Whatever you've gotten or are getting for Christmas this season (and man, I hope it isn't canned goods) just throw it away. Put it right in the trash. Because it's not going to be this I-Sobot programmable toy robot, and the incredible homemade arsenal it wields. This video of five minutes of the I-Sobot just kicking styrofoam cup and plastic toy dinosaur ass. I mean, it starts out amazing when he fires the bow and arrow without even looking at the target, but by the time the sniper rifle and the interceptor missile came around, I was weeping with joy, just to know it exists and that I saw it in action, but also sadness, because I know that I will personally never own this, the greatest toy of all time. Infinite thanks to Clarence for the tip.

How do you spice up the traditionally unexciting projector market? You take your finest laser projector, with its "infinite focus" skills, pair it with a weapon-styled motion controller, and you offer FPS gamers the opportunity to get out of their seats and perform their murdering sprees as nature intended. So Microvision thinks, and we've no doubt that the prototype being demonstrated over at the Intel Extreme Masters will be fulfilling a few fanboy dreams, but we're more interested in how it all works. If you remember the GameGun (and who could forget that mullet?), this'll be familiar territory: the projector reacts to movements of the controller so that the game view tracks your real world view, lending the experience a bona fide 3D feel. Microvision won't spill the full details just yet, but a video demo awaits past the break.

Backtrack: Engadget

Crazy huh? Sure, but if your company just launched a commercial vacuum cleaner so quiet that it's called the "UltraSilencer" then what better way to drive that point home than by adding an "iPod dock" (though that's no iPod we've ever seen) and speakers to the damn thing? In fact, Electrolux has taken this Silence Amplified concept so far that they've conducted a lab study to prove that "music assisted vacuuming increases the number of nozzle sweeps, improves the cleaning result and leaves a general feeling of happiness." Duh. Now go check the video evidence after the break.

We've been waiting for what feels like an eternity for wireless HD to really have a place in the world (outside of the elite home cinema world, that is), and while the dream definitely took a hit with the FlyWire's death, it sounds as if things may be rounding the ever-present corner.

It's been a continual process of evolution with JVC's Everio line, each iteration getting more pixels and and smaller bodies, and the latest entry is the best combination yet.

Yesterday's in-wall USB charger hackery might have inspired plenty of you to take up tools and start the USB power revolution, but if you own an iPod or iPhone and just a smidgen of common sense, you might wanna look at this first. The DLO WallDock is a teeny tiny charger that plugs into those familiar standard wall sockets, and its designed so that your iDevice leans back when connected, turning it into a neat (and wireless) substitute for your regular dock. We still wouldn't sacrifice the $25 asking price at the altar of cable freedom, but the more important question is, would you?

Backtrack: OhGizmo!

There are three ways to end speaker wire clutter: go wireless, get a soundbar, or shun the ways of the surrounds entirely. The former option isn't for everyone, the latter simply won't do, and so Yamaha keeps pumping out endless new installments of its Digital Sound Projector line. Latest is the YSP-5100, an update to the YSP-4100 that's all of two and a half months old, so new that Yamaha didn't even bother to do another studio shoot, just chopped in the same remote from the earlier press image. Natural, really, since the devices sport the same HD decoding abilities (like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD), the same suite of ins and outs, and the same 55W power rating. The only differences are a slightly greater width on the 5100 and what's claimed to be "dramatically" evolved sound, richer bass and clearer highs -- things you can't really verify from a press release. No word on price, but they should be shipping before the year is through.

What you'll require here is about 30 minutes' endurance, a $10 budget, and a good reason why you'd want to swap some good old versatile wall plugs in for USB-only power outlets. Once you've got all that sorted, it's a quick skip to the source link, where you'll get step-by-step instructions on converting to "the future" of power distribution. And hey, just to help you justify all that expenditure of effort, we've got a whole category devoted to the cornucopia of most awesome devices you can power via USB. Kudos gained for clever design, kudos lost for relatively redundant outcome.

Trackback: Instructables

For a limited time only -- and you should be able to guess how long that is -- Japanese SonyStyle customers can order up the TX1 in the especially wintry attire you see above. Already available in a choice of five colors, the cam will also let you choose between black, silver and pink for the engraved models, and we also hear these snowflakes are part of a wider range of engraved designs. Options titled Safari, Race, and Heart are also available, and you can even add your own message to the front, or just tag it with your name if you're feeling narcissistic. Either way, you can see the other color options after the break, or try out all the different looks using the interactive skinning tool at the source link.

Acer loves it some Google. And unless Google's trying to stamp out your revenue stream, who doesn't? Now Acer chairman, JT Wang, says that he expects to be first to market with an official Chrome OS netbook -- sometime in the second half of 2010 according to DigiTimes' sources. In fact, JT says that Acer's been working on a Chrome OS device since mid-2009. This despite admittedly weaker than expected demand for its dual-boot Android netbook, the Aspire One AOD250. Guess even the Google halo isn't enough to shoehorn its smartphone OS into a market dominating position on cheap ultra-portables. It's worth pointing out that DigiTimes' moles aren't saying anything new with the launch time-frame since Google's target for its gold Chrome OS build has been 2H of 2010 ever since the lightweight OS was announced. Not that the timing matters too much since we'll likely be seeing plenty of Chromium OS netbooks flooding the grey market long before the second half of 2010.

BackTrack: DigiTimes