Hasta La Gadget!

Bucking the slow march to smaller and smaller electronic goods, Nintendo has actually come up with a newer, bigger version of its DSi handheld. It’s called the DSi LL (XL in Europe) and along with the new 4.2-inch screen (the old one is 3.25-inches) it gets an extra, bigger pen and, best of all, some new grown-up colors. Boring old white is joined by dark brown (so successful for the Zune) and wine red (a kind of murky burgundy that only a 1970s TV detective could love).

The bigger DSi will launch in Japan on November 21st and come with three built-in games for the equivalent of $220. Europe will follow early next year and then the United States, at an as yet unspecified date. Hopefully Nintendo will have bought some non-horrible-colored plastic by then.

Product page [Nintendo – Japanese and in Flash]

The Grado PS-1000 headphone

The Grado PS-1000, Sennheiser HD 800, and Ultrasone Edition 8 full-size headphones all sound amazing. They’re all expensive to buy, but if you listen to headphones with your hi-fi or computer, they might be worth the investment. Which one is right for you?

That depends. First, they sound very different from each other. To get the full scoop, read my CNET reviews of the Grado PS-1000, Sennheiser HD 800, and Ultrasone Edition 8 headphones.

My personal favorite was the Grado, as it was the most exciting to listen to. It seemed to bring out details more, and its dynamic impact was simply more visceral than the other two headphones. It worked well enough with my iPod, sounded acceptable with my Onkyo TX-SR805 receiver, and best with my Woo Audio WA6 Special Edition headphone amplifier.

The Ultrasone Edition 8

Which reminds me, if you’re going to spend big bucks on a headphone, check out dedicated headphone amplifiers. I’ve blogged about Woo’s amps many times, and they offer models starting at $470. I will try to get around to covering other brands soon.

The Ultrasone was the bass champ of the three headphones. If you love bass and you want to feel it, check out the Edition 8. As I said in the review, it gets closer to the full sound of a large floor-standing speaker than the other headphones. It’s also the most iPod/MP3 player-compatible deluxe headphone I’ve heard. I couldn’t believe how good it made my iPod sound.

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Originally posted at The Audiophiliac

Poor Readius, we barely knew ye and your folding e-ink screen before parent company Polymer Vision went bankrupt and, well, that was the end of that. Or was it? Wistron apparently made a bid for the remains of the company over the summer and, as of September, Polymer was acting as a division of the Acer spin-off. The Wistron board has finally approved the €12 million ($18 million) investment and so where once there were two companies now there is one. The jury is still out on whether the Polymer Vision brand will survive, but its technology — and legend — will still burn.

Filed under: Displays

Polymer Vision gets new lease on life thanks to Wistron originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If there’s one thing we know about geeks, it’s that they hate having nothing to do. Bill Gates has filled his spare time collecting knighthoods and Harvard degrees, and Steve Sasson — inventor of the first, and assuredly biggest, digital camera — is now following in his distinguished footsteps. Sasson perfected a microwave oven-sized 0.01 megapixel prototype while working for Kodak way back in 1975, and has now been awarded an honorary PhD for his troubles from the University of Rochester. The man, the geek, and the legend (all the same person) will be in London later today receiving further recognition, in the form of The Economist‘s Innovation Award, which commends the “seismic disruption” his invention caused in the field of consumer photography. Funny, nobody gives us any awards for being disruptive.

Read – University of Rochester honorary doctorate
Read – The Economist Innovation Award

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Digital camera inventor Steve Sasson collects honorary PhD, Economist award originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like thermometers, kitchen scales are an essential cooking tool. You have a choice between the more accurate digital models, or analog scales which don’t run out of batteries just when you need them. I have a glass-slab Salter scale, and it has sat in a cupboard for at least five years, awaiting a new pair of CR2032s to power it.

So I’m interested in this folding scale, which not only runs on AAA batteries which can easily be swiped from the remote control, it also folds up into a tiny cylinder which could be stowed in the back of a kitchen drawer for decades without getting in the way.

The cross (or cylinder) shaped scale is made from stainless steel with a strategic plastic rubber coating, and comes with its own cage and hanger. It’ll only weigh up to 3kg or 6.6 lbs, and the readout is on a tiny LCD screen, but that doesn’t matter — it’s not like you’ll use it more than once anyway. £34 ($55).

Product page [Pro Idee via Oh Gizmo]