Giving old cameras new life

What can we do with retired old cameras? Well, instead of chucking them into a corner of your cupboard or turning them into paperweights, Minnesota artist Debra Dresler has tweaked the vintage Kodak Brownie into a fully functional clock.

One look and it brings back memories (that is, if you are old enough to have owned a Brownie) of good ol' days when you had to tinker with actual knobs to snap a picture.

Display this in your living room and we bet the clock will make a great conversation piece. It's just too bad Dresler didn't think to add shutter sounds to announce the time, much like a Cuckoo clock would. Plus take note as well that the flash unit is non-functional.

As this is handmade, owning a piece of nostalgia comes with a relatively steep price tag of US$165. Polaroids next?

Redefining the meaning of all-in-one

In an ideal world, there should be a wonder box that does everything under the sun. Perhaps something like Doraemon; a Japanese anime robot cat and his magical pocket with its endless supply of gadgets and tools. Well, we may be light years away from such amazing technology, but SE2 Labs has this uber-cool super entertainment machine that looks like a mini computer server.

Dubbed ITC One, it packs an Xbox 360, HD personal video recorder, surround sound processor, digital audio amplifier, 4.3-inch touchscreen, iPod dock and remote control system all in a single box. Pricing-wise, you will need to fork out a good US$24,995 that will probably entitle you to a top-notch home theater system. But hey, if you want something retro and compact, this is definitely the one.

Via Chip Chick | Photo credit: SE2 Labs

Editors' note: Here is a quick update on what's inside one of these US$25,000 boxes, according to SE2 Labs' latest press release. DirecTV HD DVR, Dish Network DVR or national cable providers’ DVR, AMX NetLinx control system, Bryston pre-amplifier/processor, IcePower digital amplifiers, Vidikron video processor, Apple Video iPod dock, proprietary remote control, Microsoft Xbox 360, Blu-ray drive, media center, Nintendo Wii, Transparent Cable power conditioning, Transparent cabling and cable harness, and an anti-noise/vibration system. Where's the kitchen sink, man?

N-Gage to make use of your phone's camera and GPS capabilities

Nokia may be announcing new gaming titles left and right, but I think one of the burning questions, besides the official launch date of the platform, is the roadmap and future of N-Gage.

It appears that NokNok had an exclusive with Will Shen, where the head of Production for N-Gage in North America revealed that the Finnish company intends to develop games which will make use of the imaging and GPS capabilities on a handset. According to the blog site, Shen also said that Nokia is seriously looking at location-based gaming and stressed that the concept is not a gimmick, but one which focuses on innovation.

I'm not sure about you, but I'm a big fan of Team 17's Worms World Party. If Nokia delivers what this guy just said, I can imagine my Super Sheep and Homing Missile achieve pinpoint deadly strikes anywhere in the world. Sweet.

Via NokNok

bPhone gives BlackBerry the iPhone feel

Want an iPhone, but have a BlackBerry? You ought to look at bPhone for BlackBerry, a theme whipped up by 25-year-old computer programmer Matthew Rogers one afternoon last September.

You'll most appreciate the iPhone-like essence of one of Rogers' three theme layouts in the start screen, though the theme does also extend into the style of the context menu. "Icon" is the most typical theme, and the one that Rogers most prefers. "Zen" drops icons into a side bar, and "Today" makes a day planner of the home screen. You can install any or all of the themes, and activate them from BlackBerry's Advanced Options menu.

bPhone's default aquatic background (you can change the wallpaper) is overlain with rounded-corner box icons reminiscent of the iPhone. Rogers confided he built all the icons from scratch, though he borrowed from iPhone's looks, and had to compromise some style (a partially transparent BlackBerry menu) with functionality (it crashed Google Maps) while implementing the Plazmic Content Developer's Kit.

Third-party apps don't have icons, so if you're not into a dual-themed display, bPhone may not be for you.

bPhone is free, as are Rogers' other themes, though he'll gladly accept US$1, US$2, US$5, and US$10 donations.

Via Crave CNET

i-Buddy brings IM emoticons to life

It should have been obvious that the "Nabaztag" was having some emotional problems when it turned to graffiti, let alone self-defacement. The Wi-Fi rabbit had apparently grown quickly from its innocent beginnings into precocious adolescence, perhaps accelerated by instant fame.

Yet it's not too late to set it straight: All it needs is some positive companionship to avoid following Britney to UCLA Med Center. And that's where i-Buddy comes in.

It would seem to be a perfect match for the troubled bunny, recognizing specific acquaintances when they sign onto MSN Messenger and then reacting to certain emoticons accordingly--shaking, twisting, changing colors, and flapping wings, according to Chip Chick. It wouldn't, however, be a good sign if its face turns red during an encounter with the 'Tag. But fear not, the i-Buddy won't pose much of a threat because, at just 3 inches tall, it's only about a third of the rabbit's height.

Via Crave CNET

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