Sheraton likes the idea of having a "big ass table" in a few of their hotels, which are showcasing the Microsoft Surface in their lobbies. Guests at Sheraton’s New York, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle locations have the opportunity to test the Surface, which is essentially a table with a built-in multi-touch screen running Windows Vista. Before this move, Microsoft introduced the Surface in Vegas bars. It makes even more sense for Microsoft to bring the Surface to hotels, since it will allow guests to look up restaurants, plot walking tours and listen to music. (Read the full post about ‘Microsoft Shows Off Surface in Sheraton Hotels’…)

Alienware Area-51 m15x What is superior gaming ability in a laptop worth? How about unparalleled business performance and high-def entertainment? What if you tossed in a cool light show and a bunch of extras? Give up? It’s just under $5,000 according to Alienware, and that’s just about what the company’s Area-51 m15x costs. Alienware prides itself on its tower rigs and desktop replacements, but several of its earlier forays in to the midsize laptops were disastrous; the branding was intact but the performance wasn’t. Not so with the m15x. This 15.4-incher is plenty portable, yet it has all the gaming trappings and the performance to back it up. (Read the full post about ‘Review: Alienware Gaming PC — I Want to Believe It Doesn’t Cost So Much’…)

There are some gadgets that just “work” without having a real purpose other than looking cool. The Cybertek Wings are one of those gadgets. They won’t gift you with the power of flight and they won’t give you angelic powers, but they sure as hell make you look really, really cool. Built out of carbon fiber and extruded aluminum, the pneumatic powered Cybertek Wings just look crazy cool. The images speak for themselves. You can even add a custom twist to your wings buy ordering your choice of colored wingtips, which activate when the wings expand. The Cybertek Wings will actually extend and retract like a bird’s wings, and will do so about 7 times before they have to be recharged with air pressure for about 5-10 minutes. (Read the full post about ‘Cybertek Wings’…)

Owners of Samsung’s Blackjack II SGH-i617 can take the spotlight for a few days: Their handset is the Beijing 2008 Olympics’ official phone. It’s unclear what’s so special about the Blackjack II that makes it the official Olympics handset, other than the fact Samsung is an official sponsor of the event. From the looks of it, it’s just a standard 3G smartphone featuring a QWERTY keyboard, a jog wheel and a 2.0-megapixel camera. It’s got built-in GPS, too, but that’s not mind-blowing in today’s standards either. Gets me thinking, though — 3G, huh? I wonder how the Blackjack II and other 3G phones are performing in terms of 3G reception. Hopefully not as poorly as the iphone 3G? (Read the full post about ‘Official Olympics Phone Is Blackjack II’…)

Everyone’s experienced the unpleasant sensation of eating something very sweet, say syrup-soaked pancakes, and then taken a bite or sip of something just slightly less sweet, like orange juice, and found that the juice suddenly tastes sour and bitter. How much nicer would it be if you could eat something sweet and make everything else you eat even sweeter? Miracle fruit tablets, or “miracle berries” accomplish just that by causing a protein reaction in your mouth which makes even the sourest, bitterest things, like a sharp lemon, taste sweet. The geeks at ThinkGeek have tried the miracle fruit, and claim that it makes straight limes taste like the sweetest, most ambrosial limeade. Even better? (Read the full post about ‘Miracle sour-to-sweet berries’…)

I think it is safe to say, and insurance premiums will back me up, that young adults tend not to be some of the best drivers on the road. Unfortunately, some young adults are impairing their ability even more by using a mobile phone while driving. If that wasn’t bad enough some are even text messaging their friends while behind the wheel

A new survey by FindLaw.com has found that nearly half of drivers between 18 and 24 have sent a text message, instant message or e-mail while driving. 48% of that same age category admitted to the risky act while only 27% of drivers between 25 and 34 have done it.

(Read the full post about ‘If your texting while driving you’re likely pretty young’…)

by Thomas Ricker, posted Aug 13th 2008 at 1:35AM var Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports this morning that Sony plans to sell its 11-inch XEL-1 OLED TV in Europe in 2009. That dovetails nicely with a two-week old statement by a Sony representative who said, “I’d be very surprised if this hasn’t arrived in the UK by 2009.” Us too, after all, it’s been on sale in Japan since December of 2007 and was recently caught slumming the big box outlets in the US. It only seems natural then, that Sony would ramp production to the point that by 2009 they could meet the minimal, European demand for a $2,500-ish TV measuring just 11-inches — million:1 contrast or not. (Read the full post about ‘Sony’s XEL-1 OLED TV landing in Europe in 2009? Too little, too late.’…)

Animal heads being hung on the wall is one topic that can make a great many women groan in annoyance, and even several men I’m sure.  However, there is that bunch that still does it anyway, well this lamp is for the man that couldn’t hit the broad side of the barn but would still like to look like a dedicated hunter.  So if you can’t manage to get a decent animal head for yourself, you can pick up this odd little wall lamp.  Which looks a bit like a slightly more high class version of a talking fish mounted on the wall. (Read the full post about ‘The Moo Wall Lamp – a modern twist to hunting’…)

Who knew that the folks at Philips do have a sense of humor after all, with the Happy Laura and Naughty Raymond robots coming in the USB flash drive form factor. Of course, they come studded with Swarovski crystals all over to add to the overall bling look. Data is stored by snapping off their respective heads, and both Laura and Raymond are able to carry up to 2GB of data before their brains start oozing out from their ears. It will cost you €150 a pop, which is way too expensive for the budget-conscious minded, especially with just 2GB on offer. (Read the full post about ‘Philips USB Flash Drives’…)

A software known as Lumisonic allows the deaf to “see” sound waves by showing circles that radiate on a display. This software will roll out a real time representation of sound, and is especially meant to elicit a quick response in the human brain at a glance. According to the man behind the system, Dr Mick Grierson, from Goldsmiths, University of London, “If I make a sound and lower the pitch, the rings contract,.” Lumisonic is more than capable to respond to computer-generated noises as well as those from a micirophone, allowing the deaf to be able to experience sound in their very own way. (Read the full post about ‘Lumisonic Lets Deaf See Sound’…)