Center Stage PA System

You know that saying, “If it’s too loud you’re too old!” Well, hopefully you won’t find the £179.99 Center Stage PA System too loud for your tastes, or you could always hand it down over to your teenage son who would love to rock his room to a pair of these, being oblivious to all that is around him (as well as irritating your neighbors to no end).

The full on PA here is definitely taking a different route from all those compact docks and tiny portable speakers, so you can more or less be sure that it boasts a bite that is as powerful as its bark.

This is no less a complete sound system, where the Center Stage PA System comprises of a couple of full-range 50W speakers, a sturdy stand, built-in mixer and microphone. Heck, there is also a cradle for your iPod just in case you want to enjoy your tunes from that super famous portable media player. With a bunch of input and output options, this relatively compact offering is no slouch when it comes to sonic performance.

Razer DeathAdder Black Edition

It is rather nice to see gaming hardware companies like Razer roll out new releases once in a while, similar to model changes in European car manufacturers that do not happen every year, but after a particular length of time. This just goes to prove how timeless those designs are, and make sure the reliability of the device will be able to last for that particular time period.

The Razer Death Adder is no exception, where it is now available as the Razer DeathAdder Black Edition. While the original was introduced in 2006, that model helped prolific gamers to crush their opponents with ease, and it was soon whispered among gamers as the standard of gaming excellence. Five years later, the DeathAdder has gained so much traction among gamers that it is used by more professional gamers than any other gaming mouse.

To commemorate this momentous achievement, the Black Edition is a commemoration of this glorious collaboration between every single gamer and their never-failing, trusty DeathAdder.

According to Min-Liang Tan, CEO and Creative Director, Razer, “The DeathAdder legacy is something we’re immensely proud of here at Razer. We set out five years ago to create the most ergonomically perfect mouse; conducting extensive research which spanned thousands of simulations and models. We even obsessed down to a micro-angle of the profile’s curvature. The result is a mouse that becomes an extension of the gamer’s hand, the ultimate device for gaming precision. We’re releasing the DeathAdder Black Edition to celebrate every gamer’s victory and every satisfaction thanks to its exceptionally precise design.”

Of course, this new release isn’t as simple as churning out the same model in a different color, but the Black Edition will simplify the DeathAdder’s form factor design with new non-slip rubber sides, delivering one of the most comfortable grips as well as superior handling over extended gaming periods. Apart from that, it also has to live up to its namesake with a completely black finish, making it an aesthetic sight to behold.

Apart from the highly familiar and ergonomic profile, you will also get a 3500dpi 3.5G infrared sensor, 1000hz Ultrapolling with 1ms response time, 5 Hypereponse buttons, and On-the-Fly sensitivity adjustment. It will retail for 59.99 in your local currency on both continents sandwiching the Atlantic.

Best Buy Knows What To Do With Your Old New Stuff

You know how sometimes an idea is just so great that you are certain it’s too good to be true? Well, I’m dancing on air and I know somewhere deep inside I am waiting to be disappointed. Best Buy has just launched a technology buy-back program where you can hand in your not yet super old tech, for gift cards allowing you to purchase the newest and coolest stuff. For someone like me that always gets the first generation thing-y, this is like proving there is a Santa Claus!

For a limited time, Best Buy is offering many items with buy back protection for free, eventually they will charge for the abilty to trade up, but for now, go crazy with yourself! I can’t tell you how many times I have suffered in silence having jumped too quickly on the wrong phone, or the 1st addition of something that got sooo much better with the 2nd go around.

Let’s not kid ourselves here. Items must be purchased at Best Buy, and your not getting anywhere near all your cash back, if you’re lucky its 50% and thats within 6 months AND if it’s in good shape. That may not seem like a lot, but most of the time, its a number I can justify IF I have gotten some good use out of it and I will get to fondle my new thing without having to hide the old one in a drawer someplace and feel guilty about it.

You bring your item to the store, and they hand you a gift card. Two years on most stuff, up to four years on TVs and your trade ins on mobile phones are based on actual retail value, not contract pricing. It SOUNDS like a great idea. Best Buy will recondition the returned items when possible and resell them in their outlet. Sure Best Buy comes out on top, but I got my new thing… isn’t that all that matters?

If you wait and have to buy 4 year trade up protection, it runs about $99.00 bucks at www.bestbuy.com

Ningen Gakki makes the body into an instrument

This flamboyant poster with the tiny robot man is an ad for the Ningen Gakki.

The Ningen Gakki is made by Takara Tomy, and the name translates from the Japanese to “human instrument”. It is named this because that is what it does: turns your flesh into something that plays music better than you can.

It can be used by four people, and it works by having each of the players pinching the silver parts which are actually electrodes. This makes the entire body a musical instrument, and touching the skin creates activates a contact and very musical sound. You should definitely hit the jump if you want to see this.

The Ningen Gakki has several modes. One is a performance mode, which allows the user a chance to play a pre-programmed tune with a vibrato sound. Then there is the drum mode which enables the user ability to play a tuneless percussion by beating different parts of the body.

By the way, beating different parts of the body harder does not mean the sound gets louder. I am wondering if that was this way by design. You don’t want to have someone slapping you silly just to make a rockin’ tune.

The Ningen Gakki by Takara Tomy was on display at a recent conference, and I would imagine it will get on sale soon.

DIY makes cool flamethrower gloves

We have reported on some cool weapons made from DIYers before. For example, there was that actual Star Trek Phaser with the beam that really works.

Here is another weapon that is created by DIYers at J&M Special Effects, and I would love to see it in any movie and in real life.

I have a video of this after the jump, and the man looks like Pyro from the X-men movies, without any of the mutant powers.

You will note that there are many hoses and cables that don’t look very safe. Not that making a flame thrower would fall under anyone’s definition of safe, of course.

Apparently, J&M Special Effects is working on a more compact version of this flamethrower. I suppose that this would be good for when you want to conceal your flamethrower. Granted, I cannot think of a situation other than espionage where you would need a concealed flame thrower.

Then again, I don’t know much about flame throwers. Usually, I see them as big backpacks that require a gun which needs two hands. If it could be done with one hand spraying flame in a compact form, then why not? Of course, I can think of a reason of making this, because it is just plain cool.

HP announces the TouchSmart 610 and 9300 reclining computers

I’m not certain why Hewlett-Packard chose to unveil these new computers after the hubbub of the Super Bowl, but they have a definite plan for these new style of computers.

The HP TouchSmart 610 Consumer PC and the HP TouchSmart 9300 Elite Business PC have the unique design that you see here, which enables the user to recline and dip the curved screen at a 60-degree angle. Each of them have a 23-inch 1080p HD display with a multitouch screen.

Hit the jump to find out more specs about each of the models.

The 610 has Intel or AMD and Intel processors with Hulu, Netflix, Rhapsody, as well as Twitter. It also features 16GB of RAM, 1 TB of storage, Blu-Ray optical drive, and Beats Audio Speakers. There is even a model that includes R.U.S.E., a strategy game by Ubisoft.

As for the 9300, it has Intel Sandy Bridge processors, Windows 7, 160GB solid-state drive, and 2 Megapixel webcam. My Source also says that the 9300 Elite is made for “hospitality, retail, and health care” industries in mind. I’m not certain what that means.

As of now, we know that the TouchSmart 610 will arrive in the United States on Wednesday this week for a price of $899.99. As for the TouchSmart 9300 Elite, it should be out in May, but we don’t have a price as yet.