A leaked patent application shows a GPS enabled shoe being developed by none other than Nike. The system aims to more precisely track a runner's performance over a period of time by factoring in various physical characteristics of the runner, such as age, weight, and gender, which could then be used to evaluate the runner's performance. Now all this can be done on a treadmill with the help of motion and pressure sensing devices, but with sensors integrated in...

The plethora of Fujitsu product launches and press releases have gotten us baffled. How does one company manage to churn out so many different variants of its laptops to different regions? To get you started Fujitsu has just announced the U2010 with in-built GPS satellite navigation, for the Korean, Taiwanese, and Chinese markets. There is a new Asia-Pacific version, which according to its press release does feature GPS but none of the Hong Kong product pages makes any mention...

The microchip, used in devices from cookers to computers to mobile phones, is 50 years old today. Consisting of a strip of germanium with one transistor and other components all glued to a glass slide, the first working microchip, or integrated circuit, was demonstrated at Texas Instruments by one of the company's newest employees, Jack Kilby, on September 12, 1958. His rough device, measuring seven 16ths of an inch (11.5 millimetres) by one 16th of an inch, revolutionised electronics, and...

Sources that wish to be unnamed say that Microsoft is planning to make Beta 1 of Windows 7 available until mid-December. A small group of testers already have their hands on Windows 7 builds. Microsoft has released two milestone designated Windows 7 builds (M1 and M2), and the Windows client team is in the midst of putting final additions on M3. Nevertheless, the consensus seems to be not to expect Microsoft to distribute Windows 7 bits more widely until...

Power generation in space is usually done with the help of solar panels, but NASA now wants a lunar base and it needs some serious power that solar power just cannot provide. NASA wants to generate a steady 40 kilowatts of electric power, or enough for about eight houses on Earth. It will take a year to find a single contractor who will be selected to build and test a prototype power conversion unit. When complete, the power conversion...

The original HTC Touch is still an excellent handset that broke the mould for Pocket PC design; it did to the windows Mobile system, what the mouse did to computers. The phone was so small compared to the existing touch-screen devices, that it was able to make a mark for itself even among the iPhone frenzy. The next generation HTC Touch is here and is called the Opal featuring HTC TouchFLO 3D technology with some new cool shades and...

The Eizo C @ T-one from Nanao Japan is a mouse which doubles as a TV remote control. The wireless mouse works on 2.4Ghz frequency has a scroll wheel and an optical sensor which turn off automatically after 30 minutes to save power. Tilt the mouse and the built in tilt sensors similar to those in the iPhone activate the remote control. It has basic controls like power on / off, channel and volume control, mute etc. The circular...

The second installment of Bill Gates and Seinfeld series is here. Its way better than its predecessor and still does not say a bit about MS products. Gates doing the robot part is funny....

Creative is not a well-received MP3 player since no current offerings can compete with the success of the iPod as a complete media entertainment device. Right from its design sense to its storage space offered has the potential to perform in this highly evolved market. However, with this new patent application it is now unclear if Creative is intending to stay in the MP3 player race or wants to shift gears into making a full-fledged mobile communication device. This...

Toyota together with EDF Energy, the British subsidiary of the French energy company EDF, has began testing Toyota plug-in hybrid vehicles on public roads in the United Kingdom from September 10. The UK road tests, like those conducted with EDF in France starting in autumn 2007, involve setting up necessary infrastructure, evaluating vehicle performance and ease-of-use, and surveying participating vehicle users. Plans call for the test period to continue for more than one year. UK is the fifth country...

The upcoming professional pool game American Pool Deluxe will require an apt accessory to aid you shoot the pool efficiently. To help you out with this, Upshot Games is coming out with the RealMotion Pool Cue. Apparently it's a meticulously crafted cue built specifically to take advantage of the Wii remote's accelerometer technology for real precision and fun. American Pool Deluxe features 8-ball, 9-ball, snooker, head-to-head and four-person multiplayer, trick-shot challenges, plus a complete tournament mode. Once you reach...

Well I admit I coined that word, Stout Tower…but that's exactly what the Expressionist Bass speakers seen here remind me of. The company is showing off a new logo plus a range of new speakers as well. The Expressionist Bass stands 10" tall and feature built-in 4-inch subwoofers and two 1.5-inch drivers each. Expect this one to cost you $130, and you get the choice of black or white, when they hit the shelves next month....

There is no misprint here; Sony has indeed announced the ICF-CD3iP, which is a dock for the iPhone/iPod. It also functions a san alarm clock plus packs in a radio as well. Apparently it even has an iPod/iPhone remote. Moreover it retains both the dock as well as the devices' alarm times. Sony also packs in a CD player with MP3-CD playback to the device, which explains the round frame. The line in has been included so that the...

Taking a hint from the recently proposed cap on sms roaming costs by The European Commission, the US Senate Judiciary Committee is asking four top wireless carriers to justify the "sharply rising rates" they charge people to send and receive text messages. Wisconsin Democrat Herb Kohl is very concerned about the rising text messaging rates. He is concerned as to why some customers are now paying 20 cents per message when they paid just 10 cents in 2005 even...

What would you do if you had to raise 12,300 to turn your new home into a solar powered green house? Well you could beg borrow or steal them but, how about taking an inspiration from this entrepreneurial couple who used their gift registry to collect funds. The couple in their early thirties had to afford a solar system to power their 800 sq. ft. condominium, the idea came to them when they sat down to plan the gift...