So you’ve already dropped somewhere in the neighborhood of $6,000 on a Leica M8, but now you’ve got the itch to take it with you the next time you go diving. Now obviously the camera would barely survive a plunge in a shallow puddle, but if you’re willing to spend another ~$6,700 (£4,393.47) you’ll be able to take it to depths of up to 150 feet with the Epoque UHR-LM8 underwater housing, while still being able to use the majority of the camera’s functions.

The housing is made of aluminum keeping it lightweight yet durable, and the glass components are all uncoated to provide as minimal light interference for the camera’s optics while it’s sealed up inside. Now I’m sure the whole setup will result in some great shots, but if you’re seriously interested in underwater photography I think that $12,000+ investment could be better spent elsewhere.

[ Epoque UHR-LM8 for Leica Digital Camera M8 ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

If you’re still relying on the kit lens that came with your DSLR I’m not going to say this is the perfect first lens for you, but if you’ve got the cash, or a reasonably priced rental house nearby, I guarantee you’ll have an enjoyable afternoon playing with Nikon’s new AF-S Nikkor 200-400mm ƒ4G ED VR II telephoto zoom lens. By ‘new’ I of course mean the lens is the successor to Nikon’s AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED lens, but the inclusion of Nikon’s VR II image stabilization system now allows handheld shooting at up to “4 shutter speeds slower” with sharper results. In addition to a host of other improvements.

You also get a maximum aperture of ƒ4 across the board, the ability to manually focus on objects as close as 6.4 feet away and a new rounded 9-blade diaphragm which more naturally renders out-of-focus areas. And of course a price tag that’s just a nickel shy of $7,000.

[ Nikon AF-S Nikkor 200-400mm ƒ4G ED VR II ] VIA [ Wired Gadget Lab ]

If you’ve been trying to find a way to convey your feelings towards a gadget-loving significant other, but those feelings don’t necessarily equate to the cost of a brand new iPhone, this collection of iPhone app icon chocolates is a happy medium. The 20-piece box set includes 4 different flavors, and the artwork on each icon isn’t a wrapper, but is actually printed in edible ink directly onto the chocolates. Each box will set you back $46.44, but that’s without a contract so it’s quite literally a lot easier to swallow than buying the real thing.

[ iPhone App Chocolates ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Chris Scott Barr

How long has it been since you’ve purchased a floppy disk? I think I recall getting a 10-pack of them on clearance five or six years ago. The last thing I can recall using one for was to install a RAID driver which for some reason could only be installed via floppy. I’m guessing that most of you haven’t used such storage solutions in a very long time either. Needless to say, it will come as no surprise to hear that Sony has announced their discontinuation of the disks.

Starting March 2011, Sony will no longer manufacture floppy disks. Strangely enough, they stopped making the drives last year. If you’re feeling nostalgic, you still have almost an entire year to get your hands on these relics. Of course, I’m not sure why you’d want to remember one of the most unreliable storage mediums of the last 30 years. Farewell floppy disks, you will not be missed.

[ Sony ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

Brilliant! The only thing worse than a rainy day is having to carry around a wet umbrella when you get inside. I usually carry a plastic bag so I can stash it in my messenger bag, but that leaves you with a wet plastic bag to deal with as well. The problem appears to be a minor issue in Japan though, where you can find these clever umbrella bag dispensers.

The dispensers can accommodate tall or compact umbrellas, and when you get inside you simply collapse and insert your wet umbrella where it will be encased in a waterproof bag via a set of old-fashioned springs and levers. No electricity needed. And so you don’t have to deal with removing a soggy bag when it’s time to head back out into the deluge, the machines take care of that for you as well. Check out the following video to see one of them in action.

With a price tag of about $1,800 plus the cost of replacement bags it might not be an economical solution for every company, but the worry of someone getting hurt and litigious after slipping on a wet floor might just make it a worthy investment.

[ Japan Trends - Umbrella bagger dispenses, collects on rainy day ]

The Wii ‘homebrew’ scene has evolved over the years to the point where you don’t need a steady hand and a soldering iron to ‘enhance’ the console’s capabilities anymore. But while the WODE (Wii Optical Drive Emulator) Jukebox doesn’t require you to know how to solder, there is some assembly required, including opening up your Wii and swapping around some ribbon cables. The WODE Jukebox connects between the Wii and its internal DVD hardware, and ends up functioning like a virtual drive, allowing you to mount ISO files which the Wii will think are actual game discs. So while there are some hardware modifications needed, you aren’t doing anything to your Wii that can’t be reversed.

The WODE Jukebox features a USB port allowing you to connect flash drives or an external hard drive loaded with homebrew software, as well as an SD card slot providing the same functionality. But it can also operate in a ‘Flat WODE’ mode allowing you to load software burned to DVDs like with other modification chips. A monochrome LCD display and a tiny joystick on the front of the Jukebox allows you to choose what titles you’d like to load, though if the prospect of having to get up to change applications isn’t that appealing to you, a special version of the WODE firmware lets you use an on-screen menu with the Gamecube controller instead.

If you’re seriously interested in the device, and aren’t scared off at the prospect of cracking open your Wii, or the $95.46 price tag, GBAtemp has an extremely thorough review on the device, including installation procedures and compatibility tests.

[ WODE JukeBox Standard for Nintendo Wii ]

The MobiCam Digital appears to be an upgrade to Mobi Technologies’ MobiCam AV which, quite frankly, looks right at home somewhere in the mid 90’s. So besides a much needed facelift and a move away from an analog video signal, the MobiCam Digital allows you to remotely monitor up to 3 different cameras from a distance of up to 450 feet. The cordless monitor features a 2.4 inch LCD pivoting display and its rechargeable lithium-ion battery is good for a solid 8 hours.

The cameras feature a wide angle lens for capturing as much as the space they’re monitoring as possible, and a set of IR LEDs circling the lens provides visibility in complete darkness up to 30 feet away. The receiver/monitor also includes an AV hookup for connecting it to a TV, and an optional MobiCam Internet Kit will broadcast the live feeds online, allowing them to be monitored anywhere in the world you have a net connection. The MobiCan Digital ’starter kit’ includes the monitor and a single camera for $189.99, while additional cameras are $99.95 a piece. And if you opt for the internet kit you can add an additional $59.95 to your bill.

[ MobiCam Digital Wireless Monitoring System ] VIA [ Baby Chic 101 ]

From Shenzhen Feishu Technology comes yet another wireless keyboard + mouse combo designed to be used with HTPCs or any time you need to operate a PC without the benefit of a desk. You get a full QWERTY keyboard complete with directional keys and various multimedia-specific buttons, and instead of having to use a trackpad to control the on-screen cursor, the Fly Mouse has a built-in gyro essentially allowing you to use it like a Wiimote. A 2.4GHz RF signal provides a wireless range of up to about 32 feet, and you can order one from Taobao for about $50, english manual probably not included.

[ Fly Mouse ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

This post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net

As a PC gamer, I like  my machine running as efficiently as possible. This means that not only is my OS running as few unnecessary processes as possible, but my hardware is also staying nice and cool. You don’t need anything special to keep the software side of things running right, but having the right cooling system can make all of the difference in the world for your hardware.

The three things that are probably going to get the hottest in a machine are your CPU, GPU and hard drive. By using solid state drives I’ve all but eliminated the heat from the hard drive. Today we’ll be focusing on keeping the temperature down on your CPU.

When you’ve decided to upgrade your cooling system, you have a number of options. However, it boils down to two main choices: liquid or air. Traditional air cooling is generally the more cost-effective route, but isn’t necessarily the most effective. Also, the more you rely on air cooling, the louder your system generally gets.

Liquid cooling has gotten a bad name over the years, mostly due to the difficulty of the initial setup and high cost. With the large pumps, hoses to run and the possibility of destroying your system if installed incorrectly, most people shied away from it. These days companies such as CoolIT offer self-contained solutions that not only eliminate the hassle of installation, but aren’t to hard on your wallet. Today we’re going to look at one of their latest offerings, the ECO A.L.C.

First Look

The CoolIT ECO Advanced Liquid Cooling (A.L.C.) system is one of the smallest of its kind. It is composed of two main parts: the pump and the radiator. These are connected by a pair of hoses, which are already factory installed and sealed. This means you don’t have to worry at all about getting a secure connection or ever seeing the liquid contained inside. The radiator is attached to a 120mm case fan, and is to be mounted at the rear of your case. The pump is connected to the heatsink, and is surprisingly smaller than any air cooling solution I’ve seen.

Installation

This is the first area that the ECO A.L.C. really shines. The most difficult part of the entire installation is attaching the backplate to the back of your motherboard. In some cases this will require you to actually remove your motherboard to position it in place. However, many newer cases you’ll find a large hole in the general area of your CPU. This means that you’ll need only remove the side panel from the case, and put the backplate into place. There are three backplates to choose from, depending on the processor series in your computer.

Next, you’ll have to mount the radiator to the rear of your case. You will generally be replacing the existing rear 120mm fan. In the case I was using (Thermaltake Element V) I also had to remove the top fan to make room for the radiator.

Finally, you’ll configure the retention bracket on the pump. For Intel systems, you’ll simply slide the thumbscrews to the correct position (which is listed on the unit itself). There are separate retention brackets for AMD CPUs. This requires only two screws to change. All that’s left is to screw the pump into place and plug in the two power connectors.

The entire installation time for me was in the neighborhood of 15 minutes. Not too shabby for a liquid cooling unit. My only complaint here would be with the two power connectors. One goes from the fan attached to the radiator to the CPU fan port. The other is from the pump to any other available fan connector. These cables are a few inches shorter than I care for. While they did reach their respected ports, it was a stretch on both counts. In the case of the pump connector, it had to sit across the tops of my RAM, which is not somewhere I want any cables resting. I think adding an extra 2-3 inches to each would have made proper cable management possible.

Testing

Since this is one of CoolIT’s entry-level models, we are testing it against the stock cooling on an i7 system. The ECO A.L.C. is not aimed at the high-end overclockers, so during this review we have kept the CPU running at stock speeds. We may do an overclocking segment in the future to accommodate curious minds. Our test system is as follows:

CPU: Intel i7 920
Motherboard: Asus P6T
RAM: 12GB OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800 Platinum
GPU: MSI Radeon 4890 OC Edition
HDD: OCZ Summit 64GB SSD
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Chasis: Thermaltake Element V

As you can see, when sitting idle, there is already a nice 7-degree drop in CPU temperature, which isn’t too shabby. However, the true test of a cooler is how it performs under load.

The temperatures seen here are during a sustained CPU load of 100%. As you can see, the Eco A.L.C. manages to keep the CPU a full 16-degrees cooler than the stock fan-based cooler. Impressive? I’d say so.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for your first venture into the world of liquid cooling, I can recommend nothing better than the CoolIT ECO A.L.C. It’s a breeze to install and gets great results. Oh, did I mention it’s also one of the cheapest liquid cooling solutions around? The retail price is $75, though if you do some shopping around it can be found for a bit less.

[ CoolIT ] VIA [ GamerFront ]

The original Dingoo A320 Mini Game King was, for lack of a better description, a Game Boy Micro clone that was far more capable than Nintendo’s offering. While roughly the same size, it allowed you to play a variety of emulated ROMs as well as a pretty comprehensive list of multimedia formats, even on a larger display thanks to video-out capabilities. But details about the A320’s successor were recently posted on the GBAtemp forums, and in addition to a new design that makes it look more like a miniature PSP, the A330 includes a 2.4 GHz radio receiver allowing it to work with wireless game controllers.

The inclusion of wireless controller support makes a bit more sense given the A330 can be connected to an external display, but there’s nothing stopping you from using it while squinting at the handheld’s 2-3 inch, 320×240 LCD display. ROM support appears to include GBA, SNES, NES, Mega Drive, Neo Geo, CPS1, CPS2, Lynx, GBC and Sega Master System titles, while multimedia support includes RMVB, RM, AVI, WMV, FLV, MPEG, DAT, MP4, ASF as well as MP3, WMA and FLAC files on the audio side. There’s no word on pricing or availability just yet, but the A320 sold for about $80-85, so I suspect the A330 will be similarly priced.

[ GBAtemp - Dingoo A330 announcement & news ] VIA [ Tiny Cartridge ]