Happy July 4th to all our American readers. We just wanted to remind those of you who live in one of the initial launch countries that iPhone 3G launches in just one week. Remember, unlike last year, the iPhone 3G will go on sale at 8:00 AM, so start planning your line strategy now. Aside from 3G goodness, you also have iPhone 2.0, the App Store, and built-in GPS. Next Friday can’t come soon enough for us.

Any Gear Live readers in the Seattle area want to join us while we wait?

mimoco is at it again with their Star Wars Series 3. They will be releasing 3 new mimobots beginning with the Darth Sidious USB Flash Drive. The drives are available with 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB, and come with bonus applications, icons, avatars, screensavers and wallpapers. You can preorder before the July 23 coming out party and choose between sizes at prices beginning at $49.99. mimoco is also holding a contest on their forum where guessing the next character might very well win you one. We are kind of leaning towards Jabba the Hutt.

Read More | mimoco

In our never-ending quest for the cheesiest online promotions, try this weird one. You can now send someone a Chi-Chi Gram. Choose between a cyclops, chicken or cougar, upload an image, and adjust the eyes and mouth. Choose some music, preview your artistic work, then e-mail it to a friend or anyone else you would like to annoy. We’re not sure this will help sell the salsa, but it’s worth a few minutes of time and you can pick up a recipe or two.

Read More | Chi-Chi's

Foosball players that can’t find enough competition can rejoice in the fact that they can now play against a robo-player. Engineering students from the Univ. of Adelaide won an award for their mechatronics project that took 8 months to complete. The system consists of a motions sensor system, software for decision making, and an actuation system for control manipulation. The 4 sets of rods can move side to side and rotate for kicking. The winners were sponsored by Sage Didatic and supported by Rockwell Automation.

Read More | Rockwell Automation

If you are an aficionado of mood lighting, this should be a welcome addition to your desk top. The USB LED Light Tube Speaker connects to iPods, MP3, MP4, MD, CD players, notebooks, PCs, PDAs, PSPs, cell phones and other digital devices with its 3.5mm stereo audio connector. The 150 x 45 x 45 mm blue light tube features stereo sound on its 72 x 78 x 25 mm base. Audio and USB cables are included in the $22.00 price.

Read More | Brando

It’s about time somebody came up with Wii-type controllers for PCs. GoLive2 has introduced Stix. The motion-sensing controls feature LED lights and come in three styles and will be compatible with games on their site, as well as offering third party and independent game support. The Stix 100 and 200 will only work with 2D games, while the Stix 400 can also be used with 3D titles. No price has been announced as yet, but look for an August arrival.

Read More | GoLive 2

My pal Nate True has been hard at work on improving his iPhone game, tap Tap Revolution. He made the game in his spare time after jailbreaking his phone early on, and then it got bought up by a new iPhone App company called Tapulous. They went into sweatshop mode, and it turns out that the game (which they are hoping makes it into the App Store at launch) has come a long way from the version you will find in Installer.app.

First of all, it has received a name change. Tap Tap Revolution has become Tap Tap Revenge, and it features improved graphics, the addition of shakes (where you shake the phone to do certain actions), and a hot-looking two player mode. Check the video above for proof. The game will ship with a a few songs, and you can download add-ons (a la Rock Band and Guitar Hero) for free. Down the road, there should be tracks available for purchase as well. The reason for having to download tracks is because Apple has stupidly put more silly restrictions on iPhone developers, and Apps don’t get access to the iTunes library. Sigh.

If you like rhythm games, this is gonna be one to download. It will be available for free, and you can download it from the App Store on July 11th.

Read More | cre.ations.net

Transcend has unveiled their T.photo 720 Digital Frame. The device features a 800 x 480 hi-res 7-inch widescreen TFT display, internal speakers, and can hold up to 2GB internal memory. The T.photo supports JPGs and BMPs and can create video playback. Make custom slideshows with its MyShow function and utilize NaturaTone to enhance color for a more “lifelike” appearance. The AOS (Automatic Orientation Sensor) is the part that we like best. It automatically detects whether to display the image horizontally or vertically. The frame also functions as an alarm clock, MP3 player, and FM tuner with 20 presets.

Read More | Transcend

The word is out that Mozilla has officially set a record for the most downloads in a 24 hour period. The official number is 8,002,530 copies of Firefox 3 downloads.

“As the arbiter and recorder of the world’s amazing facts, Guinness World Records is pleased to add Mozilla’s achievement to our archives,” Gareth Deaves, Guinness’ records manager, said.

Microsoft has about 74% of the world market share for browsers while Firefox accounts for about 18%. We realize that this was conceived as a publicity stunt, but now that XP is retired, we expect that number will go up.

Read More | c/net

Now that the Phoenix Lander has found possible evidence of ice, scientists are even more optimistic now that they have taken soil samples that shows a high alkaline level. Sam Kounaves, lead investigator for the wet chemistry laboratory, claims “It is the type of soil you would probably have in your back yard, you know, alkaline. You might be able to grow asparagus in it really well ... it is very exciting.”

The soil also showed traces of sodium, potassium, and magnesium, among other elements. We are not so sure it is all that exciting. How many people do you know that want to grow asparagus? 

Read More | Couriermail

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is testing a fake speed bump to see if drivers will slow down. The optical illusion looks like a 3-D pyramid when seen from a distance. The first experiment in Phoenix seemed to work until drivers realized that there were no barriers. This time the NHTSA will run a larger test in a Philadelphia residential area, hoping that they will reduce pedestrian accidents. The markers only cost $60.00 to $80.00 apiece as opposed to real speed bumps which can run $1,000.00 to $1,500.00. At least they are acting reasonably about the devices that they realize will probably have only the same effect as flashing lights.

Read More | CNN

Tokyoflash has another new and confusing timepiece. The Galaxy works by one touch, which starts animation and then displays the time on digital tube LEDs. The 12 yellow bars are the hours, the 11 red bars are groups of 5 minutes, and the 4 green bars represent each minute. Press the lower button and forgo the animation. Available in silver, the Galaxy carries a price of ¥13,900 (~$132.85.) We have been telling you about Tokyoflash’s watches for so long that we think we almost have the hang of it.

Read More | Tokyoflash

We are forever getting business cards that somehow get lost in the shuffle. Penpower’s Worldcard Ultra helps organize them in this palm-sized scanner. Practically dust-free, you simply scan the cards and it will save the information. If you have a Mac, the device will input directly into your Address Book. At a size of 4.13 × 1.2 × 3.66-inches and a weight of 5.4 oz, the scanner recognizes multiple languages and can link to map directions. Equipped with software and a USB cable, the WorldCard Ultra retails for $199.95.

Read More | Penpower

Panasonic’s PT-DZ12000 is curiously cooled with a water system. Its four built-in lamps deliver 12,000 lumens that can cast a 600-inch projection from a minimum of 12.4 meters. The projector has curve screen support and recently made its debut at Infocomm 08 in Las Vegas. Panasonic is counting on the device for exhibitions, amusement facilities, and major events. Due out in August, the PT-DZ12000 will carry a whopping price of $69,000.00. At that price, it seems you could simply correct the curved walls.

Read More | Tech-On via Crave

At HP’s Connecting Your World 2008 conference in Berlin, Germany, Rahul Sood of Voodoo PC announced the Voodoo Omen, a new top-of-the-line water-cooled PC using an as-yet-unannounced new set of nVidia SLI GPU’s and a new Intel CPU as well. It also features a fully functional LCD monitor on the front of the case.

The construction on this PC is amazing, but with its $7000 price tag we’re not sure we’re ready to upgrade just yet. The Omen is currently only available to former Voodoo customers on an invite-only basis, so if you are looking to get your hands on one, you might just be out of luck.

Those of us that live around the Motor City hear reports almost every day of American car companies losing workers and factories. Sad to say that they are being replaced by such energy efficient vehicles as the Toyota Prius Hybrid. Now Fuji is celebrating their successful Subaru Plug-in Stella, a combination of the EV system in the R1 and the mini-car. The prototype electric vehicle is set to go into development and test marketing. This is not the first time Fuji has gone green. They also released a horizontally-opposed diesel engine in Europe this past March.

Read More | Far East Giizmos

Now you can play Japanese Chef with the Grill n Table. Six students in Quebec teamed up to design this prototype that combines an aluminum grill with wooden patio furniture. The group, known as the Dial_6 Faction, were told to create something to “encourage” the use of aluminum. The table will seat up to eight diners who can watch the master/mistress of the house prepare dinner and chat at the same time. Just watch out for cooks who like to toss their burgers.

Read More | Elite Choice

Earlier this morning we put up our Voodoo Envy 133 gallery, and once we glanced at our MacBook Air, we knew it was so on. It was time to put them head-to-head, in an epic battle of the world’s thinnest notebook computers. So, we put together another gallery, where the MacBook Air and Voodoo Envy 133 sit side-by-side. We take pit them together from a few different angles. Now, the Envy 133 does take the victory for being the thinnest notebook computer - but the thin side of the MacBook Air is technically thinner than the uniform thickness of the Envy. Really, it all comes down to what OS you want to run, and if you don’t care, then it comes down to form factor. Oh, and of course, the Envy 133 has way more ports (including HDMI) than the MacBook Air can even dream of having at this point.

Hit up our MacBook Air vs. Voodoo Envy 133 gallery for all the goods.

Read More | MacBook Air vs. Voodoo Envy gallery

After reading that Fictionwise is releasing 3 free Stephen King ebook novels for free with rebate if you pay with credit card or Paypal, we went more in depth and found that they are also offering others at no cost. Selections include the classic “Around the World in 80 Days” by Jules Verne, “Ghost Rider: Stories” by Jonathan Lowe, and a sample of the Oxford Paperback Thesaurus ( 348 pages.) Join their club and there are more hot deals. Most books come in eReader, Mobipocket, and Microsoft Reader.

Read More | Fictionwise

If you want to celebrate the 4th of July before Friday, we suggest the Blue Star Banner Plasma Globe. Put your fingers on the glass and its stars and lightning bolts will reach out to touch you, definitely less dangerous than your average firecracker.  While we have always liked plasma globes and wondered how they work, the Online Science site took away all the mystery in their description. We won’t spoil it for any scientifically challenged others, but you can pick one up for $39.99 without looking at the fine print.

Read More | Online Science Mall