Gadget Talks

Archive for the ‘Headline’ Category

Apparently this has been happening for a long, long time.

If the full-color e-reader functionality didn’t already tip Apple’s hand regarding educational applications of the iPad, then this bulk pricing for schools surely does. You can get 10 for $4790, which is a savings of… wait, only $200? Come on!

Now of course I think this is great, and I’m sure schools and teachers would be able to think of a ton of great uses for a full-color, wi-fi connected tablet computer. But here in Seattle our schools can barely afford transparencies for the overhead projectors we’ve been using since the 70s. Could a school like my own Garfield High (go Bulldogs) justify the purchase of even a few iPads? not likely, and I wonder if even the private schools around here have that kind of cash to throw around.

So while it’d be nice to have iPads in the classroom, I’m guessing we’re going to see e-ink devices and cheap Android tablets like the Marvell Moby. As private citizens, we are free to spend $500 on an iPad, but as a value proposition for a school spending public money, it’s a little harder to justify buying items that cost four or five times as much.

And if you’re thinking of using the 10-pack to bypass the 2-per-customer limit… good luck. You need an authorized education purchaser login.

[Mac Rumors via Gizmodo]

Watch out, Nicholas writing about automobiles, there’s bound to be errors! (No different from anything else, really.) It’s the McLaren MP4-12C, a £150,000 ($225,000) supercar that McLaren is actually positioning as “affordable.” I mean, an Xbox 360 Arcade SKU is “affordable,” maybe even a fancy gaming mouse when you take into account what they do… Oh, I know who would consider this supercar affordable: people who play for Manchester City.

The British supercar made its fancy debut yesterday, surrounded by Formula One drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Supposedly it’s the UK’s answer to the Ferrari 458—Italian, of course.

It can go 0 to 60mph in 3.4 seconds. I believe that’s an impressive number.

The exterior is one single piece of carbon fiber. That’s the new “cool” material, right, carbon fiber? You hear about it all the time on Top Gear.

There’s no video of it in action, unfortunately. Someone call The Stig, or Matt. Whoever’s available.

Viliv makes some hot, little portables. That’s a fact. The X70 and S5 touchscreen along with the S7 convertible netbook are among the best in their respective niche markets. But previously the products were only available from online retailers, which of course limits their visibility from a whole segment of potential customers. Starting Monday though, Best Buy shoppers will be able to pick up the products in store and online. There will even be an instant rebate available on the none-3G modem-equipped models.

The $579 S7 will be available with a $50 instant rebate if the buyer signs up for a Sprint Mi-Fi or Overdrive hotspot. That’s of course a nice offer, but the slightly more expensive $649 S7 features a built-in unlocked 3G modem allowing owners to pop-in any ol’ activated SIM card for mobile hotspot-free Internet connectivity.

As of writing it doesn’t seem that any Best Buy locations have the portables in stock, but YMMV. Give your local store a quick minute or two before bothering computer associates about when they will be getting their first Viliv shipments. [Best Buy]

I was just outside trying to shoot a water rocket I bought at a science museum, recalling the heady days I once spent shooting a similar rocket into the air when I was a young lad. Sadly, the poorly built rocket failed and the pump started just sucking in water, leading me to the Internet for solace.

The sweet Internet doth offer succor, friends, in the form of the Aquapod Bottle Launcher. While you could just make your own water rocket out of a water and some piping, this $24.99 kit allows you, with the aid of a soda bottle and bicycle pump, to become a mini Goddard in your own back forty.

The Aquapod is the most exciting and safest bottle launcher available. This intriguing hobby toy requires no
assembly and is ready to launch with the addition of a regular 2-liter plastic soda bottle and an ordinary
bicycle pump. The Aquapod has a florescent orange futuristic one piece design that captures the eye instantly.
Not only does the Aquapod launch a bottle up to 100 feet in the air, but no other launcher out there has a built
in safety valve that releases pressure at 60psi in order to keep everyone safe from over-pressurizing the entire
system.

Just fill a 2-liter plastic bottle half with water and secure it over the white launch tube upside down. Using
any ordinary pump, pressurize the Aquapod through the valve stem until the check valve inside the front leg
releases pressure and water. Then, stand back with the strap in your hand that is attached to a 15 foot string
and give a short, quick tug on the string to launch the bottle high into the air.

The Aquapod is built with high quality thick durable plastic and is designed to last.

The Aquapod is also available in bulk in case you want to start your own hamster space program.

Hello, my name is Devin, and I’m a bagaholic. I can’t get enough. Despite getting my hands on such awesome and varied backpacks as the Mamba Shift, the Soyuz, and the Vandal, not to mention those sweet things from Acme Made back in the day, I can’t help but lust after the latest book-and-laptop receptacle. This time, unfortunately, the rascals have made it only available in Japan. Curses!

I think what attracts me about this thing is those twin steel buckles. As practical as Velcro is, buckles are awesomer, especially when they’re metallic. I must have some magpie in me, because anything shiny like that just entrances me.

In addition to being limited to Japan, this sucker costs a mind-blowing ¥48,825 — over $500, over at Beauty & Youth.. This is why my handlers don’t let me loose in Tokyo with a credit card. I have to be kept on a leash and given quarters, which I save up to spend on gyudon at Yoshinoya. Shameful, I know — but savory.

[via High Snobiety and Doobybrain]

There’s a certain amount of pride in seeing a country pump out something like the new F-35B Lightning II fighter jet. At $113.5 million per aircraft, it’s about as far away from the meaning of the word “inexpensive” as possible. It makes you think, well, if we can afford things like that, why can’t we afford things like this? But, whatever. The entire purpose of this post is to watch a legitimately exciting video. So, let’s!

The very first test flight of the aircraft happened yesterday, and lasted 14 minutes long. (Yes, there’s a certain irony in finding out about the latest American military technology in the British press.) That works out to $8.1 million per minute in the air. Granted, that’s a horrible way of looking at the aircraft, but it’s a fun stat nonetheless.

The F-35B Lightning II has been in development since 2001, and it was originally promoted as an affordable option to keeping old birds like the F-16 and F-10A in the air.

The marines will start using the jet, if all goes according to plan, in December, 2012.

And now I’m off to play Battlefield: Bad Company 2, using more terribly expensive weapons to beat up Kirilenko.

Woof. Analysts have placed a sell rating on Palm and are now valuing their stock, at least in hyperbolic terms, at $0. Quoth CNN:

Shares of Palm (PALM) plunged 19% to $4.59 a share early Friday, a new 52-week low. Investors are becoming increasingly pessimistic about the company's future and several analysts downgraded their positions on the stock to "sell." Two analysts even lowered their price targets to $0.

At some point we’ll probably just ingest our memory cards.

via Reddit

I did my taxes recently, and this is the first year that I actually bothered to deduct for all those things that I buy over the year for my job. It was confusing frankly, and I wish I’d read this article before I did it. Hopefully you’ll read this in time to do your deductions correctly, and not make the same mistakes I did (which caused me to miss out on several things I could have claimed).

I’m not going to go into all the grisly details, I’ll leave that to the person who actually wrote the article at PCWorld, but the gist of it is this: be careful what you deduct, and how you deduct it. And yes, you can deduct your internet connection (at least part of it) if you are a blogger. Be careful not to write off 100% value on items like computers or phones, as the IRS won’t believe you that you use those things strictly for business purposes.