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Sirius Conductor enables whole-house sat radio fun
Breaking with the tradition of beginning nearly all of its product names with the letter "S" (see the recently released Stiletto, Starmates, Sportsters, Stratus and old school S50 for reference), Sirius has announced a new in-home satellite radio tuner known as the Conductor. Instead of lugging your Sirius boombox all over the house, you'll now be able to hook the tuner directly into your rack-mounted receiver (though you'll still need to snake that antenna outside) and operate it from almost anywhere in your pad thanks to the handy RF- and IR-equipped remote. The LCD-sporting universal remote can also control up to five other members of your home theater family, and if you're willing to shell out for an extra Sirius subscription, it has the ability to rock two separate audio zones with a compatible SiriusConnect tuner. (Howard in one room and Martha in the other -- does life get any better than that?) Scheduled for a November release, the Conductor system will set you back $150, but if you've already got yourself a lifetime sub, this would seem like a must-have item (well, as long as you don't mind eating the transfer fee).[Via Orbitcast]
RFID Passports coming to the US in August
It has been a long and extremely troubled road for the ePassport here in the US, but it looks like they'll finally start hitting carry on bags of non-diplomats late next month. The new RFID tag-toting documents will store all of your personal data, including name, address, nationality, a picture, a digitized fingerprint and just about every other thing crooks would need to take your identity for a joyride. The government is insisting that they've taken the necessary precautions to prevent data "skimming," but that can be a lot trickier than it sounds. Just ask the Dutch. Ultimately, the technology could go either way, acting as an effective method of cross-checking people across a vast security network as they move from country to country, or evolving into an omnipresent grid of surveillance that will spread viruses and confine us all to our homes lest we feel the wrath of cyber criminals or high-tech fascists. So let us know how it turns out, we'll be in the basement with our RFID-blocking wallet and tin foil hat.
How-To: Build Wireless Speakers from RF Headphones
Today's How-To shows that with a little ingenious wiring, a pair of headphones can become a pair of low-power rechargeable wireless speakers. For this mod you will need: One or more wireless headphone sets with rechargeable bases (we used inexpensive Sony RF headphones) A soldering iron Two channel socket and plug connectors for power A miniature slider switch Some thin cabling Plexiglas and hot glue or other material to build speaker housings A dremel or similar to make openings in the speaker housings If your artsy friends have been begging you to build them wireless speakers on the cheap for their Burning Man installation, read on. If not, it's still a helluva lot of fun, so read on anyway!
360 RF adaptor
It may be a bit of a niche market, but we can think of the odd scenario when you might need to hook up your Xbox 360 to something so ancient it doesn't support the shipped cable. Whether through necessity or a lust for retro gaming experiences, if you want to use RF to connect your console to your TV, this accessory will do the trick. Whatever next -- a smoke signal generator?
iJet Two-Way remote for iPod
Now here is a remote I could warm up to (never-mind its odd looks): the iJet Two-Way is a 150-foot range RF wireless remote for the iPod, and this latest version due in early 2006 sports a display so you can actually see what's playing. Since it uses a dock connector, it's compatible with every iPod it can plug into (including the nano), and while there's no official word on price, the present version sells for $60 at their various retailers.[via Engadget]
