This power strip that was sighted at a graduate show at the Kyoto University of Art and Design certainly looks detailed and eye catching. The only downside is that it doesn’t do anything special. It would have be a whole lot cooler, albeit a waste of electricity, if the power strip were to light up mini lights in the miniature city, but you can’t win ‘em all, right? Would you want a power strip like this in your living room, or do you think that it’s a complete waste of space?

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The folks at Asus seem to have finally got it, as the top management decided to stop manufacturing as well as shipping the recovery DVD which comes with each package of the Eee PC. Why, you ask? Just in case your memory eludes you, there is no optical drive with the Eee PC, so you will need to fork out more money to get an external DVD drive instead, and it would be interesting to do a simple survey and find out just how many Eee PC users actually own a DVD drive. Good call, Asus, better late than never and at least you will do your bit in saving the environment.

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Folks who have long been looking forward to the Plastic Logic QUE proReader that was supposed to come out sometime in the middle of next month will be disappointed since it has been delayed to an unspecified date in the summer. There were no exact reasons behind the delay, but apparently it was meant to “fine-tune the features and enhance the overall product experience.” How will this shape the battlefield of the e-reader market? Will the iPad’s head start (albeit it not being a dedicated e-reader) prove to be too monumental a task for the QUE to overtake later on?

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Want to make your living room look a whole lot better via a touch of geek? That can be done courtesy of Mexican industrial designer Gabriel Cañas with the Tetris Chair. Doesn’t look too comfortable, but since it comprises of various parts of the Tetris blocks, who are we to complain with a cool looking piece of colorful furniture located right smack in the middle of your living room?

Permalink: Tetris Chair does not look too comfy from Ubergizmo | RSS Sponsor: Win a Fellowes Microshred Paper Shredder!

Getting one’s driving license is more or less the first sense of freedom that a teen gets, knowing that he/she is now big enough to go anywhere they want, subject to the amount of gas left in the tank, of course. The traditional image of a first time driver in a boneshaker is always hilarious, but that doesn’t stop them from trying out crazy stunts they see in TV! The SafeDriver Wireless Vehicle Monitor is here to help, as it comes with a personal tamper-proof PIN which will record the vehicle’s highest speed, distanced traveled as well as instances of sudden braking. At $69.99 a pop, it won’t deter anyone from speeding there and then, but at least you can wield the rod or unleash a typhoon of scoldings once you check the driving record which is not as impeccable as you would like it to be.

Permalink: SafeDriver Wireless Vehicle Monitor from Ubergizmo | RSS Sponsor: Win a Fellowes Microshred Paper Shredder!

Picture: the Alcatel-Lucent Dashboard launched at MWC, picture with new features coming soon

[SXSW] Alcatel-Lucent today announced the packaged API (Application Programming Interfaces) bundles, and an associated revenue sharing model that eliminates upfront costs for developers and offers new revenue streams for service providers. Additionally, a new business and application modeling tool has been released; it allows developers to get the most out of their applications, according to the company. I am not a developer and I have not seen the bundles or the tool, if you are a developer attending SXSW, go to the “Eleven API Lounge” of the Hilton Hotel, (directly across from the Austin Convention Center): Alcatel-Lucent will demo its new offering, which is part of its developer platform and program. More info about the new product after the jump.

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[SXSW] Today, Nikon, in partnership with Yfrog, launched an image sharing website where bloggers armed with Nikon cameras will upload their photos and videos from around Austin during the SXSW conference. The Nikon/Yfrog site is live since noon CT, and you’ll be able to see pictures from Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan), Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver), Sarah Austin (@pop17), Brooklyn Vegan (@brooklynvegan) and the winner of the Nikon Film Festival, Marko Slavnic. SXSW attendees can participate as well, any images and videos uploaded through Twitter using the #SXSW, #SXSWpics or #SXSWpix hashtags will automatically be shared through the gallery. Additionally, the #SXSW Twitter feed is displayed on the side bar, making the Nikon/Yfrog site a great place to get the SXSW news.

Permalink: Nikon Photo Video Online Gallery At SXSW from Ubergizmo | RSS Sponsor: Win a Fellowes Microshred Paper Shredder!

Users who are planning to purchase Apple’s iPad with a 3G modem probably already know that AT&T is offering two data plan prices for the device, which are $14.99/month for 250MB or $29.99 for unlimited data. While it’s not too hard to walk into an AT&T store to request for the change in plan, it seems that Apple has gone one step further, and made things easy for everybody. You’ll be able to sign up, check your data usage, manage your account, and even cancel your service directly from the iPad. Since there is no contract binding you to a specific data plan, you’ll be able to switch between plans as and when you wish, which is certainly good news. Users who are on a 250MB/month plan will be sent 3 alerts (20%, 10% and 0% remaining), in order to let users know when additional data might be needed for the month. As an added benefit, AT&T’s 3G service plans for the iPad allows users to access over 20,000 of AT&T’s Wi-Fi hotspots, which just makes the deal seem sweeter.

Permalink: You'll Be Able To Purchase Your iPad Data Plan Directly From The iPad Itself from Ubergizmo | RSS Sponsor: Win a Fellowes Microshred Paper Shredder!

Considering the open source nature of Firefox, it’s always fairly easy to guess and check out the new features that Mozilla is working on. Now it seems that Mozilla is planning a rather useful account manager, which should be especially helpful to users who are logged into many sites at once. Initially, the support should include sites such as Facebook, Google and Yahoo!, not to mention 3 other Mozilla sites (Addons, Personas, and Bugzilla). With this in place, you’ll notice a key icon on your Firefox toolbar, and when you click on it, you’ll be able to check out the variety of sites that you’re currently logged into, and disconnect from any of them. Looks like you won’t have much of an excuse to post something weird on your partner’s Facebook account anymore.

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The HMK 561 Carbon Fiber Motorbike might seem like it’s from another planet, but seeing as there’s already a prototype in place, maybe humans did come up with it after all. The HMK 561 has special electrical properties that hold power right inside the frame. Since Carbon fiber is conductive, the designers are using it to distribute power instead of wires. The power will be used to power the lights and the motors between the rims. The bike also uses the energy to turn the wheels using a counter-turning axel in lieu of gears and chains, which hopefully means less maintenance as well.

Permalink: HMK 561 Carbon Fiber Electric Bike Concept from Ubergizmo | RSS Sponsor: Win a Fellowes Microshred Paper Shredder!