The guys over at Macotakara[JP] and iLab Factory[JP] have posted images of a new aluminum case which appears to have a slightly different depth for its LCD panel, adding 1mm to the thickness of the back panel, but making adjustments for a slightly thinner LCD panel – reportedly this 2048×1536 panel from Sharp – which fits into the case perfectly. The images do nothing to confirm rumors of a Retina Display, but the changes to the case depth indicate there is clearly a change coming to the display panel itself.

In addition, it looks like the camera opening has changed, possibly to support a new, higher quality (and possibly wide-screen) camera.

It also looks like refinements have been made to the dock connector, improving its rigidity – which should make it less likely that you’ll accidentally yank out the dock connector.

So are these images of parts from the actual iPad 3? Will there be an iPad 2S first, with minor refinements to the iPad 2? Or is this just some knock-off clone being made in China? Only time will tell.

[via iLab via Macotakara]

Watch the demo below to find out how to use BlackSMS:

I find it a bit tedious to keep switching between the Message app and BlackSMS, especially if you end up engaged in a long conversation. It would’ve been nicer if it was integrated into iMessage itself; then again I’m not sure if Apple will allow that. Also, keep in mind that both you and the person you’re texting have to have the app and need to be texting with iMessage, not regular SMS. But if you can’t wait to pass digital secret notes, download BlackSMS from the App Store for $0.99 (USD). Just don’t render it useless with a weak password, okay?

[via Lifehacker]

It’s called the DarwinBot and it uses a Parallax EDDIE chasis and is programmed with the beta of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 4. That makes sense as well because Correa is a developer in Microsoft’s robotics division. It has all of the bells and whistles you would expect from a telepresence bot for dogs, like a treat dispenser, a ball-launching ballista, a ball-retrieving robotic arm, and speakers so Darwin can hear his master’s voice.

He can even interact somewhat naturally with Darwin thanks to the onboard tablet PC, Skype, and a pan-and-tilt webcam. There is also a Kinect camera system on top for obstacle avoidance and a downward-facing webcam for the absolutely necessary ball retrieval. He controls it over the Internet with an XBox 360 controller. Surprisingly, Darwin isn’t freaked out at all by the robot and the mechanical noises it makes. The dog seems to get what is going on and for the most part acts naturally as if he is with his master.

[via Neatorama via Geekosystem]

There are several types of Beardski Ski Masks available: the Zeke, Pirate, Prospector, Viking, and Biker all have different geeky colors of beards, so all you have to do is pick your favorite. Each one comes with a pair of goggles attached to the mask and beard, and you get all of that for just $30! If you get one of these geeky masks, everyone will know that you’re not one of the people who needs to read the Beards for Dummies infographic. “Was I supposed to click on that?” Yes, unless you already have a Beardski. “I do not have a Beardski.” Then why are you still here? “I’m washing the dishes like you ordered me to.” Oh, I see. Carry on, before you take an arrow to the knee and get demoted to Lenny’s spot of churning the butter.

The Beardski Ski Mask is super geeky, and one of the coolest ski masks around. If you’re appetite for masks has not yet been satiated, check out the Mask-Bot and the Real-f Masks, which will keep you up at night for decades. You will be ninety years-old, and unable to sleep.

Contributor Jack Kieffer owns Cool Gizmo Toys, a blog that rants about random geeky products.

While you might have thought it would be riddled with bullets, or maybe involve a horse head, it’s really just a massive, powerful PC in an ornate case. Inside, a 1940 Cadillac Fleetwood spins on a turntable as Don Corleone keeps his watchful eye on the mobo, power supply and cooling system, powered by MSI and Cooler Master components.

Under the hood (of the PC, not the car), there’s an MSI Z68A-ZD80 mobo, with a Intel Core i7-2600K Quad-Core CPU, 16GB of DDR3 RAM, a pair of MSI GeForce GTX 550 Ti Cyclone II OC graphic cards, two SATA3 120GB SSDs, 1TB and 2TB hard drives, powered by a Cooler Master Silent Pro M850 power supply, and cooled with V8 and Excalibur fans.

The guys over at Case Mod Blog spotted the Godfather PC casemod at the recent Campus Party event in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The case was made by Omar Majzoub – the same guy who brought us last year’s evil-filled Chucky casemod.

Maybe it’s just me, but I expected more blood.

[via Case Mod Blog and Bahia.com]

The Darth Maul Lightsaber Room Light works by means of LEDs, and makes Jedi quake in its presence. FEAR ME AND MY PHOTONS, JEDI. Plus, if you leave it on for a really really really long time, you might just be able to use it like a real lightsaber! You also might be able to accidentally burn down your house while playing with a collector’s lamp. Whoops.

It sells for $40 (USD), and is available from Barnes and Noble, that place that sells books (and Nooks.) “Why do they have a giant Star Wars lamp?” They probably figured out that nobody likes reading anymore. Let’s be honest – if you’re reading this sentence, you’re one of the few. Everybody else just looks at the pictures, clicks the Tweet button, and moves on to the next post with pretty lights in it.

If you’re looking for more geeky Star Wars light sources, you should hop on over to the Star Wars Lightsaber Lighted Sneakers and the Light Up Star Wars Poker Set.

Contributor Jack Kieffer owns Cool Gizmo Toys, a blog that rants about random geeky products.

As great as the cheap factor is here, the best part about it is that it will fire hundreds of Airsoft BBs before you even need to reload. Say hello to my (cheap) little friend! You’ll need a plastic soda bottle, a quick release air compressor adapter, an air compressor blowgun, and a 7mm by 6-inch brake line. And of course an air supply. Not the soft rock band.

You could also use a portable air supply so you are untethered and free to hunt your prey. It seems simple enough to build, so it won’t take you long until you are unleashing hellfire on various objects and your enemies. I wouldn’t recommend shooting it at others, though, as Airsoft pellet hits can be pretty painful.

[via Geek]

The Energy Stream Radio&TV 120 has built-in Wi-Fi and can stream music from over 15,000 internet radio stations and over 2,000 internet TV channels. In addition, it’s can play a wide variety of audio and video formats through its internal speaker (or headphones) and its 2.4-inch LCD screen. It’s got 4GB of on-board storage, and can be expanded up to 16GB extra using a MicroSDHC card.

Energy Sistem hasn’t posted its dimensions or weight, but the entire device is clearly small enough to carry around in your backpack or bag, though it looks like it might be a little big to fit in your pocket.

If you’re interested in the Energy Stream Radio&TV 120, it sells for €89.90 (~$119 USD) over at Energy Sistem’s website.

These cool Shinkansen chopsticks from Daiwa Toy [JP] are modeled after the various bullet trains in service in Japan. They’re available in a variety of styles, sure to impress the most avid fan of Japan’s wicked-fast railways.

At $25.99 (USD) a pair, they’re not the world’s cheapest chopsticks, but they are officially licensed by Japan’s JR, and are bound to be collector’s items down the (rail)road. If you’re ready to eat some sushi in a hurry, you can hop on the Chopstick Express over at AudioCubes.

The GoPad was made to allow you to use your tablet like a sort of digital clipboard. The strap goes around your neck and the articulated stand allows you to place your tablet into the optimal position to get stuff done. It also works as a stand for your tablet when you’re not wearing it, and can hang it over your shoulder like a laptop bag, too.

The GoPad sells for $89(USD) from their website. It’s available in versions for the iPad 2, Samsung Galaxy, RIM PlayBook, Samsung Galaxy, Kindle Fire, and Motorola Xoom. For some reason, I can also see dads and grandpas using this and being quite happy about it.

[via Ubergizmo]

This weapon, made by BAE Systems, is targeting a range of 50 to 100 nautical miles to start with and the Navy plans to increase the range 220 nautical miles. The railgun uses 32-megajoules of electromagnetic energy to fling a projectile down a pair of rails at anywhere from 4500 to 5600 mph. That is seriously hellafast.

In fact, it is so fast that explosives aren’t needed to destroy a target. No gunpowder, or high explosives, just pure raw speed and momentum will obliterate whatever that projectile hits. The Navy said to be in testing the new prototype this month while it waits for a second prototype to be delivered that is constructed by a different contractor, General Atomics. The day I can deer hunt with a railgun, will be the day I kill my first Bambi.

In case you’re not familiar with the device, a chorded keyboard has fewer keys – the user presses multiple keys at once to enter a single command or character. This not only leads to a smaller device but makes it possible to type with one hand. Entering the patterns on such a device is similar to playing chords on a piano, hence the name. This is an example of a chorded keyboard. I’m not sure if the Kee4 Keyboard also qualifies as a chorded keyboard, but it does work in a similar way.

As for Teague Labs’ app, it uses five virtual buttons which appear when the user places all five fingers on the screen. Theoretically, it addresses the three weaknesses of traditional on-screen keyboards. The buttons are large. If you can memorize the patterns for characters, then you don’t need tactile feedback. Finally, the buttons go away when you lift your fingers off of the tablet’s screen; they can also be dragged in another area of the screen. Then again they take up the whole screen while you’re typing. Here’s the app in action:

If you have an iPad or Android tablet, fire up your tablet’s browser and go to this page to try out Teague Labs’ chorded keyboard prototype. Note that the app doesn’t allow for punctuation marks – those will be included in the second set of buttons, which are still in development. It’s a nice concept but I think I’ll stick to the default keyboard on my iPad. I don’t do a lot of typing on it anyway and I’m already looking at the screen when I’m typing so I don’t need to touch type.

What I really want is for Apple to include a numpad-style button, similar to the ones available on older cellphones. Years of owning Nokia phones have burned the memory of that interface to my thumbs. Also, I’m not sure if the guys at Teague Labs are aware of this, but there are already virtual chorded keyboard apps for both the iPad and for Android tablets, although the ones I saw are designed for use with two thumbs.

[Teague Labs via Hack A Day]

His minimal Star Wars characters remind me of Mega Man, which is appropriate since they’re supposed to be in Mega Star Wars. The funniest thing is that when I take my glasses off, the images become smooth, and less pixelated, which is cool, but reminds me that my eyesight is gradually going.

I wonder if we’ll ever end up playing as these characters in some retro platformer on Xbox Live. I sure hope so.

[via How to Carve Roast Unicorn via Thaeger]

Cinemagram converts short film clips into a single, animated image. It also offers special filters and photographic effects that can be layered onto the resulting animations. You can even select only a part of an image into a GIF, making it look like a video is embedded in a still photograph. Here are a couple of examples produced with the app:

You can get Cinemagram from the iTunes App Store for $1.99 (USD), and check out more Cinemagrams on Cinemagram’s Tumblr site.

[via designboom]

Michael Crow of Mike’s Mosaics created these Mario and Mega Man mosaics using glazed terracotta and ceramic tiles, and they look awesome. I love that Mario is wearing his Tanooki look, though I think he’d have trouble getting off the ground with all the added weight of the tile and concrete backing board.

Mega Man looks mighty fine too, sporting his classic blue costume.

Mario is really substantial, measuring in at 27.5″ x 23.25″, while Mega Man is a bit smaller at 12.5″ x 15.5″. Since both have been sealed, they’re okay for indoor or outdoor use. I’d be so thrilled with these guys in my garden instead of gnomes (hint-hint). Mario is priced at $250 (USD), and Mega Man is going for $200. Both can be found over at Mike’s Mosaics Etsy Shop. Mike will also make custom mosaics of your favorite character on request.

Artist Dave Styerd (of Geek-Lee-Tist) created this still life using R2-D2′s head as a serving bowl for some delicious grapes, bananas, apples and oranges. The blue Bantha milk is a nice touch too. I have to say it’s kind of cruel that Dave had to decapitate the little droid though. I mean, why not use R5-D4? He already had a bad motivator unit and was headed for the scrap pile. Besides, his flat head would be less likely to tip over and spill fruit onto the table.

Regardless, I’m sure this will inspire some Star Wars geek out there to make an actual R2-D2 fruit bowl using a stainless steel mixing bowl, and e-mail us a picture once they’re done with it. Right?

But I digress. This 16.5″ x 11.7″ Giclee print is the perfect thing for any Star Wars themed kitchen or dining room. Grab one over on Etsy for $15 (USD).

Sad, isn’t it? I mean, I have nothing against social networks. In fact, I think they could actually be helpful and useful in many cases. But sometimes, there are those who put too much of their worth or their life into these sites, that they’re driven to do really crazy stuff in some extreme situations.

Just a few days ago, a couple from Tennessee were murdered because they “unfriended” a woman named Jenelle Potter. In a fit, her father and some other guy went to the couple’s home and shot them in the head. Their 8-month old baby was found unharmed in the mother’s arms. Maybe there was more to this than just the Facebook unfriending, but as things stand right now, the whole thing sounds pretty sick.

Image credit: DarkDelaqroux

There’s also this video on YouTube that’s gone viral the past few days. It’s from an IT pro named Tommy Jordan who talks about Facebook parenting. In the clip, he shoots his daughter’s laptop because she posted “disrespectful status updates.” There’s some NSFW language in the video, so be aware before hitting play.

Maybe the video was just made to drive traffic, but it kind of makes you think: what’s happening to society? It’s not that the daughter’s status updates were appropriate by any means, but it’s a bit of a hyperbolic response to her behavior. Why not just take her laptop away – or donate it to charity?

I really don’t think that anything that happens on Facebook is worth taking someone else’s life – or shooting a laptop, for that matter.

This may well be the most awesome foot race in the history of foot races and it is called Course of the Force. It’s like those relay races your coach forced on you back in high school, but instead of small metal batons that you may or may not dream about beating your coach with, you get freaking lightsabers. And you get to keep those limited edition sabers, assuming you don’t fall and break yours in a pothole.

Basically, this is a charity event where geeks purchase quarter-mile slots of time that they will run carrying their lightsaber. The event spans from July 7th through 11th, between Santa Monica and San Diego, leading right up to Comic-Con. Funds collected will benefit the Make A Wish Foundation.

You don’t have to dress up to participate, but it is highly encouraged. I would love to see some guy dressed like Darth Maul panting and sweating profusely as he runs up the Southern California coast wielding a dual-blade lightsaber. This thing should be epic, check out the video and reserve your spot here.

[via Nerdist]

While there was never an official release date, we expected the game to land in 2011, which never happened. Then we heard the game would launch this month, and now we learn again that the game is delayed yet again. Activision announced during its financial report that there are no games to be delivered in Q1 of 2012. It looks like the soonest we will see Diablo III will be Q2 2012 – sometime between April and June. While you wait, sit back and enjoy opening cinematic from the game – which you won’t be playing any time soon:

Diablo III is still expected to launch this year, but the reality is that even that Q2 2012 launch date is unconfirmed at this point. Activision did state that two games are expected to launch from Blizzard this year. Diablo III is one of them, but the other title we aren’t sure of. It is expected to be Starcraft II, but there are other projects in the works at Blizzard as well.

[via Gamespot]

As Rodney explains, this set is no joke. The 3,152 piece, $400 kit is an incredibly detailed 50 inch LEGO masterpiece. You need to set aside some serious time for this one. The instructions alone look like a phone book.

It even comes with a huge display tile that has statistics on the ship. To truly appreciate this build, check out all of their pics at the link below. The finished ship really is a sight to behold. Best of all two guys got to be kids again for a while.

[via Geeksaresexy]