Filed under: Audio/Video, Gadget Head, Domestic God / Goddess, Video Junkie, Man / Woman Who Has Everything, $500 and Under, Holiday Gift Guide

Vudu
$399, vudu.com

About as big as a Mac Mini, the Vudu box gives you access to over 5,000 movies for rent or purchase. Vudu uses the same peer-to-peer technology that pirates use to illegally swap movies online, but for good purposes like letting you watch a movie instantly even though it’s not done downloading. The service just started offering HD movies you’d actually want to watch - like the ‘Bourne Ultimatum’ - but the mostly standard definition (SD) movies on offer still look stunning since the box upscales video to quasi-HD quality, while the ergonomic remote is the most responsive to come along since Tivo.

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Filed under: Computers, YouTube, Style Maven, $100 and Under, Holiday Gift Guide

Boynq Alibi (Style maven, $100 and under)

Want to get your college-bound, studying-abroad, jet-setting son or daughter to actually video-chat with you? Try getting them a webcam — particularly one that looks as fresh as Boynq’s Alibi. Though its primary function is video, the unit doubles as a speaker as well: While it’s only able to crank out five watts, it sounds better than your laptop’s internal speakers. The camera is able to angle itself 25 degrees left and right, and and it even rotates 300 degrees, allowing you to record video of most of a room without having to move the body of the webcam itself. Aside from its look, the design is full of nice touches: Rather than a volume knob, the Alibi has a tall ring around its body, which you slide to adjust volume. Oh, and coolest of all? The camera head pops up when in use, and hibernates into its plastic body when idle. Comes in four purdy colors.

Price: $59.99

From Boynq

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Filed under: Audio/Video, Computers, Advice, Interviews, TV, YouTube, Switched Video, Gift News, Holiday Gift Guide, Reviews

It’s the worst nightmare for the networks: YouTube beating broadcast television in the ratings. Recent polls suggest it’s that’s already happening, but our most recent Switched Show (listen here; direct link to mp3) suggests we’re not so sure — and that we’ve got some strong opinions on the subject of how you’ll watch television in the not so distant future. PLUS: We read our personal tech wishlists for the holidays. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Switched Show for FREE.

Related Links:

• Finally, a PC that can dress like a Mac
• Our BEST HDTV Pick: The Pioneer Kuro Elite 50″ Plasma
• Four Cell Phones We Love for Under $100

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Filed under: Audio/Video, Cell Phones, Cameras, Computers, Video Games, Gift News, holiday gift, Holiday Gift Guide

Brooklyn-based Etronics knows you didn’t plan ahead. It knows you wrote a reminder to yourself but misplaced it. It knows you meant well. Really. It did. That’s why, if you’re lucky enough to live in or near the five boroughs of New York City, you can purchase a cool toy from them by 3 p.m. on December 24 and still get it delivered that very day. Yes, it’s true.

We don’t mean to encourage bad planning on your part but with enablers like this what’s any self-respecting true procrastinator to do? We say wait until the last minute and give it a whirl.

A flat fee of $25 covers the delivery charge — and that includes delivery of heavy items, like TVs, or really huge gaming accessories (example only — they don’t really sell these).

Of course you could always go for a gift card — or even an online gift certificate — but all that does is reveal how little effort you put into getting a present. So we say get something with real heft. And don’t worry — your secret is safe with us.

One last note: In a quick look at what they have available, we saw a lot of “Out Of Stock” items, so your procrastination may still have gotten the best of you.

Related links:

• Retailers balk at Maine’s bid to collect proceeds from gift cards
• Breaking: Nintendo To Offer Wii ‘Rainchecks’ for Out-of-Stock Consoles

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Named after the color stripe on its side, the LG KH1800 is a 13.3mm (thin) slider phone that is ordinary, but cute… and too expensive. 

Specifications

• 3G, CDMA
• Digital Camera
• Dictionary
• MP3 Player
• $372 (Yikes!)

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Only for the geekiest (or most paranoid): the HindSight is composed of a small camera that attaches to the handlebar or the seat post and lets the bicycler see what’s coming behind him or her. If you wonder, the manufacturer says that the system is “unaffected” by (normal?) road vibrations.

At the moment, there is no commercial product, but it is said that “a working prototype is available upon request” on the Manufacturer’s website (Cerevellum)

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Available not only in the flesh but also in color. Blue, Green and Pink versions are available at NewEgg. That’s in addition of the well-known white Eee.

By now, you must all know about the Asus Eee PC, but don’t miss the latest hack like the memory extension, or the touch-display for the Eee. There’s also an 8GB version coming. More Asus Eee stories

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Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming

ZodTTD has made good on a promise to release their psx4iphone app to the public just a handful of days after announcing the project, meaning that the iPhone could very well end up taking a slot beside the PSP as a premier destination for portable PlayStation gaming. We’re still not entirely convinced that the transition from PlayStation controller to touchscreen is going to be an easy one, though we’re pretty sure hardcore gamers have overcome even greater obstacles in the past in the name of emulation. The package is being billed as a 0.1 release, meaning that it may not be the most solid build in the world — but then again, it’s not like you’re getting your PlayStation jollies from Sony Ericsson any time soon, right?

[Via Mobilewhack]

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

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This Christmas night, the children in Moscow had better jump in bed and cover their heads and hope that nobody’s awake and out of doors, because

THE WOLF-BOY MAY ATTACK.

This came up in a search for “wolf boy.” I’m not really sure either.

Apparently some rescuers found a boy out in the woods, freezing, hungry, and alone. He cannot speak, he does not respond to calls. He apparently was literally raised by wolves, exhibiting wolf-like behavior and snapping and biting at health care workers.

A sad story, by the looks of it. But I detect something sinister. I mean…wild children do turn up…but what kind of crazy smart, ninja-ly undetectable creature can escape from a health care facility without even being able to pretend to be human (they say the boy walked hunched over and did not respond to any language or calls)? Perhaps this is more than a boy raised by wolves. This might be a real WOLF MAN DEMON!!

“The boy looks about ten - but after tests conducted by Moscow medics, they believe he maybe much older.” How about hundreds of years older, Moscow medics?

And now he’s spirited himself out of the hospital and begins his terrible blood-soaked reign over the children of Moscow. What have we unleashed?!

“”He’s clearly dangerous to other people,” the article says some guy said. “…It’s quite possible he is a [danger] with psychological problems but also a source of viruses and infections.”

Viruses and infections? Or SOUL STEALING AND MURDER?!

I’m thinking of a dark Christmas for Russia.

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Filed under: Action, Comedy, Drama, Fandom, Cinematical Seven, Lists, 12 Days of Cinematicalmas

If you’re like me and not into children’s movies of any kind, then good news — there is a whole library of R-rated Christmas classics that you can put on during the Christmas celebration this year and not have to worry about being subjected to the Dora the Explorer Christmas Special or whatnot. Most of these titles won’t come as a surprise, since they are movies you know and love already, but there’s nothing wrong with a handy guide, is there?

Die Hard

Die Hard contains all of life’s lessons. Who amongst us hasn’t been an Argyle, completely oblivious while the storm-clouds of danger were gathering over our head? Or been faced with the choice to walk or not walk across a floor of broken glass (metaphorical, in most cases) in order to meet our stated objectives? That’s why it’s such a perfect movie for holiday-time reflection. You can sit back with your tumbler of egg nog and your gingerbread man cookies and know that you’re watching a true work of art, not just a mindless shoot-em-up. If you’re feeling really charitable, you can even place a collect call to the slammer and congratulate John McTiernan on directing one of the best films of the 80s, and one of the few movies to capture the true spirit of Christmas.

Lethal Weapon

I’ve already had my say about Lethal Weapon, but I can always be persuaded to say more. Here’s some food for thought: Is Lethal’s status as a Christmas classic tarnished by Martin Rigg’s unexpected outburst of homophobic hate speech during the pistol range sequence? I’m talking of course about his off the cuff assertion to Roger — while drilling bullet holes into a paper target with a maniacal look in his eye — that Amanda Hunsaker’s purported lesbianism with hooker friend Dixie is “disgusting.” That’s the kind of thing — like the casual pot smoking in Poltergeist – that eventually finds itself quietly excised from future release editions. Also, we can assume he became a liberal in time for Lethal Weapon 2, in which he’s an anti-apartheid crusader. Go spit, Riggs!

Continue reading Cinematical Seven: The Best R-Rated Christmas Movies

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