Gadgets Blog

Don’t you just love when companies listen to their customers and give them what they actually want? It re-affirms your belief in the entire corporate structure that our country is built upon. So when you hear that Midway and more specifically, Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon wants to make a new Mortal Kombat that is grittier and bloodier than it has been in the past few iterations, that’s something to get excited about.

The word came during a conversation between Boon and the guys over at Kotaku during Comic-Con yesterday. Boon apparently mentioned that while his team was working on Mortal Kombat 8, they envisioned a sort of re-boot of the series in which blood and violence became the focus; like it was at the series’ inception. Boon even mentioned that he was imagining a Mortal Kombat game that was heavily influenced by Gears of War. The game was eventually scrapped when DC Comics came into the house and said that they would very much like to have a Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Comics game. With the stately comic book characters in tow, the team at Midway had to tone down their images of blood and gore.

Boon, however, isn’t done with his gory fantasies. If MK VS. DC is successful, then MK9 could be a reality; a fan satisfying, nasty head-eating fatality filled reality.

Read more at Kotaku

Talk tough but keep your ass covered.

That might be the motto of companies who want to take on famously litigious Apple by making Mac clones.

An official from Open Tech has said the company is confident it can sell its Mac clones and avoid a lawsuit from Apple. He wasn’t so confident that he was willing to let us publish his full name, though.

Tom, an Open Tech employee who asked that his last name not be revealed to protect him from legal retribution, said his company’s legal team has carefully looked over the complaint Apple filed against Mac cloner Psystar to ensure Open Tech doesn’t meet a similar fate. He added that Open Tech’s method of selling computers with how-to kits for users to install the operating system of their choice — OS X Leopard, Windows XP, Ubuntu or Vista — would not violate Apple’s copyrights.

"If Apple didn’t want to have this problem with us or anybody, all they have to do is remove their software from their shelves, because if they don’t want that software used then they shouldn’t even sell it," Tom said in a phone interview.

Saying Apple has a "ruthless reputation" for stomping Mac cloners, Tom noted it was possible Apple might allege contributory infringement. Contributory infringement requires two conditions: 1.) The company is aware of which violation(s) it is assisting others in committing; 2.) The company provides materials to assist users in infringement.

Apple’s end-user agreement reads, “You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so.”    

Open Tech emerged a week after Apple sued Mac copycat Psystar, which sold hacked PCs with OS X Leopard preinstalled. Shortly after filing a lawsuit alleging copyright, trademark and shrink-wrap infringement, Apple demanded Psystar recall all the Mac clones it sold. Days later, Psystar’s office building appeared for sale in an ad.

Open Tech has not announced a price for its computer lineup. One of the systems will feature a 3.45GHz Intel Pentium D Dual-Core processor, a 500GB hard drive and 3GB of RAM.

Tom said Open Tech is making necessary preparations, as Apple is already beginning to take action.

"We’re on guard for the sharks," he said. "They’re already coming at us."

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 25th 2008 at 8:46AM

Chinavasion isn’t known for offering up cutting-edge gadgetry — far from it, to be honest — but the MP4 player known only as the CVSJ-1304-4GB is actually fairly notable. According to the dodgy specifications, the $39.55 device checks in at just 4.5-millimeters thick, which is certainly thinner than the other so-called “world’s thinnest” DAP. Of course, this may only be true due to the “MP4″ moniker, seeing as most units not created and sold exclusively in China are called “MP3″ players. Semantics aside, the unit also includes a 1.8-inch display with a 160 x 128 resolution, a curious 2.5-millimeter headphone jack, a USB 2.0 port and a rechargeable battery. So, do any of you have a competitor that’s a hair thinner? Our hunch is yes.

[Via PMP Today]

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jul 25th 2008 at 2:16PM

All work and no play makes Robosapien a dull bot. All work and no play makes Robosapien a dull bot. All work and n0 play makes R0b0sapien a dull bot. All w0rk and no play makes R0101ap1en a dull b0t. A11 w0rk a1d n0 play m01es R0101ap1en a dull b0t. A11 101k 11d n0 p10y m01es R010101e0 a d011 b0t. 011 1011 11d n0 p10y m011s 0010101e0 a d011 b0t. 011 1011 110 10 p10y 1011s 0010101e0 1 d011 b0t. 011 1011 110 10 1100 10110 001010110 1 1011 001.

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Filed under: Robots

Google has officially opened Knol and with it started a potential challenger to Wikipedia.

Knols, like wikis, are articles written on a specific subject. In the case of a Knol though, the author takes ownership of the work with their name displayed prominently on a page and editing and content decisions placed in their hands.

A Knol can have a single author or group of authors and Knols covering the same subject by different experts are also being encouraged. Readers may also make suggestions for edits or additions to the content of a Knol, but the author has control and decides whether to implement the suggested changes.

Google has engineered the Knol system in such a way that good content is rewarded. Readers can not only suggest updates, but also comment on the content, write a review of specific Knols and rate them. If a Knol writer decides to use the AdSense program to make some money from their work, good comments and reviews should aid their revenue stream.

A partnership with The New Yorker will also allow Knol authors to use cartoons in their Knols to help get a message across, or just provide readers with a chuckle.

Read more at The Official Google Blog, found via ZDNet UK

Matthew’s Opinion
Knol has clearly been created to solve a lot of the problems associated with Wikipedia. Here content AND authorship seem to be as important as each other. The author’s reputation rides on the quality of the content contained in their Knol and readers will soon decide through the ratings system whether a Knol is worth reading or not.

It will be interesting to see how wide in scope some Knols go. For example, one Knol might cover caffeine, where as a another will cover coffee with caffeine as a subcategory within the Knol. There seems to be no limit of scope, just quality of information.

Google are also looking to have Knol references put in Wikipedia. If that happens, which is likely if the quality of Knols is high, then it will migrate people away from Wikipedia and towards Knol use. If the information is more reliable then this can’t be viewed as a bad migration. Hopefully though, there is room for both systems to provide us with information.

I’ve certainly used Wikipedia many times to find out information and hope it remains a useful resource. I will be looking to Knol for information as well now though.

FROM APPLETELL - I thought this was going to be a top-down, 2D style Mahjong game, where it’s hard to tell what level the pieces are on. Not so. In fact, this game feels like a mature release from the App Store.
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You know how filling up a fridge’s front with your more memorable photos can be a fun thing to do? Well, that is now possible in a radically different manner with the Digital Fridge Photo Frame.

DigiFrame the digital magnetic photo frame is a stylish accessory for your home. Display up to 66 of your favorite digital photographs on the magnetic picture frame – downloaded via USB – and stick the digital photo frame to your fridge. You can even use this stylish fridge photo frame as picture frame for your desktop by simply folding down the back stand. Show off your loved ones and keep your treasured memories safe on a sharp LCD display with a generous 2.4 inch screen. All the most common file types like JPG are recognized and the built-in rechargeable battery of your USB digital photo frame can be powered up via any USB port - a full charge delivers 11 hours of life.

Unfortunately, the Digital Fridge Photo Frame is not compatible with Macs as the bundled software CD works with Windows-based computers only. You will be able to pick this up for £29.99 a pop.

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In you are into Star Wars or like collecting creature shaped flash drives in general, then you should give Mimoco a looksee. They have unleashed their new Series 3 of their Star Wars Mimobot collection bringing, “The Force” a little closer to our CPUs. This new line features the likenesses of the ominous Darth Sidious, the scarlet draped Imperial Guard, golden droid companion C-3PO or the fuzzy, loveable Wicket the Ewok. Also each of the Star Wars flash drive can be made to play Star Wars sounds when they are plugged-in to the USB port.

Each one can be found on the Mimoco website and range from a 1GB to a large 8GB flash drive model. Cuteness doesn’t come cheap, however, as the Star Wars flash drives start at $39.95 for the 1GB model and a whopping $109.95 for the 8GB one. Other Star Wars flash drive Mimobots currently available are; Princess Leia, Han Solo, Boba Fett (Boba Fett?!?!), and Luke Skywalker.

Read more at Mimoco via Gizmodo.

The fact that I don’t actually own a 3G iPhone - yet - hasn’t kept me from buying, testing, or sampling all of the new accessories. (Sadly, I am limping along with my “old” iphone until the lines diminish at my local Apple store.)

The new 3G cases from Griffin are some of my favorites, especially since a few of them, such as the Nu Form, feature the EasyDock solution, a clever new way to dock your phone without taking the entire case off. The bottom section just slides off and on for charging and syncing.

Made of a 2-piece shatter-proof polycarbonate shell, it snaps around your iPhone, giving you plenty of protection while still allowing full access to all the controls. Available in black or white, it’s $24.99 at Griffin and Amazon.

Designer Joongoo Lee has dreamt of this Samsung Costume 2.5″ hard drive concept that takes its inspiration from a ladies make-up compact located in most hand bags. It will fit comfortably into the palm of your hand, and I will even go out on a limb here and speculate that the Costume will be able to hold a maximum of 320GB of storage space thanks to SATA connectivity utilized here. Won’t be surprised if it came with a vanity mirror though.