Those of you still on Windows XP (quite a few of you) are probably on XP because you don’t feel the need to upgrade to Vista. But if you’re still into getting some new features and bug fixes for your OS, check out the release candidate of Service Pack 3. RC2 means it’s still not quite there, but it’s close. [Computerworld]

Share This

The Momenta PC is a finalist in Microsoft’s Next-Gen PC Design Competition that you strap to your neck. It records your whole life in an active buffer until it detects your heart rate going up. Then it really turns on, and records whatever’s making you excited until you tell it to stop, so you can check it out later, Cloverfield-style. Or green, poorly lit raccoon-eye-style of a night you actually didn’t want to remember. Or…okay there’s about a million ways this is nothing but trouble. [Next-Gen PC Design via core77]

Share This

The LiveSpeakR is a speaker that fits snugly behind the iPhone—or iPod touch—to provide a much needed sound boost. The speaker is unique because it plugs into the USB port unlike many others made for these devices. It also has RF protection so you won’t have to worry about interference from the phone. The speakers work in landscape or portrait mode to match what you are doing, and run on two AAA batteries or an AC adapter. The creators, two early iPhone adopters, anticipate a late summer release for the LiveSpeakR, their first product. Pricing information is not yet available. [LiveSpeakR via TUAW]

Share This

We’re not sure if this video is of the same Dell laptop that caught fire at LAX about a year and a half ago during the laptop blaze of ‘06, but we’ve watched the thing three times already with our carpet-matching CSI kit out. It looks different. Nevertheless, if it is the same laptop, you’ve now got a video of the somewhat-scary fireballs that emit from the Sony battery-infested body of this Dell. The people in the terminal sure are freaking out, screaming “OH MY GOD” and jumping up on those vinyl seats. That’s probably what we’d do too—not reach in an try and save his porn like the dude halfway in the clip.

Share This

NASA will definitely beat the Mt. Everest phone calls when they launch mobile phone service on the moon around 2012. Their MoonLite system will link astronauts, the lunar base and Earth via satellite. Even though there is over four years until launch, the service will only have a speed of 3kbps down/2kbps up. One small call for man…ah forget it. [Silicon.com via Newlaunches]

Share This

Microsoft just announced that the XNA Game Studio, the user-created games program for the Xbox 360 is coming for the Zune. The demo shown at Game Developer’s Conference shows a person controlling the game with the Zune pad, pausing the game, going out and switching music on the Zune, then going back into the game. Very neat.

In addition, since the Zune has Wi-Fi, you can also do multiplayer games as well! You’ll be able to multiplay from Windows to Xbox to Zune, which means that you might be able to develop one game for three platforms (with slight tweaks for each) that people can play with each other. Definitely cool. Check out Kotaku for more GDC coverage. [Kotaku and Kotaku]

Share This

Ho! Finally an app that makes the Notes software on your iPhone about 100% more useful. MegaPhone, which was iPhoneDrive, lets you view and edit your iPhone-created notes directly on your Mac. You can even switch fonts from the default Marker Felt to another of the built-in iPhone fonts (Helvetica, Arial) on a note by note basis. What this means to you is that shopping lists, to-do lists, and other text-heavy apps can move easily to and from your iPhone. [ECamm via TUAW]

Share This

The bill to make the Do-Not-Call registry everlasting—so you never have to remind the government that you hate telemarketers—has been made into a real live law by President Bush. [Consumerist]

Share This

Phil from Make found these fantastic looking Timberkits over at the NYC Toy Fair this week. They’re actually available now in various shapes, but the gist of the kit is that you build a dragon, pig, drummer or piano player from pre-shaped blocks of wood. It gives you the satisfaction of doing something yourself without the tediousness and finger-loss of actually carving wood. Sounds great to us. [MAKE]

Share This

I was pretty excited when I saw it was a “Robo” desk vacuum, ’cause I thought this was like a Roomba for your desk—it’d clean up granola bits while I fragged suckers and not commit suicide with a running leap off the edge. Sadly, I don’t think it’s that smart, just zooming forward sucking all your nastiness in a straight line. Still, it might be useful if you have a really loooong desk or a line of powder you want to neatly pack away without losing a speck. [Wowzzers via Notcot]

Share This