magic

Embedding music systems in household furniture is hardly a unique concept, as we've seen it done in pieces ranging from headboards to fireplaces. But in most cases, you don't sit on the equipment.

That's why we were initially a bit dubious about the "Substage FlatMagic Active Subwoofer," which is described as "the world's first ultra-compact low-profile audiophile subwoofer solution"--meaning that it's thin enough to slide under a living room chair or sofa. Soundmatters, which will soon sell a new version of the skinny box for $399, says it was designed … Read more

What works better: hard, cold technology or arcane, mystical powers? We put that question to a test by seeing which would better help us get home, a Magic 8 Ball or the GPS navigation system in a Honda Accord. We made our start point in the midst of suburban streets near Tiburon, and tried each method to direct us back across the Golden Gate Bridge, into San Francisco. With the Magic 8 Ball, we asked it at each intersection whether we should go right. Using the GPS navigation system, we merely input the address in San Francisco where we wanted … Read more

Long before Beyonce, there was Mark Salud. Long before ProTools, there were modded Amiga computers. Long before YouTube, there was public access TV. And long before AfterEffects, there was Video Toaster.

These four facts are celebrated majestically in the following video.

P.S. Various Mark Salud music modules for the Amiga are available on Aminet.

A digital music application that forces Apple, Sony and Microsoft to play nice? It's a Christmas miracle. Or something.

Recently released SimpleCenter 4.1 from Universal Electronics is a PC-only software application that organizes and plays any music, movie and photo format. It's an equal-opportunity program, able to sync media files with a diverse group of devices--an iPod, PSP, Xbox 360, Nokia N80, N93, USB sticks and other PlaysForSure players.

On the plus side, posessors of the Nokia N80 can wirelessly update their media content from their home PC using SimpleCenter, which is cool. However, though SimpleCenter allows … Read more

Forget coin meters and time-stamped windshield stickers. A new service called Mobile Parking Service, launched this week by Irish company ParkMagic, in collaboration with Verizon's Skytel subsidiary, brings parking into the digital age.

Rather than digging around for coins down the back of the passenger seat, drivers use the service to pay for parking by making a call from their cell phones, which debits a prepaid account. A message is then sent wirelessly to a digital display on the car's dashboard to show the parking time remaining. The service, which will be coming to cities across the U.… Read more

PALO ALTO, Calif.--While it sounds like a traveling magic show, Mobile Augmented Reality is actually the future of how we'll access information on our wireless phones.

Though researchers around the world have been developing the technology for a decade, Nokia gave us a peek at its foray into the field Thursday when it opened its Nokia Research Center (NRC) in Palo Alto, Calif. And yes, it is a little bit magical.

Combining mobile cameras, GPS, orientation sensors and wireless devices, mobile augmented reality lets a device capture an image of a location, like San Francisco's Union Square, … Read more