Perspiring man electrocuted by his PC

Filed under: Desktops

A 20-year old student in Shanghai’s Yangpu District perished after being “electrocuted by his computer.” Reportedly, the man removed the external case from his desktop to prevent it from overheating in the non-air conditioned room, and when his legs came into contact with the innards, the resulting shock left him deceased. Initial investigations by local police confirmed that he was indeed electrocuted, yet there was no reason given as to why the individual refused to switch on the cooling system.

[Via The Raw Feed]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

More: continued here

DirecTV TiVo owners to get update in early ‘08

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Yeah, we know, it’s hard to believe that DirecTV and TiVo are continuing to add features for hardware that is no longer available for purchase and that DirecTV takes every opportunity to replace with it’s own branded DVR. But we can only hope that this is a prelude to a new DirecTV TiVo. In the meantime current owners can expect to get a few of the great features that stand-alone TiVo owners have enjoyed for some time. A full feature list is not included in the announcement, but the few that are include: a deleted items folder, overlap protection, and DirecTV’s remote booking feature — which we assume will require a home phone line or could mean that USB Ethernet support will be added as well. So while these features are certainly not ground breaking, we’re sure they’ll be welcomed additions for the owners of aging DirecTiVo hardware.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

More: continued here

Teen engineers create eco-minded electric unicycle

Filed under: Transportation

Two clever Canadian teen-scientists have built a bizarre, eco-friendly electric bike which runs on principals similar to those of the Segway — but looks way cooler. The motorized prototype (called either the “Uno” or “Tango,” depending on who you speak with), sports two wheels side-by-side, sort of like a double unicycle which the rider sits directly above. The bike, based off of the frame design of a Yamaha R6 sport bike, can reach speeds of up to 40 MPH, and uses accelerometer technology to keep its balance. Inventors Ben Gulak and Jason Morrow say that the bike beats out the Segway in terms of speed, and delivers better maneuverability than Bombardier’s Embrio unicycle concept. The whole package is surprisingly powered by amped-up wheelchair motors and 36-volt batteries. Next up, the young men plan to assemble a rag-tag band of colorful characters, get on their bikes, and ride into Neo-Tokyo during a riot.

[Via Ubergizmo]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

More: continued here

Tascam intros bass / vocal DAP trainers

Filed under: Portable Audio

Tascam’s already busted out a guitar trainer in the form of a digital audio player, but it looks like the rest of the band can now get in some practice as well, with the company now introducing some bass and vocal trainers to go along with it. As with the guitar trainer, these each boast 1GB of internal memory, along with a monochrome 128 x 64 resolution screen and an input for your bass guitar or microphone. That’ll let you play (or sing) along with your favorite tunes, with it also giving you the ability to adjust tempo and perform other effects. No official word on price just yet, but the guitar version sold for ¥20,000, or just under $170.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

More: continued here

Nintendo of America’s George Harrison to retire

Filed under: Gaming

Though nothing’s quite official yet, it looks like Nintendo of America’s George Harrison is about to step down from his position as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications, according to an industry source, and as rumored last month. This could have something to do with NoA’s move to Redwood City and New York, or just be coincidence, but either way it sounds like George is sticking around to help with the sales and marketing transition, and then bidding the big N adieu. The guy has been around since 1992, right after the launch of the SNES, and while he’s never carried the kind of profile as the Regginator of late, it’s hard not to notice the guy, walking around with a name like that. In related news, apparently Nintendo is advertising for job openings that sound eerily similar to Perrin Kaplan and Beth Llewelyn’s, who had also been rumored to leave during the HQ shuffle.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

More: continued here