Garriott Heads into The Final Frontier

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Science, Transportation, Video Games,

Gaming magnate Richard Garriott made a successful launch into space and becomes the first 2nd generation astronaut. His father, Owen, watched as his son, U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke and Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov boarded the Russian Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft and took off. Garriott paid $35 million for the privilege of 10 days of galactic fun aboard the Space Station. His projects include blowing bubbles in space to show its effects when done in zero-gravity. Another is to photograph Earth and compare his pictures with those his father took from Skylab in 1973.

Read More | Times Online

SlingCatcher now available for purchase

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet, Peripherals, Videos,

Yesterday, our pals over at Sling Media announced that their long-awaited SlingCatcher was finally shipping and hitting store shelves. The unit, which “catches” what’s being “pitched” by a SlingBox, the Internet, or an attached USB storage device, has been available for pre-order for the past month. Our only real problem with the device at this time is that some of the main functionality is only available to those running Windows XP SP2 or Vista, OS X users are out of luck for now on the really cool feature that lets you highlight a portion of your screen for the SlingCatcher to capture and display on a television.

The SlingCatcher can be had for $299.99. If you wanna see it in action, check out our video after the jump.

Click to continue reading SlingCatcher now available for purchase

Read More | SlingCatcher product page

Travelers Resent PMD Users

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Music, Portable Audio / Video, Transportation,

Monash University student Michael Walsh recently conducted a study of those who used PMDs on trains. While some said it helped to escape the noise of the vehicle and other travelers, non-users sometimes resented them because the user “fails to communally experience the aural soundscape.”  The report also said that although most of the PMP owners realized that they could damage their hearing they wouldn’t give it up. They might want to think about that one. Those of us that attended rock concerts years back that had the same warning didn’t listen either.

Read More | Courier Mail

Woodchuck iPod/Laptop Speakers

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Music, PC / Laptop, Portable Audio / Video,

There are wooden speakers and environmentally correct ones, but what if you could combine the two? That’s exactly what Woodchuck’s Woodgrain iPod/Laptop Speakers do. Available in both light and dark models, the speakers are surrounded in heavy duty cardboard and arrive flat. DIY and can they make you look hot without damaging your budget. We found the semi-recyclable devices available for only $13.50 a pair. We figure if the outsides wear out, you can use them as a pattern to make new ones with that leftover shoebox you couldn’t quite throw away.

Read More | Delight

Vocal Joystick Needs No Hands

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: PC / Laptop, Peripherals, Science, Storage,

The University of Washington has designed Vocal Joystick software to assist those with disabilities. “Ahh” means go northwest, “ooo” makes it go south, and “ohh” makes the cursor go southeast. Vowel sounds make circles, while the voice volume controls the speed. A simple clicking noise opens a link. The researchers have already tested their joystick at the UW Medical Center and are about to begin the next round. The system only needs a mic, a PC with sound card and a voice to operate.

Read More | Physorg

Spotify Launches Free Music Service

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Hot Deals, Internet, Music,

Speaking of EMI, the new music service Spotify launched this week. Other companies they are dealing with include UMG, Sony BMG, WMG, Merlin and the Orchard. Already in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Finland, Norway and Sweden, it will make their way elsewhere by next year. Download and installing is simple for access to millions of tracks, and you can create and share playlists with your buds. The streaming is free since it is financed by advertising.

Read More | Spotify

Netflix charging $1 per month premium for Blu-ray

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet, Movies,

Netflix has been charging new members a $1 monthly fee, in addition to the price of their standard monthly rate, for the pleasure of renting Blu-ray discs, while those who have been members of the service for a long while have had no such increase to deal with. Well, as of November 5th, Netflix will make the $1 fee mandatory for all members. If you don’t want to rent Blu-ray discs, you are fine, no change in price - but if you, like us, are all about the 1080p, lossless surround sound goodness, then I think you’ll find that paying one extra dollar isn’t really so bad. Seriously, it could have been a lot worse.

Read More | Netflix Blog

EMI To Establish Online Music Source

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Music, Portable Audio / Video,

EMI has decided to offer their music directly to consumers with an online Web portal. Not only will they offer tracks and videos, there may be some freebies and non-EMI artists as well. The label says that it is doing this to collect customer behavior data and may use something akin to Pandora, which recommends tunes based on what music the user already prefers. We find this a fine idea, not only because it might cut costs in the overpriced and ailing CD sales market, but also isn’t it nice that someone may actually be listening?

Read More | Daily Tech

Imation Apollo Pro WUSB Hard Drive

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Accessories, USB, Storage, Wireless / WiFi,

Imation’s Apollo Pro WX appears to be the first wireless USB hard drive. It will provide auto-backups when it is within range of your PC. The WUSB will range in capability from 250GB to 1.5TB. Note that it may turn out that users will have to put up with a slower speed with the initial drives. Check with Imation for price and other USB drives.

Read More | Everything USB

New Xbox Experience is yours November 19

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,

At the Tokyo Game Show, Microsoft finally let everyone in on the date that their current Xbox experience would be ending, and the New Xbox Experience would be, er, beginning. We knew it would be coming in the fall, but the firm date is November 19th. We hope you’re ready to spend hours working on that perfect Avatar, because we are going to so own you in 1 vs. 100, despite having never seen it on television. The New Xbox Experience will go live for all Xbox 360 gamers across the world at the same time - no staggered launch here, folks. We must admit, we’re looking forward to it.