Viewing the beautiful game

Our home entertainment guru has been skiving. The boy has been spending time glued to various goggleboxes, all in the name of finding out what the best display is for tracking the movements of 22 men and a soccer ball. We applaud his relentless dedication to uncover the pinnacle of televised soccer entertainment and here's what the fellow came up with… in between popcorn popping and beer slugging. Read it here

FiveFingers

Freaky, that's what. Five-toed socks already exist, but they're usually hidden inside shoes. Which is fine by us. Now there's footwear with individual toe slots that are supposed to offer users "the exhilarating freedom of going barefoot" and "a gecko-like grip on slippery surfaces". Wonder if they have it in a size 20 for Hobbits? Footloose freedom or clunky clogs; FiveFingers or Croc Shoes? Tread wisely, young Grasshopper.

See it upclose | worn | explained

Via Design Corner

Price: About US$70
Availability: Get more info at Web site
Device: Footwear
Basic specs: N.A.

Coffee, tea or music?

Keep your eyes peeled the next time you step into a Starbucks. You may just spot a kiosk that's more likely to serve jazz than java. The Seattle coffee chain has recently inked a deal with Mod Systems to offer its Frappuccino fans customizable music CDs from Mod's 1.6 million-strong music database. According to a report on pcmag.com, "the smart system can be programmed to offer individualized musical recommendations based on customer history. Users can buy albums, singles or compilations by creating a custom CD or, in the future, downloading to their digital devices". More info here

Inflatable Outdoor Home Theater Screen

Those who miss the good old days of open-air drive-ins with attendant mossies and ciggy smoke wafting past, can still recreate that experience in their own garden. Made of weatherproof PVC, the inflatable outdoor movie screen is ready to rock and roll once it's blown up (preferably with a powered air pump). Sound comes through two weatherproof outdoor amplified speakers sporting the full range, and the whole setup is compatible with most projectors. Now you have an excuse to grab some beer, pizza, sleeping bags, a good DVD title or two, and have a little outdoor movie party. Cancel if raining.

For supersized, check out Superscreens, but that'll easily add another "9" to the budget | see Superscreen version

Via Newlaunches.com

Price: US$999.95 (projector not included)
Availability: At shop.com
Device: Home theater screen
Basic specs: Measures 8 x 7ft when blown up, weatherproof PVC and two nylon rope tie-downs, takes 4 mins with powered pump to inflate

Is that a Chocolate in my Samsung?

If you find Samsung's SGH-E900 terribly familiar, that's because its buttonless navigation panel and sleek design bring to mind LG's hugely popular Chocolate KG800 handset with its LED touch keypad. The SGH-E900, first showcased at CeBIT 2006 in March, is Samsung's answer to the former.

In a head-to-head, we'd say the Chocolate has first-to-market advantage and is probably the thinner and sexier of the two. However, the SGH-E900 has a beefed-up feature set that includes a 2-megapixel camera and expandable miniSD slot. Function or form? You decide.

Samsung has yet to confirm the E900's availability in Asia, outside of Korea, or pricing details.

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