The World's most expensive Vacuum also claims title of The World's Gaudiest

If you've got more than P950,000 to spend and the urge to look good when you do the house work then maybe you need one of these.

Created as a one-off by Lukaz Jemiol, the young Polish fashion designer has created a vacuum cleaner that is blinged to the hilt.

The vacuum cleaner sports 3730 Swarovski crystals that according to the Guinness Book Of Records make it the most valuable vacuum cleaner in the world.

Although Electrolux says that it's a one off, a spokeswomen for the company has told Pocket-lint that they "could arrange to have another one made to order if anyone desired".

The World's most Profane Video Game ever

The video game called "House of the Dead: Overkill" has now become the world's most profane ever, according to a Guinness World Records spokesman. It drops the F-bomb an amazing 189 times, accounting for a 3% of the game's overall dialogue, at a rate of about one use per minute.


Published by Sega, and the game's author, Jonathan Burroughs, said, "It is a dubious honour to receive such an accolade working in an industry where so often the fruits of your labours are derided and dismissed for being puerile or irresponsible. But in the case of 'The House Of The Dead: Overkill', a little puerility was the order of business. Parodying the profane excess of grindhouse cinema was [our] objective and I am flattered that this record acknowledges that we not only rose to that challenge, but entirely exceeded it."

Apple sued over 'exploding' iPod Touch

A mother from Ohio says her son's iPod Touch exploded in his pants, caught fire, and left him with serious burns. Now, she's suing Apple for $225,000 in damages.

Exploding iPod Touch Lawsuit

The lawsuit, filed in Cincinnati on Wednesday, claims the iPod Touch (16GB) exploded while inside the 15-year-old boy's pants pocket. The boy was sitting at his desk in school, the document says, when he "heard a loud pop and immediately felt a burning sensation on his leg." When he stood up, the suit says, he realized the device was on fire.

"[He] immediately ran to the bathroom and took off his burning pants with the assistance of a friend," the lawsuit states. "The Apple [iPod Touch] had burned through [his] pants pocket and melted through his Nylon/Spandex underwear, burning his leg."

"Physical and Mental" Harm

The boy is said to have suffered second-degree burns along with other "physical and mental conditions which will cause him to suffer pain, mental distress, emotional distress, and otherwise for the rest of his life."

The family is demanding $75,000 in "compensatory damages," another $75,000 in "punitive damages," and yet another $75,000 in legal fees and other "special damages."

Lawsuit Specifics

The suit names both Apple and the group of 10 employees who were at the Apple Store when the device was purchased as defendants. Apple has a policy against discussing legal issues while they are still pending.

You can read the lawsuit in its entirety here (PDF)

Nintendo Sells 100 Million DS vs. Sony PSP 50 Million

Nintendo has sold 100 million DS handhelds worldwide since the gadget's release in November 2004, making the device the quickest video-game console to reach that milestone.

The 100 millionth device was shipped as of March 6, Nintendo said. The total shipments include sales of Nintendo DS, DS Lite, and DSi, which is the latest iteration. The DSi has been available in Japan and is scheduled to be on U.S. store shelves April 5 for $170.

In comparison, Sony (NYSE: SNE), Nintendo's major rival in the portable gaming market, has shipped 50 million units of the PlayStation Portable since releasing the device in 2004.

The original DS launched with dual screens, a touch panel, and voice-recognition capabilities. The portable system's successor, DS Lite, was a slimmer model.

The DSi advances the franchise with two 0.3-megapixel cameras, one on the external body and the other pointing at the user when the device is flipped open. The outside camera is for taking and sharing pictures over the Web. Developers are expected to make use of the inside device to make games more interactive.

Other features include a voice recorder and music player and software filters and controls for altering voices or changing the tempo of songs. The system plays downloadable games from Nintendo's online store, as well as store-bought games. The DSi also can play the more than 850 titles made for the DS.

Once available in the United States, Nintendo's latest gadget could evolve into a competitor of the iPod Touch, which is also a gaming platform and music and video player. The iPod is more expensive with a starting price of $229, but games are cheaper on the Apple product.

As of Dec. 31, global shipments of 83 DS games have topped 1 million copies, according to Nintendo. Seven of those titles topped 10 million.

Apple unveils new iPod shuffle (4th Generation)

Apple on Wednesday introduced the next generation iPod shuffle. The shuffle has always been Apple’s smallest iPod, but now it is nearly half the size of the previous model at 1.8 inches tall by 0.3 inches thin.

The new iPod shuffle bumps storage up to 4GB and features VoiceOver, which enables the iPod to speak your song titles, artists, and playlist names. The shuffle can speak 14 languages: including English, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.

Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPod an

d iPhone Product Marketing, told Macworld that the iPod shuffle will automatically recognize what language it should speak. If you have a preference of which language you would like, it can be changed in iTunes.

All of the controls for the Shuffle are located o

n the earphone cord, allow you to play, pause, adjust volume, switch playlists and hear the name of the song and artist. The iPod can also give you information like battery life. Apple confirmed that third-party adapters will be available so you can use headphones other than the ones that come with the iPod.

The new shuffle also lets you sync multiple playlists from iTunes for the first time.

According to Apple, the third-generation iPod shuffle holds up to 1,000 songs encoded at 128 Kbps.

Apple’s new iPod shuffle

“The concept for doing this came from the iPhone, specifically the iPhone headset,” said Joswiak. “After we expanded on it in the fall by adding volume control, we looked at it and realized that would work for the shuffle too.”

Joswiak explained that by removing the buttons Apple was able to make the shuffle smaller, without compromising on other features.

“It’s now the smallest music player in the world,” said Joswiak. “Despite being smaller, it actually holds more songs.”

The new iPod shuffle comes in silver or black and features a sleek and design with a built-in stainless steel clip. It requires iTunes 8.1, which hadn’t been released at the time this story was publishing (although Apple’s iTunes download page says the update is coming soon). The shuffle is available immediately and costs $79 (Apple is still selling the 1GB second-generation iPod shuffle for $49).

Microsoft Enters Notebook Cooler Market

Notebook Cooling Base, available in July, will cost $30.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft is introducing a new technology to help keep laptops cooler. Unfortunately, it's not software.

The company on Tuesday introduced its first Notebook Cooling Base, an inch-thick stand with built-in fan. Available in white and black, the laptop-chiller is powered over a USB connection.

The product will sell for $30 when it hits the market in July and represents a new direction for Microsoft's hardware unit, which is best known for its mice and keyboards.

At one point, the company sold wireless networking gear, though it got out of that business in 2004.

Microsoft on Tuesday also announced new colors for its trendy-looking Arc Mouse. Later this month, the $50 mouse will be available in the decidedly non-beige shades of frost white, eggplant purple, deep olive green, and marine blue. It's already on the market in red and black.

The $50 Arc Mouse will be available in frost white, eggplant purple, deep olive green, and marine blue.

(Credit: Microsoft )

Japanese gadget controls iPod in blink of an eye

TOKYO (AFP) — A wink, a smile or a raised eyebrow could soon change the music on your iPod or start up the washing machine, thanks to a new Japanese gadget.

The device looks like a normal set of headphones but is fitted with a set of infrared sensors that measure tiny movements inside the ear that result from different facial expressions.

The gizmo -- called the "Mimi Switch" or "Ear Switch" -- is connected to a micro-computer that can control electronic devices, essentially making it a hands-free remote control for anything.

"You will be able to turn on room lights or swing your washing machine into action with a quick twitch of your mouth," said its inventor, Kazuhiro Taniguchi of Osaka University.

"An iPod can start or stop music when the wearer sticks his tongue out, like in the famous Einstein picture. If he opens his eyes wide, the machine skips to the next tune. A wink with the right eye makes it go back.

"The machine can be programmed to run with various other facial expressions, such as a wriggle of the nose or a smile."

The Mimi Switch could also store and interpret data and get to know its user, said Taniguchi, chief researcher at Osaka University's Graduate School of Engineering Science in western Japan.

"It monitors natural movements of the face in everyday life and accumulates data," Taniguchi told AFP in an interview. "If it judges that you aren't smiling enough, it may play a cheerful song."

Some may use the device for relaxation -- perhaps by changing music hands-free while reading a book -- but Taniguchi said it could also have more serious applications to make people's lives safer and easier.

"If the system is mounted on a hearing aid for elderly people, it could tell how often they sneeze or whether they are eating regularly," he said.

"If it believes they are not well, it could send a warning message to relatives."

The device could also serve as a remote control for appliances for physically disabled people, from cameras and computers to air conditioners, or alert medical services if a person has a fit, he said.

The Ear Switch follows on from an earlier device called the Temple Switch that was small enough to fit inside a pair of eyeglasses and also read the flick of an eyelid.

"As the ear switch is put in the ears, its optical sensors are unaffected by sunlight," Taniguchi said.

He said he was planning to patent his new device in Japan and abroad, work on a wireless version, and seek corporate funding to market it for practical uses -- something he expected might take two or three years.