Gadgets Inspector | Hot Gadgets and Gizmos

Last week Sony Pictures Television made its programming available for the first time in Apple’s iTunes Store (US).

Episodes from current shows “‘Til Death” and “Rules of Engagement” as well as from classic series including “Starsky & Hutch,” “Charlie’s Angels,” and “NewsRadio” were added to iTunes’ offerings for $1.99 each.

Season 1 from Spiderman, the animated series, was also added to iTunes. The series features Neil Patrick Harris (Starship Troopers, Doogie Howser), Ian Ziering (Beverly Hills 90210) and singer-songwriter Lias Loeb.

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Guess what showed up in the mail today? You can see more Apple TV unpacking photos here.

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Pes from EatPES.com frequently makes stop motion short films and commercials, but their latest work titled “Game Over” is a masterpiece.

Game Over is a medley of several 1980s arcade games including a stop motion version of Centipede done with cup cakes and a pizza and pillow case version of Pac-Man. Seriously, it’s great stuff and will be one of the easiest 5 star ratings you’ve ever given to a Youtube video.

If you get a chance, head over to Pes’ site and watch some of the other stuff. I recommend the Bacardi commercial. Amazing work.

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I got an email from Apple this morning at 4 A.M.. Guess my Apple TV is on its way. And it looks like they gave me a discount. I only got charged $281. It’s listed for $299 on Apple.com. I pre-ordered my Apple TV the day it was announced. Maybe I got the discount because it got delayed a month?

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Think paying $800 for a Series3 HD TiVo box without service is insane? You are not alone. Consumers weren’t exactly excited about coughing up that much $$$ for the Series3 and TiVo sales have slumped. In fact, TiVo just reported a Q4 net loss of $18.7 million.

With products like Apple TV and a Windows Vista CableCARD coming out soon, TiVo has to do something before they are quickly phased out of the digital living room.

So what’s their solution? Just make it cheaper I guess. TiVo CEO Tom Rogers had this to say in his quarter results commentary: “We will be highly focused this year on launching a lower-priced, mass appeal High Definition product.”

That vague quote doesn’t exactly guarantee a cheap HD TiVo during 2007, but hopefully they can come up with something during the next 9 months. Whatever they are going to do, they better do it quick. I already pre-ordered an Apple TV and if it lives up to expectations, my Series2 TiVo will be making a brief cameo on eBay before it leaves my living room.

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Spend a lot of time on the computer? Who doesn’t these days. After awhile you’ll probably develop wrist pains. A quick and easy way to exercise your hands and fingers everyday is to spend a few minutes with the Gyroflex Pro.

The Gyroflex Pro uses gyroscopic inertia (centrifugal force’s younger cousin) to increase strength and coordination in your hand, wrist, arm and shoulder. It also aids in the prevention and rehab of certain injuries, helps with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and reduces stress.

To use the Gyroflex Pro, just pull the starter cord and hold on tight. After a few sessions you’ll improve your coordination, strengthen your grip, build your forearms, and really exercise your hands and fingers.

Specs & Features:

• Measures: 4″ x 1.375″
• Weighs: 10 oz.
• Build strength while improving coordination
• New easy grip outer sphere for better control and prolonged usage.
• Generates up to 32lbs of pressure when maximum RPM’s is reached
• Exclusive new design for ease of starting.
• Increases total arm strength
• Improves coordination
• Aids in prevention of carpal tunnel syndrome
• Reduces stress

I know a graphic artist who wears a rollerblading wrist guard because he has Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Honestly, it looks a little dorky. Walking around your office while wearing a rollerblading wrist guard isn’t exactly the best way to meet girls. Maybe I’ll buy him a Gyroflex Pro and try to save his nightlife from social destitute.

Besides graphic artists, anyone who has to do repetitive hand motions all day like secretaries, computer analysts, porn movie fluffers and athletes, can benefit from this little ball.

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According to bloggers and a flood of angry comments on the Internet, operations at American DVD rental service, Blockbuster Online, have come to a screeching halt. Angry customers are reporting that they have not received movies from their queues for weeks. According to one customer, repeated calls to Blockbuster customer service were fruitless and when he finally did get through, a customer service rep told him that their mail rental system was shut down.

However an official spokesperson for Blockbuster denied the existance of any problems when contacted by Ars Technica.com. “We’ve been continually shipping product. If a customer feels like they are not getting a movie, they should follow up with our customer service. But in terms of product being allocated and shipped, there has been no interruption.”

Despite what the spokesperson says, sites like DVDRR.com have been flooded with negative comments like this one from a Blockbuster Online user named Cat: “No dvds have been shipped for over a week despite 3 open slots and 26 available titles in my queue. Emails and phone calls to customer support have not succeeded in getting this resolved, just promises that are not kept. I will be canceling and switching to Netflix.”

Is it just a random coincidence that Blockbuster Online users didn’t receive any DVDs last month? Or is Blockbuster being less than truthful about possible problems with their rental service? Blockbuster is engaged a tough battle against Netflix, the market leader in online rentals. Admitting to significant service interruptions might persuade users to switch to Netflix.

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In this clip from Late Night with Conan O’Brien, “professional air guitarist” Bjorn Turoque (pronounced “b-yorn too-RAWK”) talks about his book To Air is Human and shows off some of his trademark moves. But being a professional air guitarist isn’t all fortune and fame. Before you rush off and join Bjorn on the air guitar pro circuit, keep in mind that Bjorn’s air guitar career has ruined friendships and prevents him from having a girlfriend.

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The iPod’s Alarm Clock is nestled among other features like Calendar and Notes under the iPod’s Extras menu. While you may already be familiar with many of the iPod Extras (especially Games), the Alarm Clock is largely an under appreciated feature.

Whether you prefer to be woken by the scream of a rock star or the French horn in a classical symphony, the iPod’s Alarm Clock can help you open your eyes every morning with style!

Tutorial: Waking Up to the iPod Alarm Clock

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The tricky thing about tattoos is that they are for life. Permanent. Forever inked into your body. People always talk about getting a silly tattoo, but usually that’s all just talk. Then once in awhile you hear about someone getting a really bad tattoo. My favorite bad tattoo example is either an 8-ball or a donkey on a surfboard smoking a joint. But now I guess I need to add room to that list.

This guy (see image) decided to not only get a bad tattoo, but he added a super nerdy twist to it. In case you don’t know what his head/body tattoo means, it’s a piece of HTML code currently used when making web pages. Like I said, very, very nerdy. What makes it worse is that this tattoo is on his neck. Imagine having to explain your HTML head/body tattoo to everyone over-and-over again the next time you are at a wedding or social event.

Plus think about this. Sure, today HTML is currently a commonly used computer language. But the Internet is evolving fast. I wouldn’t expect HTML to still be that relevant in the next 10 - 20 years. Hopefully techniques in laser tattoo removal will make significant some strides during the next couple decades.

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