AgfaPhoto’s DV-5000Z SDHC camcorder is not as nice looking as Sony’s recently-unveiled HDR-TG1, but it still manages to be just as good. The camcorder measures at 4.7- x 2.75-inches (12- x 7-centimeters) and weighs about 7-ounces (200-grams), this HD camcorder features a 5-megapixel Micron CMOS sensor, 2.5-inch flip-out LCD, 3x optical zoom and an SD / SDHC slot. It also offers great shooting capabilities, displaying that it can capture clips at 1,280 x 720 (using H.264 compression) and record 16-bit stereo sound. The devices offers USB connectivity, a rechargeable Li-ion and video out. Unfortunately, this €249 ($393) device is never coming to the United States, but it’ll be available in Russia later this month.

Via Businesswire

According to sources at MTV Networks, Microsoft is currently designing a Wiimote-style controller for the Xbox 360 that will also receive signal from an LED sensor bar, but is better than the Wiimote because it offers a microphone on board for Xbox Live chat. Not only do they confirm that the project exists, but they can give up the codename for it: Newton. Most likely it will have a standard rechargeable battery pack, not sure about the colors that will be offered. Look for it later this year.

Via Gizmodo

A wooden SNES has already been invented, but now we go even more old school, and that’s where Parker Dillmann’s wooden NES comes into “play”. It is built around a Yobo NES clone and a 3.5-inch LCD, and of course Dillmann did some major custom woodworking to complete this beauty, and he says he’s already decided whats next to create.

Via Ben Heck

LaCie fashion, has just released it’s latest external hard drive. The well made Neil Poulton HDD has been redesigned with two new ports to coexist alongside the USB 2.0 socket: FireWire 400 and eSATA. Besides the two new holes flanking the rear, the drive looks basically the same, and is available to purchase for $139.99 (500GB), $187.99 (750GB) or $276.99 (1TB).

Via Product Page

We had doubts that Apple had actually overtaken Wal-Mart as the number one music retailer in the US, but it looks as though the rise of iTunes gift cards sales and new iPod owners made Apple succeed. Apple is not doing much to celebrate but is still going to offer “4 billion songs to 50 million customers”, but it says iTunes was the big dog January and February. Of course, there’s a lot of 2008 left, so Wal-Mart may surpass iTunes again.

We thought all the Penryn updates had been completed by now, but now we have news that Dell has released a new laptop with a Penryn chip. Only a day after the news that there would be Pentyn processors in the Precision M2300 and M4300. As of now, you can purchase the machines with a 2.5GHz T9300 or 2.6GHz T9500, both of which include 6MB of L2 cache.

Via Dell

iriver showed off some great new gadgets at CES, but our favorite was the E100. It’s looks and great specs, make it a choice player for those looking for a solid MP3 player and it’s hitting the market well before most of those fancier players. The iriver E100 features a 2.4-inch QVGA display, built-in stereo speakers and a microSD slot for aditional memory. There’s also a mic, FM radio and line-in for acquiring audio. The E100 is available now, with prices starting at €79.00 ($119 US) for a 2GB player, and €129.00 ($194 US) for the 8GB.

Via Generation MP3

The Japanese like to have their bathrooms spotless, so it is no surprise to find out they use a Lady Bird autonomous robot to clean highway rest stops. It also supposedly engages in a little human-robot interaction.

In addition to cleaning, Lady Bird can engage in simple conversation with restroom users, thanks to microphones in its “antennae,” speech recognition capabilities and a voice synthesizer. The robot has access to the latest information about traffic conditions on nearby roads, which it can relay to anyone comfortable enough to ask.

Via Makezine

Drink to this news: the 2GB iPod shuffle is shipping starting today. The price is set at a sweet $69, go get it!

When we first saw the price we were blow away that a company would create a Blu-ray player with a $16,900 sticker. Then we saw it was produced by Goldmund. Continuing their reign of offering consumers insanely overpriced products for those with more money than they know what to do with, the company has just released a Blu-ray player more expensive than most compact automobiles. The Eidos 20 BD Blu-ray player includes an AC-Curator power supply circuit, a Magnetic Damper for lowering read errors and an ugly chassis.

Via CNET