TIVO and DirecTV making an HD DVR. Yeah, you heard me right …	European PS3 owners get DVR capability with no DRM	Best Buy to remove bloatware for a price	The USB Desk Lamp and Speaker
Another $50 Coolest Gadget Contest	Schlage LiNK Starter Kit	Lightmate gives you something to snuggle with	Pixel drink coasters allow you to customize each one
Jetboil Personal Cooking System	Children’s TV And Video Game Manager	Powerline Stereo Audio System	Sony recalls Vaio TZ-series notebooks
Sanyo Xacti E2 waterproof camcorder	Sony unveils a couple of new Blu-ray Home Theater Systems	Sony X1 Xperia Smartphone	The Wireless Outdoor Speaker with Nightlight
CSI Stick takes the info out of your cell phone	Ghostbusters now available in USB form	The Bloody Hand and Foot Wrist Rest	Moma solar-powered laptop bag
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Though I know that I require USB cables to do almost anything from charging my mobiles, iPod, to transferring pictures from my camera to the laptop, I wish there was an innovative way to use and carry these cables.

I spent $2,200 to get the new Sony Vaio Z12GN/B from VAIO ATMCOM store (Sony’ dealer) at Ratu Plaza, Jakarta, and I thing I am the first customer of Z series in Indonesia, sure they called me as soon as this sleek, lightweight and powerful laptop arrived. Since Sony Unleashed the Z series back in July in the U.S., a month later I mentioned that I really want this laptop but i wonder when the Z will arrive in Indonesia. And a week later I realized that Sony has launched the Z series along with the SR and FW series at Grand Hyatt Hotel, Jakarta on 21st August 2008.

The Sony Vaio Z12GN/B comes with Windows Vista Business by default but it also packed with Windows XP SP2 CD installation in case we want to downgrade, but I decided to run Vista. But unlike what it’s said that the Z series comes with 13.1″ LED backlit display (1600×900 resolution), my Z12 comes with 13.1 Wide (1600×900) TFT Color display, I wonder if it is the same or not, Sony please explain to me!

(Click image to enlarge)

Ready to play game? Well, with any of these three new monster gaming laptops from MSI (GX400, GX630, and GT735), you’ll be ready to play your favourite PC games anytime, anywhere. Let’s start checking the MSI GX400 notebook first. This 14.1-inch Centrino 2-based machine is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and an nVidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics engine. It also boasts a 4GB of DDR2 RAM, up to 500GB of HDD, a DVD burner (or Blu-Ray drive), an integrated webcam module, and a HDMI output.

MSI GX630 laptop comes with almost similar specs than GX400 series. Except that it has a bigger display, 15.4-inch in dimension. The rest are the same, including CPU, video cards, memory, etc.

As for MSI GT735 gaming laptop (picture above), it sports a 17-inch display, an AMD Turion X2 Ultra processor (based on AMD Puma technology), and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD3850 graphics engine.

Other features found on those notebooks include an Intel Turbo Drive Engine technology — enables users to increase the speed of the CPU when the laptop is in AC mode by pushing the turbo button — and ECHO Engine power management function — enables switching among 5 different operation modes – Gaming mode, Movie mode, Presentation mode, Office mode, and power saving Turbo Battery mode.

Unfortunately, no single words on pricing and availability from the company.

AOpen has recently introduced the AME-100, which is a 2.5inch SATA hard drive external enclosure. The case was made of aluminum and connects to your PC or laptop via USB 2.0 with a maximum data transfer of 480Mbps. The enclosure comes bundled with a USB 2.0 Y-cable, a leather HDD wallet, some screws and a screwdriver. No word on pricing so far. [FarEastGizmos]

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Leave it to the pioneers of multi-touch in the mobile space to apply for a patent on all future versions of multi-touch. Apple’s latest patent filing suggests that Cupertino is working to integrate more than just touch-based input modalities in to future versions of multi-touch.

The problem with the current multi-touch setup is that it’s tailored to touch-based mechanics alone. Multi-touch on the iPhone and iPhone 3G is goo for mechanical manipulation, but without complementary input modalities like voice or finger-recognition, the current multi-touch setup falls short of offering truly immersive user interaction.

Imagine trying to resize and rotate a picture while changing its color and inserting a bit of text. It wouldn’t make sense to resize and rotate the picture using your voice. There are size and rotation-degree parameters that are just more well-suited for manipulation through touch-based multi-touch technology - it’s just easier to pinch/stretch and rotate the picture with your finger than with voice commands. Likewise, it’s easier to use voice commands to change the color of the background picture or add a text string to the picture.

Apple proposes, in their latest patent application, that future multi-touch technologies will integrate almost all foreseeable input modalities to complement touch-based multi-touch. Mechanical manipulations could be assigned to touch-based commands, while voice commands are relegated to functions that require choosing an option from a list.

Futhermore, Apple envisions future multi-touch setups incorporating finger-recognition that would allow the user to assign different functions to each finger - which would allow for more complex commands to be issued. Gaze-vector tracking could allow your future laptop or mobile phone to recognize which menu you’d like to select and automatically drill down to the appropriate category. Then there’s the proposition of using finger-tracking and force-sensing technologies that would allow the user to affect different degrees of control depending on finger-pressure and position.

Combine all that with accelerometer support and some pixie dust and you’ve got the makings of a seriously immersed control environment. We can’t wait for a future filled with multi multi-touch and pixie dust!

USPTO Apple patent application

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Related Articles at IntoMobile:

• Apple considering multi-touch for Mac computer lineup
• Microsoft: Forget Multi-Touch, We got “Shift”
• Windows Live Search Mobile gets updated - speech/voice recognition
• Nokia N95 with iPhone’s multi-touch screen technology
• AT&T looking towards web-based voice-recognition application for handsets, iPhone

There are often times that I find myself in need of a salaried snooze. In such cases, my pillow of choice tends to be a rolled up hand towel on my desk - try it sometime it is awesome. The Napbook case, however, is a different kind of awesome , looks a whole lot more comfortable, a little bit stylish and has the secondary capability of being able to carry your laptop, cables and miscellaneous junk around.

At the moment this thing is only available in Iceland, I kid you not, but there are plans to take it to the rest of the world where you can be sure that it is going to be a hit. [Crave via Oh Gizmo]

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In this week's Gadget Lab Podcast, Dylan Tweney, Daniel Dumas, and Brian Chen talk about the newest TiVo on the block, the 1-terabyte HD XL. With 150 hours of HD content and THX certified audio, the player packs heat, but it might be a bit too pricey for regular folks. Not only that, but the massive capacity might create a wacked-out zombie, or two.

In addition, they review a strange little email-only device called the Peek. The main impression: The device is too simple for its own good, especially since every other gadget with email can also do other things. Tech-friendly grandmas would be embarrassed walking around with it.

Finally, they'll discuss the most recent lawsuit against Apple, brought on by a retired Chicken of the Sea executive (no joke). The suit states that Apple's advertising claims are not only misleading, but also false and improper for such a high-rising gadget.

Thanks for listening to the weekly podcast. If you'd like to subscribe to the feed, point your feed reader or podcast downloader to the Gadget Lab podcast RSS feed. The audio player widget above requires Quicktime (you can download it at Apple's page here).

If you prefer, you can also download the MP3 file for this episode with this link: Gadget Lab Podcast #44 MP3. Check out the previous forty-three Gadget Lab podcasts after the jump.

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #43: Nikon D90, Palm Treo Pro, Final iPhone 3G Survey Results

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #42: Palm Treo Pro, The iPhone 3G Study, and Lenovo's U110 Notebook

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast # 41: The Micro Four Thirds Photo System, Tiny Tumbleweed Houses, and the MSI Wind Mini-notebook

Gadget Lab Podcast #40: Nokia E71, New T-Mobile Sidekick, and the WinePod Wine-maker

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #39: Hidden Stun Guns in Bikes, Dr. Dre's Headphones, and Nokia's Mobile Platform

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #38: Atomic Watches, The HP 2133 Mini Notebook, and iPhone 3G Bugs

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #37: iPhone 3G Launch, GammaTech Durabook, and the Openmoko Neo Freerunner

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #36: Wired's Summer Test, JVC Everio Camcorder, and Asus' U2E Ultralight

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #35: 3D Holograms, The Image Fulgurator, and New Phone Reviews

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #34: Samsung Instinct, Toshiba's Portege R500, and the Nikon D60 DSLR

Gadget Lab Podcast #33: iPhone 3G, POV Racing Toy Cars, and the Polaroid Pogo Printer

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #32: Mini-notebook Smackdown, Olympic Speedsuits, and the Eye-Fi Catches a Thief

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #31: Dell's Mini Laptop, Nokia N96, and Fake GPS Art

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #30: The OLPC 2.0, iPhone 2.0, and Roku Netflix Player

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #29: The Lowdown on the iPhone 2.0, The Flip 2 Camera Gets Tested, and The Week's Best Reviews

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #28: Maker Faire, Samsung Glyde and Olympus E-420

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #27: Psystar, T-Mobile 3-G, and AT&T TV

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #26: The Optimus Maximus Keyboard is Released, Asus Ships a Boosted Eee PC, and The Science of Walking Barefoot

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #25: The Latest on the Psystar Apple 'Hackintosh' Story, Hybrid Cameras, and Rumors of a 24-megapixel Nikon!

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #24: Bold Predictions for the 3G iPhone, the Week's Top Reviews, and Crazy Paintball Tanks

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #23: The 2008 CTIA Conference, Product Naming Trends, and Beckham's Tacky Gadget

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #22: Motorola's Split, The Sony Crapware Saga, and More

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #21: The Wireless Spectrum Auction, HTC's Googlephone, and Evil Keyboards

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #20: Exploding Batteries, Lost Gadgets, and the Week's Best Reviews

(For links to podcasts episodes #1-19, hit the link for #20, above.)

The Wired Gadget Lab Podcast #40: Nokia E71, New T-Mobile Sidekick, and the WinePod Wine-maker

I’ve been using voice recognition software for a number of years. Back in my Windows days I used Dragon NaturallySpeaking Speaking. I started with Version 8 and the accuracy improved through my use of Version 9.5. (Version 10 has just been released and it promises to be even better!) When I made the move to Mac a little bit over a year ago I went searching for voice recognition software. I found and purchased iListen from MacSpeech. It worked well enough but was a far cry from the power and accuracy of Dragon. A few months ago MacSpeech updated iListen, (or more actually reinvented the software) and introduced MacSpeech Dictate. This was a giant leap forward, particularly because the new software employs the same voice recognition engine as Dragon. It works quite well.

There are two main components that impact the accuracy of creating text to voice.
The first is the quality of your speech. If you speak in a smooth, consistent manner, using, as the software suggests “a newscaster’s voice” you will have much better results than if you speak the way you would to a friend.

The second, and perhaps more important, is the quality of the microphone. A better microphone will cancel background noise and significantly improve your results.The best option I found was my Fujitsu Stylistic Tablet PC. It had array mics built in which filtered out noise quite well. As a result I was able to sit with the tablet on my lap and simply speak in order to write with tremendous accuracy. When I was using a desktop or laptop, however, the lack of a dual array mic meant that I needed to use a headset. My headset of choice was a noise canceling Andrea USB headset. For about $90 it worked incredibly well. It was, however, cumbersome, slightly uncomfortable, more than slightly inconvenient, and it made me look like a phone operator. But it worked.

A few months ago I noticed that a new wireless microphone had been released by Revolabs. The ex-tag microphone, while rather pricey at $250, promised excellent accuracy while cutting the cord. Mine came today and it is a small wonder. … [visit site to read more]