Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) has made a splash at E3 2008 by announcing a brand new PS3 80GB model that will oust the current 80GB model in the market. Since both have the same storage space, what are the differences between the two? For starters, the new PS3 80GB model will be the mainstay of the company’s gaming hardware line-up, and it will retail for a more affordable $399 that ought to see more sales fly off the shelves in due time. In addition to that, it will also have the entire range of features and functionality found in the 40GB model, albeit with double the storage for you to store a whole lot more movies, graphics, music, photos and other entertainment content without forking out an extra dollar. Other notable features include Blu-ray playback capability, HDMI output, integrated Wi-Fi connectivity, the vaunted Cell Broadband Engine and an integrated 80GB hard drive. In addition to this new 80GB model, Sony also has plans for its PSP handheld platform that is slowly but surely picking up in terms of sales and game quality worldwide. More about that right after the jump.

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Microsoft does not only dabble in software, they do have their fingers dipped in hardware as well. Case in point, the range of notebook mice as well as the Microsoft Sidewinder gaming mouse. Today we have a leaked image of a new wireless mouse known as the Microsoft Arc. Scant information is available concerning the Arc at this point in time, but we do know that it features a rear half that folds in order to ease your storage woes when traveling. You will be able to pick up this interesting looking hardware this holiday season for $59.95 a pop.

Source: EverythingUSB

Life’s all about details, and for those who want to see the micro picture, they can always rely on the Portable Digital Magnifier. Even if it does not reveal the secrets of life, at the very least it is able to magnify fine print that lawyers love to throw at you in their documents.

The Portable Digital Magnifier outputs the magnification to a crystal clear 2″ LCD screen and with the push of a button the image can be frozen on the screen, for closer inspection. A conveniently located scroll wheel lets you instantly change the magnification level, from 5x to 20x (in increments of 1x). The magnifier illuminates using three built-in LEDs and the included batteries re-charge via USB connection.

You can purchase the Portable Digital Magnifier for $179.99 and start checking up whether there are lice on your desk no thanks to that colleague of yours who always comes over to your cubicle scratching his head with wanton abandon.

Ah, the French. I wish the rest of the world wouldn’t reduce them to a meaningless stereotype of good wine, cheese, and love makers. After all, there is another thing the French are becoming better at making: the cellular phone.

MobiFrance has recently partnered up with Sony Ericsson to develop a concept cell called the French Luxury (FL). The FL is designed to commemorate France’s Independence Day by bearing a strong resemblance to the Eiffel Tower, the most recognizable French landmark.

The phone can stand on its end to resemble the Eiffel Tower, and is equipped with a full touchscreen. Unlike other touchscreen phones, the FL’s touchscreen has a somewhat curvaceous look to it.

Other features that we know about are the speakers on its sides, which you can see on this photo. You can also watch video and other multimedia functions. Another feature is the obligatory camera, which is a lot better than other cell phone cameras at 7.2 Megapixels.

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Summer time is here yet again, so what better way than to entertain yourself outdoors with the Water Jet Propelled Road Rocket?

This is the water jet fueled outdoor racer that reaches speeds up to 272 scale MPH as it sprays a stream of water in its wake. Simply fill the water tank with 34-40 oz. of water and pump in air to create thrust up to 60 psi (about 50 pumps). A step on the foot release pedal launches the vehicle amid a soaking jet spray. Modeled after the road rockets that once sped across Utahs famed Bonneville Salt Flats, the racers missile-shaped fuselage is vacuum formed PVC and has dual airfoils that enable it to travel up to 150′ on a paved, level outdoor surface. Includes an air pump with an integrated pressure gauge and two sheets of decals for customizing your racer. For ages 7 and up.

You will be able to pick up this fun garden toy for $42.95 a pop. At least it looks fun enough to tear the kids away from their Xbox 360s, Wiis and PS3s.

Just in case you thought that the Asus Eee PC was one impressive tiny wonder, along comes Gigabyte and their diminutive M528 netbook. Measuring just 152mm x 80mm x 23mm, this small device manages to pack in full PC functionality in such a small form factor. It will be powered by the impressive Intel Atom 800MHz processor and aided by 512MB RAM, and despite the fact that it runs on Linux, it is also able to drop that and get Windows XP up and running without any problems. Power consumption works out to approximately 2.8W on average, which is always a good thing.

Source: Electricpig

Once a person has gone to all of the usual avenues to fix whatever their ailment, eventually they usually resort to other less conventional forms.  Apparently one company has decided to try to sucker those that are looking for an alternative out of their money.  They are selling an owl with mysterious healing powers.  Did I mention it’s USB powered?  If you were wondering if maybe historically or perhaps within a particular culture owls were believed to have healing powers, as far as I can find that’s not the case.  Most see owls as a symbol of deception, insight and some believe them to be shape shifters.

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Steampunk is one of those trends that makes me extremely sorry that I haven’t the slightest bit of crafting skills to make my own steampunk gadgets.  Purely because steampunk is usually very expensive, so unless you can make your own most of us will never get our hands on any of our own.  This one was created by a Russian modder who posted his project in a forum for us all to drool over.  He’s nice like that.  He even crafted a box to display it in.  He doesn’t give a single bit of fun details on how long it took or what he used.

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