What could possibly convince you that strapping a 42-inch LCD TV to your body is a great idea? We don't know, but somewhere between concept and the $2,000 total expenditures -- with "no regrets," mind you -- Reko Rivera and John Savio, with the help of John Matthews, outfitted themselves with the displays used to project images from their iPhone 3GS. Unfortunately, the large screens themselves aren't touch screens, but we probably can't be that picky. Their reward? First prizes at costume parties and minor internet celebrity, which we're happy to oblige. Video after the break.

[Via TUAW]

Vuzix's $249.95 Wrap 310 is probably the least hideous / heinous of the video eyewear options on the market today, and while it's still take a few bottles of Jack to get us to rock these with a smile, those who are just high on life can now make a set their own. In case you're forgotten, these things provide a virtual 55-inch screen in front of your eyes, and there's support for iPod / iPhone connections as well as basic sources such as DVD players and the like. And hey, there's also the possibility that these could be used in augmented reality applications in the future, so feel free to considering this some sort of futuristic investment. Just like those Y2K preparedness tapes you bought in '99.

Not to be confused with the SmartQ 5 (how could you ever, right?), the SmartQ V5 MID is essentially a V7 with a less spacious screen. Within, you'll find a 600MHz ARM11 processor, 256MB of DDR2 memory, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 2GB of internal storage and an SD expansion slot. There's also USB 2.0 connectivity, an HDMI output good for shooting out material at up to 1080p, a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack and a 4.3-inch touchscreen (800 x 480). You'll also find a format support list longer than your latest cellphone bill, though both a price and release date have remained elusive thus far. Here's hoping it's cheap enough to matter.

[Via PMP Today]

You know who's missing from the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (or DECE) consortium? A group bent on redefining the way we buy, access, and play digital content with a membership roster that includes Best Buy, Cisco, Comcast, Fox, HP, Intel, Lions Gate, Microsoft, NBC Universal, Paramount Pictures, Philips, Sony, Toshiba, VeriSign, and Warner Bros? Right, Apple and Disney, the latter landing a lengthy piece in the Wall Street Journal describing Disney's own distributed content ownership scheme that goes by the code-name, "Keychest;" a DRM solution that instantly provides access to content on any participating service (digital download store, mobile-phone provider, or on-demand cable for example) when a purchase is made. Keychest does this though a system of unique keys that are issued when a movie is purchased. The keys are then stored in a central repository (aka, chest) that participants would query. In this scenario, the movies would reside with each delivery company on their respective systems -- movies would not be downloaded. On the bright side, if a content provider went out of business you would still have access to your films elsewhere. The proposed solution would work with Blu-ray disc purchases too, since BD players are internet-enabled by design -- DVD keys would have to be manually typed in by the user. So in effect, you'd now be paying once for ownership rights to the film, not to the physical media. If it sounds similar to DECE it is, but Disney claims that its approach is more streamlined and you know, better.

Disney has been quietly courting other movie studios with Keychest and intends to go public with its technology next month. Of course, with Steve Jobs listed as Disney's largest stockholder and the rumored Apple tablet being a media-redefining device that will single-handedly save newspapers while ridding the world of hunger and ignorance, well, you can see where the speculation is headed.

[Thanks, Demopublican]

So, you broke the bank (and several credit cards) picking up that uber-stylish Acronym GT-J14 earbud-friendly jacket only to find that no one even noticed? Or perhaps your Lady GaGa-approved beats couldn't endure the Paris Is Burning-style bad craziness you put 'em through? Well, it looks like it's time to sell a pint of plasma and use the cash for some psychedelic (and highly unfortunate) Crazy Earphones from Solid Alliance. Featuring a banana, a kitty paw print, sushi, or a Frankenstein's monster-esque bolt affectation, we promise you that a pair of these will get you noticed. But not in the good way. Pre-order now for $22, shipping in December.



[Via Akihabara]

It's been a long time since ARM last bragged about its Mali line of high-end mobile processors, telling us back in March how the 200 and 400 models were going to bring high-def 3D performance to tiny gadgets. Finally we have some videos to go with the hype, two demonstrations showing the phone's admittedly impressive polygon-shuffling tech. The demos feature the lower-end Mali-200 rendering everything at 720p, playing some simple videos and also handling a rather complex 3D contact navigation system that looks both flashy and painful to use. ARM says "play a game of bowling like never before and you'll get hooked by the magic of Mali." Click on through already, and prepare to be hooked.

With a name like HiPhone, it has to be good, right? Totally. The outfit famous for knocking off RIM's BlackBerry Storm in impressive fashion is back, this time with a psychedelic mishmash that could make even the most hardened soul chuckle once or twice. The F320 is -- as you can so clearly see above -- a terribly funny combination of iPod nano and rotary phone, and while we wouldn't trust the specifications for a minute, we're told that it's a dual-band GSM handset with a built-in multimedia player, FM tuner, camera, 2.6-inch touchscreen and Bluetooth. There's no mention of a price (unless you're willing to commit to buying a few hundred), but trust us, it's better that way.

[Via PMP Today]

Newsmy (or Newman, as it were) may not be a household name here in the States, but it's good for pumping out new portable media players at a decent clip over in the Far East. Thankfully, there's this amazing invention called the "internet," which essentially enables folks all over the world to trade currency for product. For those interested in the ho hum player shown above -- which features a 4.3-inch display (480 x 272), 720p TV output, an absurd list of supported file formats and 16GB of internal storage -- it can be shipped your way for the intriguing price of $129.86. Oh, and did we mention that this thing can play "64 games?" Look out, iPod touch!

[Via PMP Today]

Mmm, nothing like a pinch of predictability to wake us in the morning. Just days after the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) finally announced that a North American mobile DTV standard was struck, Samsung has jumped in with what it's calling the planet's first single chip solution designed to handle those very transmissions. All we're told is that the solution combines RF and "digital chip components" into one 65 nanometer chip, making it ideal for smaller devices such as smartphones, car-mounted televisions and portable media players. Of course, Sammy doesn't even bother to mention a mass production date, so we're guessing we all just rise awkwardly and start a roaring slow clap to celebrate the accomplishment.

It's been a hot minute since we've seen a compelling new media player from the labs of Gemei, but the HD8800 ain't half bad. Offering up a 4.3-inch display with an 800 x 480 resolution, this touchscreen-based PMP packs 8GB of internal memory, a battery good for five hours of movie playback (or ten hours with audio), USB 2.0 connectivity, 3.5 millimeter headphone jack and support for more formats than you'll ever use. Oh, and then there's that handy video out feature, which can supposedly shoot out content at up to 1080p via HDMI. It's yours right now for a buck-twenty-two, but only heaven knows if that "JESSICA" wallpaper is changeable.

[Via PMP Today]

Well freaking finally. The Advanced Television System Committee just approved the Mobile DTV standard, meaning we're finally about to see for-real mobile television in the US. LG and Samsung have already made gear for the new standard, and the tech will be demoed later today before a rollout... sometime. Still, it's heartening news to hear that it's finally ready -- over 800 stations are signed up to broadcast the new signal, which makes use of existing 6MHz airwaves to do everything from straight TV to video-on-demand and targeted advertising. Cool, so now we're what, just a billion years behind DVB adoption?

Ariel Waldman contributes Movie Gadget Friday, where she highlights the lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema.

On our last visit, we examined the computer hacking fantasies of 1980's adolescents in Weird Science. Skipping on from software-engineered babes to a bio-engineered society, this week we investigate the gadgets in the human-clone-saturated cities of Code 46. Though most of the futuristic technology in this 2003 film is in the form of mind-altering viruses, the everyday devices used by Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton slightly stretch today's technical specs in true sci-fi form.


Memory Videobook

Preventing scrapbooks from being left behind as primitive forms of experience archiving, this gadget combines the cheap plastic form of photo-books with a relatively thin interactive screen. The device captures first-person memories from a user in the form of lossy video (alas, the specs behind memory capturing have yet to be released, much to our irritation). Playback and fast-forward/rewind are enabled through basic scrolling gestures on either the corner of the video or the opposing soft-acrylic, touch-sensitive finger pad. Similar to Americhip's video-in-print technology, the memory videobook appears to use a TFT LCD, but with a far more outstanding resolution. While this memory scrapbook device is far from chic, we kind of respect that it stays true to its historical laminated, cutesy form despite the high tech modifications. More after the break.

Another season, another Texas Instruments coprocessor for us to wonder about. For what feels like ages now, TI has been pumping out silicon that promises to bring high-def recording capabilities to cellphones, but by and large, most everything has been stuck at VGA or below. Oh sure, we've seen our first batch of 12 megapixel cameraphones, but it's not like those things are replacing DSLRs en masse. Bitterness aside, the OMAP-DM525 coprocessor is supposedly capable of bringing 20 megapixel imaging to handsets along with 720p video recording, while the OMAP-DM515 hits the ceiling at 12 megapixels. Of course, the DM525 won't actually be ready for volume production until sometime next year, but here's hoping a sample or two slips out at CES.

[Via LetsGoDigital]

Charbax of ArchosFans.com reports that the majority of issues encountered by early adopters of the Android-equipped Archos 5 Internet Tablet (not to be confused with the older Internet Media Tablet, ugh) have been remedied by the caped crusader that is firmware revision 1.1.01. Forum members do seem to corroborate that the previously habitual lockups are no more, but the complex update procedure has already (probably temporarily) bricked one user's device, while another still has random disconnects when transferring files from his PC under the new firmware. Still, if you've been among the unfortunate victims of the sloppy original software, this is a ray of light for you, and the read link -- featuring input from a source within Archos -- should be considered required reading.