Fancy a portable Xbox? I’m sure many people have thought about it before, and it will really see Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony slug it out both in the living room as well as on the portable front. How would you like the portable Xbox to look like? There are several major pitfalls for the big M to look out for, and one of them would be the lack of connectivity. Microsoft’s Xbox Live is one of the biggest attractions to date, and has not seen any serious competition from either Sony or Nintendo, so that will be quite a problem unless WiMAX is rolled out extensively. Also, disc changing on the go just isn’t viable, so Microsoft will have to think of a way to circumvent this. Should one be able to engage in online multiplayer, there is also the issue of lag to deal with - will there be a good enough coding like Quakeworld to compensate for latency found using 56k modems? As for the number of games available, I wonder whether Microsoft has it in them to court developers over to their side in such an unchartered territory.

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Never mind that we’re running out of gas soon - a patent application from University of Florida aerospace engineer Subrata Roy lays claim that a micro air vehicle in the future could be propelled by plasma. So far, passing a current or magnetic field through a conducting fluid generates a force, but attempts at exploiting this for use in a moving aircraft has yielded nothing but failure after failure. Mr. Roy is working hard to ensure that the magnetohydrodynamics phenomenon will be able to work on an aircraft, albeit the fact that his invention has a wingspan of less than 15cm and looks more like a flying saucer than your typical jumbo jet. Would be cool if he could extrapolate his findings to accommodate cars, lorries, trucks and planes, then the whole world need not go to war for oil.

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Word on the street has it that pricing for the HP 2133 Mini-Note is now available, where the 1.2GHz processor model equipped with 1GB RAM and a 120GB hard drive will retail for $729, while the 2GB RAM and 160GB hard drive model is a wee bit more expensive at $789 - totally worth the $60 IMHO. As for the 1.6GHz model, it will come in two flavors - 1GB RAM and 120GB hard drive as well as 2GB RAM and 160GB hard drive which will retail for $749 and $819, respectively. Are you planning to get these instead of the Eee PC? I think for the little bit extra in exchange for superior storage space, every penny is totally worth it.

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Filed under: Cell Phones

Scientific American Online reports on two recent studies, which suggest that the electromagnetic waves that emanate from cell phones may have an effect on basic brain function.

The authors are quick to note the studies don’t reveal necessarily damaging results from close and constant contact with a cell phone, but do say it can disrupt sleep in a way that’s similar to the effect of a half a cup of coffee. (The experiments apparently included no effort to compare the disruption to sleep patterns caused by vodka and Red Bull, but we digress.)

In short, the experiments revealed that the bioelectric impulses coursing through your noggin are indeed susceptible to the influence of a cell phone, although the scientists involved seem to see this as more of an opportunity to study how low level electrical impulses can be utilized to influence brain wave patterns. [Source: Scientific American via Textually.org.]

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Let’s take a sneak peek at the Gigabyte GK-K8000 gaming keyboard which will soon be completed and ready to be unleashed upon the masses. Apparently, “design issues” is proving to be a damper and causing all the unnecessary delays. It looks all too square to me, and the bright orange function keys at the top don’t really look appealing at all. This definitely won’t do for a gaming keyboard in my books, since the keys themselves don’t look as though they are backlit, which pretty much rules out the coolness factor when it comes to playing in the dark.

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Filed under: Audio/Video, Top Lists

Mother’s Day is upon us, and that means it’s time to pay tribute and show love to those that passed us through their birth canals. URLesque has compiled their list of the 20 best moms on the web, pulling piles of wonderful videos from YouTube.

Our favorites include the wheelchair bound granny with a submachine gun (above) and the mom who “breaks” her son’s arm (Moms can be bad ass). We also love the completely emasculating video of the mohawked kid getting his thrash on when his mother interrupts to offer him an egg sandwich and give him a kiss. Adorable.

Check the out the rest of the list here. [Source: URLesque]

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MSI’s Wind, the rival to Asus’ Eee PC, is now available for pre-order. The 10″ ultra portable notebook will be available in both Linux and Windows XP flavors just like its nemesis, with the former featuring :-

• 1.6GHz Atom processor


• 10″ LED backlit display
• 80GB hard drive
• 1GB RAM
• WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity
• 1.3 megapixel webcam

The Windows version will retail for 350 Pounds, while the Linux model is 30 Pounds more affordable. I’m looking forward to a price war as the consumers will be the big winners in the end.

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Have you jumped onto the Wii Fit bandwagon yet? If you do (and are hooked on it), I’m pretty sure you’ve experienced the sudden interruption while playing when the Wii balance board runs out of juice unexpectedly. This scenario can be disappointing, especially when you’re halfway through working up a sweat. Nyko aims to save the day with the Energy Pak which was developed specifically for the Wii balance board. It is installed at the bottom of the board, and is a snap to plug in for a recharge without having to remove the device nor turn the board over. The Nyko Energy Pak will be released this May 19th for $19.99.

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Filed under: Cell Phones, Computers, Video Games, iPod, iPhone

Could the iPhone and the iPod Touch be part of the next great mobile gaming platform?

Game developers and Apple fans are licking their chops, awaiting the opportunities to create and play games on the go with these devices. And as Apple has already changed the way people everywhere listen to and collect music, we’re sure they’re equally excited about making an impact on the mobile gaming marketplace.

According to the Industry Standard “A trademark extension filed last February with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office extends Apple’s trademark in regards to:

‘Toys, games and playthings, namely, hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games.’”

That’s a mouthful, for sure, but it also points to Apple’s renewed interest in the gaming arena, which is certainly hot, although competitive as all get out. This isn’t Apple’s first effort in gaming, but the last time the company tried to find its way with a gaming device was in 1996, during the non-Steve Jobs era. The device console, called the Pippin, was a failure.

Now the iPhone and the iPod Touch are flying high. Could this be the time for Apple to make its mark with yet another way to keep you focused on a tiny LCD screen? [Source: The Industry Standard].

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Now this is definitely one home improvement idea I would love to see in my apartment - the WaSnake. Constructed from wood and elastomer, the WaSnake shelf cna be reconfigured to suit just about any space or whim. This digital furniture helps relay discreet information in the home, including comments and addresses, and could even display text messages sent to the home address in addition to your favorite feeds from selected RSS. A cluster of colored LEDs and optical fibers will form the screen, while the system itself is connected to a computer and functions as an interface for selecting and creating both information and communication channels. For wives who disapprove of their hubbies reading or watching TV during meal times, the WaSnake could be heaven sent as they check out the day’s news while munching on their breakfast.

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