madison
ie8 fix

Crave

JBL cuts the cord too

First our prayers were answered--now our cup runneth over. Awhile back we began a campaign in favor of wireless home audio systems, thinking that it was kind of ridiculous that the industry was still tethered to cords at this stage of technology history. And even after manufacturers began meeting the demand, some purists remained skeptical about quality from relatively no-name brands.

Now, however, one of the most recognized brands in speaker-dom has joined the wireless fray. JBL has released the "On Air Control 2.4G," which it describes as "a pair of wall-mountable loudspeakers that incorporates a … Read more

Floral paisley Porsche

It's a Porsche painted in a floral paisley pattern. Unfortunately, we can't tell you where to buy it or how much it might cost to have this done to your own car.

Jalopnik found this interesting paint job on Russian blog Parkoffka.ru.

Parkoffka means "parking" in Russian. And the pattern is not actually paisley, but is rather based on the famous Russian folk craft Hohloma (or Khokhloma), which first appeared in 17th century Russia. The name derives from one of the original trade villages, where the pattern was created.

According to our translator, the photos … Read more

Choose your own iPod adventure

"You are a young gifted mountain climber traveling to Nepal with your best climbing buddy Carlos, to find the legendary Abominable Snowman (otherwise known to locals as a "Yeti"). Not long after your arrival in the Himalayas, Carlos goes missing. What do YOU do?," asks R.A. Montgomery.

Do you look for your friend Carlos or do you continue searching for the Abominable Snowman without him? You decide. Only this time, you click a link instead of turning to page 46.

The Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) series books of yesteryear are back as downloads for … Read more

Scuba-Doo, we need you

It's only January, but we may have already found our favorite item for all of 2007: The "Scuba-Doo." The name alone is reason enough to like it, but there are actually practical reasons to want one as well.

Just look at the picture. Who wouldn't crave a motorized scuba bike? No mask, no mouthpiece--just a clear dome filled with air pumped in from an on-board tank. You can travel up to 2.5 knots or just remain stationary while enjoying the spectacle of underwater life, according to Neatorama, with about 1.5 hours of battery power. (… Read more

Palm releases update for Treo 680

Palm released a software update for the Treo 680 Thursday to fix a problem in which the embedded camera drains the smart phone's battery.

"Palm has identified that the Treo 680 device can experience reduced battery life when the camera is used. The camera may continue to draw power from the battery when the device is in standby mode," a posting on the Palm Web site said. All Treo 680 users should install the Camera Update, the company said. Find the update here.

Treo users had been complaining on user forums that the handset's battery was … Read more

Alienware laptop is fast and furiously expensive

This morning Alienware officially announced a Special Edition of its Area-51 m5790 desktop-replacement laptop. What's so special about it? You can now order the m5790 with an overclocked Core 2 Duo processor, boosting its frequency to 2.66GHz. The company claims the overclocked Core 2 Duo will run up to 20 percent faster than the previous-generation Core Duo processors. The hot chip is paired with a high-performance ATI Mobility Radeon X1900 graphics card (which has 256MB of dedicated memory) and room for up to 2GB of swift 667MHz RAM. A 17-inch wide-screen display, with a 1,920x1,200 native … Read more

An LED BFD

The future of light is plastic, says Cyberlux.

The company, which specializes in light emitting diodes (LEDs, will come out with prototypes of a new type of white light LEDs in about four months that will cost substantially less to manufacture than conventional LEDs and provide more light at the same time.

In conventional white light LEDs, a semiconductor emits blue light. The blue light passes through the phosphor and becomes white light. The phosphor is thin film on a substrate; the substrate has to be placed in intricate proximity to the semiconductor. Positioning the phosphor is one of the … Read more

Panasonic jams with Fender

If you like to rock out in your car, but don't want to turn your ride into a mobile guitar amp, then this might be the answer: an in-car audio system jointly designed by Panasonic and Fender. The iconic guitar maker has teamed up with Panasonic to "create customized products for the global automotive industry."

The collaboration is an attempt to cash in on Fender's brand name and expertise in the musical instruments industry, and it's another effort by Panasonic to name-drop its way into the in-car audio market. Panasonic already supplies the likes of … Read more

The fax machine gets a makeover

Can you remember the last time you saw a new fax machine that didn't look like every other model on the shelf? For that matter, what about a new fax machine at all? Same here. That's why it was easy to notice the Canon FAX-JX200. (OK, so they still need to apply some of those creative juices to their nomenclature.) We agree with SlashGear that faxing still has a place in the world, and we hope that Canon's redesign indicates that it thinks so too. And we're even happier to see that it's only $80.… Read more

2007 Detroit Auto Show wrap-up video

The 2007 Detroit Auto Show ends on Sunday, and if you didn't get a chance to see it, you can enjoy the concepts, new models, and exhibits through our coverage. We've just posted our last video on the show, wrapping up the most important announcements and unveilings. For even more depth, take a look at our slide shows and blog entries about the show.

Click here to watch the 2007 Detroit Auto Show wrap-up video.