If you're American, don't even pretend you care about this. 'Cause you don't care about mobile TV at all, and we've got the facts to prove it. For those parked in Japan, though, you have every right to get jazzed. Softbank's 1seg TV tuner / battery charger has finally been loosed on the carrier's home turf, and the lucky cats over at DVICE were able to acquire one and give it a whirl. Setup was said to be a breeze, the 1seg pickup was crystal clear and the device itself was satisfactorily lightweight. As for downsides, the entire app is in Japanese, and even with the extra juice, watching TV on the go zapped the life out in around an hour with brightness maxed. Check the full writeup and unboxing gallery in the read link below.

[Via OhGizmo]

Eager to use your mouse / keyboard combo on your Xbox 360? Eager enough to drop $179.95 for the privilege? If so, then you should probably know that XIM's ready and willing to oblige. The XIM 2 module, which is supposedly plug 'n play in nature, is at long last available for ordering, though it's not quite ready for shipment. Seriously though, for this price you may be better off investing in a few controller mastering lessons and using the remainder on Bawls and Cheetos.

[Thanks, K.Green]

ASUS hinted at some alternative Eee form factors in the Spring of last year, but it's a Japanese modder that's showing the company exactly how it shouldn't approach an Eee-branded tablet PC. It's a touch tough to understand exactly what's going on, but here's what is (partially) clear: the hack job took around ten hours to complete, and the outer edges are inexplicably covered in aluminum foil. It's encased in some sort of transparent housing -- which we suppose is pretty nifty for showing off the internals -- and the retrofitted touchpanel provides the tasty tablet functionality. Apparently this guy spent around ¥11,000 ($128) over and above the cost of the Eee PC in order to construct the final result pictured above -- the question is: was it really worth it?

[Via Fashion Funky, thanks Bob]

Ainol's V6000HDB is about six times better than the V1000 and roughly twice as awesome as the V3000, but we suppose those metrics are really neither here nor there. The Chinese portable media player packs a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 resolution display, 4GB of internal storage space, support for RMVB, AVI and FLV video files and HD (720p) output. Outside of that, the nitty-gritty is lost in translation, but for just 399 yuan ($58), we've heard plenty.

[Via PMP Today]

Digital Foci has been cluttering up the market with ho hum digiframes for years now, but it's finally pumping out a respectable photo manager in the Picture Porter 35. The above pictured device comes with a 160GB internal hard drive, a 3.5-inch LCD monitor, a multi-format card reader and a promise of being able to transfer 1GB of data in around 120 seconds. Users can also tap into the USB-host functionality in order to connect an external HDD for data access, and there's also a built-in speaker, audio recorder (with an integrated mic) and audio / video outputs. No mention of a price, but it should be on display for the world to see at CES next week.

We're truthfully not sure what's cooler: the fact that the above pictured washing machine tweets when it's done, or the fact that the above pictured washing machine still works. We're guessing that the geeks in the crowd would argue that it's clearly the former, and for those interested in a little proof / explanation, you can head on past the break for a video demonstration. But just so you know, it's highly unlikely that your Twittering washer will have any diehard followers.

[Via technabob]

We hate to harsh on Toshiba here, we honestly do, but what in the world is it thinking? As if its clearly unimpressive Super Resolution Technology wasn't embarrassing enough, we're now hearing that the outfit is expected to release a line of prototype players at CES next week that tout SD card slots. Why, you ask? To accept the flash card movies that -- you guessed it -- no one on the entire planet is interested in. Okay, so maybe a handful of people (you know, the same characters who thought slotMusic was a solid idea) will buy in, but seriously, this has failure written all over it. The move comes hot on the heels of a Toshiba / Mod Systems tie-up to establish kiosks that sell films on SD cards, though we're still curious as to whether these SD card players will be of the standalone variety or integrated into upscaling DVD decks. We'll keep an open mind 'til we see the final product(s) at CES, but it'll take a belated Christmas miracle for this to be even halfway awesome.

[Via Video Business]

Well, here's an interesting twist to this story. That mysterious and completely enraging "Zune bug" that cropped up on the final day of 2008 may not have been restricted to Microsoft PMPs. A much smaller cadre of Toshiba Gigabeat users reportedly experienced similar issues, and some even noted that the whole "discharge and re-date" rigmarole fixed their unit right up as well. Upon further investigation, it seems that the issue may actually reside in the Freescale MC13783 processor, which -- coincidentally enough -- is used in the Zune 30 and a few of Toshiba's alternatives. We suppose it's a little late to ask, but did any non-Zune owners experience similar issues just prior to the dawn of '09? Or were you too busy, um, partying like it was 1999?

[Thanks nywytboy68]

The perfect complement to ION's Drum Rocker kit, dreamGEAR has unveiled the WarBeast wireless guitar controller for PlayStation 3 and PS2. It's compatible with Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and Rock Revolution games and features a removable faceplate for customization and removable neck and headstock for easier transport. Officially licensed by B.C. Rich, the company is touting this axe as the first and only full-sized guitar controller on the market -- although we bet Starpex and maybe even Gene Simmons would beg to differ. It's now available on the company's website for $130, though if you can't afford that Rock n' Roll lifestyle, Amazon's got it for $90. They've also got a new Quad Dock Xbox 360 controller charger and some refreshed versions of their PS3, Wii lineup, which aren't out yet -- according to Electronista they'll go for around $30 or $40.

[Via Electronista]

Read - dreamGEAR WarBeast product page
Read - Amazon WarBeast product page

Sony's not playing it too coy with the upcoming VAIO P -- some more detailed specs on the widescreen netbook have leaked out, and they're just about what we expected: a 1.33GHz Atom Z520, 2GB of RAM, standard HDD with optional SSD, GPS, and a 3G WWAN card, all for about €700 ($974). No word on that crazy rumored 1600 x 768 display resolution, but apparently that sexy Photoshopped VAIO TT pic we saw is close to the real thing, trackstick and all. We'll see -- for close to $1000, this guy had better run Vista a hell of a lot better than the similarly-spec'd ASUS R50A UMPC Portal just trashed in a review.

[Via UMPC Portal, image from Pocketables]

If you want to make a car handle -- and handle well -- you call Lotus. Just ask Tesla; without the help of the gearheads in Hethel, the US's hottest electric vehicle would probably still be just a concept. Perhaps dissatisfied with the relatively minimal PR love it's been receiving from the Tesla relationship, Lotus has announced plans to develop its own battery-powered car. However, unlike the all-electric Roadster, this new offering will include a Volt-like supplementary fuel-burning engine to add a bit more range and, one would figure, rather a lot more mass. That's not exactly good news for those who worship the Lotus mantra of "to add speed, add lightness," but at this point we don't have any idea about what the thing will weigh, cost, or indeed look like. If all goes according to plan we should get some answers when those international automotive powerhouses who are still alive bum a ride to the Geneva Auto Show in March.

[Via Autoblog]

Okay, so besides the obvious black dot / band issues that Canon doesn't seem to care much about, how else would you tweak the EOS 5D Mark II? Said DSLR has proven itself as a champion in the low-light / video space, thought there's like, no competition at all thus far in the latter department. Are you comfortable with the grip? Is the UI friendly enough to navigate? Too light or heavy? Does it make you weep in joy each time you hold it? For those who've laid down the coin for this, we're sure you've got a few things to say -- so vent in comments below, won't you?