Hasta La Gadget!

There’s something about old speaker housings, especially from the 60s and 70s. They are usually thick, big things that have a great look with design appeal. These speakers made from discarded old speakers that have been upgraded with new components.

Each Tombox speaker is unique, and the built-in battery will last up to two weeks before it needs a recharge. It’s maker, Diefabrik hand-selects some nicely designed old loudspeakers as suitable candidates for each upgrade. The sound varies from Tombox to Tombox, but each of the ones I’ve seen looks pretty awesome.

The compact Tombox looks like a cool way of sharing your tunes, while the bigger Tombox+ looks like a decent speaker to have at home. Diefabrik list their available Tomboxes and Tomboxes+ on their site, and you can send them an email to get yours. Prices typically range from €190 to €420 (~$233 to $515 USD).

[via NOTCOT]

Most of the console mods we feature are either portable versions of older consoles or add aesthetic features. Rarely do we come across a hack that was made for the heck of it, like this coffeemaker that was transformed into an SNES. Why? Tinkerers do or do not, there is no why.

The mod was made by YouTuber Tyler and his dad. This is actually the second Mr. Coffee that they turned into a Mr. Videogame. Neither of the mods work as a coffeemaker anymore – perhaps Tyler can work on that in the future. Tyler also stated in the description of the first Super Nincoffee video that they originally wanted to make a Super Nintoaster but they found it too hard. Tyler, if you still want to get on that project I think you and your dad should check out this video. The rest of you can see the Super Nincoffee Jr. in action below:

Obviously the whole thing could turn out to be fake. Hopefully Tyler and his dad can post a video of the steps involved or at least the electronics inside the mod.

[via Kotaku]

I have failed you. I have failed us all. Last year Matty Collector offered a Club Lion Force subscription, which entitled customers to receive action figures of the Voltron Lions together with their pilots. And yes, when all the Lions are complete…

That is a 23″ Voltron robot, and this is where I fail you. I didn’t spot this offering soon enough, and unfortunately the Club Lion Force subscription is sold out. Fortunately Matty Collector also made each Lion available for individual purchase. Unfortunately three of the Lions – the Green, Yellow and Red – are already sold out. Fortunately there are units being sold on eBay. Unfortunately they’re more expensive there. Enough. I’ve taken your heart through enough punishment. It’s time for your brain to explode:

The replay killed me. As I said, there’s still a chance for you to form feet and legs and the right arm if you head to eBay. The last two lions, the Blue and the Black, will be available from Matty Collector this August and October, respectively.

[via Doobybrain]

I can’t remember the last time I shared an article here on Technabob, but for Hideo Kojima, I’m willing to making an exception. This month marks the 25th year of the Metal Gear series of videogames, and the PlayStation blog was able to interview Kojima for a surprisingly honest retrospective.

While the one page article is barely enough to tell a story that spans 25 years, Kojima still managed to share a lot in the interview, like how he almost left Konami after a game that he had already spent 6 months on was cancelled. Fortunately his superiors gave him a chance to create a combat game for the MSX. The result? The first Metal Gear.

Kojima also mentions how in 1998, he heard about “a console on which polygons could be created in real time” – the PlayStation. He was pumped up at the thought of creating a Metal Gear game where the player could change the position of the camera because he considered his creation a “hide-and-seek” game. The result of that excitement is one of my favorite games: Metal Gear Solid.

Kojima also mentioned that he had “bitter memories” of the production of Metal Gear Solid, because he was “only” a designer and not a producer, and thus had no say about a lot of things like the budget and release date.

If you’re a fan of the Metal Gear series or Kojima, I highly recommend that you read the entire interview on the PlayStation blog. I will share one last tidbit for my fellow fans: Kojima said that on August 30, he will share what the Fox Engine – a cross-platform video game engine developed by Kojima’s studio – can do. Thank you very much Kojima-san for all the great games. You don’t have to make Metal Gear any more. But I guess it’s too late for that.

Metal Gear Solid art by Yoji Shinkawa, from the book The Art of Metal Gear Solid

We’ve featured Richard Nagy aka Datamancer’s steampunk laptop before, but like most modern gadgets, Datamancer’s products evolve. Unlike most modern gadgets, the second revision of his laptop is encased in wood and adorned with brass and gold.

The laptop has a full wood chassis, lacquered brass keys, semi-precious gems in place of LEDs and a gold foil map design on the lid. Good thing its hardware is far from antique: the laptop is based on an unspecified model of ASUS’ gaming laptops. It has an Intel I7 2670QM processor, NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M GPU, 8 GB DDR3 RAM, a glossy 17.3″ 1920×1080) screen and a Super-multi DVD drive.

The laptop will sell for the wallet evaporating price of $6,850 (USD). Leave your email address on Datamancer’s website so you’ll be notified as soon as it’s available.

[via Luxatic]