Save up to $315 instantly on the HP TouchSmart tx2z Series Customizable Notebook PC! – Savings Include: $200 instant rebate, FREE memory upgrade from 2GB to 3GB ($30 savings), FREE hard drive upgrade from 250GB to 320GB ($40 savings), and get FREE shipping ($29 savings). Ends 11/14

Save up to $275 instantly on the HP Pavilion dv6t Series Customizable Notebook PC! – Savings Include: $150 instant rebate, FREE memory upgrade from 2GB to 3GB ($30 savings), FREE hard drive upgrade from 250GB to 320GB ($40 savings), FREE color customization ($25 savings), and get FREE shipping ($29 savings). Ends 11/14

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More promos launch on November 11, 2009 (11/11), so feel free to mark that date down as well. These discounts only apply to desktops:

Save up to $505 instantly on the HP Pavilion Elite e9280t Series Customizable Desktop PC! – Savings Include: $300 instant rebate, FREE 9GB memory upgrade ($40 savings), FREE 15-month Norton Internet Security subscription ($49 savings), 35% off a 21.5-inch diagonal widescreen monitor ($90 savings), and get FREE shipping ($29 savings). Ends 11/17

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Save up to $415 instantly on the HP Pavilion Slimline s5280t Series Customizable Desktop PC! – Savings Include: $250 instant rebate, FREE 640GB hard drive upgrade ($50 savings), 35% off a 21.5-inch diagonal widescreen monitor ($90 savings), and get FREE shipping ($29 savings). Ends 11/17

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Eventually however, I realized that as long as I limit my online purchases to retailers who have made the effort to win my trust, I should be fine. These kind of companies follow industry standards regarding data privacy, principles that include not sharing the data with third parties, and not storing credit card information (or at least only the last four digits of the card number, for verification purposes).

Yes, it’s true that companies store data about our purchasing habits, the items we bought, where we go on their websites, etc. Having worked for an internet retailer however, I know that reputable websites analyze this information to see how they can make things easier for the customer—and in a way that doesn’t tie the data to a specific individual.

Adjusting the inventory to anticipate future demand, and making online catalogs a lot easier to navigate, are made possible because of such analysis. It’s a win-win thing: shopping becomes an easier, more pleasant for visitors, while the company has a chance to make more money, by removing potential obstacles that keep customers from paying.

Now I totally understand that not everyone wants this, which is why companies should always provide options. My former employer would let people buy without requiring for additional data beyond payment information. It’s the choice of the customer if they want to provide more personal information—in return for some customer-oriented benefits promised by the business.

The point is that, while concerns over data privacy are growing, we should also realize that sharing our information with businesses isn’t necessarily a bad thing. So long as businesses keep it secure, use it to better improve the customer experience, not share it with other companies, and give customers control over how much information is saved, I’m totally fine with it.

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Even better, the knock detector is completely programmable. Changing the secret knock cadence is a simple matter of holding the red button while executing a new lock pattern, with a max of 20 knocks. The system simply detects the pattern, and not the tempo, providing allowance for users who knock slower or faster than usual.

But perhaps the best thing about Steve Hoefer’s Secret Knock Detecting Door Lock is that its a result of a DIY project. Conceivably, with the instructions available here, you can secure your own doors, limiting access only to people who know the correct knock pattern.

Secret Knock Detecting Door Lock

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Users cannot directly install applications on Litl; updates are streamed automatically via WiFi. There’s also no on-board drive; the Litl operates completely online, apparently totally reliant on cloud computing. Therein lies a potential flaw for this $700 product. Constant online access is a great thing, simply because it allows real-time information updates. But that’s only possible in the ideal, where internet service providers create enough infrastructure to support their user base, and where downtime rate is somewhere between 99.9% and 100%.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Litl cannot function when it has no access to the Internet. I’d rather pay $700 for a device that still does things even when offline, not on a product that’s totally reliant on the quality of your internet connection. It’s possible though time will prove me wrong. Maybe internet connectivity will become as reliable and “default” as electricity is today. I’ll reserve my final thoughts until I’m able to secure a review unit, so stay tuned!

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elitemacor: “iPoop… iCry. I was so hoping for something more.”

WeezerX80: “Great just what the world needs, another freaking MP3 player. Go Steve! Where’s the Newton?!”

Pants: “hey – heres an idea Apple – rather than enter the world of gimmicks and toys, why dont you spend a little more time sorting out your pathetically expensive and crap server line up? or are you really aiming to become a glorified consumer gimmicks firm?”

And, my personal favorite:

nobody special: “All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distiortion Field™ is starting to warp Steve’s mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off.”

Still tripping on smug nostalgia? Here’s how Steve Jobs packaged it for the masses, at a “low key” event:

I disagree that the iPod was a “quantum leap”, as Steve Job insisted, as there were already MP3 players with hard disks on the market when the iPod was launched. But there’s no doubting the iPod’s appealing usability, nor the willingness of Apple to stick with its own vision.

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“Lucky in Love” mainly involves a Flash-game where players have to drag and rotate a series of photos to create a panoramic shot. It’s a pretty straightforward yet cumbersome game: not only do players have to properly align images as much as possible, they are also under time pressure. Obviously, the point of the game is to show how the auto panorama of the TX1 is way easier than manual photo-stitching (and, having used the camera, I agree). Whoever gets the highest score once the contest ends this December 30, 2009 will a Sony Cyber-shot TX1, so if you’ve got a fast mouse hand, try the contest here.

Not based in Asia but in the US? Not sure if Sony has anything planned for you guys, but the Sony Cyber-shot TX1 is currently available from NewEgg.com for $380:

SONY Cyber-shot DSC-TX1 Gray 10.2 MP Digital Camera

SONY Cyber-shot DSC-TX1 Silver 10.2 MP Digital Camera

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We begin with the first video, where our hero Criken tests the waters. The new special infected make their debut off-screen, but you can already hear the telltale sounds they make:

The second video is more revealing, at least in terms of gameplay mechanics. Criken intentionally(?) puts himself in bad situations, and shows us how to deal with the new Charger and zombies enjoying bullet-proof protection. He even reveals his “single favorite weapon in all the Left 4 Dead games”. The video ends on a sad note, with a Smoker committing the coup de grace on the fallen group of survivors:

In the third video however, our intrepid hero finally finds the right way:

And ends the final level of the demo in a selfish manner, once again letting his teammates die before entering the safe room alone.

So what do you think? I love the melee weapons, the same but Bayou-nized music, and the new special infected. Boomer-Smoker-Jockey combos already swirl in my head.

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Whether you need an HDMI cable to hook up that player to your HDTV, or a way to make full use of your computer’s USB port, the general rule when it comes to cables is to take the time and look for the cheapest alternative. For what is a cable, but a bunch of wires providing the bridge between standard ports? Standard means mainstream, mainstream usually means mass-produced, and mass-produced usually means razor-thin margins and really low prices.

That’s why stories like a Radio Shack salesman trying to sell a $24 cable depress me. I do understand salesmen are under a lot of pressure to make as much money as possible for their employers, but what about unsuspecting buyers who eagerly pay that much for a mini USB cable that was eventually bought for $1.05 at a nearby store?

Granted, there are times when it’s worth paying good money, like for really long HDMI cables, because you are paying to retain signal strength over a significant length. And of course, some of those cheap cables are faulty, especially if they come from no-name manufacturers (literally) looking for a quick buck. But be warned, dear readers! Before buying that cable, take the time to shop around for cheaper alternatives—just like you would for any other geek-related item.

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1984 was also the year when Japan’s Waseda University developed the WABOT-2, an “intelligent humanoid keyboard player”. As SynthGear reports:

When it was made, it was considered the ‘most advanced robot of its time’ – it could speak Japanese, and it could play a song on a synthesizer, using both hands and feet, while reading the sheet music with it’s single ‘eye’. It could also listen to a person’s singing voice, adjust its tempo to match, identify the notes and come up with a live accompaniment based on the sung melody. Oh, and it could carry on a basic conversation too.

Seems like the Japanese were already unwittingly contributing to the robotic apocalypse as far back as the mid-80s. SynthGear tries to be cute, warning readers not to anger WABOT-2, as “he’s liable to rip your arms off”. But what’s the joke there? With more powerful limbs, it’s easy to assume that future variants of the WABOT will put the best keyboard players to shame—and have enough power to indeed separate human appendages from their unwilling host torsos. Looks like the time frame of the WABOT-2 and The Terminator is more than a coincidence.

Video of the WABOT-2 playing (and secretly contributing to the robotic master plan for human downfall) below:

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Your phones have always looked good LG, and that’s why you’ve managed to overtake Motorola in worldwide phone shipments a couple of years ago. Now that you have the beachhead, it’s time to start appealing beyond the superficial tastes of the consumer.

Anyways, here we go!

Tell us about the experience of creating the LG GD900 Crystal. How did you come up with an idea of transparent phone?

We started toying with the idea in 2005 and later the concept won the Presidential Design Award at the Korea Industrial Design Exhibition in 2006. At the lab, we are always examining new designs and always on the lookout for something that would stand out from the rest. Ironically, we created a ”stand-out” phone by making it transparent!

Transparency is one motif that many designers around the world have experimented with at one time or another. It’s like invisibility – the holy grail for designers because we’re essentially working with something that’s almost invisible. But the challenge is also a reward because we’re not constrained by the barrier of a shell or covering. Once the opaque skin is stripped away, the interior is exposed, creating a kind of emotional connection.

There are a few transparent concept products from other manufacturers. What is it that distinguishes the LG GD900 Crystal that your team has developed?

Everything else we’ve seen are prototypes at the conceptual stage whereas this handset is now just a few weeks from being in the hands of an end-user. Other transparent products have never made it this far and usually have ended up as experimental design concepts that end up in a museum or design studio.

The real challenge of creating the LG GD900 wasn’t that the transparent design had to be attractive but that the handset itself had to function no differently than any other premium mobile phone. Consumer insights, which play a big role in how we approach handset design, have shown time after time that design and style are important but unlikely to be accepted by the masses unless the functionality is all there. Even fashion-conscious customers want a good lens on their camera for those important photos and clear sound even when they’re on the subway.

Did you have any difficulty developing the design of the LG GD900 Crystal?

One challenge we had to overcome is that consumers want big screens but they don’t want big handsets. So on the GD900 Crystal we expanded the touch screen functionalities to the touchpad itself. We adopted an inner slide system utilizing a gapless rail support mechanism to achieve the simple look. The final challenge was making the electric circuitry invisible which was achieved with the help of a layer of touch-sensitive film. We achieved all these breakthroughs and still managed to keep the thickness to a slim 13.5 millimetres.

Advances in design are often driven by the development of new materials. What new materials were used in the creation of the LG GD900 Crystal?

We’ve used many kinds of materials on other models that have turned out to be successful and popular with consumers who want a different look. This is easier said than done, as the right materials also have to have the right look and feel. For LG Shine, we used a full metallic body, first ever used on a mobile phone; and for LG Secret, the initial concept was a “style that lasts” and we used premium materials of tempered glass and carbon fibre. For GD900 Crystal, it’s made of a highly durable tempered glass and is framed and reinforced by a band of Liquidmetal, a relatively new material that designers are looking into that is very strong and quite shock-absorbent.

Tell us your outlook for transparent consumer products.

Transparency is another form of invisibility. It’s something that everyone fantasizes about but until now, that’s all it’s been. The fact that we can now make devices for daily use that are, for the lack of a better word — “invisible” — is significant because we are no longer constrained by a solid “barrier” in design. It’s like a window that is also an input device — it’s revolutionary. We’re excited about what the future holds in the next generation of “design transparency”.

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