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$12,950 Leica M9 limited edition silver chrome set

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Leica M9 limited edition silver chrome set | US$12,950.00 | www.leica.com
(image credit: LeicaRumors.com)

i found myself saying this: Leica is no stranger to churning out camera that’s beautiful and ridiculously expensive. here’s the latest to join the flock: the limited edition Leica M9 silver chrome body which features scratch-resistant sapphire glass, silver chrome body (of course!) wrapped in brown ostrich leather, matching custom ostrich brown leather camera strap and Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 silver chrome lens.

only 50 of this beauty are available and the kit is now available at the Leica Boutique in Palm Beach and Popflash. the price? a whopping $12,950. for this grand price, you will get two-year warranty and a copy of the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3. for which OS? we have no idea. seriously, is there any difference from a five figure camera to a three figure one? obviously, i am not within the demographic that would purchase this but i’d get my satisfaction by just looking at the pictures of it. you can do that too by checking out the images below.

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via BornRich

experimental Life Twitter automatically tweets your every move

(image credit: Damian Koh/CNET Asia)

we all know social network is here to stay and how it has changed the way we socialized and share information with our family and friends. oddly, we have the fetish to share our thoughts over social network by the means of Facebook and Twitter, for examples. what if you can share what you are doing without even logging in and tweet about it? that is what researchers Kan Taiwei and Teng Chinhung from the National Taiwan University and Yuan Ze University, respectively, have in mind.

the idea is to have variety of sensors embedded in your mug, pillow, light switches et cetera and these sensors, detects what you do and sends your action to your computer via XBee, a wireless communication device, which would in turn tweet the corresponding action on Twitter. then again, why would i want everyone to know my every movement? i have never thought of that. did you? imagine the whole world knows that you had just hit the sack or just off the lights. it feel kind of strange and i would certainly feel ‘exposed’. anyway, would anyone want to know such trivia matters to begin with? perhaps, if you happened to have a stalker – then he or she would be delighted to know your every move.

in anyway, that’s just an experimental idea being showcased at the recent computer graphics and animation conference Siggraph Asia in Seoul, South Korea. concepts are just dreams, which might not even come true. just imagine the logistic requires to embed those sensors, besides, they have got to be small enough and yet capable of sending signal over WiFi. letting everyone knows, even the most trivia matters, might expose ourselves to identity theft and encourage people to monitor your every move (aka stalking), thus knowing your habits and routine. i am not quite sure if i want that. do you?

below is a comic-relief on our take of the experimental Life Twitter topic… enjoy!

via CRAVE

Gresso gives the iPad African Blackwood and a 18K gold Apple logo

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(image credit: Gresso) iPad Gresso | US$tbc | www.gresso.com

millions of iPad are not the streets now, time to differentiate yours from the rest of the pack. Gresso, the maker of luxury mobile phone, announces the iPad Gresso, a designer modify iPad framed in the 200-year-old African Blackwood and topped up with a 18K gold Apple logo. how’s that for a luxurious iPad?

the dark nature of the African Blackwood with a subtle touch of 18K logo gives the iPad Gresso a luxurious, and yet classy feel as opposed to all-out diamond or gold item. it is said that the African Blackwood or Mpingo is the most valuable tree in the world, which hinted that this is not for common folks in terms of price.

iPad Gresso will go on sale on New Year’s eve, however there’s no words on the pricing.

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via Slash Gear

machine bottoms up your beer before you take your gulp

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(credit: screenshot by mike from YouTube video)

traditionally, we called out ‘bottoms up’ before downing the booze in our mug. now, bottoms up has a whole new meaning. it means filling up the beer from bottom up. this innovative dispenser from GrinOn Industries, dubbed the Bottoms Up Draft Beer Dispenser, is able to fill the plastic beer cups from bottom up.

it is not entirely clear how it works. what was known is that each plastic beer cup has a hole at its bottom, sealed with a flat circular magnet. when place on the machine, the machine pops the circular magnet up and fills the cup with beer, bottoms up style. apparently, in this way, it will result in less beer foam as compared to traditional beer tap dispenser.

booze lovers, rejoice! lets hope that this machine becomes a standard in clubs, pubs and parties. hooray! check out the video below. i was pretty amazed by the rate of dispensing. at that kind of rate, you probably have two consequences: more beer sold and more seriously drunk dudes.

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via DVICE

meet the world first earphones with four drivers

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(image credit: Westone) Westone 4 Earphones | US$449.00 | www.westone.com

product differentiation is not an easy task for earphones manufacturer. given the tiny size of earbuds, there’s really little real estate for added electronic circuitry to improve it’s performance. perhaps, that’s why physical appearance takes priority for manufacturers to differentiate their earbuds with the rest. but that was then. recently, Westone announces the Westone 4 which managed to pack in four drivers in these tiny earbuds.

Westone claimed that the Westone 4 is the “world’s first four driver balanced armature universal fit earphones” which is designed specifically for “serious audiophile and music enthusiast.” aside from the four balanced armature drivers, these buds also features a passive three-way crossover network and on the comfort department, it is treated with Westone’s True-Fit technology which offers superior ergonomics and comfort for wearer. being a world’s first and targeted at audiophile means it won’t come cheap. the Westone 4 will set you back at a tidy $449 and will starts shipping “early in the first quarter of 2011.”

via CRAVE

the art of destroying many Apples – not the fruit, though

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(image credit: Michael Tompert and Paul Fairchild)

Apple products are beautiful and functional, and it turns so even they were being thrashed unforgivably. surprise? when an iOS device was being shot at, blow-torched, sledge-hammered or ran over by train, it became a piece of art. it may sound ‘sadistic’ to Apple fans but this was exactly what artist Michael Tompert of San Francisco did. Continue reading “the art of destroying many Apples – not the fruit, though”

Samsung show-off its new ultra-slim Blu-ray player

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(image credit: Samsung) Samsung Blu-ray Player | US$tbc | www.samsung.com

Samsung has a well-known obsession for making their electronic devices slim, slimmer and even more slimmer with each releases. well, they have done it again and this time its all new Blu-ray player just went on a super diet, measuring just 23mm thick.

clad in metallic case, the player will feature the now-common integration with YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. it will also play 3D content and convert 2D content to 3D. no words on the pricing yet, until its official unveiling next month at the CES 2011. it’s slim, i am excited. it’s a blu-ray player, which i am not thrill, cos’ my PS3 already does the job.

via DVICE

2012? not to worry when you have The Ark floating dwelling

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(image credit: Remistudio)

the idea of self-sustaining, floating dwelling is nothing new but the Ark floating dwelling is conceptually impressive, at least on the design front. if the myth on 2012 is true, then this concept might just be able to keep us alive. designed to be self-sustaining, the shape of the Ark allows convenient installation of photovoltaic cells to take advantage of the solar energy and the is capable of drawing warm air, gathers them in seasonal heat accumulators to provide continuous energy supply to the building.

if this becomes a reality, i suspect that it will be reserved for the super rich. you know how it is. pay a tidy sum for those just-in-case situation. however it is, on one end we are trying to conserve our natural resources, protecting the Mother Earth and on the other end, we could prepare ourselves for the worst with such Ark. hmm, an Ark huh? what an appropriate name… i guess we earthlings just got ourselves covered pretty good.

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via Inhabitat

Carbon Fiber Toilet Seat is strong and light, and looks cool

Carbon Fiber Toilet Seat | US$279.00 | www.carbonfibergear.com

carbon fiber has a wide range of applications. being light and strong it is extensively used in race cars and most notably, in the concept Lamborghini Sesto Elemento. however, we are not going there today (the car department)… now you can add that little strength to your bathroom in the form of the Carbon Fiber Toilet Seat. believe it. for $279 you can seat on a lightweight and yet strong material, for whatever the reasons you need light and strong material underneath your butt…

this item would probably go into the category of “things-you-buy-when-you-already-have-everything-else”. perhaps, if you are in this category, the $279 price tag probably isn’t going to be a issue. oh, make sure you have a matching black toilet bowl to go with it. we figured that it will look pretty ridiculous on a white or pink item.

via DVICE

augmented-reality translator on your iPhone: Word Lens

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(image credit: Quest Visual)

whether you are traveling for business or leisure, the one thing that bugs us is probably language barrier. how nice it would be if you can understand what the next sign says in an instant. right now, we have translator app for iPhone but then that would means having to type what you wanted to translate which is already a stumbling block. it looks like there’s a solution to traveler’s woes: it is called the Word Lens.

developed by Quest Visual, Word Lens uses augmented-reality to translate the foreign words on a signboard into English in real-time, and vice versa. currently, Word Lens only translate words between English and Spanish but there are plans for other languages. for Word Lens to work, just fire up the app and point at the sign that you want to translate and there before your eyes are the sign in the language that you want. pretty amazing. really.

the app is free and is available on the iTunes store but you will need to purchase the languages at $5 each. aside from instant translation, the other advantage is once the app and the languages are downloaded and installed, there’s no need to connect to any network to get going with Word Lens.

i have this lasting negative impression of translator. partly due to the experience i had with the online translator which often give gibberish translation which, at the end of the day, had me deciphering what’s the translated text means. i am guessing Word Lens won’t be as perfect either but at least we get the a general idea on the translation. besides, how long a sentence on a signboard can have? less words, less mistakes.

Word Lens will work with iPhone 3GS/4 and iPhone Touch with camera. though, it will also require the device to be running at least iOS 4.0.

via Gizmag