While Peavey regularly releases electric guitars, like the excellent AT-200 for example, it's perhaps best known for its amplifiers. Five years after unleashing its Vypyr line of modeling amps, the company debuted three new additions at NAMM earlier this year. The first to sport a variable instrument input technology that allows them to be used for bass, acoustic or electric guitars, the Vypyr VIP amps are now shipping.  Read More

Leap Motion is on its way. With the clock ticking down to the PC gesture controller’s July 22 launch, Leap has a brand new teaser video that showcases the device’s interaction with Windows. If you'd forgotten how exciting Leap was when we first got the chance to play with it, this might be enough to get your blood pumping again.  Read More

If you go camping down in the wild woods, the chances of happening upon a conveniently-placed power outlet for blowing up your mattress with an electric air pump are pretty remote. Unless you have a hand or foot pump in your backpack, you'll have to wrap your lips around a tiny valve that likely has a history of being dragged through all sorts of unmentionable nastiness, and then spend the next long while taking deep breaths and blowing. Ryan Frayne's Windcatcher system inflates in just a few seconds with a valve that never touches your mouth.  Read More

High-end smartphones sure are fun. But the smartphone market is inching closer to saturation in the countries that care the most about the high-end. That will leave much of the market’s future growth coming from emerging countries where the focus isn't necessarily on the latest announcement from Apple, Samsung, or HTC. Nokia is already a big player in these markets, but it’s hoping to take the next step with its new Asha 501 smartphone.  Read More

On Friday May 17, the US Navy's X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator took another historic step as it conducted its first touch-and-go landings on the nuclear aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush off the coast of Virginia. This maneuver is a critical achievement in the Navy’s program to develop an autonomous, unmanned, jet-powered combat aircraft capable for operating from a carrier.  Read More

If you’ve ever owned an Xbox, you’re probably familiar with one of the most annoying payment systems known to humankind: Microsoft Points. They’re great for Microsoft’s bottom line, and nothing but a hassle for customers. Well, the folks at Redmond may finally be ready for change – as the dreaded points are reportedly on their way out. Yet, not far away – at that other Seattle-area tech company – Amazon just launched a similar payment scheme for its Kindle Fire ecosystem.  Read More

Samsung first unveiled its 4K UHD television line in the form of a massive 85-inch model at CES this year, but the company did promise that it would expand to both larger and smaller models. Now, the company has officially announced that it will be bringing 55- and 65-inch models to market in June.  Read More

"Imagine opening a hatch in a submarine under water. The water will flow into the submarine with enormous force. It is precisely this energy potential we want to utilize." This is how German engineer Rainer Schramm describes his idea for storing energy under the sea. By using surplus energy to pump water out of a tank at the seabed, the water is simply let back in again when there's an energy shortfall, driving turbines as it rushes in. The deeper the tank, the more power is generated.  Read More

Apple usually keeps a pretty steady stream of product announcements coming. But right now we’re in the middle of the longest Apple product drought in recent memory (pushing seven months). So it’s natural that we’ll start hearing rumors about the next wave of products about to enter the pipeline. That’s just what happened today, with news of Apple’s suppliers gearing up for production of a new iPad.  Read More