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You might think that eating utensils were not a field particularly ripe for innovation, but au contraire. The upcoming International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago will include a slew of new utensil ideas.

Most striking is the Knork, a multitasker that puts your average spork to shame. The basic idea seems to be to include a sharpened side on a sturdily-built fork, allowing the diner to cut meat and veggies and transfer the chunks to his maw with one hand. Supposedly ideal for airplane dining and other elbow-constraining situations, we can imagine opportunities when the Knork would come in handy. We can also imagine being rather concerned about not cutting our lips to hell.

A Knork in the Road [Washington Post]

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When the first Rainbow Six Vegas came out, it was one of the standout titles in a quite strong first person shooter lineup in November 2006. Now, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, billed part sequel, part prequel, is just about a week away. It’s the sixth title in the famous tactical shooter series, and it looks like it may be the best game yet.

Vegas 2 will see players taking on the seedier side of Sin City, with more outdoor combat than we saw in the first game. The game ditches the main character from the first Vegas in favor of a character the user creates. And it seems like everything related to that character should be completely customizable for use in both multiplayer and single player campaigns. The “Persistent Elite Creation” system allows players to assign experience points. The weapon set includes everything from RSV, plus another 11 brand spanking new ones.

The coolest feature of the game is that the way you earn kills will change the kinds of unlockable weapons you get a hold of. There are three sets of kills–Marksmanship, Assault, and Close-Quarter battle–which make up the Advanced Combat Enhancement and Specialization, or ACES, system. For example, headshots go to Marksmanship, shooting through a wall counts to Assault, and killing an enemy while blinded by a flashbang counts to CQB. And so after a certain number of headshots, you might get a new sniper rifle.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 makes use of the Unreal 3 engine, and it promises to be a sheer shooting delight. Even if the game just offered more levels of Rainbow Six Vegas, and it does offer 13 more maps, I’m sure it would be a good one. But given all the improvements the series is looking to make, this could be March’s Game of the Month.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 launches March 18, 2008, for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

For more, please see the Rainbow Six Vegas 2 website.

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It looks like MobiTV is trying to shut down HowardForums.com. MobiTV has been sending threatening letters to Howard requesting for posts to be taken down from his site. The posts describe a way to access video feeds from the MobiTV service for free by simply going to a URL. The URL enables access to the service from a computer or a mobile phone.

MobiTV is claiming that the posts obtained the URL through hacking or debugging. It is Howard’s claim that no hacking or debugging was used because the file listing the URL is available on their website for anyone to read. The exchange between Howard and representatives at MobiTV is available on the HowardForums.com website.

Of course, you might want to go there soon. MobiTV has bumped up their threats by issuing a cease and decease, asking Howard to remove the posts. They have also contacted Global Net Access who hosts the website to have the HoFo removed since it contains MobiTV intellectual property.

Read more at HowardForums.com.

Brian’s Opinion

I think Howard has a valid fight. I’m not sure how a URL is intellectual property when it is accessible by anyone with a computer, especially through an unprotected file. If their IT department was as aggressive with security as their legal department is at shutting down Howard’s website then it seems their legal team wouldn’t be as busy. Honestly, the legal team has now made the problem worse because more people are going to know about this URL and the true problem which is MobiTV has poor security. There is no such thing as security through obscurity.

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The recent trend for online websites and services is to go mobile, and LinkedIn wanted to make sure it would be on that train. So, the company announced LinkdIn Mobile. Luckily for iphone users there is a version for you as well.

LinkedIn mobile will work on any Web-enabled wireless phone that uses the wireless application protocol (WAP). That not only includes mobile phones and iPhones, but also blackberry handhelds. To access it, you simply need to point your mobile device to http://m.linkedin.com.

LinkedIn Mobile features will include the ability to search profiles, research contacts, invite contacts, and receive network update capabilities. International versions of LinkedIn Mobile will also be available, including one in French, German, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese. There is also a version of LinkedIn Mobile, which has been created for improved performance on iPhones.

Those folks who want to be networked or “LinkedIn” also tend to be the same people who are always on the go. That’s why I am sure that many users of the service were screaming for a mobile version. Now that they have it, you can bet LinkedIn will be able to count on some more usage by registered users and probably some new users based on the attraction of this new mobile version.

An overview and video demos of the new LinkedIn mobile are available on the LinkedIn blog.

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I must be dehydrated, because I’m writing about another drinking-related gadget. This one is a bit more simplistic than the single-serve blender I spoke of earlier. Some people tend to burn their hands (or tongues) on hot coffee or hot chocolate, which is never fun. Other times you’ll leave a cup sitting around for longer than you realize, then take a swig of a disgustingly-cold drink. That’s never fun. This simple mug makes it blindingly obvious how warm your drink is.

The mug is coated with a heat sensitive glaze which changes color according to the temperature of the beverage contained within. Sure, it’s not a necessity to have your cup tell you how warm your drink is, I think you can find out yourself. That’s really not the point though, it looks cool and it might save you from taking a sip of nasty coffee now and then. The asking price for one of these mugs is $25.

Source: UberReview

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Hearing Central LLC has just announced a trio of new models of hearing aids from its Melody range. First off we have the Melody A1 that features two channels and a dozen bands, making it good to counter moderate hearing loss of up to 70dB. As for the Melody A2, you get a quartet of channels and 12 bands, making it useful for moderate to severe hearing loss of up to 80dB. Last but not least, we have the Melody A3 that comes with four channels, 12 bands and omni-directional microphones, and is also good for hearing loss of up to 80dB. All three types of hearing aids tip the scales at less than an ounce, measuring 1″ long and 3/16″ wide. Choose from beige, charcoal and silver colors. The Melody A1, A2 and A3 will retail for $495, $695 and $895, respectively.

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Charles Cooper got to snoop around Intel’s research lab and comes back with some interesting tidbits on where Intel thinks we’ll take technology.  Sure, many of what they research won’t make it to market, but they are driven by the premise , “what if?”.  It is enlightening to see what they are up to.

Real-time feedback: So much of public policy is based on best guesses (I fail to come up with a solid example, you’ll have to use your imagination).  How about placing pollution sensors on taxi cabs?  This allows a street-by-street view of how city decisions on parking, traffic flow, zoning laws and much more effect pollution.  A fantastic tool that started off in Ghana and worked so well, San Fransisco adopted the sensors to their street sweepers.

Another interesting tech Intel has going is its Rural Connectivity Platform allowing remote areas higher speed internet connection.

It’s a low-cost way of providing roughly 10 megabits-per-second connectivity to remote areas. The RCP needs a clear line of sight to work, but when set up without obstructions, Intel says the wireless long-distance nodes can connect every 60 miles.

By stabbing at the future, Intel has done much they stay central to it all.  Click the link for two more of Intel’s concepts.

Read [C|Net]

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After EA announced its intention to split Valve’s The Orange Box collection back at the beginning of February, Valve has now confirmed the date it will happen.

On April 9, you will be able to purchase the games contained in the pack separately. If there is only one game in the pack you are interested in, this is certainly good news, and you will now be able to choose between Portal, Half-Life 2: Episode One and Two, and Team Fortress 2 for purchase.

The unofficial pricing of the individual games is predicted to be as follows:

• Portal US$19.99
• Team Fortress 2 $29.99
• Half-Life 2: Episode One and Two $29.99

Currently, Valve is selling The Orange Box via Steam for $49.95.

I am assuming the Half-Life 2 pack contains the original Half:Life 2 game as well and not just the add-ons. The pricing seems fair, as buying more than one separately is pointless, and you should just get The Orange Box instead.

Read more at Joystiq.

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Yesterday Ziff Davis Media Inc. filed Chapter 11 petitions with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The move was the first stage in a major restructuring for the company, as it has failed to deal with declining revenue from its print media subscriptions and associated advertising.

Ziff Davis manages to reach 26 million individuals by way of 16 websites, including 1UP.com and FileFront.com, and three magazines–PC Magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), and Games for Windows: The Official Magazine.

Before going into bankruptcy, Ziff Davies created a pre-arranged plan for re-organization of the company. That plan will now come into effect with the approval of the Courts, and the company is hoping to come back out on bankruptcy by the summer.

Under the terms of the pre-arranged deal, the US$225 million owed to creditors will be replaced with a $57.5 million debt to those same creditors. On top of that, 88.8% of the restructured company will be shared between them. What happens to the remaining 11.2% is up in the air, but it’s likely it will be offered to other creditors not covered under the first offer.

According to Jason Young, chief executive of Ziff Davis, the focus is now turning to business online for the company.

Read more at the Associated Press article and the Ziff Davis press release.

Matthew’s Opinion

Print media has certainly been in decline for a number of reasons; two of which are prominent. The first is obviously the growing popularity of the Internet as a source of information. You can’t beat its immediacy, and there is such a huge range of information to be found that magazines can look really dated.

The other factor is cost. The cost of producing magazines has risen significantly over the past few years, and therefore people are less likely to buy a magazine. Subscriptions offer discounts and/or free items, but this isn’t that much of an incentive unless it is a really useful offer.

I’m sure Ziff Davis will bounce back, and I’d hate to see EGM magazine disappear off the shelves.

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Belkin have created PodcastStudio which is currently on display over at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany. PodcastStudio is a device which allows you to dock your ipod to make high quality recordings. Once you have finished recording the upload process is simple. All you need to do is dock your iPod with your computer and the podcast you just recorded is automatically uploaded to iTunes for all to listen to.

The PodcastStudio comes with a built-in microphone to make the recordings and also has a speaker so you can play back the recordings out loud. The other alternative is to just listen through the headphones on your iPod. The amount of recording time is very high due to the only restriction being the amount of storage on your iPod which when recording audio, can be configured to take up even less space. The benefits of this device is it’s portability. It can be carried anywhere and offer a quick professional recording solution in a mobile environment.

There are a number of controls on the front of the studio which allow the ability to adjust the input source (built in mic, or 3.5mm jack), a master volume level, recording limiters, mono/stereo switch, gain settings and the monitor volume.

Unfortunately no release date is available just yet and no price either.

Source - Gadgetizer and Aving

Guest Post by Matthew of Gadget Venue.