Pre-order Wiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!

Yes! The Nintendo Wii is officially on preorder! And the best part? It looks like you don't have to put any money down - at all. Many sites have had Wii game preorders for quite some time, but Liksang may be the first to allow pre-orders on the console.

With no money down (just like the Real Estate) I'm not sure how committed Liksang will be to getting you a console right away at launch, but for those who can't wait to play with the Wii, this may be a good option. – Mark Wilson

Preorder Wii

40gb Nintendo DS - Eat Your Heart Out Sony

Modders are really just geekier versions of Tim Allen. Take Natrium42 - if he weren't adding 40gig drives to Nintendo DS units, he'd probably be fitting dragster engines into snow blowers.

Essentially, Natrium exploits the IDE interface of CompactFlash for the hack, which was cool enough to pull me out of retirement for at least one more post. His step-by-step is very clearly assembled for anyone interested in giving up a lot of their time. My favorite part was Natrium's melancholy acceptance of success: "And that's the end of this hack. Now I need to find something useful to do with my 40GB NDS system." – Mark Wilson

Instructions [via makemag]

HP iPAQ hw6940 hits retail channels, finally

Has HP come through in the clutch -- or is it too little, too late? That's the question Pocket PC-hungry consumers will be answering in the next few weeks now that the long... nay, long-rumored hw6940 Mobile Messenger is finally shipping stateside. We were sorta excited about this thing, like, nine months ago, but at this point we're not sure how we feel about Bluetooth 1.2, a pedestrian 64MB of RAM, and the lack of 802.11g -- not to mention that the inclusion of AKU2 doesn't command the same respect it did just a few short months back. Add to that the $600 this thing will set you back, and needless to say we're hoping Cingular's going to bless it with a hefty subsidy when it finally drops in their neck of the woods.

[Via MobilitySite]

Bandai's Ant's Life Studio Virtual Ant Farm

Bandai is set to release Ant's Life Studio this November in Japan, a virtual ant farm simulator that could very well become the next Tamagotchi. It's apparently being aimed at the hordes of Japanese men who do nothing but slave away at a tiny desk all day, working until their eyes fall out. Maybe Bandai's making some sort of social justice metaphor here, but, then again, they could just be wanting to cash in on a fun idea.

Like real-world ant farms, people simply watch the virtual ants go on with their lives, moving dirt, making tunnels, getting nervous when approaching the queen to ask for a favor, etc. Up to 100 different nests can be built by the ants, ensuring that no matter how dull and meaningless your work day is, you can always watch your pets toil away.

Look for Ant's Life Studio (in Japan, at least initially) in November for around $69. – Nicholas Deleon

Salary Man Sims [Tokyo Times]

Marimekko Texture Mouse

The arty-looking Marimekko Texture Mouse brings high-touch to your tech, and might just cheer up one or two of your more-naive colleagues. Good luck getting one in the United States, though—they're only sold in Japan at this point but that could change soon. – Charlie White Product Page [Kokuyo, via Red House Design]

Xbox 360 HD DVD drive to drop for £199 in the UK?

Nothing official or anything, but the folks at GamesIndustry.biz are catching wind from their retail pals that Microsoft is prepping to drop their HD DVD drive in the UK this November for £199. Added to the current price of an Xbox 360 Premium in the UK the total price comes to £478, compared to the PS3's £425 asking price in the UK. The good news is that sources also suggest Microsoft is planning on selling a bundle of the HD DVD drive and Premium 360 for £400 or even possibly $375, so folks who haven't yet jumped into the next-gen console fray could save money and still get HD movie capability by purchasing a 360/HD DVD bundle. Microsoft is also purportedly throwing in a pair of HD DVD movies to sweeten the deal, so there's also that to consider. What this all means for US pricing is hard to say, since both the Xbox 360 and PS3 prices are priced considerably higher in the UK than just a direct currency conversion would suggest. What we hope it means is that if you purchase an HD DVD drive all by its lonesome you'll wind up with a pair of movies for it and a $50-$100 "total cost of ownership" premium over a straight PS3 purchase, but if you buy a console/drive bundle you could end up saving just that much in comparison to the PS3. Or the whole rumor could be bunk and we could go about our normal lives, which is just as likely.

i’m Phone. Are you?

Yes, here ends the era of all electronic devices named “iSomething”, now comes the new glorious time where all gadgets will be called “i-Something-Something”. Maybe.

In this case, this new voIP mini phone device could easily have been named the iPhone, but I “AM” Phone sounds so much cooler, and prevents the cease-and-desist letter from Apple’s lawyers. Smart move. I AM sold. But what convinces me better than the name, is the device itself. Taro, over at 3Yen News talks about this “World’s smallest IP-based phone” and sums it all up eloquently with:

K-kool! It just slips into the USB port of sub-notebook computer and I can say bye-bye to vile DoCoMo and NTT forever!

This new cool device is expected to launch this August in Japan by Anyuser Global. It uses a USB memory with the IP phone software system already in. The IP phone software works automatically when plugged into a computer connected to the Net. I think it is time for Skype to come up with a nice USB wireless/Bluetooth plug-and-play headset now… (Everyone here using Skype yet?)