Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

If wildly gesticulating to your Pantera records didn’t seem “realistic” enough, toymaker Takara Tomy should be able to help. Like the bastard child of Guitar Hero and those keychains you bought as a kid that make explosion noises, this handheld device works by allowing you to press chord buttons on its fretboard and then strum your fingers across IR sensors in the neck. If you’re not sure of your soloing abilities, you can play along to preloaded tracks like Walk This Way or Smoke on the Water. Available on July 25th for around $27.

[Thanks, Veronica B.]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

In a move seemingly influenced in equal parts by Halo and David Lynch’s film Dune, Darpa has announced that it’s ponying up $15 million to develop one-way-invisible, self-healing, shoot-through shields for use in urban combat. While the Pentagon’s research division acknowledges that there are “significant technical obstacles” in the process, it’s fairly gung-ho about developing a technology combining metamaterials, ‘coded’ obscurant systems, and a bunch of other stuff no one really understands. Trust us, you’ll thank them if the Harkonens try and overthrow your spice-mining operation.

[Via Digg]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Displays, Wearables

Regardless of general consensus, it looks like 3D display technology is making a run for our wallets (and to a lesser extent, our hearts), and just days after getting wind of Philips’ latest iteration, NTT is hitting back with a newfangled approach of its own. Based around an improved version of the company’s original 3D display, this prototype system relies on a sophisticated array of cameras and an actuator-stuffed glove that can allow the wearer to “feel the image” that shows up on the LCD. As the object changes, the glove moves along in real-time to give the user a lifelike idea of what the on-screen matter actually feels like, but unfortunately, it doesn’t allow the individual to react. Thankfully, a two-way system that will enable tactile transmissions to be channeled in both directions is in the works, but those parked in Japan can check out the current system at the Industrial Virtual Reality Expo later next week.

[Via Slashgear image courtesy of Mainichi]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

The man so devoted to all things Zune that he got not one but two Zune tattoos looks to have finally drawn the attention of Microsoft itself, which has decided to fly its biggest fan out to Redmond and give him the star treatment. In a post on the Zune Scene message boards, “mszunefan” says that he’ll be making the trip on July 5th, during which he’ll do an interview for Microsoft’s Channel 10 and then meet his heroes: a no doubt slightly unnerved Zune team. We have to say we’re kinda glad that Microsoft stepped in when it did, there’s no telling where the next tattoo might have ended up.

[Via Zune Boards, thanks Mike]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

We’ve seen our fair share of flip-flopping in the past, and Microsoft is yet again adding its name to the frowned upon list by retracting previous intentions to allow Windows Vista Home and Home Premium operating systems to run under virtualization. After reportedly stating that it would “change the EULA after listening to customer feedback on the issue,” it appears that the suits in Redmond have thought better of said decision. Now, the firm has “reassessed the Windows virtualization policy and decided that maintaining the original policy announced last Fall” would be best. Ben Rudolph, Parallels director of corporate communications, noted that he was “obviously disappointed” in Microsoft’s change of heart, but if the two-faced Mac users out there can persuade Google to take their side, we’re sure this little spat could be cleared up in no time.

[Image courtesy of ElliottBack]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!