Panasonic have announced that they will sell their 103-Inch Plasma screen TV which we featured here on QJ gadgets back in July for $80,000. The 103-Inch HD ready beast of a TV screen supports a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels as well as featuring a contrast ratio of 3000:1 and a 3.8-inch pixel pitch which is very sharp indeed. There aren't any TV's that we are aware of currently on the market that will give as crisp an image as this, but at $80,000, you would certainly expect the best.

The company will be selling 50% of the first 5,000 units in North America. Europe gets 20%, and the remaining will be sold in Japan and other Asian countries so hurry up and get your orders in before Christmas when the 103-Inch TV is expected to ship. Er...If you have $80,000 to spend on a TV that is.

If you are looking at investing your hard-earned cash into a flat screen TV any time soon, our advice to you would be to wait. Market leaders LG Electronics and Sharp Corp. have both said that they expected prices of flat LCD television sets to drop by 20 to 30 percent or more in 2007 due to both overproduction and a reduction in manufacturing costs.

Young Chan Kim, head of global marketing for LG's displays division told journalists at the IFA consumer electronics show "Last year we saw about 30 percent of price reductions for plasma and a little bit more for LCD. Next year, in 2007, we expect about the same." Sharp's president Katsuhiko Machida also commented, saying that he expected a fall closer to 20 percent on average for LCD TVs. If you start saving now, you should have more than enough for a flat screen TV in 2007. Maybe we should have waited until next year to unveil our Wall-O-monitors project - it would have been much cheaper.

The Aussies must all be having a grand time down under because the officials from Nintendo Australia have confirmed that the black DS Lite will be available in the region next month, September 21st to be exact.

The launching of the black DS Lite in Australia will be ideal for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team as the game is scheduled for its Australian release just a week after (September 28). The Australians get a head start on the game while Europeans would have to wait till November 10th to get their hands on the yellow guy.

Rose Lappin, director of sales and marketing said "We are very pleased to introduce Black to the range. I think the color lends well to the overall design and offers a sharp elegance to the unit. Until now, consumers have really embraced the clean sophistication of the Polar White look - now they have an option."

Nintendo claims that their DS continues to be the highest selling handheld gaming console in Australia, beating GBA and Sony's PSP. Both the white and pink DS Lite have reportedly sold over 300,000 units since its launch back in June. Officials from Nintendo Australia announced that the black DS Lite will be sold for AU$199.95 ($153 U.S. bucks).

Mermaids are one of the creatures that have been immortalized in people's minds and have fascinated the young and adults alike. The word mermaid came from the Middle English mere in the obsolete sense 'sea' + maid(en). It is a legendary aquatic creature with the head and torso of human female and the tail of a fish. Tales about their existence appeared as early as 1000 BCE in Assyria. One of the popular legend is that Alexander the Great's sister, Thessalonike turned into a mermaid after her death and lived in the Aegean, asking sailors one question " Is Alexander the king alive". The correct answer would be "He lives and still rules", any other answer would spur her into a rage where she transforms into a Gorgon and harbor doom upon the ship and every sailor onboard.

Even in popular culture, mermaids are depicted regularly in literature and film, likely due to the influence of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale, The Little Mermaid. But are these creatures just a figment of humans' imagination or are they real?

Read the full article after the jump!

There once a movie called "Labyrinth." It starred the beautiful Jennifer Conelly and the cool-eyed wonder David Bowie. The others were pretty much just muppets and puppets (how DO you know which is which). It had a young girl (Conelly) go through a large labyrinth just to reach the Goblin King's (Bowie) tower and save her little brother (muppet?). Now there's a game called "Deep Labyrinth" that's was just recently released, is it going to be populated by muppets as well? Let's see.

Most RPGs are viewed from a third person's point of view. Naturally because they'd like to see the character they're playing. If the character doesn't look good, expect the sales to go down pretty sharp. Sorry, but most RPG players like seeing their characters portrayed as cool and handsome. First Person Shooters (FPS) on the other hand, just shows the arm. That's it. FPS players don't mind because they all look the same anyway. They're pretty much happy just wearing their ski masks and Army uniforms. What's important to them is the gameplay and the way bodies explode on grenade launcher impact.

Labyrinth has mixed the two game features together. Presenting: the FPRPG. First Person Role Playing Game. You basically just see your arms most of the time in this game, but instead of wielding M-16s or spades, you'll be fighting with swords, blocking with shields, casting spells, and using items. You'll be fighting dragons and monsters, naturally.

You'll be playing as Ace, a sixth grader. You and your dog will be in search of your parents who disappeared suddenly when they entered a mansion on the road. Dog goes in, boy follows (they never learn do they?--Dogs, I mean) and you're teleported into the "Deep Labyrinth."

The story,gameplay, and music from the people who brought you Chrono Trigger, FF VII, and Xenogears: Masato Kato and Yasunori Mitsuda.

Game released stateside: August 15, 2006.

Conelly not included.

Aving has posted some pics of the HN-3300T, Hyon's portable multimedia player and GPS navigation system, in action. Of course, we've got them here for you to look at.

The images showing the player's screen are quite good, with the images on the HN-3300T's 7" LCD screen looking pretty sharp and clear. Design-wise, the HN-3300T looks quite sleek. The front of the player itself reminds us of an old dial-up modem, but hey, the picture showing an array of six HN-3300Ts looks like it came from some sci-fi flick.

The Hyon HN-3300T has a 4GB internal memory capacity that can be extended by using an SD Card. Aside from being a video player and nav system, it can also play MP3s, receive FM radio, and has a photo viewer. The Hyon HN-3300T has built in 2W stereo speakers, BMB/GPS dual antenna and built in FM transmitter.

This baby's out now in Korea.

 
 

For those who have been waiting for their turn to be able to finally burn virtual rubber and race in literally hellish conditions and environments against demon racers, we are glad to announce that there will now be an exact date for the release of Earache Extreme Metal Racing.

The precise day to mark on your calendar? September 22. No rumor, no estimate. This information is straight from Metro 3D Publishing and Data Design Interactive, the people who have made the game possible.

On top of that, Earache Extreme Metal Racing for the PSP will also make its presence felt for the first time at this year's Games Convention at Leipzig, Germany from August 23rd to 26th. So, if you can't wait for the game, you can always fly to Germany. Otherwise, for mere mortals like us, we'll just have to keep a sharp eye until September rolls in.

If you have a knack for pricking yourself with a needle, we suggest you stay as far away as possible from the tungsten needle. Why? Because it's the sharpest object ever made by our species since our ancestors crawled out caves. The tungsten needle is so sharp, its point is only about the thickness of single atom.

The superneedle was created by Moh'd Rezeq at the University of Alberta and the National Institute for Nanotechnology. The tungsten needle is not for your everyday sewing but for scanning tunneling microscopes (STMs) - a non-optical microscope that scans an electrical probe over a surface to be imaged to detect a weak electric current flowing between the tip and the surface. STM is used by scientists to visualize regions of high electron density and infer the position of individual atoms and molecules on the surface of a lattice. But we heard they use it to darn their socks when no one's looking.

Last month, rumors have leaked all over the web regarding the new line of portable media players from Archos. The company still remains tight-lipped about the subject, but not to worry, because here's some treats for you to look forward to as we walk you through the Archos 604's impressive specs.

First thing to drool about this little wonder is its gorgeous 4.3" screen with a stunningly sharp resolution. It's light, slim, and fits right in your pocket.

The Archos 604 has a 30GB capacity, and is USB compatible. It also draws its power via USB which makes it pretty convenient. This unit also comes with a text reader, a picture viewer, as well as a media player of course which can support most media formats out there.

Other pleasant additions to the 604 would be a kickstand at its rear so that you can prop it on a table and watch your videos in comfort without having to cradle your viewer all the time. And if you're not content with that, well then you can just plug this into a a dock that connects to your TV, thereby turning your Archos into a home DVR.

There's no turning back now.

Dreaming of THE ultimate home entertainment system? Well, If you got a few dollars to spend - $10,870 USD to be more accurate - maybe you'd like to get your hands on the Sharp 1080p DLP XV-Z21000 projector.

Whew! Quite a mouthful, isn't it? Well, this baby offers quite a mouthful too. Among its many features, it boasts of 1,920 x 1,080 HD resolution (for crisp, sharp, larger than life images) as well as both HD and SD connectivity (for instant connectivity with your various video gadgets).

So if you want to get a cinematic experience in the comfort of your own home (and have $10,870 USD to spare), maybe you'd want to splurge on this nifty gadget. This product will hit the stores on October 1st.