There always comes a time in a PC gamer’s life when he feels he absolutely, positively needs to upgrade his PC, or be left in the dust and debris of old, obsolete games. This is not true for everybody of course, but for the select few who needs to play the lates games at the highest possible resolution that their hardware (and wallet) is capable of, they have benchmarks that change from generation to generation that reflect the needs of the gaming industry so much that they become the basis of “leetness” and determines how updated your hardware is.

                                             Luxury didn't factor into the building of the Warhead PC.

I guess it was inevitable with the march of progress and the incessant convergence of technologies. The “Scan Toaster” puts everything you need with breakfast onto a slice of bread, that is, if your typical breakfast consists of bread and a quick look at current events from your favorite broadsheet.

                                           This isn't even close to being a "fancy piece of toast".

Your notebook/productivity tool/mobile office dragging you down with a sub 3-hour battery life? Aren't these devices meant to "free you from the wired inconvenience of desktop-bound machines"? (quoted from an ad somewhere). Well so far the most dissapointing aspect ofmobile devices have always been the battery life, or the lack thereof. In comparison, wireless performance, form-factor and the resulting portability, applications and the features have all improved tremendously over the years, leaving long battery life as the holy grail for future mobile devices.

                                            Getting desperate for power?

Peripheralistic Paralysis Syndrome, or PPS, is probably something that you've never heard of before. A pretty sure thing, since I just made that up. Still, it's an appropriate description for gadget-centric dudes n dudettes who can't get enough of plugging in more and more gadgets into their PC, consoles, home theatre systems and others.

Are you spoilt for choice? Ever had the quandary of choosing between caramel flavor or mocha flavor? Well, Coca-Cola is about to make things all that much harder for the indecisive, and everyone else who happens to be standing behind them waiting to make their own purchase. I am referring to Coca-Cola’s plans to introduce a vending machine that is able to produce 100 different flavors of soda.

There have been many examples of wireless speaker technology over the years, and while the majority works well enough for what it promises, range has not been one of those exemplary virtues of these products. The IFA however has brought to light TrekStor’s Wireless SoundBox, and now getting long-range sound wirelessly is as easy as plugging in a USB dongle.

                                                          Although seemingly over-the-top, this render is actually a good representation of Dubai's plans of world domination (in tourist numbers). Witness the following few images.

Who hasn’t played with Lego blocks in the old, old days of their childhood? Certainly most anyone will have a block or two (or a box or two) at home, and have tried to build upon grandiose plans that may have included castles, walls, houses and boxes. In the case of this one special modder, he took the concept of an “enclosure” and applied it to his own set of lego blocks – coming out with a computer mod as classic as case modding itself.

                                              After laying out everything in a CAD program, the parts are prepared for eventual construction.

It shouldn’t matter all that much here in the Philippines but the fact is, electric vehicles are becoming more commonplace and practical. Out of this increasing popularity there rose a quirky little problem that plagued the safety concerns of pedestrians, bicyclists, and pet owners everywhere – the plague of the silent car.

In the “cool” department, this UGV (Unnamed Gravy Van? Actually, it’s Unmanned Ground Vehicle) named “Guardian” and made by G-nius of the US makes its rounds in areas with the need for perimeter security. The fun thing about this autonomous robot is that it can actually go off-road when the need arises, unlike other delicate, straight-from-the-lab robots.

Toyota’s flair for solid, usually staid but ultimately dependable modes of transportation is taking a twist in their latest introduction of some 2-wheeled transportation options. Not a motorcycle, more like uhh – “personal transportation machine” as popularized by a certain American manufacturer. (Thanks to Akihabara News for all pictures)

Have you ever seen a tricycle and gone “wow”? Or perhaps given a thumbs-up to the driver for the sweet ride they have. Well you probably have not; after all “tricycles” here mean “basic transportation” with 125cc motorcycles welded onto steel sidecars. Now then - this is your chance to do exactly so and proclaim your approval of a tricycle – specifically with the Aptera Typ-1 electric or hybrid car.

                                              Not your typical tricycle dashboard.
 

Think you got the best deal when you got your 2G Eee PC? Or perhaps your Astone-with-a-cellphone netbook? Well prepare to have your smugness dashed against the reality of China’s ever inventive PC manufacturers: the Jointech JL7100 is but a third of the price of the original price champ the 2G "Surf" Eee PC.

In the bid to capture energy from all possible sources, this has got to be one of the most logical yet – the Power generating dance floor, or the “Dancefloor Power”. (It seems to be more appropriate if its name had an exclamation point at the end, but I digress.)

Everything’s coming together nicely. With the incessant march of innovations, updates, improvements and most importantly (for this entry at least) convergence, new gadgets are increasingly stuff that combines disparate technologies and make them work together in ways that give our twitchy, geeky hearts a workout. Fancy a touchscreen but want more “physical” method of interacting with the on-screen action? This “coming-together” of LCD touchscreen, sensor, and virtual reality technologies result in the SenseSurface – a new level of convergence for the virtual and the physical.