The Gadget: Oppo’s followup to the fantastic DV-981HD up-converting DVD player with 1080p and Anchor Bay’s VRS video tech (AutoCue, Precision Video Scaling, Progressive Cadence Detection and Precision Deinterlacing) and 7.1 audio with Dolby Digital Surround EX, DTS Digital Surround, Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro-Logic II.

The Price: $399

The Verdict: Video quality is as least as good if not better than the previous Oppo 981HD we reviewed, which also does 1080p over HDMI. Even better than the 981, this DV-983H adds in a USB port in the back so you can play back DivX/XviD files off of a USB drive directly, without having to burn movies/TV Shows onto a disc first.

We watched several DVDs and were impressed with the quality, and the AV nerds on avsforum seem to prefer Anchor Bay’s ABT1018 and ABT102 upconverting/de-interlacting magic chips to Faroudja’s. On the audio side, we only have a 5.1 setup, but what we heard sounded great as well.

At $399, it’s a player we’d recommend if you have a gigantic DVD library that you want to keep even when faced with the impending Blu-ray transition. After all, there’s no sense in buying a movie again if you can get a somewhat reasonable upscaler (and Oppo’s is much more than just somewhat reasonable). It’s their new flagship model, so you know this is quality DVD playback. [Oppo]

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Romanian artist and graphic designer Matei Apostolescu has designed three skins to go with a limited edition white Olympus Mju 1020. The point-and-click 10-megapixel camera has a 7x optical zoom, Panorama function, face detection technology and can shoot up to VGA resolution at 30fps with sound. Full specs and the other two designs after the jump.

• 7x optical zoom
• 10.1 Megapixels
• 6.9cm/2.7″ HyperCrystal II LCD with extra bright display
• 23 scene modes
• Slim, metallic body
• Underwater shooting up to 40m possible in combination with optional underwater case PT-042
• Dual Image Stabilisation
• Face Detection Technology
• Correct exposure of other image areas
• BrightCapture Technology
• New in-camera Panorama function
• Movie recording with sound (up to VGA resolution at 30fps)
• TruePic III image processor for faster image handling and higher image quality

There are just 5,000 Apostolescu-designed Mjus available, but there’s no word on price as yet. [Let’s Go Digital via New Launches]

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These Orbitwheel skates aren’t quite rollerblades, they aren’t quite skateboards and they aren’t quite a trip to the emergency room, but they’re pretty close to all three. They’re essentially wheels that you slip your feet through the middle of, letting you scoot around sideways until you go over a curb or a rut and end up on the ground. They’re available now for a kind-of-ludicrous price of $145 if you’re so inclined. [New Davincis]

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Once in a while we come across an invention that’s so ludicrously chauvinist, even our testosterone-fueled rants sputter to speechlessness. Just check out the NSFW photos (and plenty of ‘em) after the jump.

Bid for your own bitchcruiser on eBay. You have until March 16th to open the auction for $2,303.81…you know, if your fantasy is riding around on the most tacky bicycles ever invented before being pulled to the ground and kicked in the testicles, repeatedly.
[ebay via randomgoodstuff]

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Microsoft continues to step up their design game with two keyboards to follow last month’s good-looking mice. The Wireless Laser Desktop 7000 bundle includes a 2.4GHz wireless keyboard and the previously available 7000 wireless laser mouse. The keyboard was designed for Vista and features an Aero-inspired translucent border, three assignable favorite keys, and the Comfort Curve design.

The Digital Media Keyboard 3000 is the more basic offering of the two. The corded keyboard offers five favorite keys and quick access to features such as Flip 3D and Windows Media Player.

The 7000 bundle will retail for $130—the keyboard is not sold separately—when it is available in April. The 3000 sells for $30, and is available in June. Not bad Microsoft, not bad at all. [Microsoft]

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Searchme is a new search engine with an obvious inspiration for its unique UI—Apple’s Cover Flow. But that doesn’t mean that Searchme is any less intriguing. Previewing webpages visually and filtering categories dynamically, we don’t see the service usurping Google any time soon, but you might want to try out their private beta all the same. For a walk-through, hit this video complete with one of the worst voice-overs we’ve heard in our lives—and we did a short stint in local cable production. [searchme via techcrunch]

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The oh-so-cute CCTV nesting box design by Cèline Shenton is a finalist in the concept gadgets competition at the Ideal Home Show in the UK this week. Find out more about it, plus the best of the rest of the 31 finalists after the jump.

Singing Shower (above left)
Designer Debbie MacLennan has taken the classic image of singing into your shower-head during bathtime and made it real. There really is a microphone in there, with integrated speakers in the cubicle, plus pre-recorded backing vocals and songsheets. May become the most fun you can have while naked. Possibly.

Solar Sill (above right)
Paula Denby’s design is by no means radical, but it’s a clever use of existing tech. Why leave your window sills bare when they’re pointing neatly upwards at the sun all the time? Bung on a solar panel and you could charge any number of gadgets inside your house without needing mains power, which is good for your wallet and the environment.

TEMPlate (above left)
Designers Amanda Smith and Sarah Ginn have come up with TEMPlate as a solution to needing oven mitts when you’re cooking: their ceramic plate is designed to heat up in the middle and leave the rim and underside cool. No idea how it works, though we’re guessing some nifty Space Shuttle tile-like material. Nice idea, useful if you’re visually impaired or elderly, we reckon.

CCTV Birdbox (above right)
Cèline Shenton’s design adds a little faux-security to your house while also offering a home for nesting birds. It might deter casual thieves, and actually does have a camera inside so that you can watch the chicks hatching. We won’t make too much of the “two birds, one stone” saying.

[Ideal Homes Show]

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We love this quote from Dr. Anirban Bandyopadhyay of Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science:

…this is the first time we have created a nano-brain.

Is anyone else a little flushed after reading that? Here’s the story:

While nanotechnology promises to supply us with tiny robots that enter our blood and fix the damage we’ve done by years of drinking on the job, scientists still haven’t known how to direct the robots to the right place (perhaps you’d prefer them to remove that tumor as opposed to that testicle).

Now scientists have developed a “nano brain” that can move molecules via a scanning tunneling microscope.

16 duroquinone molecules form a ball around one duroquinone molecule in the middle. Once the middle molecule is activated, it simultaneously activates the 16 surrounding molecules to one of four billion different potential outcomes.

When these duroquinone brains are combined with existing nano machines, the brains have been able to control up to eight nano machines at once while processing 16 bits of information. Better still, brain prototypes have already been developed supporting 256 and 1024 operations at once.

So what’s the real-world result of this recent development? One example is “The world’s tiniest elevator.” It takes a 2-nanometer device up and down by one nanometer. We’ll let you know when scientists port “The world’s tiniest Gizmodo RSS feed.” Until then, hold tight. [bbc]

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I’m not a fan of rings, but if my wife was a scientist, I would probably get her one of these Ag, Au and Pt Periodic Rings. Made in, you guessed it, real silver, gold and platinum, each has the element’s sign, atomic number and mass. Cool and pretty, but awfully expensive: $205 for Ag, $2,200 for Au, and $6,500 for Pt. Fortunately for me, she’s not a scientist. And yes, this whole post was an excuse to put the hilarious Flight of the Conchords video after the jump.

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Okay, the flashlight machine gun was alarming enough, but now there’s also the Pentagon Porcupine weaponized flashlight. A kind of all-in-one gadget for the frightened, it can help you find your car keys if you drop them in the dark, and/or blind and wound an attacker. Or victim, for that matter.

The eye-dazzling power comes from a 70 lumen xenon bulb, which is powerful even while it’s no maxablaster, while the spiky bezel is sharpened “more than ordinary crenellated bezels” for slashing and stabbing action. The spikes are retractable, so you can safely slip this into a pocket, we guess. In olive drab, for that extra “military” chic, the 4.8 oz 5-inch flashlight will give 60 minutes of continuous light from its batteries.

I’ve got no idea who’d carry this creepy thing around: I guess you’d have to be pretty scared indeed if something like this in your bag made you feel safer. But, if you’re really into personal protection, it’s available for $129. [Pentagonlight via Wired gadgets]

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