Stihl’s autumn calendar automatically rips through to tomorrow

Unless they’re incredibly quiet or potentially explosive, you won’t find us waxing poetic (or even prosaic) about leaf blowers. But if a company that produced leaf blowers made a motorized calendar that tore off its own pages? We’d tell you about that in a heartbeat — even if the wonderfully wasteful contraption turned out to be a viral ad by agency Euro RSCG rather than an actual household organizer, and even if its pages aren’t nearly as saucy as Stihl’s usual NSFW fare. Believe it or not, there’s no blade inside that brushed aluminum shell; the process works by ripping out the bookbinding thread along the calendar’s spine using a motorized reel. Join us in celebrating the wonder of pressed dead wood floating to earth all by its lonesome with a short video after the break.

Continue reading Stihl’s autumn calendar automatically rips through to tomorrow

Stihl’s autumn calendar automatically rips through to tomorrow originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  DirectDaily  | Email this | Comments

Posted on March 11, 2010 at 5:33 am by Sean Hollister · Permalink · Comments Closed
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

HP ropes in Dr. Dre for ‘Lets Do Amazing’ personality makeover

When you think about HP, do you think about printers or maybe IT outsourcing? How about HP smartphones, ever think of them? You do know that HP still sells iPAQs right? That’s ok, we have to remind ourselves too, occasionally, and therein lies the problem: most consumers don’t have any idea what HP’s 300,000 employees are up to… or even care (ever encountered a rabid HP fanboy before?). While the enthusiast community is certainly anticipating the release of HP’s Slate or next Voodoo device, you’d be hard pressed to find any “normal people” who have even heard of them. So what’s HP to do?

Starting this weekend, HP will be blitzing the airwaves with its first advertising campaign in more than five years. The $40 million, eight-week “Lets Do Amazing” campaign features a number of celebs like “zany” comedian Rhys Darby and photographer Annie Leibovitz in pitches meant to give the very serious company a lighthearted makeover while explaining what it does. Hell, even HP fave Dr. Dre was convinced to shill, though knowing HP they’ll probably use his given name of Andre Romelle Young.

HP ropes in Dr. Dre for ‘Lets Do Amazing’ personality makeover originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Wall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

Posted on March 11, 2010 at 3:51 am by Thomas Ricker · Permalink · Comments Closed
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

First iPad ad premieres during the Oscars


digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/First_iPad_ad_premieres_during_the_Oscars’; Apple’s doing the Oscars up right tonight — not only was Steve Jobs making friends on the red carpet, but the company ran the first iPad ad just now during the broadcast. It’s pretty much what you’d expect out of an Apple ad, but, you know, more magical. Get ready for a blitz of these as we lead up to April 3. Video after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading First iPad ad premieres during the Oscars

First iPad ad premieres during the Oscars originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Apple  | Email this | Comments

Posted on March 7, 2010 at 6:10 pm by Nilay Patel · Permalink · Comments Closed
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

Verizon ‘vampire’ ad rips off Twilight, sticks it to AT&T

Hey, remember how all the lawsuits got dropped over the holiday period and we thought AT&T and Verizon would finally start to coexist like mature entities engaged in a civilized industry? Yeah, that didn’t last very long. Verizon is back with a biting ad campaign that continues poking fun at AT&T’s 3G coverage. The consumer is appropriately a vampire, whereas the young maiden keen on being consumed turns out to be… well, it’s more fun if we just let you watch it without any more spoilers. Needless to say, it’s some of Verizon’s funniest work yet. Head on past the break to see it.

[Thanks, Jay]

Continue reading Verizon ‘vampire’ ad rips off Twilight, sticks it to AT&T

Verizon ‘vampire’ ad rips off Twilight, sticks it to AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  YouTube  | Email this | Comments

Verizon advertising says Droid is for men, Pre is for women (video)

If you ask us, the Palm Pre Plus pretty much sells itself. So if we were working out a promo campaign for it, we’d just display the competitive pricing front and center and get the hell out of the product’s way. But that just wouldn’t do for Verizon. After all the machismo it attached to the Droid, the wireless provider is back with a set of ads for the Pre Plus targeted at the modern lady. We’re not told why two slabs of plastic and silicon with comparable sliding keyboards and similar internals must be compartmentalized by gender, but we don’t really care. The new ads are crazy enough in themselves, so just go see ‘em after the break.

Continue reading Verizon advertising says Droid is for men, Pre is for women (video)

Verizon advertising says Droid is for men, Pre is for women (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  YouTube  | Email this | Comments

Posted on February 4, 2010 at 5:11 am by Vladislav Savov · Permalink · Comments Closed
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nokia mounts huge Ovi Maps signpost on a crane in London (video)

We’re generally reluctant to cover purely promotional stunts like these, but when you decide to jack up a house-sized arrow on a crane and hang it next to London’s Thames river, well, exceptions can be made. Nokia’s big push to inform the world that Ovi Maps is free — now and forever — has culminated in the above sign, whose most appealing feature must be that it allows commoners like you and us to control it. People can send in a missive and coordinates via text or email, and then watch as the giant pointer rotates to the given direction and displays their wisdom to the world. See it in action after the break.

Continue reading Nokia mounts huge Ovi Maps signpost on a crane in London (video)

Nokia mounts huge Ovi Maps signpost on a crane in London (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  YouTube  | Email this | Comments

Posted on February 4, 2010 at 3:07 am by Vladislav Savov · Permalink · Comments Closed
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

CBS brings 3D advertising to Grand Central Station, glasses makers drink to that

We know good and well what kind of extravagant displays are available to gawk at in New York City, but now it looks like the locals will have yet another one to check out when they’re taking a breather from the rat race. CBS Outdoor has unveiled plans to deliver two solid hours (from 11:30AM to 1:30PM throughout February) of 3D advertising on an expansive, high-definition video screen installed within Grand Central Station. Unlike the glasses-free solution that we spotted at Intel’s CES booth this year, this one will still require onlookers to rock those heinous and soul-crushing glasses in order to “see” the “effect,” and with around 70,000 commuters passing by each day, we’d guess that the spectacle manufacturer who nabbed this contract is feeling pretty good right about now.

CBS brings 3D advertising to Grand Central Station, glasses makers drink to that originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hot Hardware, 3D Display Info  |  PR Newswire  | Email this | Comments

Verizon patents system for location-aware classifieds

It’s not often that we genuinely like what these big corporations are doing, so you’d better pay close attention here. We’ve caught wind of a Verizon patent covering the logistics of setting up and running a GPS-based classifieds service, which matches potential buyers and sellers of goods on the basis of their stated interests and location. Thus, next time you’re driving by the home of a carpenter, for example, you might be alerted of his contact details should you need some woodworking done. This seems like a legitimately useful expansion on the location services already available on GPS devices, but — as with the Nokia flexible display patent — the application was filed back in 2008 indicating that nothing is imminent. Still, at least it’s comforting to know that good ideas can fleet by carriers’ brain trusts when they’re not too busy talking trash about each other on TV.

[Thanks, Anand]

Verizon patents system for location-aware classifieds originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink GoRumors  |  USPTO  | Email this | Comments

LPD display tech from Prysm uses lasers, phosphors, groovy Flash intros

LPD display tech from Prysm uses lasers, phosphors, groovy Flash intros

Well, it’s Thursday. You know what that means: it’s time for another new revolutionary display technology that will offer better image quality at lower costs and with reduced energy consumption. Today’s breakthrough is LPD, or Laser Phosphor Displays. They rely on a screen covered in phosphors, much like a traditional CRT, but instead of a scanning beam of electrons those pixels are excited by a series of lasers. It seems rather similar to SED and FED tech, but with lasers rather than cathodes, thus making it roughly 23 times more awesome. The display tech is said to be able to created in any shape or size, and with its long lifespans and low power consumption is being targeted toward large-scale installations for advertising and the like. Don’t believe the hype? Turn up those speakers, click on that read link, and prepare to be awed by the breathless potential of… Prysm.

LPD display tech from Prysm uses lasers, phosphors, groovy Flash intros originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Slashdot  |  Prysm  | Email this | Comments

Posted on January 14, 2010 at 6:21 am by Tim Stevens · Permalink · Comments Closed
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,

Dell pulls ads from Jersey Shore, calls show ‘derogatony’ (video)

Its seems that casual TV viewers and large corporations handle Schadenfreude very differently. While MTV’s Jersey Shore has been a constant source of amusement for at least one Engadget editor, TMZ (our other favorite tech site) reports that Dell has joined a growing list of advertisers that are backing away from the reality series. In fact, a company spokesman (with a less jaded view of humanity than us) has gone on record stating that Dell doesn’t “condone or support ethnic bashing in any form.” And neither do we, of course — but we do love a good laugh. Jenni “Jwoww” Farley is unavailable for comment.

Continue reading Dell pulls ads from Jersey Shore, calls show ‘derogatony’ (video)

Dell pulls ads from Jersey Shore, calls show ‘derogatony’ (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  TMZ  | Email this | Comments

Posted on December 22, 2009 at 8:11 am by Joseph L. Flatley · Permalink · Comments Closed
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: , , , , ,