Activision just confirmed a whole lot of heroes: the long-teased DJ Hero being the most notable among them. Many trivial humans had conjectured what a "Hero"-style DJ controller would look like, and at last we have our first look (above, and there's another shot after the break). Sure, we have no idea how we're supposed to play it -- where's the whammy bar, for instance? -- but we're sure once we tape a couple of our mom's Perry Como records to the sides we'll start to get the picture. Music genres include "hip-hop, R&B, Motown, electronica and dance," and the game will allow turntablists to create "original mixes" of songs. Additionally, Activision is also prepping a family-friendly Band Hero game, and a Guitar Hero 5 followup to its flagship title, with all three new Hero games hitting sometime this fall.

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I have seen this GameGrip on another blogs, and one of them called it “the world’s most absurd iPhone accessory”. Personally, I think that is a little too harsh.

After all, there are a lot of game apps available for the iPhone right now, so why not create something that makes the iPhone like a SIXAXIS in its shape?

Maybe it’s because we all know that the iPhone may be good, but it hasn’t replaced handhelds like the DS or the PSP. Perhaps I should say that it hasn’t replaced them yet.

After all, Apple has recently announced the downloading of its one billionth app. I’m sure that a high percentage of those downloads were Super Monkey Ball or other gaming programs. If more apps come out that are as good (if not better than) the action games on most handhelds, then the GameGrip should come with some buttons.

As you can see, the GameGrip is hardly portable, unless you got a deep pocket. You can also see how to connect it to the iPhone itself, and it will allow for use of the headphones.

If you are looking for a grip for your iPhone with bright blue silicon grips that are completely sweat-proof, then this is a very useful iPhone accessory. It will cost about $51.

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The Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (AKA the Romela Project) at the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech has designed and built a prototype robotic that is controlled and operated by compressed air. Called RAPHaEL (Robotic Air Powered Hand with Elastic Ligaments), the robot can hold heavier, solid objects, as well as light or delicate ones such as a light bulb or an egg. The hand is powered by a compressor air tank at 60 psi and an accordion style tube actuator, with microcontroller commands operating and coordinating the movements of its fingers. It uses no other motors, and the strength of the grasp is controlled by a change in air pressure, making the hand quite dextrous. RAPHaEL -- which is part of a larger RoMeLa robot project named CHARLI -- has already won several awards, including grabbing first prize at the 2008-2009 Compressed Air and Gas Institute Innovation Award Contest. RoMeLa researchers envision CHARLI one day roaming the VT campus making friends with students and visitors. We look forward to that day, but until then, check out RAPHaEL holding some stuff after the break.

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In all honesty, I’m not certain what the market is for MID (Mobile Internet Devices). After all, if most people have the Internet on their smartphone, I’m not certain if people need a mobile device that is exclusively for viewing the Internet.

This particular concept from designer Jan Rytir could tip the scales of the MID market quite considerably. This MID, which doesn’t have any working title, is very small, measuring in at 180 x 80 x 20mm.

The screen is an ultra-wide LCD screen that is an OLED. It is a nice slider that reveals a full QWERTY keyboard and a tiny trackball. It also features an Intel Atom processor, two USB slots, a microphone, an audio input, stereo speakers, as well as a docking connector and SD card reader.

I’m not certain if this product will ever hit the market. As for me, I like watching my Internet on my computer, and the tiny screen of a MID like this just forces me to squint real hard, honestly.

Are we at an age where we are used to the tiny Internet browser? Please chime in with a comment if you think that this time is nigh, or if we are already in it. If so, the Rytir MID has a definite future.

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Ready with the proper retort to all those rumours,false starts and misquotations, the Nikkei is reporting that Panasonic and Sumitomo are zeroed in and have the tunnel vision to deliver the 40-inch plus OLED HDTVs we've been waiting for within fiscal 2010. Once organic electroluminescent product is flooding the streets, the plan is apparently to cut the power requirements of the bright, slim displays to less than a third of current LCDs by 2015, right around the time Samsung thinks this tech will be ready for the main stream, anyone else care to make a prediction?

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Having access to football information when there isn’t a radio, TV, or internet around can be a tricky situation. One of the options is to ask someone the score of a game, but in case you are home alone, it is impossible to do so, in the end you keep wondering if your team lost the match, or if next week’s game is easy, or if the stats are good.

Well, with the SportsCast Wireless Football Scoreboard you are able to check all that information, and much more. The Scoreboard works wirelessly (connects to a satellite) to get game stats about a specific game, which are updated every 15 minutes. This solution means that you don’t need a TV, a computer, or a radio, in order to know how your football team is performing.

Besides the game-by-game stats details, the SportsCast is also able to display information about schedules, standings, scores and so on. There are even special features related to regular, playoff season, pre-season, and off season.

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This is a cool idea, a football (American) that can measure and display how far it has been thrown, so next time you throw a great touch down pass you can brag about the distance accurately (rather than saying it went really really far).

Known as the Virtual Distance Football, the distance thrown is calculated by using sensors to detect when the ball is thrown and then the impact of a catch or fumble (though how it knows the distance between the two is beyond me).

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This clock may be about as minimalist as it gets, but it leaves plenty of room on your part for a bit of creativity. This clock consists only of two tiny discreet balls, anyone glancing at them would never know what they are. Actually even after you have them all set up, it may take you a long while to figure out what time it is exactly. With this around though, you get to choose the china you put these within, giving it your own personalized look.

They are two little magnets, the red one shows hours, whereas the small white ball shows the minutes. Choose a cup and then a small plate, add water to them and drop in the magnets. It then keeps time and there’s not even a need for batteries. It doesn’t entirely explain how it all works, but I’m sure if you order it they’ll give more instructions on that sort of thing. Despite that this is merely consisting of two little magnets, this clock is a bit on the expensive side. The Water Clock will cost you $299 from.

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We wouldn't carve this in stone quite yet, but we'd say that points-to-dollars conversion from Sony's official 'Rewards' site is pretty legitimate. The outfit's highly anticipated OLED Walkman, which we had the pleasure of toying with earlier this week, is now listed in 16GB and 32GB forms at SonyRewards. While no ship date is given, we are told that the smaller of the two will run members 29,995 points, while the larger one demands an extra 10,000. For those who only speak real currency (you know, like Schrute Bucks), that translates to $299.95 and $399.95, respectively. Furthermore, the first official OLED Walkman accessories have popped up, proving that a leather case / kickstand, clear screen protector and a hard plastic shell will be made available. Oh, and Sony -- any moment now would be great for a confirmation.

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Every once in a while, somebody envisions a robot that feels plucked from a science-fiction movie or novel. Take this undersea robot concept from the Fraunhofer Institute, for example.

Believe it or not, this robot is designed to work independently and underwater. As you can see, the apparatus has four propellers for stabilization, and some arms too.I’m not certain what sort of projects that they have in mind for them, but deep sea exploration would be a good job, if it wasn’t for the pressures of deep water.

Many other blogs have compared its look to a certain robot that Neo wakes up to in The Matrix. Considering that these robots are programmed to act independently, how long will it be before they build more of themselves, and invade like the machines in The Matrix? The movie of that would be a combination of I, Robot and the 1977 William Shatner classic Kingdom of the Spiders.

The shape reminds me of this episode of GI Joe that takes place underwater. On this show, the evil Destro pulls out a ball that he calls a robot-opus and throws it at the good guys. Don’t ask me how he throws this underwater, but this tiny robot-opus ball opens up like an eye and sprouts eight tentacles to attack.

Well, time will tell if this concept robot becomes reality.

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Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader did make quite an impression when it was first revealed, and as time goes by, it is only natural for a successor to be unleashed. This time round, Amazon has upgraded the Kindle by calling it the Kindle DX which boasts a whole host of improvements including a more generous 9.7″ electronic paper display, a built-in PDF reader, auto-rotate capability for easy reading no matter which format the digital book/magazine comes in, and enough storage space to hold an average of 3,500 books - definitely more than enough space for your personal library. For voracious readers, you won’t find the Kindle Store to be short of reading material as it stocks up to 275,000 books (and counting) to date, including 107 of 112 current New York Times Best Sellers. All New York Times Bestsellers and New Releases have been priced at $9.99 unless marked otherwise, while major U.S. and international magazines and newspapers in addition to over 1,500 blogs are also available for your perusal via Kindle DX.

The 9.7″ display on the Kindle DX is impressive, making it 2.5 times larger compared to the predecessor’s 6″ display. In addition, it comes with 16 shades of gray that enables more graphic-rich content when it comes to professional and personal documents, newspapers and magazines, and textbooks. Since the display works using real ink without a backlight, it reads as naturally as printed words on a paper, doing away with common electronic reading device complaints such as eyestrain and glare.

The integrated PDF reader on the Kindle DX is also another welcome feature since many documents these days come in PDF formats, making it a snap to tote around wherever you go. In addition, you can always have people mail documents in PDF format to your Kindle email address, where you can then read them directly. You get 3.3GB of storage space inside, and boasts 3G connectivity that allows you to wirelessly shop the Kindle Store, download or receive new content in less than 60 seconds, as long as there is a decent signal.

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We got an early look at LG's X120 notebook at CES back in January, but we've now finally gotten our hands on the final retail version, and will be properly putting it through its paces in the coming days. Right off the bat, however, it's clear that the netbook has quite a bit going for it inside and out, including a nice matte white finish all around the exterior (though it's as glossy as ever once you pop the lid), a generally solid build quality, a usable keyboard (although the trackpad is on the small side) and, of course, LG's Splashtop-powered Smart On interface, which once again manages to impress with its speediness, even if you'll still often find yourself reaching for XP. Hit up the gallery below for some unboxing and hands-on pics, and keep an eye out for some more in-depth impressions

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The intersection of PSP 3000 and Hack St. has thus far been a pretty lonely little place, so we're pleased to announce that the ChickHEN project is definitely gaining some momentum. According to one extra special YouTube video, hacksters are now able to run the TIFF exploit and boot into a homebrew enabler environment on a PSP 2003 and a PSP 3000 running 5.03 firmware. The code is seen surviving a reboot, and both the system software and MAC address can be changed. While not ready for prime time yet, this does pave the way for emulators, PSP uCLinux, and all of those other things that keep all you homebrew fans happy at night. Video after the break, if you dare.

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