Le tour du monde en 80 secondes

Directed by Romain Pergeaux & Alex Profit. This route is a tribute to the famous Jules Verne's book. The making of the video, pictures of the trip and an interview of Alex Profit can be seen here.

Worth clicking through to youtube.com to watch it in high-definition.
------------

100-year-old woman uses iPad

Motz MusicBox

pinoytutorial.com reports: [edited]

This impressive minute gadget is manufactured by the Korean company Motz. Aside from being a FM radio tuner, it could also serve the purpose as a portable MP3 player speaker.

This wooden music box measures 37 by 19 by 26 millimeters. It’s quite unbelievable that inside such a tiny wood of a box is a speaker with a working power of one and a half watts supplied by its rechargeable Li-Po [Lithium Ion Polymer, Ed.] battery.

This tiny star is only available in Korea at a price of $35.

For a video demo click here.
------------

Predators

For the full trailer, click here.

Spotify upgraded

Gizmodo reports: [edited]

Available now if you live in Europe, Spotify's just released the latest version of the desktop client. iTunes libraries can be uploaded to Spotify for accessing anywhere, and social features added too.

Uploading your entire music library to Spotify, and being able to access it anywhere is a great move for them - particularly when some artists, such as The Beatles and Pink Floyd aren't on Spotify.

Spotify Social is the name for the integration of Facebook friends, where you'll be able to send playlists to one another easily and see what everyone's listening to.

See below for a demo video:


------------

Poach Pods

Poached eggs are one of my favourite breakfast ingredients. The only drawback is that the stray egg white take ages to scrape off the pan sides. Enter Poach Pods, silicone moulds that you break an egg into (don't bother about oiling 'em first, waste of time!), lower into a pan of simmering water, put the lid on and leave for five minutes, before scooping it out with a large metal spoon.

Barring a 'capsize' incident, there will be no mess in the pan, and if you leave the Poach Pod to dry, the egg white separates from the silicone of its own accord.
------------

Carr Mercury Amp

Wired reports: [edited]

Guitar amplifiers generally sound best with the volume cranked up, but this of course, is a great way to violate noise ordinances. What the Mercury does differently is allow you dial down the volume but still get tone that sounds like the amp is jacked to 11.

The Mercury accomplishes this with a 4-position power switch. Turn the output switch from 8 watts down to 2, 1/2 or even a 1/10th of a watt, then crank the volume up and the Mercury's 12-inch Eminence Red White & Blues speaker will hang onto the optimized tone of an amplifier at high volume. When we blasted its behemoth overdrive at 8 watts, then powered down to 1/10th of a watt, the amp produced tones that sounded nearly identical.

In the belly of this little beastie is an Electro-Harmonix EL-34 tube that packs a surprisingly beefy punch at full power. The 3-position boost switch increases gain, unleashing a range of growling, vintage overdrive tones thick enough to rattle your ribcage. Its spring reverb unit adds lush, deep reverberation to the clean tones of my Les Paul Classic so spacious I nearly nodded off mid-strum.

While the power switch makes the Mercury versatile enough for solitary shredding, band practice and recording, using it at any major gig is a bit of a stretch. And at $2,290 (plus an extra $150 for the cream/gator finish our demo came with), this boutique rig makes sense for only serious aficionados.

Price: $2440
------------

Awesomenessness...

Sharky tea-infuser

Via: Design Boom. Design by Pablo Matteoda.




------------

Next iPhone?

For full details, visit Gizmodo.
------------

Free font - Comic Serif Pro

Available for a limited time from FontShop. Registration required.
------------

Hipstamatic for iPhone

Hipstamatic is a £1.19 App that lends an 'analogue' feel to the iPhone's camera. The images it produces are surpringly 'authentic', and while I could live without the (deliberately) cloudy viewfinder, it is my favourite iPhone camera App.
------------

Crosley Revolution

Crosley reports: [edited]

It is a turntable of firsts. The first battery-powered Crosley turntable, the first with a platter smaller than a teacup saucer, and the first with a modern, rubberized finish for on-the-go use. Users can tote this two-speed turntable with them to vinyl swaps or to a friend's house.

Featuring a USB hookup for easy analog-to-digital transfer, the Crosley Revolution will allow users to free their favorites from the grooves for more convenient listening. This turntable also features dual headphone jacks, dynamic full range stereo speakers and a carrying case.

Price: $150

- - - - -

Brett's 2p'orth: I remember a similar item being released as 'competition' to the Sony Walkman. The Audio Technica AT-727 Sound Burger was a high-quality portable record player. Its sales were disappointing, and it is now a sought-after collector's item.

Thanks to Conrad for the link
------------

Yemuzip

yellowmug.com reports: [edited]

Drag, drop, done. Making zip files cannot be any easier.

YemuZip is an easy-to-use Mac application for making zip files. Just drag, drop, name your zip file and you're done.

The Finder's Archive function makes zip files that contains Mac-specific information that, when extracted on a PC, looks like garbage. YemuZip lets you choose between a PC-compatible format and a Mac format that preserves all the Mac-specific metadata.

YemuZip is free for personal use.
------------

Making a living from YouTube

npr music reports: [edited]

You can add the band Pomplamoose to the long and growing list of YouTube sensations, with its cover of Beyonce's "Single Ladies." Its members don't have a record deal or a publicist, but that song's video has been viewed almost 4 million times on YouTube alone.

"There's no hidden sounds, there's no lip-synching, there's no overdubbing. What you see is what you hear," Conte says. "Sometimes, there might be two or three Natalys harmonizing with herself, and then you'll see those three videos juxtaposed together on the screen."

The group has made no hard copies of its albums; no CDs have been printed. Nevertheless, they make their living on sales, having sold about 100,000 songs last year.

Pomplamoose is one of the first bands to be invited into YouTube's Musicians Wanted program, which is an ad-revenue sharing program. YouTube places ads next to or on a video, and then shares the revenue for that ad, 50-50, with the artist. Income sources like this allow for bands to survive without the help of a major label.

"If you can't just do ... the production, the instruments and everything all by yourself, then you do need help. That's something that labels are really good at," Dawn says. "If, for example, you're somebody who writes songs, like Lady Gaga, and you need everything that's gonna make you Lady Gaga, YouTube's not gonna be able to do that. You need a big fat label. But if you're just a band, I don't think we're in an era anymore where you need that sort of major backing."

According to Dawn and Conte, the process of creating a song, shooting and editing a video, and posting it on YouTube only takes about a week. The duo buys mechanical licenses for all of its covers online, which is a quick and easy process.

"That's the thing," Dawn says. "People think that all of these things have to be done by geniuses behind huge desks or at the top of skyscrapers, but you can just go online and do it yourself."


------------

iPad illustrations

behance.net reports: [edited]

Three illustrations for an article in Greek computer magazine 'RAM' about the future of publishing and media in the new era of iPad, iPhone and the other new smart devices.

Made with Synthetik StudioArtist and Adobe Photoshop with custom developed techniques and scripts.

- - - - -

Brett's 2p'orth: make sure to scroll down to the bottom of the article to check out the 'zoomed-in' images.
------------

Cat on an iPad

"Aww..." etc, etc...

Thanks to Shaun for the link
------------

Acorn

Flying Meat reports: [edited]

Add text and shapes to your digital pictures. Combine images. Work with layers to touch up your favorites or make something new from scratch. Do all this and more with Acorn.

Acorn provides the tools you need to alter and enhance your images. It won't drain your bank account, and you don't need a Ph.D. in computer graphics to use it.

Requires Mac OS X 10.6 or later. Free trial using all features for 14 days, after which advanced features are disabled. Purchase price $49.95.

- - - - -

Brett's 2p'orth: This isn't going to replace Photoshop any time soon, but for basic image editing, it beats the various online offerings by a long way. For a comparison of Acorn with a couple of its competitors (DrawIt and Opacity) click here.
------------

QlockTwo for iPhone/iPod touch

The original qlocktwo is a quirky, desirable 450mm square clock that costs £1,000. The iPhone version looks the same, and costs 59p. Marvellous.
------------

Apologies made easy

Click here.
------------

The Gift

The Gift is a short film by Carl Erik Rinsch. Part of the Parallel Lines project from Philips Cinema and Ridley Scott Associates, it is Matrix-meets-iRobot set in Russia. What's not to like?

For more details click here.

Thanks to Shaun for the link
------------

John Gruber reviews the iPad

John Gruber publishes a regular blog under the title Daring Fireball. One of his passions is the importance of good user-interfaces. He has just released his hands-on impressions of the iPad, and he is very impressed.

The whole article is worth reading, but for the terminally impatient, excerpts follow:

"The whole thing feels fast fast fast. The only thing that feels slow overall, so far, is web page rendering. Not because it’s slower than the iPhone — it’s not, it’s definitely much faster — but because it’s so much slower than my MacBook Pro."

"Many of the things you do feel faster on the iPad than the Mac. Like, for example, launching applications. The built-in apps, and many of the third-party apps I’ve been using the most, are ready to use within a moment of launching them."

"Battery life on the iPad is stunning. Reviewers across the board are getting real-life results that beat Apple’s promise of 10 hours of battery life."

"The iPad, so far, never gets warm. Browse a bunch of web sites. Play some video. Play a game. It still feels as cool to the touch as when it’s turned off. It is also dead quiet — no fan, no humming, nada. This is the future of computing."

"$500 for this thing seems hard to believe. It is super high-quality, but clearly designed for the mass market. Anyone who thinks Apple only makes high-priced products has completely lost sense of reality. “Affordable luxury” is the sweet spot for mass market success today, and Apple keeps shooting bulls eyes."

"The iPad is meant for anything that can be represented on a 10-inch color touchscreen. The iPad becomes the app you’re using. The hardware is so understated - it’s just a screen, really - and because you manipulate objects and interface elements so smoothly and directly on the screen, the fact that you’re using an iPad falls away."

"THE TOUCHSCREEN KEYBOARD - It’s a lot like the iPhone’s, but, it’s different. Because it’s bigger, there are no pop-up indicators showing which key you hit as you type. They’re not necessary. The feel, overall, is pretty much like typing on a really big iPhone."

"It’s nowhere near as good as even the worst full- or nearly-full-size hardware keyboard I’ve ever used. You can’t just rest all eight of your fingers on the home row keys, and you can’t feel where the key cap edges are."

"DISPLAY - The display is, overall, wonderful. Colors are bright and accurate. Photos and videos looks great. Touches seem precisely accurate. The glass feels good. Viewing angles are shockingly good. You can lay the iPad flat on a table while you eat or drink and it looks just fine at a decidedly skewed angle — far more so than with the iPhone."

"The only complaint I have about the display is that the pixel resolution isn’t all that dense. The iPad’s 1024 × 768 display has a resolution of 132 pixels per inch. The iPhone’s 480 × 320 display has a resolution of 163 pixels per inch. The difference isn’t huge, but it’s definitely noticeable. Type looks crisper on the iPhone than the iPad, and type rendering falls far short of even newspaper-caliber resolution, let alone glossy-magazine caliber."

"SAFARI - The iPad is so good as a web reader, that, if you’re a web junkie, everything else the iPad does is just gravy."

"Zooming and flicking are essential to the experience, just like on the iPhone. Flicking is how you scroll, no surprise. The zooming, though, may come as a surprise. It wasn’t too long ago when 1024 × 768 was considered a large display for full-size web browsing. But: what matters on the iPad (and iPhone) is not the pixel count of the display, but the physical size. 9.7 inches diagonally is a bit small for a non-zoomed web browser. But the action of zooming — whether through double-tapping or pinching — is so smooth, fast, and natural that it feels better, not worse, than old-school desktop web browsing."
------------

Belting

Affecting and effective.

Thanks to keith for the link
------------

iPhone OS 4

For details of the next iPhone operating system, and a chance to watch Mr Jobs deliver the Keynote address click here.
------------

iPhone tripod holder

iphone-tripodholder.com reports: [edited]

iPhone Users now have an easy way to get sharper photo images and video by using the iPhone holder by G Design LLC. The iPhone slips easily and snugly into the holder for mounting the iPhone to a tripod.

The iPhone holder is made from ABS plastic and features brass threads for a secure attachment to tripod mounts.

Price: $8.95


Brett's 2p'orth: I ordered two, which worked out at about £7.50 each including postage. It is well-constructed, and works as advertised, allowing the iPhone to take acceptable quality shots of still-objects.


------------

8-bit destruction of New York

Two-and-a-half minutes of 8-bit magic.
------------

Phaidon releases Design Classics for iPad

Phaidon reports: [edited]

This authoritative and meticulously researched collection charts the story of product design over the past 200 years. It was years in the making and was compiled via rigorous selection process by an international panel of design-world insiders, including architects, critics, curators, product designers, auctioneers, and historians.

The application offers, at the touch of a finger, access to an encyclopedic, illustrated history of 1,000 timeless design classics.

Presented in a beautifully rendered, 3D environment, the application has been built to take full advantage of the large multi-touch screen and advanced capabilities of the iPad.

The objects are organized chronologically, easily accessible via a timeline on the right side of the screen. Material contained in the application includes archival photographs, original sketches, patents, prototypes and informative text with precise information about the product, designer, manufacturer and the object’s historical context.

Now available to download on the App Store.

- - - - -

Brett's 2p'orth: As iTunes removed the need for a physical music collection, so iPad is starting to move in on the printed page. The non-virtual version of this publication weighed in at 3 bulky volumes, totalling 3300 pages. The iPad version takes up no space at all, will be easier to navigate and, if Phaidon have done their work properly, will look beautiful.


I can remember saying that I would miss the 'tactile' quality of a CD and its packaging, but I can't remember the last time I flipped through a CD booklet. I already do the majority of my Bible reading on the iPhone; I wonder how long it will be before the majority of people purchase books electronically?
------------

Free font - Raleway

Font Squirrel reports: [edited]

Raleway is an elegant sans-serif typeface, designed in a single thin weight. It is a display face that features both old style and lining numerals, standard and discretionary ligatures, a pretty complete set of diacritics, as well as a stylistic alternate inspired by more geometric sans-serif typefaces than its neo-grotesque inspired default character set.
------------

Budget cable management

Genius.

via lifehacking.nl
------------

The Guardian for iPhone/iPod touch

The Guardian is a £2.39 App that provides a clean, customisable window into The Guardian's text and image feeds, including a useful 'offline' mode that allows you to cache articles to be read when you are (horrors!) not connected to the interweb.
------------

London-Lincoln-London 04-04-10

London to Lincoln
Come Back My Love - The Wrens
Cum on Feel the Noize - Slade
Crocodile Shoes - Jimmy Nail
Raid The Palace - Pele
Not About to Lose - Ron Sexsmith
Off the Hook - CSS
Ain't No Other Man Til You Get Enough - Christina Aguilera v. Michael Jackson
Buffalo Stance - Neneh Cherry
Three Little Birds - Bob Marley
You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me - New Seekers
Itch & Scratch - Chungking
Psycho - The Sonics
E Talking - Soulwax
Young Americans - David Bowie
Down Under - Men At Work
They Don't Know - Tracey Ullman
Sadie Hawkins Dance - Relient K
Thank You For Being a Friend - Andrew Gold
Telepathy - Lene Lovich
Ac-cen-tchu-ate The Positive - Bing Crosby & Andrew Sisters
Learn To Fly - Foo Fighters
Honeydrip - Ian McCulloch
Fight For Your Honor (Karate Kid) - Chicago w/Peter Cetera
Take Me Home - Cher
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Dwight Yoakam
A Susie Moppet Singtime Sing-A-Long Song - The Bran Flakes
That's Not My Name - The Ting Tings
Seventeen (Droyds mix) - Ladytron
The Joker - Fatboy Slim
Harvest For The World - The Isley Brothers
Ding Dong Song - Gunter
We Are Family - Sister Sledge
Stray Dog And The Chocolate Shake - Grandaddy
Lazy (Radio Edit) - X-Press 2 feat. David Byrne
Baby One More Time - Bowling for Soup
Shake, Rattle And Roll - Bill Haley & His Comets
Bad Day - R.E.M.
Another First Kiss - They Might Be Giants (Tmbg)
The Typewriter - Leroy Anderson
I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor - Sugababes
Toxic (Radio Edit) - Mark Ronson
Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart - Coasters
Just Can't Get Enough - Depeche Mode
Spit At Stars - Jack Peñate
Something Goin' On - Todd Terry (feat. Martha Wash & Jocelyn Brown)
Age of Aquarius - Fifth Dimension
Fly Me - Goldfrapp
Come Back And Shake Me - Clodagh Rogers
Nu Flow - Big Brovaz
You're More Than A Number In My Little Red Book - Drifters
Rubber Ball - Bobby Vinton (Bobby Vee)
Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles
The Handler - Har Mar Superstar
Give A Little Whistle - Pinocchio
I'm Good. I'm Gone. - Lykke Li
Ain't That A Shame - Fats Domino
Mask (Sorcerer Hunters) - Kentaro Fukushi
Friday I'm in Love - The Cure
Happy Together - Simple Plan
Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel
Something Kinda Ooooh - Girls Aloud

Lincoln to London
Words Too Small to Say - Peter Mulvey
Sea Of Love - Horse
I Want To Know - Sugar Simone
The End Of Medicine - The New Pornographers
Runaway Boys - Stray Cats
William, It Was Really Nothing - The Smiths
My Blakean Year - Patti Smith
Revolution Baby - Transvision Vamp
Would You Lay With Me (In A Field Of Stone) - Johnny Cash
Runout Groove - The Beachles
Sweet Thing - Horse
Perfect - Fairground Attraction
No Expectations - The Rolling Stones
Falling Star - Karla Bonoff
Che Gelida Manina - Luciano Pavarotti
Ring Of Fire - This Kid Named Miles
(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay - Otis Redding
Wednesday's Child - Emiliana Torrini
It's O.K. - BeBe & CeCe Winans
What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
Touch Too Much - Hayseed Dixie
Deeper Than Love - Antony and the Johnsons
A Child's Hands - Lucy Kaplansky
Lazy Eye (alt) - Hem
Gonna Breakhtrough - Mary J. Blige Feat. Brook
Show Me Mary - Catherine Wheel
The Hunt - Yngwie Malmsteen
Pink Sunshine - Fuzzbox
Easy on Yourself - Drive-By Truckers
Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured - Arctic Monkeys
One On One - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Should've Kept My Eyes Shut - The Beautiful South
Emma J - Brendan Benson
Crying Holy Unto The Lord - The Blue Chips
Drivin Wheel - Van Morrison
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (Maybelle Carter, Jimmy Martin, Roy Acuff, Doc Watson)
Old Cape Cod - Patti Page
Drowning Man - Charlie Peacock
The Moon - Cat Power
Með Blóðnasir - Sigur Rós
The Long Run - The Eagles
Amphetamine - Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3
Strawman - Lou Reed
She's The One That's Got It - Alex Chilton
Company - The Waifs
------------

Sistine Chapel panorama

For a spectacular, erm, immaculately rendered 360-degree view of the Apostolic Palace click here.

via kottke
------------

London to Somerset 02 & 03-04-10

London to Somerset
8-Bit Dark Side Of The Moon, Side One - Brad Smith / Pink Floyd
Pen To The Paper - Parlovr
Tall Green Grass - Cory Branan & Ben Nichols
Perdon - Volovan
Rocket (Tiësto Remix) - Goldfrapp
BARCELONA - Giulia y los Tellarini
Loose Leaf - Zillionaire
The Flame Of Youth - DragonForce
Double Negative - Grammatics
Oars - My Education
Can't Smile Without You - Barry Manilow
Radio Radio - Elvis Costello
Ruby don't take your love to town - Kenny Rogers
Time to Think - After The Fire
Dance with Me - Orleans
I'm Like A Bird - Nelly Furtado
Guns Of Navarone - The Specials
What Do I Do Now - Sleeper
Shame and Scandal - Peter Tosh & The Skatalites
6 Underground - Sneaker Pimps
I wanna be sedated (Ramones cover) - The Offspring
If I Had You - The Korgis
here it goes again - OK Go
Bye Bye Baby - Bay City Rollers
Kookie, Kookie Lend Me Your Comb - Edd Byrnes (w. connie francis)
Always Something There to Remind Me - Tin Tin Out
Don't sleep in the Subway - Petula Clark
Balance Beam (Fairy Tale) - Blue October
Smoke From A Distant Fire - Sanford Townsend Band
The Streak - Ray Stevens
Stupidly Happy - XTC
I Don't Care - 7" Remix - Shakespear's Sister
Juicebox - The Strokes
Candy Girl - Babybird
Living On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
Goodnight Sweetheart - Moonglows
Stupid Girls - P!nk (Pink)
Lovestruck - Madness
I Wanna Die - Miranda Lambert
Get Ready for This - 2 Unlimited
Tell It To My Heart - Taylor Dayne
I Do - Lisa Loeb
On A Rope - Rocket From The Crypt
Universally Speaking - Red Hot Chili Peppers
heads down no nonsense - Albertos Y Lost Trios Paranoias
Strong Enough - Cher
Drop dead gorgeous - Republica
Information First - Zoot Woman
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Pop A Cap In Your Ass (Full Mix) - Ben Watt Featuring Estelle
Ya Ya Twist - Petula Clark
Olympian - Gene
Orange Crush - R.E.M.
The Rainbow Connection - Kermit
Neon Genesis Evangelion Theme Tune - Neon Genesis Evangelion
Have You Seen Her - The Chi-Lites
Green Eggs And Ham - Moxy Fruvous
Angel of the Morning - Juice Newton
When You Come Back Down - Nickel Creek
Up Town Top Ranking - Althea And Donna
Why Not (McMix) - Hilary Duff
Happy Boys And Girls - Aqua
The Hustle - Van McCoy
Here I Go - 2 Unlimited
There's your trouble - Dixie Chicks
Jimmy Mack - Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Must Be Dreaming - Frou Frou (Imogen Heap vocals)
Hi-Speed Soul - Nada Surf
Theres a ghost in my house - R Dean Taylor
You Are My Sunshine/Open Up Your Heart - Frente!
The Dean And I - 10cc
Put a little love in your heart - Annie Lennox & Al Green
Pinch Me - Barenaked Ladies
Noise and Kisses - The Used
Do-Re-Mi - Julie Andrews
Cheesecake Truck - King Missile
Heads Carolina, Tails California - Jo Dee Messina
S.O.S. - A-Teens
Fake Tales of San Francisco - Arctic Monkeys
Fun fun fun - The Beach Boys
Part Time Lover - Stevie Wonder
Unwell - Matchbox Twenty
Don't Phunk With My Heart - The Black Eyed Peas
Duke Of Earl - The Darts
Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now - Mcfadden & Whitehead
Cinnamon Girl - Prince

Somerset to London
Angel - Shaggy
The Land Of Make Believe - Bucks Fizz
Babylon's Burning - The Ruts
Let Me Entertain You - Robbie Williams
My Sharona - The Knack
Tummy Trouble - John Shuttleworth
Sweet Caroline (live) - Neil Diamond
Fit But You Know It - Streets (Featuring The Futureheads)
The Fight Song - Marilyn Manson
Good Morning Baby - Semisonic w/Bic Runga
Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran
Carnival - The Cardigans
Kitty In The Basket - Diana Dekker
I Know Something About Love - Vonda Shepard
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker - Ramones
Living Doll - Cliff Richard & Young ones
F-'oldin' Money - The Fall
Goodbye Stranger - Supertramp
Never Let Her Slip Away - Andrew Gold
Sunny - Boney M
Get It Right Next Time - Gerry Rafferty
Funny Little Frog (single) - Belle & Sebastian
These Words - Natasha Bedingfield
Silence (DJ Tiesto's In Search Of Sunrise Remix) - Sarah McLachlan
Call Me - Blondie
Poison (radio version) - Groove Coverage
Love And Marriage - Alma Cogan
You've Been Cheatin' - The Impressions
Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard - Paul Simon
Surburban Homebody - Sparks
Idlewild Blues - Outkast
Missing You - John Waite
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
Over My Shoulder - Mike & the Mechanics
You Can't Hurry Love - Diana Ross & the Supremes
Hey Ya - Maria Kannegaard
Linger - Cranberries
------------

Pad-Dock

I Want One Of Those reports: [edited]

Fancy an iPad but can't stretch the budget quite that far? Well why not get yourself a Pad-Dock? It's a portable dock for your iPhone that magically turns it into an iPad!

Using a touch-screen magnifier, your iPhone screen is enlarged to the exact dimensions of an iPad. Most of the features that the iPad boasts about are on the iPhone anyway, so it only makes good sense to simply enlarge it. And, unlike the iPad, you can actually answer and make calls. Technology, eh?

The slot on the reverse cradles your precious iPhone and, crucially, puts it in the right place to be magnified. We won't get too technical, but the Pad-Dock perfectly enlarges the pixels on your iPhone and reassembles them on the iPad-size touch-screen, ready for you to enjoy. You can charge it up via USB, and the battery is good for a whopping 22 hours so the fun doesn't have to end any time soon.

£89.99
------------

Hoverboards

FireToys reports: [edited]

We are now taking pre-orders for the latest craze to hit Japan: hoverboards. These high quality boards will maintain a height of around 20cm for up to an hour before requiring recharging.

The Yakinolo board comes equipped with a stabiliser mode to help get you started (switch on the underside of the board). Once you get used to balancing on the hoverboard, switching it to normal mode enables you to perform more advanced tricks (like riding off walls).

The hoverboard works by using strong opposing magnetic forces to maintain its height. It uses two 25cm electromagnetic pads powered by a 12v rechargeable battery to push against the earth's natural magnetic field (generated by the convection of the liquid outer core).

The board comes supplied with a mains charger and a spare set of front and rear bumpers.

Price: £199.95 (Inc VAT at 17.5%)

Thanks to Conrad for the link
------------

iPad reviews round-up

Jason O'Grady reports: [edited]

You don’t have to wait until Saturday. The first round of iPad reviews are in.

Wall Mossberg (WSJ) - “After spending hours and hours with it, I believe this beautiful new touch-screen device from Apple has the potential to change portable computing profoundly, and to challenge the primacy of the laptop. It could even help, eventually, to propel the finger-driven, multitouch user interface ahead of the mouse-driven interface that has prevailed for decades.”

David Pogue (NYTimes) - a) from his “techie” review: “The bottom line is that you can get a laptop for much less money — with a full keyboard, DVD drive, U.S.B. jacks, camera-card slot, camera, the works. Besides: If you’ve already got a laptop and a smartphone, who’s going to carry around a third machine”

b) his “everyone else” review: “The iPad is so fast and light, the multitouch screen so bright and responsive, the software so easy to navigate, that it really does qualify as a new category of gadget. Some have suggested that it might make a good goof-proof computer for technophobes, the aged and the young; they’re absolutely right.”

Ed Baig (USA Today) - “The first iPad is a winner. It stacks up as a formidable electronic-reader rival for Amazon’s Kindle. It gives portable game machines from Nintendo and Sony a run for their money. At the very least, the iPad will likely drum up mass-market interest in tablet computing in ways that longtime tablet visionary and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates could only dream of.”

Andy Ihnatko (Chicago Sun Times) - “What happens when computer designers lets go of every instinct that’s hardwired into their DNA, and starts practically from scratch? They create the iPad. The iPad user experience is instantly compelling and elegant. It’s not every computer and every function. It’s a computer that’s designed for speed, mobility, and tactile interaction above all other considerations.”
------------

The Expendables

I thought this was an April fool when I first saw the link.

With a cast list that includes Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, this could either be the funnest movie ever, or the most dire turkey ever to hit the screens!

Thanks to Shaun for the link
------------

Mixr DJ App for iPad

mixr reports: [edited]

Mixr is a DJ mixing application for the iPad. With Mixr, causal mixing and professional mixing merge to become a new form of mixng your music. Features core functionality, cross-fading, equalizing, cue, drag & drop tracks, and full effects such as delays and auto filter. Mixr gives you a DJ experience unlike anything you've ever touched before.

Mixr's turntables look and feel just like real the real thing. To mix your music, all you have to do is touch the vinyl records with your fingers. You can play it, stop it, run it backwards and even control the pitch and scratch! To manipulate the sound, simply rotate the vinyl with your fingers, it's that easy! Here's a quick list of the some things Mixr can do.

- Change the speed of the record by touch
- Cue tracks, match beats with perfect precision and control
- Live EQ & FXs
- Custom Intuitive Library. Realistic 3D Crate
- Record your Mixes

Turn your iPad and your DJ crate magically appears. Simply flip through your albums and tap to load your favorite LPs. It feels so natural, its almost like the real thing.

Mixr can be packed with effects for live modulation. Our intuitive interface was designed to be simple and easy to use. Real time effects allow for professional transitions. Effects also include bypass function to allow to easy preview.

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Brett's 2p'orth: Mixr isn't even available yet and although it looks very pretty, it might be a complete dog. But it does point to one of the less conventional ways in which people are envisaging the iPad working.
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