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The world now has a smart toaster
It seems like no one really needs a connected toaster. For decades you've been able to adjust just how dark you want your bread with a knob or lever. But maybe we've been missing out on perfect toast because we didn't have the opportunity to really fine-tune the cooking experience. That's where Griffin comes in with its Bluetooth-enabled gift from the breakfast gods.
This superheated knife toasts bread as you cut it
Tired of having to slice up your fresh bread before you drop it in the toaster? Colin Furze feels your pain. The homebrew inventor just built a toasting knife that -- you guessed it -- toasts whatever you're cutting. It ultimately amounts to a modified microwave transformer sending loads of heat to a blade, but it singes your soon-to-be meal about as well as you'd hope. You can even use it to melt butter as you spread it, like a kind of culinary steamroller. Is this practical for your kitchen? Probably not, but there's no denying that it'd be convenient for those hectic mornings when every second of breakfast-making counts.
You can buy Steve Jobs on a piece of toast for $20 (yes, you read that correctly)
I love Etsy for the simple fact that you can find products on it that you'd never see elsewhere. Like, for example, a ridiculously accurate representation of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs burnt into a piece of toast. For this piece of used-to-be-edible art, you must pay a measly US$20. Ok, maybe that's a little bit steep for a charred chunk of bread, but hey, when you create a new market -- as Etsy user ggat seems to have -- you're allowed to set the price. The bread in question is your standard white fare, which is then burnt using a laser to create the portrait. To ensure the toast doesn't fall victim to various forms of degradation it is coated in a spray varnish. Why would you want such a thing in the first place? I'm not sure, but I can sleep soundly tonight knowing that if the urge strikes me, a slice of Jobs toast is just a click away.
Facebook 2.0 finally brings push notifications to Windows Phone 7
On the heels of yesterday's release of Mango for the developers out there, Facebook has finally dropped version 2 with support for push notifications -- Toast and Live Tile. For those of you that've been waiting with baited breath, included are notifications for: messages, wall posts, feed comments and replies, photo tags and replies, or in short about everything your addiction requires. We've not had a chance to light our screens up with this just yet, so why not be a dear and give it a go and let us know what you think.
Amazon says 'no MAS' with Mac Download Store
In the next effort to go toe-to-toe with Apple, Amazon took a swing at the Mac App Store and launched the Mac Download Store today. While its offerings aren't as robust as the Mac App Store, Amazon scored some big points by offering Mac software for download that Apple doesn't have -- namely Microsoft Office, QuickBooks and Roxio's Toast. In a battle that has thus far involved Amazon launching a cloud music service first and pending court discussions over the question of what exactly is an "app store," Amazon is doing its best to wrestle a piece of the Mac-user pie for itself. The Amazon downloads require OS X 10.5 and higher. Purchases can be downloaded an unlimited number of times and are stored in Amazon's Games and Software library. [Via The Loop]
Roxio's Toast 11 offers improved import, iLife browsing, more
Everyone's favorite media toolkit, CD- DVD- and (heretical) Blu-Ray burner and breakfast food (apart from porridge) has turned the volume knob up to 11 with the latest version of Roxio's Toast. The update aims to allow you to take more or less any piece of media in any format and transform it to use on almost any device anywhere you like. Toast 11 has been re-designed from the ground up with a new interface which, say Roxio, "we believe users will find modern and intuitive." There's a new tutorials section with videos and step-by-step PDFs to guide you through Toast's sometimes impenetrable interface, new presets for producing video in a suitable format to watch on your iPhone, among other devices, and 'Videoboost' to speed up H.264 video conversion. "Toast 11 adds many requested features such as recording to multiple drives simultaneously, a streamlined product update mechanism, and the ability to save custom video profiles, which is very useful for those that are often converting video for a particular device," says Roxio. "The latest version now also offers built-in features for directly uploading media to social networking sites such as YouTube, Vimeo or Facebook." Other new features include the ability to capture, save, and convert Web-based video content, disc spanning, one-click backup of HD camcorder footage and TiVo-to-Go support. [via MacUpdate]
The Road to Mordor: The Professor
This past week on January 3rd, J.R.R. Tolkien celebrated his 118th birthday -- or rather, we celebrated it for him. Tolkien was born in South Africa in 1892 and lived a rich and full life, from fighting in the first World War to working on the Oxford English Dictionary to taking a position at several universities that would earn him the nickname "The Professor." He is, of course, most well-remembered for his seminal works of fantasy -- The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion -- although his writings didn't end there. Due to Tolkien's love of nature, linguistics, and mythology, his creations were born out of comprehensive backgrounds and rich histories, which he seemed to love making up just as much as the stories themselves. For years now, Tolkien fans around the world have remembered his birthday by raising a glass on his birthday and giving a simple toast, "The Professor," at 9:00 p.m. wherever they lived. Likewise, in Lord of the Rings Online, many players gathered at their tavern of choice to do the same. Today I thought I'd remember the Professor in a slightly different way by exploring the quest chain "Missing the Meeting." While it's not completely overt if you happened to come across it, "Missing the Meeting" is a tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien and his life, and it's worth going through at least once if you want to pay homage and get a nifty token by which to remember him.
Windows Phone 7 beats iPhone 4 and Android ... in a grilling contest (video)
Let's face it, it's a question the world's been dying to know the answer to: which of the T-Mobile G2, HTC Surround and iPhone 4 will withstand a (literal) grilling the longest? Well, just in time for a mildly singed breakfast today, we have the answer. As you might have surmised from the title, HTC's WP7-equipped Surround showed the most endurance, though in the end it too cashed out its Earthly credits and moved on to that great scrapyard in the sky. Video of its final moments awaits after the break.
After iLife '11: Alternatives to iDVD and iWeb
Over the weekend TUAW is going to be featuring in-depth reviews of the new iLife '11 suite -- or at least the three apps that were updated. As most of you know by now, iWeb and iDVD didn't receive an update at all. In light of that, we've compiled a list of several alternatives to iDVD and iWeb that you may want to try out. From a purely consumer standpoint, I don't think any of these apps offer the ease of use that Apple has so successfully built into iWeb and iDVD, but given that iDVD seems all but abandoned -- as should the MacBook optical drive be -- and the future is uncertain for iWeb, it's always nice to know you have some alternatives. iDVD alternatives: SmallDVD SmallDVD is a simple utility that lets you take any video files and add them to a DVD image ISO which can then be burned onto a DVD using Disc Utility. SmallDVD doesn't have many features, but it will appeal to those of you who want to create very simple DVDs with static background menus. It also has the added benefit of only creating the ISO file which can then be shared to DropBox or iDisk, and then downloaded and viewed on another computer using only the ISO -- no optical drive needed. SmallDVD is a free download.
MacUpdate bundle gets Toasty, TUAW readers can win
The MacUpdate Promo bundle is back again -- this edition features the marquee player of Roxio's Toast 10 Titanium, for all your CD and DVD burning needs. Blu-ray and HD capabilities, if you need them, require the separate US$19.95 plugin from Roxio, but that's still only $70 for all the mojo of an app that would normally run $130. Plus, the bundle includes other winners like MindNode Pro, ShareTool [TUAW review] and Voila. Total retail value of the apps: over $400. There are two giveaway apps for the first 20K buyers (Vitamin-R and Compartments) but it looks like those are almost sold out already. TUAW has a couple of bundle licenses to give away, and we're eager to do so. All you need to do: enter a comment below, telling us which of the apps in the bundle is most intriguing, or most useful, or appealing, or which one makes you say "I can't imagine ever using that, but to each their own." Two comments will be selected at random as winners. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, and of Canada (excluding Quebec), who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment on this post discussing the MacUpdate bundle offerings. The comment must be left before Wednesday, September 22, 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Two winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: One bundle license for the MacUpdate Promo September 2010 bundle (ARV $49.95) Click Here for complete Official Rules.
Toast/E/R Defibrillator concept toasts, will inevitably lead to fun toast-shaped skin burns
Seriously, humanity, we're disappointed it took you so long to come up with this. Now, who here has the funds to convert this from concept to commercial product? We're waiting...
MSI Toast PC catches our eye, and that's all she wrote
Who knows what's actually housed in the device, but judging by the accompanying placard, MSI is playing the aesthetic card with this one. Designed as both a PC and a decoration for the home, it's certainly pleasing on the eye. And like the sign says, "don't try to put in toast" -- cute, but we'd rather that line had a commitment to releasing this sucker. Or a price range. Or some hint as specs. Or anything tangible, really. %Gallery-87374%
If Microsoft made a toaster...
We don't know where, and we don't know why, but we sure like the idea of this Microsoft toaster that etches little Redmond flags into delicately baked slices of Wonder. Of course, if Microsoft really did make a toaster it would likely require an upgrade to your bread. And if Apple made a toaster, the bread would be non-removable. Oh!And if... go ahead, add your own in the comments below.[Thanks abrahamvir, images courtesy of mazw220]
Roxio announces Toast 10 at MacWorld
Toast is the granddaddy of CD burning apps nowadays, an act that itself has become relatively obsolete (between iPods, internet radios, FM tuners, and streaming services, do we even really need to put media on a physical format anymore?). Roxio isn't sitting back with their software, though: they've released Toast 10 at MacWorld this week, and they are doing their best to stay on your Mac, whether you use your CD burner or not. They added streaming back in Toast 9, but 10 brings with it the ability to extract and control almost any sound or video that comes through your computer, from DVD footage to web video, exported out to TiVo, your Mac, your iPod, or anywhere else that plays it. The app is available right now on the website for $79.99 (after a $20 mail-in rebate), or they're offering a "Pro" version that comes with SonicFire Pro (that you can use to piece soundtracks together), Bias SoundSoap SE (which will wipe hums and static from recordings), FotoMagico (slideshows from pictures), and LightZone (photo editor and enhancer), as well as a plug-in for Toast that will let you author Blu Ray and HD DVD discs. All that comes together for $130 (after a $20 mail-in rebate). Whew. Despite the fact that almost no one is routinely burning CDs or DVDs these days, Roxio seems to be going all out to make sure there's still a need for Toast. [via Ars]
Video: Marcus Fenix asks 'who wants toast?'
Here's a question for you. What do Gears Locusts enjoy eating as a mid-afternoon snack? If you answered COG soldiers, you're only partially correct, because the real answer is toast. Yes, plain toast. We know about this Locust toast fetish because of the antique Locust Horde toaster that's hidden Gears of War 2's final "The Hive" chapter. Check the break for the toaster video and decide if you like your toast extra toasted or only mildly toasted. We usually opt for extra toasted and then scrape off the charred bits. Don't ask.
Roxio releases Toast 9 with streaming
With their newly-updated Toast Titanium 9, it looks like Roxio is really embracing new ways of using media, moving beyond Toast's original disc-burning functionality. New features include AVCHD camcorder video conversion, support for creating Blu-ray and HD DVD discs (though why someone would want to make HD DVDs at this point is anybody's guess), automatic tagging of unknown audio tracks via their "audio fingerprint," internet audio stream recording, and more. Previous support for CD/DVD burning and TiVo video is naturally still included.Perhaps most interesting is the new Roxio Streamer, which allows video streaming from your Mac to "your Wi-Fi connected iPhone, iPod Touch or to any Internet connected Mac or PC." It seems like Roxio has recognized that disc-burning has a limited future and is steadily moving Toast towards streaming, etc.Toast 9 is $99.99, but previously registered users are eligible for a $20 mail-in rebate. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
How to create your own Toast DVD menu style
A while back reader Michael Coyle was nice enough to send us this write-up on how to customize Leopard's Guest account, and just recently he sent along another guide that you might not need right away, but will come in handy when you really need it. He's got an in-depth look at how to create a custom menu style when authoring a DVD in Toast Titanium 8.As he says, the default styles that come with the application are a little less than formal, so if you want to create a professional menu for the DVD that fits your needs, this will show you how. As far as I can tell, the style is just a Photoshop file with various layers for the DVD to use as a menu (selected, frames for videos and the border around them, and so on); so the trick is finding the right layers to edit and leaving everything else alone (so nothing breaks).If you've got some DVD authoring in your future, and plan to use Toast to get it all done, there you go.
Messaging toaster burns notes into your breakfast
For being one of the most brilliantly simple electronic devices ever to exist, the humble toaster certainly draws a lot of design attention, and this messaging toaster from Sasha Tseng certainly adds in a feature we never knew we wanted -- until now. We're not 100 percent clear on exactly how it works, but using the supplied stylus to doodle on the top lid of the toaster will result in a scorchmark-and-bread rendering of your masterpiece. Not exactly the most covert way of sending messages to your family, perhaps, but since when has practicality been important in toaster concept design?[Via Shiny Shiny and Giz]
CNC hot-air gun used to draw faces, text on toast
Slicing up ole Xbox consoles or using immensely powerful lasers to heat your morning cup of joe are certainly entertaining ways to make industrial machinery a bit more fun, but the CNC Toast printer ups the ante by providing an over-the-top replacement for those plastic molds we used as youngsters. By hacking a CNC hot-air gun to respond to a "computer-dictated X-Y control system" and affixing it to the carriage of a printer, the evil scientists were able instruct the toasty (ahem) blaster to move around in a user-selected pattern in order to print images and text onto pieces of toast. Cleverly dubbed "digital toast imaging technology," the apparatus was able to affix a number of slightly awkward faces on slices of bread, and even imprint "Hello World" onto one piece in particular. Still, you can't get the full impression of how geektacular this truly is without seeing it in motion, so that's why you should click on through right about now and hit play, cool?[Via HackedGadgets]
Mool Toaster faces designer toaster duo, gets burned
These days it takes a lot to please us in a purely conceptual and wholly impractical toaster design, and while the "Mool Toaster" from Atil Kizilbayir does qualify as a fancy new take on bread browning, it falls on its face -- butter side down, if you will -- when up against toasting gods like the Glide and the ROLLERtoaster. Just like its counterparts, the Mool has a complete disregard for safety, particularly from the exploratory fingers of little children, but it also manages a heating-inefficient design, bigger-than-a-toaster footprint, and a so-so color scheme. You're supposed to load up the removable rack with your bread stuffs, but we're not sure if it even pops out automatically, or if you'll need to risk life and limb to remove the rack. Does Atil seriously expect us to commit our imaginary sliced breads to his actual award winning conceptual toaster? Puhlease.[Via SCI FI Tech]
