At the very least, each Pre costs $170.02 for Palm to produce, reports the analysts at iSuppli:

• Hardware - $137.83
• “manufacturing and basic test costs” - $9.58
• “software and licensing costs” - $22.61
• “shipping, logistics, marketing and other channel costs” - unknown
• Regaining the developer passion that created thousands of useful apps for the old Palm OS - priceless
• Getting the most out of its partnership with Sprint - priceless
• Marketing the gadget like their lives depended on it (because it really does) - priceless

Oh don’t mind the last three items: those are some of the things I think Palm has to do if the Pre has any chance of making an impact. Regaining the good ol’ glory days—and making money of an app store—can come later.

(image courtesy of Palm)

Basically, OnLive brings cloud computing to gaming. In non-geek speak, the planned service will stream games to customers’ PCs, Macs, or TVs. OnLive runs the games on its own high-end servers—independent of the users’ hardware—while accepting controller inputs and streaming video of the gameplay through the internet. So conceivably, customers will be able to play the latest graphics-driven first-person shooter, even if they’re doing so on a two-year old computer barely creaking by.

Read more

The Speakal iPig 2.1 Stereo iPod Docking Station is, in a word, cute. Paying $130 through Amazon gets you a 5 speaker system with 25-Watt stereo coupled with a 15-Watt subwoofer, packaged in a conversation piece that also features a 3.5mm audio in jack, and a remote control.

Best of all, it’s in black, the must-have color for any minimalist geeky setup. The color adds on $10 and carries the “limited” moniker, with white, pink, and yellow variants also available at $120. Oriental bear lovers should also check out the iPanda.

Thanks BBG!

Over in the Philippines, a tech-startup named Inovent recently unveiled a prototype of the Ilumina, an “LCD interactive TV” that promises web browsing, video and music playback, and recording capability.

Here’s some background: from a tech point-of-view, the Philippines is known more for its very active mobile market and outsourced services. Companies like Texas Instruments and Accenture rely on the country to produce gadgets and provide customer support on the cheap. Read more

Of course, it made sense to get a leather-fitted La-Z-Boy and equip it with electronics to make any lazy geek proud. Why not make the lazing experience complete, and integrate entertainment functionality? Such is the complete relaxing-cum-audio experience as claimed by the Deluxe X-Rocker Recliner’s manufacturer:

This chair has endless features including: deluxe leather cover and double foam padding, lockable reclining feature, 3 channel wireless audio, amplifier, surround sound speakers, booming bass unit, cup holder, storage in one armrest. It works with Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Nintendo gaming units and all major game platforms, including handheld units such as PSP and DS lites. It also will work with your TV, DVD, VHS, and stereo system, your MP3 and iPod player and your phone if it has a standard earphone jack.

The only problem is, can any lazy geek afford the £600 ($937) price tag? After all, how can bums earn enough money to make this purchase? The only market I see for this are trust-fund babies with nothing better to do with their lives. Ah, in any case, you have to live in the UK to buy this chair anyway. Visit boysstuff.co.uk to make a purchase.

(image from boysstuff.co.uk)

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to realize that spending the whole day playing WoW a fat gamer makes. With a little creativity however, it’s easy to imagine a treadmill hooked up to a PC, use for exercise within the game world! The benefits of such a setup, at the very least, are substantial. Read more

With the prices of home entertainment consumer electronics being as they are, factory refurbished items may be a more practical alternative to consumers on a budget. What’s “factory refurbished”, you ask? Check out Wikipedia’s entry below:

Computers and laptops that are refurbished usually means that it did not initially pass quality standards of the manufacturer. They then fix or recertify the unit and sell it at a discount price (Up to 30% off). Most of them carry a 30 day store warranty and 90 days with manufacturer.

Read more

The EZ Wind-Up Remote Control is a positive boon for couch potatoes everywhere.

The remote does away with batteries completely by letting the owner turn a crank to recharge the internal battery. A full-charge, achieved by 30 turns, is promised to last for seven days. What really seals the deal with the EZ wind-up remote is its ability to control up to six other gadgets. British Amazon carries this product at a low price of 20 pounds. (product-reviews.net)

There really is no need to mention that this gadget can convert music on those old vinyl records and cassette tapes into digital music. Or even that this piece of legacy-driven tech can cram entire collections into a portable media player. It’s probably better to focus on the £39.95 price tag, the apparent fact that it works with a USB port, and the oodles of time you’ll need to set aside if you want to do some serious converting with this baby. (gizoo.co.uk, image from coolest-gadgets.com)

The ITC One from SE2 Labs resembles nothing so much as a two foot high photocopier, but inside it has just about every home entertainment gadget known to man.

The ITC One contains a 125 watt amp which is fed from a THX capable sound processor and a Netlinx controller so everything can run from one remote control.

There’s a built-in Hi-Def DVR and the touchscreen on the front takes care of things when you’re not on the couch, but what makes this $25,000.00 USD box special are the third party add-ins.

It comes standard with an Apple iPod dock and an Xbox 360 (including controller ports), and you can choose an optional Blu-ray player, an AppleTV or a Nintendo Wii.

Joining the speaker outputs around the back are HDMI out, analog audio-in, phone and ethernet jacks and a couple of sockets for a humble TV cable.

I specced one out on the site, adding in everything but the optional speakers and displays, but including $1,000.00 USD for the Blu-ray player and $3,700.00 USD for the cables.

I also chose black, so it looks a little less like office equipment, an option which adds $1500.00 USD. The final price? $34,500.00 USD.

Source: ITC One Product Page