Gizmodo
Gizmodo, the gadget guide. So much in love with shiny new toys, it's unnatural.

Dealzmodo: RadioShack Selling Samsung Instinct For $100 During Labor Day Week...

If you are interested in getting your hands on a Samsung Instinct, RadioShack has announced that they will be offering an exclusive $100 price on the phone to celebrate its launch across their 4,400 stores. Unfortunately, this deal pretty much sucks because it is available only to new Sprint users who sign up for a Simply Everything Plan. The Instinct is easily Sprint's best phone, but a $30 price drop is not worth signing on to their sub-par network. The deal starts on Friday and runs through the Labor Day weekend. [MobileBurn]

From the guys who created the Han Solo Carbonite Desk, here comes the Galactic Emperor Throne. It's a limited edition of five units, which means it's almost expensive as the Carbonite Desk itself.

The chair will set you back a whooping $5,000, but that's the price you pay to rule the Galaxy and say classic, unforgettable phrases like "Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational PowerPoint presentation!", "Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen," or "Anakin, could you bring my slippers and today's paper, please?"

Carbonite Desk leads to a Galactic Throne

Tom Spina Designs follows up their incredibly popular "Carbonite Desk" with the "Galactic Throne", a unique themed chair, originally privately commissioned and now available as an extremely limited edition piece of furniture art. In early 2008, the company's one-of-a-kind “Carbonite Desk” achieved cult status through media coverage on television, in magazines and internet blogs, generating millions of views on the Tom Spina Designs website. After a desk like that, no ordinary task chair would do!

Based on the client's requests and interests, artists Tom Spina and Richard Riley drew inspiration from elements of Captain Kirk's bridge chair from Star Trek and the Emperor's throne from the Star Wars films and created a sleek new design. The result is an impressive functional art piece that is well over four feet tall and crafted in custom welded steel. It features an adjustable pedestal and is made to appear to “float” on 8 hidden wheels. The custom upholstery is real leather and the finish is powder-coated gloss black for a classy and durable surface.

Tom Spina Designs is a NY-based company which accepts commissions to create highly unique sculpture, furniture and artistic elements for home theaters, offices, trade shows and more. They also create custom displays and meticulously restore one-of-a-kind and often fragile original movie props. Their past clients include businesses, themed attractions and a wide range of private collectors.

Those interested in seeing photos and learning more about the artists and their latest projects can visit the company site, www.TomSpinaDesigns.com

The Galactic Throne is now available in a limited edition of 5 furniture art pieces and potential clients can expect to pay approximately $5000 to commission one. Each will be made to order and can be personalized to the client's preference of color, upholstery and add-on options.

For More Information contact:
Tom Spina
TomSpina@mac.com

[Tom Spina Designs]

If there was ever a Jedi hippie, this is the lightsaber he would use. Let's face it, CFLs last a lot longer than energy blades and they are much cheaper to operate. Plus, they help protect the galaxy. Think about it. Available for $26. [Redbubble via Geekologie]

newVideoPlayer("/iphonesecurityflaw_gizmodo.flv", 520, 410,""); Apple has acknowledged the huge iPhone security flaw we tested and reported on two days ago, promising an update for September that will fix the hole that can expose all your private emails, text messages, and contacts. But instead of calling a spade a spade and acting as soon as possible, they have decided to minimize the problem:

The minor iPhone security issue, which surfaced this week, is fixed in a software update which will be released in September.

That jewel comes from an Apple spokeswoman, deciding to ignore what ourselves, Wired or the San Francisco Chronicle have classified as massive security problem. Ms. PR rep: could you please send us your me.com and apple.com passwords so we can demonstrate how easily accessing your mail by clicking a button is not, and will never be, a "minor security issue"?

In the meantime, she points out to the user-driven fix, as if that would help the millions who have iPhones and don't read Gizmodo, Wired, SFC, Reuters, or any of the outlets around the Web that echoed the news. Not good enough, I'm afraid. [Reuters]

Bad news for Comcast folks—the 250GB caps that were once rumored are now officially official and will start October 1 for residential customers. But, instead of charging you for every GB you go beyond that in a month, Comcast is getting a bit more byzantine—if you blow the cap twice in six months, they may terminate your service altogether.

Comcast tries to ameliorate the news by putting the cap in terms even grandma can understand: 250GB = 50 million emails! 250,000 hi-res photo uploads of the grand kids! But in reality, if you're sharing your connection with roommates and downloading legitimate VOD stuff from Apple or Vudu, yet alone your torrentz, hitting 250GB in a month is not that far from reality. And now that Comcast has thrown their hat into the cap ring, it's not unlikely to assume other biggies will follow. Guhhhh.

Read more on how caps are killing us from Matt's recent Giz Explains on the topic.

[Comcast via Giga OM via DSL Reports]

Full Release and FAQs:

Announcement Regarding An Amendment to Our Acceptable Use Policy

It's no secret we've been evaluating a specific monthly data usage or bandwidth threshold for our Comcast High-Speed Internet residential customers for some time. Rumors circulated online last year and they popped up again in May.

In January, we added new frequently asked questions about what we consider acceptable use of our service to our online Help site www.comcast.net/help and Security Channel page www.comcast.net/security.

We've listened to feedback from our customers who asked that we provide a specific threshold for data usage and this would help them understand the amount of usage that would qualify as excessive. Today, we're announcing that beginning on October 1, 2008, we will amend our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) available at http://www.comcast.net/terms/use/ and establish a specific monthly data usage threshold of 250 GB/month per account for all residential customers.

250 GB/month is an extremely large amount of data, much more than a typical residential customer uses on a monthly basis. Currently, the median monthly data usage by our residential customers is approximately 2 - 3 GB. To put 250 GB of monthly usage in perspective, a customer would have to do any one of the following:

* Send 50 million emails (at 0.05 KB/email)
* Download 62,500 songs (at 4 MB/song)
* Download 125 standard-definition movies (at 2 GB/movie)
* Upload 25,000 hi-resolution digital photos (at 10 MB/photo)

This is the same system we have in place today. The only difference is that we will now provide a limit by which a customer may be contacted. As part of our pre-existing policy, we will continue to contact the top users of our high-speed Internet service and ask them to curb their usage. If a customer uses more than 250 GB and is one of the top users of our service, he or she may be contacted by Comcast to notify them of excessive use. At that time, we'll tell them exactly how much data per month they had used. We know from experience the vast majority of customers we ask to curb usage do so voluntarily.

As stated above the new monthly data usage threshold will officially take effect starting October 1st. We are notifying customers in a number of ways. For example, we have posted a preview of the amended AUP as a PDF on this page. We are also running banner notices on our Comcast.net home page and on our Security Channel Web page to alert customers about this upcoming change. In addition, we have provided a number of FAQs that are available at http://help.comcast.net/content/faq/Frequently-Asked-Questions-about-Excessive-Use. Finally, we will also notify our customers directly by including an insert (also called a bill stuffer) in an upcoming monthly billing statement.

What is Comcast's approach to Excessive Use?

Comcast has an excessive use program to provide a high-quality service for all of its customers. The company uses reasonable network management practices that are consistent with industry standards. Comcast maintains an Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") located at http://www.comcast.net/terms/use/ for its Comcast High-Speed Internet Service customers. The AUP discloses what constitutes unaccpetable conduct and uses of the service. The AUP includes requirements regarding data usage that all Comcast customers and users of the service must follow.

Comcast determines excessive usage in relation to typical residential uses of its service. The company does so in order to identify truly excessive use while not impacting the vast majority of Comcast customers - more than 99% - who use the service as intended.

Does Comcast use a monthly data usage threshold to determine excessive use?

Comcast will initiate a 250 GB monthly data usage threshold for all residential Comcast High-Speed Internet accounts. This threshold will be in place to provide a clear definition of what would constitute as excessive use of the service.

The new monthly data usage threshold will go into effect starting October 1, 2008.

Why is Comcast going to provide a monthly data usage threshold for its residential high-speed Internet users?

Comcast has been evaluating a monthly data usage threshold for quite some time and it has heard from high-speed Internet customers who have asked that it provide a specific number for excessive use. By providing a specific monthly data usage threshold, Comcast hopes to provide more clarification to its customers about what would qualify as excessive use.

When will the 250 GB monthly data usage threshold be put into effect?

Comcast will initiate the 250 GB monthly data usage threshold starting October 1, 2008.

What will happen if a customer exceeds 250 GB of data usage in a month?

The vast majority - more than 99% - of Comcast customers will not be impacted by a 250 GB monthly bandwidth or data usage threshold. If a customer exceeds more than 250 GB and is one of the heaviest data users who consume the most data on our high-speed Internet service, he or she may receive a call from Comcast's Customer Security Assurance ("CSA") group to notify them of excessive use. At that time, Comcast will tell the customer exactly how much data per month he or she had used.

If a customer surpasses 250 GB and is one of the top users of the service for a second time within a six-month timeframe, his or her service will be subject to termination for one year. After the one year period expires, the customer may resume service by subscribing to a service plan appropriate to his or her needs.

Will all customers who exceed 250 GB of data usage in a month be identified as excessive users?

Yes, Comcast is setting 250 GB as the residential data usage threshold for excessive use. Customers who exceed 250 GB and are among the top users of Comcast's high-speed Internet service may get contacted by Comcast about their excessive use.

We can say with pretty high confidence that a 5D successor, the 5D Mk II, will be hitting before '08 is out, and with Photokina coming up later this month, rumors are beginning to fly. Canon Rumors is vouching for their source that just dropped them the following tasty-looking specs on the new full-frame sensor, top-end Canon EOS DSLR: 21.1 MP, DIGIC IV, and an HD movie mode (like the D90's), among others.

Here's the full list:

This comes from a dude that seems to be right a lot lately.

* 21.1 MP 1.0x
* DIGIC IV
* ISO 100-6400 L:50 & H:12800
* 5 FPS
* 3.2" High Resolution Screen (LCD)
* 19 point AF
* HDMI Out
* Liveview
* HD Movie Mode
* Viewfinder: 100% Coverage
* Full weather sealing
* EF Lenses only

21.1 MP is considerably higher than what we've heard before, and an HD movie mode is a new one to pop up for this camera. But DIGIC IV, live view, 19 AF points and 5fps shooting make sense considering what we've seen before and the recently dropped 50D's specs. Again, could be BS, but it seems like we're getting closer. [Canon Rumors via Electronista - Image: A Nice Photochop]

newVideoPlayer("/Mythbusters_moon.flv", 506, 423,""); On their show last night, MythBusters sought to debunk one of the biggest myths of all, that NASA's "moon landings" were shot on a Hollywood backlot. And, spoiler alert, it looks like all that space exploration actually happened. So I guess that's it. Everyone can now remove their tinfoil hats and crack open a bag of freeze dried ice cream. Unless...of course...MythBusters is in on the whole thing...

It was only a matter of time before Sony squeezed out an all-in-one Blu-ray home theater system, and their new Bravia BDV-IT1000 seems to fit that void quite nicely. Some of the highlight features include: 700W of total power, slim speakers thanks to finger-sized full-range drive units, wireless rear speakers, two HDMI inputs and support for Dolby Digital Plus, TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. No word on a price or a release date, but I wouldn't doubt that this beauty will be stateside in the near future.

BDV-IT1000 at a glance

* Super-slim speakers made possible by finger-sized full-range drive units
* All-in-one home cinema system with integrated Blu-ray Disc drive
* Full HD 1080/24p picture quality with Deep Color and x.v.Colour
* Wireless rear speakers for great surround effects without cables
* BD-Live Ready: upgradable to Profile 2.0 for extra content and downloads via Ethernet port
* DVD upscaling to 1080p
* Two HDMI input terminals for connection of games consoles, HD TV decoder boxes or other sources, and one HDMI output
* Optical digital and analogue stereo inputs. Also composite/component video in
* Upconversion to HDMI for analogue sources
* Fast, perfect ‘one-touch’ set-up with Digital Cinema Auto Calibration
* BRAVIA Sync for integrated operation with other Sony components
* XrossMediaBar onscreen display for simple, logical operation of all functions
* Connectivity with Network WALKMAN® and iPod® players, Bluetooth devices and home Wi-Fi networks via DIGITAL MEDIA PORT, plus Portable Audio Enhancer
* 700W total power: 5x100W plus 2x100W for subwoofer, using efficient, high-quality 32-bit S-Master digital amplification

[Sony via Sony Insider]

With all of that time spent on the computer, I would imagine that most of you can type at a pretty good clip. Back in elementary school I managed a personal best of 88 WPM (Not that great, but I still had to cheat by working over the same paragraph for an hour or so *shhhhh*). Anyway, I'm curious to know what the average is, so pick the closest figure to your WPM score in the poll after the break. If you don't know your WPM, take this typing test to find out (set on default: 1 min, Zebra, WPM). Make sure to enter in your net speed figure.

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

A Best Buy tipster informed MaxConsole that the upcoming PSP 3000 will feature support for the PS3s DualShock 3 controller. The tipster also noted that it will use 480i composite cables to play games on the TV instead of component 480p. Obviously, this is just a rumor—but it is definitely one I want to believe. [MaxConsole]

According to a pretty legitimate-looking email thread from one of our readers, Steve Jobs may have responded to complaints that, since the pulling of NetShare from the App Store, iPhone-to-laptop tethering is impossible without jailbreaking one's phone. From our reader to Steve:

It seems ludicrous that the same thing is not offered with the iPhone. I understand the desire to prevent tethering with the current data plan, but I am willing to pay more money to allow tethering! With such an advanced device, why can I not do so?

From "Steve" to our reader:

We agree, and are discussing it with ATT.

Steve

Sent from my iPhone

We're not sure—that "Sent from my iPhone" kicker either makes this email completely legitimate or illegitimate, but it's not a bad little rumor to start your holiday weekend early.

So would you pay extra to tether your laptop to your iPhone? [Image via Lifehacker]

Projectors can be tricky. You read their stats and everything looks good. But the better things look, the more likely the price is ridiculously high, or at least too much to justify for the average WASP home theater. The Sony Bravia VPL-HW10, however, actually looks pretty fantastic if Sony Insider is right about their projected $3,000 pricetag. Just check out these specs:

•1080P
•30,000:1 Contrast Ratio
•2.5ms Response Time
•8-Stage Image Processing
•22db Operating Noise
•x.v.Color (Twice the gamut of sRGB)

The Bravia's only number that seems reasonable is its 1000 lumens of brightness. It's definitely good to see that projectors are staying every bit as tempting as modern TVs, if not more. [Sony Insider]

Despite the rumors, it looks like there will be no sunny retirement for the current Kindle. From Amazon's chief spokesperson to the New York Times: