I've been enamored with the Das Keyboard since it launched in 2005. These supremely clicky, IBM-style keyboards are some of the most rugged mechanical input devices you can buy. Their Pro model -- an all-black monolith with black keys and no key markings -- is the gold standard for Gibson-esque console jockeys who believe that the best keyboard can be used as a weapon and shouldn't be touched by mere mortals.The company just launched a new "quiet" version of its Das Keyboard, Model S Professional Quiet, and I thought it would be fun to talk with Daniel Guermeur, founder of the company who went... Read similar

Huawei VP Eric Xu has been quoted as saying that the company isn't "interested in the US market anymore," but that doesn't mean he's packing his bags. Huawei will continue to push its infrastructure and handset businesses in the States, despite being branded as a security risk by Congress -- but won't rely upon it as a key business area. Instead, it'll turn its attentions to Europe and winning tween hearts and minds with a little help from the Jonas Brothers.Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, MobileCommentsVia: PhoneArenaSource: BJ News (Translated)Read similar

Even with $145 billion in its back pocket, Apple isn't above a little cost-saving. Following rumors that its new campus was $2 billion over budget, the company has revised its plans for the facility. While the UFO-style HQ is untouched, a secondary complex that was to be built along North Tantau Ave. has been pushed back to phase two -- which means it'll begin construction in 2016, just after people start working in the spaceship.Filed under: AppleCommentsVia: MacRumorsSource: Apple (.PDF)Read similar

While Philips did eventually bring its Ambilight technology to PC monitors, it wasn't before others had decided to roll their own. Now you can add ambient backlighting to any computer display without any of the attendant soldering and Arduino-wrangling, thanks to the folks at Woodenshark. The team has built Lightpack, an Ambilight-esque system that'll connect to a Windows, OS X or Linux PC and project the display's colors onto the area surrounding the screen. Plug the hockey puck-sized device into your computer, attach 10 LED modules to the back of your display and install the open-source so... Read similar

You've had a day to renew your membership, book plane tickets and beg, borrow or steal $1,600 from your neighbors. Now it's time to sit on the WWDC homepage and find out if you'll actually be able to attend Apple's annual software shindig. The tickets go on sale in just an hour, so here's a friendly heads-up that you should get a cup of coffee, charge that battery pack and practice hitting F5, just in case. Update: We've just seen a new definition of fast. As developers have noticed, Apple sold out of WWDC tickets in about two minutes -- and possibly sooner than that.Filed under: Software, ... Read similar

ZTE has managed to break a run of two straight quarterly losses by posting a net profit of $33 million in its first 2013 financials. Unfortunately, the extra cash has come from selling a $133 million stake in surveillance firm Shenzhen ZNV, rather than any surge in handset popularity. A three percent fall in sales, project holdups, and squeezed margins have all helped to heap woes onto ZTE's plate -- not to mention the ongoing hostility from the folks in Congress.Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, MobileCommentsSource: BloombergRead similar

So, you've made a fortune, bought a sports team, own a spaceship and drive a neon pink Batmobile. If you were worrying that there were no more extravagant purchases to be made, you were wrong. Luxury timepiece maker Hoptroff has just teased details of its latest method of parting you from your money -- a pocket watch with its own atomic clock. Rather than your average radio-recieving watch, the Hoptroff No. 10 will apparently contain a Symmetricom caesium gas chamber (pictured after the break), developed in partnership with the Department of Defense. The watch will be available in November and... Read similar

When PayPal saw Square for the first time, we're fairly sure its CEO glumly stared out of the window, said "we're going to the mattresses" and promptly called the CEO of Discover to talk about an alliance. That unholy union has now brought PayPal into 250,000 retail outlets in the US, and the pair is now promising that the figure will be closer to two million by the end of 2013. Merchant acquirers such as Vantiv, WorldPay and TSYS have also signed up, presumably begging the pair not to let Jack Dorsey take the shirt from their backs.Filed under: MiscCommentsRead similar

It may be fun, but sending NASA scientists on snowmobiles to survey ice floes isn't the most productive use of their time. That's why the agency has sent GROVER to do the job instead. The solar-powered Greenland Rover is an autonomous vehicle with ground penetrating radar that's been designed to examine how the ice flow has changed over time. As the Arctic sun will never drop below the horizon, GROVER will be able to work 24 hours a day, give or take the odd social media break.[Image Credit: Gabriel Trisca, Boise State University]Filed under: TransportationCommentsVia: The RegisterSource: NASARead similar

Photoshop Touch? Bah. Real photographers use Lightroom, but since the software makes your average PC sweat, you're not likely to see it available on a tablet. Adobe, however, thinks that it can get around the limitations of mobile hardware with a cloud-connected version of Lightroom that'd let iOS users edit RAW files on the go. In the latest episode of The Grid, Lightroom chief Tom Hogarty showed off an early build of the app on his iPad 2, which uses Smart Previews to show users the changes that they're making while the grunt-work is handled elsewhere. Naturally, Hogarty wouldn't commit to a... Read similar