A cool new blue Zune was spotted at Fry's today, complete with some new features. The first, “Device to Cloud,” allows users to access wireless hotspots to update music collections, browse Zune Marketplace, refresh Channels (another feature), exchange favorites, and buy tagged FM songs. "Channels" are custom stations that deliver "personalized playlists" to the Zune, and the cleverly named "Games" feature is, well, about games. Rumor is a few might even come preloaded on this blue Zune. Lastly, the "Buy From FM" feature lets you listen to FM radio stations and tag the songs purchase when you sync with a PC. Full specs and other details down below.

Key Features & Benefits

Buy from FM
o Listen to your favorite FM radio stations and click to tag the songs you like for later purchase when you sync your device with your PC1.
Zune Pass
o Download millions of tracks, whole albums or playlists with Zune® Pass subscription service. Explore new music or rediscover old favorites—then sync them all
to your Zune Extend your subscription online or by purchasing a Zune Pass card.4 Wireless Sync
o Connect to your home wireless network and remotely sync your Zune® device with your PC collection from your dock, AC adapter, or speaker dock accessory. 2
Device to Cloud
o Access thousands of wireless hotspots around the country to automatically update your collection, browse Zune Marketplace, refresh Channels, exchange favorites with friends, or buy songs you've tagged from your FM radio.
Wireless Sharing
o Send your favorite songs, albums, playlists, pictures and even audio podcasts freely between any Zune® devices. 3
Channels
o Zune® Channels are custom programming stations that deliver personalized playlists to your Zune® from a variety of sources you select, such as music experts, celebrities, or top radio stations.
Games
o Games rock on your Zune®. Zune® Players now come with a selection of fun free games to choose from. Play the popular poker game Texas Hold'em or challenge yourself to a game of Hexic, and make sure you play your favorite song from your collection to create your own personal game soundtrack.
Video/TV Shows
o Choose from a growing selection of TV shows now available on the Zune® Marketplace video store. Recorded TV shows or movies from Windows Media Center in Windows Vista can be imported and synced to your Zune.5

Requirements

Specifications section
o Capacity:8GB
o Digital Storage Media: Hard disk drive - built-in
o Sound Output Mode:Stereo
o Supported Digital Photo Standards:JPEG,Audio & Video Playback
o Supported Digital Audio Standards: WMA, AAC, MP3
o Playback Modes: Random play / shuffle
o Supported Digital Video Standards:MPEG-4, WMV, H.264
o Display Built-in Display:LCD-color
o Diagonal Size: X"
o Resolution: 320 x 240
o Battery:rechargeable-Lithium ion
o Headphones:binaural-Earbuds
o Included Accessories: 3 earpiece covers, sync cable
o Connections Type:1 x docking station | 1 x USB | 1 x headphones

[Fry's via Zunerama]

l0rdnic0, an administrator over at Acid Mods, has video of the unholy union of an Xbox 360 QWERTY with a PSP Slim. While the mod works just fine, as you can see in the video, we worry about the fanboys. Seeing something like this in action must be kind of like how Brendan Fraser's character felt we he woke up for the first time in Encino Man. It doesn't make sense. It can't make sense. Because then everything you've based you life on—every waking moment—was a lie.

Here's some of the tech specs about the mod, courtesy of l0rdnic0 himself:

My PSP’s are running CFW 4.01 M33-2, a special version of piKey and a custom flash on the Chatpad. Text input is a breeze and it works with the Sony OSK (on screen keyboard) and the Danzeff OSK under AFKIM. It does not work with PSPWrite and other ZX-81 applications because they are not compiled to do so but Jean is working on a compatible drive to make them work natively.

Is there any doubt that the PSP is a hacker's dream these days? [AcidMods]

There may be a virus aboard, and the crappers were once waste distributors instead of collectors, but the one criticism we can no longer level at the International Space Station is a lack of wireless. That's because it has it now! Let astrophysics tests no longer be confined to the lab—astronauts can now complete them, blogger-style, from the comforts of their bunk.

Further details from NASA Watch:

"After transitioning the JSL (Joint Station LAN) network to the new Netgear wireless APs (Access Points, WAPs) which provide the ISS with WiFi (wireless+Ethernet) connectivity, Gregory today repeated functionality tests, abandoned earlier this week, in three Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module) locations from the wireless SSC -11 laptop, and later also in the COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory). Afterwards switching to "Proxim" APs, the new WiFi "Dolphin" BCRs (Barcode Readers) were also tested."

Other random, cool ISS news (at least for this fan of the game): NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff is currently playing six simultaneous games of chess with the six ground control locations that monitor the ISS.

Even cooler? Magnets are a forbidden item for trips to the station, so Chamitoff made his custom lightweight set out of Velcro. [NASA Watch via Slashdot]

There may be a virus aboard, and the crappers were once waste distributors instead of collectors, but the one criticism we can no longer level at the International Space Station is a lack of wireless. That's because it has it now! Let astrophysics tests no longer be confined to the lab—astronauts can now complete them, blogger-style, from the comforts of their bunk.

Further details from NASA Watch:

"After transitioning the JSL (Joint Station LAN) network to the new Netgear wireless APs (Access Points, WAPs) which provide the ISS with WiFi (wireless+Ethernet) connectivity, Gregory today repeated functionality tests, abandoned earlier this week, in three Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module) locations from the wireless SSC -11 laptop, and later also in the COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory). Afterwards switching to "Proxim" APs, the new WiFi "Dolphin" BCRs (Barcode Readers) were also tested."

Other random, cool ISS news (at least for this fan of the game): NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff is currently playing six simultaneous games of chess with the six ground control locations that monitor the ISS.

Even cooler? Magnets are a forbidden item for trips to the station, so Chamitoff made his custom lightweight set out of Velcro. [NASA Watch via Slashdot]

There you have it folks. The real inspiration for Apple's game-changing iPod, courtesy of the world's unluckiest Briton, Kane Kramer, 52 (not including the fifth Beatle). You see, in the dark technological days of 1979, Kramer saw a beacon of light in his IXI. Capable of playing a mind-busting 3.5 minutes of music, the IXI prototype was Kramer's ticket out of obscurity. Sadly, when he couldn't raise enough venture funding to renew the IXI patent in 1988, the device became the Zune of its time, and was largely forgotten. Fast forward to the present, when Apple, fresh from making year-over-year record profits with the iPod, needed Kramer something fierce to bail them out of a lawsuit jam with Burst.com.

Apple called Kramer so he could serve as a consultant for the trial, and so his patents and drawings could be used to settle the suit out of court.

"I was up a ladder painting when I got the call from a lady with an American accent from Apple saying she was the head of legal affairs and that they wanted to acknowledge the work that I had done," Kramer told Daily Mail. "I must admit that at first I thought it was a wind-up by friends. But we spoke for some time, with me still up this ladder slightly bewildered by it all, and she said Apple would like me to come to California to talk to them. Then I had to make a deposition in front of a court stenographer and videographer at a lawyers’ office. The questioning by the Burst legal counsel there was tough, ten hours of it. But I was happy to do it."

And now he'd be even happier collecting some of that multi-billion dollar iPod business, but so far all he received was compensation for his time at the trial. The struggling furniture salesman, fresh from another failed business, is now negotiating additional compensation, but says he was happy to help whatever the outcome. Well, as long as it isn't more iPods...

"I can’t even bring myself to buy an iPod for myself," he said. "Apple did give me one but it broke down after eight months." Hmm. Apple products seem to be doing that a lot these days. [Daily Mail]

Thanks to tipster Alex, we've got some fresh hands-on pics of the new Microsoft Arc mouse, which we got a first look of back in July. The $60 mouse folds down to half its size for easy portability thanks to what the packaging calls a "strong metal hinge," and the glossy veneer, to quote Blam, is indeed "flip and drool" worthy.

According to Alex, the tiny USB dongle attaches to the underbelly of the Arc when not in use via a magnet, and there's a storage bag for travel purposes. The packaging quotes a 30-foot range, and jumping is non-existent, says our tipster. Thanks, Alex!

There's a lot of hypothesizing and App Store creating going on today because the supposedly simple act of cutting and pasting is absent from the iPhone. What's strange about all this is that Apple sorta had it figured out 15 years ago with the Newton. As the video shows, cutting and pasting with a touch screen or stylus on a Mac product, circa 1993, couldn't have been easier. Of course, back then it was with a stylus (not a finger); and then there's the fact that touching and dragging on an iPhone is reserved for the magnifier function... wait, maybe this isn't as easy as it appears. Back to the drawing board. [Boing Boing]

Like it or not, the NFL 2008/2009 season is in full effect today. What's a jock-hating geek to do? Well, how about compromise? That's what EA and ESPN are doing with their NFL Sunday Countdown coverage today, as the two mega brands have reached an agreement that puts the Madden franchise front and center on any given Sunday. Called the EA Sports Virtual Playbook, it will combine ESPN talking heads with virtual players (see pic). What would have happened if Tom Brady threw a quick out to Wes Welker, instead of that incomplete to Randy Moss? Now ESPN can show you, thanks to the software and a special digital camera. Of course, if you're like me and hate Madden (preferring instead the blocky goodness of yesteryear's Tecmo Super Bowl), you're still out of luck. [Gamespot]

That avalanche of TVs, fridges, iPod docks, and iPod dock fridges that some people like to call IFA 2008 but I call Satan's Hell on Earth, agonized to its end this week. About bloody time. To me, the star of this fair wasn't the Sony ZX1, the Samsung X360 or even Addy's bags, but one now-ancient gadget that saved my life not one, but two times at the show: my good old trusty iPhone.

It all started the first day, during the Sony press conference liveblog. Expecting Wi-Fi around the fair like last year, I opened my laptop and searched for networks to start posting the news as they were announced with text and images, like we usually do. Then it was the first time I realized this IFA was going to suck big time, starting right there: the T-Mobile Wi-Fi network, the one we usually connect to in the show, wasn't available at Sony's hall.

Fuck.

OK. No worries. There's another one, completely open, labeled Sony Event. "Great," I thought, "they are giving us Wi-Fi to work". I tried to connect. Nothing. There was no connection to the internet. Tried to connect again. Nada. Suddenly, the big screen in front of me lighted up:

Bloggers, you have Wi-Fi available. So feel free to blog the event live.

"No we don't, you son of Sir Howard!" Tried again and again and again. Restarted the computer. Some smelly frenchman next to me was getting amused by my desperation, giving me stupid advice about how to connect. I wanted to punch him. On the crotch. As the place was getting full and the event was about to start, I started to panic. I saw people trying to connect like me, also frustrated. It smelt pretty bad. And it wasn't the frenchman. I needed to start blogging in one minute. "OK, last try." No dice.

My only internet device was the iPhone, with its screen keyboard, the one that some people think is useless to actually type. The trick about the iPhone keyboard is that you don't have to try to be precise. Just try to hit the correct letters more or less, and let the prediction do all the work. However, even while I'm a good iPhone typer, doing updates over the slow GPRS, waiting for all our editing system to reload every time I saved, was going to be impossible.

Thankfully, Kit was in Lisbon awake and working. I fired up my AIM client and wrote to him "EMERGNCTT!" Shit. This spelled "d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r-!" Actually, it spelled "desastre!" because I had my spanish keyboard turned on. After I changed the keyboard to US English, I started to write at full speed on the iPhone, with Kit copying and pasting from his AIM screen to the post in Giz's editing system, saving instantly.

The whole process was only adding a couple of seconds of delay to the liveblog, so we were good. And the pictures? Straight from the iPhone camera and sent over email whenever I had a pause to take them. I would just start the camera, shot, send via email, get immediately out, and keep liveblogging via AIM while Mail was uploading the photo. Even the pictures were looking great because I was right next to the well-lit stage. No need for fancy stabilizers. I just held my breath and that was it. We did the same with the Philips press conference and, at the end, everything worked out perfectly.

I know that many other smartphones would have been able to do the same, but this time it was my good old iPhone, with the broken screen, and Jones on the background. The same iPhone that I hated and blamed for taking the worst pictures at the best rock concert ever saved my life at IFA 2008. I guess there's always a yin to every yang. [All IFA 2008 Coverage]

This just in case you didn't get the headline reference:

When we're talking office PC accessories today, there's boring, and then there's Dell boring. Regular boring gets you a quick trip to irrelevancy. Dell boring, on the other hand, gets your product onto the desktops of a million cubicle drones the world over. And that's probably where we'll see these pre-release products from Dell. The safe, non-threatening design reminded TechWareLabs of Logitech, which makes sense given the G3/G5 design cues, but we at Gizmodo practically fell asleep. The LED indicator is pretty, but unless you're a typist into some serious keystroke entry porn, we imagine you can easily hold off on buying these and just use them when they show up at work in a few months. [TechWareLabs]

Last we left Mitsubishi's LaserVue 1080p rear-projection monster, we had size and shape, but price was a mystery. The mystery was solved today, as BitStream discovered the massive HDTV will set you back $7,000 when it ships later this month. There's still no pricing info for the 73-inch LaserVue, which was also revealed in June. The 7k figure is comparable to what manufacturers are asking for similarly sized HDTVs in the space, but this one has frickin' laser beams. And unlike military lasers, these create a feast for your eyes, instead of your stomach. [BitStream via CrunchGear]

Another day, another golf cart size, three-wheeled solar-powered car with style ripped from the 1980's. At least with this one, the Solar Taxi, there's a record at stake, as Swiss "adventurer" Louis Palmer is taking the car on a trip across the planet without using a drop of gasoline. He'll be the first to do it, and we're hoping his example will inspire more alternative energy cars (hopefully a few have that elusive fourth wheel). The 35 MPH top speed is going to be a tough sell with us Yanks. Palmer, my man, haven't you heard? Women and men alike get hot and bothered by power and speed.

The Solar Taxi gets its juice from a $5,000 solar panel trailer provided by German company Q-Cells. Weather permitting, the trailer provides the Taxi with 60 miles of oompf. Longer runs are powered by a pair of $15,000 250-lb. recyclable batteries from Zebra Battery. They store energy from the sun and from whatever electrical socket Palmer can find at night (it's just like searching for a socket at a conference, but bigger, and people will still manage to trip awkwardly over the cord).

Altogether, Palmer said the rig gets about a 200 mile range between charges. As of this weekend, Palmer and his crew had traveled 27,000 miles across 28 countries, so that's a lot of stop and go driving—or is that charging?

The trip is scheduled to conclude in December, but Palmer won't be finished just yet. He's also in the middle of planning an 80-day solar powered race around the world for sometime in 2009. [ABC News]

Ars Technica is now backtracking from its initial prediction that iTunes 8 won't be a hit in Apple's Let's Rock September 9 event. Not only iTunes 8 will be available then, but they say Apple will also release the iPhone 2.1 update that in theory will fix its huge password security flaw. Jacqui hints that the 2.1 update will have new secret features that are absent from the beta. Repeat with me: COPY PASTE COPY PASTE COPY PASTE. And fix the bloody thing. [Ars Technica]

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.According to the company, the GeoEye-1 satellite is the highest resolution commercial satellite orbiting the planet right now. It reached orbit yesterday, but in reality, it's not an ordinary commercial satellite: it's fully controlled by the Department of Defense's U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. And two guys named Larry and Sergei.

Part of the US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency NextView program, the SUV-sized GeoEye-1 launched yesterday in a Delta II 7326 rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California—without exploding. Hours later, GeoEye's ground station in Norway confirmed that the rocket had delivered its payload right on target. The satellite was alive, fully armed and operational on its 423-mile orbit above the Earth.

Built by General Dynamics, the GeoEye-1 is equipped with a next-generation camera made by ITT. This camera can easily distinguish objects 16 inches long, with 11-bits per pixel color. In other words: this thing can see the color of your shorts. It will be up there, looking at your pants every single day, the time it takes for it to complete one orbit. And it will keep doing that for more than ten years, its expected life.

Of course, there's nothing new here until you notice the huge Google logo on the rocket, signaling the fact that Sergei and Larry own the exclusive rights to the GeoEye-1 images. Yes, no other company will be able to access this information, only Google. And they will be there, available for the public in Google Maps and Google Earth.

But don't fret, tin-foil hatters, because Google won't be able to access the highest resolution images because of US government regulations. Sure, the other guys will, but then again, their big bad satellites can see closer than this one. Still, you can rest safe that your underpants will be safe from public scrutiny. For now. Unless you do like me and keep flashing them around. [GeoEye, Wikipedia, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency via Cnet]

We've been kind of laser crazy here at Gizmodo lately, and with good reason: Deployable solid state lasers could be landing in military hands as early as 2009. We simply wish to be at the forefront of the pew pew revolution, with the hope that any burning sensation our writers feel in the near future is the result of an unforgettable night out, not a disgruntled weapons grade laser system operator. But that last little diatribe brings up a good point, specifically in regards to what, exactly, laser warfare is going to look like. Sci-fi tends to glamorize laser weapons (pew pew, you're dead), when in reality the experts say getting "shot" with will probably feel more like napalm (*sizzle sizzle*, protracted death).

Wired's Danger room notes that the U.S. Air Force has effectively shifted away from the instant death scenario as of late, and focuses instead on how long it will take to cook a human with a laser (allegedly, everything is still top secret).

[F]rom what we know, the Air Force considers laser effects on eyes and skin, for the most part. Skin damage is very much easier to achieve than penetration; simply raising skin temperature to (say) 80C/ 180 f to a depth of a couple of millimeters will cause serious blistering (second-third degree burns). If 40% of the body is burned in this way, then the target will be disabled and may die.

[...] So instead of "zap-and-you're-dead" in normal science fiction style, with a hundred kilowatt laser, it's more a matter of spraying the target all over to ensure they're done. The description of the ATL as a "long range blow torch" is probably quite accurate.

I suppose it's fitting that a new slogan for tomorrow's battlefields came from a Colonel: Original recipe, or extra crispy? [Danger Room]

Halloween fog machines? Been there, inhaled that. Bubble machines? Still pretty cool, soap in the eye or not. But what if humanity had created a machine that combined the venerable fog machine with bubbles? Interest piqued? Consider it done!

According to the Bubble Fogger's Amazon listing, this marvelous contraption creates fog solution-filled bubbles and casts them out into the Halloween kitsch-filled ether that is your home in October. When the bubbles pop, most likely in your eyes or on stain prone furniture, they become fog. The kit includes both the bubble and fog solution, and will set you back $40. As far as over-priced, short-lived Halloween crap goes, that's kind of a bargain. [Amazon via Random Good Stuff]

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Error or scam, Amazon has pulled the page with the 52-inch $38.45 Sharp Aquos, probably overwhelmed by the orders from crazy Giz readers dreaming about a glorious, gigantic HDTV in their living rooms and/or toilets. Reader Max called Amazon to check on his order and they told him there was something weird going on:

Just called Amazon and talked to a lady who seemed confused, as on her end the product was listed at well over $1,000. That's still a major price anomaly, though. She said she would try to contact myOfficeSource. It is now listed as "Currently Unavailable", no less than 5 minutes after I made the call. It's most likely been pulled as a precautionary measure.

Over 200,000 of you subscribe to this feed, and after 5 short years, Dilbert.com finally has an official feed for you: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DilbertDailyStrip

They've also blocked access to the comic images, so you should update this feed address if you want to keep reading! Thanks for all your support over the years - dwlt.

It looks like something went really wrong at the Lego factory because, when Jenny at The Bloggess opened her 30th Anniversary minifig celebration pack, she got a whole bunch of transvestite minifigs. "I think Eddie Izzard in drag is 10 times hotter than Brad Pitt covered in nougat, but this is just bizarre," Jenny says. And I agree. Seeing all those moustaches and cleavages up close is kind of disturbing:

And talking about minifigs, in case you missed it, Gizmodo and Lego are celebrating the Go Miniman Go Challenge video contest to mark the 30th anniversary of the Lego minifig. By sending your short video centered around Lego's most famous icon you will be able to win a lot of prizes, including two priceless Lego vintage sets. And if you are into photography, remember that Brothers Brick is running a photography contest too.

Talking about which, we got our second video entry two days ago. You can see a frame above. It is a hilarious 25-second short called titled Attack of the Second Amendment, which demonstrates that you can also do an amazing job in just a few seconds.

If you want to participate, check the contest rules here. [The Bloggess—Thanks Daisy]

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Right now, one of the stores at Amazon.com—myOfficeSource—is selling a 52-inch Sharp Aquos 1080P HDTV for $38.45 (thirty-eight dollars and forty-five cents). That's $2,261.54 off its list price. New, not refurbished. Obviously, something wrong—or fishy—must be happening because, right now, you can buy a bunch of products with this discount. Giz reader Cliff, who gave us the heads up, actually bought the 52-inch Aquos and got a confirmation email from Amazon in which they say his order will arrive in mid-september. Update: One reader noticed bad comments about this seller in Amazon's feedback page, so proceed with caution because this may be a scam.

They charged him exactly what the catalog says. Nevertheless, this must be a bug but, in any case and since they are not charging the original price, I guess it's worth trying.

The question is: if a mail order company is advertising and actually confirming the purchase at these prices, are they obligated to honor the advertised price and send the product? Somewhere in my mind, a couple of advertising law clauses I took while in college are saying "yes, they may have to do exactly that". But then again, I may have had a hangover back then and got the whole thing wrong.

Update: a reader has sent us a heads up about a customer review in Amazon.com that says that someone who bought the Texas Instruments calculator got his order switched in his account page for a CD. Cliff says that his Amazon account still lists the Sharp in his order. If this is the case, I don't really know how Amazon can keep such an allegedly shady store in their site. In any case, proceed with caution if you really want to try your luck.

[Amazon and Amazon]