Took them so dang long, but better late than never. Optimus Keyboard maker, Art. Lebedev Studio, has announced on their website that this highly-anticipated keyboard will be available on Febuary 1st, 2006.

With Skype gaining popularity, it makes perfect sense for Sony to create this Sony VN-CX1 mouse-phone. When closed, it operates as a regular USB optical mouse, with a form factor that doesn’t look too comfortable. But when opened up, you get a sweet-looking phone for use with your favorite IP telephony software such as Skype.

The Sony VN-CX1 is available in 5 trendy colors to match your computers and notebooks.

From the translated Japanese press release from Sony, it appears that the mouse-phone is able to notify you of incoming calls with its LED and built-in speaker. When in phone-mode, the mouse-wheel can be scrolled to adjust the volume, and pressed to mute the call. Echo cancellation feature enhances the sound quality of the call. Finished talking? Simply close the mouse-phone and the call ends. The mouse-phone can also be used in a loudspeaker mode.

No availability and pricing details yet. But one question Sony, what if I need to use my mouse when I’m on the phone?

Another step closer for Blu-Ray to hit market! Pioneer officially announced yesterday their BDR-101A Blu-Ray burner. The drive is capable of writing single-layer 25GB discs and at a speed of 72Mbps.

With my über-Babelfish-reading skill, here are some other tidbits I managed to decipher:

• Each disc can fit 2 hours or more of HD video (I believe the maximum to be around 4 hours)
• Writing formats supported: DVD±R/RW, BD-R, BD-RE
• The product will be on display at the international CES 2006 on January 5th, held in the American Las Vegas
• Measures 148 x 42.3 x 198mm (like you care)
• Weighs 1.1kg (ditto)

Unfortunately, it will be available for the OEM market only. But as I said, it’s another step forward!

[via Akihabara, Un-babelized official press release]

Mobility Today has written a nice review on the new OQO Model 01+. Not to be confused with the previous OQO Model 01, this “plus” model comes with upgraded features like 512MB of RAM(was 256MB), 30GB hard drive(was 20GB), faster USB, and an improved pen-based digitizer. New features include an internal speaker and a new universal power supply which adds support for DC power outlets(on planes and cars).

Mobility Today’s verdict:

Pros:
Portability
Technical Support
Design

Cons:
Excessive heat
No Handwriting tools
Stand – (should be a docking station)
Scroll wheel should be on the right hand side of the unit

Rating:
4.1 out of 5

Read the full review over at Mobility Today, or go find yourself a great deal for this OQO Model 01+ over at eBay.

[via Gizmodo]

Now this is a really awesome trick for people who has been using proxy servers to avoid their school’s or office’s security to access forbidden websites. But more often than not, these proxy servers get blocked one after another by that damn administrator. But hey, Google can help!

Try this:
http://www.google.com/translate?langpair=en|en&u=www.forbiddensite.com

Well all it does, is translate your forbiddensite.com from English to…English! And there you have it, one naughty website served.

But of course, there’s no guarantee he won’t simply block Google.

[via OhGizmo!]

Alright, a little background info. Yonah is the code name for Intel’s next generation laptop processor. And a pretty significant one, as it brings about the possibility of dual core processing to thin and light laptops. Bottom line: Better power saving. More processing power.

Eagerly trying to be the first, NEC has announced that its new LaVie LR700D and LR900D laptops will be Yonah-powered. The laptops will supposedly come with a 100GB hard drive, a dual-layer DVD burner, a 14-inch 1400×1050 display, and weigh about 4.4 pounds.

Not to be left out, Dell is rumored to pack Yonah into its Precision M90, Latitude D620 and Latitude D820 laptops.

And finally, we have Apple. Think Secret speculates that the company will put out 1.5GHz Yonah iBooks in January, and the more powerful PowerBooks later in the quarter.

So for those hoping to get a new laptop soon, Yonah laptops are certainly worth holding out for.

[via Engadget: here, here and here]

This is really kinda funny. A German paedophile has turned himself in to the police, after mistaking an email sent by a computer virus to be an official letter warning him of their knowledge of his internet activities! First reared its ugly head in November, the infamous Sober-Z is a mass-mailing worm which spreads by sending emails of varying contents. Supposedly, this is the particular one that managed to reach the offender’s mailbox:

Dear Sir/Madam,

We have logged your IP-address on more than 30 illegal Websites.

Important: Please answer our questions! The list of questions are attached.

Yours faithfully,
Steven Allison
Federal Bureau of Investigation-FBI-
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW , Room 3220
Washington , DC 20535
Phone: (202) 324-30000

The police at the city of Paderborn soon charged the 20-year-old man, after finding child porn pictures on his computer. Poor guy, he should’ve gotten himself a cheap antivirus like Panda Antivirus or eTrust Antivirus. Heck, there are even free ones like Avast! Antivirus.

I suppose the Sober-Z author had some good laughs!

[via Today @ PC World]

With the recent rise of ultra-thin gadgets, the term “credit-card sized” pops up every so often. Yet most often than not, the gadgets aren’t really credit-card sized. Not true for the Wallet Flash though. With measurements matching standard-sized credit cards, one can easily slip this USB drive into a wallet.

Available in 64MB,128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB and 2GB storage sizes. But at the time of this writing, only the 128MB unit is available for online order and is priced at US$29.

[via Gizmodo]

I wish I had this during my EverQuest days! The Pertelian External LCD Display allows you to check your instant messengers and emails, control your media players, check the weather (what for? you’re probably too hardcore a gamer to go outside anyway) or even check stock informations – All without having to interrupt your gaming sessions!

Detailed features:

• POP email checking
• Supports ICQ, AIM and YAHOO! Messenger (what?! no MSN?! no Skype?!)
• Supports Windows Media Player, Winamp and iTunes for song search, volume adjust, and the typical player controls
• Real-time stock ticker
• Real-time sports scores
• Real-time network bandwidth usage
• System information (CPU/Memory/IP/Disk drive usage/Processes and threads/Uptime)
• Local weather information and 5-day forcast
• Quick Memo to jot notes
• Customizable hotkeys
• RSS feed aggregate

Specifications:

• Hitachi HD44780 compatible LCD character display
• USB interface
• 20 columns by 4 lines text display with font size 5×7 dots
• Black text on yellow/green background
• “Always Scrolling ” feature continuously scrolls a message across the display
• Electroluminescent backlight

Order one from ThinkGeek at $79.99, or risk getting fragged/trained while chatting up your girl friends.

[via Engadget]

Got you all excited for a moment eh? Sad to say, this is probably a hoax that many bloggers have found via Teapot the Cat. But if we consider this a concept gadget, it’s still pretty cool!

Update: Apparently, many people don’t read footer notes. Teapot the Cat has stated right at the end of the story that this is a conceptual product. Alright, our bad. But still, why hide it so far down?

Pictured here is the RSStroom Reader, a toilet paper dispenser claimed to be made by Taiwan company Yi Tien Electronics. Mind you, this one is unlike any other ordinary toilet paper dispensers. It prints your favorite news feeds onto toilet papers using RapidResolution® inkjet technology, so you’ll have something to read while you conduct “business”. And when you’re done, use it to wipe. Great stuff, if you consider how so many people likes to read while doing “it”.

It grabs feeds wirelessly from your computer, so you need not worry about running wires to your bathroom. Configured via a web browser, there is option for sequential, alternating, or random feed printing mode.

And included in the deluxe package is the biometric seat . It measures the user’s weight, and delivers pre-configured personalized feeds based on this information. Additionally, it’ll help you keep track of your weight-loss regime.

“Yi Tien Electronics also announced the future availability of a commercial version of the rsstroom reader™, a more robust model intended for installation in public restrooms. The commercial model allows advertisers to place customized messages targeted to a specific audience through Yi Tien Electronics’ online subscription service.”
- Teapot the Cat

I just hope the ink won’t smear my rear when I wipe. Do you think a product like this is feasible? Would you buy one?

[via OhGizmo!]