Digitimes, a standard for Asian hardware rumors and CE industry news, just posted a report indicating, well, like my headline states, Asus is prepping “an e-book reader with an 8-inch 64-grayscale TFT-LCD screen without backlight for own-brand sale at below US$599 in October 2010.” But that can’t be right. At least I hope it’s not right. $599?

It took Thanko‘s star engineers over two years, but I bet the work was worth it: after showing you the USB Necktie Cooler 2 back in June 2008, the Tokyo-based USB gadget maker now presents, you guessed it, the USB Necktie Cooler 3 [JP]. The silliness just doesn’t stop, it seems.

Max Busser, founder of MB&F, remarks that the HM4 is the most legible MB&F watch yet. He is actually quite right. It is the only Horological machine with a traditional looking dial. Round and clear, it is quite easy to read with its Arabic numerals and luminant covered hands, especially given its orientation on the wrist. I actually love reading this watch. Right next to the time is the pod with the power reserve indicator for the movement. In order to make winding super smooth, MB&F added an extra gear to the train. While winding is much smoother, you do need to spend more time winding the watch to keep it wound. Which is actually not terrible given that people who wear manually wound watches tend to like to nervously fidget with the crown and winding it regularly. The watch has two crowns, one behind each pod. the crown behind the power reserve indicator pod is for winding, while the other crown is for adjusting the time. Reading the time is thankfully a breeze, as is operating the movement.

While the whole world waits for the official iPod touch camera edition, one random dude is selling a camera-equipped 3rd generation model right now on ebay. It’s not going to be cheap (current bid is over $120 as of writing) but the winner will have a bonafide piece of Apple history.

If you’re Apple and manufacture and sell hundreds of millions of electronic devices over the years, accidents are unavoidable. But according to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Apple’s local subsidiary failed to report 34 mostly minor accidents involving the iPod nano (first generation).

Takara Tomy in Japan is offering what they say is the perfect companion for this summer: the Neckphones [JP], travel pillows (kind of) that feature an integrated speaker. The devices are waterproof, making them suitable for use in the bath tub, at the beach etc. (see picture above).

The controversy surrounding Wikileaks continues, as you always expected it would. All branches of the Unites States military are now banning their personnel from having anything to do with the site, primarily to avoid “electronic spillages,” a phrase I have never heard before. The Pentagon told the Washington Times that those in the Navy should avoid accessing the site so as to prevent the introduction of “potentially classified information on unclassified networks.”

Lemur Monitors takes advantage of your car’s data port to help you drive more economically, make sure your kids are driving safely, and provide an audible warning if you start exceeding the speed limit. Lemur doesn’t produce any one product that does all of these things, so you would have to choose which type of sensor tracking you want to use.