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Harmonix announced that the 1st album will be Judas Priest’s Screaming for Vengeance. Sweet. This is the 1st in hopefully what will be many albums that they release. If you’re into NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal), then you’ll love the choice. IMHO (my opinion only, so no need to argue), this is one of the best Priest albums. Next up, Def Lep’s Pyromania, or Iron Maiden’s The Number of the Beast?

I feel that if Rock Band is to have some sort of lasting future, that this is exactly what they need to continue doing, but of course they also need to release lots and lots of singles, especially current and new ones to add to the variety and excitement.

I’m so excited, I pulled up some Priest to listen to on Rhapsody!

via Kotaku.

Posted in Gaming & Toys

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 17th 2008 at 10:56PM
Okay Britons, here’s your shot at ripping us Americans who’ve had quite a few laughs at the expense of your GPS-loving neighbors. Reportedly, the driver of a charter bus carrying a high school girls’ softball team decided to casually follow the soothing turn-by-turn directions that were being emitted from the nearby GPS unit rather than actually noticing the enormous clearance sign on the overpass ahead. As you can likely guess, the 11-foot, 8-inch-high vehicle plowed right into the 9-foot bridge — which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 — though somehow everyone on board escaped without any major injuries. Oddly enough, the driver apparently isn’t alone in chipping away at the landmark, as a local even mentioned that “large trucks hit the bridge every two weeks or so,” but couldn’t resist noting that “this [instance was] by far the worst.”

[Thanks, Raleigh]

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The Chinese video of an RC car playing the theme from Super Mario Bros. on a long row of bottles has been met with countless accolades and much amazement this week; Gadget Lab blogger Charlie Sorrel posted the video earlier today. It was only a matter of time, then, that someone stood up and cried "Fake!"

Akihabara News questions the validity of the video, noting out-of-sync audio, and is even running a "Fake or Not?" poll that currently has 67 percent of an undisclosed number of voters proclaiming the performance to be of the Milli Vanilli variety. Take another look at the video (or a first look if you’ve spent the week crawling out of a cave) and let us know what you think. Fake? Or real deal? The comments await your opinions.

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 17th 2008 at 9:19PMYeah, you definitely have our permission to be incredibly envious of someone who is actually going to be motoring about in both Europe and North America on a frequent basis, but in all seriousness, we’re betting Sneaker isn’t the only chap out there looking for the best GPS for intercontinental travels.

“I’m headed to Europe in the near future and will be doing some extensive driving. Thus, I’m wondering which GPS units your readers have found to be effective for cruising on the back-roads of Europe, while still getting the job done in North America as well? Would appreciate some recommendations.”

You’ll notice a budget is glaringly absent here, so feel free to toss out your recommendations from low-end to princely. Meanwhile, you can beam in a burning question of your own by writing us at ask at engadget dawt com — who knows, you might find your very own words in this space next week.

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Filed under: Ask Engadget, GPS

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 18th 2008 at 8:29AM
We know, there’s only so much you can do to a foam donut to make it, well, more than a foam donut, but Brando’s trying its best to one-up the competition by adding in a stand. With Mario Kart Wii launching in under a fortnight (in the US, at least), the Wii Multi-Axis Racing System is vying for those hard-earned dollars by giving racers the ability to grip something stuck to an immobile surface rather than just flailing around with some sort of lightweight Wiimote-engulfing circle. And at just $18, it even gives the first-party Wii Wheel some serious competition. Okay, so maybe “serious” is an overstatement.

[Via NintendoWiiFanboy]

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Portable hard drives aren’t poor cousins of their computer based brethren anymore, as Mercury has proven with its On-The-Go model which holds up to 500GB worth of data in a pretty interesting design. It supports USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 connectivity, and is fully Firewire bus-powered which means you don’t have to worry about lugging an additional power adapter each time you bring this out from your home. Unfortunately, those relying on USB connectivity might require the separate power adapter instead. Would you drop 500GB in a transparent case?

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 18th 2008 at 6:52AMOh sure, we’ve most certainly seen window-based advertising used to lure the untrained eye to any manner of wares, but Scion’s latest iteration certainly takes interactive promoting to new heights. In order to market its limited edition tC Release Series 4.0, it partnered up with InWindow to cover a series of street-side windows with bubbles which reacted to movements made by captivated individuals walking by. Granted, the installation isn’t nearly as addictive as say, trying to wrangle up every single Pokémon, but it definitely managed to hold the attention of a few geeked-out civilians. Check it out for yourself, the video’s right after the jump.

[Via Digg, thanks Andres]

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X-Finger replaces lost fingers

Inventor Dan Didrick created X-Finger to replace the lost fingers without relying on robotics.

The X-Finger is a non-robotic prosthetic finger, or set of multiple fingers, with a full range of motion, including being able to curl like normal fingers.

To realize X-Finger over the past four years, he has sold his Rolex, his Porsche 911 and his Naples villa; he has moved into a single-bedroom house with his girlfriend.

Finally he succeeded. In May, Dan Didrick was awarded second place in a national invention contest sponsored by the History Channel and the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation.

X-Finger will be used by civilians to replace their lost fingers. Also X-Finger can be used by solders that lost their finger into combats.

More about X-Finger and Dan Didrick in Naples news.

This medical gadget can really improve the life of many people.

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The SunView PMP projector is the first pico projector available on a commercial basis, jointly developed by Sunlink International and iView Limited. It isn’t out flooding the market just yet as limited quantities are available, but there are plans to up the production in the near future. This portable media player is powered by Windows CE and features the following :-

• 3.5″ LCD display
• SD memory card slot
• 640 x 480 projector resolution

No idea on how much it will cost nor whether it will ever arrive Stateside, but it sure as heck is one pretty nifty-looking device. Hopefully the battery life will be able to hold out for length movie marathons.

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by Nilay Patel, posted Apr 17th 2008 at 2:34PM
Dorks we may be, but we’re just not ready for head-mounted displays to hit the mainstream — which is why this patent application for laser-based headgear from Apple makes us cringe just as hard as the MyVu product line. Apple wants to up the nerd factor immeasurably by putting all the image processing and generation hardware in a belt-clipped processing box, which will allow the glasses to shrink down and potentially be indistinguishable from regular glasses. Laser-generated images from the box are then transmitted to wedge optics in the glasses via a fiber optic cable, and hey — you’re watching The Office on your glasses with a processing box clipped to your belt. Can you say “coolest guy in school?” Yeah, didn’t think so — no amount of white plastic and brushed aluminum will ever make this okay. The application just went public today, so there’s a long way to go before Apple actually gets this patent — here’s hoping we get a similarly long reprieve from ubiquitous head-mounted displays.

[Via Unwired View]

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Filed under: Wearables