Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

After the robotic giraffe, a Mac running XP and this guy's second Zune tattoo, you probably thought there was nothing left to see, but then along comes a giant Tesla coil that creates a "resonant frequency" and plays the SMB music to a crowd of onlookers. No word on if it knows "Signs" or not. Check the video after the break.

[Via Make]Continue reading Musical Tesla coil plays Super Mario Brothers theme
 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Announcements
Ok, we'll level with you. It's our job to cover the gadgets and consumer electronics space the best we possibly can -- and that often includes covering gadgets that one crowd or another isn't particularly interested in. (See: iPod fans when we blew the door off the Zune launch; or Microsoft fans when we took over WWDC this year.)

So here's the straight dope: it's not like we're going to ignore the iPhone or anything, so for those of you told us you wanted to opt out of our iPhone or Apple coverage, we hear ya! We whipped up some slightly modified Engadget RSS feeds with Yahoo Pipes; we wouldn't suggest using these forever, but until we get our blog platform up to speed on exclusionary news it's a good enough temporary solution.

Opt out of Apple / iPhone news
Engadget classic without any iPhone news - RSS feed, Pipes page
Engadget classic without any Apple news - RSS feed, Pipes page

Engadget Mobile without any iP...

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

While the benefits of lasers that heat can't be shunned, a Petaluma-based startup has slightly different applications in mind for its ultrashort pulse lasers. Raydiance has purportedly developed a laser that "looks like an ordinary slide projector," yet can emit "burst of photons so intense that it can vaporize matter without creating heat." Its uses could span every area from removing tattoos (yes, even Zune ones) without burning the skin, killing cancer cells without affecting healthy ones, or handling any undercover task that the military may require. As it stands, FDA collaboration is said to be "in the early stages," but considering that the firm has already raised some $25 million and plans on doubling its staff to 60 folks in the not too distance future, commercialization may be but a blink away.

[Via Digg, image courtesy of BusinessWeek] 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 36...

I didn't get it before, and really don't get it now. Remember this guy who got a Zune tattoo, and a reward of 5 free songs and some Zune stickers from Microsoft? Here's his second tattoo. Guess he wants more stickers. Perhaps there's some subliminal programming in those new ads?
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Image of new tattoo from Engadget, image of the old Tattoo:


–Brian Lam
Zune Scene [Thanks Nate, image from Engadget]

Zunescene is proclaiming that the unannounced Flash Zune, code-named Draco, is set to come in a Nano-like 4GB & 8GB variety. That is all, thank you.– Ben Longo

"Draco" to Store 4GB or 8GB of Flash Memory [Zune Scene]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Here's the latest rumor on the flash Zune: once known by some as the Pyxis, it's now supposedly going by the codename of Draco (not to be confused with any Harry Potter or Dolph Lundgren characters), and is supposedly going to be released in 4 and 8GB capacities, and have the usual nigh-unusable WiFi and, thankfully, video playback (unlike l'nano). Zunescene also seems to think it'll be out later this year, and we say bring it on, Microsoft. We know at least one dude who you owe some killer 2nd gen hardware.

[Thanks, Nate and Aaron] 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

A tenacious Zune user has recently stumbled across some potentially eyebrow-raising information while dipping into the device's desktop software files. It seems that embedded in an innocent looking ZuneMarketPlace.dll file is some internal code that suggests a new content partnership with MTV, VH1, and CMT the Zune Marketplace. We know that Zune software has its roots in Windows Media Player, and Microsoft and MTV are pretty tight with their Urge integration in WMP11 -- but that doesn't necessarily mean this is holdover code. The found strings are very specific about mentioning "VH1 on Zune" and the like, so that's clearly cause for speculation. Too bad they didn't find anything about Lionsgate or some other movie studios though, this thing is way overdue for some video content. 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
...

Also, another crafty Zune lover was poking through the Zune software code and a couple of lines referring to MTV, VH1 and CMT. Does this mean that the Marketplace is going to be adding new content partners or is this just a relic from it's WMP11 past?
Plus, the video above: This guy cares so much about his Zune, that he cut up his Dodge Nitro just to get them to play nicely with one another. Seriously though, it's a pretty smooth integration, but we would have waited for the Zune 2.0 before taking the knife to our interior.
– Ben Longo

Custom Zune dock integrated into Dodge Nitro [Zunerama]
MTV, VH1, CMT... coming to Zune Marketplace? [Zunerama]

If you picked up one of the Halo Zune editions then you need to worry about this post, as this is the video of Red vs Blue that was distributed among all the Halo Zunes. If you ever wanted to know how to say “Welcome to the Social” in different languages, well then this video is [...]

Here was is a nice little summery of someone who had the chance to visit a Zune Ambassadors party: A party was going on a few doors down from my friend’s apartment complex in Minneapolis a few weeks ago. My friend said that she’d been invited to the party earlier in the day by the tenant [...]