Add Linksys to the growing number of companies rolling out products that adhere to the draft 802.11n standard. The company’s new additions are the Wireless-N Broadband Router ( WRT300N) and Wireless-N Notebook Adapter (WPC300N ). As you’ve probably already figured out, the WRT300N can connect your equipment to your broadband network and serve as an access point for wireless devices — such as a laptop equipped with the WPC300N (or, of course, most 802.11b/g devices). The WRT300N is expected to retail for about $150, while the WPC300N should go for about $120. Seems a small price to pay for 100 mbps throughput — if you can really get that kind of speed, that is.

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When Philips was looking for medical applications for their flexible Ledfoil disks, they were probably hoping to find a market of more than 200 people, but luckily for sufferers of the rare Crigler-Najjar syndrome, they happened to come across Dutch student Philomeen Engels. Engels, a recent graduate of the Delft University of Technology, had the idea of creating a wearable light therapy device using the Philips tech, which would free Crigler-Najjar patients — whose bodies cannot break down the potentially lethal red blood cell by-product called bilirubine — from the 12 hours they must spend inside converted sunbeds each day. The device, known as the Ledwrap, contains twelve Ledfoils between two layers of cloth and can act as either a sleeping bag or a rather bulky bodysuit for more freedom of movement — well, as much movement as an extension cord allows, since the LEDs require too much juice to run on batteries. Engels hopes to have the first Ledwraps on the market within a year, although that may be a bit optimistic, as the prototype has yet to undergo the rather non-trivial task of actual medical testing.

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Epson may be first out the door with a PC using Panasonic’s recently announced LF-MB121JD Blu-ray drive (or at very least, they’re one of the first to announce such plans). Epson will make the drive available as an option in its new Endeavor MR3000 build-to-order desktop. The PC is available in a variety of configurations, with prices starting at Â¥60,900 (about $520), but with the Panny Blu-ray drive, the price will start at Â¥126,000 ($1,074 — ahem!). The MR3000 is expected to begin shipping in mid-May, though the BD version, presumably, won’t be available until June at the soonest, which is when Panny expects to start shipping the LF-MB121JD.

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Panasonic’s once again updated their Let’s Note series over in Japan (what we call the Toughbook in the US), this time with a slew of latter Intel chips. The Y5 features a 14-inch 1,400 x 1,050 display, low voltage 1.5GHz Core Duo L2300, up to 1GB RAM, 60GB hard drive (ahem), DVD burner, 802.11a/b/g, Ethernet, PC slot, SD, VGA out, waterproof keyboard(!) and a 12.1 x 9.6 x 1.1/1.7-inch body; the W5 and T5 feature a 12.1-inch XGA display, 1.06GHz Core Solo U1300, 60GB drive, up to 1GB RAM, 802.11a/b/g, Ethernet, SD, and VGA, the difference being the W5 has an internal DVD burner, while the T5 has none (both are 10.5 x 8.2 x 1/1.7-inches); finally, the 9 x 7.2 x 0.9/1.6-inch R5 features a 10.4-inch display and also rocks the 1.06GHz Core Solo U1300, as well as 802.11a/b/g and a supposed 11-hour battery life. Coming soon to an importer near you for way, way too much money.

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In an age dominated by LCD, plasma and other flat-panel technologies, we’re always a little surprised to see anyone still trying to advance the cause of tube-based displays. But Samsung, for one, hasn’t quite given up on tubes, and is showing off what the company says is the world’s thinnest Color Display Tube (CDT) display, the 14-inch thick SyncMaster 745MS. The 17-inch display is expected to debut globally in June for under $200. While the display is unlikely to woo away too many LCD fans, it could sway some CRT loyalists who prefer tubes for their color range, sharpness and fast response rate.

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Normally we would frown on another cheap iPod rip-off from China, but in the case of Meizu’s Mini Player, it looks like they’ve actually managed to make an improvement on the oft-copied design. Sure, that control scheme might not have any scroll action in it, but it does make room for 2.4-inches of QVGA screen in a form factor smaller than a 5G iPod. We can’t complain about the price either, with versions ranging from a $87 512MB unit, all the way to a $200 4GB model. The unit supposedly supports video and playback, though we’re not sure of the extent of codec support. We do know that the Mini Player has 20 hours of claimed battery life for music playback, which doesn’t sound bad at all for the tiny 0.4-inch thick device. We don’t really expect to see it in the states any time soon, but this is one iPod look-alike we actually wouldn’t mind spending a bit of time with.

[Via Engadget Chinese]

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I don’t think Thomas Crapper would recognise this as toilet any more than Orville Wright would recognise a stealth bomber as an aeroplane.

Neorest, the company that manufacture these high-tech looking loos, describe them as “an experience beyond words” and having read the specifications, I don’t think they’re exaggerating!

The lid automatically opens as you walk up to the throne. The seat’s heated of course, and as you get down to business, a catalytic air purifier kicks in to remove any “unwanted odours”, with a manual power override for those particularly unpleasant visits.

There’s a warm-water massage spray, and a hot air dryer, and you can control the temperature and intensity of both using the LCD panel shown here.

Once you’ve finished and left the “sensor zone” the toilet automatically closes the lid and starts a three stage “Cyclone” flush; the strength of which depends on how long you’ve been busy on the toilet and previous patterns of usage.

The only thing missing from the toilet are speakers. You could install audio sensors and program the toilet to play a light Vivaldi number to help you wind down, safe in the knowledge that it would be ready to switch over to the 1812 Overture should your bowels become more active.

From: Coolest-gadget.