Home design for the retro gamer: The Pac-Man bookcase.

Be geeky. Be retro. Be stylish. Those are the goals of the Pac-Man bookcase. The picture is pretty self explanatory and honestly, how much can you say about a bookcase modeled after a famous retro video game icon? The one thing you’ll want is plenty of wall space. The TV doesn’t look that big to begin with so it could be a trick of the eye. Still, the Pac-Man bookcase looks pretty darn big. Shock and awe I guess.

The real kicker — price? Talk to the manufacturer because it’s not listed…anywhere. Feeling nostalgic?

Geeky-Gadgets > CrunchGear > NerdApproved

Android or WinMo? Gen. Y DualBOOT says “Both”.

WinMo isn’t doing so hot right now but Microsoft hopes to remedy that with WinMo 7 which we may or may not be seeing in a few short weeks at MWC. Android on the other hand is enjoying a massive growth in popularity. Both OS’s do share a common trait however — they’re easily tweakable and available on a variety of hardware. If you are having a hard time choosing between one or the other, take comfort in knowing that the answer to “Which OS?” will soon be easy — Both!

The ever talented folks at XDA-Forums have crafted a nifty way to dual boot — yes, dual booting OS’s on a phone — Windows Mobile and Android program called “Gen. Y DualBOOT. Gen. Y is merely a simple boot launcher with a rather beautiful UI for such a utilitarian program allowing easy switching between OS’s at launch along with a few booting options. For now, only VGA devices are supported though higher res options are in the works. Also, WinMo 6.1 was the main test bed but WinMo 6.5.x is said to function just as well.

If you are running out of time and need the short elementary version: Android is simply installed on the root of your SD card instead of on the phone’s memory. If you’ve got a few more minutes to spare, head on over to the Gen. Y thread at xda-forums.

Geeked?

CoolSmartphoneNews > xda-forums

Dumbest “Twittified” piece of clothing ever…The “Rambler” tweeting shoes.

I totally get the point of social networking. When there’s either a great distance or obstacle preventing daily or weekly contact, social networking and online interaction is a big help. When you’re bored and need something to occupy your time, social networking and the internet are your unfettered play ground. But when you want to annoy the hell out of other people and waste countless 1′s and 0′s in the process, well, the internet and social networking once again fit the bill. The last scenario is exactly what the “Rambler” shoes are designed to do — to rip every last nerve of patience out of your body.

The whole gist behind the Ramblers is that there are tiny sensors in each foot that tweet each and every step you take — every step you take! That repeating Twitter assault by your feet comes out in the form of “tap…tap…tap” when walking or simply “………” when standing still. Talk about over kill. There are some who send a tweet or two a week and others who send a tweet or two every other second all day. But to get to the point of tweeting your every step? Ugh. Wearing these shoes will get your an instant unfollow from me guaranteed.

Wondering how it all works? The shoe’s tweeting sensor pairs up via bluetooth to a cellphone which goes ahead and handles the actually tweeting duty. Nifty huh?

Walyou > Gizmodo > Popkalab

Rogers: “Update your Magic to our firmware or else we’ll cut your data. Oh yeah, say good-bye to your precious root.”

After a relative quiet couple of months, it appears the red bastard up north (read: Rogers Wireless) is back at screwing customers over again. This time, it’s Android users — specifically, rooted Android users — whom are getting the shaft.

It’s no secret that there has been a 911 issue plaguing Rogers’ HTC Magic devices. For those that root their phones, a fix has already been found and installed. But, that’s not good enough for Rogers. They want require you to upgrade your device to their new firmware or else they cut off your data access until you do. Somehow, “protecting” users by patching a 911/emergency bug by cutting off access to your phone is both stupid and extreme. Then again, it is Rogers Wireless we’re talking about here — a sort of Canadian AT&T if you will. Ya, they’re like that.

Anyway, users who have been updating have noticed that their root is being stripped away and subsequent attempts to re-use the update.zip method for re-rooting their devices is failing. Of course, being the crafty fellows that they are, the dev community *may* have a fix. Simply editing a simple .prop file and changing the firmware version is enough to pass Roger’s network scan and keep you on your older, rooted firmware.

Now if only they had actually done something about this when it first cropped up many, many weeks ago…

• Rogers Magic Update Freeze/Brick thread at XDA

• “Getting around Rogers forced update” at XDA

• Spoofing firmware version to prevent Rogers forced upgrade and retain data

Fuck you Rogers!

Slashdot

Nexus One coming to Walmart? Ya…not so much.

Walmart may be the most peoples’ favorite bargain supercenter, but a Nexus One retailer it is not. Reports of a multi-carrier supporting Nexus One coming to Walmart were rampant today. It’s easy to get carried away. A phone that is so far only really being supported on one carrier suddenly pops up with quad-carrier support and a new sub-$100 price tag has all the right ingredients for a show stopper.

The show stopper came in the form of Walmart company spokesman Ravi Jariwala whom flat out denied that Wally World would be carrying the N1 anytime soon and even going as far as to say there are no plans currently in motion.

Ok, deny reports of a smartphone launch that have been splashed across your website and label them an “error”. Fine. But don’t be too surprised when we see this duo re-unite a couple months down the road. The way I see it: Why would the Nexus One be in their computers if they didn’t intend to sell it. It’s not as if it loaded itself up in there now is it?

Android Central > Alley Insider

[Image Source]

Google: It’s not the phone, it’s the network.

From the department of “Where have we heard this before”…

Users fortunately enough to swaddle a nice and sleek Nexus One each and every night for the last several days/weeks have probably experienced at least once the 3G problems plaguing the uber Google phones. Almost right of the bat early adopters were crying out over the phone’s poor 3G reception and performance. I mean, it makes sense. If other T-Mo 3G phones are going about their business as usual with the N1 the only slacker, it would have to be the phone…right?

Not entirely says Google. While a patch has been pushed out already (to little avail) with a second update in the wings, Google is now back tracking and saying it is instead T-Mo’s shoddy and miniscule 3G network that is the cause of the problems. Hmmm, where have we heard that before…?

Normally I’d be fine with such an explanation. The explosion of data traffic is bringing the best of networks to their knees. The only flaw in Google’s reasoning is that other 3G phones such as the G1 can be sitting right next to the N1. The G1 or other phone will have perfect 3G signal while the N1 will be showing very little or no 3G coverage.

Pretty hard to escape that isn’t it? N1 owners, how have you been fairing?

Cellphone Signal

Newest theme from Elecite: Keen [BlackBerry Theme]

Want to make your Berry a more literal expression of your inner being? Cases and skins are cool, sure. But nothing is as dynamic and customizable as a custom theme for you Berry. Besides, changing organized pairs of 1′s and 0′s on screen is many times easier than changing some piece of stick on paper or molded plastic.

Meet Elecite’s new BlackBerry theme “Keen”. Featuring a more transparent and glassy look, this theme is best served by an equally impressive wallpaper. Beyond the background, Keen features 6-8 customizable icons, 4-5 locked “quick access” icons, and a small preview/today area beneath.

Personally, I don’t have any need for a quick preview/today area but can certainly understand the draw and reasons why many do. To each his own. Personal opinions aside, no one can argue with the fact that Keen is sleek and gorgeous to lay eyes on. For $6.99, any modern Berry rockin’ OS 5.0 can get in on the action.

• Keen by Elecite (9700 link)