retroremakes
February 18th, 2010, 00:30
In today's bursting-at-the-seams Remainders: laziness. We've got a new Adesso keyboard for the couch-potato web surfer; a Taiwanese truck driver sleeping behind the wheel; a lazily conceived concept car; a demo that takes Farmville procrastination anywhere; and more!
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_wimax.jpg (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/wimax.jpg)WiMaxed Out
Every month or so we hear about a new fistful of medium-sized American cities that have been blanketed in the warmth of Clearwire's snappy WiMax network. Although things are growing slowly but surely here, WiMax is apparently rolling out at a much more frenzied pace pretty much everywhere else. Here are some illustrative numbers, from our friend the Boy Genius: (http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/02/17/wimax-growth-in-the-us-lags-worldwide-growth-explodes/)
* Asia Pacific: 237 million people covered by 100 network deployments
* Europe: 115 million people covered by 153 network deployments
* Central/Latin America: 113 million people covered 109 network deployments
* Africa/Middle East: 108 million people covered by 142 network deployments
* North America: 47 million people covered by 51 network deployments
But wait, these numbers don't see 100% trustworthy. While 47 million North Americans might technically be in a WiMax coverage area, I don't believe for a second that nearly that many are using the network. So sure, smaller nations with more densely packed populations would reasonably have more "covered" users, but that doesn't necessarily indicate a worldwide WiMax phenomenon. That's not to say I wouldn't like to bask in the WiMax glow myself some day soon...
[B]Crash
I'm not sure when exactly this accident transpired, but for some reason this runaway bus in Taiwan was strapped with no less than three cameras—one on the front and one on each side. The first angle, shot with the camera on the front of the bus, doesn't look too bad, especially to someone who has seen cumulative hours of YouTube wrecks and spent hours creating them in games like Grand Theft Auto. But when you switch to the side views and watch the runaway bus flip cars like flapjacks, then things get pretty gruesome. [
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UReNC4opOA&feature=player_embedded]
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_adessokey.jpgKeyboard Potato
Adesso's WKB-4200UB is their newest wireless keyboard, designed for maximum from-the-couch-computing laziness. It's even got a built-in track pad for your greasy little fingers. But a real couch potato would know that wireless keyboards with built-in track pads have been around for ages and, besides its ability to work simultaneously with other keyboards, there's nothing new to really get excited about here. Still, if you're in the market for a new input device for computing across the room, the $120 WKB-4200UB is worth a look. [Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/17/adesso-rolls-out-wkb-4200ub-wireless-keyboard/)]
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_gizmood.jpgTypo$
You know how sometimes you type a URL incorrectly and end up on some fake portal that's covered in ads? Well, according to two Harvard professors, Google could be making as much as $500 million a year from those typos. The practice of "typosquatting" is nothing new, and is something that most internet users probably just ignore altogether, as I've always done. But $500 million should make anyone's ears perk up. But some ears perk differently than others—it turns out that one of those Harvard professors, Benjamin Edelman, is a lawyer who happens to be representing a lawfirm whose barely-misspelled URL is contributing to Google's typo windfall. Edelman and Google are engaged in an ongoing case on the legality of typosquatting and selling ads to those who do so. Oh well, the typo money was good while it lasted. [NewScientist (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18542-typos-may-earn-google-500m-a-year.html)]
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_lgtvs.jpgSkinnyTV
LG's new Skinny Frame TVs are indeed skinny: something to the tune of 25mm. But while these television sets may in fact have a sharp enough edge to cut a block of cheese, they are not the skinniest we have ever seen, with some upcoming sets boasting a so-thin-it's-almost-not-even-there single-millimeter thickness. These particular slabs support 1080p resolution and manage to pack 3 HDMI ports and a USB one for good measure. If you're impressed, a 50" Skinny Frame will run you $1500, if you can manage to import one from Korea. [SlashGear (http://www.slashgear.com/lg-unveils-new-skinny-frame-plasma-hdtvs-25mm-thick-1774497/)]
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_structuralskin01.jpg (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/structuralskin01.jpg)Little Giant
AeroGel. Carbon/Kevlar composite. Liquid metal. These are all things that comprise the "structural skin" of Chu Hyung Kwon's concept automobile, a Transformer-chic ride with the ability to flip itself over if it ends up on its backside. Sure, sounds good—now to figure out how to actually implement any of those technologies anywhere other than Adobe Illustrator. [Yanko (http://www.yankodesign.com/2010/02/17/un-capsize-able/)]
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_farmville.jpgFARM. VILLE. TABLET.
We got to check out the Nvidia Tegra Tablet (http://gizmodo.com/5442191/hands-on-with-nvidias-7+inch-tegra-android-tablet) back during CES, but can you say you've really checked something out until you've determined its ability to play Farmville, the life-consuming Facebook game that's taken the digital world by storm? No, no you can't. Thankfully SlashGear checked out the Tegra Tablet (http://gizmodo.com/tag/tegratablet/) in this capacity and can report that an adapted Farmville runs with satisfactory snap. Exhale. [SlashGear (http://www.slashgear.com/nvidia-demo-digital-mag-farmville-on-tegra-tablet-1774502/)]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1) http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=_1IuoRxyR08:ZJUO8Bh4AMQ:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=_1IuoRxyR08:ZJUO8Bh4AMQ:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=_1IuoRxyR08:ZJUO8Bh4AMQ:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=_1IuoRxyR08:ZJUO8Bh4AMQ:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=_1IuoRxyR08:ZJUO8Bh4AMQ:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=_1IuoRxyR08:ZJUO8Bh4AMQ:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~4/_1IuoRxyR08
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_1IuoRxyR08/)
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_wimax.jpg (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/wimax.jpg)WiMaxed Out
Every month or so we hear about a new fistful of medium-sized American cities that have been blanketed in the warmth of Clearwire's snappy WiMax network. Although things are growing slowly but surely here, WiMax is apparently rolling out at a much more frenzied pace pretty much everywhere else. Here are some illustrative numbers, from our friend the Boy Genius: (http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/02/17/wimax-growth-in-the-us-lags-worldwide-growth-explodes/)
* Asia Pacific: 237 million people covered by 100 network deployments
* Europe: 115 million people covered by 153 network deployments
* Central/Latin America: 113 million people covered 109 network deployments
* Africa/Middle East: 108 million people covered by 142 network deployments
* North America: 47 million people covered by 51 network deployments
But wait, these numbers don't see 100% trustworthy. While 47 million North Americans might technically be in a WiMax coverage area, I don't believe for a second that nearly that many are using the network. So sure, smaller nations with more densely packed populations would reasonably have more "covered" users, but that doesn't necessarily indicate a worldwide WiMax phenomenon. That's not to say I wouldn't like to bask in the WiMax glow myself some day soon...
[B]Crash
I'm not sure when exactly this accident transpired, but for some reason this runaway bus in Taiwan was strapped with no less than three cameras—one on the front and one on each side. The first angle, shot with the camera on the front of the bus, doesn't look too bad, especially to someone who has seen cumulative hours of YouTube wrecks and spent hours creating them in games like Grand Theft Auto. But when you switch to the side views and watch the runaway bus flip cars like flapjacks, then things get pretty gruesome. [
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UReNC4opOA&feature=player_embedded]
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_adessokey.jpgKeyboard Potato
Adesso's WKB-4200UB is their newest wireless keyboard, designed for maximum from-the-couch-computing laziness. It's even got a built-in track pad for your greasy little fingers. But a real couch potato would know that wireless keyboards with built-in track pads have been around for ages and, besides its ability to work simultaneously with other keyboards, there's nothing new to really get excited about here. Still, if you're in the market for a new input device for computing across the room, the $120 WKB-4200UB is worth a look. [Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/17/adesso-rolls-out-wkb-4200ub-wireless-keyboard/)]
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_gizmood.jpgTypo$
You know how sometimes you type a URL incorrectly and end up on some fake portal that's covered in ads? Well, according to two Harvard professors, Google could be making as much as $500 million a year from those typos. The practice of "typosquatting" is nothing new, and is something that most internet users probably just ignore altogether, as I've always done. But $500 million should make anyone's ears perk up. But some ears perk differently than others—it turns out that one of those Harvard professors, Benjamin Edelman, is a lawyer who happens to be representing a lawfirm whose barely-misspelled URL is contributing to Google's typo windfall. Edelman and Google are engaged in an ongoing case on the legality of typosquatting and selling ads to those who do so. Oh well, the typo money was good while it lasted. [NewScientist (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18542-typos-may-earn-google-500m-a-year.html)]
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_lgtvs.jpgSkinnyTV
LG's new Skinny Frame TVs are indeed skinny: something to the tune of 25mm. But while these television sets may in fact have a sharp enough edge to cut a block of cheese, they are not the skinniest we have ever seen, with some upcoming sets boasting a so-thin-it's-almost-not-even-there single-millimeter thickness. These particular slabs support 1080p resolution and manage to pack 3 HDMI ports and a USB one for good measure. If you're impressed, a 50" Skinny Frame will run you $1500, if you can manage to import one from Korea. [SlashGear (http://www.slashgear.com/lg-unveils-new-skinny-frame-plasma-hdtvs-25mm-thick-1774497/)]
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_structuralskin01.jpg (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/structuralskin01.jpg)Little Giant
AeroGel. Carbon/Kevlar composite. Liquid metal. These are all things that comprise the "structural skin" of Chu Hyung Kwon's concept automobile, a Transformer-chic ride with the ability to flip itself over if it ends up on its backside. Sure, sounds good—now to figure out how to actually implement any of those technologies anywhere other than Adobe Illustrator. [Yanko (http://www.yankodesign.com/2010/02/17/un-capsize-able/)]
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_farmville.jpgFARM. VILLE. TABLET.
We got to check out the Nvidia Tegra Tablet (http://gizmodo.com/5442191/hands-on-with-nvidias-7+inch-tegra-android-tablet) back during CES, but can you say you've really checked something out until you've determined its ability to play Farmville, the life-consuming Facebook game that's taken the digital world by storm? No, no you can't. Thankfully SlashGear checked out the Tegra Tablet (http://gizmodo.com/tag/tegratablet/) in this capacity and can report that an adapted Farmville runs with satisfactory snap. Exhale. [SlashGear (http://www.slashgear.com/nvidia-demo-digital-mag-farmville-on-tegra-tablet-1774502/)]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1) http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=_1IuoRxyR08:ZJUO8Bh4AMQ:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=_1IuoRxyR08:ZJUO8Bh4AMQ:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=_1IuoRxyR08:ZJUO8Bh4AMQ:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=_1IuoRxyR08:ZJUO8Bh4AMQ:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=_1IuoRxyR08:ZJUO8Bh4AMQ:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=_1IuoRxyR08:ZJUO8Bh4AMQ:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~4/_1IuoRxyR08
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_1IuoRxyR08/)