When Lenovo’s oh-so-nimble IdeaPad U110 crashed onto the scene in January, intrigue was high. After all, it came packing a lightweight frame, a couple of longevous batteries, a respectable price tag and a decent list of specifications. After spending some quality time with the ultraportable, we came away less than enthused, but that’s not the point here — we’re asking you, dear readers, to toss in your own two pennies and let us know how you would’ve done things differently on this here machine. Would you have stripped off a coat or two of that gloss? Shoved in a more potent processor? Pre-installed just a bit less bloatware? Wrack your brain and let us know, alright?
I know people like the Philips Senseo coffee pod system—I’m a snob and refuse to try it—so just for you folks, Philips is releasing a new version of the Senseo that can make froofy milk drinks, too. Called the Senseo Latte Select, it appears to be identical to the old Senseo but now features a new milk compartment that can whip up cappuccino, latte macchiato, or cafe latte on request—plus that milk compartment can be cleaned “with the touch of a button.” Coming to Europe this September for about $280, you’ve gotta make a lotta latte to pay it off. [Philips via Single Serve Coffee]
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a lot of firsts. It’s the first new Star Wars film since Emperor George Lucas wrapped up the canonical series three years ago. It’s the opening salvo of a wave of Expanded Universe TV series—the film launches The Clone Wars animated series, and meanwhile a live-action one set between the prequels and the original trilogy is deep in development. It’s the first animated Star Wars feature film. And most importantly, it’s the first Star Wars movie you will truly loathe.
Let’s be honest. We didn’t hate the prequels, we were disappointed by them. There’s a difference. Okay, maybe we hated The Phantom Menace, at least a little bit. Alright, yeah, Anakin was annoying in pretty much every single prequel film. Guess what? He’s annoying here too. Yet he’s not nearly as bad as his new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, introduced to give the kiddies a protagonist they can relate to. Yoda assigns her to Anakin as a Padawan to make him seem more mature and less, well, all of those qualities we hate about him. Problem is, she’s all of those things times 7.6, and he never stops being himself, so the onslaught of whine when they’re onscreen together makes you wish you brought a bucket of cheese to the theater. It’s a heavy burden to deal with in order to watch The Clone Wars since she’s a focal point of it. (Imagine Jar Jar getting 75 percent of the screentime in one of the prequels.)
Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot of reasons to want to look past the incessant snottiness. The 98-minute film is at least 20 minutes too long, propelled by what could’ve been a decent plot line that’s instead twisted and stretched into a sloppy mess. Obi-Wan (voiced by a solid Ewan McGregor doppelganger) and Count Dooku (happily, still voiced by the inimitable Christopher Lee) offer brief moments of actual satisfaction in what’s otherwise a series of disappointingly generic battles. Maybe the reason the battles are so lifeless is that they’re droids vs. clones—essentially nothing against nothing. It could be the wholly uninspired, unexciting way it’s “shot,” combined with the woodblock animation style that makes it look like action figures against action figures. Regardless, after the second fight, they all kind of run together, and from all appearances, it’s what we can look forward to in the TV series. Battles in Star Wars should not be boring.
Two of the movie’s better moments actually come from new Star Wars tech, or at least stuff not seen in the live action movies. The first—which sets up the battle that gets the movie rolling, and establishes at least moderate hopes—is a giant red neighborhood-sized forcefield that surrounds the invading droid army, shielding them from Republic’s massive artillery canons. Okay, really it’s borrowed from the Gungans in Phantom Menace, but it’s different because it’s red! It’s a plot device that still works, anyway. Anakin and Ahsoka’s first mission is to disable it, while Obi-Wan holds off the droids as long as he can—toward the end this battle is when your heart first drops into your stomach.
While we’ve seen the AT-TE before, it does something incredible here that we haven’t—it vertically scales a goddamn mountain. Somehow, the director manages to make a vertical less enthralling than it should be, but to see this six-ton beast walk up a wall is one of the few times I said “Wow” during the movie.
Sadly, the few things there are to like are vastly overwhelmed by everything you won’t. Here’s a quick list of everything else you’ll hate: • The Huttlet (aka Stinky) • Ziro the Hutt (aka Truman Capote + Black New Orleans Crack-Dealing Whore) • Stupid droids • The non-John Williams music • The animation, mostly (Mace Windu looks ghastly, though Count Dooku looks awesome) • The lightsaber battles (you’ll see) • Most of the dialogue • The fact you paid to see it
In short, it’s the worst Star Wars movie you’ll ever see in theaters, if you go, so don’t.
There are literally thousands of apps in the iPhone App Store, with hundreds being added each week. It’s hard to keep track. In the same vein as our “iPhone Apps We Like” posts, take a look here at what stood out this week—notable for usefulness, novelty, birthing a child, whatever. Let’s spend some iTunes credit.
Wikime: Hands down my favorite app of the week, Wikime takes a location reading and then queries Wikipedia’s large list of geotagged articles, showing you info relevant to where you are at that very moment. It pulled a huge list of great articles for my Brooklyn neighborhood, and it’s customizable to search within a given radius or search non-English Wikipedias. Awesome stuff for touring, or just learning more about your city, especially if you live in a large metro area with lots of tagged articles. And it’s a buck.
Photocalc: For folks like me that still enjoy pulling out—gasp—film-based cameras every now and then, Photocalc is a great tool for doing the types of number crunching that we’ve grown so accustomed to letting our digicams handle that we don’t even think about anymore. Even if you shoot mostly digital, this is a fun way to learn a lot of basics like depth of field calculation and exposure compensation ratios that will make you a better photographer, no matter what you’re shooting with. $3 [via Gadget Lab]
Beijing Taxi Guide: If you’re in town for the Olympics, first, stop reading Gizmodo. But if you’re here (we love you too) and you’ve got Great Firewall Web, grab the Beijing Taxi Guide. It has a searchable directory of over 1,000 popular destinations picked by real people (not Frommers), and offers your cabby big, bold directions on how to get there. It works entirely offline (no roaming data), and will be updated by the devs constantly with new locations. Let’s see some location-based searching, maybe? $5
More apps we looked at on Giz this week:
Tris is Tetris, the best game to play while waiting in line, period. Free.
Astro Ranch is a Harvest Moon/Animal Crossing clone that’s in the works.
Simplify Media streams your home iTunes library along with 30 of your friends’ collections to your iPhone.
Frotz is a text-based game emulator, for kicking it Tandy style.
Freebird is the best novelty image app yet. Flash a lighter for Skynyrd, glowstick for Darude, or a candle for that renaissance lutist. Free
Beer Counter will track your consumption as you get shitfaced. Free
Box Office, one of our first favorite apps, is now back as “Now Playing” after being mysteriously yanked (probably for a trademark violation with the name). Phew. Still Free.
And here’s a category that’s been getting a lot of love in the store this week: baby apps.
Baby Tracker: Nursing: Sports timers for keeping track of when junior was last nursed, and on which side and for how long. I am not quite in the mood yet to know if this is necessary or not (some reviewers with more experience are saying it’s unnecessary) but hey, if you’re going to over-parent, why not do it with an iPhone! Oh, and it has a nice icon. $10.
Bishop’s Score Calc: For DIY gynos, you can tell if you’re about to go into labor or not with this Bishop’s Score calculator. Something tells me, between the doctor and, oh, I don’t know, the baby trying to get out, you won’t need an iPhone for this information. Eww. $1
Pregnancy Kick Counter: Yep, pretty self-explanatory. Monitor junior as he practices Muay Thai in the womb. $5
This list is in no way definitive. If you’ve spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. Have a good weekend everybody.
Perhaps it’s just that nostalgia for the ThinkPad 701 but there’s something about this dual-display reference design that’s causing optical interrupts all over Engadget editorial. It’s certainly not as elegant as some other dual-display laptops we’ve seen, but what it gives up in looks, the Electronic Keyboards, Inc. design makes up for in practicality. They’re currently pitching it to OEMs and will gladly sell you the related US patents if interested. Though given our choice, we’d be more interested in patents related to an elongated trackpad which doubles as a secondaryglass display or e-Ink informational widget. Hey, a boy can dream can’t he?
Here’s an idea. Pick up a Street Fighter edition iPod nano. (We recommend Chun Li.) Then have it engraved “From Chun Li, thanks for being there through a difficult time.” Bring it to school (don’t let the teacher see it, of course) and bust it out at the lunch table nonchalantly, “What’s this? Oh, just a little something I picked up from my girlfriend.”
This is not an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile head or an old World War II V-2 bomb or an alien monolith, but a set of table and chairs that will transform any terrace into a chill-out lounge, sans the Margarita and Manhattan cocktails. Here is how it unfolds:
Did I say chill-out lounge and cocktails? At last, it’s Friday. So here’s my favorite song to drink, relax, and daydream about the future.
Look around. You probably have soda cans, pizza boxes and take out containers lying all over the place. Come on man, just because you are a lazy bachelor doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a little home cooking every once in awhile. So, with that in mind, check out the following list of gadgets. You too can eat like a king at home—and save a little money while you are at it.
Breakfast:
Say now, what’s that sizzlin’ on the skilllet? Why its delicious pancakes of course! And they come in a can! Indeed, a few sprays of this Batter Blaster and you are in for some fantastic phony flapjacks. Plus, Batter Blaster is organic, so you know it’s good and good for you. [Batter Blaster via Link]
What are pancakes without a side of bacon? You might as well feed it to the dog, I say. Not to worry though, one can of bacon holds up to 50 slices of salty, fatty goodness that the whole family will enjoy. So stock up and grab a case of 12 for $110. You and your cardiologist will be glad you did. [MREdepot via Link]
Lunch:
How do hot dogs sound? Sure, you could just pop them in the microwave and be done with it, but this hot dog maker does so much more than cook your wieners. It can also make popcorn, boil eggs, heat up your buns and steam your steamables. Available for $30. [Spilsbury via Link]
Maybe you prefer a hot sandwich? We have you covered there too with these reusable Tostabags. Just place two slices of buttered bread and some cheese in one of the Toastabags then pop it in a toaster with some wide slots. When all is said and done you will have a delicious grilled cheese sandwich with minimal effort. It works with all kinds of sandwich ingredients as well. Two bags will set you back about $18. [LatestBuy]
Dinner:
You’ve already had pancakes and bacon in a can, now try the infamous cheeseburger in a can! That’s right, if you can keep it down, a soggy McDonald’s-esque flavor sensation will be your reward. And hey, it [probably] won’t kill you! Priced around $6 a can. [Link]
Why wait 30 minutes for delivery when this dual oven can cook up two 12-inch pizzas in 90 seconds? The oven heats up to 790 degrees and features roof-mounted 1,440-watt coil heating elements and ceramic pizza stones to ensure thorough, even cooking. Priced at $250 (currently sold out). [Hammacher via Link]
Sometimes burgers and pizza are just not good enough. When you are feeling like something a little fancier, give the steak toaster a try. Just place the steak in the vertical heating unit and watch in awe as your mouth watering meat cooks to perfection. Plus, all the fat and grease drips to the bottom tray to prevent smoking. Available for $220. [Ariete via Link]
Dessert:
After a good meal, most of us crave something sweet. The Dough-nu-Matic can serve up a dozen piping hot mini-donuts in under 6 minutes. All you need to do is add the dough. Available for $130. [SkyMall]
Who doesn’t love s’mores? Unfortunately, we all can’t make perfect s’mores by the campfire all the time, so this bizarre looking little contraption can do it for us right in the microwave. The manufacturers claim that it can make two perfect s’mores in under 30 seconds flat thanks to the little arms that keep the marshmallow from overexpanding. Available for $7. [Amazon via Link]
Cooking on the Go:
Even when you can’t be at home, you can still avoid pricey restaurants on the road using this 12V In-Car Microwave. Just plug it into your cigarette lighter and get cooking. Available for $169. [Maplin]
Bonus Gadget: Just like the in-car-microwave before it, this portable sandwich maker puts flavor before safety. It is also 12V and plugs directly into your car cigarette lighter. Available for $20. [QVC]
Color us stumped and incredibly excited. We’ve discovered this totally useless yet endlessly amazing DVD player / Terminator head out in the wilds of the internet, but finding any information deeper than people exclaiming “this is awesome” is, in a word, difficult. Look, we’re not saying that we want to find the company that makes these, order 100 of them, rip out their guts and replace them with those electronic rat brains, swap the eyes for stereoscopic cameras, tack on Darth Vader-esque voice boxes, and then mount them to the unkillable bodies of an army of robotic warriors we’ve been building, but… uh, well… okay you got us.
I know people 
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a lot of firsts. It’s the first new Star Wars film since Emperor George Lucas wrapped up the canonical series three years ago. It’s the opening salvo of a wave of Expanded Universe TV series—the film launches The Clone Wars animated series, and meanwhile a live-action one set between the prequels and the original trilogy is deep in development. It’s the first animated Star Wars feature film. And most importantly, it’s the first Star Wars movie you will truly loathe.
There are literally thousands of apps in the iPhone 
Here’s an idea. Pick up a Street Fighter edition iPod nano. (We recommend Chun Li.) Then have it engraved “From Chun Li, thanks for being there through a difficult time.” Bring it to school (don’t let the teacher see it, of course) and bust it out at the lunch table nonchalantly, “What’s this? Oh, just a little something I picked up from my girlfriend.”
This is not an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile head or an old World War II V-2 bomb or an alien monolith, but a set of table and chairs that will transform any terrace into a chill-out lounge, sans the Margarita and Manhattan cocktails. Here is how it unfolds:
Look around. You probably have soda cans, pizza boxes and take out containers lying all over the place. Come on man, just because you are a lazy bachelor doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a little home cooking every once in awhile. So, with that in mind, check out the following list of gadgets. You too can eat like a king at home—and save a little money while you are at it.
Say now, what’s that sizzlin’ on the skilllet? Why its delicious pancakes of course! And they come in a can! Indeed, a few sprays of this Batter Blaster and you are in for some fantastic phony flapjacks. Plus, Batter Blaster is organic, so you know it’s good and good for you. [
What are pancakes without a side of bacon? You might as well feed it to the dog, I say. Not to worry though, one can of bacon holds up to 50 slices of salty, fatty goodness that the whole family will enjoy. So stock up and grab a case of 12 for $110. You and your cardiologist will be glad you did. [
How do hot dogs sound? Sure, you could just pop them in the microwave and be done with it, but this hot dog maker does so much more than cook your wieners. It can also make popcorn, boil eggs, heat up your buns and steam your steamables. Available for $30. [
Maybe you prefer a hot sandwich? We have you covered there too with these reusable Tostabags. Just place two slices of buttered bread and some cheese in one of the Toastabags then pop it in a toaster with some wide slots. When all is said and done you will have a delicious grilled cheese sandwich with minimal effort. It works with all kinds of sandwich ingredients as well. Two bags will set you back about $18. [
You’ve already had pancakes and bacon in a can, now try the infamous cheeseburger in a can! That’s right, if you can keep it down, a soggy McDonald’s-esque flavor sensation will be your reward. And hey, it [probably] won’t kill you! Priced around $6 a can. [
Why wait 30 minutes for delivery when this dual oven can cook up two 12-inch pizzas in 90 seconds? The oven heats up to 790 degrees and features roof-mounted 1,440-watt coil heating elements and ceramic pizza stones to ensure thorough, even cooking. Priced at $250 (currently sold out). [
Sometimes burgers and pizza are just not good enough. When you are feeling like something a little fancier, give the steak toaster a try. Just place the steak in the vertical heating unit and watch in awe as your mouth watering meat cooks to perfection. Plus, all the fat and grease drips to the bottom tray to prevent smoking. Available for $220. [
After a good meal, most of us crave something sweet. The Dough-nu-Matic can serve up a dozen piping hot mini-donuts in under 6 minutes. All you need to do is add the dough. Available for $130. [
Who doesn’t love s’mores? Unfortunately, we all can’t make perfect s’mores by the campfire all the time, so this bizarre looking little contraption can do it for us right in the microwave. The manufacturers claim that it can make two perfect s’mores in under 30 seconds flat thanks to the little arms that keep the marshmallow from overexpanding. Available for $7. [
Even when you can’t be at home, you can still avoid pricey restaurants on the road using this 12V In-Car Microwave. Just plug it into your cigarette lighter and get cooking. Available for $169. [
Bonus Gadget: Just like the in-car-microwave before it, this portable sandwich maker puts flavor before safety. It is also 12V and plugs directly into your car cigarette lighter. Available for $20. [
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