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Adgadget: Fantasy fembots market male products
Ariel Waldman contributes Adgadget, a column about the intersection of advertising and technology.Technologically better equipped than booth babes, fantasy fembots seem to be popping up everywhere in ad campaigns these days. Alcohol seems to be popular with the fembots -- they're employed in ads from both Heineken and Svedka -- but Philips is utilizing them in a campaign for an electric razor as well. It's pretty easy to be creeped out by the influx of ready-to-serve robots -- and not just because these fembots could be the beginnings of the Singularity in disguise. (C'mon, what more suitable "smarter-than-human brain-computer-interface" would be better to take over the human race than one that offered kegs and clean shaves as a "gift from the Greeks"? And who better to be behind the downfall of society than advertisers?) Misogynist undertones run rampant throughout all the ads, so it's no shock that feminine cyborgs are used exclusively in advertising targeting young males -- they tap right into stock fantasies of complete feminine subservience.
Engadget HD Review: RazorVision HDMI video cable
We are always hesitant when a company claims to 'enhance' something and our red flags where waving when Belkin sent us their RazorVision HDMI cables. These cables are equipped with an in-line video processor that claims to "restore details", provide "greater image depth," and "increase contrast." Thankfully, the unit provides an on and off button, along with a convenient split screen option, that made reviewing these 'cables' a snap. Click on for screenshots (big pics so slow load times for dial-up) that will let you come to your own conclusion on whether these are something you need to add to your high-def gear.
Motorola scraps with Razor over "MOTORAZR"
Nothing like a lighthearted trademark lawsuit to break up the gloom-and-doom stories of hot phones that aren't bound for US shores, eh? It seems that Razor USA -- the scooter company -- was understandably concerned back in 2004 that Motorola might encroach on the lucrative, burgeoning scooterphone market and penned an agreement to license the "RAZR" name through October of this year. Motorola figured they could sidestep the agreement by prefixing "MOTO" to "RAZR" and wash their hands of the encroaching expiration date. Razor -- again, the scooter people -- disagreed, prompting Motorola to file the lawsuit. In the meantime, Motorola "will continue to expend substantial funds to complete the transition" from RAZR to MOTORAZR, apparently confident they can overpower a bunch of kids on two-wheeled scooters. How much money can the "transition" from four letters to eight really cost, anyway?[Thanks, CoreyTheGent]
