Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

The AP reports that China has flipped the switch on the first of 12 turbine generators on the right side of the ginormous Three Gorges Dam, with it apparently already pumping electricity to the national power grid after a 72-hour test run. The dam itself, as you’re no doubt aware, is the world’s biggest hydropower project evar, totaling up to some $22.5 billion. In addition to giving it something to brag about, China is hoping that the dam will let it cut its dependence on coal, as well as control flooding on the Yangtze river. This latest development follows the activation of 14 turbines on the left bank of the dam, which began operating in September of 2005.

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

Filed under: Portable Audio, Wireless

Eleksen‘s newest “Common Interface” technology doesn’t do you much good without modules to interact with it, so the company has introduced a bevy of accessories that play nice with the next-generation embeddable ElekTex sensor. Up first is an FM radio add-on, which offers consumers access to FM broadcasts either from a commercial radio station or FM transmitter, and is fully controlled by an ElekTex fabric sensor integrated into any garment or knapsack. Next up, we’ve got “updated electronics modules for iPod and iPod+Bluetooth devices,” and while details are certainly slimmer on this one, we do know that the sensor is “programmable and compatible with a range of electronics including iPods, smartphones and other personal digital devices.” Now, let’s see some end products with this stuff in it, capiche?

Read – Eleksen’s FM Radio module
Read – Eleksen’s iPod, Bluetooth modules

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

Filed under: Networking

Netgear’s looking to make powerline networking a tad more convenient with its new XEPS103 Powerline Network Extender, which will let you spread your network from any old router to any electrical outlet in your house. What’s more, if you also happen to have a compatible Netgear router, you can simply ditch your old power adapter and replace it with the extender. While it won’t give you a 200Mbps transfer rate, you’ll still get a decent 85Mbps, which you can put to use with any HomePlug 1.0 Powerline device. Those that just need the extender can get one now for $80, with a bundle including Netgear’s XE103 Wall-Plugged Ethernet Adapter set to follow later this summer for an unspecified price.

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

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Seeing how the original Q came to CDMA first, it’d only make sense that the updated version of the now-ubiquitous QWERTY smartphone — currently announced only in GSM / HSDPA form as the Q9h — would return to its roots. Morning Paper (the folks that brought us the Palm Gandolf) is reporting that the Motorola “Nelson” is getting prepped as we speak, offering up Windows Mobile 6, a 2 megapixel cam, miniSD expansion, Bluetooth, and EV-DO data in an “ultra thin” package. As you might recall, the Q9h originally got passed around as the “Norman,” so “Nelson” would be a totally appropriate name for a CDMA counterpart. Sprint’s getting passed around as a potential carrier for this one (seems logical enough to us) but we’ll have to wait this one out for a little more detail before calling it a done deal.

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

Filed under: Features

You read the keynote, now see all the live photography in far higher res than our in-column coverage. (We’ve also included a few shots that didn’t make it into the liveblog, too.) Or, you know, skip this post entirely — we won’t fault you if you’re on Apple overload today.

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