Crave

Natali Del Conte fills Justin's diminutive shoes today, and boy it could not be more appropriate with today's stories. Big news of the day is daytime talk show goddess Oprah Winfrey's plans to end "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and we're hoping our very own Natali Del Conte will take over.

(Credit: Harpo Productions)

According to WholeFitness.com, staring at breasts for 10 minutes will prolong a man's life by 5 years. Yes, this could possibly be the greatest piece of health care news ever, and we're hoping they incorporate it into the current legislation.

After some really awesome voicemails, we finally get into some tech talk with high-definition primetime entertainment. The majority of shows have switched over to high-definition broadcasts, but we're particularly disappointed that "Family Guy" and "American Dad" aren't available in high definition yet. Jeff gets really disappointed to learn that almost all cartoons are animated in South Korea. Guess that makes "American Dad" even more ironic. Included in the same list is "America's Top Model." Wilson is particularly disappointed.

Jeff will be out next week, so hopefully it won't be Wilson alone curled up in a snuggie talking about Apple and washing machines. In the meantime, be sure to keep sending in those voicemails as we prep for Thanksgiving. If you're in the New York metropolitan area, be sure to check out Ms. Del Conte on WCBS as she hosts the local news for Black Friday.

(Credit: Hoya Robot)

South Korea's Hoya Robot is developing a mini firefighter helper bot that can enter burning buildings to conduct reconnaissance and check for people.

The Firefighters Assistant Robot can apparently operate for up to 30 minutes in fires, and can withstand temperatures up to 320 F. It can also survive falls of more than 6 feet. It's water-resistant, as seen in this experiment video.

It may look like a tank up close, but the bot can nearly fit in the palm of your hand and weighs only 3 pounds.

The remote-controlled rover can scoot into a blaze and transmit image, sound, temperature, smoke, and gas data to firefighters up to 54 yards away. Firemen can decide on a course of action based on the findings.

Onboard lights below the fire-bot's camera help illuminate its path amid smoke and darkness. It can travel about 1 foot per second.

The robot is the first of its kind in Korea, and it took two years to develop with financial assistance from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. About 50 fire stations in Korea are set to receive 100 units for testing.

Hoya plans to show off the Firefighters Assistance Robot at the International Robot Exhibition 2009 (iRex) in Tokyo in November.

The Iriver B30.

Iriver may not have the same brand recognition as iPod or Zune, but the Korea-based company has consistently cranked out portable media players with slick modern designs and impressive graphic interfaces.

The U.S. has been treated to a handful of Iriver products, including the Clix, Spinn, and P7, but some of the company's creations never make it to our shores. The Iriver B30 is one such product--a portable media player with a 2.8-inch screen, micro SD memory expansion, accelerometer control, and a suite of features that includes music, video, photo, games, and a text reader. Unfortunately, the B30 also sports a DMB television tuner, which is next to useless in the U.S., and makes the product impractical for export.

Still, thanks to this video of someone expertly maneuvering the Iriver B30 in pitch-black darkness, we can at least appreciate the finer nuances of the product's GUI. It looks pretty slick, bearing a resemblance to the magazine-style aesthetic we found on the Iriver P7.

iPod competitors take note--it is possible to make a refined, stylish GUI without cloning Apple or rehashing outdated motifs. Kudos to Iriver.

(Credit: Chonnam National University/Yonhap)

Even as the One Upstairs created man, it looks like man wants to play Creator in more ways than one. Researchers from Chonnam National University in Korea have managed to develop a robotic plant that functions like its biological counterpart. In short, it can produce oxygen, give out scents, emit moisture into the air, and even, yes, imitate photosynthesis. Just like the real thang.

According to write-ups, the roboplant will lean toward anyone approaching within 16 inches, complete with flowers blooming. Talking to the plant also causes it to bloom and shake to greet you. Like its cheap, retail counterparts, this cyberpot will also dance when you play music.

Of course, it's a pretty sterile attempt, since this effort is unlikely to ever replace our fast-vanishing tracts of rainforest. Still, let's hope no mad scientist coughs up a Terminator Venus Fly Trap anytime soon.

(Via Crave Asia)

(Credit: Crave Asia)

Korea Electronics Technology Institute is developing a 4-ounce device that can basically throw pictures off your mobile device to a 60-inch full-color SVGA image more than 6 feet away. KETI's "Eye Glass Display" can receive picture input signals like S-video, composite, component, and analog RGB, and it comes equipped with controller that can realize 3D images. Lest we get too excited about the potential waiting to be unleashed here--from billboard-type messages to sales pitches--the device is still in gestation mode. But with any luck it won't be long before we can turn our mobile phones into portable video projectors for impromptu movie marathons.

(Credit: Register Hardware)

We have the regular whitish Xbox 360 gaming console and the souped-up black Elite. But if you're an important associate of Bill Gates, there's also the limited-edition "mother-of-pearl" flavor as pictured here. A special gift from Gates to the president of South Korea, it features a special oriental motif that supposedly symbolizes patience and perseverance, according to Register Hardware.

The exquisite handy work of Korean artist Kim Young-Jun, 100 of these "VVIP" consoles are purported to have been commissioned by Microsoft. If you have any information on the rest of these swanky consoles' lucky recipients, do give us a heads-up. We would love to run a photo gallery.

(Source: Crave Asia)

(Credit: Ravi Chhatpar)

This high-end designer boutique in a trendy part of Seoul sells these bags at higher than Louis Vuitton's full prices, which is not nearly as hilarious as Louis Vuitton's unique methods in fighting back counterfeiters these days. Just look at this fake set-up of a fake bag seller that sells real bags during a recent exhibit launch party in New York. (via Notcot)

Ordinary Cubans will soon have the luxury of owning a cell phone, according to a story by the Associated Press.

President Raul Castro's government said Friday that it will allow anyone in the country to get cell phone service, a right previously limited to executives working for foreign companies or high communist party officials.

This is the first announcement that a major government policy or restriction has been changed since the 76-year-old Castro took over as leader of the island nation from his older brother Fidel Castro.

The AP said there has been a kind of black market for cell phones in Cuba where people who were ineligible were able to get phones and service by having foreigners sign contracts in their names. But for the most part, mobile phones are not common in Cuba.

The small wireless market in Cuba is a monopoly controlled by Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A., or ETECSA. The company has said it will soon offer prepaid contracts to the general public now that the ban has been lifted.

But because most Cubans only make about 408 Cuban pesos, or a little less than $20, a month according to the AP, it's hard to imagine that many Cubans will be able to afford a cell phone. Still, even the poorest of the poor have managed to afford cell phones in other countries. I was amazed on my a recent trip to the Philippines that everyone I encountered, from housemaids to Bangka boat captains to street vendors, all had cell phones. The Philippines also happens to be considered the texting capital of the world.

It's also very hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that people in Cuba have simply not been allowed to own cell phones while the rest of the world has seen an explosion in cell phone usage and technology. In the U.S., more than 80 percent of the population owns a cell phone. And close to 3 billion people around the globe have cell phones.

Cuba isn't the only country loosening its cell phone ban. In North Korea, where people had been publicly executed for carrying a cell phone, the ban is also being lifted, according to Web reports.

The North Korean government imposed the cell phone ban after a 2004 explosion in the city of Ryongchon that was believed to be an assassination attempt on the communist country's leader, Kim Jong-Il.

North Korea's ban is somewhat ironic considering that its southern neighbor South Korea is one of the most sophisticated mobile phone markets in the world.

But for governments that are intent on keeping a tight lid on information coming in or going out of the their country, cell phones are a major threat.

After all, it has been through photographs and video taken on cell phones and circulated on the Internet that the world has seen the disturbing images of the riots in Tibet: the clouds of tear gas, burning buildings, monks in purple robes, and riot police. Cell phones were the primary way that news was leaked to the outside world during the crackdown in Burma last year. And in many places, cell phones have been used to gather protesters and distribute antigovernment messages.

Add a black light and the cat glows red.

(Credit: Gyeongsang National University)

This may be the fluffiest, freakiest thing since Alba, the green fluorescent bunny from artist Eduardo Kac.

South Korean scientists tinkering with fluorescence protein genes say they have bred white Turkish Angora cats to glow red under ultraviolet light.

The pair of cats cloned from a mother's altered skin cell are nearly a year old. The researchers told the AFP that their work could help unravel mysteries of some 250 genetic diseases suffered by both humans and cats. The findings also could be used to clone endangered tigers, leopards, and other animals, the report said.

However, it's unlikely that such psychedelic-looking cats would come to pet stores anytime soon. Debates about the ethics and safety of concocting cloned and transgenic animals continue to rage.

Genetic Savings & Clone, which charged between $32,000 to $50,000 for cloning cats, shut shop last year. But Spot's or Mittens' genes can be banked in a cryogenic chamber for $1,500, and hypoallergenic kittens cost between $6,000 and $28,000.

GloFish glow, too.

(Credit: GloFish)

California officials in 2004 banned the sale of GloFish, the world's first transgenic pet.

British scientists injected jellyfish genes into chickens and pigs to make them glow several years ago. Last year, Taiwanese scientists said they also spawned glow-in-the-dark pigs.

The cat experiment took place at Gyeongsang National University with funding from the Korean government.

Perhaps the biggest cloning story to hail from South Korea was the revelation in 2005 that a prominent doctor had faked a breakthrough in cloning humans.

(Via miguel23)