OK. So we promised you on last week's episode that we would do a single-purpose gadgets episode this week. Turns out, promising that type of thing in advance isn't such a good idea as we actually had to work to find gadgets that fit the theme. So we made it, but admittedly by the skin of our collective teeth. It's all worth it for the segments, though. Patience, young grasshopper!
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EPISODE 149
Sony responds to Kindle onslaught with Reader Touch and Pocket
Pancake machine churns 200 flapjacks per hour (thanks, Peter Lee!)
Multiblade pizza slicer guarantees perfect-sized slices
Lava Lamp returns as Mathmos Fireflow
A Propos (of) Nothing
The Wall-E USB drive is too cute for even baby talk to describe
This week in hello kitty
Hello Kitty limited edition Casio Exilim EX-Z2
It’s About Time
Darth Vader clock radio has no patience for your sloth
PRETTY
Bugatti Diva espresso machine inspires poetry
Potty Time
Public urinal lets you pee into the wall
Kill Me
Sony’s new “Girlz Play Too” campaign
Pink Watch (Kill Me Edition)
ChicBuds “by women, for women”
After yesterday's downer show, we're back and cheerier than ever. Even Jeff is in good spirits after the New Jersey Devils got stomped all over their home ice. We discover today that Wal-Mart really does rock, and not in a good way.
The lesson of today's show is DO NOT BUY ELECTRONICS FROM WAL-MART, unless you're a rock collector, in which case you'll be thrilled, because apparently the company is literally selling Nintendo DS boxes filled with sediment.
We need to get THE BONCH, aka Bonnie Cha back on our show to talk about the Palm Pre. Actually, Palm is offering preproduction review units to Average Joes (and Josephines) in hopes of receiving "true life" feedback on the smartphone. Wilson seems to think that most consumers will frown on the smaller screen size, but we all have high hopes for the brand since this is definitely a last ditch effort in the smartphone market.
In exciting movie news, Jeff is superstoked to hear about a "Drop Dead Fred" remake starring Russel Brand, that quirky English dude that played the hippy beauhunk in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." His brand of piratey humor should do well as a young girl's imaginary friend, right? Oh! We also reveal another popular movie sequel in the works, but you'll have to listen to the show to get the full scoop.
Finally, we touch on the bloated cost of higher education and how NYU students are getting questionable phone calls about their financial aid. Apparently NYU financial advisers are individually calling students receiving significant amounts of financial aid and questioning their decisions to accept the money and attend the university. If I were still in school and someone called me about this, I'd probably just tell them to put the check in the mail and stop telling me what to do all the time.
(Credit:
Mr. Maximus, you get the first 404 baby shirt!)
Today's CFTP is rather heartfelt. Thanks to everyone who called in, and we'd like to personally welcome James Christopher Maximus to the world! You were born today, dude! Hopefully you're reading this in the year 2021, when you're old enough to fully grasp our jokes. We love your dad for breeding future listeners of The 404!
Per usual, don't forget to check out our live VIDEOcast (man it feels good to write that) every morning at 11 a.m. ET. We have a ton of fun in the preshow and you get the inside scoop on how we prepare for the show. And please please please call and leave us a voicemail at 1-866-404-CNET (2638)!
EPISODE 332
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Memorex: Leading the cheap Blu-ray charge.
(Credit: Buy.com)We've been keeping an eye on prices for Blu-ray players and it appears that a handful of budget brand models are starting to crack the $150 barrier. The other day Woot.com had the Memorex MVBD2510 player at $139.99 for a one-day sale and now TheNerds.net is selling it for $146.99 (shipping included) and Buy.com has it at $149.99. That's on top of both the Samsung BD-P1500 and the Sony BDP-S300 slipping in and out of sub-$200 territory at Amazon and other outlets.
While $150 isn't bad, I think we're going to see $99 fairly soon, with a couple of stops at $129.99. As we found out with HD-DVD players, $99 really is a magic price point, though it is worth pointing out that these budget Blu-ray players are only profile 1.1 while the $99 HD DVD players were fully up to spec and allowed for firmware upgrades via Ethernet (the cheap Blu-ray players can't be updated and sometimes simply can't play certain movies). Profile 1.1 players aren't BD-Live enabled, which means you won't be able to access certain interactive features--for better or worse.
(Credit:
Sharper Image)
Bot-fans are anticipating the debut of Disney's "Wall-E" toys at the next Maker Faire, but you can get a jump on at least one gadget related to the latest Pixar epic right now.
An animated MP3 player that takes the form of the robot--whose name stands for "Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth Class"--is available for order from the Sharper Image. (Maybe it hasn't gotten much notice because of the chain's uncertain future.)
It's not the $190 "Ultimate Wall-E" full robot, but the 8-inch-tall "iDance Wall-E" does claim to talk and dance to the music while its eyes light up. Plugging into an iPod or other MP3 player, it sounds like another version of the "i-Dog," "i-Cy," and i-Everything Else. And at $25, maybe you can save some money and fool your kid into thinking it's the big Wall-E--for a couple of minutes, anyway.
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