Oh man! What a scary-cool picture. U.S. Army soldier Kevin Garrad got some help from his iPod in Iraq.  An AK-47 round, shot at point blank range, could (possibly) go right through most body armor. Garrad's iPod took the brunt of this bullet and slowed in down, his vest stopped it completely. Here's the description by tikigod on Flickr: Kevin Garrad (3rd Infantry Division) was on a...

I can't decide if this is Microsoft trying to get their act together or realizing they may be running into more class action lawsuits.  Either way, it's good news for the Xboxers out there. The details:     - Free shipping for repairs (both in and out of warranty Xboxes). (i.e. they send you a postage paid box to ship it in).     - For in-warrantuers, a...

The US price of the PSP Core pack has been reduced to $169.99, as announced by Sony Computer Entertainment.  Oh man sweet, the Core pack. They must use the word core in reference to an apple core after all the tasty, juicy parts are gone. Hey, just joking. The Entertainment pack gets the same price cut. I just wanted to make my commentary on the use of "core" in the tech/gamin...

Altough we found this through FunniestGadgets.com (possibly due to the colors), it looks like a cool little design that could be very useful. I could see this on the front port of my work computer Monday through Friday, saving files to it and using it as a hub, then taking it home on the weekend (yeah, right!). Ritek's specs: RIDATA USB Flash Drive +Hub-Yego RIDATA USB drive -Y de...

    Belkin continues to do good work in the let's-get-stuff-out-of-the-way department. While there are plenty of inexpensive hubs     that allow you to have 2 computers share one monitor, the Flip takes it up a notch by letting you also share one keyboard and mouse between to machine. That definitely helps those of us who are bringing laptop home or split time betw...

This cat Patrick McFarland put up on his blog a nice brief history of USB and what he foresees as the problems in the future. Why Powered USB Is Needed, Part 1: The Short History of USB Why Powered USB Is Needed, Part 2: The Future of USB This is the kind of explanations of technology we see as key for consumers at large. Cheers to Patrick McFarland and his blog Ad Terras Per Aspera ...

Now that's a cool use of useless space. That three inch wide hole in your desk for the 1/4 inch space you cords need could soon actually hold something useful.  Belkin's In-Desk USB Hub takes practical design up a notch with a powered USB hub.  Well, maybe you use that hole for your thrice daily Big Gulp or that Venti cup of coffee.  Even so, we like inventive designs particularl...

VenMill's Skip-Away can just clean your disc, but it supposedly can repair scratches so unreadable DVDs will work again. For some, that means mis-handled Simpsons' DVDs can be resurrected.  For others, it means important data and backup can be access.  For people who store and transport their discs in a safe manner, it means they can hold on to $250. [via The Regi...

Microsoft just made it official. First just the facts, man: In U.S. stores on April 29, 2007. $479.99 (U.S.) Includes: 120GB hard drive Xbox 360 Wireless Controller (black) Xbox 360 headset (black) Xbox 360 HDMI cable (color not announced, we're hoping for paisely in pastels) one-month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold ...

Sony Ericsson Z750 Size - 97.4 x 49 x 20 mm /  3.8 x 1.9 x 0.8 inches Weight - 110 gr / 3.9 oz Available colors - Phantom Grey - Ro...

While 30 is pretty much overkill for someone like me, you can cherry pick the ones that would actually be useful to you. Here are the ones for me (click the link at the end for the full list. GmailTo - forces all ‘mailto’ links to open in GMail Gmail To Thunderbird  - how to access your Gmail using Mozilla Thunderbird. GmailDrive  - adds ...

First reported on this site here, the Ring of Death is continually popping up here and there. While Microsoft does seem to be doing a decent job at the repairs, this commenter at Joystiq summed it up: "... they just fix it up so that it starts up without fixing the underlying issue. They need to bite the bullet and take those bricked units out of circulation."

Definitely a mod that is way beyond me, but Jonathan Bare has successfully upgraded his Apple TV with a 120GB hard disk.  I'm sure a Windows person will be successful in doing this soon also. Why Apple went with a 40GB hard drive for a device aimed at watching digital video is hard to fathom. Possibly they had a lot of 40GB drives in a warehouse in China and saw this as an opportunity to u...

Ubergizmo reports on this new battery being developed in Japan. "It requires just a single minute to fully charge the battery, and with a long cycle life that often exceeds 1,000 cycles, I can forsee a commercial solution based on this battery be a huge success." I can forsee cellphones actually getting smaller again, as opposed to the last five years of them consistently getting ...

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Between this New York Times article, and things like this question posed to Dave Taylor, we are witnessing a change in the computing mindset of the average user.

Reuters has a great story called Wii game console bowling over retirees. A nice little feel good story. What it actually reminded me was how technology may be design for a certain purpose, but the general public will always find other ways to make it important.  Now from what I can tell, Nintendo was aiming for the "non-hardcore" gamers with the Wii. The controller interface allo...

Gizmodo has unboxed and setup the Apple TV. While I see why Apple didn't ship cords (which one? RCA, HDMi, S-video, that one with five jacks), it would have been a nice gesture to include one for the early adopters. Then as you start to take a good size of the market you can start the penny-pinching, just like with the iPod (no longer shipped with AC charger or installation disk).  W...

As announced by ZDNet, Fujitsu adopts flash memory for new tablets. This trend will continue and will most likely mean less headaches for consumers.  The fewer moving parts means fewer chances of "wear-n-tear" breakdowns. We'll be doing a short report on what the trade-offs really are. Data recoverability is paramount since we know that hard drive, no matter how damaged or fried,...

One insanely cool gadget we've been watching for ever is the Optimus keyboard from Art Lebedev Studio. The project is a keyboard with keys that have LCD-esque displays, which you can configure for function and look.  A 3-key version has been available for a while: In their own words, " Every key of the Optimus keyboard is a stand-alone display showing exactly wha...

Is it just me or does every Sony-related news story make them look like evil incarnate? Well this doesn't count, but it's close. A Best Buy employee informed Joystiq (who confirmed) that the model is not going to be carried by that retailed.  Then another Joystiq reader chimed in: I work in a Circuit City on the east coast and our price tag lists the 20GB model as 499.96. 96 cents means i...