HP and Yahoo team up to bring ads directly to your printer. Needlessly killing trees…yay!

If you’ve ever sat and envisioned what the stereotypical “hell” was like, chances are fire, all things red, and horns made up most of it. But little did you know, “Hell” also includes HP and Yahoo. Why you say? Ooooh, only because after a few trial runs, HP and Yahoo have somehow come up with the belief that consumers don’t like and in many cases, actually look forward to ads on their printouts. This new advertising scheme only affects web connected printers and scheduled printouts tied to Yahoo’s ad network for now, but as we all know, once a toe is in the door, it can only get wider.

Hop inside for HP’s rationalization and a few key reasons why this isn’t going to work…

Solar powered, clay roof tiles — Make a tree smile today.

If you’re looking to relieve some of the pressure off your wallet when it comes time to pay those monthly energy bills, what can you do? Turn off the lights, buy more energy efficient appliances, or live off the land in a tend in the woods? All are notable options. Though the last isn’t exactly everyone’s forte.

If none of those strike your fancy, you could always outfit your roof with some of these terracotta roofing tiles complete with built in solar panels. Dubbed the “Tegolasolare“, these clay tiles aim to make your energy bill more manageable and your energy footprint smaller overall.

The tiles themselves measure 46 x 46cm with the actual solar part of the tile clocking in at 29cm x 29cm. But even at that size and considering a roof full of tiles, you’re only looking at 3-5Kw of energy produced each day. In the grander scheme of things, 3-5Kw of “free energy” isn’t going to help you out much, as 3-5Kw is but a small portion of a typical person’s daily usage. But hey, every little bit counts, right?

The NXT pinball machine: 8,000 LEGO pieces, six NXT robots, nine touch sensors, 10 light sensors and four motors.

The unstoppable force of LEGO creations is upon us. It just doesn’t stop, does it? Then again, do you really want it to? Didn’t think so. To feed that LEGO obsessed child within, I give you the NXT Pinball machine. As far as specs go, this 8,000-piece creation is quite impressive: six NXT robots, nine touch sensors, 10 light sensors and four motors.

Built by University of Windsor and Michael, School of Science student, Mark Gryn (an 11th grade student no less), the NXT LEGO pinball machine is fully controllable by NXT-G programming. (See, robots and LEGO’s are taking over the world afterall…) The only non-LEGO piece of the game is the old school steel ball.

It’s a combination of creativity, skill, and intelligence. I want it.

What better way to show off this grand piece of geekery than with a video, which is conveniently waiting for you right inside…

The portable 360 for the masses: The Gaems “360 in a suitcase”

Some people have a natural gift in terms of one-off creation and modding. Some people do not. I would fall more into the “do not” category as ripping apart gadgets while helluva fun often ends in paperweight status when all is said and done. One area in particular that interests me is taking gaming consoles and turning them into portable devices. No, I can’t whip up some gorgeous looking and svelte Xbox 360 laptop, but I can certainly buy a suitcase-like contraption from Gaems and be just as enthused.

The Gaems Portable Console Gaming and Entertainment system features a 15-inch 720p LCD, several speakers, polyurethane foam padding, and even a lock. As you can see, it’s pretty small all things considered while offering a new unbound freedom to your gaming needs. The only issue still standing is a nasty pinching issue that puts the clamper on the power cord when closed. Fret not however, the clamp and other remaining minor issues will be cleared by launch.

Speaking of which, look for the Gaems Portable Console Gaming and Entertainment system to drop later this year during the Q4 time frame for roughly $250. Will you be ordering one?

Hop inside for a few more pics…

AT&T notifying customers via text of network improvements.

For as much as we rag on AT&T (and yeah, I kind of like it) it’s always nice to hear of something good coming from Ma Bell. Believe me, they need the good press more than anyone right now. On that note, AT&T released a network diagnostic app several weeks back that gave users the ability to send the diagnostic information back to AT&T. AT&T then in turn used said info to determine where to beef up their network. Some locations such as the heart of San Fran or Chi-town are a given — others not so much.

Either way, it does appear that AT&T is finally starting to get this whole company-customer relations thing, with reports indicating AT&T is sending out text messages to users, notifying them of upcoming network upgrades in their area. (See picture)

It really is nice to see AT&T reaching out and actually telling customers what they’re doing and where they’re doing it. Kind of makes that diagnostic app and submittal scenario worthwhile, huh? Any GS readers receiving text messages from Ma Bell such as the text above?

OhGizmo > Gizmodo

Me too: The Sony Portable USB power supply.

The inevitable part about any gadget is that it is going to die. Batteries just don’t last forever. Even on some of today’s most electron frugal devices, a full day is really stretching it. Luckily things called outlets and USB ports meander around us to save the day. Though as many of us know, actually finding a power source while on the go can be quite the chore.

That’s where Sony’s new portable USB power supply comes in. Joining the arsenal of countless other mobile charging solutions, Sony’s offering gives USB-compliant devices an easy and quick way to juice up when more traditional methods are out of the question.

The only downside to Sony’s little power station is that it is virtually impossible to find any hard info on it, specifically concerning battery capacity. Honestly though, with all of the other solutions out there, do you really care?

Microsoft kills RRoD. Replaces it with Red dot of death RDoD

Xbox 360 slim owners listen up: Forget about the RRoD. It is effectively dead and buried. In its place is the RDoD (Red Dot of Death). The new 360 slim units won’t make use of the colored ring of death any longer, as Microsoft has opted for a more straightforward and less cryptic hardware failure indicator — a simple red dot.

Yes, instead of one, two, three, or four red slivers, now all we’ve got to go on is a single LED. It’s easy for Microsoft from a manufacturer’s standpoint as they can simply label hardware problems as general as possible, leaving the worrying, guessing, and home-made repairs out of the loop and picking up the slack with pay-for warranty repairs.

Regardless, Microsoft made a lot of improvements in heat output, cooling efficiency, and sound isolation turning the once butt of many jokes Xbox 360 into a more serious and *hopefully* durable console. As is customary with this sort of thing, time will be the ultimate revealer of truth…