Video dating, meet video iPod

Hey, if you can put subway maps on an iPod, why not people's turn-offs and turn-ons? PodDater.com aims to bring sexy singles to your fingertips by letting you download members' self-made videos to your iPod. You don't even have to be a member to watch the videos, and the site makes it very simple to shuttle the vidcasts to your 5G 'Pod or any other portable video player. Of course, you don't need a portable to watch the vids, but it's more fun to dish on potential soulmates with your galpals over cosmos at the bar. So I hear. In practice, I had some trouble viewing the PodDater's videos through iTunes. At first I thought it was a PC/Mac issue, but then I realized that a lot of the profiles have no video! (Isn't there any way to filter these out of the podcast feed?) And the predictably male-dominated service doesn't even seem to be listed in the iTunes Music Store's podcast directory. Folks, get with the program! Ah, what do you want — it's a free service. At least for now.

Robot, bring me a cold one

Wouldn't it be great if you could command a robot to fetch another brewski from the fridge while you kept right on watching the big game on Sunday? Judging from this picture of the HRP-2 in action, that's exactly what scientists at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) have in mind. But how many robots does it take to retrieve a can of suds? AIST did it with three HRP-2s: one to map the room, one to understand the spoken command, and a third to actually walk to the fridge and collect a frosty beverage. The three robots communicated with each other over a network, but AIST says it will soon get one robot to do all three tasks. AIST also has a great FAQ on its Web site on why humanoid robots are superior to robots with more than two legs. One reason: bipeds can make turns in a smaller space. At any rate, now we know why Sony's Aibo robot dog was put to sleep on January 27 along side Sony's humanoid robot, the QRIO — both were too short to reach the fridge door.

New mouse turns the scroll wheel on its side

This here is no fancy iPod rip-off, nor is it a portable HAL 9000 computer. No, this is a mouse. New from Samsung, that ring around the middle button is actually a new horizontal scroll wheel. Designed for laptops and, ahem, UMPCs, the diminutive mouse has a retractable cable and 5 buttons (although I can't see that many in the photos). It comes either in black or in pink, as apparently gadget makers have decided that women will buy any super nerdy gadget as long as it's pink. It has a slick little LED light inside to make you look really cool while fixing up spreadsheets or whatever else it is you do on your computer. No word on pricing or availability as of yet.

Call of the rich: Phone made from ivory

Into cell-phone skins? Here's the ultimate — a phone casing made from hand-carved ivory. A trio of Chinese craftsmen worked for three and a half months on this phone, earning it a price tag of $23,000. Makes for a nice toy that should satisfy your extreme opulence. Only six of these ivory boasts were made, so you'd best get on the next plane to Beijing if you want one. And you shouldn't have to worry too much about border guards confiscating it in the name of endangered elephants when you get back, since the ivory comes from the tusks of long-dead mammoths, making the phone 100% legit. So go for it, Paris. The rest of us will just have to settle for papier-mâché'ing our RAZRs, I guess.

New Seitz camera cranks the megapixels up to 160

Seeing a camera this large again makes me smile from ear to ear. The new Seitz 6x17 panorama camera packs an incredible 160 megapixels into a body twice the size of a human head. The native images it takes measure 6 x 17 cm, or 2.3 x 6.7 inches. An ISO range from 500 to 10,000, a fastest exposure speed of 1/20,000 and a readout speed of 300 megabits per second (Mbps) add to the fun! Unfortunately, this camera won't be available until "early 2007," but you can make a reservation now for either the "mobile version" or the "studio version." You should probably think about giving up fancy cheeses and hot cocoa for a while if you do, though, because these babies cost $36,266 and $33,715, respectively. On the other hand, if the private yacht storing your gold bricks starts to sink you could always complement your purchase with the equally impressive Roundshot D3 360 degree panorama camera, and use the Seitz D3 digital scan back for both.

Monster releases familiar-looking accessories for Microsoft Zune

And so it begins. Well, not really begins — Monster is hardly the first manufacturer to announce it'll be making accessories for Micorsoft's Zune player. But Monster's official announcement today of its half-dozen or so Zune add-ons sure makes the whole thing seem real. Like, holy cow, the big debut is less than a month away! Among the Monster trinkets for the iPod rival: the CarPlay Wireless Plus (shown, $80), an FM transmitter for playing your Zune tunes over a car stereo; the TV Link ($30) a cable for connecting the Zune to a TV; the SlimCharger ($30), which lets you charge the player from any AC outlet… heeeeey, wait just a minute… you can't fool us, Monster — these are just repackaged iPod accessories! All you did was swap connectors and drop the "i" prefix. Well, I guess it's only fair that the Zune gets the same treatment. If you want to jump right in and start planning your Zune lifestyle, Monster says the accessories are available now, although its site doesn't list them just yet. Try to stay calm.

Some new iPods loaded with a virus

Some owners of brand new video iPods may be getting more than they bargained for with their trendy new purchase — a windows virus preloaded on the music player. Yes, now you have more than just RIAA lawsuits to worry about when you get into digital music. To be fair, the virus has only been included on less than 1% of iPods, and only 25 have been reported as infected. Only very new units have a chance of having the virus, those manufactured after Spetember 12th. If you're concerned that you might be one of the unlucky few, Apple has been kind enough to hand out free virus removal software on their website. Unsurprisingly, if you have a Mac you won't even notice if you have the virus, as it'll only infect Windows machines. Way to turn a negative into a positive, Apple.

LG drops the Shine, a new phone you can't buy

LG did so well with their sassily named Chocolate phone that they decided to keep the fun name train going, announcing their new Shine phone to South Korea. A slick and slim slider, Shine comes loaded with a 2-megapixel camera, 1GB of built-in memory for the media player, and a 2.2-inch screen. That screen goes all mirror-like when it's off, and the back is brushed aluminum, making this a pretty sweet looking gadget. Like all good things, this will come to us after we wait, as much like the Chocolate it's hitting the sunny shores of Korea before we get to play with it. Hopefully LG will decide to send it our way sooner rather than later. Until then there are plenty of other sexy phones just waiting to get your greasy earprint all over them, so don't despair. We'll keep you updated as to when this'll be coming our way just as soon as we find out.

Fujitsu UMPC with Fold-out keyboard

With more and more UMPCs rolling out, Fujitsu also shows its conceptual UMPC. It is rather different than the Samsung’s Q1 UMPC because it has a fold out QWERTY keyboard and seems more logical than the complete use of stylus in the Samsung’s Q1 UMPC. The size of this UMPC is that of a CD case.

www.techtickerblog.com

Show your iDevilish Side

Many skins and cases are available for the world’s beloved music player, iPod but not as cool as this one. It reveals the darker side of yourself and is brought to you by Podstar. It is available in eight designs - The Abyss, The Dark Lord, Legion, BlackOut, Vigilante, Blood Bath, Red or the Crimson Avenger.
It is made from high grade silicone and comes with a screen protector and a neck strap. It is priced at $25.90.

www.techtickerblog.com

Nokia 8800 gets Royal

Nokia’s premium phone, 8800 recently got a makeover. It was not officially from Nokia but from a London based entrepreneur, Laban Roomes. He just made it more costlier and unaffordable for a common man (atleast for me) by enveloping 8800 in gold. It is available in three styles, 24K Classic Gold, Rose Gold and Modern Gold.

24K Classic Gold is the ultimate gold finish and costs around $418 without the phone. The Rose gold has a warm pinkish glow and is the costliest from the lot. It costs $522. Last is the Modern Gold which is lighter than the 24 karat gold and costs the same as the 24K Classic Gold.

www.techtickerinfo.blogspot.com

Sony PSi(nteractive)

Rumors spread more faster than fire. And another rumor shot up of Sony’s PSi (i for interactive). The PSi will be 4.5” wide and will have a 3” touchscreen LCD with 16 million colors and will be unscratchable. It will also feature a virtual keyboard.
According to the article it will not only support WiFi networks but will also suport WiBro, UMTS, EVDO, and future WiMax networks via switchable modules that correspond with each system. Sounds interesting!!! Is Sony reading this?

www.techtickerblog.com

Caparo T1 to be launched in India

Caparo Group’s Caparo T1 which is a road and track car will be launching in India by the end of this year. This Super Car boasts power-to-weight ratio of 1000 hp per ton.
Caparo T1 is a two seater and its supercharged engine delivers 480bhp at 10,500rpm which makes the car to reach from 0-60 mph in around 2.0 seconds and from 0-100 in about 5.0 seconds. This car will cost Rs. 1.17 crore (£150,000 or $260,000) in India. Looking at the condition of Indian roads, it will be a mere showpiece resting in the garage.