By Luke Anderson

I like The Simpsons, I’ve been watching it pretty regularly for years. Despite my love for the Springfield family, there’s no way you would each find these Homer Simpson USB Monitor Lights anywhere near my desk.

Yes, Homer is funny and he does a lot of crazy stuff. But just the thought of trying to do anything on a personal monitor covered in these things makes my eye twitch. If you don’t mind not being able to see things like your tool bars and address bars, then by all means grab this USB lights for around $32.

[ DrinkStuff ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Networking

According to a report, Microsoft isn’t just looking at the next version of Windows (no, not Mojave) for future OS possibilities, but is looking beyond the Windows architecture altogether with a project known as Midori. The new OS is still in the “incubation” phase (which puts it slightly closer to market than R&D projects), but Microsoft has admitted to its existence, and the Software Daily Times states at least one team in Redmond is actively working on the new architecture.

The basis for the platform centers around research related to Microsoft’s Singularity project, and envisions a distributed environment where applications, documents, and connectivity are blurred in a cloud-computing phantasmagoria which can be run natively or hosted across multiple systems. The researchers are working to create a concurrent / parallel distribution of resources, as well as a method of handling applications across separate machines — religiously-dubbed the Asynchronous Promise Architecture — which will set the stage for a backwards-compatible operating system built from the ground up, with networks of varying size in mind. Says the SD Times, “The Midori documents foresee applications running across a multitude of topologies, ranging from client-server and multi-tier deployments to peer-to-peer at the edge, and in the cloud data center. Those topologies form a heterogeneous mesh where capabilities can exist at separate places.” Care about it technical? Hit the read link for an in-depth look at the possible shape of Microsoft’s future.

[Via Yahoo!]

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Portable Video

We’ve been following the rumor since January, today it’s official: LG’s BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player will begin streaming Netflix movies in the US this September. The player will cost “well under $500″ and grant Netflix members to stream more than 12,000 standard definition TV and films through the device at no additional increase to their monthly paid subscriptions. Members will use the Netflix website to add movies or Television to their individual instant queues. Movies will start playing in as little as 30 seconds when selected from the Television where users can browse, make selections, read synopses, rate movies, and fast-forward / rewind video streams using the BD300’s remote control. While specs on the player itself are scarce, we do know that it supports BD Live and LG’s SimpLink technology to integrate easily with LG Televisions and AV products. One thing’s for sure, with this deal announced and those with Roku and the Xbox 360 in the bag, it looks like Netflix is grown-up and ready for the digital age.

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By Andrew Liszewski

While technically you can turn anything into a ‘fireplace’ with just a pile of fuel soaked rags and a book of matches, this Travelmate portable fireplace is probably a much safer alternative. While it looks like a briefcase, it’s actually made from black powder-coated steel with glass panels on the sides and weighs about 55 lbs, so it’s not exactly the lightest thing to carry around. But it’s totally self-contained and is smokeless since it burns bio-ethanol liquid fuel instead of firewood. And as an added bonus, if you do select to use it as a briefcase, it seems like the perfect place to permanently “file” any incriminating documents you don’t want falling into the wrong hands.

It’s available from Unica Home for $3,300, and at that price you’d think they’d at least throw in a bottle of liquid fuel, but I’m afraid it’s not included.

[ Travelmate Portable Fireplace ] VIA [ Nerd Approved ]

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Break out the tissues — the rumors were true. Or, at least it sure looks that way. As of right now, the only two TiVo units available on the outfit’s webstore are the TiVo HD and the Series2, and even if you do a bit of digging and find the still-active Series3 page, you’ll notice a glaring Out of Stock notification. Of course, you can still find leftover inventory hanging around at various resellers, but all signs are pointing to this being the final hurrah for the S3. Any touching moments you’d like to share in comments as we all bid the device a fond farewell?

[Thanks, Tim]

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Jetpacks have always seemed extremely cool, even if the prospect of going hundreds of miles an hour with only a set of goggles protecting you from a speck of dust that could gouge your eyes out. Yesterday a real jetpack was revealed to the people at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture, a weeklong air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The Martin Jetpack, which is technically classified as an ultralight aircraft, can hover for 30 minutes and can theoretically reach 8,000 feet. So far the jetpack has only gone as high as 6 feet with someone wearing it. No one is allowed to fly this $100,000 machine without having 15 hours of training and a safety screening that presumably keeps the Bond supervillains from getting their hands on one of these.

[ MSNBC ] VIA [ Engadget ]

Video of the jetpack in action after the jump

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Filed under: Home Entertainment, Storage, Networking

It’s no secret that HP MediaSmart Server owners have been having an awful time getting their device to operate correctly, er, at all since HP loosed its most recent software update on July 21st. In order to make sure owners have a solution implement its best damage control tactics, HP’s own Director of Marketing for the Connected Entertainment group has put out a statement informing users that the problems (slow console shown above) are more than a figment of their imagination. Furthermore, the so-called solution is to simply “install each update one at a time, independently,” because clearly HP cannot be bothered to fix a problem it helped create. Oh, it gets better. HP is also aware that PacketVideo (bundled with the update) “no longer supports media streaming to Sony’s PlayStation 3,” so it simply encourages owners to surf on over to a third-party website and hack up the PV database in order to get things back to normal. Jump on past the break for the patently ridiculous letter in its entirety.

[Image courtesy of Within Windows]

Continue reading HP responds to MediaSmart Server issues, offers no real solution at all

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Samsung treated us to a few new HDTV lineups just last week, but apparently one of the fresh families managed to slip through the cracks. The all new Series 6 — not to be confused with the widely available 650 Series — consists of the 40-inch LN40A630, 46-inch LN46A630, and the 52-inch LN52A630. Each set provides a 1080p panel, 120Hz technology, the outfit’s Touch of Color bezel design, three HDMI 1.3 ports and a USB socket for accessing digital photos and the like. Expect the trifecta to ship sometime next month for $1,699.99, $2,099.99, and $2,699.99, respectively.

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

A bit earlier this year we heard that Panasonic (Matsushita’s red-headed stepchild) was vying for a little recognition in the OLED TV game, but outside of that, details were scarce. Now, however, we’re being told that the outfit is planning to start selling 40-inch OEL (organic electroluminescent, better known as OLED ’round these parts) televisions “as early as 2011.” Reportedly, it will be investing “several billion yen” to construct a prototype production line for OEL panels “20-inches and larger” that will go into service next spring. We’d be pretty stoked if the final product were within sight, but make sure to ring us early on next decade to make sure we haven’t completely forgotten about this here promise.

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Vizio made some waves recently with the introduction of two bargain-priced plasmas, but it could garner attention from a whole new sect of individuals next month. Reportedly, the outfit is gearing up to launch “its first monitor tailored for dedicated PC users” in late August, the 26-inch widescreen VMM monitor. We are told that it’ll boast HDMI inputs, reduced brightness and higher resolution “than typical IT displays,” but aside from that (and the $449 price tag), the rest remains a mystery. Also of note, the company is expected to debut an “eco-friendly” line of TVs this October, which are said to “operate with 35- to 45-percent less power than traditional LCD TVs of comparable size.” Way to keep us on the edge of our seats, Vizio.

[Via Electronista]

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