Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
ie8 fix

specials

The history of the hush-hush helicopter

Helicopters are noisy beasts; it's just in their nature. But for one mission at the tail end of the Vietnam War, a combination of ARPA funds and hard work by the aircraft division of Hughes Tool led to the development of a chopper known as the Quiet One. The Hughes 500P wasn't totally silent, but it was about as surreptitious as a helicopter could be, and in December 1972, it flew in a CIA mission to wiretap a key communications line for North Vietnamese forces. Helicopter historian James R. Chiles (The God Machine) tells the full story of … Read more

'Halo 3' shoes should stay in the closet

The best thing about Adidas' special-edition Halo 3 shoes is that they're limited to 100 pairs, because the world is better off with as few of them as possible. Needless to say, we agree with Dvice that they're the ugliest we've seen in awhile--and that's saying a lot.

In fact, if they didn't have their barely visible Halo logos, we might mistake them for a pair of orthopedic shoes from the Boomer catalogs we keep getting, along with other insulting items. (The Velcro is always a dead giveaway.)

If you must show your allegience for … Read more

Porsche announces limited edition Boxster

Porsche is putting a bit more oomph into its somewhat ho-hum Boxster with a limited edition 2008 RS 60 Spyder.

The car is a nod to Porsche's racing victories of the 1960s, including its first overall win in the 1960 Twelve Hours of Sebring with its Porsche Type 718 RS 60 Spyder, driven by Hans Herrmann and Olivier Gendebien. In this vein, the RS 60 features a Porsche SportDesign aero kit on the front end, 19 inch SportDesign wheels, and special GT silver metallic paint.

While styling cues on the Boxster RS 60 Spyder evoke images of race cars … Read more

Asus goes with classic white for the holidays

Asus is one company that's never satisfied with what it's wearing. One day it's bamboo, the next Lamborghini yellow, and sometimes, just for fun, Prada pink. But for the holidays, it will dress its latest special-edition laptop in classic white.

Yet never one to do things simply, the computer maker has fitted it with a leather shell and silver trimming, according to PClaunches, while also accompanying it with a matching white leather handbag. The specs, as if anyone cared, include a 14.1-inch display, an Intel Core 2 Duo chip and a 250GB hard drive.

Before you … Read more

Turn junior into an indie filmmaker

Any parent who's walked in on a kid playing Jackson Pollock on a wall in the house will appreciate this. Rather than bottle up that creative energy--not to mention the fingerpaint--it might be worth investing in one of these digital camcorders made especially for children, complete with 18 special effects and audio tracks that they can incorporate into their first noir classics.

Don't expect any full-length features with only 32MB of built-in memory, though it can be expanded by up to 2GB with an SD card. Once done, you can view the clips on the TV or computer … Read more

Digi Home's special Sunday deals: September 23, 2007

As we enter the final week of September, there are a slew of nicely-priced tech toys at your local stores. Historically speaking, this is always a good time to find some deals and if you're in the mood for a new HDTV or Digital Camera, now is as good a time as any. So keep reading and look for some of the best deals this week. And as always, if you find another that I may have missed, please let us know and include it in the comments.… Read more

And now, the 'Halo 3' Zune

We think it hardly compares with the "Simpsons" Xbox 360 as far as special editions are concerned, but Microsoft has come out with a promotional Halo 3 Zune, according to Engadget.

The company had said it would release the special 30GB media player next month, and GameStop is already taking pre-orders for a June 15 release at $250.

We'll get out our stopwatches to see how long it takes for them to show up on eBay.

Another reason to throw stuff out of a perfectly good airplane

The old way is to shove a pallet of beans and bullets tied to a few parachutes out the back of a C-130 Hercules and hope it lands in one piece. The new way is to release the CQ-10A SnowGoose from 18,000 feet and allow the 110-horsepower Rotax 914-driven prop and laptop-programmable navigation system to land the payload within 50 meters of a customer up to 500 miles away.

Manufactured by Canadian company Mist Mobility Integrated Systems Technology, the SnowGoose represents the latest in a class of guided parafoil systems that are blurring the line between unmanned aerial vehicles (… Read more

Tell time just like Jack Bauer

Now you too can be as cool as Jack Bauer (though you'll have to lose the Lightsaber first, sorry). The "MTM BlackHawk" that co-stars with him on 24 is available for civilian purchase from U.K.-based Special Ops Watches. So what do you get for $645? Tech Digest says it has an "internal lighting mode" for viewing in the dark and an orange "external lighting mode" that can be seen for more than a mile in times of distress. Yes, it sounds a bit pricey to us as well for what you … Read more