Sony's VAIO UX UMPC is definitely one of the sexier handheld PCs out there, but it's never been accused of being a rocket -- even the latest models only offer a lonely single-core 1.2GHz Core 2 Solo for your $2500, and since the chip is soldered onto the board, swapping it out for a Core 2 Duo isn't exactly easy, requiring an infrared soldering station and plenty of experience swapping chips. Nevertheless, it can be done, and Anh Nguyen from the Micro PC Talk forums pulled it off, upgrading his unit to a 1.2GHz U7600 Core 2 Duo with no ill effects or excess heat -- just some better benchmarks and hardcore modder bragging rights. Check out benchmarks after the break, and hit the read link for more.

[Thanks, Logan]

Console modders out there have been doing crazy things with controllers for a while now, and while this latest piece isn't as crazy as the one-handed Access Controller, it's still good for a double-take -- check out this wired 360 controller shoehorned into a DualShock3 shell, complete with green LEDs. THe modder, RDC, says it works great, rumble included, but that there's no headset connector and the L2 and R2 triggers aren't analog -- both things he's hoping to fix in the next version. We'd suggest keeping the DS3 buttons as well -- while the colorful 360 buttons look pretty hot against that black case, we'd rather break this thing out and blow minds stealth-style.

[Thanks, Aguiluz]

We're still reeling from Ben Heck's amazing PS3 laptop (which we'll be auctioning off for charity soon) but the man just hit us again with this amazing Apple IIGS laptop. Based off an original IIGS motherboard, the one-of-a-kind laptop features a 15-inch color screen, custom acrylic keyboard, a CompactFlash-based hard drive, and -- most importantly -- a glowing blue IIGS logo that flashes yellow during disk access. Hit the read link for tons more pics and a hot demo video -- you won't be disappointed.

As go the real guitars, so go Guitar Hero controllers, and hot on the heels of that axe with integrated visualizer we just saw, Cyberpyrot over at the AcidMods forums has managed to stuff a seven-inch LCD with touchpanel overlay into a GHIII controller. The LCD shows a mirror of the game itself, but its location means that the strummer had to be replaced with a magnetic switch controlled by a metal "pick." The touch overlay allows players to activate the whammy simply by sweeping across the screen, and Cyberpyrot says the next step is to add optics so the guitar can play itself. That ought to add some fuel to the real-guitar-vs-Guitar-Hero debate, we think. Check a vid of the guitar in action after the jump.

El rei de la casa, meaning "the king of the house" in Spanish, is a video game exhibition being shown in Barcelona, Spain. The aim of the exhibition is to highlight the mainstream media's misrepresentation of the internet and all its evils©, and what better way to dispel these daily falsehoods than by putting together a pinball machine with a couple of LCDs mounted flat? There's even a "Prey of the Net!" level, where kids avoid losing control by aiming the virtual ball at a browser bar. Just make sure to hit the power-up surely contained in that blue E!

[Via MAKE]

Warranty extension or not, the widespread nature of Xbox 360 failures pretty much guaranteed that it was only a matter of time before a third party stepped forward with a commercial fix. The X-Clamp Fix from Next Generation seems to the be first of these solutions available, although it's certainly not as simple as we would have expected. Consisting of some replacement screws and washers, the $15 kit helps you tighten down your GPU heatsink, possibly resetting your GPU in the process, a strategy modders have been using to escape the red ring of death for some time now. Probably worth a look if you're unable to get warranty service and the other wing-and-a-prayer fixes don't work for you, but the kit looks like it involves pretty significant disassembly -- we'd recommend picking up the phone and begging for an RMA first. Check the world's most boring installation video after the break.

[Via MaxConsole]

One of the main impediments keeping many people from modding their own consoles is their lack of handiness with a soldering gun -- not to mention the whole voided warranty thing -- but now a new product is said to be on the horizon that moots both these points in a single blow, the 'Vast' advanced custom memory card for PlayStation 2. According to MaxConsole, which claims to have a dialog going with the developers, Vast "essentially exploits a flaw in the PS2 memory card system" to give you the same functionality derived from a hard-wired mod chip sans the need for a single power tool. The only real "proof" we have of this product so far is the above screenshot, which MaxConsole tells us was captured from the card's proprietary operating system; if this is all on the level, we should know more before the scheduled launch, which is said to be a mere two weeks away.

Those of you aching to pull open your PSP and do a little modding but afraid to void your warranty -- or worse, brick your baby -- will want to check out the Virtual PSP Modder software from AcidMods. The Windows tool allows you to practice taking a PSP apart, look at the inside at up to 5X resolution, poke around with a virtual screwdriver and tweezers, tinker with the LEDs, apply random mods to see what works, and more -- all without having to crack open your actual, working PSP. Or course, there's no PSP emulation, so you can't play any games, and you'll have to somehow translate what you do on the screen to real life at some point, but hey -- even Ben Heck had to start somewhere. Check out a fairly boring video of the software in action after the break.

Even though there's no love lost between Sony and Nintendo fanboys, the two ancient rivals may soon have one thing in common: an ongoing battle with their respective deities over modding their precious consoles for homebrew. PSP owners are well aware of the epic back-and-forth struggle between hackers like Fanjita and Dark_Alex and the obviously-frustrated firmware programmers over at Sony, and now DigiTimes (they of the rather dubious Apple rumor track record, mind you) is reporting that Wii lovers may soon be faced with yet another round of modchip-nullifying hardware revisions from Nintendo. The good news is that -- as usual -- the altered circuit layout shouldn't thwart modders for more than a few weeks at most, even if Nintendo decides to move over to so-called ball grid array IC packaging according to "providers of Wii modification services in Taiwan." Still, if these rumors turn out to be true, it would seem that Nintendo is pretty committed to tripping up the Wiinjas and TeamCyclopses of the world, and making your choice of their wares just a little more difficult.

It looks like iPod minis aren't obsolete just yet thanks to Mark Hoekstra's flash card mod, which entails switching out the original Microdrive with a 4GB flash card. iPod minis served a short term in Appledom, but come to think of it, they're a manageable size, have one of the more durable iPod casings, and they don't look half-bad either. After the modding is complete, a quick restore in iTunes reloads the card with Apple's firmware (you can also upload other software like Podzilla), then you're all set to jam out. So if you own a member of this dying breed (and have a steady hand), use this little proof-of-concept to extend your mini's lifespan while one-upping Apple at the same time.

[Via digg]

In a shot across Microsoft's bow, Team Xecuter has released a how-to for the installation of its yet to be released Blaster360 firmware flasher. There's a range of different motivations behind wanting to flash your Xbox 360, the most obvious being the ability to update your Xbox 360's firmware to a newer and improved version. Of course, whether or not that "newer and improved" firmware is officially sanctioned by Microsoft is another matter entirely. If the homebrew community's relationship with Sony regarding the PSP's firmware is anything to go by, it would probably be safe to assume that Microsoft doesn't even want its users to switch between official firmware versions, let alone modded ones that trick the 360 into playing "backed up" games. In the past the company has never stepped up and taken a public stand against any of these third party solutions; a position that could change due to the main innovation of the Blaster360. As the install guide shows, a user only needs to open their Xbox 360 once in order to change the firmware. Once the chip is all plugged in it's possible to change firmware from outside the box, making it very easy to switch modded machines back to their factory state. That removes an easily recognizable sign that a console is modded, and puts the ball very firmly into Microsoft's court.

[Via Xbox-Scene]

Until now all we've seen of iRobot "Create" is a bunch of FCC docs that illustrate the concept of a vacuum-less Roomba spin-off. As of tonight, iRobot has started selling the Create with a 1-2 day shipping period at prices starting from $129.99 going up to $999.99 for a 10-pack of the little fellas. Riding the wave of the open source / hacking communities, iRobot hopes that owners of the Create will do what they did with the Roomba and use their imagination to come up with innovative and zany uses for the technology. For a little taste of "the zany," check out the bionic hamster ball navigation system add-on that the iRobot engineers cooked up. Some of the features of the Create are 30 built-in sensors, a 25-pin expansion port for connecting a command module and other electronics, and a spacious cargo bay with plenty of holes for mounting hardware. iRobot is so eager to get people out there Creat-ing clever uses for their device that they're offering a free 30-day trial period, so what're you waiting for?

[Via MAKE]

Benjamin Heckerdorn -- that oh-so-crafy modding guru we love to love -- is at it again with his console-morphing antics, and this time the victim is the ill-fated "64-bit" Atari Jaguar. The mission? To create a portable, all-in-one, battery-powered version of Atari's flailing attempt to make it in the ever-competitive console market. Putting his blue-ribbon mod skills to the test, Ben rearranged the console innards into a 1-inch thick game board, connecting circuitry at will via his trusty soldering iron. He noticed a few oddities while dissecting the machine (aside from the controller's keypad overlay circa 1985), including a 32-bit main bus and a striking similarity between the cartridge input and your average PCI slot. Nevertheless, he was able to cram the entire system, a svelte LCD panel, and a set of stereo speakers into a homegrown enclosure that pays its dutiful respects to the Jaguar motif. Keep reading to peep another angle, and those itching for a bit of post-modern gaming nirvana should hit the read link for the full skinny...

So instead of folding up his computer and going home like some of our more negative commenters had suggested, inventor, composer, and all around resilient guy Peter Green has been hard at work on the second version of his MacMini Portable. As you'll recall, MMP rev. 1 was basically Apple's diminutive PC stuffed inside a custom enclosure, attached to an LCD, battery pack, trackpad, and thumb board, and occupying a footprint smaller than even the most compact laptop. Well now Green is back to silence the critics who questioned the utility of his first project with the MacMini Portable MkII, which makes numerous improvements upon its predecessor such as mounting the thumb board flush with the case, significantly reducing the overall size of the device, and generally making it look more like something you'd want to take out in public. So once again Mr. Green, we salute you, and encourage you to continue ignoring the haters (and refine your creation to the point that they're forced to come around). Make sure to check out the "Read" link to peep video of the MMPMKII in action, complete with a soothing Green-composed soundtrack.

Update: Full website now available; click here for the video, and hit the "Read" link to collect more ammo for your flame war.