Filed under: Audio/Video, iPodBang & Olufsen is a high end Danish electronics company known for its often outlandish designs, and absurdly high prices. Surprisingly, B&O's new BeoSound 6 digital audio player is actually a pretty ho-hum-looking device. In fact, it looks suspiciously like the Samsung YP-Z5F. The BeoSound 6 is probably a decent audio player -- since most MP3 devices sound more or less the same -- but it's otherwise somewhat bare bones. No FM, no Wi-Fi, not even video, just standard MP3, WMA and OGG playback (no, it won't play your iTunes music). This four-gigabyte iPod Nano competitor is sadly for B&O no competition for Apple's diminutive video capable digital audio player (DAP). The BeoSound is only slightly narrower than the iPod, but significantly taller, and twice as thick. Oh, and then there's the price. At an absolutely unbelievable $600, the BeoSound costs only four times as much as the four-gigabyte iPod Nano. The only explanation for the price difference? The BeoSound contains the soul of a small child (or so we hope!)If it only looked nicer, maybe we'd be convinced, but if you're one of those chumps who's just gotta have the latest B&O device, you can rest easy: It's set to ship in time for the holiday season. What do you think? Have you had any positive or negative experiences with Bang & Olufsen equipment? Would you pay $600 for a four-gigabyte digital audio player?From EngadgetRelated Links:Microsoft to Launch Zune 2 Next Month?Sony Launches New Walkmen Video PlayersDo You Own a Non-iPod Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersRemember when you were akid, and the future's promise of a photocopier that could translate from one language to another actually seemed like a remote possibility? Guess what. The braintrust over at Fuji Xerox has developed a photocopier that scans articles in Japanese newspapers and magazines, and then spits them back out in English, Korean, or Chinese (or the other way around), all while actually retaining the layout and formatting of the original source material. Of course, tools like Babelfish has been doing this sort of thing for years (with rather mixed results, we might add), but the paper-on-paper action over at Fuji has us pretty excited. P.S .- Getting excited about a copy machine is a pretty weird feeling. Okay, it passed. From PopGadgetRelated Links:Chinese Couple Tries to Name Baby "@"Learn English on Your Phone Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Editor's Picks, Celebrities, Top Lists, Slideshows The advent of e-mail, blogs, texting and cell-phone cameras has launched a frightening new world of chances for celebrities to show just how loopy they can be, away from often-necessary publicists' oversight. Forget the paper trail -- it's the electronic trail of drug-addled ramblings and dirty cell-phone photos we should all be concerned about. For every relatively sane-seeming move like The Office's Jenna Fischer announcing her separation from her husband on MySpace in a thoughtful blog post, there are dozens of less stable online meanderings and wanderings by famous people. Here are the top 11.Blogging under the Influence is the New D.U.I. (Dialing under the Influence):What Happened: When Courtney Love posted her New Year's resolutions on her blog she provided a window into her surreal world that combines wacky Buddhist prayers with politics ("chant for Hilary to win"), her struggle with Hollywood's most seductive addiction ("no more surgery for any reason other than medical until i really need it in my '60s"), some tough parenting choices ("sell the pony, get a horse") and social habits ( "stop hanging out in nightclubs with 19-year-olds."). Love decided (presumably the next morning) that the list was too private to share with the world and took it down, but not before New York Daily News gossip columnists Rush & Molloy got a hold of it, and now it's one for the ages. Career Impact: Negative, since Love's career has evolved from rock star and celebrity widow into high profile mess. Next >> Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/VideoIt's hard not to look cool while walking along carrying a guitar or even just a guitar case. Lugging around a keyboard, though ... far less studly (despite some noble attempts in the '80s). For this reason, keyboard-maker Infinite Response recently unveiled the new VAX 77 keyboard. It weighs just 25 pounds and folds in half, zipping into a shoulder bag, which means you can realistically carry it from one music gig to the next without accidentally sending it through any windows. But, that's not really the main selling point here.IR is tauting the feel of this keyboard, which is said to replicate the feel of a grand piano more so than any other electric keyboard on the market. Its keys are weighted and hung like the ivories on a grand, and are said to respond like a natural piano as well, meaning you can get soft notes by pushing down a key partly, or louder by slamming it down. Despite having a few grand-piano-esque features, the VAX unfortunately comes in 11 keys short of a grand piano's 88 keys. So, while it may be perfect for quick getaways, the VAX 77 is perhaps not the perfect thing for a concerto.The VAX 77 is currently in the finishing stages of development and is said to be available by year's end in a range of bitchin' colors for an undisclosed price. You can get more information (and maybe even get on the pre-sale list) at the VAX 77 official page.From BoingBoing GadgetsRelated Links: The Coolest New Gadgets from Japan Touchless Keyboard for the Disabled Own a Mac Laptop Dipped in Gold  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersYou know the discounts Microsoft gives to starving students? The ones priced low enough to encourage students to not illegally download and share things like Windows and Office? Yeah, well, it seems some enterprising businesspeople got the wrong idea and re-sold those copies -- about $29-million worth -- illegally for the full retail price. They've been caught, and the husband and wife team behind the scheme were given five years in prison each, along with $25-million in fines.According to Infoworld, Mirza Ali, 60, and Sameena Ali, 53, the husband-and-wife owners of Samtech Research, purchased Microsoft software at the academic discount for students, then illegally re-sold it to others at higher prices. The couple funneled profits through sub-corporations, including a construction company run by their son, and apparently wired $300,000 to Pakistan for safe keeping. The couple was captured as part of a two-year FBI and IRS investigation called "Operation Cyberstorm," making us wonder if federal investigators are fans of old-school strategy games.From InfoWorldRelated Links: Microsoft Doubles Student Discounts for Office d/ Thief Demands $185K Ransom for Cell Phone, Goes to Jail Instead Porn Spammers Get Prison Time  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Cell Phones, BlackBerry, MySpace, E-Mail AddictionFacebook is definitely encroaching on MySpace's space, if yesterday's Microsoft/Facebook news is any indication, but the formerly student-only social networking site is busy going after another sophisticated, most-likely-well-educated, professional, or at least famous crowd -- the BlackBerry set. Need proof? Look no further than the new mobile Facebook application for BlackBerry from Research in Motion (RIM), the device's creator/manufacturer. The new app lets you do the essentials on the social networking site. For example, if you've got a camera equipped Pearl or Curve, you can upload photos, "poke" (a suggestive term for text message), send mail, and post on users' virtual walls. According to early reports from the CTIA conference, the app is just about as fast as the mobile Web version, but much prettier.Due out by year's end, the app will come pre-installed on new BlackBerrys, making it even easier for all your co-workers to try and get in on your private life and network, so no more drunken' pictures of you making out with a stranger on the barstool, y'all!BlackBerry owners: Is this going help you take the plunge and finally get on Facebook, or, if you're already a Facebook member, do you think this will turn you into a Crack-Berry-head?From Research in Motion (RIM) (via BetaNews)Related Links:Microsoft Buys a Tiny Chunk of FacebookHoly War Wages on FacebookFacebook Costing Businesses $264 Million Daily in Lost Man Hours Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersAfter yesterday's (mostly) glowing reviews , it's no surprise that Mac fanatics want to get their hands on Leopard, the new Apple operating system (OS), as quickly as possible. It's also no surprise that anyone who wants a new OS this badly isn't necessarily inclined to pay for it. So, enter the Bit Torrents of the world, which are sites that enable peer-to-peer sharing of (not infrequently illegal) files. Wired's Threat Level blog found the torrent sites were humming last night with copies of Apple's latest Mac release. Leopard hits Apple Stores today, but pre-release review copies went out weeks ago to the media and other places. Unlike its Microsoft Vista OS counterparts, Apple doesn't use any copy protection or lengthy serial numbers or anything to protect its pre-releases. It relies on trust, and, it's plain to see, perhaps this trust is unfounded, since thousands of copies of Leopard are being downloaded illegally even as you read this.It's speculated that the majority of these downloaders are just looking to get their instant fix and will eventually go out and buy a legal copy of Leopard, but we wouldn't be surprised if, as the Mac OS becomes ever so slightly more mainstream, Apple doesn't start adopting Microsoft-like copy protection schemes. From Threat Level Related Links: Leopard Out Tomorrow, and the Reviews Are Positive AT&T's Profits Skyrocket With the Help of the iPhone iMac Touch-Screen on the Way?  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersA study to be published in the journal Science holds promise for the future development of tiny, handheld supercomputers. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany and the University of Rome teamed to examine how nano-sized wires behave in the micro-world. The wires, millionths of a millimeter in size, are the key to producing microchips small enough to shrink existing computer technology by many orders of magnitude. According to the engineers involved in the study, the wires -- 1,000 times smaller than a human hair -- behave differently on the nanoscale as compared to the bigger wires in use today. Noting these idiosyncrasies, the University of Edinburgh researchers have created a computer program that predicts the behavior of the miniscule wires and make them more amenable for effective use in mini-microchips that would be found in products such as a palm-sized supercomputer. Some of the advances scientists envision for the nanotechnology are cellular phones with the computing power of a laptop, computers the size of a matchbox and miniaturized medical tools that assist diagnosis and treatment. The nano-size wires originally stymied researchers with their erratic behavior, but the new computer program seems to accurately predict aberrant behavior. So does that mean we'll be seeing Leopard in the iPhone soon? Maybe not this year, but probably not much more than a decade, so stay tuned!From BBCRelated Links:IBM Makes a Microscopic Work of ArtGet Power from Your Own BloodIBM Predicts the Future Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Computers, Switched Video We do just about everything with our computers -- shopping, gossiping, and, occasionally, actual work. Meanwhile, your hard drive is quietly recording all of it, from Social Security numbers to credit card data to those honeymoon photos you didn't show the in-laws. For the most part, that's a good thing: It's that capacity for instant data retrieval that makes the computer so useful. But for an identity thief, it's a great thing: A whopping third of us leave sensitive information intact when we discard our computers. And even files you've deleted can be easily recovered. Sometimes, those left-over bits can be valuable clues for crime fighters: The field of digital forensics is revolutionizing detective work say experts, just as DNA evidence did last decade. Watch the above video and step into the high-tech labs of a cutting edge digital forensics firm; learn how investigators reconstruct computer data to solve crimes -- and to win lawsuits. And most importantly, learn how you can delete files so that they're deleted for good. Plus: Recent headlines from the Switched newsroom.Related Links:Smile Measuring Device Knows How Happy - or Sad - You AreYour Old Hard Drive is a Criminal's Gold MineThe Top Five E-Mail Scams Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersThe PC Mod scene -- essentially Custom PCs that enthusiasts either build from scratch or modify with significant cosmetic alterations -- is as bustling and fanatical as the custom car scene. But with so much individuality and creativity applied to otherwise boring PC towers, some real doozies are bound to emerge. Which is why every so often some Web site or magazine like Wired picks what it thinks are the most hideous or tacky examples of said custom PCs.This latest gallery is filled with some scary looking computers, including a giant Molson can, an all-gold MacBook, and taxidermy-esque called CompuBeaver (pictured, above).Where are the Swarovski-Crystal-covered PCs, we wonder? And isthat all-white PC with the iPod-click-wheel-like control panel really that tacky? Regardless, plenty of the samples Wired highlights deserve to be in the pantheon of the world's ugliest gadgets.Enjoy, if you're into that sort of thing....Related Links:World's Ugliest GadgetsTop 11 Geek T-ShirtsAnti-Mugging "Skirt" Turns Would-Be Victim Into Soda Machine Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Editor's Picks, Interviews, CelebritiesShe first sang on the Metropolitan Opera stage at the age of seven and made her movie debut as the opera singer Christine in 2004's movie version of Phantom of the Opera, but it took Emmy Rossum to the ripe old age of 20 (that's right!) to record her first solo album. 'Inside Out' is the the first time Rossum breaks out her complete vocal range, a sometimes ethereal, sometimes pop-influenced (but always appealing) sound that's more typical of the top 40 divas we're used to hearing on the radio rather than opera divas. Her busy career keeps her on the road a lot, so she's got a bag full of gadgets and a clear preference for a specific type of computer, as you'll soon learn in our latest Switched Questionnaire.What gadgets do you always bring with you to the set (for down-time)? I always bring my BlackBerry and my iPod. Because I travel so much it's hard to see my friends a lot so I use my downtime on set to keep in touch over email or instant message. I also use my iPod to relax on set and drown out any loud work (cranes, cameras or lighting movie) that might be happening on set so I can keep in character.What cell phone do you have right now and what do you love/hate about it?I have the new LG ENV. I love the keyboard (as it makes texting so fast and fun), the high quality camera and camcorder! I like downloading ring tones to my phone of whatever song I'm loving at the moment. Who's the last person you sent a text message to and what was it about?My best girl friend Alex about meeting me at the gym in an hour. Where do you go (site or service) pretty much every time you get online? AOL to check my mail, and then YouTube to or funnyordie.com What annoys you most about your iPod, cell phone, or laptop (or any other gadget)?Sometimes I forget to "lock" my cellphone or BlackBerry, and it self-dials all of my friends or last numbers I've called! Name one thing you wish your iPod/cellphone/laptop (any gadget) could do that it doesn't do now?I wish my cellphone could cook me breakfast after it wakes me up in the morning! You're stranded on a desert island: What gadget do you bring?Probably an iPhone. I would have music, movies, and contact with my friends on instant messenger while calling to be rescued! What's the most-played song or artist on your iPod? Keyshia Cole's new record 'Just Like You' BlackBerry, Sidekick, or Treo?BlackBerry!!Did you get an iPhone yet?Yes, I would, but it's not on Verizon yet!! What's the longest time you've ever spent playing a video game in one sitting and what game was it?Probably about five seconds and I don't think I can't remember which game. I don't play these much, but I like the graphics. Mac or PC?Mac. I love iTunes, iPhoto and the laptop built-in camera is great for "seeing" friends and family when I travel. Related Links:Keyshia Cole on Texting Missy Elliott and MoreThe Switched Questionnaire: Hilary DuffThe Switched Questionnaire: Parker Posey Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Cell Phones, iPhoneSome people develop a bit too strong of a bond with their technology. We'd say they're all around you, but these types of people tend to stay inside a lot.Zogby International and 463 Communications conducted a poll about people's attitudes towards technology, and the results are either terrifying or reassuring, depending on how bad you thought the epidemic of tech-fetishism was.Overwhelmingly people found other people sexier than the iPhone. Very reassuring, until you realize that while the iPhone may have been beaten out by Halle Berry, Scarlett Johansson, and Patrick Dempsey who received 27, 17 and 14 percent respectively, it shared a spot at the bottom of the pile with Derek Jeter at 6 percent. That means that 6 percent of people would rather take their iPhone to bed than the smokin' hot Scarlett Johansson. Head on over to 463 for more results.How about you? Do you think people or iPhones are sexier? And while we're at it, would you rather take Derek Jeter, Scarlett Johansson, or the iPhone to bed?From Engadget and 463Related Links:New Moms Seek Baby Advice From Internet, not FamilyAre You a Cyberchondriac?Kids Spend Too Much Time Online, Say Parents Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  In what one can only imagine is preparation for Halloween, scientists have isolated a genetic switch in tadpoles to give them three eyes instead of the standard-issue two. Though three-eyed humans might make for plenty of non-stop hilarity (!), the idea is that the knowledge will allow scientists to grow replacement parts for repairing human eyeballs, or perhaps even grow new ones from scratch. The study is explored in the new issue of the journal Nature, and suggests that a nitrogen-bearing molecule sets off a series of steps that result in eye formation in frogs. The researchers think the same mechanism for engaging eye development in frogs applies to a wide range of other species as well. Maybe cow eyeballs in science classes will become a thing ofthe past? (Maybe even frogs, for that matter.)From LiveScienceRelated Links:Spider-Man Superpowers for the Rest of UsScientists Erase Memory in Rats Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Car TechToyota is already dominating the world's automotive scene in terms of sales, as well as leading the green vehicle scene thanks to its still rather trendy hybrid Prius. But the Japanese auto maker must be getting bored. Since nobody can seem to compete with it on the vehicular front, the company is moving into new markets: high-end, designer wheelchair sales with its new i-Real three-wheeled chair. Actually, "wheelchair" is about fitting a term here as "scooter" is when describing the Segway, though Toyota is aiming the device at a variety of seated users who want to move around. The thing sports a relatively upright seating position that reclines as speeds increase, up to a maximum of a brisk 30 km/h, just short of 20 mph. Not quite enough to get you a speeding ticket, but faster than the Segway's top speed of 12.5 mph. Controls are two joysticks mounted at the end of the arm rests, making the thing, supposedly, quite easy to maneuver (despite the rather concerned look on the model in the picture to the side).No word on whether Toyota actually plans to produce the thing or, if they do, how much it'll cost. Sure, it might look like a prop off the 'Star Trek' set, but we'd rock it on a trip down to the corner store ... assuming we could figure out a way to put some groceries in the thing. From Autoblog%Gallery-9127%Related Links: Why You Should Buy a Hybrid Car Now Nissan's All Electric Concept Car 10 Super Fast, Super Green Cars  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments