It’s always an uncomfortable feeling when we are looking at our pr0n collection while using mass transit. Cupping our hands around the screen of the iPod makes it all the more awkward. This is why are are excited about the Digital Cowboy iPod Video privacy filter. All it is, is a layer of film you apply to the screen of your fifth-generation iPod. The result is a screen that can only be seen when looked at head on. The guy next to you trying to sneak a peek at your device will see nothing but black. Even better, when you buy the filter you also get an RCA cable you can use to display your iPod content on a television. Good stuff.

Read More | Akihabara News

Gallery: Digital Cowboy iPod video Privacy Filter

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In a follow-up to a story we posted last week, the folks over at OSx86 Project are back online and the forums have been restored.  It seems that Apple was primarily concerned with just a few posts that had some links pointing to some warez that the Apple Legal Department didn’t take to kindly to.  In the end it seems things were settled amicably and nobody’s feelings, animals or children were hurt in the process. 

Apple doesn’t “have it in” for our site; they were simply concerned with a few links posted by our members. Those links have been removed and we’re back.

You can read the full story as well as OSx86’s point of view on how news of this event was misreported by the media, at their site.  Welcome back OSx86!

Read More | OSx86 Project

Gallery: OSx86 Forums Back Online

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This week we cover Blu-Ray movie pricing, bring you an in-depth look at the Kodak EasyShare V570, preview a bunch of upcoming Xbox Live Arcade games, and more:

THE WIRE
Blu-Ray Disc Pricing
Portal Player Upgrades Chipset
1GB iPod nano

UNWIRED
We take a look at the HTC Wizard (Cingular 8125), HTC Apache (Verizon XV6700), and HT Faraday (Cingular 2125) smartphones.

HIGH SCORE
We give you a first look at currently unavailable Xbox Live Arcade Games:

• Astropop
• Feeding Frenzy
• Jewel Qwest
• Novadrome
• Texas Hold’em Poker

GIZMATIC
We talk with Michael McDougall of Kodak who gives us an in-depth look at the Kodak V570 - the world’s first dual-lens digital camera.

Here’s how to get the show:
|iTunes| - Subscribe to our iTunes video feed
|RSS| - Subscribe to our video RSS feed

|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264 (Mirror)
|Download| - XviD
|Download| - MPEG-4 (Mirror)
|Download| - PSP

Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments.

Here's how to get the show:
|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| - MPEG-4

Gallery: The Bleeding Edge 002: Xbox Live Arcade, Kodak V570, HTC Smartphones

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Oh, happy day. A few members of Apple’s discussion forum are reporting that they finally received confirmation that their MacBook Pros have finally shipped. As you can see in the screenshot above, the original MacBook that was ordered was replaced with a new one with a faster processor as Apple has bumped up the processor speed across the MacBook Pro line. Oh, and the reason it says the product shipped on Feb 18 is because these are shipped from China, where it is essentially “tomorrow” already. If anyone gets one in, go ahead and send us a few images.

Read More | Apple Discussion Forum

Gallery: First Reports of MacBook Pro Shipping

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So much for freedom of information folks.  Looks like the good peeps over at the OSx86 project have been served with a DMCA violation and they have temporarily had to shut down the forums.  We suspect it may have something to do with an individual who posted information on how to install OS X on a PC using a restore DVD.  But alas, I am sure we will know soon enough. 

We’re sorry to report that despite our best efforts, the OSx86 Project has been served with a DMCA violation notice. The forum will be unavailable while we evaluate its contents to remove any violations present. We thank you for your patience in this matter.

We wish them the best and a speedy resolution to this matter. 

Read More | OSx86 Project

Gallery: OSX86 Project Slammed with DMCA Violation

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No, that’s not a go-kart sized version of the Prius, it’s a Mac mini running through the on-board display of a Toyota Prius!  Nice hack by a post from a member of the MacVroom forums. Dr. FrankenMac has almost brought this beast to life, but still has a few bugs to iron out…

So my goal was to get a mac working on my Prius’s MFD display, and be able to use it’s touch screen to control the front end (currently Front Row)

I don’t have audio hooked up, figured the video would be the hardest part.

I’m going through a Can-View which normally is just used for display the car’s CAN data http://hybridinterfaces.ca/, but has RGB+S in and outputs the MFD’s touchscreen through a serial cable.

I tried using SwitchResX to output the 640x480 at 15.75khz with no luck (got it working with powerstrip on a pc) Ended up buying a used scan converter off of ebay that outputs RGB+S.

Wrote a perl script to listen to the serial port (keyspan USB->serial converter) and sends Front Row commands through apple script. Broke the screen up into a 3x3 grid (9 boxes) Up, Down, Left, Right, center for enter/play/pause, and left top for menu/escape.

Here is what I have so far. This is just the prototype phase. I need to figure out audio, and then I’ll actually get a mac mini and try to hide all the components.

You can check out some of the images on his website.  For the full scoop, check out the post on MacVroom.com.

Read More | MacVroom.com

Gallery: Mac mini With Front Row Hacked Into Toyota Prius

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Microsoft has gone and confirmed the cause of why people are having so much trouble getting Windows XP and beta versions of Vista to boot on the Intel Macs. It seems that while Apple and Microsoft have both stated that they are not going to go out of their way to stop someone from running windows on a Mac box, Apple did choose to make it more difficult than it could have been:

Interest is also growing among Windows users, who cite the operating system’s unparalleled selection of software and want to port it to run on Apple’s stylish hardware. A Microsoft spokesman confirmed that neither Windows Vista nor XP will work “out of the box” with the MacIntels. The reason, said Microsoft, is because Apple decided not to install a piece of firmware optional to EFI called a Compatibility Support Module that was available from Intel.

So there you have it. If Apple had Compatibility Support installed, all of this may have been a whole lot easier. Our take, though, is that a power user won’t want to have a dual-boot Mac/Windows machine. We certainly wouldn’t. We would much prefer the ability to run Windows programs right inside of OS X, be it through WINE or an upgraded Virtual PC.

Read More | Computer World

Gallery: The Reason Why It’s So Difficult To Get Windows To Boot On Intel Macs

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For those of you planning to conquer Mount Everest in the near future, you know you can’t possibly do this without taking your iPod with you right?  Well how the heck are you gonna charge that sucker on your way up to the summit?  Solio has the answer for ya.  All the goodness and eco-friendly power of the sun can now be harnessed just for you so that you can power all those gadgets for free, courtesy of that shiny ball of light in the sky.  But what about all your other gadgets?  Relax Skippy, have sunlight, will travel…

Solio is a portable, renewable power source that draws energy from sunlight, storing it in an internal battery and using it to charge virtually all mobile electronic devices, including:

• Cell phones
• iPods/MP3 players
• Digital cameras
• PDAs
• GPSs

So wherever you are…whenever you need power…Solio is there.

Anything: Powers virtually all your hand-held electronics
Anytime: Stores power for whenever you need it
Anywhere: Chargeable from the sun or wall socket
Anyone: Easy to use by attaching a cable and pushing a button

How’s that for gadget coolness?  The latest Solio now comes in black, along with the older Coldplay version.  Pretty spiffy for those of you with a black nano or 5G Video iPod.  Now you can climb and conquer in style, while maintaining maximum fashionability.  Rock on…

Read More | Solio

Gallery: Solio Solar Charger for your iPod: Back in Black

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Today Daystar Technology announced their XLR8 MAChSpeed G4 PowerBook Aluminum Upgrades.  Daystar claims that the low-power 7447 G4 CPU’s are 100% compatible with everything you run today on Panther or Tiger.  According to Daystar:

The XLR8 MAChSpeed G4 Aluminum CPU upgrade, will energize your PowerBook with new life. With real-world performance, you’re getting a completely different user experience!
This upgrade not only delivers from 1.92 to 2.0 GHz PowerPC performance, but operates with everything you have now - that translates to more performance in half the time. That’s half the time to create, to view, to work… and twice the time to play!.

Those are some pretty hefty claims.  The most interesting claim is that these new CPU upgrades are FASTER than even the new MacBook Pro!  We find that one a little hard to swallow, but without definitive 3rd party benchmarking tests, we won’t know for sure if these claims are real.  Daystar says that their Apple Certified Technicians will install all new components (CPU w/512 KB cache and mobo mods), as well as run a 21 point diagnostic test on your system at no charge.

For those of you that just can’t seem to part with your laptop for more than a couple days, or need it for production on a daily basis, Daystar even has a week-ender program for nearly zero down-time. 

This program includes overnight shipping of your iMac (USA only), and 12 hour conversion of your system. So, you ship your system on Thursday, then start working at G4 speeds Monday! Yes, it is expensive, but if downtime is an issue, this is your answer.

If all of Daystar’s claims turn out to be legit, then this seems like a great way to squeeze a little more performance out of your current PowerBooks, while you wait for the 2nd gen. MacBook Pro which should have all the bugs ironed out by then.  One thing we can’t seem to figure out is why the heck Daystar offers upgrades for Titanium PowerBooks from 400-550MHz, then jumps right to the Aluminum Powerbooks.  They completely left those of us with 800MHz TiBooks out in the cold.  What gives Daystar?  Pricing and additional details for their all products are available on their site.

Read More | Daystar Technologies

Gallery: Daystar Technology Announces MAChSpeed G4 Powerbook CPU Upgrades

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If you own a Mac and a TiVo, you might be pleased to hear that TiVo Desktop has just been updated to version 1.9.2, so now it supports OS X 10.4.x Tiger. What you might not be happy to hear is that the software will not work on an Intel Mac, nor does it give Mac users TiVo To Go. Hey TiVo, we are into a lot of the stuff you are doing (like the TiVo Series 3,) but seriously, get on the ball as it pertains to the Mac platform. It took you over nine months after the release of OS X Tiger to bring TiVo desktop to the platform. When you finally do, you bring it out a month after Intel Macs have been on the market, yet you don’t even make it to the program runs in Rosetta. Oh, and for the Macs that it does work on, TiVo To Go is a TiVo No Show. Can we get some better planning from the guys you have coding your OS X software? Thanks.

Read More | TiVo Desktop via TUAW

Gallery: TiVo Desktop for Mac 1.9.2 Released, And Sucks

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