Filed under: Digital Cameras

As much as we love shiny new toys, there's something to be said for the elegance of polished wood. At the Photokina exhibition in Germany, Olympus recently wowed everyone with a Japanese cypress encased camera. Olympus issued a press release with a great number of details about the wood, and included photos of how the wood was carved -- but unfortunately neglected to tell us what kind of hardware resides in this hardwood. We're betting that Olympus is holding off on releasing further info until it can develop a way to convert its pristine images into equally stunning Japanese woodblock prints.

[Via FarEastGizmos]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Desktops, Household

What better to match up with that legnatile wood notebook and elm mousepad than a stay-at-home desktop counterpart that wraps nature's best around the sweetest components available? Suissa Computers is targeting the anti-treehugger in us all by offering up a lineup of custom made PCs geared specifically for gaming, entertainment, or home office use. Sporting unconventional, artsy designs, these computers can be encased in a myriad of woods including maple, walnut, oak, goncalo alves, lacewood, leopardwood, paduak, mahogany, zebrawood or purpleheart. Hidden within is an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ / 5000+ dual-core CPU, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, nVidia GeForce 7900 / 7950 graphics card, 600 watt power supply, liquid cooling system, and essentially any other option your mind can envision (and wallet can afford). Each model is only replicated 100 times, when it's then replaced by another freshly-chopped design, so if you see a flavor you dig (and have the $6,150+ to cover the cost of ownership), you should probably snap one up before it hits Suissa's endangered species list.

[Via CNET]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Researchers from Syracuse have found that mixing nanocrystals of cellulose with plastics creates a substance that strengthens plastic "by a factor of 3,000". And it's environmentally friendly with the cellulose parts biodegrading within 90 days.

Why wood? Aside from the vast possibilities of new sexual innuendo, wood has more cellulose than other plants, so scientists get more bang for their buck of raw materials. We'd question why scientists aren't combining titanium with plastic instead, but we don't want to be too hard on them.

BTW: We realize that this picture isn't the actual product...or is it...with Syracuse just taking the credit...– Mark Wilson

News Story [digg]

Filed under: Transportation

For the average child, killing hours on end tossing an easily assembled balsa wood toy plane isn't an uncommon occurrence; for Mark Clews, however, those flat packed crafts weren't exhilarating enough. The 24-year old bloke spent six whole months building a "life-sized edition" to the same exact specifications as the kits he adored as a wee boy. The aircraft boasted a 20-foot wingspan, was 15-feet in length, and was constructed with a slightly tougher wood than balsa. However, his engineering (and physics) skills weren't nearly as sharp as those carpentry ones, as he expected "an enormous rubberband" wound countless times around the propeller to launch the plane into flight. Unsurprisingly, the craft jolted forward a meager five feet, and "even backwards" on another attempt, rendering his project a failure. In an presumed attempt to alert others of how not to get airborne, his impressive (albeit permanently grounded) creation will be on display at the Learn to Fly expo next month in London.

[Via FARK]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Not as ghetto as the big Wooden Scony cellphones found in Mozambique, these HULGER phones are actually made of wood as a luxury thing. Constructed out of African Ziricote hardwood, which is usually used for decorative objects, the phone has its own wooden box and comes with a case of wax so you can wax your phone. That's not a euphemism folks.

Fortunately, this is only one of a kind and available for £2000 ($3885) from the Digital Wellbeing Showroom or direct from HULGER. – Jason Chen

Product Site [Hulger]

ZIRICOTE WOODEN PHONE [Hulger]

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Anika peers out from the little wood house we ran across on our walk.

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I'll remember it
Every restless night
We were so young then
We thought that everything
We could possibly do was right
Then we moved
Stolen from our very eyes
And I wondered where you went to
Tell me when did the light die
You will rise
You'll return
The phoenix from the flame
You will learn
You will rise
You'll return
Being what you are
There is no other Troy
For you to burn

- TROY, Sinead O'Connor

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If the glossy black, matte silver, or brushed aluminum looks are simply too played out for your next HDTV, LG is hoping to spruce up your options by offering up yet another forest-inspired offering. Details are admittedly scant on the forthcoming 60-inch 60PT1, but we do know that this beast of a PDP will rock a dark wooden frame that could hang in perfect harmony in your kid's pimped out treehouse. Additionally, it seems that LG will only be loosing 1,000 of these limited edition units worldwide, and that folks in Korea (well, not North Korea) will get first dibs when they finally appear. Of course, meticulously crafting such a beauty apparently takes time, as you won't be finding one of these for sale until "March at the earliest," but that should give you enough time to sell off a car or two in order to finance this presumably pricey luxury.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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