Ok, ok…so you can’t go to Newegg and buy it just yet. But GE announced just today that they’ve made some huge steps forward in the whole process, and now just have to figure out how to make their lab success work in affordable mass-produced products. Talk about the the ultimate in space saving! I more »

The model that I tested was the Cobra XRS 9960G Digital Radar and Laser Detector with the GPS Locator, it is currently available and retails for $389.95. The unit also comes with a lifetime subscription to the AURA Database which allows you stay up to date with the latest information including the locations of speed traps, speed cameras, red light cameras and dangerous intersections. The setup does take a few minutes, it is not hard by any means, but due to the GPS Locator it does require a little more effort than just sticking it on your windshield and plugging it in. Of course, you could simply use the radar detector by itself, but the GPS Locator is what really makes this unit special. Without getting super technical, I will say that using the XRS 9960G was a pleasure.

Even little suburban towns cannot escape the march of technology as this past weekend saw the introduction of Scan It: a self scan/self check system of getting your groceries. High tech groceries? Yes, and the benefits are for both store and for us shoppers.

Hello Moto?

In their free time, when not designing $2000 cell phones, the team at Motorola is coming up with handheld scanners, like the one imaged above. Upon checking in at the scanner kiosk/recharging station, a simple scan of my store loyalty card releases a scanner to shoppers. The scanners feature a barcode scanner and a color screen complete with sounds. . . .

Yesterday I talked about the keyboard and how it is rooted in the history of computers, but this week is also important for another input device: the mouse. The 40th birthday of the mouse also coincided with history being made, as Logitech announced that they had shipped a billion mouses (or mice) since they started production. But how did it start, why is it so good and what is the future of the mouse? Read on.

Anybody who is fed up with new formats of media and still has only vinyl switch off your monitor now. Boosted by their success in the High Definition DVD war with Blu-ray they have decided to expand the Blu franchise with Blu-spec CD.

Details are sketchy regarding the actual advantages due to a poorly translated Japanese press release, but what we do know is that it aims to overthrow the CD. Unsurprisingly, they are burned using the Blu Laser Diode (hence the Blu) and even more unsurprisingly they will cost around the $20-$35 mark. Obviously, we don’t know what you are paying for but the general consensus is that it will be significantly better sound quality.

There’s a strange twist to the Blu-spec CD — find out after the break.

Just imagine watching Monday Night Football with the players looking like they are running right at you. Talk about experiencing the excitement of the game without actually being there. Or fighting the bad guys in your favorite video game (and you thought the Wii made the fighting seem realistic).

Scientists have finally broken the barrier that had prevented this type of technology by creating the first updatable three-dimensional displays with memory. Dr Nasser Peyghambarian, chair of photonics and lasers at the University’s of Arizona’s Optical Sciences department, said, “This is a prerequisite for any type of moving holographic technology.” Although there is still work to be done, scientists are still very optimistic they are getting much closer to this becoming a reality in the next five to ten years.

Find out much more about holographic TV after the break!

Contrary to popular belief, the first laser wasn’t really reverse-engineered from Megatron of the Transformers. It was actually created by a guy named Theodore Maiman by shining a high-power flash lamp on a ruby rod with silver-coated surfaces. And if he hadn’t made the first laser work on May 16, 1960 at the Hughes Research more »

Boy, it seems like when Microsoft finds something they’re good at, they milk it dry, doesn’t it? Well, this is definitely holding true for their line of Laser mice, as today, they have added the Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 and 7000 to their already expansive line. The 6000 is the more mobile-centric of the two more »

I recently had the opportunity to play with not one but two very cool lasers, getting some hands on with an Elite Series laser from Wicked Lasers and a Viper Series laser from Dragon Lasers.

Product: Wicked LasersModel: Elite SeriesPrice: $499.99 through $699.99

Product: Dragon LaserModel: Viper SeriesPrice: $99.99 through $399.99

The Viper series and Elite series are the two models that I had to review play with, however both companies offer lasers starting at at $100 or less.

Aside from playing around and amazing my friends with just how far they will shine, lasers can be very useful. They can be used by astronomers to point out stars, builders or contractors, doctors, spooks and spies, someone lost in a remote location and even to ward off your enemy or an intruder. After all if it was dark and I broke into a house to have a laser hit me in the chest, its safe to say I would turn around and run the way I came.