Our brothers-in-arms over at Engadget are proudly hosting a charity auction for Ben Heck's one-of-a-kind PlayStation 3 laptop. If you're interested, you've got one week to scrummage up the coin for this Blu-ray equipped beast. 100% of the proceeds will go to the National Cancer Coalition, so you know it's a good cause. If you've got PS3 laptop-level income and PS3 laptop ambitions, stop over at Engadget to place your bid. Good luck!

[Update: Cancel that. Apparently some clever folks couldn't take an auction for charity seriously, so Engadget has temporarily postponed things. We'll let you know if and when it goes back up. It's back-up and hosted at eBay now.]

Many uses come to mind when thinking of a curved, 2,880x900 resolution (16:5 aspect ratio) monitor - multitasking aside, we'd have quite a fun time opening every Photoshop panel simultaneously, or created the most complex, intricate World of Warcraft user interface imaginable. Alienware decided to show off its arcing display at CES with Crysis, the apparent benchmark for all technology of the future.

Our friends at Engadget who are attending the show noticed three faint vertical lines, indicating the curved illusion is assisted by four sub-panels. The DLP display with LED illumination is due out the second half of this year for a currently-unknown price. Check out their gallery of the monitor; we also have video of the display embedded after the break.

When the robots revolt and decide to overthrow humanity this is the sort of video that will be part of their propaganda films, convincing the on-the-fence robots that humanity is a plague that needs to be cleansed from the earth. Watch as the Engadget Chinese staffers rip open a helpless Vii (yes, you read that right) and laugh at the puny brain luxuriating in its cavernous digs. You can almost hear the death knell of humanity can't you?

Listen, the Vii can't help it that it's but a shabby imitator of the much more popular and (one would gather from the video) powerful Nintendo Wii. Don't you think it's self-conscious enough about that without you guys picking apart (literally) its other faults? ... Whatever. Just don't come crying to us when the metal ones decide to come for you ... and they will.

Have you ever seen anything so ... boxed in your entire life? What wouldn't you give to see that hot little piece of rumbling plastic shed its outer layer to reveal the deliciousness within, like some sort of be-dual-sticked piece of electronic corn?

... OK, so we can't claim to understand unboxing fetishists entirely, but we can at least try to make up for it by appealing to their basest desires. Engadget Tokyo has one of the first retail DualShock 3s and they're taking the clamshell off ... slow.

No, there's nothing particularly mysterious about them now, but those retro cans are the first consumer product by mod genius (and Engadget contributor) Ben Heck, hinted at through a veil of secrecy in late April. The Audio FX Pro 5+1 Headset sports a USB connection, an integrated 5.1 surround sound decoder and force feedback tech that allows you to feel frequencies that are too low for humans to hear. So ... superpowers.

It's coming in July, but you can pre-order it right here for $80. The audio works with PS3 (just not the mic) but the 360 looks to be a no go. Now, Ben, just finish up your Wii Laptop that makes iced tea and hoverboards, and we'll see what we can do about that Nobel Prize.

In a very rare joint interview with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs on stage at last week's D 2007, Microsoft founder Bill Gates told hosts Walter Mossberg and Kara Swisher, both of the Wallstreet Journal, of his vision for the future of interaction with technology, and therefore gaming, and inadvertently used the Nintendo Wii as a stepping stone.

"Imagine a game machine where you can just pick up a bat and swing it or the tennis racket," said Gates, to which Mossberg noted that one exists, referencing Wii Sports.

"No, no, that's not it," said Gates, "you can't pick up your tennis racket and swing it, ['Oh, I see what you mean,' said Mossberg] you can't sit there with your friends and do those natural things. That's a 3D positional device, this is video recognition, this is a camera seeing what's going on ... the camera will be ubiquitous."

Today Microsoft unveiled its vision for the coffee table of the future: Surface. Though many years off for a consumer model (and even longer for an affordable one), Microsoft is envisioning functions such as effortless connectivity with cell phones and cameras.

Of course, when we watch the video embedded after the break, all we can think about is how we'd love to mod it for gaming: Starcraft, Eye of Judgment, even Bejeweled or Puzzle Quest.

We think you'll be seeing game-related potential, too, and we want to hear your best ideas. Ready. Set. Theorize.

Following Ben Heckendorn's unveiling of the Xbox 360 Laptop mk2, you've had a couple of days to prepare your mind and body for the inevitable how-to series you knew would follow, so braid up your hair and gather 'round as Master Heckendorn teaches you how to control your anger jealousy and build your very own Xbox 360 Laptop. Be warned: the process is fraught with peril and this guide (part one of three!) is comprised of nearly three dozen pictures and over 3000 "words." So grab your soldering iron and your power converters (available at Tosche Power Supply if you're plum out) and get reading. Us, we're content to just admire the pretty pictures, thanks.

The Heck 360, in both its first and second terms. With mk1 being released in September, it's amazing what difference 7 months (and various other hardware mods) can do. While you congratulate Ben Heck on having a great job, check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Readers pick best webcomic: brain fart
Today's most umbrella-worthy video: Pokéballs!

News
Casual gaming girl power; overall boys rule console market
Midnight launches for Lord of the Rings Online
Halo 2 'Blastacular' maps now available for $4
Vince Young tapped for Madden '08 cover
Former EA devs start Jet Black, new Nintendo-focused studio
Trash talk with the Aqua Teens over XBLA Uno next Tuesday
Super Paper Mario breaks 3rd dimension, fourth wall
Game publishers threatened by user-generated content
LOST video game confirmed for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC
Final Fantasy I & II remakes hit PSP late June & late July
Games shoehorned onto a digital camera
Halo: Uprising #1 spotted in Marvel solicitation
Pricey Daily Show, Colbert Report now on XBLM
Stringer: Euro PlayStation 3 approaching 800,000 sold
BBFC publishes research on gamer demographics, perception
Mizuguchi working on Al Gore environmentalism project
RedOctane promises new Guitar Hero every year
Dyack breaks Too Human silence, talks four player co-op

Rumors & Speculation
SCEE may lay off 10 percent of staff

Culture & Community
Mega64 parodies GRAW 2, border security
Engadget unveils Ben Heck's Xbox 360 Laptop mk2
Times Online offers 'Wii warm-ups' before gaming
Produce a TV show for Xbox Live, get $100K distribution deal
Are game system web surfers an untapped market?

Ben Heck has been busy, indeed. When he isn't busy gutting Xbox 360 controllers and cramming the guts of a Sixaxis into the hollow carcass, he's apparently gutting Xbox 360 consoles and cramming them into custom enclosures with integrated HD screens and keyboards (TID be damned). Engadget has pics of his latest revision, the Xbox 360 Laptop mk2 (sucks to be you, mk1) but all they're showing now is the finished product. Not to worry though, Ben promises an exhaustive three-part how-to (à la Wii laptop) soon.

Though late, the 2006 Engadget Awards are well under way. They've made it to the always exciting Game Console of the Year awards, with just four contenders released in 2006. The score stands at 10% for the DS Lite, 68% for the Wii, 19% for the PlayStation 3, and just 3% for the GP2X Mk2 (hey, at least it's not the XGP!). Disagree with the results so far? Make your clicker finger heard and vote!

VOTE! - The 2006 Engadget Awards: Vote for Game Console of the Year

• Part 1 ripped up the console. (O, the humanity!)
  
• Part 2 rearranges the parts and designs the case.
  
• Part 3 creates the casing and puts it all together.

Hack, mod and enjoy, but be wary: if you screw up, a replacement will be extremely hard to find.

The 2006 Engadget Awards are underway and they're asking for your nominations in a series of categories, including Game Console of the Year and Handheld of the Year! Sure, the pool of possible candidates isn't as broad as say Gadget of the Year -- the product had to have been "introduced and sold for the first time in 2006" -- but we're sure you'll all want your voices heard.

Of course, two of the three new-gen consoles will make an appearance but what else is there? We're certain the DS Lite will get plenty of handheld nominations, but with the PSP2 still MIA, what else is there? Although each candidate only needs to be nominated once, that hasn't stopped dozens of comments from overlapping at Engadget. Take a look and see what needs representing.

[Update: Amended post to reflect the requirement that the product had to have been "introduced and sold for the first time in 2006." Sheesh, sort of a big thing to miss! Thanks, everyone.]

Some readers (hey Eric!) contacted us to let us know that yesterday's Amazon super sale on the Xbox 360 Core unit didn't really work out for them -- while we were never even able to get the Amazon page to load, their cart didn't reflect the reduced $100 price. Other readers (hey Mark!) let us know that they made it out alive, 360 Core in (virtual) hand. If you count yourself amongst the former, head over to Engadget to try your luck at winning an Xbox 360 Premium. Just leave a comment at Engadget and cross your fingers.

[Update: *ahem* Apologies for the confusion, dear readers. If you want to try your luck at some free Xbox 360 action, you'll need to leave a comment over at Engadget -- not here -- although we appreciate it nonetheless! If you want to win something decidedly less extravagant, throw a comment in for the exlusive Black Friday Lost Planet multiplayer map, or just hightail over to Engadget and make your comment heard!]

Our pals at Engadget know cables and hacks. And those are two great tastes that taste great together; Engadget shows how to make an Xbox 360 VGA cable out of a lowly composite part.

Unlike the PS2 and GameCube, the Xbox 360 cables include every pin -- even the ones not used by the cable-specific video connection. Because these pins already connect to the console, it's just a matter of wiring a VGA socket to the previously-unused terminals.

Total cost? $7. Get out the soldering iron, and save your money for games.

See also: PSA: Use the right cables for your TV