If you're grown tired of belonging to the cult of the white earbuds, there are plenty of options on the market that provide better sound, improved comfort, and more style. But if you really want your headphones to make you stand out from the crowd, nothing will do it better than some truly strange earphones. From cutesy to scary to flat-out over-the-top, you'll find something unusual in the roundup below.
What the heck is this?
(Credit: Nokia)Cleaning your office/desk is an annual preholiday ritual at CNET. It's amazing what you can collect in a year, and because I'm the polar opposite of a hoarder, I actually look forward to the task. Mostly I toss old press releases and outdated cables--I promise that I recycle everything that I can--but occasionally I'll find a museum-worthy gadget from another age.
Take for instance, the Nokia Fun Camera, which I found at the bottom of a box filled with old wired headsets.
Back before cameras made it into phones, they existed briefly inside attachable accessories. If memory serves, Sony Ericsson developed one of the such products, but Nokia jumped on the trend as well. And as Nokia usually does, it did so wholeheartedly. The orange and red Nokia Fun Camera, aka the PT-3, is shaped like a tear drop. You'll notice a few buttons, a circular display, and a detachable viewfinder. The camera lens and flash sit on the back side, and the whole thing comes on a lanyard for taking it on the go. And you thought wearing a Bluetooth headset around the neck was silly.
Smile!
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)You can use the Fun Camera by itself, though you must connect it to a compatible phone or USB cable if you want to get pictures off the camera. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to perform a transfer by either method so I couldn't test the image quality. I haven't seen a USB cable that uses the old Nokia connection in years, and the only compatible phone I could find--a Nokia 2115i Shorty from Virgin Mobile--is missing its battery.
Still, I did connect the phone and the camera to see what would happen. The fit between the two devices is secure, even if it's a cumbersome arrangement and the plastic flap covering the camera's connecting pins gets in the way. The body feels relatively solid, it's lightweight (3.17 ounces), and it fits easily in a pocket.
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(Credit:
Dave Lowensohn)
This week marks the latest release in the Rock Band series (see our hands-on). It features one of the biggest names in music--The Beatles. It also features pack-in instruments that continue to look more and more like their real-life counterparts.
Rock Band was definitely not the first video game to necessitate special hardware, nor will it be the last. Below we've put together a list of some of the most innovative peripherals and hardware that have helped change the way we play games. Some went on to become big, while others failed or were martyrs to future incarnations that proved successful.
In creating this roundup, one thing became clear: Nintendo's made great efforts to bring new ideas to the table every few years. And in that process, the Wii has proven to be one of the company's great successes. But there were also failures along the way. Those, along with winners from Nintendo's competitors and third parties, are all chronicled.
Disclaimer: This list is, of course, neither completely comprehensive nor as far reaching as it could be, but (we think) it does a pretty good job at painting a picture of how far gaming peripherals have come. Feel free to add your own favorites, or ones we missed in the comments.
(Credit:
PopSci.com)
You'd think a gadget guy like me would have grown up with radio-controlled cars, but you'd be wrong. For some reason my parents were terrified of them. They saw some movie in the '80s where a kid's car runs out of batteries in the middle of a street. He runs to get it and is killed by a drunk driver or something. The point is it scared them away from RC cars for my entire childhood.
But now I'm a man. If I want a radio-controlled car, I'm going to buy one. But then on PopSci.com I spotted Nic Case's insane Pocket Rocket, supposedly the world's fastest RC car, and now I know I'll never measure up.
I mean, the thing goes 161 miles per hour on flat land, a world record. And Case plans to take it to more than 200 mph. That's actually a little bit scary when you consider the Pocket Rocket has no brakes: it stops by just decelerating the motor. If that's not crazy enough, it uses an RC helicopter-style gyro to keep the steering on track. Awesome.
And look at the thing! Were I a Smurf, I'd demand a thrill ride in it. Alas I'm not. I will, though, be researching this awesome world I did not know existed: RC-car speed contests. I'm so onboard. And I'm buying shin guards.
Update at 10:30 a.m. PDT July 9: Fixed a typo in the product's name.
I went shopping for my little brother's birthday last weekend, and I never thought I'd say it, but toys are way too complicated. In addition to having the most complicated packaging ever, all the action figures and playsets look like they were teleported out of some dystopian future. I really do miss the days when the imagination and roleplaying were the only accessories necessary to have a fun time. Which is precisely the reason why I've selected designer/craftsman Andy Mangold's Rubber Bandit modern take on the classic rubber band gun to show off today.
The Rubber Bandit is Mangold's sole creation, handcrafted out of curly maple and bloodwood that gives it a classic, authentic feel. You can tell by the pictures alone that a lot of time and careful design went into making it; the gun even comes with interchangeable barrels that lets the shooter "fine tune the amount of damage." I especially like the the small box and classic card that come with the toy, but it's definitely not for younger gunslingers; the packaging reads:
"DANGER! This rubber band gun, handcrafted to the highest standards, is capable of inflicting 1st and 2nd degree welts, contusions, and bruises, on the supple flesh of it's targets. For safety's sake, it should only be wielded by a trustworthy and licensed adult. For fun's sake, place it in the hands of your craziest, most demented, deranged, unbalanced, loose-cannon of a friend, and watch the rubber fly."
According to Andy, each gun only costs around $40-50 to make, and while there's no set prices yet, he's willing to design and build custom-orders. E-mail him at andymangold[at]gmail[dot]com to inquire about pricing and availability.
Click the slide show below for more details pictures.
- DSiWare
- Mixed Messages (Activision, 500 DSi Points): Mixed Messages is a party game all about communication. Play along with up to 21 different users in the game of "telephone" for your DSi.
- Master of Illusion Express: Shuffle Games (Nintendo, 200 DSi Points): The Master of Illusion series continues with Shuffle Games. This mini game will allow you to predict what your audience is thinking!
- WiiWare
- Party Fun Pirate (TOMY Corporation, 500 Wii points): Exchange turns sliding as many swords into a barrel as you can. Based on the Pop-up Pirate Toy, the game allows for up to four players. Pirate Fun Party also lets you use your own Mii character in-game!
- Virtual Console
- Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (1994, Sega Genesis, 800 Wii points): The follow up to the Atari classic, Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure will have you swinging and jumping your way through the jungle all while attempting to rescue your kidnapped father.
What games do you think are missing from the Wii Virtual Console? Sound off at our discussion board!
Own one of the best sci-fi shows ever for less than $20.
(Credit: Amazon)After yesterday's free-pizza minidebacle (make sure to read my final update to learn how to get a free order of Cinnastix), I thought I'd shift gears and find deals designed to entertain your brain rather than tickle your tastebuds:
- DVD: Amazon has "Firefly - The Complete Series" on sale for $19.99 shipped. This is one of my all-time favorite shows. And check out the five-star ratings from nearly 3,000 reviewers!
- Game: Like first-person shooters? Newegg has Prey (PC) for $5.99 shipped. It has a lot of action, but very story-driven. Highly recommended.
- Music: Amazon MP3 is offering "99 Perfectly Relaxing Songs" for 99 cents. Choirs, chanting monks, classical classics--all designed to chill you out. A penny a tune! Beat that.
- App: Guide airplanes to their runways in Flight Control (iTunes link), a ridiculously fun and addictive game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It's a steal at 99 cents.
So those are my picks; how do you have fun on the cheap? Hulu? Your local library? Buck-a-movie RedBox rentals? Hit the Comments and share your favorite sources of cheap entertainment.
(Credit:
Logic 3)
Add a touch of color to your angelic Nintendo Wii with the new FunChuks from Logic3. Available in red, orange, yellow, green, black and white, they function pretty much like the real McCoy.
Like the original Nintendo Nunchuck, the FunChuk offers an eight-way analog stick, built-in motion-sensing accelerometers, and dual buttons.
Beyond these, the FunChuk is shaped quite differently. It's more petite and features a bean-like profile. While it's hard to judge its ergonomics from the above picture, we do believe the original Nintendo offering is somewhat superior in terms of build and finish. It's listed on Logic3's Web site as upcoming at $20.
(Source: Crave Asia via Ubergizmo)
A half episode of random talking that's longer than any full episode. First, Eric passionately brags about this enormous thingy of his, but it just bores Dong. Then, Dong talks about his failure to pick up ladies in uniform and how you can't mess with people with guns. No business talk at all. The best part is the very end where you'll get a bonus track.
Enjoy!
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Photographer Colleen Fletcher creates fun, creative photos of rubber ducks.
(Credit: Colleen Fletcher)At the intersection of lightheartedness, bath-time fun, and photography, you will find the Duck Show. A creation of photographer Colleen Fletcher, the blog transports you into a world inhabited by rubber ducks. They mark the passage of time by celebrating holidays, rocking out in Vegas, and having adventures around New York. They even star in film stills.
As you might expect, this all started in a bathroom--a very large bathroom apparently. Ms. Fletcher decided to decorate that bathroom with rubber ducks, began a collection, and as she puts it, "A couple of years and 333 ducks later, I found an outlet for my creativity." Living in Las Vegas at the time, Ms. Fletcher would go to the casinos with her husband, but since she didn't like to gamble, she found herself with some spare time and began making pictures of her ducks while her hubby hit the tables. If you're wondering where all those amazing ducks come from, Colleen says that her favorite duck stores are Just Ducks and Rubba Ducks. She says that she doesn't modify the ducks much, but does create "little outfits" for them, such as Zorro Duck's costume.
Over time, Colleen says that the ducks have taken on personalities of their own. When pressed to choose a favorite, she points to Cheese because of "that goofy smile," though she also gives shout-outs to Vegas Baby and Hi-Ya who she says is, "an Asian duck who goes around speaking in proverbs and gets worked up when he sees restaurants serving Peking duck (he calls it the sacred bird)." In case you can't get enough ducktasticness from the Duck Show, Colleen also has a Flikr page with more ducky photos.
