Hi-tech Frontier

Beatles Rockband Pre-Order only $212.49 Beatles fans can pre-order (release date is September 9, 2009) their XBox 360 Rockband Limited Edition Premium Bundle for 15% off the standard price of $249.99 making the net cost $212. Included in your kit is “The Beatles: Rock Band” software for Xbox 360, Höfner bass controller, The Beatles branded Rock Band drums, microphone, microphone stand, and special content. Coupon expires 7/31.

Black & White Clock It seems like everyone and their brother has designed a clock of some sort. I can’t go more than a couple of days without seeing a new one popping up somewhere, so I usually try to limit my coverage to the cool and unusual. The Black & White Clock is definitely both. The clock consists of four separate OLED digits, which are individually powered and controlled. You then attach them to a wall, and they will display the time. They include a light sensor, so that the normally black digits can light up when the room is dark. It really looks like a cool concept, and the designer is currently looking for a manufacturer, so hopefully we’ll see this one on the market someday.

iPiano : Concept Electronic Piano by Heyki Lee When you are playing a conventional piano, most often you are annoyed of thick score book that requires to turn the pages, resulting interrupt of your good mood. iPiano is a concept piano design with the ability of displaying and storing electronic score. The integrated touchscreen display will allow you to turn electronic pages with simple touch on the screen. The built-in software in the piano helps users to guide their piano practice by reading the scores. Moreover, it supports video display, which will help you learning by exercising some video tutorials. Also, you can compose music with the help of the picture show function.

iCar Futuristic Eco-Friendly Concept Car In The Year 2027 The concept iCar project is designed for urban use, exploring the possible future transportations in the year 2027. This futuristic car is actually designed for more environmentally conscious drivers that offer an uncommon approach of creativity and transport design. The architecture of this car is totally fresh and comprises complete carbon fiber composites, surrounding sensor scan, data driving environmental display or DED and aluminum chassis. The most noticeable thing of this car is the combination of different color lights to serve individual purposes. The headlights are located a bit lower than the conventional ones and the parking lights as well as the break lights are placed vertically. The entry and exit arrangements have been designed by popping up the roof.

BenQ S6 MID back for vengeance... XP-style The BenQ S6 MID didn't exactly light the world on fire when it was launched back in 2008, and although we assumed it had faded into irrelevance along with the rest of the category, it looks like the company's bringing it back -- preloaded with Windows XP instead of Linux. It actually makes a certain insane kind of sense, since the S6 is built on an Atom processor, but we're just not sure anyone wants to pay $424 for XP on a 4.8-inch screen with an 800MHz processor -- especially since you'll have to fly to Taiwan to pick one up. On the other hand, can you really put a price on "100% Web Experience?"

Fujifilm's FinePix Real 3D camera to launch in September, cost around $600 It's been a while since we've heard anything about Fujifilm's FinePix Real 3D camera, but as the twin-lensed shooter nears that scheduled September release some more details are spilling out -- including the price, which will be "around $600" at launch. Yeah, it's steep, and that's not all: to properly view the images you'll need to either shell out for special prints with a plastic lenticular lens on it or buy a special stereoscopic LCD photo frame, and none of that really screams "cheap." Honestly, our instinct would be to spend all that scratch on a good DSLR or even something like the Olympus E-P1, but there's always a chance Fujifilm's about to reveal the public's deep-rooted desire for 3D snapshots. We'll see -- anyone dying for one of these?

Lenovo IdeaPad S12 not-a-netbook sized up The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 just started shipping last week, and it looks like units have begun to arrive -- the folks at GottaBeMobile just posted up some quick impressions of their review unit. Sadly, it's sporting Intel GMA 950 graphics instead of the NVIDIA Ion chipset that's available for $50 extra, so it runs pretty much like every other 1.6GHz Atom machine with 1GB of RAM in the world. Hopefully those Ion units will arrive soon -- in the meantime, hit the read link to see how the S12 stacks up against the S10. (Hint: it's way bigger.)

Sony's 32GB Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo HX proves that product naming is hard What's not to love here? Just look at that handsome blister pack, ready to mince flesh in your enthusiasm to get at Sony's largest and most convolutedly named Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX. The 32GB stick is rated at 20MBps reads or 15MBps writes when using the bundled USB adapter. Imagine, had you purchased pretty much any device other than that Cyber-shot, Handycam, or Alpha shooter from Sony you could have been enjoying 30MBps read/writes from 32GB SDHC class 10 cards. Nope, no availability date or pricing announced, how could that information possibly be useful in a press release?

Hitachi intros two new portable HDDs, SimpleNET NAS adapter If you'll recall, Hitachi GST snapped up Fabrik in February, and with that acquisition came the latter company's highly-regarded SimpleTech line. Today, Hitachi is introducing its first consumer products since the pickup, and while you'll notice a hint of 'Simple' in the titles, the branding is all Hitachi. First up is the water-resistant and shock-proof SimpleTOUGH portable USB drive (250/320/500GB for $99.99/$119.99/$149.99), which can survive a 3-meter fall and boasts a twistable USB cable that's permanently affixed to the enclosure. Next, there's the SimpleDRIVE Mini, which is a stylish, colorful portable HDD that is now shipping in red wine (250GB; $89.99), blue dusk (320GB; $109.99) and carbon fiber black (500GB; $139.99). Finally, there's Hitachi's alternative to the Pogoplug: the SimpleNET USB/NAS adapter. Put simply, this $79 device enables up to two USB HDDs to be placed on a netwo...

HORI's revamped TwinStick EX: fit for Virtual On addicts only We'll admit, that cheap-o Virtual On mod we peeked earlier this year was pretty stellar, but those obsessed with the anime-themed title are likely tired of using a hacked up Xbox 360 gamepad in order to advance from stage to stage. If you've found yourself in that increasingly narrow niche, HORI has a fine piece you should feast your eyes upon. The refreshed TwinStick EX was designed specifically for Microsoft's latest console and to be used specially with Virtual On. The result? A ¥30,000 ($325) joystick that you'll probably never quite justify the purchase of to your significant other. Get your pre-orders in early; we get the feeling these are bound to sell out.

Bandai RilakKuma netbook suffers from serious supercuteitis The RilakKuma is what's known in the business as a money-printing device. It might have the same spec -- Atom N270, 1GB memory and 160GB storage -- as every netbook since the time of Moses, but its killer feature is a set of eyes and whiskers painted on the lid. Having once already cashed in on popular children's characters, Bandai is clearly not shy about exploiting its intellectual assets in peddling outdated 8.9-inch 1024x600 displays to the undemanding youth. Only 500 units will be produced, making this a pretty exclusive item and the price is unsurprisingly steep: ¥79,800 ($862). Integrated WiFi and a 1Seg tuner go some way toward rationalizing the cost, but let's be frank, rationality doesn't play a huge role in a purchase like this.

Nokia 7020 garners FCC approval Here's one we know you've been waiting for with bated breath: the lowly Nokia 7020 clamshell has earned its FCC wings on its way to a Q4 release. The phone was always designed as a quadband EDGE device, so it's not clear whether the FCC filing is indicative of an intention on Nokia's part to actually offer the phone in the States -- there isn't any carrier branding and there aren't any carrier-customized buttons on the keypad, so this might just be a formality. Then again, it could make a respectable backup phone or a cheapo to take overseas if they do decide to offer it direct or through the flagship stores -- who doesn't like concealed displays and 2 megapixel cameras, after all?

Sprint's crazy "Inferno" BlackBerry Curve 8330 now available We know you. You're the type of self-styled individual that likes to play by your own rules. You effortlessly mix work and play, transitioning from power lunches, to 2PM meetings, to 5PM happy hours, and you never change phones. You want your BlackBerry to make a statement -- a bold statement. For you, Sprint and RIM proudly present a new color of the Curve 8330, "Inferno" -- and as the name implies, it blinds the retinas. It's available for $49.99 on after discounts on contract, the same you'll pay for the far less statement-making titanium and red variations. You do want to make a statement, don't you?

LG's next-gen Chocolate BL40 teased on video, looks good enough to eat We can't verify the authenticity of the video, but it seems a little far-fetched to believe that even LG diehards out there would've been able to toil away making a very legit-looking promo piece for the company's recently-teased new Chocolate in such a short period of time -- so we're tentatively going to say we think we're looking at the real thing here. That said, what we've got is nothing short of drool-worthy: the rumored 21:9 800 x 345 display appears real (which is said in the video to be 4 inches diagonal), plus there's a gorgeous Flash-based 3D UI, multitouch, AGPS, WiFi, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, and a glass screen surface that's said to be scratch-proof, all packed into an impossibly thin case. Yes, we know everyone's been trying to sound the dumbphone death knell for years now -- but frankly, you'd have to have a grossly miscalibrated monitor to not have a special place i...

LG GB130 Coming off that epic BL40 tease, it's hard to take something from the same company that looks like this very seriously -- but hey, you've got to cover every market segment to be a global top-five manufacturer, and that's exactly how LG rolls. The GB130 is an ultra-simple slider destined for the Russian market, featuring a 2-inch screen at 160 x 120 resolution, an integrated FM radio (conveniently accessed via a dedicated button), and 6.5 claimed hours of talk time. Look for it on your next trip to Moscow for 2,990 rubles (about $91).

Nokia's Surge official on AT&T, ships July 19 for $79.99 We've known about Nokia's so-called Surge for months now, but at long last, AT&T has done its duty by making things official and giving us a price and release date to consider. The Symbian S60-based smartphone is aimed squarely at social media freaks, boasting a full QWERTY keyboard, a browser with Flash support (imagine that, right?), a pre-installed JuiceCaster app for easily updating your Facebook / Twitter status and a price tag that's sure to turn heads. For just $79.99 after rebate, you'll also get a 2 megapixel camera, AT&T Navigator, AT&T Video Share and the pleasure of handing over at least $30 per month for a required data plan. If you're sold already, you can get yours on July 19th.