Awesome Tech

Not only does the updated version of Amazon’s 9.7-inch Kindle DX book reader have a new case color, they’ve improved display contrast by 50%, and cut the price by $110 bucks. Ships 7/7.

This awesome costume was created by Hyperbole Studios for a Toshiba commercial. It’s made from thousands of individual “pixel” blocks cut from foam and glued to a cardboard structure.

Windows-only program Desktop Earth is a wallpaper generator. Using image data from NASA, it updates your wallpaper with a picture of what the Earth looks like from space at the current time.

There’s a lot to like about Opera – built-in mouse gestures, server-side compression and even torrent management. The latest adds features like faster JavaScript handling and geolocation.

These sleek modern ‘phones from TV juggernaut Vizio stream wireless 5.1 surround sound from your own system or Vizio’s home theater soundbar. Active noise cancellation too. Coming soon at $299.

Weng Jie has designed an excellent camera strap that features thin solar films across the width of the strap to harness solar energy and charge your camera when out clicking away in the field.

The GoFlex Desk external hard drives have a maximum capacity of 3TB. The GoFlex interfaces (USB 2.0 included; USB 3.0 & FW 800 sold separately) add versatility to the drives.

This little ditty by a one-man band known as flakjakt may not be the catchiest tune, but it does hold the unique distinction of being the first music video shot with the iPhone 4’s rockin’ 720p camera.

Gresso didn’t take long to take the iPhone 4 and turn it into a high-priced designer accessory, embellished with fine materials such as African blackwood, 18k gold and Swarovski crystals.

Hulu Plus might be the dagger of death to US cable TV, streaming shows on the iPad, iPhone, PS3 and other connected devices over Wi-Fi and 3G for just $10/month. Still not ad free, though. Boo.

One of four finalists in a Blackberry case design contest, the B100 unabashedly evokes memories of those awful 1980s brick phones. The non-functional retractable antenna is a nice touch.

Art Lebedev’s programmable full-color keyboard is incredibly cool. The Popularis has rounded keys and 77% more pixels than the first-gen Maximus. Price/Date: “Less than $1,000. Early 2011.”

Seamlessly blending elegance with timeless style, Sony is offering a collection of limited edition VAIO latops for those of us with distinctive taste. We’re digging the cool textures of the Arabesque laptops.

We’ve seen a million-and-one webcams, but Logitech’s C910 is the first we’ve found that can capture full 1080p high-def video. Video chats are still 720p, but the recordings go to 1920×1080.

Coder Eskil Steenberg used the physics capabilities of the Unreal Engine to render this mesmerizing video, in which a stack of inanimate bricks come to life with incredible choreography.

Jamie Martin created this conceptual 3D animation of his Cybernetic Remote Autonomous Barricade (or C.R.A.B., for short) robot. We definitely wouldn’t want to run into this thing in a dark alley.

Fabien Cacheux’s Silver Arrow Concept watch was inspired by the Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS. The case opens and closes like the car’s butterfly doors and has 2 buttons that open and close the car remotely.

HoodieBuddie has created a line of jackets that incorporate earbud drawstrings into the fully washable design, allowing for an iPod or other MP3 player to connect into the pocket of the hoodie.

Iomega’s new Skin series add a bit of attitude to the otherwise boring facade of portable external hard drives. No decals or stickers here; the graphics are baked into the plastic for durability.

The big G has finally launched their phone app to anyone in the U.S. who wants it. Google Voice gives you a free roaming phone number, voicemail, text messages and cheap global calls.

This electric guitar/synth works as a controller for your computer’s music apps, and you can play it stand-alone if you don’t want to connect a PC or Mac. You can even use it to control Rock Band.

Dyson’s new Air Multiplier fans are more powerful than the desktop variants. The AM02 sucks in air at 9 gal/sec and amplifies it 16 times, while the AM03 amplifies the same amount of air 18 times.

While it isn’t pretty looking, Aiptek’s portable camera can shoot 720p images in true 3D, thanks to its dual-lens setup. It even has a tiny 3D LCD display so you can see your shots immediately.