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Glide toaster gives breakfast bread a new flair
Sure, toasters have gotten bigger, more colorful, and more likely to burn down your house since its conception, but unlike refrigerators, dishwashers, and microwaves, this cooking utensil just hasn't gotten much attention over the years. Enter George Watson, a clever design guru with an engineering heart, who has crafted the best thing since sliced toasted bread, the Glide. This primarily white ceramic toast cooker boasts a simplified design, a single-feed toaster, and a V-shaped rack to hold the toast for use on the kitchen table. Twin hot plates heat the bread as the motorized unit pulls it through, and a handy button on the front increases or decreases the speed in which it passes -- you know, to satisfy those who like it warm, and those who like it black. Mr. Watson's invention looks to be part of a design competition, thus we're not exactly sure if GE or Kitchen-Aid has contacted him regarding a deal, but hopefully we'll soon see these things replacing those antiquated versions we're all forced to deal with now.[Via BoingBoing]
Roxio ships TiVo to Go for Mac
Engadget and Zatz Not Funny! are reporting that Roxio -- yes, Popcorn, Toast with Jam, that Roxio -- has partnered with TiVo to deliver the long-awaited TiVotoGo for Mac client, built in to Toast Titanium 8. All together, everyone: "Wha?!?"The new Toast will allow you to browse your TiVo content, play back TV shows, burn to DVD (of course) and also transcode for iPod or PSP. Zatz notes that the included video player appears to have come over from Elgato's EyeTV 2 package, which already features tight integration with Toast. The new version also includes non-TiVo goodness like BluRay support, new audio mastering and conversion utilities, and cross-platform support for spanned disk backups. Toast is normally $99 but there's a $20 rebate in play now if ordered direct from Roxio. I'm sure that some of my colleagues will be running over to the Roxio booth at Macworld to check it out.
Roxio delivers TiVoToGo for Mac -- yes Roxio
Yeah, you read that title correctly. Stumped by their inability to lock media down on the Mac like they did the PC, TiVo had no choice but to look elsewhere for Mac technical assistance in the development of their long overdue TiVoToGo software for the Macintosh. In comes Sonic, TiVo partner and developers of Roxio Toast. The new software doesn't require TiVo Desktop and is composed of four distinct functions: TiVo Transfer, Video Playback, DVD Burning, and Portable Conversions. TiVo Transfer allows you to pull .TIVO shows to your Mac either on demand, or via schedules. The player decrypts the .TIVO content in real time while Burn allows you burn content to DVD in one of two ways: archive shows for use on Mac (or PC) or burn for use in a set-top box. Take heed, the software does indeed embed a non-visible watermark of your Media Access key into converted video -- same as the PC kiddo. From Toast, clicking "Export" will bring up common profiles for iPod or PSP conversions -- you know, 320x240 and MPEG-4 or H.264 -- with iPod conversions dropped directly into iTunes. Toast 8 Titanium TiVoToGo retails for $100 (upgrade rebates available) and is available now according to Mr. Zatz. However, the link is currently dead... maybe Monday. No worries, you have alternative solutions.[Via Zatz Not Funny!]
ROLLERtoaster: the best thing to happen to toasters since sliced bread
Just when we thought we'd seen it all, ROLLERtoaster comes onto the scene and makes everybody look bad. Sure, it's just a concept for now, but don't say we didn't warn you when this thing takes the world by storm and revolutionizes the entire toast industry forever. Designed by Jaren Goh of Singapore, and winner of the 2006 Red Dot Award, the ROLLERtoaster is pretty self explanatory: stick bread in one side, and watched it get rolled into toast by the compact little unit. We're not so sure how well this is guarded from little probing fingers, or the exact mechanism for rolling the toast through, but do details like that really matter when faced with such exquisite design beauty? We didn't think so.
Disco revealed
Lots of people emailed us about Disco, the new app from the folks behind AppZapper and MacZot and we didn't post about it. Why? Because there was very little information about the app, other than it was supposed to be super cool.This all changed recently, though, since some screenshots were posted to the Disco blog. Disco is a disc burning utility that tries to make burning discs easy and fun, and it is taking aim at Toast. Check out the screenshots for more info.
Sony intros new 18x DVD burners, and a slimline model to boot
Sony has unveiled a new line-up of 830 series DVD burners which somehow have the ability to burn 16x media at 18x speeds, or a whole 4.7GB DVD in around 5 minutes. The new burners come in three different enclosures: firstly, the $90 DRU-830A, a internal drive that comes bundled with Nero 7 authoring software; secondly, the $130 DRX-830U, which is an external drive running off USB 2.0; and finally, the $150 DRX-830UL-T, which comes with Toast 6 Lite and a FireWire port to cater to Mac users. Sony has also announced a new external slimline model called the DRX-S50U -- a $130 drive capable of 8x single-layer DVD writing from inside its diminutive 4/5-inch thick enclosure. Mail-in rebates will be available on the 830 series drives, and all but the Mac-compatible DRX-830UL-T will be available in October -- Mac users will have to wait until December to get their burn on.
PS3: better than a toaster?
For serious gamers this holiday season, there is really only one question: whether to buy a PS3 or a toaster. Thank goodness there's now a video guide to the relative benefits of each unit. According to the video, while the PS3 excels with its myriad cords and inputs, excellent love-making ability and saucy German attitude, the toaster is definitely the choice for fans of toast and Pop Tarts. We're a little skeptical of the video's claims that the PS3's self-replicating ability will ensure plentiful supplies at launch, but it's still worth due consideration.Previously: PS3 vs. Wii Mac Spoof[Via MacSpoofs]
Roxio Toast 7 with Blu-ray support for Macs ready
Is that Blu-ray drive-sporting Power Mac Mac Pro just around the corner? Maybe, maybe not, but for Apple users who like to stay ahead of the curve they can expect to see the new Toast 7 w/ BD support bundled with Blu-ray recorders shipping soon. The Toast Dynamic Writing feature makes the jump to next-gen, allowing Mac users to drag-and-drop to 50GB BD-R or BD-RE discs with ease. No mention of whether the automatic disc-spanning feature is intact, at $47.99 and 50GB each a dual layer disc (whenever they are available) should be more than enough. Still, with pricetags of at least $750 it may be some time before even deep-pocketed Apple aficionados jump in. The Logitec LBD-A2FU2 Blu-ray burner for Macs & PCs we previewed back in April has apparently slipped, Amazon Japan dates its release as July 31, for 132,762 yen ($1,136 US).This is as good a time as any to (re)start an Apple rumor about a Blu-ray burner in the next product refresh. All we need to do is check our calendar for Lord Steve's next public appearance and there is your totally unsubstantiated predicted release date. We'd express more concern about the lack of consumer edition HD DVD recording software if there were, you know, any burners available or even officially announced in the U.S.[Thanks for the tip Joe L.!]
Toast Titanium 7.1
Roxio released an update to their flagship CD and DVD-burning software for Macintosh this morning. Version 7.1 is now a universal binary and provides fixes with issues related to Quicktime 7.1, AppleScript, the Toast Setup Assistant, and encoding Apple Lossless files.There aren't too many more applications on my Intel iMac that are not universal binary. The Adobe CS2 suite and Microsoft Office, of course, are the two outstanding holdouts. Virtually everything else has been updated to work natively on an Intel iMac. What other applications are you waiting for?
