Sony PS2 (SCPH-70000)
Juniper Foo | Sep 22, 2004
It's official. The PS2 has re-emerged, after an extreme makeover, looking babeliciously svelte at half its weight and a quarter its size. But unless you're a hardcore Sonyphile, the PS2 SCPH-70000 (which may be codenamed PStwo) suffers some fallout. Word is some software, including Final Fantasy XI, won't be compatible with the new unit. And gamers in Singapore won't be able to tap the new console's integrated network innards. Sony, in its rollout of the PS2 Online Network Gaming, seems to have missed out that little red dot on its world dominance map. Guess it's back to Xbox Live for those who want to game online.
Click here for: side profile | top profile | with controller
Price: US$149
Availability: Nov 3 in Japan, Nov 1 in North America and Europe
Device: Game console
Basic specs: 100Base-TX/10Base, DualShock2, 2 USB terminals, AV multi-out, Digital-out (optical), AV cable, AV adapter, 230 × 28 × 152mm, 900g
Emmy Grab Bag
Juniper Foo | Sep 21, 2004
Here's how to fill seats. Give away hampers groaning with sponsor gifts worth a cool US$30,000 each. If you caught last night's 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on Channel 5, here's a portion of what we know the celebs received as door gifts--for 3 hours of their time. A Zenith ultra-thin 15-inch flat-screen TV; a portable DVD player, Samsung MM-A700 wireless handset; limited-edition 14-carat gold-plated phone charms; a Calypso timepiece; choice of a five-night stay at a resort in any exclusive destination; and a FrancisFrancis! Expresso maker. As if Donald Trump (The Apprentice) needs such trinkets. But hey, we're volunteering to park our butts in those hot seats. Are you listening, Emmy accountants?
Price: US$30,000 worth
Availability: Only if you're on that invited list
Device: Grab bag of goodies
Basic specs: N.A.
Honda Fuel Cell Scooter
Juniper Foo | Sep 20, 2004
Remember the Honda FCX Fuel Cell Car? It now has a sidekick, a 125cc moped that looks like a snazzy Bat-scooter for boy wonder Robin. Beating rival Yamaha to the punch, Honda has created a prototype of the world's first working fuel cell for a two-wheeler, originally developed for cars. Available only in green (presumably to emphasize its environmentally friendly intentions), this scooter promises near-zero emissions. Good news for urban Asia, which is slowly choking on the photochemical fumes of its congested transportation system. Unfortunately, Honda has yet to decide when to start selling it or at what price to peg it.
Price: N.A.
Availability: Still being refined
Device: Scooter
Basic specs: 125cc scooter, Honda Fuel Stack technology
Sony CLIE PEG-VZ90
Juniper Foo | Sep 17, 2004
Sony may have committed Xenocide by withdrawing its CLIE from the rest of the world. But this has only added an unattainable allure to the PDA, which is still very much alive in Japan. Sony's latest eye candy, the PEG-VZ90, ups the X factor by sporting a slide-out console of multimedia controls, an OLED screen, and a CF card slot (surprise, surprise) alongside the usual Memory Stick bay. And given its multimedia pedigree, this device plays MPEG-4 video and holds tunes in both ATRAC3 and MP3 formats. If you're planning on being a smarty pants by ordering it direct from Japan, the VZ90 runs only Palm OS 5.2.1 Garnet, the Japanese edition. Hontouni zannen ne (too bad).
Click here for: slide-out console | side angle | docking cradle | press release
Price: US$860
Availability: Japan, September 24
Device: PDA
Basic specs: Palm OS Ver.5.2.1, 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM, Wi-Fi, Sony’s 123MHz ARM-based CPU, 3.8-inch OLED display with 1000:1 contrast ratio, up to 12 hours on MPEG-4 and MPEG-1 playback, and up to 42 hours on ATRAC3 or MP3 playback, 109 x 87 × 23mm, 270g
Camper's Dream Ice Cream Maker
Juniper Foo | Sep 16, 2004
Here's a sweet gear you could pack along in your next commune with nature on Pulau Ubin or St John's Island. With the Camper's Dream, you can have your cake, er, ice cream, and eat it. Outdoor gear store REI says you just add ice and rock salt in one end, and cream, sugar and ingredients in the other end of the blue plastic ball. Kick it around for 20 minutes. And voila, one pint of ice cream. There are just two itsy problems with this: Ice and lugging nearly 1kg of ingredients.
Price: US$24.95.
Availability: www.rei.com
Device: Cookware
Basic specs: 0.5kg, diameter of 8 inches, plastic material, recipes
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