Kramer’s PMP was called the IXI, and stored only 3.5 minutes of audio and oddly enough it even looks just a bit like what eventually became the iPod. The inventor had to endure ten hours being questioned by Burst’s legal team, who had claimed that the intellectual property of four patents they held was being used by Apple without payment or agreement. Obviously now that Apple has fessed up, Kramer is looking at some kind of compensation. Apple did give Kramer a free iPod that apparently broke after several months. Sadly if not for the lawsuit Kramer may have lived in relative obscurity and we would never have known.

[Dailymail]

Now I love a good LOLcat as much as the next guy, but I’m afraid that this may be going too far. I mean, it’s bad enough that I sometimes yell out “OMG!” (or worse, “ZOMG!”) and have even been known to work a “nom” or two into my spoken verbiage. This is definitely not going to help.

For a mere $19.99 ThinkGeek will send you a box of 384 LOL-ready words and a LOLspeak manual, in case, you know, you can’t figure it out or something. But if that’s the case you’ve got much bigger problems.

• First, the proportions in the green one are all wrong compared to the orange one. Even counting the perspective, the first unit seems to have a much smaller wheel, with a bigger middle button. It's also farther away from the bottom of the iPod. Finally, the screen doesn't seem so elongated as the green unit.

• The surfaces are also different. The orange nano is clearly curved, while the green one is clearly flat. The button in the orange one follows the curve of the surface, while the button in the green one is clearly receded, like in the old nanos. With that side lighting, a curved surface would be obvious in the image. This one is clearly flat.

• The rounded corners on the orange iPod screen are bigger and more obvious than in the old one.

• Finally, the faker of the green iPod forgot to put a short ended iPod cable in the shot, using the old style one.

Our theory is that:

a) The original MacNN shot, which they obtained, may very well be the real McCoy.
b) The J.R. guy removed the MacNN watermark and reposted it in some forums, looking for some kind attention.
c) The same J.R. guy tried to keep the attention by faking this shot, but failed to realize the obvious physical differences between the two iPods.
d) J.R. is a loser.

Update: This just in. We just got a higher resolution image of the iPod without any water marks:

At the end, however, remember our basic rule about rumors: don't trust any of them. We all will have to wait for September 9 to see what's really rocking in Cupertino. [Engadget]

All of the Slobots made by crafter Slobot are handmade and one-of-a-kind, with no molds used. This particular Slobot is made of polymer clay with aluminum arms, and his eye glows in the dark. He’s just under 3 inches tall.

If you’re thinking this is a toy, think again. Slobot admonishes you that this guy is not suitable for kids or pets and you’re not even allowed to play with him. Hmm. That makes him seem a little less fun, but still cool.

This mini masterpiece will only set you back $25. You can also email for a custom ‘bot. Get it from Etsy.

Apparently, Orlando Payano mounted his license plate on a hinged piece of metal then ran an attached cable through his cigarette lighter. When he went through a toll booth, all he had to do is pull the cord and abracadabra! No license plate caught on camera.

Now this little guy called Wakamaru may not sound or look like the most appealing robot of all, he looks much like some sort of yellow bug in a dress with no legs to me (ok, sorry that’s abit mean )but what he has been designed to do certainly compensates for his amphibious looks.

Wakamaru, designed by Toshiyuki Kita and developed by Mitsubishi was primarily intended to provide companionship to elderly and disabled people. The robot is yellow, 1m tall and weighs 30 kilograms. Running on a Linux operating system with multiple microprocessors. Wakamaru can connect to the internet, though he has limited speech (in both male and female voices) and speech recognition abilities. His main functions include reminding his owner / user to take medicine on time and calling for help if he suspects something is wrong.

Because of its wide range of capabilities or ‘cleverness’, the Japanese now think that Wakamaru could also be used within retail stores and supermarkets, shopping malls, where he would be a great handy robot to serve and to greet customers etc…

(NEW YORK) Welcome to the future of shopping. Uniqlo is introducing wakamaru, the first robot ever to be featured in a retail store environment, during the second week of September in their SoHo store. The robot, designed by Toshiyuki Kita and developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. gets its name from a famous 12th century warrior. Wakamaru will greet guests, make eye contact, recognize people, have arm movements, lead staff in motivational morning exercises and communicate promotions to customers. “We are very honored that UNIQLO USA and the people of New York City have welcomed wakamaru ” said Ryota Hiura, manager of the wakamaru technical team. “Wakamaru, the crown of our efforts and leading technologies, now needs experience in the real world, which UNIQLO USA will provide. We hope that wakamaru will make many new friends during his stay in New York.”

Check out this video, Wakamaru looks pretty responsive, but the poor little guy looks so sad and desperate to get out of there…

Interested in more technical details? Click here for some official facts…

[via FashionWeekDaily, Wikipedia]

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Latest Wakamaru by Uniqlo - the shopping robot of the future???

Casio EX Z150

Hey, Casio: Time to call Jenny Craig. Your formerly slim, sexy Exilim cameras have ballooned up like William Shatner. Witness the EX-Z150, a chunky, pocket-sagging model that looks like it has a glandular disorder. Fortunately, like the fat guy on the basketball court who hits every jumper, the Z150 quickly proves its worth.

To instantly win the mine’s-better-than-yours contest, show friends the Z150's gorgeous three-inch LCD. It’s mammoth for a camera with a sub-$200 price tag, and bright enough to see in direct sunlight. You can also fire off a group shot without having to take the customary 20 steps back to fit everybody in: The Z150's wide-angle lens (28mm) offers a dramatically broader field of view than most pocket cams. Meanwhile, the lens zooms to 4x before the digital faux-zoom kicks in—that’s a whole "x" better than other models in this price range.

Idjit-proof controls and logical onscreen menus make the Z150 a camera anyone can pick up and use sans manual, though its small, cramped control pad hurts the overall ergonomics. Users with Shatner-size fingers will have trouble. One saving grace: a dedicated video-record button. Press it to start capturing YouTube-friendly movies at 30 fps, then again to stop. Note to other camera makers: Steal this button! Casio bundles a handy YouTube uploader utility, but you have to install it the old-fashioned way: from a CD. We're spoiled by Flip Video's camcorders, which run their software when you plug 'em in.

Available in five colors (including pink for her and Corvette red for him), the Z150 tops out at 8.1 megapixels—more than adequate for the party scene (birthday and otherwise). A generous helping of “Best Shot” presets takes the guesswork out of shooting fireworks, auction photos, candlelight vigils, and the like. But as you might expect, the camera produces considerable image noise when the lights are low and the ISO high. With sufficient lighting, however, you’ll get smooth, sharp, well-balanced photos. Only the color reproduction disappoints: It’s good, but lacking that zing we see in competing models from, say, Canon.

Of course, some of Canon’s pocket shooters tend toward the bulky as well, so we can forgive the EX-Z150 its slightly excessive carriage. And we’re mad for its big screen, sweet wide-angle lens, and affordable price. Priceline Shatner would be proud.  —Rick Broida

WIRED Wide-angle lens just plain kicks ass, and 4x optical zoom gets you close without using your feet. One-touch video recording and YouTube upload software make this the perfect camera for Paris/Lindsay/Bigfoot sightings.

TIRED Too thick and heavy to leave in your pocket all day. Small, stiff control pad. Snapshot colors lack pop. Battery must be removed for charging.

$200, casio.com

(Photo by Casio)