you have the usual Farnsworth inventions (such as ultra-hard substance ‘Diamondium’), Mr. Wino, a sort of an automatic coffee maker but for wine, and the insanely twisted Running Man-esque game show called Deathball Arena. This is literally a mega-sized Wooden Labyrinth Puzzle controlled by Farnsworth and Wernstrom while their human teams avoid giant lethal metal balls. Even better, Beast is a fun movie especially recommended for Simpsons and Futurama fans.
The Gadget: Barb-o-Mite. A hair gel composed of nano machines that Fry combs onto his unruly locks. In moments the nano bots shape and trim Fry’s coif back to its normal state. This is one nano application that we would love to have access to – no more bad hair days with Barb-o-Mite! Coming July, 3000 AD.
| #5 | James Bond – Quantum of Solace Surface |
The Movie. What Quantum of Solace – as well as the first Daniel Craig Bond Casino Royale – lack in over-the-top Bondsian glitz, it more than makes up for in gritty realism. It’s no coincidence then that believability is the hallmark of our favorite Bond gadget of 2008.
The Gadget: Surface. A giant touchscreen display offering a high degree of interactivity.
The Context. It’s a scene after any gadget lovers heart. MI6 agents collaboratively chase leads and begin to piece together critical evidence leading to a shadow organization known as Quantum. The centerpiece is an investigative “ready room” for lack of a better term equipped with a tantalizing combination of large displays (one a long table, the other a wall), a touchscreen interface and a scanner.
Money is scanned, photos are ID’d, virtual images are rearranged and highlighted with finger touches and swipes of the hand. It’s all quite impressive. While it’s reminiscent of Minority Report, MI6’s room is far more believable.
Editor’s Note: The funny thing? This technology is real. Microsoft Surface was launched in 2007 and millions of TV viewers saw a version in action during MSNBC’s US election coverage. Custom installations are featured at premier locations such as Harrah’s and Disney’s Tomorrowland.
| #4 | Speed Racer Mach 5 |
The Movie. What do you get when you combine venerable arcade games Spy Hunter, TRON and Bump ‘n’ Jump? This Wachowski Brothers ‘pile-up’ of a movie. In fact, way too much of the movie looks like a video game. And not a fun one either.
The Gadget: The Mach 5. The Mach 5, Speed Racer’s primary vehicle, is impressive, packed with nimble moves, blazing speed and combat capabilities. In addition to its standard jump jacks and gatling guns, the Mach 5 is eventually fitted with a bullet-proof shielded cockpit, shredder, tire shields, emergency hot spare tires, twin front-mounted saw blades and tire crampons. So while Bond failed to provide us with a drool-worthy automobile in 2008, Speed Racer delivered the goods.
(As with most movies of this type – each one of the Mach 5’s abilities comes uniquely – perhaps suspiciously – handy during key moments in Speed’s race sequences.)
Editors Note: You’ll enjoy Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer) more as the emaciated, wayward adventurer in Into The Wild (2007). You’ll enjoy Matthew Fox (Racer X) more as the emaciated, wayward adventurer in Lost (TV).
| #3 | The Dark Knight Skyhook |
The Movie. A tour de force and a worthy follow-up to 2005’s franchise-resurrecting Batman Begins. It’s rare a movie franchise improves with age and it’s especially satisfying to see Batman relevant again. The two most recent entries arguably are the best in the canon. The Dark Knight is also chock full of insane machines and toys. Picking just one was a challenge.
The Gadget: Skyhook. A surface-to-air personnel extraction system that doesn’t require an aircraft to land. Skyhook itself exists and it has been seen in several films, notably James Bond Thunderball. It still kicks ass.
The Context. DA Harvey Dent and Lt. Gordon ask Batman to extract mobster accountant Lau from Hong Kong. Lau is shown holed up in a tall secure office tower surrounded by security forces, body guards and modern surveillance & security gear. Lau has also paid off the Hong Kong police force.
Bruce Wayne hatches an ingenious and ballsy entry and escape plan requiring a combination of futuristic gizmos – the key gadget being Skyhook. The Hong Kong sequence is short and breathtaking.
Fox schedules a meeting with Lau and plans a cell-phone EMP in the lobby which can be remotely activated. Wayne, now suited up as Batman, fires shaped charges on synchronized timers from a nearby building. The EMP is triggered disabling surveillance and communication systems in Lau’s building. Batman then cape-glides to an upper floor and smashes in through a window near Lau’s location. Batman quickly dispatches Lau’s personal body guards and grabs Lau. The police and security detail react quickly and have Batman cornered holding Lau captive. The shaped charges blow the window behind Batman, who immediately deploys a homing beacon. Seconds later Batman and Lau are suddenly yanked from the broken window by a cargo plane fitted for the Skyhook system. It’s an impressive sequence that epitomizes Batman’s imaginative gadgeteering.
| #2 | Wall-E Wall-E |
The Movie. Pixar’s 2008 film is an animated masterpiece. Earth has been choked by garbage and all humans now live far out in space. All that’s left in motion on Earth is a single garbage cleanup unit named Wall-E who dutifully executes his primary function for centuries, collecting interesting bits of junk and barely managing to survive the harsh Earth environment. Wall-E’s journey is entertaining to behold.
The Gadget: Wall-E. Wall-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) is a small tough droid left to clean up after humans littered and abandoned Earth. Wall-E units are essentially autonomous solar-powered garbage compactors.
The Context. Wall-E is proof positive that personality can be just as if not more important than the spec sheet. Pixar imbued this simple droid with an engaging personality and ingenuity. Skyhooks, RC spy planes and race cars are cool, but after a few minutes with Wall-E you can’t help but love him. The scene where he temporarily loses his sense of identity is stunning – you can see the human “magic” is (temporarily) missing and the effect is shocking.
Wall-E is devoted to duty, compassionate, smart, tough and resourceful. While lots of gadgets have a nice initial “wow” factor, Wall-E is the one you could happily live with forever.
Editor’s Note: One day we hope animatronic pets/toys such as Pleo, D-Rex, Kota, Furrby and Elmo Live live up to Wall-E’s promise. Everyone should have one.
| #1 | Iron Man Mark III Armor Suit |
The Movie. Iron Man delivers a great movie and an incredible gadget to boot. Tony Stark, comic book anti-hero, is an arms dealer whose eyes are forcibly opened to the injustices of his trade. He has profited from the exploitation of the worlds hot spots. Iron Man details his transformation from profiteer to defender of those who cannot defend themselves.
The Gadget: Mark III Armor Suit. A powered exo-skeleton armor capable of dishing out a lot of abuse, taking the same or more, and flying great distances.
The Context. The movie goes through several iterations of Tony Stark’s trademark “Iron Man” flying armor – from the most crude Mark I which he uses to escape captivity from terrorists to the Mark III that figures into the final battle. The power armor is composed of a gold-titanium alloy and is the culmination of many of Tony Starks engineering masterpieces in a single sleek package. It is powered by Tony’s arc reactor heart, can fire projectile bursts of energy, can fly via 4 air control surfaces, provides long-range communication and has a heads-up display (HUD) that fighter pilots can only dream of. It is a beautiful work of imagination that only the movies can deliver in quite this way.
Editor’s Note: Thank you for joining us as we looked back at the 2008. For 2009 we will occasionally highlight standout movie gadgets throughout the year, as well as our usual coverage of all things gadgets and technology. See you there!
DeLonghi Magnifica 3300 Esclusivo Review
We’ve been prepping this review for several months – and drinking far too much espresso. Beware. Our energy level has never been higher.
Fully Automatic Espresso Maker – DeLonghi Magnifica 3300
Have you ever looked at the full cost of your espresso habit? I found myself visiting local coffee shops an average of 6 times per week, conservatively spending $3.50 each time (I usually order smaller “tall” lattes). Over the course of a year that added up to just over $1,000. The cost plus the time involved in just getting to the coffee shop in the end limited how many espressos I was willing to enjoy in a week. And none of this figured in my wife’s own coffee habit!
For most espresso fans the financials look great immediately. Finding the right machine was next – a process which proved a little daunting.
Happily, we can report that we found at least one great option – the DeLonghi Magnifica ESAM 3300 Super Automatic (Amazon.com).
Many Choices Out There
Prospective buyers of super automatics will find a large number of unfamiliar manufacturers. The terminology can be bewildering and most have no first-hand experience even using these types of machines in the past. Combine that with the ticket price and it’s enough to turn many people away before they get started.
We had luckily already been exposed to the awesomeness of fully automatic espresso. Friends ‘inherited’ an older hand-me-down $2000+ model from their parents. And while that wasn’t going to work for us the seed was planted and kept growing. We knew how easy it can be to make great coffee at home and having reviewed the cost of our “habit”, it was just a matter of time.
In researching options, DeLonghi repeatedly came up as building reliable effective and economical machines. After lots of feature cross-checking and carefully reading online reviews we decided the DeLonghi Magnifica 3300 – DeLonghi’s “lower-end” model (ha!) – was the right place to start.
Getting Started With Super Automatic Espresso
We were slightly taken aback by the size of the unboxed ESAM 3300. Your old automatic coffee pot is going to have a serious inferiority complex. (You probably won’t be too interested in that thing any longer anyway). We had the measurements right and it fit where we wanted it to go, but it did a day or two for it to feel “right” in the kitchen. The exterior is nicely designed and complements other appliances well. Once it started pouring great espressos the DeLonghi instantly became a member of the family.
The manual is easy to follow. We impatiently ran through the recommended cleaning cycle. A few minutes later we had loaded our first beans and water, set the dials for medium strength and medium coffee quantity and pressed the 1-cup dispense. The machine came to life and poured out an aromatic first cup of espresso with a professional-looking crema (the redish-brown layer of foam on top). Delicious!
3 Weeks Later
The beginning of our new espresso-at-home life was exhilarating but we really hit our stride after a few days with our “barista” duties. Specifically: Finding personal preferences for brew quantity and grind strength (both settings are adjusted and easy-to-remember via numbered dials on the front), expanding to latte’s/cappaccino’s/mocha’s/etc., learning to use the frothing wand (easy, but takes a couple practice cups to perfect the art). We are happy to report everything quickly became second nature and now we don’t like to imagine living without the ESAM3300.
My usual weekday routine: large Americano for the morning commute and a skinny double-shot latte (iced latte during summer) when I get home in the evening. On weekends I like to include more exotic fare, usually 2-3 espresso’s per day.
Good vs. Bad
Good
- Making great-tasting espresso is easy and fast
- Built-in grinder w/ bean storage
- Built-in, removable water container (60 oz or about 7 full cups)
- Easy to use frothing/steam wand
- Handsome, elegant appearance
- Awesome when entertaining coffee lovers
- Built like a tank
- Easy to clean & maintain
- Conversation starter
Bad
- Unit is large – make sure you have the counter space and upper cabinet clearance!
- Grinding process can be noisy (no more so than a dedicated coffee grinder)
- The grinder bypass for using pre-ground beans seems to result in weaker espresso
- Cup warmer takes too long to be truly useful
- Not for brewing large quantities of “regular” coffee all at once for a large party
Magnifica? Well, Is It?
In a word, yes. In a couple words, absolutely yes.
The DeLonghi Magnifica ESAM3300 lives up to its name and the company’s reputation. It makes great-tasting espresso (in all its forms) easy and enjoyable.
On the cost-saving front, yes, we still go to Starbucks and other local shops but only for the occasional social outing. The coffee we make at with the Magnifica 3300 at home rivals and sometimes surpasses what’s available elsewhere.
Where To Buy
The best place to buy the Magnifica ESAM 3300 is Amazon.com, who offer the lowest price we have found and sometimes free shipping. We’ve seen it at retail at Great Indoors and have heard it can be spotted at Bed, Bath & Beyond and similar stores.
Further Reading
Read product info & user reviews at Amazon’s DeLonghi Magnifica ESAM3300 page.
DeLonghi’s official ESAM 3300 page (DeLonghiUSA.com).
See additional high-end espresso machine recommendations online (CompareTheBrands.com).
Want to take good espresso-making on the road and trail? Check out something a bit more portable, namely the Handpresso Wild, a hand-pumped espresso maker you can take camping, hiking … anywhere. (GonzoGadgets.com)
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Best Digital Picture Frame? (Review of iGala Wireless Photo Frame)
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).
Ultimate Headset for Sports Workouts and … Breakdancing?
Your b-boy/b-girl craving for an active and music-based lifestyle has probably run you into the Extreme Sports Conundrum. Namely the difficulty keeping headphones in place while you’re mountain biking, snowboarding, running, skiing or just straight up breakin’ to the beat of Buffalo Gals by Malcom McLaren. Yeah you know who you are.
Along comes Coosh with special-built headsets, promising you can get your shred on and never miss a beat. Heck, you can even be on a call with your iPhone while catching some serious air. Coosh has a series of “crash test” videos showing the headsets in action:
Let’s Play Some Hoops
Coosh recruited industrial design wizards Pensa (Brooklyn, NY) and Astro Studios to create headsets designed specifically for the active lifestyle crowd. Together they researched the Extreme Sports Conundrum and designed a new style of headphones with a special “hoop” that encircles the base of the ear. The hoops are removable too so the ‘phones can be used in more ordinary situations. Like waiting for the doctor to reset your broken leg.
Knowing their audience well, Pensa & Coosh knew this was a non-starter if they couldn’t deliver good sound quality too. And of course they can get uncomfortable with all that motion. That’s a lot to deliver.
Reality Check – How Did They Do?
We found Coosh did a surprisingly good at their mission. When doing some rugged mountain biking we could not jar them loose. The ‘phones delivered strong audio for both music and phone calls. And most surprising to us, the hoops were comfortable because of they are made from a soft & flexible silcone material. We’ve had our share of problems getting comfortable normal headphones – the fact Coosh nailed comfort, sound quality and ear-stickiness is impressive. As a bonus these things are inexpensive too – less than $25.
- understated but hip look
- excellent sound quality, with good base and accurate overall sound
- 65 Hz to 20Hz frequency response
- built-in mic on handset with answer/mute buttons
- available in black, white and pink (pink not available for iPhone version)
- soft and flexible silicone hoop material
- hoops can be removed when not breaking
Where To Get Them
You buy from Coosh.com direct or smart shoppers should check out Coosh Products (Amazon)
If there’s any disappointment here it’s the fact Coosh didn’t see fit to include Breakin’
Elmo Live is Alive with Fun
Elmo Live Strike a Few Poses with Retail Box (if you can find one!)
Introduction
There’s no more anticipated toy for kids this season than Elmo Live by Fisher-Price. The original Tickle Me Elmo
Review
Elmo Live has what you’d expect – the Sesame Street Elmo character’s look, voice and sense of humor. The latter two are captured in an huge range of responses, jokes and phrases including a number of fun games Elmo Live can play with children. Elmo Live has far more to communicate through voice than TME or its TMX successors. Elmo can even tell a number of stories. Elmo Live beats TME/TMX by an order of magnitude in that department.
As impressive as the voice improvements are, the biggest leap was made in Elmo Live’s life-like motion and interactivity. This is done through a bunch of motors & gears that really brings the character to life. Elmo sits, stands, waves his arms, points, moves his mouth, crosses his legs, sings, dances. Elmo is even aware when he has fallen over and asks for help (he is unable to get upright without your child’s assistance). Plus Elmo has a number of sensors that when touched or tickled elicit special dialog. These sensors also figure cleverly into the games Elmo Live has been taught.
Clouds over Sesame Street
We think Elmo Live is a riot but be aware of the following complaints:
- All those gears/servos can be noisy and distracting
- Elmo Live is not a cuddly toy meant to replace a teddy bear or other plush doll. The gear inside that gives it life also makes it less than cuddly.
- It’s not the cheapest doll around
- Extremely young children may find Elmo Live to be scary or intimidating because of how different he is from more familiar toys. This really depends from child to child. A safe bet would be 3 and up, though many younger children even will also find Elmo Live to be engaging and funny.
Summary
Quite simply there’s nothing out there like Elmo Live in terms of sheer interactivity and bubbling personality. The Sesame Street tie-in is a no brainer but Fisher-Price really put a lot of thought into this and it exudes charm and humor and does it interactively. Children of many ages and their parents are likely to be entertained by this one. It brings Sesame Street to life right in the playroom.
Where To Get Elmo Live
Earth, pretty much. So far it seems these are not as hard to come by as the original Tickle Me Elmo, but parents be warned. That is likely to change as people’s minds shift toward the holiday gift season and this is one of the hottest items on many family gift lists.
For online buyers we recommend K•B Toys Online (The Parent Company) and Amazon
May The Toast Be With You
Only Vader Could Be This Bold
“I felt a great disturbance in the kitchen. As if millions of slices of toast suddenly cried out in terror and then were suddenly silenced. I fear something delicious has happened.”
- Obi Wan Kenobe
Indeed, Obi Wan. It’s not even Thanksgiving yet and along comes this amazing gadget for the Star Wars Fan. Too bad we don’t know any of those. The Darth Vader Toaster from Star Wars Shop just became available for pre-order. In a rare marketing misstep Lucas has the toaster shipping January ‘09. As one would expect, this burns the Sith’s imposing visage onto that most basic of foods, bread. Going to be tough to top this as a slightly-delated holiday gift for the Star Wars geek in your life.
Maybe it’s just us, but does this give the “darkness” setting new meaning? How evil do you feel today – 1 through 5?
(We’re personally relieved that the toaster doesn’t burn the face of Anakin as played by Hayden Christensen.)
Courtesy of www.StarWarsShop.com, the online store of George Lucas’ mega-branding and bread scorching corporation LucasFilm.
Portable Espresso Lets You Buy Once, Drink Everywhere
Handpresso; Buy Once, Drink Anywhere
Mobile phones, portable electronics and of course – portable Java. We love anything that lets us get our geek on – and our drink on – when away from home and Starbucks. So understandably this little beauty caught our eye. It’s a caffeine-serving portable gadget for crying out loud.
The Handpresso (ThinkGeek)
, also known as the Handpresso Wild, is a coffee press on steroids shot by a shrink ray. Or something. Whether camping, at work or geocaching this lets you take a quick break for a consistently good, professional-grade Espresso drink. Just the thing to keep you going in a harsh world.
This portable expresso machine weighs less than two and a half iPhones. How they did this is beyond us but we’re happy they did. Handpresso generates all the pressure – courtesy of a hand pump – to make a great shot of espresso. Add hot water, place an Espresso pod in the device and release the switch. Voila: Java Anywhere. Uses Gaggia Coffee Pods
(Sun Microsystems is still working on the portability of their implementation)
Quality Espresso
The build quality of the Handpresso is impressive. Make sure you have very hot water. An office water dispenser will suffice. Don’t expect oodles of crema (the brown foam on top of espresso) but we were very happy with the taste of the Gaggia coffee pods and the overall results are excellent.
More
Here’s some more info about our favorite drink (Espresso @ Wikipedia)
The Well-Traveled Barista
Handpresso
Fallout 3 – The Gonzo Review
Fallout 3 Quick Review
Fallout 3
Your character must find his/her father who has left the safety of Vault 101 and wandered into a Washington D.C. ravaged by nuclear war. The game world is immense and detailed and populated by interesting, disturbing and wacky characters. Think of the rich dystopian film worlds seen in Mad Max, Escape from N.Y. and Blade Runner – and throw in some radiation-mutated enemies to contend with – and you get a good feeling for the setting of this game.
The deep character interactions with the denizens of this world, the exploration of a gigantic game environment, plenty of well-designed quests and excellent replayability will have you coming back for more even after you finish the main quest.
Quite simply: This is one of the best games of 2008. Note that several editions of the game are available – see “Where To Get It” below.
Summary
The Good
- stunning graphics show a vast and detailed post-apocalyptic Washington D.C.
- total freedom in exploring the world
- decisions in the game affect your karma – and karma matters
- lots of character customization with unique and interesting abilities
- variety of skills and abilities allow clever solutions to dilemmas
- build weapons from parts and use post-nuclear rubble as ammo
- V.A.T.S. pause-the-action mode offers spectacular – and quite useful – results in combat
- an epic main story with an excellent pay-off at the end
- seemingly endless side quests and play styles extend replayability
The Bad
- quirks in V.A.T.S. when dealing with line-of-site
- some camera problems (particularly with V.A.T.S. in tight situations and around corners)
- character animations are disappointing
- cannot play a “pacifist” as with previous Fallout games
- writing is not quite as satirical and over-the-top as previous Fallout games
- mature and dark themes means this one isn’t for the kiddies
Where To Get It
Available at most retailers or order online at Amazon (Fallout 3 Center)
Fans of the series and completists will want to check out the Fallout 3 Collector’s Edition
You can also download the Windows version directly from Direct2Drive.com.
Which Version Should I Get?
The 360, PS3 and PC deliver Fallout 3 with full gameplay. The noticeable differences are:
- PC is by far the best graphically, followed by 360 which has only a slight edge on the PS3
- PC offers mouse/keyboard control – a classic FPS control scheme – this is mainly personal preference
- 360 & PC will offer downloadable content in the future – PS3 will not
- 360 & PC offer trophy support – PS3 will not
- PC has load times significantly faster (about half) when compared to 360 & PS3
What Others Are Saying
Game Rankings (Fallout 3 XBOX 360, Fallout 3 PC, Fallout 3 PS3) confirms that Bethesda has delivered on the promise of this storied game franchise. The game has garnered 9/10 averages from review sites on all three launch platforms.
Blu-ray Revisited – Is HD Video (finally) right for the Home?
We dream of a Blu-ray Christmas
Blu-ray is nearing 3 years old, and getting toward a year past the demise of its only competition – HD-DVD. HD-DVD called it quits early 2008 but few homes have made room for the HD Blu-ray format in the living room. While high-quality LCD’s and Plasma’s continue to get snapped up at record pace ahead of the holidays, most homes lack a true HD-quality video source. We take close a look at the Blu-ray landscape and find a lot of things to like as well as some recommended products if you’re looking to get started.
Blu-Ray Format
Blu-Ray has a number of strong capabilities and it has also become quite a bit more affordable. A few years ago you could expect to pay $600 or up for a player. Today you can get a good one for just over $200. (There are options under $200 but come with too many issues for us to recommend at this time.) Here are some of the top benefits of Blu-Ray:
- Only HD optical format supported industry-wide
- Markedly improved resolution and video quality compared to DVD
- 50 GB per Disc
- Over 9 hours of HD video per disc
- Wide range of popular video and audio formats (Dolby Digital, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, etc.)
- Support for downloading additional dynamic content if internet connection available
- Blu-ray readers and burners can be purchased inexpensively for PC’s and Mac’s (See popular Blu-ray Drives for PC/Mac)
It once was the case that Blu-ray discs were hard to find, but today popular video services like NetFlix and Blockbuster Online will send a growing number of Blu-ray titles right to your house and of course the local video store is likely to have them as well.
Playing The Blu’s
Blu-ray can make your favorite movies (our current faves on Blu-ray are The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
or The Ultimate Matrix Collection
There are two paths – either gets you to the best video and audio playback to take advantage of your LCD or Plasma.
First, you can get a standard player. Many people prefer this method as it’s traditional, fits well into existing home theater cabinets and is “plug and play” (put the disc in, it plays, done). Prices have dropped incredibly and now some pro-quality Blu-ray players can be had under $300. In our research, we have identified two to consider:
Panasonic DMP-BD30K Player
Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Player
One additional player option is worth considering, especially those with children in the house (or children-at-heart). The Playstation 3 Console
The major downside of the PS3 comes right from one of its benefits. For the non-gaming home or the traditionalist set, all those extra features could make simpler activities like watching a Blu-ray movie Friday night an exercise in frustration. Although the PS3 auto-plays Blu-ray discs on startup, there are a number of menus and a traditional remote control must be purchased extra (you can of course remote-control the PS3 with the included gaming controller).
Summary
The home theater format war over – at least for now. Tons of Blu-ray titles are available at retail and from rental services. But perhaps as importantly, Blu-ray players are finally getting to be a sensible choice for those looking to make the most of their home theater investment. If you have already purchased great speakers and a crystal clear LCD/Plasma, do yourself a favor and spend a few hundred more so you can get the most of it. Blu-ray is the uncontested king of video formats today. Many will continue to be satisfied with DVD and it’s not going anywhere of course. But the home theater enthusiast/fence-sitter should seriously consider if this holiday season there’s going to be a Blu-Christmas.
iPod Touch Review
iPod Touch - Digital Media Player Supremo
The iPod Touch is the world’s best digital media player. While the iPhone is an amazing piece of kit it’s also way more than many need in an age where everyone already has a mobile phone. To get the iPhone’s GPS voice and wireless data features you’ll pay $200-$300 for starters plus 2 years of voice+data from Cingular for a total cost of nearly $2,000 ! The iPod Touch has all the iPhone’s best features – the same crisp 3.5″ screen, the butter interface and the awesome web/media capabilities at a fraction of the cost. And with a nearby WiFi connection you can use all Mobile Safari and the growing number of iTunes App Store data features too.
Browse iPod Touch Models & Learn More
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