Hasta La Gadget!

The last time we saw a LaVie netbook we were seriously taken aback by the company’s apparent decision to base its design on that of a ten year old Micron, so it’s nice to see that NEC Japan will soon be releasing another of their (relatively) classy L series machines. Due out Christmas Day for about ¥175,000 (about $1,950) the LL750 sports a 15.4-inch, 1280 x 800 LCD display, a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo with Intel graphics, 4GB of memory, 320GB storage, HDMI out and a FeliCa port. No sure on Stateside availability, but lucky consumers in Japan will get their choice between white, pink, black, and red — how debonair!

[Via Akihabara]

Filed under: Laptops

NEC’s L series is back — now in four exciting colors! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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pimg src=”http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/12/863781226799810.jpg” width=”600″ height=”450″ align=”center” align=”left” hspace=”4″ vspace=”2″ /This concept folding electric bike won a Merit prize in a bike design competition, but its practical use is probably limited. Why? Because you charge it at home by pedaling./p pscript type=”text/javascript” charset=”utf-8″galleryPost(‘elecpedalbike’, 3, ”);/script/p pWe suppose there’s a case to be made for getting exercise at home, when you can wear lousy clothes and sweat all over them, then using the electric power to get you to work in your nice clothes. But what’s the point of riding a bike to work then? Why not just pedal normally and convert your pedaling energy into forward movement instead of losing part of that energy when you’re charging the battery, then losing part of it again when that gets converted to powering your bike?/p pIn any case, it’s an electric bike that you power by pedaling. Surprised? [a href=”http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Grasshoper/145703″Behance/a]/p br clear=”both” style=”clear: both;”/
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Remember when Apple customers felt hip?

There
was a time when a glowing Apple logo symbolized radical nonconformity.
Being part of a miniature customer base was, to Mac users, like being a
member of a holier-than-thou, secret society — a "Cult of Mac," if you will. But when Apple’s
ecosystem grew beyond notebooks and desktops to phones and internet
services, that era came to an end.

Apple’s ubiquitous presence
in pop culture, news headlines and even politics prove that it’s
no longer special to be a member of the Mac cult.

Here’s a list of
examples showing just how mainstream Apple products have become. As you read
along, take a look to your left and to your right and get the attention
of the Apple customers around you. Now, raise a glass of Steve
Jobs’ favorite nonalcoholic grape juice and drink a toast to being the same as everyone
else. Repeat after me: We are all individuals!

Macs are big in Hollywood

It
seems practically every computer used in a movie is a Mac. It’s a
little sickening, but it makes sense: The damn things are just so
pretty, and if Hollywood stars have to be good-looking, their gadgets
should, too. The new Pixar film Wall-E took Mac product placement to
new heights: Whenever the miniature robot booted up, he played the Mac
start-up chime. And his robot lover EVE even had a white, utilitarian design
that epitomizes the Apple aesthetic. (Then again, it’s no coincidence
that Jobs used to be CEO of Pixar.)

Apple is skipping Macworld

Apple
last week said that after 2009, the corporation won’t be attending
Macworld Expo, the trade show that revolves around all things Apple.
The message was essentially, "We’re so big and popular that we don’t
need a trade show full of Apple-worshiping losers to advertise our products." That comes off as a
little cocky, but hey — it’s true. Apple’s secret product
campaign
generates so much buzz, the corporation might as well slice Macworld
from its budget. Heck, a Harvard professor estimated bloggers drummed up $400 million worth of free advertising on the iPhone. Yeesh.


Some guy with a mullet is Apple’s public face
Steve Jobs won’t be throwing on his artsy turtleneck and delivering his famous Macworld keynote in January. Instead, some guy named Phil Schiller, who looks like the star of King of Queens
with a Swayze-esque mullet, is emceeing Macworld. Sure, mullets were hip — in the 1990s.   

Apple is abandoning FireWire
Mac loyalists are still pissed about Apple’s omission of FireWire on the latest MacBooks. The corporation invented
FireWire; devices were made with FireWire ports just to connect to Mac
machines. How could Apple do such a thing? Answer: Apple is more
interested in appealing to the mainstream than its loyal fan base, and
ditching FireWire in favor of slimmer, sexy aluminum MacBooks (and the more ubiquitous USB standard) seemed
like a good idea. And Apple loves consistency, so don’t be surprised if
future Macs leave out that connection port, too.

The Simpsons mocks Apple
Appearing in an episode of The Simpsons is like passing a cultural litmus test that screams, "You’ve broken into the mainstream!" A recent Simpsons episode hurled prickly jokes at the cult of Apple — everything from
iPhones to overpriced Mac computers. Heck, Bart even goes as far as to
tease Steve Jobs, saying he pees on every iPod. How dare he insult our
fearless leader?

Walmart is selling the iPhone
You know the iPhone’s pretty
damn trendy if you can pick one up along with a bag of socks, a box of
rifle bullets and some discounted Halloween candy — at none other than
Walmart, one of the world’s largest retail arms. And Walmart is even selling the iPhone at a special low price of $197 — a whopping $2 less than the normal price tag.

The President-elect uses a Mac

Windows PC owners always pull the
"Macs aren’t compatible with any decent software" card when bashing Apple. But
that insult is clearly outdated if Barack Obama was able to win the U.S.
presidency with a Mac as his computing weapon (while using iChat to stay in touch with his family, no less). And wait — there’s one more thing: Obama has his own official iPhone application! Can we all "think different" if we’re all using the same trendy gadgets?

Apple stories = Digg bait
Apple headlines are deeply, thoroughly and affectionately Dugg on
Digg.com, the most popular headline aggregator on the web. Check out
the top technology headlines on Digg, and without a doubt you’ll see at
least one story with the word(s) "Mac," "Apple" or "iPhone." Don’t see
one? Then the world is probably coming to an end. 

Photos: Christopher Chan/Flickr, Pixar, Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com, Apple, Fox, 24gotham/Flickr

You already know what it will take to beat down a zombie horde, but a throng of frantic last minute shoppers is another matter altogether. Here are the tools you need to win the day.

Overcoming Your Physical Limitations:

HAL Exoskeleton: First thing is first. In order to outwit your opponent and score the last minute deals you desire, you are going to need a strength and speed advantage. Renting a Hal Exoskeleton from Cyberdine will increase your strength up to 10x the norm—making it easy to lift heavy gifts and intimidate the weak. Sure, a rental costs about $2,200—but you have to ask yourself: how bad do I want to win? [Cyberdine via Link]

iShoes: As mentioned, speed will also be a key to victory. These self-propelled shoes will help you travel the store at a whopping 13.5 mph. [iShoes via Link]

Secure Your Prize:

Sonic Alarm Grenade: Once you have located your prize, you will need to secure it from the grubby hands of the holiday horde. Wearing a set of earplugs and pulling the pin on this sonic grenade should buy you a little breathing room. It packs an ear-splitting high decibel blast that can cut through a crowd like a knife. [Firebox via Link]

R/C Skunk: Speaking of cutting a path through a crowd, sending this realistic looking radio-controlled skunk down the store aisles should help clear the way. It even has a flickable tail to strike fear in the heart of your enemies. [TYNKE]

Security Briefs: These dummy skid-marked briefs are intended to be a secure place to hide your valuables, but placing them on top of the HDTV you want while you shop elsewhere works well too. [Baron Bob]

Cyber Clean: Like the security briefs, Cyber Clean goo can be repurposed for holiday horde fighting. Under normal use, the substance helps clean your keyboard. But sneezing and throwing it discreetly on the product you desire should help you secure it. Licking it and / or putting it down your pants is also effective. [Expert Verdict]

Misdirection:

Excuse Me, I’m a Reporter with a Camera: People will do anything for someone with a camera. Picking up an old shoulder-mount VHS camcorder and a cheap mic from eBay will give you free reign of the store. Posing as a local reporter covering the last minute holiday shopping crowds will help you cut through lines and grab the items you need with no resistance. You can even add a microphone flag for added authenticity. Sure, a VHS camcorder is a poor substitute for a modern, professional video camera—but amidst all of the chaos and the thrill of being on television, people are unlikely to notice. [eBay]

Protect Yourself:

Defender Hoodie: As we have learned from the horrific incident at Toys R Us this year, it is important to protect yourself from insane, gun-wielding shoppers. The Defender Hoodie is made from 2mm of Type IIA bulletproofing—enough to stop a 9mm full-metal-jacket round at a velocity of 1,090 feet-per-second. [Bladerunner via Link]

Umbuster Umbrella: Finally, as a last line of defense, the Umbuster knuckle-dusting umbrella will help you beat down mother nature and crazed holiday shoppers that would trample over their own grandmother to score a deal. [Sruli Recht via Link]

[Image via Zorpia]

Call us skeptical, but we’re not so sure that Morega’s Qew is anything more than a mere figment of someone’s imagination. The outfit has a thing for showing up just before CES in an apparent attempt to drum up interest, but the outfit’s Qew teaser site just screams vaporware. We’re never actually shown what it is, though we’re told that it can stream, archive, transport and share multimedia. Hmm, sounds a lot like the abilities of some other box we know of.

[Thanks, Mark]

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Morega’s curious Qew may or may not eventually stream your media originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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