Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Sure, we’ve got plenty of options to sit in when it comes to rewarding yourself, but what if you’ve got a mischievous trick-or-treater that really needs some payback for stiffing you in the candy department? Enter Lil’ Sparky, the miniaturized (albeit potent) electric chair, handcrafted to scare the living daylights out of anything or anyone who dares to place its behind in it. Rob Cruickshank has officially “put the cute in electrocute” by wiring up a wooden electric chair that’s powered by a single 9-volt battery and can deliver the juice to the unlucky participant with just the flip of a toggle switch. While we certainly don’t condone the act of channeling unabated voltage through anybody’s bones, be sure to peep the video of the electrifying chair in all its sizzling glory just in case the need presents itself.

[Via BoingBoing]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Though its sound is average and it lacks onscreen menus, the stylish RX-D412B is packed with features for a reasonable price.

The 2007 Volkswagen Touareg offers a solid driving experience, although it’s too sluggish for fast maneuvers in traffic. The cabin tech needs an upgrade, something we hope to see in future models.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

You feeling that all-in-one up there from Fujitsu? No, us neither. In fact, the FMV-Deskpower EK30T is such a blaspheme of the minimalistic concept that we have to look away from the screen to even type this. Only, punching in the specs don’t make us feel any better: 1.46GHz Celeron M410, 17-inch display, up to 2GB DDR2 memory and 80GB disk, integrated 945G graphics, DVD multi-drive packed into a single, heaving slab. Fujitsu calls it “Windows Vista Premium ready” which is true, just be ready for it to succumb at the first sign of strain. Also announced are their FMV-BIBLO NF70T and 45T low-end laptops. The former being a 15.4-inch sportin’ a 1280×800 resolution and Core Duo T2300 processor, up to 4GB of RAM and 100GB of disk, DVD multi-drive, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, and 2.1-hour battery. The NF45T brings the same display but only packs a Celeron M 410 and even worse battery life at just 1.7-hours. All will start shipping in November with the all-in-one hitting for ¥130,000 (about $1,105), the NF70T for about ¥190,000 (about $1,614), and the NF45T for ¥170,000 (about $1,444). Japan only for these, fortunately. Picture of the NF70T after the break, you know, if you’re enjoying the pain, sicko.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Denon’s AVR-2307CI delivers a strong combination of advanced audio/video features and high-end sound quality at a great price, but its HDMI shortfalls keep it from being a slam-dunk.

Denon’s AVR-2307CI delivers a strong combination of advanced audio/video features and high-end sound quality at a great price, but its HDMI shortfalls keep it from being a slam-dunk.

Filed under: Peripherals

There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of products based on Windows XP Embedded, with everything from laptops to LCDs to an array of devices outside our scope of coverage running on the thing. But it looks like we could soon be seeing even more of the embedded OS if the latest service pack update is any indication. Among other things, the excessively-named Windows XP Embedded SP2 Feature Pack 2007 (set to be released next month) adds USB 2.0 boot functionality, which means that a full-fledged version of the OS can be booted from any old USB Flash drive, opening up a range of new possibilities including, as jkOnTheRun speculates, quick-boot environments for games and other applications. Possible, yes, but with runtime licenses that costs $90 per unit, it may not be the most feasible solution for casual purposes.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: GPS, Portable Audio

Have at it kids, yet another 3.5-inch GPS navigator only this time from GlobalSat. The GV-370T is the latest SiRFstar III satnav device to deliver North American and Europe navigation along with MP3 and photo viewing capability (what, no video?). Powered by a Samsung SC2410 proc running WinCE, the GV-370T features 64MB Flash ROM / 64MB SDRAM with SD expansion for maps, a 1200mAh Lithium-ion rechargeable offering up to 2-hours 15-minutes continuous operation or 100 hours standby, and 3.5-mm stereo jack for music on the go. Not the prettiest girl on the block but she probably won’t cost ya much either whenever GlobalSat manages to turn ‘er out.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

The Coolpix L6 doesn’t offer much control and is quite slow, but in good light, it can take nice photos.

The Sony Handycam HDR-SR1’s combination of hard disk capacity, easy adapatability, great design, and a broad feature set make it the consumer HD model to beat for 2006.

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Ah, there you are sweet, sweet Nokia GPS navigator, official at last. Dubbed the Nokia 330 Auto Navigation by the cats in Espoo, this device marks Nokia’s first entry into the dedicated GPS satnav market. It features a 3.5-inch touch-screen with ROUTE 66 Navigate 7 application and European NAVTEQ map data pre-installed on a bundled 2GB memory card of unspecified origins. The 330 is also able to playback unspecified audio and video formats with MP3 and DivX rumored to be in the mix. The press release is so light on specs that we’re unable to confirm if it is in fact rockin’ SiRFStar III let alone provide any details regarding internal storage, battery capabilities, or whether it includes Bluetooth for hands-free linkup with your cellphone. We do know to expect it to hit Europe sometime in Q4 for an estimated retail price of €360/$458 sans taxes. So yeah, they’re looking at you TomTom and Garmin. See the 330 in its car mount after the break.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Displays

Looks like Gateway’s jumping into the 24-inch monitor arena as well, getting its hands dirty with a few other contenders (namely Dell and Apple). Their new 24-inch HD Widescreen FPD2485W — mentioned with their FX530 desktop lineup and appearing on their support site — gives you another three inches on top of that FPD2185W 21-incher of theirs, and features a 1920 x 1200 resolution panel with 450cd/m² brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 6ms pixel response, 178° viewing angle, DVI with HDCP, two component, composite, S-Video, and VGA inputs, a four port USB 2.0 hub, touch sensitive controls, picture-in-picture, and Faroudja DCDi. Unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be an integrated media reader like the Dell 2407WFP has, but it’s still a way better than Apple’s stripped down 23-incher, and at $679 the FPD2485W’s MSRP is lowest as well. (Tack on another $70 for their add-on speaker accessory.) We’ll be sure to let you know when this guy becomes available. [Warning: PDF link]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Desktops

Not to be left out of the latest in nu-industry megahertz wars, Gateway’s got a new line of tweakable performance PCs just announced, the FX530 series. These new Viiv BTX boxes are available with options including a Core 2 Duo E6700 (FX530XG) or Core 2 Extreme X6800 (FX530XT and FX530XL), up to 4GB DDR2 SDRAM, Creative X-Fi audio, 9-in-1 media reader, 8x dual layer DVD-RW burner, dual ATI Radeon x1950 and x1900 graphics, and even an Intel quad-core processor upgrade path on the two higher end models. Prices range from $2500 for the FX530XG up to $5000 for the FX530XL. A decent chunk of change for what we might be used to paying for a Gateway box, but we all know raw power don’t come cheap.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Cellphones

Ah yes, this is what we’ve been so eagerly awaiting. Enough pussyfooting around with the Palm Treo 680 and HTC Hermes / 8525 coming to Cingular — we know they’re due. We need prices, we need dates. And according to what appears to be a recent Cingular marketing presentation, we’ve got ‘em:

• Treo 680: $424.99 straight, $349.99 one year, $249.99 one year with unlimited data (and $100 rebate), $274.99 two year, $174.99 two year with unlimited data (and $100 rebate; their ad, however, shows a $200 list price, but it’s good to know we can count on around two Benjamins. Expect it November 5th (tentative).
• Cingular 8525: $559.99 straight, $484.99 one year (not including $50 rebate if included with unlimited data), $409.99 two year (also not including that same rebate); expect it October 29th.

See, now that wasn’t so bad, was it? Both came in right around where we’d expected and hoped; between the Dash, the Q, and the 680, it looks like that $200 price point is the sweet spot for ever-slimming smartphones. And the 8525 ain’t too bad either, considering what you’re getting.

[Thanks also to djnth]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Lovers of gadgetry, power tools and razors apparently aren’t the only consumers easily appeased by the “more is better” mantra, it seems medical purchases can fall prey to its magic spell as well. Philips just busted out the new Avalon FM20 antepartum and FM30 intrapartum monitors (fancy med speak for pre-birth and birth) which can track not one, not two, but three fetal heart traces. That means mothers of triplets can have all three of their precious chilluns monitored at once, throughout the delivery process. In other baby news, a Japanese toy company has created a Mickey Mouse toy that plays soothing music for newborns, and can even create noises that can be heard by the baby while in the womb. Mickey will be hitting US shelves next February for $43.

Read - Philips triplets monitor [Via Medgadget]
Read - Mickey Mouse baby soother [Via Spluch]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Household

You’ve got a lot of options when it comes to dictating the electronics in your home, but HomeSeer is hoping to snag your increasingly coveted dollars with its newly unveiled PRO-100 Series-II. The home automation controller ups the ante on last year’s Series-I by housing a 1.5GHz Intel Celeron processor, 1GB of DDR RAM, four RS-232 serial ports, a pair of USB 2.0 inputs, Ethernet, audio in / out, and Windows XP already embedded. The company claims the new unit sports “practically double the performance and capacity of the original PRO-100, while maintaining the same level of high reliability and low power consumption (20 watts nominally).” In an presumed attempt to eliminate any and all manual labor within your domicile, HomeSeer’s new box supports dozens of popular electronic setups, takes commands via voice (telephone or microphone) and the web, and plays nice with a myriad of “lighting arrangements, appliances, security, HVAC, and home theater systems.” The PRO-100 Series-II will begin shipping “this December” for a currently undisclosed (yet presumably pricey) amount.

[Via eHomeUpgrade]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Everyone who’s ever been stuck in traffic always would love to know exactly what the road conditions are like. Sure there’s those news radio stations that interrupt every three minutes to tell you how the freeway you’re on is totally backed up, but those often don’t tell you how to route yourself around the problem. TomTom and Vodafone have just partnered to create a new type of commercial traffic data system based on thousands of mobile phones that will describe traffic conditions in real-time. The idea is that by using the regular signaling information between the handset and the base station, the location and speed of the handset can be determined at any given time. Combine that information across a region among thousands of drivers who become data points, and a picture emerges of how backed a given freeway really is — enabling TomTom to provide detours much more quickly than previously possible. The program is set to be launched in the Netherlands in the second half of 2007 — so for all you folks who commute into the Dutch metropolises of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, you may want to renew your Vodafone subscription pronto.

[Via Reg Hardware]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Portable Audio

Since you can’t take your iJoy ZipConnect chair everywhere you go, OSIM has a portable solution to your “musical therapy” needs. Boasting a stylish enclosure and a pair of massage modules, the iGoGo DAP performed its therapeutic magic surprisingly well — once the kinks were worked out, that is. Reviewers at CNET were quick to praise the uniqueness of the device, but didn’t hesitate to knock the “disappointing monochromatic interface, meager 128MB of internal storage,” and the complete inability to play back any format besides MP3. While you can add a few more playlists via the MMC slot, they would’ve preferred a more expansion SD / CF option; furthermore, the player only mustered about 7 hours of battery life with massage mode in full effect. The crew noted that the “massagers suffered from frequent connection drops,” but when things went smoothly, they provided a “truly blissful and relaxing massage experience.” Still, for over $400 the iGoGo sports too many archaic features to be considered a true contender, and if relieving stress is your primary concern, you may be better off spending that coin in a day spa.

[Thanks, Ficky Rick]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

If you’re an iPod or Sansa owner looking to light up your own private dance floor–raver style–then Griffin’s Disko could be right up your alley. Practical-minded folks, however, should steer clear.

If you’re an iPod or Sansa owner looking to light up your own private dance floor–raver style–then Griffin’s Disko could be right up your alley. Practical-minded folks, however, should steer clear.

The Logitech ChillStream’s cooling fan may not be very useful, but the controller is still superbly designed and will grow more useful as more Games for Windows titles are released in 2007 and beyond.