Guess the Nook is the Wii of last year - it is already sold out for the holidays according to the B&N Web site. You'll be greeted by the message, "The hottest holiday gift is out of stock. Order the Nook today to be first in line for the new year." on their page, which is somewhat similar to what happened when the Kindle ran out of stock. Amazingly enough, Barnes & Noble has yet to ship a single unit of the Nook, making us excited to see the full sales figure potential of the Nook in the long run. Would those who are disappointed make the jump to the Amazon Kindle instead as their second-choice ebook reader?

Permalink: Nook sold out for the holidays from Ubergizmo | Hot: Motorola Droid Review

Google co-founder Sergey Brin revealed that the two operating systems from the company, Chrome and Android, were "likely to converge over time," without offering any specific date for our reference. This is interesting news, and it would certainly bode well for developers as they won't need to make too many modifications to the coding when releasing an application for both mobile devices and computers, but does this mean the merged OS on a PC will be rather gimped since it will need to cater to the lowest common denominator, which would be a smartphone? After all, smartphones are still far behind in processing power even when compared against netbooks.

Permalink: Google OSes might merge from Ubergizmo | Hot: Motorola Droid Review

If you're a huge fan of convergence devices, then the USB VOIP Phone and Card Reader might just rock your boat as it boasts the functionality of a full-duplex plug-and-play VOIP phone alongside an integrated USB card reader that can handle both SD and MMC formats. Apart from that, it has an external speaker capability for hands-free conversation just in case you're frantically trying to finish typing up a document your boss has requested for since yesterday. This nifty device retails for $12.69 from Uxsight.

Permalink: USB VOIP Phone and Card Reader from Ubergizmo | Hot: Motorola Droid Review

Want to attend a BYOC event but don't have the hottest looking case on the block? That can be rectified with you doing a good deed at the same time, thanks to this stunning custom PC casemod that is currently undergoing the hammer for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Not only does this glowing computer look solid on the outside, its innards are something to shout about with an Intel Core i7 975 Extreme Edition processor, a couple of nVidia GeForce GTX 295 graphics cards running in SLI mode, a whopping 12GB DDR3 RAM, a 2.5 TB hard drive, a Logitech G19 gaming keyboard, a custom Razer Boomslang mouse and 13 video games pre-loaded to get you started right out of the box. Its innards alone are worth more than 10 grand, but the bidding price starts at $4,000 - what are you waiting for?

Permalink: Modded PC up for auction from Ubergizmo | Hot: Motorola Droid Review

Remember the first time you watch Disney's Snow White? I just loved the way the magic mirror effects were done up, and all through traditional animation methods to boot. The Virtual Butler mirror brings back memories of yore, where it functions like a real mirror although can be connected to a variety of spots around your home including alarms, doors and cameras among others. The face is the stuff of nightmares, and I'm not too sure if I want someone like that to greet me and open my doors whenever I come home. If you're interested, the Virtual Butler is going for a cool $20,000.

Permalink: Virtual Butler mirror from Ubergizmo | Hot: Motorola Droid Review

An idle mind is the devil's worksop, but then again sometimes idle minds conjure up wonders like this homemade accelerometer-controlled USB gamepad which houses a PIC18F2550 from Starlino within.

The code for the firmware was written in PicBasic Pro and it implements a HID USB device with 2 axes and 4 buttons (only 2 buttons connected in the prototype). The device is detected by Windows XP/Vista as a standard USB gamepad and can be used with many games and applications. I am using a 2 Axes Buffered ±2g Accelerometer from DIMENSION ENGINEERING, it has a built in voltage regulator that allows powering the accelerometer directly from the USB bus (5V).

If you're interested in making one of your own, head on here.

Permalink: DIY accelerometer-controlled USB gamepad from Ubergizmo | Hot: Motorola Droid Review

Intel wants to have chips (theirs, obviously) inside our brains in the future so that there is no need for a mouse or keyboard to take charge of our computers. Dean Pomerleau is the brains behind this vision, where he works for Intel on matters of cognitive neuroscience, machine learning, computer vision, robotics, man-machine interfaces, brain processing of semantic information, and various brain-scanning technologies including fMRI, MEG, EEG and ECoG. We don't think something like this will ever take off - it would certainly leave the thought of Big Brother knowing our every move and thoughts.

Permalink: Intel to insert chips in brain from Ubergizmo | Hot: Motorola Droid Review

The SmartFish ErgoMotion Mouse isn't exactly new, but it is now back on sale for $49.95. Targeting folks who spend long hours in front of the computer and want to avoid suffering from side effects such as RSI, the ErgoMotion Mouse “features a patented pivot base that for the first time allows the mouse to move with your natural hand and wrist positions adapting to your unique movements while you work.”

Permalink: SmartFish ErgoMotion Mouse from Ubergizmo | Hot: Motorola Droid Review

Talk about a really trippy dress - the Flare wind-sensitive electronic dress by Dutch designer Stijn Ossevoort. You get wind sensitive dandelions embroidered all over, where they will “blow” whenever wind caresses the dress, while the same effect can be coaxed out of some manual blowing on the dandelions themselves to create a pattern of lights. No idea on the power source or how much such a dress would cost - we're just waiting for a celebrity to wear something like this down a red carpet event to really bring e-fashion into the mainstream consciousness.

Permalink: Flare wind-sensitive electronic dress from Ubergizmo | Hot: Motorola Droid Review

For those interested in the Blackberry Storm 2: Wirefly has just announced that it will sell the phone (with a new contract). If you already have a Verizon contract, you might be eligible for a $29.99 upgrade. From Wirefly: "Verizon is waiving the activation fee, as well. And additional savings of $35 for one line. And up to $135 for 5 lines."

Our advice: check the Motorola Droid first.

Permalink: Blackberry Storm 2 for 99c at Wirefly - Black Friday only from Ubergizmo | Hot: Motorola Droid Review

Are you too busy to find a gym partner? Well, the folks over at the University of Southern California Center for Robotics and Embedded systems have pulled in the stats (and we’re fairly sure everybody is busy). The robot called Bandit is now offering Robotics and Embedded Systems exercise training. This certainly seems suitable in the gym, though you had to admit the fact that the it’s so huge would probably deter a lot of people from checking it out.

Permalink: Bandit To Help With Your Exercises from Ubergizmo | Hot: Motorola Droid Review