We can't help but love when a plan comes together, and if you've been hesitant about replacing your kitchen hood while secretly longing to redirect those funds towards a new LCD, there's a compromise staring you right in the face. Faber's luxurious Imago+ multimedia hood boasts a stainless steel / glass finish, fits nicely above your range and includes a 19-inch LCD TV with a 1,440 x 900 resolution, 300 cd/m2 brightness and 850:1 contrast ratio. Unfortunately for you Americans, the internal tuner caters to DVB-T signals, though the decent lineup of ports will allow you to connect up other sources of content. Mum's the word on a price, but again, those having to ask will probably be forced to pass.

[Via Appliancist]

This one has been around the block a time or two, but considering you have absolutely nothing else to do on a Sunday, you might as well dust off that DIY kit and get to work. What you're looking at above is a genuine (albeit modified) NES controller playing a bona fide classic on a laptop. Amazingly, all of the software required for such a marvelously good time is stuffed tight within the controller itself. Take a step back and digest that -- your very own NES emulator (with ROMs), shoved inside a Nintendo Entertainment System controller. Does it get any more awesome than that? Hit the read link to start building your own and let us know. Video of the action after the jump.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

In reality, quite a bit of time has passed since we've heard of the next great leap in the (seemingly) never-ending journey towards quantum computing, but we're incredibly relieved to learn that at least someone is still out there, somewhere, pressing on. An international team of researchers have reportedly shown that they can "control the quantum state of a single electron in a silicon transistor, even putting the electron in two places at once." Essentially, the team is using tiny semiconductor transistors to "control the state of a quantum system," but there is still a long ways to go before any of this is meaningful. The crew managed to discover a few things by chance, yet to create a quantum computer, they would need to "position atoms of arsenic (or some other material) in the transistors more reliably." For those of you way too geeked out, fret not -- we'll let you know when all of this technobabble finally amounts to something.

[Thanks, Chris]

Shortly after the Kohjinsha SC3 was removed from the comfy confines of its packaging and exposed for all to see, said UMPC has managed to get reviewed. Initially, impressions were quite positive, as the reviewer noted that build quality was "superb," the size was adorably small and the display satisfied all expectations. As for sheer performance, the Menlow-based rig excelled as it churned through applications with no huge lag issues; however, all that computing made the unit exceptionally warm, though it did remain quiet even when breaking a sweat. Battery life was shorter than advertised (only 2.5 hours), but aside from that, there wasn't a whole lot to gripe about. Think it's too good to be true? Head on down to the read link for videos, benchmarks and impressions.

Fair warning: this here post is nerdier than usual, and those who begin to feel nauseous at the mere mention of data-bending may want to refrain from continuing on. For you brave, hardened souls that are following through, feast your eyes on the "first piece of software ever sold by Apple." The Apple I BASIC cassette wasn't even included with all of the 200 Apple Is produced eons ago, but a few engineering souls have managed to extract the data and create an MP3 of the wave structure. Not surprisingly, the tone resembles that of a 1200 Baud connection, and if we should say so ourselves, would make for a wicked ringtone. Believe us, it gets even weirder in the read link, but you'll have to determine whether venturing down is something your brain can handle.

[Via BoingBoing]

If you thought Velocity Mobile just rolled over and died after showing off a few handsets at CTIA earlier this year, you'd be exactly wrong. The outfit's Windows Mobile-powered 103 has just surfaced in the FCC's lair, giving us a smidgen of hope that a US release is but moments / weeks / months away. Unfortunately, this filing doesn't spill the beans on any other specifications, but the 67 page User Manual does dive into great detail on changing the battery, inserting microSD cards and navigating around within the operating system. C'mon Inventec, give us the good stuff.

Sure, these in-car crash loggers are a dime a dozen these days, but Brickhouse Security is pushing its Car Camera Voyager Pro as better than those ho hum alternatives thanks to the inclusion of GPS. As with most of its highly functional rivals, this one also packs a G-sensor that detects when a vehicle has been slammed into, bumped or otherwise rocked in an unorthodox manner; after that, it captures the 10 seconds immediately prior to and the 30 seconds immediately following the incident. Of course, you'll also be able to pinpoint your exact location thanks to the corresponding GPS information, which could certainly help you out when hunting down CCTV footage of the nut-job who rammed your whip and wheeled off to Wendy's as if nothing happened. Hand over $449.95 now and expect it to arrive later next week.

[Thanks, Frank]

Okay, so you understand the concept of a scrolling LED belt buckle, correct? Good. Brando has taken the novelty found in the aforementioned waist adornment and shoved it into yet another zany USB-powered gizmo. The USB LED Message Board can store up to eight phrases and supports five scrolling modes, sound effects and animated messages. Just make sure your boss' dirty little secret doesn't mysteriously end up on the new office ticker.

Screen grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com. Even for gadget freaks, it was tough to take one's attention away from the outstanding action that filled The Dark Knight from beginning to end, but when Morgan Freeman had to hand over his Nokia XpressMedia 5800 (or Tube, as it were) at a stop in Hong Kong, we had to take a moment and gush. Nokia's still-not-official handset had a few critical scenes where it was highlighted, though we'd wager it was only viewable for 4 to 5 seconds in total. Beyond that, Nokia's peculiarly designed 6630 (circa 2004) was Gordon's handset of choice, which we risked an MPAA thug kneecapping in order to also snag and host up below. It's not really important that you go see it for a live shot of the Tube (though the incentive is nice), just make sure you go. Soon.

[Thanks to everyone who kept us on the lookout!]

Yeah, as in, it actually wants a "psychologically inspired object recognition system." What's that, you ask? It's giving robots and mechanical creatures the ability to see objects the way humans do and make reasonable judgments based on those sights. Essentially, the military would love to see bots have something similar to spatial memory, which would enable 'em to "mentally rotate objects in order to match the object to different representations." When looking at the main objective of this here endeavor, however, we can't help but have mixed feelings. We're kosher with increasing "robotic control," but creating "exponential expansion of robotic capabilities and intelligence" might not be the smartest thing to do in the long run.

[Via Wired, image courtesy of ACM]

Samsung sure managed to move a lot of these Instincts, but the real question is: how many are on their way back tomorrow? With the 30-day trial period quickly closing in on the earliest of adopters, we've seen a myriad complaints about Sprint's iPhone slayer (its words, not ours), and the first official software update isn't rumored to occur for at least another week or so. For those folks who plan on sticking with it (or those who've already said their final goodbyes), what would you have Sprint include in the next firmware? Better still, what would you change about the design? Are you sick and tired of the inexplicable reception fluctuations? Are you fed up with holding down a button to unlock the display? Aggravated with lockups twice a day, everyday? Enraged by the omission of a "force roam" option? And really, could Sprint have made the battery door any more impossible to remove? Rant on, ranters!

Believe it or not, the Berlin-based IFA trade show is nearly upon us, and Becker is more than prepared. Reportedly, the Z100 Crocodile will be making the journey, complete with a 4.3-inch display, an SD card slot, European NAVTEQ maps, a SiRFstarIII GPS receiver and RDS-TMC support. Furthermore, the unit will sport an ultra-rugged exterior meant to handle nearly any jungle excursion you set out on. Expect to hear more (a price and release date would be just fine, Becker) when IFA commences late next month.

[Via NaviGadget]

Apparently not everyone at General Motors is toiling away in an attempt to get the Volt ready for its 2010 debut, as another sector of the outfit's R&D division is busy creating a windshield that will, at its core, enable us to stop running stuff over. The futuristic glass would utilize lasers, sensors and cameras in order to help drivers see the road's edge better, recognize obstructions and enhance things ahead of us so we'll theoretically react faster. Truth be told, the device is being designed with older drivers in mind, though we don't see why younger motorists won't benefit all the same. Unfortunately, it sounds as if you'll have to keep those toothpicks in your eyelids for a few more years, but at least we're one step closer to full-on autopilot.

Digital Foci didn't go out of its way to drastically redesign the original Photo Safe, but we 'spose that's alright in the grand scheme of things. Essentially, the Photo Safe II picks up where its predecessor left off by including a multicard reader (now with 100% more MS Duo and miniSD support) which automatically transfers photos from your flash card onto the built-in 80GB / 160GB hard drive. The integrated display tells you at a glance how much space is remaining and how much battery life is left, though it won't show your stored photos in slideshow (or any other) fashion. A touch steep at $139 (80GB) / $189 (160GB), but that's convenience for you.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

Aw, aren't these two just as cute as a button together? We can almost see Dell gushing at the thought of rolling Ubuntu out in a pair of new machines early next month. Nah, we didn't just fabricate that -- the Ubuntu 8.04-powered XPS M1530N and Studio 15N should be available in a matter of weeks, and in the meantime, you open source aficionados can enjoy Hardy Heron as a pre-installed option on the XPS M1330N, Inspiron 1525N and Inspiron 530N. Hit the read link for purchase options in your country.

[Via TG Daily]