Our first day at IFA 2008 is done, and without doubt, the overall winner so far—apart from Miss IFA and her jewels—has been the new Sony ZX1 9.9mm-thin LCD TV, which was absolutely beautiful, followed by the Philips Essence. However, there have been plenty of other things that you can check out here:

Hands-On
• Sony ZX1 9.9mm-thin LCD TV
• Sony Z4500 Motionflow 200Hz
• Philips 8mm-thin 32-inch TV
• Miss IFA and her jewels (no groping here)
• Sony Walkman S Series
• Philips barrage of new shiny gadgets (I just like to say barrage. Baaaarrraaaagggge).

Liveblogs
• Live from the Sony Press Conference
• Live from the Philips Press Conference

Products
• Toshiba Regza ZF HDTV
• Panasonic DMP Blu-ray players
• Sharp Aquos XS1 thin TV
• Philips CinemaOne all-in-one home theater
• Sony Bravia BDV-IT1000 All-In-One Blu-ray home theater

The Dad's Cab Meter is a fake taxi fare counter for parental chauffeurs, made so they can guilt/embarrass their ingrate children into doing chores for them. The meter incrementally increases the pretend fare and comes with a stack of fare receipts that have chores the kids can do as payment (har har har). It's kinda like those redonkulous moments on The Cosby Show where the entire family would participate in a role-play with some sort of real-world moral to it, except not anywhere as funny. Dad's Cab is $18, but in the grand scheme of things, mortifying your children is priceless. [Gizoo via Coolest Gadgets via Dvice]

In addition to their new TVs and AV systems, Philips had a ton of small new gadgets and appliances at IFA 2008 today: new Streamium 160GB micro Hi-Fi systems, the CinemaOne all-in-one home theater unit, the new version of the Wake-Up Light alarm clock, a cool home messaging system bar, a beer draft machine, a barrage of grooming things, food processors, and the new Senseo Latte Select, which does perfect latte macchiatos in seconds. I'll get an espresso instead, because I was getting quite sleepy right there. Full gallery of shiny objects after the jump.

Honestly, it never ceases to amaze me the amount of stuff these kind of general consumer-oriented companies make. [More IFA 2008 Coverage]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Filed under: Ask Engadget, Gaming, Laptops

The Daily ‘Dog online periodical for public relations professionals recaps a Gartner report of where different emerging technologies are. The report shows a curve which moves through these phases: Technology Trigger, Peak of Inflated Expectations, Trough of Disillusionment, Slope of Enlightenment, and Plateau of Productivity. Predictions set in this context include:

Web 2.0, although placed in their Trough of Disillusionment now, is tipped to emerge within two years to have a transformational impact on business as companies steadily gain more experience and success with both the technologies and the cultural implications.

Virtual worlds, which are suffering from disillusionment after their peak of hype in 2007, will in the long term represent an important media channel to support and build broader communities of interest.

Technologies and trends at or around the peak of the Hype Cycle in 2008 that will reach the plateau in two to five years are:

Social Networking platforms - the MySpace, Facebook model. Companies are examining the role that these sites, or their enterprise-grade equivalents, will play in future collaboration environments.

Microblogging - The Twitter phenomenon has caught on among certain online communities, and leading-edge companies are investigating its role in enhancing other social media and channels.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

What do they say it is?
A place that lets you put all of the things that make you you – photos,
videos, blogs – in one place. So you can find friends (and friends can
find you). More specifically, VIRB° is our vision of a social community -
done right. A website that combines you, your interests, your friends and
the things you like with music, art, fashion, film and more. Stay
connected with your friends. Find new music. View and upload good videos,
photos and more.

What do we say it is?
Virb is a community website that combines social interaction with music
and entertainment exploration. It’s a great way to keep in touch and meet
people with similar interests. Use Virb to discover music, videos, cool
companies and organizations… then share what you find with your
friends. Virb was created by the same folks who made PureVolume.com

What’s great about it?
For artists it’s great and I ALWAYS use it when I handle my artists’ social networking.
I love it because you are able to upload images, bios, create a music player with
multiple MP3s that is easy for people visiting the site to see and use.
Plus you can customize the page to make it fit your mood and/or style.
You can also upload show dates, videos and additional info.

What could be better?
Honesty I love the layout and the idea that virb.com tries to get
across. I guess the one thing they could do more is try and link you more
with your direct community. Like on facebook you can search people within
your “network” and so if my network is Ohio, I can find everyone else in
Ohio and narrow the search down from there. Virb.com is a little bit like
a stab in the dark.

How can I use this?
As an artist you can use this to upload multiple songs onto it and get
them rated, you can get your shows posted, your videos up, and you name,
image, and bio out there for the public to see. It’s a great way to get
known, seen, and heard.

Should I pay it any attention?
Absolutely! You would be crazy not to make a Virb profile, it’s geared
for musicians, why wouldn’t you? That’s like saying I don’t want easy,
fun, and free publicity.

* Rick Reilly continues his transition from inane blather on Sports Illustrated to inane blather on ESPN. [ESPN.com]

* Taxpayers in Texas had to pay money for a judge to deal with Hilary Duff's birthday party. [Houston Chronicle]

* Target will pay $6 million in damages and make their website accessible to the blind, having already succeeded in making their website perfectly accessible to those who are poor and have low standards. [Law.com]

* The Justice Department is apparently going to try the Joanne Galloway "I strenuously object" argument with SCOTUS. [SCOTUSblog]

To paraphrase Austin Powers, Heller Ehrman is getting to "town bicycle" status. The latest firm to take a ride through Heller's financials: Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw.

According to Am Law Daily, citing sources close to both Heller and Mayer Brown, Heller is "aggressively" pursuing other merger options, with Mayer Brown looking like the most promising match. They add:

The current talks between Mayer Brown and Heller, which began days after Heller's talks with Baker & McKenzie ended, actually represent a second effort to combine the firms.

Before anybody starts requesting new business cards, it must be noted that Heller merger rumors tend to be as bankable as that Nigerian guy who needs your account number. In the past few months, Heller has been linked to Winston & Strawn, Proskauer Rose, and Baker & McKenzie. Given that a Heller/Mayer Brown merger has fallen through before, this latest rumor could be more about smoke screen than actual fire.

Just last week, Heller announced that it was postponing start dates until after Martin Luther King Day. We'll keep you updated on Heller's continuing efforts to be saved.

Heller Ehrman, Mayer Brown In Merger Talks [Am Law Daily]

T-Mobile has won its request for testing to see whether the FCC's proposed smut-free broadband plan will mess with its nearby services.

Read More...

If LimeWire doubles its library in the woods, does it make a sound? The company recently added another 1.2 million tracks from independent artists and small labels to its library, but it'll have to do more than that to gain an audience.

Read More...

In a first for the leaks site, Wikileaks hopes to raise cash and attract attention by auctioning off a high-profile new leak: a collection of e-mails allegedly gleaned from a senior Hugo Chavez aide.

Read More...

Wait for it. It shows up right in the middle. ^

I promised myself that the next car I bought would be a real electric production car. Is this my next car? More importantly, can I afford it? Likely not, but that’s not the issue here. Pictures and info after the bump.

The Volt is being used in Transformers 2, and after the lengthy (and slow) car scene above, you see them unwrapping it like a gift and driving it in such a way that you get to see it from all angles. Hmm, very convenient. Now I’m sure there will be plenty of disagreement about this, but I think it looks pretty nice. The “full moonroof” top is bold and although the profile is essentially a chubby Accord Coupe, it could have been a lot worse — the mutant Insight, for example, or the terminally bland Prius. Of course, the proof of the pudding is in the driving. I don’t think we’ll get a review unit, but if I come into some money and buy one, I’ll let you know how it is.