April 2008
Wednesday 30 April
Weather Underground has announced their new Wundermaps feature that superimposes precipitation maps and radar on the familiar Google maps interface.
They go way beyond what weather.com offers by also including all the weather stations that upload data to their service so you get a realtime picture of temperature and wind at multiple locations in the area.
Full press release:
Continue reading "Weather superimposed on Google maps"
According to the Korea Times Samsung SDI has signed a deal to provide laptop batteries to Dell and HP.
The new batteries have 7.7% more capacity, 10% more in-use time, and recharges quicker than the 2600mAh batteries currently in use.
Samsung also plan on an even more powerful 3000mAh battery in the near future.
(more at koreatimes)
Sony is going to be making big price cuts in their LCD TVs next month in order to try to gain market share.
It appears that Sony's big competitors Toshiba, Sharp, Sansung, LG will follow suit.
It is also likely that the lower end producers such as Westinghouse and Vizio will cut their prices to remain competitive.
What does this mean? Sony's planned cuts of 20-25% could spread across all TV manufacturers and top quality 1080p sets will be under $1200.
(via hdguru)
Now this is a neat house gadget for any ultramodern city dweller: it looks like a window but press the magic button and it folds out to become a balcony.
The bloomframe balcony designed by Hofman Dujardin Architects won a 2008 Red Dot Design Award and can be customized and made to order. There is no price listed but I doubt it is cheap.
(bloomframe, via likecool)
CNET got a Psystar Open Computer running MacOS Leopard to review.
They don't have the full review posted yet but they have put up a slideshow and an unboxing video:
The full review should be up later today.
It seems like despite all the naysayers who thought it was a scam the product is real. The next part of the story though will likely be the lawsuit against Psystar by Apple.
Now this is a smart idea for those people who feel that their hybrid car lifestyle just isn't good enough for the environment.
The SEV solar module for 2004-2006 Toyota Prius cars generates 215 watts of power which the makers claim provides up to an extra 20 miles of gas-free travel a day and a 29% better fuel economy overall.
They claim it will pay for itself in 2 to 3 years, but only if you take liberties with a Federal energy tax credit by buying it at the same time as a residential solar system and conveniently include the price in with your residential system.
(via redferret)
TabletPCReview found out about an unannounced tablet pc shown recently by Fujitsu in Germany. Here's what they know:
"At this point the following specifications are known: Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, 13.3" passive digitizer Display, Accessories in the same design.
As I mentioned, not much is known at this time or if this model will even make it to the States, but it looks nice. If it lives up to other Fujitsu models we know it will have a solid chassis and great display, although it is passive.
It also looks like Fujitsu has jumped on the P-series processor bandwagon from Intel. This is the same line of processors that come in the MacBook Air. This Intel Core 2 Duo design is very small in size, but still maintains the power.
It looks as though it could be a replacement for the T2010 tablets or maybe we are in luck and Fujitsu has a completely new design. No word on pricing yet either, but we hope more information will start trickling out."
more at tabletpcreview via engadget)
Boing Boing posted about this $30 pet porthole from Hammacher-Schlemmer.
That is the last thing I would put in my fence: I don't want my dogs to see what is going on outside the backyard - if they see things (mailman, UPS truck, someone walking by, a cat) they bark, I don't want the little *bleep* barking all day.
(via boingboing)
Continue reading "Pet porthole is particularly pointless"
X-Bit Labs have posted a review and face-off between six newer 24" LCD monitors from Acer, Dell, NEC, and Samsung.
We were rooting for the Dell 2407WFP to win as we have two of them on the PC we use to write ShinyPlastic but here's what they concluded:
"Although four out of the six monitors tested for this review are based on TN matrixes, I'm not disappointed. The main drawback of this technology is small viewing angles, but those of modern TN matrixes are suitable for most users. Of course, if you prefer to watch movies while lying on a sofa (with the monitor above your head level) or if you are just sensitive to minor deviations in contrast, you should consider models with *VA or S-IPS matrixes such as Dell 2407WFP-HC and NEC MultiSync LCD2470WNX or those we tested earlier."
In other words they didn't pick any one as being the best.
(full reviews at xbitlabs)
Toshiba's laptops with "fusion finish" (the U400, M300, A300 and P300) will now come with facial recognition software that won't let you login unless your face (or whatever other part of your anatomy you waved at the webcam during setup) matches a database of stored user images.
In unrelated news police expect the number of decapitations associated with laptop thefts to increase.
"Hand over your laptop or else!, hold on that's one of them fancy Toshiba ones, sorry mate I'm just going to have to decapitate you as well."
(via hothardware)
Watchismo Times got photos and video of the $400k HD3 Complication Vulcania watch that last year topped a list of the world's most complicated watches.
It definitely has a unique look to it, I'm not sure if I would wear one, but as they say: beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
(more at watchismotimes)
Continue reading "HD3 Complication Vulcania watch sighted"
MSI has announced a new Mini-ITX basebones PC that would be a perfect base for a media center pc or a car computer.
The Titan 700 is just 7.3" x 9.4" x 2.7" and comes with the VIA® CN700 + 8237R+ chipset, 60w power supply, slim DVD burner, 2.5" drive, and Gigabit LAN.
(more at msi)
"Taipei, Taiwan, April 30, 2008 - Catering to users who require extreme graphical support and robust performance, ASUS, leading producer of motherboards, has today released the new ASUS Crosshair II Formula Motherboard. This powerful motherboard includes innovative technologies like CPU Level Up, Hybrid SLI and 3-Way SLI for the best performance and graphical support. It is also ready for AMD® Socket AM2+ Phenom™ FX / Phenom X4 / Phenom X2 / Athlon™ X2 / Sempron™ and legacy AM2 processors; and features up to 5200 MT/s via HyperTransport™ 3.0-based system bus speeds for AM2+ CPUs. "
Continue reading "Asus Crosshair II Formula 3 way SLI motherboard"
The great looking touchscreen samsung glyde looks like it is going to be available on Verizon sooner than previously thought.
According to unwired view it will be available in May and will cost $299 with a two-year enslavement, or $429 without the aforementioned blood contract.
The Glyde not only has that 2.78" touchscreen goodness it also has a slide out full keyboard, 2 megapixel main camera, plus a front camera for video calls.
(via unwiredview)
Digital Trends has reviewed the $480 Gateway FHD-2400 24-inch LCD monitor.
Here's what they thought:
"All in all, the FHD2400 is a well-rounded display with a lot of excellent features and gorgeous image quality. You'll find the unit easy to setup and calibrate, and its wide array of ports make it compatible with HD optical drives as well as PCs and game consoles too. Occasional design quibble aside (see aforementioned DVI cable issues, and note that vertically-oriented ports can be difficult to access), once it's up and running, you'll have few issues apart from being unable to rotate the panel left or right. And that's what we call a good look. "
(full review at digitaltrends)
Eeepc.net has come out with a couple of nice charts that compare features of both 7" and larger ultraportables listing displays, CPU, RAM, storage, WiFi, lan, webcam, USB, card reader, battery, weight, OS and cost.
The U110 wasn't the only ideapad laptop announced by lenovo yesterday: they also announced two less exciting new members of the ideapad line.
The Ideapad Y510 is a pretty standard 15.4" laptop for $669 and the Ideapad Y710 is a higher performance 17" laptop for $1099.
Full press release:
Continue reading "Lenovo announces two larger ideapads"
The Samsung p960 is the first cellphone outside of Asia to receive and show over the air digital TV broadcasts.
This little slide phone sports a 2.6" QVGA (240x320) screen, GSM 900/1800/1900, HSDPA 2100, bluetooth, and microsd card.
The Europeans gets to play with this phone but hopefully there will be something similar in the US soon (are you listening blackberry and apple?)
(via gizmodo)
Full press release:
Continue reading "Samsung P960 phone receives over the air digital TV broadcasts"
Alienware has announced their new Area-51 m17x gaming laptop, a massive laptop that is their fastest ever featuring Intel Core 2 extreme processors, dual SLI GeForce 8800M GTX graphics, 4GB RAM, up to a terabyte of storage space, 1200 x 1920 pixel 17" LCD. TV tuner draft-n WiFi, and much more.
The m17x starts at $2,199, but for top performance max out all the options and cough up a little over 6 grand.
(more at alienware)
Boy Genius sure is getting all the scoops on the Blackberry 9000. His lastest info is the final specs of this much anticipated fix for the crackberry addicts.
Radio - GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA, Bands - Quad-band GPRS/EDGE: 800/850/1800/1900MHz, HSDPA: 850/1900/2100MHz, Expandable memory - microSD, Display - HVGA Color LCD (480×320), TrackBall Navigation, Camera - 2MP, Wi-Fi - a,b,g, A-GPS, Battery - 1500mAh, "High quality material, high-end finish" and Software - 4.6
The launch carriers will be AT&T, NTT DoCoMo, and Vodafone with AT&T launching forst as the US exclusive carrier.
Looks like T-Mobile is flipping the switch on their 1700MHz 3G data network tomorrow.
Initially it may only be turned on in New York but it may also be switched on in other large cities around the country.
(via boygeniusreport)
Sharp has announced a wireless option for their super-thin X-series LCD TVs.
For about an extra $800 your TV comes as the screen plus a separate tuner/control box that communicate wirelessly with each other at a range of up to 100 feet. Plug your cable and DVD boxes into the control box and hide the whole package away somewhere for a clean crisp minimalist TV viewing experience.
(either that or buy a regular tv and run a conduit inside your wall to hide the cables like we did).
Full press release:
Continue reading "Sharp goes wireless for TVs"
The Register has reviewed the $250 LG GGW-H20L HD combo drive, they seem to feel a drive that supports HD-DVD is still needed but we disagree.
Here's what they thought:
"Blu-ray writing has a certain appeal but ultimately it's a bit pointless. Most people can't read a Blu-ray video disc, especially on their PC, and the format doesn't have enough capacity and write-speed - an a low enough cost - to put DVD-R in the shade.
For movie playback, a combo drive with both Blu-ray and HD DVD in a high-end media centre is a winner, but the GGW-H20L falls betwixt and between, as you pay £50 for a feature that may only get occasional use."
(full review at theregister)
Fortune magazine is reporting that AT&T plans to subsidize the price of the next generation 3G iPhone by up to $200 in order to make it less attractive to unlockers.
If it does end up subsidized that could bring the price down to $199 (plus the average of $100/month that iPhone users pay for data and calls).
According to the same source the new iPhone will be 2.5 mm thinner than the 11.7 mm original. The iPhone will also have a GPS chip for navigation and other location-based services.
(via fortune)
Sealife have announced a new camera waterproof to 300 feet that features color correction modes specifically designed for underwater photos.
The $549 8 megapixel DC800 also features a 4x optical zoom, 2.7" LCD, and a removable outer shell that leaves you with a smaller camera for use away from water.
Full press release:
PopPhoto have reviewed the $800 Sony A350 14.2 Megapixel digital camera.
Here's what they thought:
"In all, the A350 has impressive features, specs, and price. But it's still too early to tell whether it will lure serious shooters away from the new Canon EOS Rebel XSi or Pentax K200D. Though we haven't tested them yet, both promise to control noise well in low light and high ISOs. And the Canon is likely to capture more detail.
As for stealing customers from Sony's own A700? We doubt it. That camera will continue to attract hard-core shooters. The A350 is aimed at those moving up from a compact or for those who want (and can afford) more from an entry-level DSLR than Sony is offering in its new A300 ($600, estimated street, with 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 lens), Nikon in its new D60 ($630, street, body only), or Olympus in its new E-420 ($500, estimted street, body only). For such photographers, the A350's increased image quality and overall performance will be amazing, and the extra features -- especially live view -- will be reassuringly familiar."
(full review at popphoto)
Continue reading "Sony A350 reviewed"
Megapixel has reviewed the $300 Fuji FinePix s8000fd with image stablized 18x optical zoom.
They liked the excellent outdoor and indoor performance, rock steady image stabilization, and good video but disliked confusing function labeling, awkward division of menu system between F key and Menu/OK button and unnatural view of shots in electronic viewfinder.
(full review at megapixel)
Continue reading "Fuji FinePix s8000fd reviewed"
Trusted Reviews took a first look at Adobe's beta of Photoshop Lightroom 2 software for working directly with the RAW file output from high-end digital cameras.
Their verdict?
"This is by no means a full and finished product, but it's coming along nicely thank you very much. Adobe has listened to users and by letting them continue to try the beta is sure to provide a very useful and elegant imaging solution on final release.
It's still not perfect - there's a few file handling issues, I'd like to see more web gallery options and I personally would like the camera LCD display from Bridge to quickly see camera settings in the Library. As it stands now though, I can't wait to get my hands on the final version. If you're a DSLR user Lightroom is proving to be an essential."
(more at trustedreviews)
Trusted Reviews has reviewed the 42" Toshiba Regza 42XV505BD LCD TV.
Here's what they thought:
"Toshiba's 42XV505DB is a solid TV: surprisingly affordable, with pictures that can look good and occasionally even great. But for the most part, aside from looking exceptionally cute, it just doesn't do anything truly outstanding, and as such struggles to stand out from the crowd."
(full review at trustedreviews)
Yesterday we told you about the world's first half-Terabyte 2.5" Portable Hard Disk Drive featuring an industry standard 9.5mm Z-height drive from Verbatim.
The drive will cost $300 and be available in Q2 2008.
Here are some photos, and I like the way it looks:
Continue reading "Verbatim 500gb 2.5" drive photos"
Tuesday 29 April
Verbatim have announced the world's first half-Terabyte 2.5" Portable Hard Disk Drive (HDD) featuring an industry standard 9.5mm Z-height drive.
The drive will start shipping in Q2 2008 and the drive and it's case will weigh less than 6 ounces and measure 3.38" x 5.38" x 0.63". The drive will be available with a USB connection or a combination USB/Firewire connection and prices start at $300 for the USB only version.
Full press release follows.
Continue reading "Verbatim announces first 500gb portable 2.5" HDD"
Intel's new P45 chipset should be getting released in the next few weeks and Hot Hardware got their hands on one of the first motherboards to use it: the Asus P5Q Deluxe.
The P45 chipset bring a few good enhancements to the table: support for 1600MHz FSB processors, PCI Express 2.0 and 65mn manufacturing (reduce heat and power). SATA connectivity is also improved due to a new ICH10 southbridge.
Hot Hardware don't have it up and running yet but they have posted some pics.
(more at hothardware)
This has to be the craziest idea I have seen all day, and I have just spent the last 12 hours trying to find stuff to post here on ShinyPlastic.
The ticketime concept from Yanko Design is a combination boarding pass and watch. First you use it as a boarding pass, then the little seethrough magnetic watch part is set to show the time of your return flight, you keep the little watch as a reminder of when you need to be back at the airport for the return flight, when you get back to the airport you use the watch as your boarding pass for the return flight.
Do they think people don't already have watches?
What happens if people lose their magnetic watch, or it is stolen?
Isn't it just easier to print your return boarding pass online or at the airport?
What happens if the time of the return flight changes and it is delayed or canceled?
What happens if you change your return flight?
I give this idea 10/10 for drugged out stupidity.
(more at yankodesign)
Continue reading "Ticketime - are these guys on drugs?"
Well despite months and months of testing Windows XP service pack 3 it appears that Microsoft screwed things up.
Service Pack 3 breaks a piece of Microsoft software called "Dymanics RMS" that is a retail chain management software solution for small and medium businesses. Because that is broken everyone has to wait.
I wonder if someone in Microsoft's QA team is looking for a new job tonight?
Telefonica let the cat out of the bag in regards to HTC Touch Find specs:
Quad band GSM 850/900/1800/1900, GPRS, EDGE, 3.6 Mbps HSDPA connectivity, 2.8″ QVGA 240×320, 65K color display, 128 MB RAM, 256 MB of ROM, Qualcomm MSM7200, 400 MHz CPU, 3 megapixel camera with autofocus, front camera for video calls, Built-in GPS, Tom-Tom navigation software, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM Radio, microSD memory card slot
In other words the HTC touch find is a repackaged HTC Touch Cruise.
(via msmobiles)
Boy Genius Report got the scoop on the software enhancements showing up in the Blackberry 9000, from browser enhancements, to improved wifi tools, to security enhancements, and much more.
He also heard that the launch date is now July not August but everything still seems up in the air on that.
(more at boygeniusreport)
Continue reading "Blackberry 9000 confidential software specs"
You may be worried about the damage ear buds do your hearing, and you may be looking for an alternative, but please do not buy the soundwalk: you have awful taste in music and I don't want to listen to it.
Yes, now you can subject everyone nearby to whatever musical masterpiece is currently in your playlist. Whether it is Miley Cyrus or Nine Inch Nails I can guarantee your choice will annoy someone.
The soundwalk is coming to the Koreannovation in New York soon, a whole show just for wield Korean stuff that we thought the Japanese had a monopoly on.
(via gearlog)
Digital Trends has reviewed the $26 Navigon 2100 Max GPS Navigation System.
Here's what they thought of it:
"The Navigon 2100 Max is a solid, well-performing GPS that's easy to recommend. At about $260 USD street price (as of April 2008), it proves well worth the investment for features such as the terrific Reality View option. By comparison, the new Garmin nuvi 205W with a similar 4.3-inch screen is due soon for $266 USD and lacks this feature, not to mention spoken turn commands. Since both use NAVTEQ maps, there really isn't that much difference in terms of day-to-day performance as well. Navigon also has traffic alerts for $99 lifetime versus MSN Direct at $129 lifetime (or $49.95 annually) on the Garmin. However, MSN Direct gives more info such as movie times and stock quotes, so this is pretty much a wash. All told though, the Navigon 2100 Max takes the prize. And, better still, we love the fact it doesn't nag us..."
(full review at digitaltrends)
Continue reading "Navigon 2100 GPS navigation system reviewed"
Computerworld ran some tests to see if the speed difference between SSDs (solid state disks) and regular hard drives are worth the large price difference.
The disks compared were the 32GB Crucial Internal 2.5-in. SATA Solid State Drive, the 32GB Ridata 2.5-in. SATA SSD, the250GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 3.5-in. SATA hard drive, and the 200GB Seagate Momentus 7200.2 2.5-in. SATA hard drive.
The results were surprising with the SSD only slightly faster than the regular disks at most tasks.
(more at computerworld)
TomTom has revamped their entry level one and XL products to make them lighter and more portable.
Each also has an S version (for $50 more) that adds text-to-speech reading of directions.
The new TomToms should ship in may and will cost $200/$250 for the TomTom One and $350/$300 for the TomTom XL (with larger screen)
(via crave)
Now this is a nice looking portable media player, too bad it appears that it will only be available in Korea.
The TG Sambo has an 800 x 480 pixel 4.8" touchscreen display, 801.11b/g WiFi and lots more features that make the most of it's alchemy AU1250 700MHz processor.
Lets hope it gets released in the US.
(more at aving)
Continue reading "TG Sambo PMP"
As promised Windows XP service pack 3 is now available for download via Windows Update as a 70MB download.
Not the most exciting update ever but worth installing to make sure you have all the latest bug fixes.
Of course to download it Firefox users will have to start up IE and hope they can avoid spyware and malware while online the Microsoft way.
Photoreview Australia have reviewed the SLR-sized 11.1 Megapixel $740 Fujifilm FinePix s100fs with 14.3x optical zoom, 2.5" lcd, and both xD and SD card slots.
Here's what they thought of it:
"The FinePix S100fs has just been named as the Best Superzoom Digital Camera for 2008 by the European Technical Image Press Association (TIPA). We are also nominating it as an Editor's Choice for the Advanced category of compact digicams - although with some reservations. Our main concerns lie with the high lateral chromatic aberration we found with the test camera's lens.
However, the sporadic failures of the autofocusing system and poor quality of images shot at the top ISO sensitivity are also of concern, as is the lack of any ability to switch noise-reduction processing off and on. If these issues are of little or no relevance, the S100fs will be an excellent and rewarding camera choice."
(full review at photoreviewaustralia)
Continue reading "Fujifilm FinePix s100fs reviewed"
According to a report in the Taiwan Economic News the next generation iphone will be smaller, nearly a third lighter, and will have a 2.8" screen instead of the current 3.5".
In addition, the casing will be plastic instead of aluminum-magnesium.
Sounds like a step backwards to me.
(more at cens)
According to a report in the Taiwanese newspaper Apply Daily Intel is having a supply problem that will lead to it only delivering half the ordered Atom processors in the next month.
This will result in delays for manufacturers pinning their hopes on Atom to power ultracompact PCs to compete with the Eee PC 900 and the HP Mini-Note.
(via electronista)
Samsung have announced two new compact laser printers and are claiming one of them is the world's smallest color laser printer:
"The CLP-315K which is 20% smaller than the previous generation the CLP-300, 45dB, a resolution of 2,400 x 600 dpi, 32MB of internal memory, 16 pages per minutes (Black) and 4 pages per minutes (Color). Finally Samsung also announced that they drastically improved the photo output quality of this new generation.
The CLX-3175FNK, an All in one laser color printer with a build-in scanner (Black & White, Color) and a Fax. Here Samsung succeed to reduce up to 40% the size of this model compare to the previous generation the CLX-3160. On this model you can easily scan document to an USB Key or even print document store on the very same USB key without the need of a PC"
I tried getting more information from the Samsung home page in Korea but they just have pictures of women, apples and butterflies.
(via akihabaranews)
Steve's Digicams has recviewed the $180 8 megapizel Panasonic Lumix DMZ-LZ8 digital camera with 5x optical zoom, image stabilization, and SD card slot.
Here's what they thought of it:
"Bottom Line - Panasonic's Lumix DMC-LZ8 is a compact 8-megapixel camera that will suit the needs of anyone in the family. The Intelligent Auto mode makes it easy for anyone to take excellent pictures and the full manual mode gives freedom to the more experienced photographer. Although the shooting performance was a little slow, the quality of the images is good and the camera is loaded with useful features to assist you in your picture taking fun. If the slower performance does not bother you, the DMC-LZ8 is a great deal at about US$180 or less."
(full review at stevesdigicams)
Continue reading "Panasonic Lumix DMZ-LZ8 reviewed"
The Lenovo Ideapad U110 is now available for purchase. The full specs of this $1899 laptop are:
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz (4 MB cache, 800 MHz FSB), 2GB PC2-5300/667 MHz RAM (up to 3GB supported), 120 GB 4200 rpm PATA HDD, System ships with two batteries: 4-cell and 7-cell, plus an external USB portable DVD burner, 2.4 lbs weight, 11.1-inch 16:9 LED-backlit WXGA screen (1366 x 768), Intel X3100 integrated Graphics, Aluminum etch cover and Magnesium Aluminum case, Frameless screen, Touch-sensitive controls, Vista Home Premium, Dolby Home Theatre Speaker System, Veriface security authentication, Integrated 1.3 megapixel camera, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 6 in 1 card reader, Express Card slot, and Mini-PCIe slot.
We saw Samsung's HT-X810 Home Theater Sound Bar with wireless subwoofer and integrated slot-in upconverting DVD player at CES and it is now available for purchase.
It blends in nicely with flat TVs, and has a 300W output including the wirelessly connected subwoofer.
Portable music players can connect wirelessly via bluetooth, and the HT-X910 also plays CD, DVD-Audio, DivX video, and MP3/WMA, upconverting video to 1080p on request.
(via electronichouse)
Trusted Reviews has reviewed the tiny 8.1 megapixel Casio Exlim EX-Z80 digital camera.
Here's what they thought:
"The Casio Exilim EX-Z80 is a remarkable camera in many ways. Not only is it the smallest 8-megapixel camera on the market, it has a number of advanced technical features not found on rival models. Design, build quality, performance and handling are all very good, and the AF system is amazing, but these attributes are somewhat let down by rather sub-standard image quality. Nonetheless, as a convenient pocket snapshot camera it's hard to beat, and represents good value for its low price."
(full review at trustedreviews)
The Izona CookSurface from Fisher & Paykel is an innovative blending of the beauty of a glass ceramic cooktop with the efficiency and controllability of gas compared to electric cooking.
Turn on the gas and the burner rises up out of the ceramic cooktop along with 5 pan supports, when you're done cooking the burner and supports disappear back into the cooksurface.
The only negative we see is that space isn't used efficiently with the large cooksurface only offering 3 burners.
(fisherpaykel via appliancist)
Steve's Digicams has recviewed the $300 8.1 megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMZ-TZ4 digital camera with 10x optical zoom, image stabilization, and SD card slot.
Here's what they thought of it:
"Bottom Line - Panasonic has put together a winning combination of portability and versatility with the Lumix DMC-TZ4 "Super-zoom". With an 8-megapixel imaging sensor, 10x Leica optical zoom lens (with MEGA O.I.S.), compact and durable body as well as one of the smartest, easiest to use auto shooting modes available (iA mode), the Panasonic TZ4 is a great camera. Whether it be for someone that likes to travel or one who needs the versatility of a much more expensive camera in a compact package. All this combined with class average performance, great image quality and ease-of-use make the DMC-TZ4 a steal with a price of US$300 or less."
(full review at stevesdigicams)
Continue reading "Panasonic Lumix DMZ-TZ4 reviewed"
Falx Air Vehicles are preparing a prototype of a single or twin-seat hybrid-electric VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft that uses a combination of a 100hp engine and solar panels to achieve fuel economy of about 2.5 gallons per hour of flying.
They hope to have the prototype up by this summer but I expect they have a long way to go to achieve anything more than a simple mock-up.
(more at gizmag)
The register has reviewed the Lenovo A61e green pc (called a green pc because of low power requirements).
Here's what they thought:
"The ThinkCentre A61e is very basic and while it does a competent job it seems terribly expensive compared to a better-specced Dell Vostro."
(more at theregister)
A couple of days we told you about i-LIMB - a bionic hand that is already being used by disabled servicemembers, and now another bionic hand has shown up on the scene.
The Fluidhand seems to have similar features to the i-LIMB and we say the more bionic hands out there helping amputees lead more normal lives the better (and I for one welcome our new bionic overlords!).
Continue reading "Fluidhand competes with i_LIMB for title of best bionic hand"
It looks like a guy over at OQO Talk has "modified" his OQO so that it runs MacOS Leopard.
Bluetooth works, WiFi works, sound and power management all work, and for the skeptics out there there is even video posted (after the jump).
"The Leopard install is legitimate and works quite well. However, I am still working on two final issues which are video resolution, presently limited to 800x480, and wwan which I have not yet attempted. Sound, wifi, power management, and usb are working fine and the system is very responsive. When I have completed these final tasks I will post a review with further details."
Continue reading "World's Smallest Mac"
Netgear has announced some new ReadyNAS network attached storage servers.
The 6 bay servers have Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 1BG RAM, 128MG flash for the OS, gigabit ethernet, and RAID 0/1/5/6.
The ReadNAS pro comes in three sizes: 1.5TB, 3TB, and 6TB, and prices start at $2k.
(full press release after the jump)
It's gone now but for a few hours last night there was an auction on ebay for the upcoming blackberry 9000.
Here are the pics included with the auction, there is some speculation they are fakes but they look pretty realistic to me.
(via engadget)
Continue reading "Blackberry 9000 spotted on eBay?"
When apple announced the iMac upgrade yesterday people were excited to see that the top of the line model boasted specs equivalent to the upcoming X9100 Montevideo chip not the expected Penryn chip.
It turns out Apple didn't get the first bite at Montevideo, instead they are using overclocked Penryn chips that use 55W of power instead of the Montevideo's 44W.
With that kind of overclocking I wonder how that affects the chip's lifespan. No worries though, the mac fanatics will be upgrading next year to the new new iMac running the new new mac operating system.
(via tgdaily)
Engadget is reporting that the first products using PureDepth's Multi-Layer Display technology will be hitting the street soon.
Puredepth uses displays that have two or more stacked LCD screens with a common backlight to give the impression of depth.
(more at engadget)
Monday 28 April
The Truth About Cars has posted some rumors about the next generation Toyota Prius that is likely to debut at the 2009 Detriot Motor Show.
The next-gen hybrid is likely to be 3 to 4 inches longer, boast 50 more horses under the hood, and get better fuel economy than the current prius.
(autoobserver via thetruthaboutcars)
The New Scientist reported on a headset that can read people's brainwaves. It is powered by thermoelectrics and solar panels and can transmit brainwaves over wifi.
"A lightweight battery-free headset can continuously monitor human brainwaves, and is powered by body heat and sunlight.
The portable electroencephalogram (EEG) device resembles a set of headphones. It could provide wireless monitoring of patients at risk of seizures, have cars or other machinery respond to stressed users, or provide new ways to interact with computer games."
(more at newscientist)
Digital Home Thoughts has reviewed some speakers I had never heard of before: the Orb audio Home Theater Speaker System that retails for $549 and up.
Here's what they thought:
"When it's all said and done, the bottom line is that the Orb Audio speakers impressed me so much that I'm going to purchase my own set of these speakers. There's no higher recommendation I can give than to say that this is the product I personally want to use. The Orb Audio speakers are not only smaller than the Harman Kardon speakers I had before, they sound better, look better, and made me never want to set up the old system again. While the overall package can get a bit pricey if you need two pairs of their HOSS stands, if you're looking for a quality system - or an upgrade from that horrendously bad Home Theatre In-A-Box system you might have - Orb Audio has a range of solutions at every price point that will allow you to enjoy movies, music, games in ways you never have before. And because their system is so modular, you can start with a minimal Mod1 system and as long as you get the right kind of stands or mounts, you can add more speakers to your system over time. That's a powerful advantage that I haven't seen in any retail speaker solution, and is the cherry on top of what is already a luscious mix of tasty audio."
(full review at digitalhomethoughts)
Jeff Atwood at coding horror decided to improve on his existing homemade home theater pc by taking advantage of the simplicity and low power of the AMD 780G platform.
He ended up with a small form factor home theater pc with directx 10 support and dual TV tuner, and you can copy his setup for around $500.
(full instructions at codinghorror)
DXG have announced a new high definition camcorder, the DXG-569V, that offers 1280 x 720 recording at 30 frames per second.
It also take 5 megapixel still images, has a fold-out rotating 3" LCD screen, 32mb memory plus a SD card slot, and a built-in digital voice recorder.
What is it missing? an optical zoom, image stabilization, and a high price. The DXG-569V is available now in silver and black from Radio Shack for $169.
(press release after the jump)
Continue reading "DXG-569V - low cost high definition camcorder"
Alienware has announced that they are now offering 4 GPU CrossFireX graphics using a pair of Radeon HD 3879 X2 cards on their Area-51 gaming PC.
Alienware are famous for their high performance gaming PCs and this enhancement helps keep them at the top of the field.
(press release after the jump)
(via engadget)
Continue reading "Alienware Area 51 gets CrossfireX"
Trusted Reviews has reviewed the Asus P320 Windows Mobile phone.
Here's what they thought:
"It all goes together to make a well-rounded smartphone that's just about the most pocketable Windows Mobile PDA phone you're likely to come across. Unfortunately, though, there's no getting around the fact that the P320's small screen makes using Windows Mobile Professional even more fiddly to use than it normally is. But if you don't mind getting the stylus out occasionally and want the push email and office document features of a Windows Mobile device without the bulk, it's a very solid option. And the inclusion of a GPS receiver in a device this small is just the icing on the cake."
(full review at trustedreviews)
Hot Hardware has taken a close look at the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Processor. This $270 chip is the replacement for the Q6600: the most popular member of intel's product line in terms of speed compared to value.
Here's what they thought of it:
"We would recommend this chip for those who want an inexpensive and low-power quad-core option for desktop or workstation usage. For gamers, we would recommend opting for a higher-clock speed dual-core model like the Core 2 Duo E8500, which can deliver better stock performance compared to the Q9300 in a gaming environment. If you want quad-core and top-notch gaming performance, we would recommend opting for one of Intel's higher-end quad-core models with a full 12 MB of cache, like the Q9450 and up."
(full review at hothardware)
Verizon must be living on a different planet as they have decided the economy is so healthy that they can raise prices for their TV service.
Meanwhile the number of people giving up home phone lines and relying solely on cellphones has increased: Verizon's number of residential phone customers has dropped 10.9% over the past year.
(more from fortune)
Nvidia has quietly launched a new entry level graphics card.
The Nvidia GeForce 9600 GSO is SLI capable and features 96 processor cores, 550MHz core clock, 1375KHz shader clock, 800MHz memory clock, 384MB of RAM, 192-bit memory interface, a memory bandwidth of 38.4 GB/sec, and a texture fill rate of 26.4 billion/sec.
Pretty impressive for a card that is expected to compete directly with the $120 ATI Radeon HD 3830.
(more at nvidia)
Continue reading "New entry level graphics card: Nvidia GeForce 9600 GSO"
Memorex has relaunched it's MMP line of media players with two models:
The Clip & Play (pictured) is a very small square media player with a two line OLED screen, graphic equalizer, and FM radio tuner. It comes with 2GB of memory and costs $50.
The MMP8590 is larger with a 1.5" OLED screen, displays jpeg photos, and has a voice recorder and stopwatch. It too comes with 2GB of memory and costs $60.
(via electronista)
Continue reading "Memorex relaunches MMP media player line"
I expect the MPAA lawyers are already working on lawsuits to sneak some tracking code into this device.
The Planex DigiJuke network attached storage device cost $525 for a 1GB system with gigabit ethernet. It's big selling point is that it comes with a little browser for searching and tagging youtube videos and torrents for download directly to the DigiJuke.
(via engadget)
Continue reading "Planex DigiJuke NAS plays nicely with bittorrent"
The second half of the "AMD Business Class" comedy duo has just reared it's head.
HP jsut announced two new desktops that support the exciting "next-generation AMD Business Class processors" that are much more stable than every other nasty unstable AMD processor out there. Way to shoot yourself in the foot AMD.
If you ignore the marketing babble the PCs themselves aren't bad: good features at a very good price.
(full press release after the jump)
Continue reading "HP DC5850 and DC2450 business desktops, they are stable"
Everyone knows apple always does stuff on Tuesday, so why are they messing with our heads by releasing the iMac update a day early?
The update itself is as expected:
Entry level $1199 20" iMac with 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo Penryn processor, 1GB memory, 250GB hard drive, 128MB ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics.
High-end $2199 24" iMac with 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo Penryn processor, 2GB memory, 320GB hard drive, 512MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GS graphics.
(full press release after the jump)
Continue reading "iMac update happens a day early"
Another gadget intended to make the lives of frequent travelers easier: this dual ac to usb charger allows you to charge two devices at the same time.
It comes in 4 colors (white, black, pink and blue), is 59×51×18.5mm (2.32" x 2" x 0.73") and weighs just 43 grams (1.5oz).
(via akihabaranews)
Continue reading "Dual ac to usb charger"
The power goes out, it is 100 degrees outside, your weird neighbor is already outside on the porch in his underwear while his wife tries to cool him with a newspaper, how do you stay cool?
With your solar powered fan of course!
The $70 portable solar fan from Maplin not only operates a 4W fan for 6 to 8 hours on full power it doubles as a lantern, alarm clock, and phone/mp3 charger.
The Gadgeteer has reviewed the $40 Cardo S800 bluetooth headset.
Here's what they thought:
"Overall, I like the Cardo S-800 bluetooth headset. Its stylish, high-tech design, good call quality, noise canceling technology, and massive list of high end features and capabilities makes this device very tech-worthy. Add to that the fact it can be found for under $40, the S-800 is also a very good value."
(full review at thegadgeteer)
Digitimes is reporting that Asus is considering splitting off Eee as a separate brand:
"Asustek Computer is considering making Eee an independent brand with a lineup products including the original Eee PC notebook, as well as the previously reported upon Eee TV (E-TV), Eee desktop (E-DT), and Eee monitor which are all expected to be introduced by the end of the third quarter this year, according to industry sources.
Through separating Eee as a sub-brand, Asustek believes the product family will be able to jump out of the low-cost market bracket.
In other news, in addition to the Eee PC 900, the company will launch the Eee PC 1001 with a 10-inch panel as well as an 11-inch model by the end of this year, market sources have revealed."
(via digitimes)
Photograplyblog has reviewed the $1150 14.6 megapixel Pentax K20D camera.
Here's what they thought:
"Despite the half-baked Live View mode and an increase in price over the K10D, the Pentax K20D is a significant improvement on its predecessor. The shutter release mechanism and auto-focusing system are still noisy, and we'd upgrade the supplied 18-55mm kit lens as soon as possible to get the best out of the sensor, but overall the K20D remains one of the most innovative DSLRs currently available, which we can once again highly recommend."
(more at photographyblog)
Continue reading "Pentax K20D reviewed"
A Portuguese company Biodevices S.A. has come up with a shirt that continuously monitors your heart.
It works the same way as the electrocardiogram (EKG) test you get at the hospital but monitors continuously and either saves data to a SD card for future review or transmits via bluetooth to a phone or PDA for real-time monitoring.
It even has a built-in vibration alarm to alert you if you heart rate exceeds a user defined level.
The Vitaljacket will be available soon for 399 euros (about $625).
(vitaljacket via talk2myshirt)
Do you worry about bad breath? ever go to kiss someone and have your horrendous halitosis reduce them to tears? does your wife or significant other keep hinting by ging you mints or gum?
If so then you might need this $19 "kiss me" personal bad breath detector. It detects gases on your breath and has 5 leds to display various levels of grossness.
(via slipperybrick)
More info is leaking out on the iMac update that is expected to happen tomorrow.
Prices are staying the same (at $1199, $1499, and $1799) but the hardware is supposed to be updated with:
Intel's latest penryn chipset
More memory
Bigger hard drive
and possibly an upgraded graphics card
(via slashgear)
Creative have brought out two new colored versions of their ZEM portable media player.
The new red and pink versions are otherwise identical to the existing versions with 2.5" 320 x 240 pixel screen, 4 to 32GB storage capacities and SD expansion slot.
The red version is available at buy.com and the pink is a walmart exclusive.
If you are just looking for the black version there are good deals available directly through Creative's refurbished store.
(Via slashgear)
Continue reading "Pink and red Creative ZEN PMPs"
Trusted Reviews has reviewed the $220 Samsung Pebble Syncmaster 2232BW 22" lcd monitor.
Here's what they thought:
"Samsung's SyncMaster 2232BW Pebble draws you in with its great looks and smooth curves, but from the moment you assemble it to the instant you install it on your desk, you realise it's a case of style over substance. It still manages to entice with its picture quality, but for the money there are better alternatives out there. If you are willing to sacrifice two inches, you can even get LG's DisplayLink-enabled Flatron L206WU for your money, which apart from the design is superior in every respect."
(review at trustedreviews)
AMD just put out a press release announcing "AMD Business Class", "designed with business in mind".
Seems like a marketing invented phrase with no real substance behind it. Most of the press release is about the launch of a "new line of commercial stable AMD Athlon(tm) and AMD Phenom(tm) processors" "with up to 24-month stability".
Um, you mean their regular processors aren't stable?
Their marketing department just backfired again. Maybe if AMD stuck to flying in coach they would be more profitable and successful.....
Continue reading "AMD goes business class"
A bunch of other sites posted about this new RAM from PQI today. It was actually released a month ago but you know how the internet is: someone posts something, other people copy the post without checking the facts etc.
Another example was the "new" combination microwave/toaster that was all over the gadget sites last week.... we have had one of those in our office for the past year (mini review: it feels cheap but does a good enough job).
Anyway, back to this RAM.... I can't tell if that heatsink is on steroids or viagra, either way it looks pretty impressive. The specs of the 4GB memory kit aren't bad either (see the full press release after the jump).
Continue reading "PQI Phoenix RAM: that's quite an impressive heatsink"
According to fareastgizmos Sony has announced plans to double production of Bravia LCDs TV at their plant in Slovakia.
The plant produces the full range of Bravia TVs for sale in Europe and the increase in production capacity will lead to the creation of 4 million LCD TVs in 2008.
(more at fareastgizmos)
Nokia has announced 3 new phones they are calling "beautiful to use".
The 275 Euro Nokia 6600 fold has a 2.13" OLED screen with 16 million colors, 3G support, and a 2 megapixel camera.
The 250 Euro Nokia 6600 slide has a 2.2" display, nokia maps, and a 3.2 megapixel camera.
The 175 Euro Nokia 3600 slide is the first Nokia phone with background noise cancellation. It also has nokia maps and a 3.2 megapixel camera.
(full press release after the jump)
Continue reading "3 new nokia "beautiful to use" phones"
Lenovo has confirmed that their Ideapad U110 ultraportable will be available in the US on April 29th, direct from Lenovo, for $1899.
Specs are likely to be a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo L7500 processor, 3GB of RAM, 120GB hard drive, and an 11.1-inch WXGA (1366 x 768 pixels) display.
Other features include Intel GMA X3100 integrated graphics, a 1.3-megapixel web camera, Ethernet LAN, Intel 4965AGN wireless, and Bluetooth, and a battery life of up to 8 hours.
Not bad considering the lenovo ideapad u110 is only 2.3 pounds and 0.7" thick.
Continue reading "Lenovo Ideapad U110 ultraportable coming April 29th"
We love in-car GPS navigation systems, we've used then for at least 7 years now, and we would be completely lost (literally) without them.
Suzuki apparently feels the same way as they are making the Garmin T.R.I.P flip-up GPS nav system a standard feature in all 2009 SX4 sport and SX4 crossover vehicles.
(press release after the jump)
(via autoblog)
Continue reading "Navigation system standard in all 2009 Suzuki SX4"
Sunday 27 April
Pioneer has just announced a new projector as part of their high-end Kuro line of A/V equipment.
The Kuro 9000-FD is a LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) projector capable of 1920x1080 pixel resolution on a 14.5 x 8 foor screen.
Other features include a 2x zoom lens, 30,000:1 contrast ration, 600 lumens brightness, 2 HDMI 1 component 1 composite 1 S-video ports, and a remote with backlit buttons.
The Pioneer Kuro 9000-FD projector will be available in Europe in May for about $12,000.
(via electronista)
Continue reading "Pioneer Kuro 9000-FD projector"
The Panasonic maker hopes to boost global sales of plasma display panel TVs by about 40 percent to over 6 million units, while increasing sales of LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs by more than half to about 5 million units.
(full news story after the jump)
Continue reading "Matsushita (panasonic) expects 40% growth in flat TVs next year"
In the lawn mowing business time is money: the faster you can mow an acre the more lawns you can mow in a day.
The Dixie Chopper Xcaliber probably has a lot of lawn guys excited, not only because it's 38hp engine 15mph top speed and 74" cutting deck give a mowing capacity of 9.2 acres an hour, but also because it comes with springer forks, electric deck lift, and a 12 volt adapter for an ipod, cellphone, or portable beer fridge.
How much will all of that set you back? $11,000!
(dixiechopper, via i4u)
Continue reading "Dixie chopper xcaliber - world's fastest lawnmower"
These days more and more gadgets are using a USB connection for charging, which makes emergency recharging extremely convenient.
The hand crank USB power charger from National Geographic allows you to recharge your phone or other USB charged gadgets anywhere there isn't power, and if power is available you can plug it in with it's AC adapter so you don't need to carry multiple chargers.
It is small (2.5" x 4" x 1.5"), light (6oz) and includes adapters for most Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, and LG phones.
ihacked has created a long range smart wifi snooper for piggybacking off distant free or unsecured wireless routers.
It uses about $150 in parts (some of which you may already have lying around): a DD-WRT compatible router such as the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54, a Hyperlink 2.4GHz 14.5 Yagi Antenna, a cheap tripos, and some screws/velcro.
Construction of this seems really simple, although it is a big too big to carry on business trips to take advantage of nearby free hotspots instead of paying the hotel $15 a night for their internet.
(full instructions at ihacked)
Liliputing just received a HP Mini-note eee pc lookalike and they seem pretty excited: posting 5 articles about it so far from unboxing to comparing XP startup speed to an eee pc:
Unboxing video
First impressions
Comparison to eee pc slideshow
Windows XP startup speed video
Impressions on SUSE linux
Mobile Gazette snooped around the FCC website and found the specs on the Motorola A810 cellphone.
It appears to be a basic touchscreen phone with a linux based operating system, 2.2" 240 x 320 pixel screen, 2 megapixel camera, bluetooth, and microsd card. No GPD, 3G, or WiFi.
(more at mobilegazette)
Continue reading "Motorola A810 specs"
Unwired View has reviewed the Sony Ericsson Z770i.
Here's what they thought:
"Z770i is a 3G model with support for HSDPA protocol; you can use the phone as a full-blown 3G modem for your laptop. There's no built-in camera for video calls, and these are not supported at all; nevertheless, the phone is perfect for 3G data transfer. If you are looking for a functional and stylish clamshell and you like Sony Ericsson, I suggest you consider this model."
(full review at unwiredview)
Pedometers have just been made obsolete by the Seiko Slimstick.
It doesn't just count steps it has built-in dual-axis accelerometers that track the intensity of a workout to provide a more accurate readout of calories burned.
Unfortunately it is only available in Japan at the moment for around $55. It measure 0.8" x 2.5" x 0.35" and weighs just half an ounce. It comes in a variety of brushed aluminum finishes: silver, pink, or gold.
(via technabob)
Continue reading "Seiko slimstick exercise tracker"
PC Mag has reviewed the small form factor Falcon Northwest FragBox 8500.
Here's what they thought:
"All things considered, naming the Falcon Northwest FragBox 8500 the new Editors' Choice in this category was a no-brainer. Most important, you can play Crysis on it. It's the system to buy right now if you're interested in a Wolfdale-powered gaming PC but don't want to break into the $3,000-plus stratosphere. You'll be paying a bit more than budget gamers for performance and portability, but you won't regret it. The FragBox is here to kick ass. Let it be your opponent's."
(full review at pcmag)
Saturday 26 April
Gizmodo reviewed the Casio Exlim EX-F1 megapixel point-and-shoot digital camera with the capability to shoot at an ultra fast 60 frames per second, rapid flash function up to 20 continuous shots at a speed of up to 7 frames per second, high speed recording at up to 1,200 fps and a 2.8-inch wide TFT color LCD.
Here's what they thought:
"So ultimately there's just this small issue of the $1000 price tag: Is it worth it? My answer is this: if you're looking for a great video camera that also takes decent stills, then yes, it's worth it. But if you're looking for the perfect still camera, it's a far cry. But you might miss it when you go on safari, or to a baseball game, or when you're lighting off fireworks, or when your pets are doing goofy shit, or when... Okay, maybe it is worth it, no matter what your purposes."
(full review at gizmodo)
Continue reading "Casio Exlim EX-F1 reviewed"
According to VR-Zone Nvidia is going to release the 9900 as soon as July to keep ahead of Radeon and their HD4800. Here's what they had to say:
"It seems Nvidia has decided to launch them as early as July to counter RV770 and steal the performance crown away. Nvidia has earlier confirmed GT200 existence and revealed that the GPU has about 1B transistors. Our sources are suggesting a 512-bit memory interface with GDDR3 memories for GeForce 9900 GTX using P651 PCB and a 448-bit memory interface for the GeForce 9900 GTS."
MSI has released a bunch of "large" (600x500 pixel) photos of their EeePC-like Wind ultraportable.
The Wind will have Intel processors between 1GHz and 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM, 80GB hard drive, 8.9 inch 1024 x 600 pixel screen, 3 USB ports, VGA output, SD card reader, Windows XP Home, WiFi, Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel webcam, and should be available in June.
(more pics at engadgetchina)
Continue reading "Large images of the MSI Wind"
It is true what they say - the British always talk about the weather (because it changes so much over there), and using the weather as a conversation starter is becoming easier thanks to the Oregon Scientific Meteo weather watching watch.
The watch has a built in barometer that displays one of 4 icons: sunny, partly cloudy, cloudy and rainy, so instead of looking at the sky to see if it is sunny you can look at the watch instead.
Imagine the uses: you are out sunbathing in the park next to an attractive girl, your watch alerts you that rain is on the way, you can immediately jump into action, save her from the impending rain and suggest you head back to your place instead.
(via biosmagazine)
Continue reading "Oregon Scientific Meteo weather watching watch"
Eprice in Taiwan obtained a spec sheet of the upcoming successor to LG's touchscreen Prada phone.
The specs include: Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900). WCDMA 900/2100, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA connectivity, 3″ WQVGA 400×240 px TFT touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, front camera for video calls, Wi-Fi b/g connectivity, USB 2.0, Bluetooth, Full HTML browsing, FM-Radio, TV-out, microSDHC memory card slot (up to 8GB), slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
Looks and sounds good but expect LG to be trumped again by Apple and a new iPhone.
(via unwiredview)
Friday 25 April
We used to think that electric bikes were just for lazy people who wanted to pretend they were exercising, but with the cost of gas these days an electric bike is starting to look like an economical alternative for short trips*.
The E+ ebike from Electric Motion Systems will get you to the grocery store and back easily at 20mph (30mph allowed off road) with a range of 20 miles of you are lazy or up to 40 miles if you actually do a little work and pedal occasionally.
* although for it to be economical at a cost of $3,495 you would need to ride over 30,000 miles to save money over the cost of buying gas at $3.50/gal for a car that gets 30mpg.
(electric motion systems via autobloggreen)
Continue reading "E+ electric bike"
Are you one of those people that absolutely needs their daily espresso?
Now you can always have an espresso with the handpresso wild portable espresso machine:
"The patented high-pressure extraction system uses hand-held pumping to prime the device, ensuring the correct 16 bar pressure needed to produce the perfect cup of espresso.
Light and durable, the Handpresso can be stored easily in a drawer, backpack or with camping gear. The Handpresso, uses E.S.E standard pods, which ensures a premium quality in every cup, no matter where you are. This also eliminates the mess associated with espresso making when on the go."
The handpresso wild is just 8.7" x 3.9" x 2.8" and weighs 1.2lb. It is being imported into the US by importika where it costs $149.99.
(via appliancist)
Continue reading "The worlds smallest espresso machine"
Think Camera has reviewed the Nikon D60 Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm lens.
The D60 is a $680 10.2 megapixel camera with a 2.5" lcd, SD card slot, and 3 fps continuous shooting.
Here's what they thought of it:
"those looking to make a first class entry level DSLR purchase need only know that the Nikon D60 is an excellent choice - it's small, light, affordable, easy to use and has enough solid and fun features to get any enthusiast going. Although current Nikon D40x users will probably not feel the need to upgrade, taken on its own merit, Nikon D60 is up there with the best entry level DSLR, if not the best."
(full review at thinkcamera)
Continue reading "Nikon D60 Digital SLR camera reviewed"
Now this is a great idea: the Samsung Syncmaster 2263DX 22" lcd monitor comes with a little 7" 800x480 pixel LCD monitor on a rotating swing arm so you can position the mini monitor vertically or horizontally on any side/top of the monitor. Don't worry about needing a dual output video card either: the 7" monitor connects via USB.
I have two 24" monitors on my main PC and I am always using all of both screens so it would be great to have a little side monitors where I could put widgets, im tool, email notifier etc.
The 2263DX also features a built-in 3 megapixel webcam, microphone, and 1.5w speakers. It is available not for an expensive $550.
(via digitaltrends)
Continue reading "Samsung SyncMaster 2263DX comes with mini-me 7" monitor"
Designer John Pszeniczny has come up with a concept watch based upon Formula One racing.
The watch is constructed of carbon fiber, Swarovski crystal, rubber and metal, and has 18 identical rubies.
If that isn't enough it also tells the time in everyone of the 18 cities on the 2008 F1 circuit, and has a built in lap timer function and stopwatch.
Ok, I get the metal rubber and carbon fiber part...... but when was the last time you saw a race car blinged up with swarovski crystals??
(via gizmodo)
Continue reading "Formula One concept watch"
Touch Bionics is showing off their prosthetic hand that looks to be almost as good as the real thing. The best thing is that the case study they use on their website is a former US Army soldier injured in Iraq.
The i-LIMB is the first fully articulating bionic hand that is commercially available (for $17.5k) and has 5 individually power digits controlled my myoelectric muscle signals from the remaining part of the users arm, each digit also has advanced sensors that determine the correct amount of grip to use in order to hold something without crushing it.
Lets hope more of these find their way to injured servicemembers.
Read about US Army Sgt Juan Arredondo at Touch Bionics
(via ubergizmo)
Continue reading "The best bionic prosthetic hand yet?"
Sony and Samsung have agreed to extend their LCD making partnership by building a new factory in South Korea costing $1.8B.
The plant will be based on eighth-generation LCD manufacturing technology capable of creating sheets up to 2.2m x 2.5m or 86" x 98" (each sheet containing multiple LCD panels). It is planned to be operation in Q2 2009 and will churn out 60,000 sheets a month.
This isn't Sony's only new plant: they also just partnered with Sharp for a $3.5B 10th generation plant due to come online in 2010.
What difference do new plants make over old ones? increased supply of panels at a lower cost per square inch, resulting in either cheaper TVs and/or bigger profits for Sony.
(more at pcworld, via engadget)
Liliputing has put together a comprehensive list of all the Eee PC clones, copycats, and coincidentally similar low cost ultraportable PCs.
The list includes PCs already shipping such as the Eee PC itself, the Dreambook Light IL1, the Everex Cloudbook, and the HP2133 Mini-note, PCs coming soon such as the ECS G10IL, the Everex Cloudbook Max, and the MSI Wind, and 18 PCs recently announced that may or may not end up as vaporware.
(more at liliputing)
A consulktancy firm in the UK, MIRA, has created a hybrid car system that can be retrofitted to existing cars at a cost of about $4,000.
The H4V takes the form of three large battery packs that sit in the trunk of your car and can be unplugged and moved elsewhere to be recharged if needed.
On their test car (a Skoda Fabia) the H4V system increaded fuel economy by 61 percent and reduced emissions by 39%.
We see only two flaws with this system:
1: Skodas aren't sexy.
2. How many people will be comfortable moving heavy battery packs with the words "DANGER LARGE DC VOLTAGE" on them?
(via autobloggreen)
Continue reading "Mira H4V: plugless plug-in hybrid"
Trusted Reviews has reviewed the $240 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 digital camera.
The DMC-FS20 is a 10.1 megapixel camera with a 4x optical zoom and a 3" LCD screen.
Here's what they thought:
"The Lumix FS20 is a companion model the the FS5, offering a larger LCD screen and slightly better handling. Build quality is excellent, and the overall design is functional but attractive. It is a point-and-shoot camera with a limited but sensible range of features, and performs well in most situations, with good low light capabilities. Image quality is also good, but the price tag is a little high for a rather average specification."
(full review at trustedreviews)
Continue reading "Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 reviewed"
Thursday 24 April
Earlier today we told you about the new Samsung 750 series LCD TVs.
Samsung have now released the exact MSRP pricing for all 27 new TVs they showed at CES: the 4,5,6 and 7 series LCDs and the 4,5, and 6 series plasmas.
All support 1080p except the 4 series plasma and LCDs which are 720p.
(exact pricing after the jump)
Continue reading "Samsung new lcds - exact pricing"
T-Mobile confirmed today that they will offer a phone running the Google Android open source phone operating system by the end of 2008.
There are no details available about the phone itself although a number of major manufacturers including Motorola, HTC, Samsung and LG are members of the Open Handset Alliance and are expected to create phone that run Android.
(more at crave)
Panasonic is investing big in a new LED plant and looking to take 25% of the large LCD TV (>37") market in 2008.
With an eye on the future they have also announced they are going to start producing OLED TVs in the future
(via digitimes)
According to Fortune magazine Blackberry have delayed the release of their first 3G phone (the 8900 codenamed Meteor) until August.
The reason for the delay isn't clear - it could be AT&T not liking call quality or it could be because AT&T doesn't want two new 3G devices at the same time.
Personally we are more excited about the touchscreen blackberry 9000 and wish they would hurry up and release that.
(more at fortune)
Krunker took an old mac mini, upgraded the ram, adding some external hard drives, an external HD TV tuner, installed vista, and ended up with a very usuable vista media center pc.
Here's the summary:
"In this article, I’ve gone over the high level elements that I’ve undertaken to transform a Apple Mac mini into a Windows Vista Media Center system. At the end of the day, the Mac mini makes a solid and capable Media Center box. It’s even better when you use the system in conjunction with Media Center Extender systems since the Extenders can deal with the actual video processing and rendering. There are of course some limitations with the Mac mini - mostly in the areas of storage and expandability. Storage expansion can be solved via external hard drives or via a network attached storage device such as Windows Home Server (and I’ll delve into that in the near future). Additional capabilities can be added to the Mac mini via USB connections although it does destroy the simplistic look of the overall system a bit."
(full article at krunker)
Continue reading "Mac mini as a vista media center pc"
Trusted Reviews as reviewed the $150 Lexmark X9575 all-in-one inkjet printer.
Here's what they thought:
"Assuming the inconsistencies we noticed are isolated to this sample, the X9575 is a fair all-in-one printer. With duplex, wireless and a colour preview monitor, it has most of the current must-haves, but its core printing technology still doesn't put it up among the leaders. With a street-price of £180, there's better value to be had, too."
(full review at trustedreviews)
Continue reading "Lexmark X9575 all-in-one printer reviewed"
Geeksugar got the scoop on an update to the iMac range coming next week.
The rumor is that the new iMacs will be the same prices as the current models but will have faster processors and more hard drive space.
Go check out geeksugar to see if they have any more good gossip.
Phone arena has reviewed the Glofish M800 Windows Mobile 6 smartphone with VGA resolution 640x480 2.8" screen 64MB RAM 256MB ROM, 3.5G HSDPA / UMTS plus quad-band GSM with GPRS, the SIRF Star III GPS, WiFi 802.11b, twin cameras (QVGA in front and 2Mpix flash at the back), all run by a Samsung 500 MHz ARM mobile CPU.
Here's what they thought of it:
"Is the M800 revolutionary device – definitely not. Is it worth upgrading from X800 – only if you really want QWERTY (there’s nothing else new). Is it worth getting? It depends, if you are on the market for a (Windows Mobile) smartphone, the M800 is still a nice device. Although it is neither the fastest, nor the prettiest (and yes, we don’t like the capacitive keys!) it is one of the few out there with a high-res (VGA) display. Of course, it has some negative sides, but it is a matter of compromise. Overall, the TyTN II is better, but only if you could live with the nowadays mediocre QVGA display. We leave the decision to you."
(full review at phonearena)
"ding-dong" not good enough for you?
Check out the iChime customizable doorbell: wire it up to your doorbell and play one of dozens of included songs, or connect up your mp3 (or digital voice recorder) through the headphone jack and record anything you want to use as a doorbell chime: your dog barking, a shotgun being racked, blasphemy, potty humor - the world is your oyster.
The iChime costs $90 and delivers hours of fun for all the family, plus for just $35 more you can add an extra speaker in another room so everyone can get in on the endless mirth and amusement.
(via uberreview)
Continue reading "iChime customizable doorbell"
My wife always has bad allergy problems when she visits Japan, especially at this time of year, but she puts up with it because she doesn't want to wear a mask. The Japanese however don't care how silly they look as long as their face mask protects them from germs and allergy causing stuff.
The latest in high-tech Japanese face masks is this USB cooled one with a built-in fan. Just plug it into your laptop USB port and enjoy cool fresh air blasting into your nose and mouth at 1500rpm.
All that high tech and it only costs 2480 Yen (about $24).
(via dvice)
Continue reading "Japanese USB Face Mask"
Trusted Reviews reviewed the relatively inexpensive bose in-ear headphones.
Here's what they thought:
"There's no doubt that Bose's in-ear headphones are a quality product. They're well-built, come with a respectable selection of accessories, work with the iPhone out of the box, and are an extremely comfortable option for those who just don't get on with canalphones.
But the sound quality, while balanced and reasonably detailed, isn't quite up there with the best in class. If you have this much cash to spend on a headphone upgrade, I'd advise choosing a pair of the superlative Sennheiser CX 95s. They're more involving to listen to, and the noise isolation design means you can enjoy that quality without having to turn the volume up too loud."
(full review at trustedreviews)
Continue reading "Bose in ear headphones reviewed"
As I write this entry my wife is half way through an 11hr flight back to the US from Japan, and last week she flew almost 15hrs to China in economy. I have been on many similar trips so trust me when I say flying long-haul in economy is a nightmare.
Imagine the typical flight, you are stuck in a middle seat with an obese guy asleep next to you, he is leaning in your direction, falling into a deep deep sleep, he start snoring, then falls face first into your lap.
That is why I am excited at the concept of the Cosy Suite Seat from Thompson Solutions: you are still crammed into roughly the same space but you have room to lean and fall asleep without nosediving into someone else crotch.
For space they claim 2 more inches of width and leg room but I bet they use the extra space to cram more rows in.
Delta is going to install the Cosy Suite Seats in their 767 and 777 aircraft by 2010, and I hope American and United are taking notes: you need to make economy more comfortable too!
(via dvice)
Continue reading "New seats to make flying economy more tolerable"
This is another of those ideas that is good in concept but poorly executed.
The concept: A little camera attached to your doggies collars that takes pictures regularly so you see what he has been up to (or gotten into).
The reality: water-resistant (so the first time the doggies jumps in the lake it dies), only takes pictures at most once a minute, resolution of just 640x480, and storage capacity of only 35 pictures.
Here's how I would do it: 4 or 5 megapixel cellphone camera in a waterproof metal container, that saves pictures to a wifi enabled SD card for automatic transfer to my home web server so I can log on from anywhere and see what the dog is getting up to.
As soon as someone invents a spying device someone else has to invent a way to block it, and that has just happened for those little GPS trackers you can put in your spouse's car when you think they are fooling around.
The "GPS Tracker Defense" from Trackershack in the UK works exactly as you would expect: you plug it into the power socket (cigarette lighter) in your car and it stops any GPS device within 15ft from locking onto the GPS satellites.
Of course this also means your GPS navigation system won't work either so good luck fining that little out of the way morel where your arranged your scandalous tryst.
(via tfts)
Continue reading "GPS Signal Jammer / Blocker"
This interesting looking outdoor table from Intelligent Forms is actually a large outdoor solar charging station for gadgets.
It is waterproof and (assuming good sunlight) soaks up enough power in a year to charge a cellphone 6800 times or an average laptop 168 times.
It has an LCD screen, bluetooth, USB, auto and regular AC style charging ports, is about 43" x 30" x 18", is custom made to order, and costs about $14k!
(via boingboing)
Is it just me or do these speakers make your iPod touch look like Mr. Potato Head?
These little speakers rotate into place, output 770 mW over 2 channels, and run for 8hrs on a USB rechargeable battery.
Dimensions are 67mm x 21mm x 120mm and they weigh 66.6g. They are sold in Japan for 4,480 Yen ($43)
(via fareastgizmos)
Continue reading "Green House iPod Touch Speakers"
We think Buffalo's Linkstations are the best network attached storage solutions out there for the home or small office user, so we are excited to hear they are coming out with a mini version that accepts up to 2 500GB 2.5" disks for a total storage capacity of a terabyte and supports RAID 1 mirroring and RAID 0 striping in a package measuring just 40mm x 82mm x 135mm (1.6" x 3.2" x 5.3") and weighing 1.1lb
No word yet on price, but the Linkstation Mini will be available in May.
(More at buffalo)
Continue reading "Buffalo Linkstation Mini"
When a toughbook isn't tough enough and you need to take rugged computing to the next level you should consider the Vigor Evo HD from Next Computing.
It looks like a large (19"W x 7.5"D x 13.44"H) metal briefcase but it contains a powerful desktop pc complete with 17" LCD monitor - all secured inside the chassis and designed to withstand tough conditions.
No price is listed but you know anytime a website says "request a quote" it will be expensive.
More at nextcomputing.
(via hothardware)
Continue reading "When a toughbook isn't tough enough"
Sometimes you come across a gadget idea just is just wrong.
Take this toaster for example, just turn it on, let the wires heat up and place your hand, I mean your bread, on the extremely hot surface. What could go wrong.
Forget waterboarding terrorists, just get them to try making their breakfast on this thing and they will be singing like canaries in no time.
(via appliancist)
Continue reading "Dangerous Toaster"
Imaging Resource has reviewed the Pentax Option Z10 8 megapixel, 7x optical zoom, 3.7" x 2.3" x 1.0", 5.1oz digital camera that retails for about $250.
Here's what they thought:
"Though it has no manual control and is a little thicker than some, the Pentax PZ10 is quite simple to use and does a good job at all but the highest ISO setting. Its interface is straightforward, and its zoom is smooth and accurate, without a lot of fiddling to get the right framing."
(full review at imagingresource)
Trusted Reviews reviewed Denon's $150 entry level upscaling DVD player which lacks DVD-audio and dolby digital support but does include upscaling to 720p 1080i and 1080p via HDMI.
What did they think of it?
"We can't deny that the DVD-1740 is a very competent deck, but even taking its excellent performance into consideration we can't help but feel that you can get more for your money elsewhere - the Pioneer DV-600AV, for example, adds DVD-A, SACD, WMV and AAC playback plus a USB port for the same price, putting the Denon's feature list to shame. The Denon's pictures are possibly better, but not enough to make up for the lack of these features - most people would choose extra bells and whistles over fractionally better pictures any day of the week.
But judged on its own merits, the DVD-1740 is a solid player, once again demonstrating the Japanese brand's uncanny ability to wring the very best performance out of a player within the limitations of its price point. Build quality is superb, the rich, cinematic quality of the images it produces are ideal for movie fans - even those with demanding bigscreen displays - while the smooth audio playback means you can ditch your old CD player with confidence."
(full review at trustedreviews)
Continue reading "Denon DVD-1740 reviewed"
Samsung has announced that the touch of color LCDs they showed off at CES will be available for purchase in May.
The high-end 750 series with 1080p, 50,000:1 contrast, and 120Hz will cost $3,599 to $3,499 for 40" to 52".
All models include Samsung's Infolink RSS service for news direct to your flat screen, plus for $34.99 you can buy a wireless linkstick to connect to your wireless network instead of needing to run an ethernet cable to your TV.
(Full press release after the jump)
Continue reading "Samsung 750 series LCDs coming in May"
Want to win a new Asus Eee PC 900?
Laptop Magazine are giving one away: all you have to do is visit their site and fill out a short survey.
The new Asus Eee PC 900 features 20gb hard drive, a 8.9" screen, Xandros Linux OS, and weighs just 2.2lb.
Enter the contest at Laptop Magazine
Samsung has released the final details on their BD-P1500 Blu-Ray disc player that sould be available in June for around $400.
The BD-P1500 will support both 1080p60 and 1080p24, has HDMI1.3 output, and had an upconverter chip: basically similar specs to HD-DVD machines that were half the price until Sony succeeded in buy their way to victory over HD-DVD (am I still bitter about that? a little).
The BD-P1500 comes with Blu-Ray profile 1.1 but is said to be easily upgradeable to BD Live when that is launched.
(via electronista)
Continue reading "Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-Ray specs"
One thing I found weird about the UK when I lived there: all the recipes were based on weight of food instead of volume. Instead of just measuring a cup of a tablespoon you had to get out some scales and add little amounts until you had the correct weight. A completely ridiculous system.
One problem with the system is what do you do when you have an expensive ingredient like saffron or truffles, or need a little herb/spice? generally you just wing it and throw in a pinch instead of the US system where you can easily measure a quarter or an eighth of a teaspoon.
There is now a solution. They could have just switched to measuring but instead they invented a measuring spoon with a built in electronic scale to measure as little as 1/10 of a gram of your precious ingredients.
In the US the only people who measure "food" by weight are drug dealers, and they will be happy to hear the spoon is only £18.50 ($37) +shipping, or roughly 10 minutes profit from sell crystals to the local meth addicts.
(via ohgizmo)
Continue reading "Measuring spoon that weighs your food"
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best ones: we have multiple airbags in cars to protect the occupants in a crash but whenever a car hits a pedestrian there are severe injuries, why not have airbags on the outside of the car as well?
Well autoliv had that idea and they have come up with two systems:
Active Hood: where airbags push the rear part of a padded hood up in case of a collision, and
Pedestrian Protection Airbag: where airbags in the windshield pillars deploy protecting pedestrians from the glass.
If they can design it so it doesn't look like a couch driving down the road I think autoliv are onto a winning idea.
(via autoblog)
It's April 24th and you know what that means: Hardy Heron!
Hardy Heron is the latest version of the free Ubuntu linux operating system, and it is also the first version in a few years where Ubuntu is promising long ern support for the release (through 2011).
We like Ubuntu as a alternative to Windows on some of our PCs, it isn't for everyone but if you are a bit technically minded it is very powerful and extendable.
Trusted Reviews has reviewed the 10 Megapixel $700 entry-level, compact digital SLR Pentax K200D camera.
Here's what they thought:
"The handling of the K200D is very simple yet it maintains a reassuring, more professional build quality. Images are sure to please even the most critical photographer, with few serious problems bar slight underexposure on rare occaisions. There are plenty of features to keep beginners and advanced users happy, with the only major disappointment coming from the drive speed."
(full review at trustedreviews)
Continue reading "Pentax K200D reviewed"
Norwegian Automaker Think Global has announced plans to sell their Think electric car in the US.
The Think can go 110 miles without needing to recharge it's batteries, has a top speed of 65mph, and is 95 percent recyclable.
Think has lined up two venture capital firms and plans to build the cars in Southern California, they hope to sell 30-50k cars a year at $25k a pop.
Not a bad car for people who stick to the city and suburbs, but don't think of going on the interstate unless you want to end up as roadkill plastered to the front of a 50,000lb truck.
CNET has posted a review of the Asus Lamborghini VX3 laptop.
This is a premium compact laptop costing $3300 for a 12.1" screen, 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9300, 3GB RAM, 320GB HD, and Nvidia GeForce 9300M graphics.
Overall they thought it looked great and had excellent build quality bot was slow and had a poor battery life.
(full review at cnet)
Continue reading "Asus Lamborghini VX3 reviewed"
While announcing their first quarter earnings yesterday Acer President Gianfranco Lanci announced that the company would launch their first Windows Mobile 6 smartphone within the next 12 months.
Acer intends for smartphone to account for 10 percent of company revenue next year and it looks like they intend to achieve that growth by dropping all PDAs from the product line of recent acquisition E-Ten (who make smartphones and PDAs under the brandname Glofish) and instead focus them solely on smartphones.
(more at cnet)
PC Magazine has reviewed the 8.2 megapixel, 3x optical zoom, entry level Fuji Finepix J10 digital camera that retails for $149.
Here's what they thought:
"With a simple menu system and easy-to-navigate controls, the Fuji FinePix J10 is best suited for the beginner or casual shooter who will depend on its automatic settings. But if you're looking for a camera that's just as easy to use though a bit more advanced, with room to grow, the Canon PowerShot A590 IS is a better budget choice. That said, the J10 is more than adequate for a first timer, and its price is certainly right."
(Read the full review at pcmag)
It looks like Comcast has reversed direction on wireless and hired the former CTO of Telefonica O2 Europe, Dave Williams, as the unit’s CTO SVP of wireless and technology strategy to “explore wireless options” for Comcast.
Obviously Comcast wouldn't hire someone so experienced if they were looking to resell or rebrand another phone companies offering.
So what is Comcast planning?
(via gigaom)
Despite the economy being in the toilet, gas being over $3.50 a gallon, and rice being rationed at Sam's Club, people are still buying their cool gadgets thanks to uncle sugar and his tax rebates.
Apple just announced their quarterly results and they had a great quarter:
* 2.29 million Macs shipped, up 51% over this time last year
* iPod sales were flat but revenues were up
* 73% of portable music player market, 85% of (legal) music downloads
* 1.7m iPhones sold in the quarter
* still expecting 10 million iPhones this year (better hurry up and launch a 3G iPhone)
..... when your phone has a 5 megapixel camera with face recognition and the ability to shoot DivX video at 120fps.
The LG Secret KF750 has just that plus an auto-rotating 2.4" touch screen, slide out keypad, and bluetooth. It should be released in Europe sometime later this year, followed by Asia and South America.
Full press release after the jump
(via engadget)
Continue reading "Who needs a camera anymore?"
For when you really really want to make sure your mail arrives at it's destination.... find something else, but if you just want to see how it got there after the fact then here is a gadget for you.
You put the half-inch thick envelope shaped Micro GPS Mail Tracker in an envelope or package then when it is delivered a micro SD card can be taken out of the gadget and used to track where the package was every 2 minutes of it's journey on Google Maps.
So basically it is only useful for mailing stuff to yourself or to people you really really trust with a $700 gadget.
Video after the jump.
(via coolest-gadgets)
Continue reading "Track your snail mail by GPS"
Toshiba Semiconductor Company's President Shozo Saito is predicting massive growth in the SSD (solid state drive) market in the next year.
At an IDEMA (International Disk Drive Equipment and Materials Association) function in Japan he predicted that SSD will account for a quarter of all hard drive sales by 2011 and announced that Toshiba is planning to ship 512GB SSDs by next year (2009).
This growth in production will hopefully allow prices of SSDs to drop to a level that makes them more affordable: between 1.4 and 3.2 times the prices of regular laptop hard drives.
People still say that the limited number of writes to flash memory before it fails is a limiting factor for this technology but an average user should get at least 10 years out of a SSD, and I imagine in 10 years we will be using much bigger drives than 512GB and will have retired our SSDs (10 years ago the largest drives were 10GB now they are 1TB, at that growth rate we will be at 100TB in 10 years).
(via crave)
Dean Kamen the inventor of the segway just went on the Colbert Report with the latest iteration of his "Slingshot" water regenerator.
This fascinating invention makes 1000 liters of fresh clean water per day from just about anything, and is powered by a stirling engine generator running off cow dung (that produces 1kw of excess energy: enough to light a small village).
There are so many people around the world that lack access to fresh water, wouldn't it be great if just a little of the billions in overseas aid went to something like this instead of filling the pockets of tinpot dictators.
The defense department should also look into this, instead of burning barrels of "waste" at forward operating bases in Iraq and Afghanistan they should use the waste to power one of these to give our servicemembers more power and water.
(photo and video after the jump)
Continue reading "Slingshot Water Regenerator"
Back in 2004 we reviewed a MSN Direct Fossil Wrist Net Smart Watch and it wasn't exactly awe inspiring: bulky, unattractive, poor coverage (a bit like the people that wore them)
Microsoft tried to keep them alive but finally pulled the plug:
"As of recently, the Smart Watches with MSN Direct have sold out and are no longer for sale. While we continue to move forward with MSN Direct and seeking out new opportunities for devices that would benefit from the MSN Direct service, we, along with our watch partners, do not have immediate plans to create a new version of the Smart Watch, as we are focused on other areas of our business. We will maintain support of our watch customers and continue to deliver information to the watches, but we do not plan to increase our investment in the watch business going forward."
Wednesday 23 April
Samsung has announced 4 new "touch of color" LCD monitors. "Touch of color" refers to a amber tint to the bezel which matches their series 6 and 7 LCD TVs.
The T190 ($259), T220($359), T240($499), and T260($599) are 19, 22, 24, and 26 inches, and supposedly have a 20000:1 contrast ratio, but as always take those contrast numbers with a pinch of salt.
The two smaller displays are available now and the two larger ones should be out in July.
(full press release after the jump)
Continue reading "4 new Samsung LCD monitors"
LetsGoDigital has posted a review of the Sony A350 14.2 megapixel digital SLR camera.
Here's what they thought:
"My first impression of the Sony A350 is an excellent one. It is a pleasant camera, quite well-organized and beautifully designed. On top of that it is a solid camera and with the abundance of accessories in the back of my mind, it is also a camera that could be the start of a long relationship with Sony."
(full review at letsgodigital)
Continue reading "Sony A350 Review"
MyMpio administrator Yeshaib got his hands on the Mpoi V10 and posted his initial impressions plus a video.
Pros:
* Full Multitasking without getting out of running apps (very nice if you go between text music etc)
* 3" Wide screen, just superb, I think its in line with the top units on the market clean and crisp.
* Nice video format support and no need to convert anything!! just drag n drop and play your video
* Great Sound Quality
* Regular SD/SDHC support (I hate the mini and MicroSD's)
* Simple looking interface (Straightforward)
Cons:
* No ID3 browsing (I don't care but I know some people do)
* No Album art (I love my album art)
* Headphone jack location (you might want to buy an L adapter)
(video after the jump and more at mympio)
Continue reading "Mpio V10 First Look"
Ever wanted to do a manly project involving lots of wood but worried you might get a splinter or maybe even cut your hand off? well Sawstop can help you (with the hand part, you will still get splinters).
The table saw is designed to instantly (well ok, within 5 milliseconds) retract into it's housing when it detects the electrical conductivity of a finger (or other appendage) as opposed to the wood it is supposed to be cutting.
They even have a video showing it cutting someone's sausage! (a hotdog, what were you thinking??)
(more at sawstop)
Continue reading "Sawstop table saw won't cut your fingers off"
Yes it has a very unfortunate name, so the Ainol S100 will probably be the butt of many rearend-related jokes, however for the price it seems to be a pretty good PMP.
For 599 Yuan ($86) you get a 8GB portable media player, with a 3-inch 400x240 pixel screen, support for many popular video and audio file formats (RM, RMVB, AVI, DAT, ASP, MP4, WMV, 3GP, MPG, FLV, MP3, WMA, APE, FLAC) and a touch sensitive keypad, plus you get a choice of colors: red, blue, purple, black, and silver.
It is just another basic PMP? yes, will it ever make it to the US? probably not, so is this whole post just thinly veiled toilet humor? no comment.
(via pmptoday)
Continue reading "Ainol S100 Portable Media Player"
Sony has announced a pair of new hard drive DVD recorders designed to compliment their bravia range of televisions.
Both the new models have a 500GB hard drive, both have analog tuners, and the RDX-HXD1090 also has a digital tuner.
(full press release and photo after the jump)
(via newlaunches)
Continue reading "RDX-HX1080 and RDX-HXD1090 hard disk recorders from Sony"
Blogger "Taxman" has managed to get the 7.1 version of Ubuntu running on his ultra-mobile Samsung Q1.
What's even more impressive is that he got it to recognize both the touchscreen and his Sierra Wireless 875U AirCard, and has posted full instructions on his blog.
More from Taxman
(via jkontherun)
"Honda’s ASIMO humanoid robot will focus attention on the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s (DSO) nationally acclaimed music programs for young people in Detroit by conducting the orchestra as it performs “Impossible Dream” to open a special concert performance with renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma at 8 p.m, Tuesday, May 13.
Honda hopes ASIMO’s appearance will draw attention to the DSO’s music education programs, and particularly the DSO’s effort to encourage and support involvement of children in Detroit."
Detriot is a crumbling inner city wasteland that needs major help to rebound from a downward spiral of neglect. I'm not quite sure if a robot conducted classical music concert will make a difference or if it is just a way to distract people from the city's real problems.
AT&T is now selling the GPS enabled crackberry 8110 pearl. The 8110 has a built in GPS to enable location-based applications and services:
"Ring ring"
"hello"
"this is Starbucks, we see you are walking down Bleeker St and just passed our store, if you turn around now and come inside we will give you a grande coffee of the day for the same price as a venti coffee of the day".
"Cool, thanks AT&T and blackberry, without you I would never have coffee".
(press release after the jump)
Continue reading "Blackberry 8110 Pearl available through AT&T"
AVG Technologies have announced a new version of their free antivirus software will be available for download April 24th.
We have AVG on all our PCs and have never been successfully infected with a virus.
“With the release of AVG Free 8.0, we are underscoring our belief that all computer users, regardless of their computer usage needs, have the right to a safe and worry-free computing experience,” says Karel Obluk, chief technology officer at AVG Technologies. “However, it is important for users to remember that AVG Free does not protect against the full range of today’s web-borne threats. For complete protection, users should consider AVG’s commercial products, which scan for and block threats before they can infect the computer or disrupt the user experience.”
Iomega has announced a new Hi-Def media player for connecting to your TV: the 500GB Screenplay HD.
It doesn't connect to your network so it looks like you have to hook it up to a PC via USB to transfer files to it. Once you have done that you can connect it up to your TV (via composite, component, or HDMI).
It supports the following formats:
# Audio Formats - MP3, AC3 (Dolby® Digital.Encoding), WMA, WAV, OGG
# Video Formats - MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI/VOB), .MPEG-4 (AVI/DiVX 3.11, 4.x, 5.x/XViD)
# Photo Formats - JPEG
List price is $218.45
Continue reading "Iomega 500GB Screenplay HD"
Luminous Landscapre has posted a review with a number of videos of the Casio EX-F1 six-megapixel camera that feature 60 frames per second burst shooting, they feel it is an interesting convergence between digital cameras and camcorders.
Here's part of their intro:
"The Casio EX-F1 is, I believe, the harbinger of the still and video cameras of tomorrow, and tomorrow is a lot closer than many people think. The old joke has it that today is tomorrow's yesterday, and if you can get your head around that you're ready to learn more about the EX-F1.
But be forwarded – though the EX-F1 offers a lot, as we'll see it also fails to deliver in several key areas. "
(Full review at luminous-landscape)
Continue reading "Casio EX-F1 Review"
New software written by Chris Carey allows you to view TV programs recorded by MythTV on your iPhone.
Chris write:
"MythTV for iPhone allows you to watch your TV shows recorded on your MythTV DVR on your iPhone - wirelessly.
The software combines the work of many great programmers into one application. It allows you to browse your recorded shows, and look at show details. You can stream any recorded show to the iPhone wirelessly. It allows you to control your other (PC based) MythFrontend with a web-based remote control."
(photo and video after the jump)
Continue reading "Watch MythTV on your iPhone"
AMD has announced an update to it's phenom line of processors, adding three updated X3 triple-core chips.
The Phenom X3 8750 (2.4GHz) processor is priced at $195, the 8650 (2.3GHz) at $165, and the 8450 (2.1GHz) at $145.
AMD is currently under a lot of pricing pressure after Intel cut prices on some quad-core chips by up to 50%.
(list of AMD chips after the jump)
Continue reading "AMD announced 3 new phenom chips"
Researchers at UMass Amherst have come up with a way to make gasoline out of cellulose (i.e. plant material).
Currently the process is about 50% efficient and the researchers say if they can get close to 100% efficient the cost will be about a buck a gallon.
Don't start chopping down plants and showing them into your gas tank yet - commercialization of the technology will probably take another 5 to 10 years.
(more at popularmechanics)
We love using Photobucket to store and organize our photos so we are happy to hear that Photobucket has finally got around to publishing their API so developers can write applications that interface directly with Photobucket.
So what will come out of this? who knows, but a couple of good have shown up already: viewing your Photobucket account along with your other photos on your Tivo, and a Wi-Fi SD card that automatically uploads photos to Photobucket.
LaCie has announced a 500GB edition of its rugged hard drive, joining the existing 120/160/200/250/320GB versions.
The hard drives are protected by internal anti-shock rubber bumpers, an aluminum shell and a shock-resistant rubber sleeve. Unfortunately it only seems to come in orange which limits it's usefulness for military applications.
Connectivity is provide through firewire 800, firewire 400, and USB 2.0, and no separate power supply is needed when connection to a powered usb port.
Dimensions are 3.5" x 1" x 5.7", it weighs 8.8oz, has been tested being dropped from 35", and prices range from $130 for 120GB up to $400 for the new 500GB model.
Continue reading "LaCie 500GB rugged hard drive"
Digital Trends have posted a review of the Lenovo Thinkpad X300 ultra-thin laptop.
The X300 is comparable in size to the Macbook Air but crams in an optical drive and a 64GB SSD.
This high-tech wizardry doesn't come cheap though - the X300 starts at $3000.
For someone who travels a lot and wants to stick with windows instead of mac then the X300 sounds like an excellent choice - especially if your employer pays for it!
(full review at digitaltrands)
Over the next few years we hope hard drives go the way of the dodo and get replaced in all our PCs with solid state drives (SSDs) which offer the advantages of faster startup, near instantaneous access, no noise, low power requirements, and more reliability.
The downside is that large SSDs are very expensive: up to 100 times the price of a comparably sized hard drive.
Prices are gradually coming down but in the meantime century has come out with a gadget that lets you create a DIY SSD using 3 compactflash card at a fraction of the price of a true SSD.
The DIY card will be available shortly at geekstuff4u.
(via akihabara news)
Continue reading "DIY Solid State Drive (SSD)"
The Gadgeteer has reviewed the Brando TEMPer Hum USB Hygrometer and Thermometer, a USB device that is supposed to tell you the temperature and humidity.
"So the conclusion to this review is that I really can't recommend the TEMPer Hum USB Hygrometer / Temperature sensor. I know for a fact that it doesn't measure temperature correctly, and that leads me to guess that it doesn't measure humidity correctly either. In the mean time, I will hope that Radio Shack and analog hygrometers are accurate enough to trust. As long as I one or the other doesn't drop below 45% for any length of time, I'll hope that safe enough for my wooden instruments."
Sounds like it doesn't work very well.
(Full review at the-gadgeteer)
Sony Ericsson just announced the launch of two new HSDPA phones.
The Z780 is the global version of the European Z770 featuring UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100 and quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radios, google maps for mobile, aGPS, bluetooth, and 2 megapixel camera.
The G502 probably wont find its way to the US and offers UMTS/HSDPA 2100 and GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800/1900, google maps for mobile, bluetooth, and 2 megapixel camera.
Not exactly exciting but if you want to read the full press release it is after the jump.
Continue reading "Sony launches Z780 and G502 cellphones"
Panasonic has long been the market segment leader when it comes to rugged laptops with their toughbook range but they are facing new competition with the announcement by Averatec that they are going to start selling two new semi-rugged laptops.
The Voya 4473 will be a 14.1" standard notebook, while the larger Voya 6494 will have a 15.4" widescreen display. Both will have magnesium alloy outer cases, corner bumpers, and an anti-shock mounted hard drive.
As standard the Voya 4473 has a Intel Core Duo T2080 (1.73GHz) processor, 1BG RAM, DL-DVD curner, 802.11a/b/g wireless, 120GB hard drive, and 4-in-1 media card reader.
No word on if these meet any Department of Defense specs although Averatec describe them as offering "military grade reliability": our troops serving overseas often look for rugged laptops but are put off by the high prices, with the Voya 4473 starting at just $1299 (half the price of a comparable toughbook) it looks like Averatec may end up getting a lot of military business.
Continue reading "Averatec: two new semi-rugged laptops"
We have a follow up to yesterday's story about Eee PC 900 buyers in Hong Kong receiving 4400mAh batteries instead of the 5800 mAh batteries included in all 900's given to reviewers.
Asus has now apparently announced that they will be giving a free battery upgrade to all buyers that received the 4400 mAh battery equipped Eee PC 900s.
Congrats to Asus for doing the right thing (and caving so quickly to the negative publicity).
(more at jkkmobile)
Continue reading "Eee PC 900: Free battery upgrades for all"
earth2tech reported on Michael Dell's speech at the Fortune Green conference where he showed off a new green inspired computer with a bamboo case and that is "filled with recycled materials like old bottles, milk jugs and detergent cases" (in other words the plastic parts of the computer are probably made with plastic that contains some percentage of recycled material).
According to Dell the computer is 81% smaller than a standard desktop PC, uses 70% less power, will be out later this year, and will cost between $500 and $700. No word on the specs of the computer but in order to cut power usage by 70% I expect the performance to be mediocre.
I applaud companies that really do try to limit their consumption of non-renewable resources but I wonder how many of the current crop of companies releasing "green" products are just doing it for the marketing buzz and how many really try to reduce energy use and waste in their own production facilities and offices.
(more at earth2tech)
Continue reading "Dell jumps on the green bandwagon"
Mediagate is now shipping their MG-450HD. Straight out of the box it lets you stream HD video, photos and audio from any PC on your wireless network to your TV plus you can add a SATA hard drive to it and store media locally.
The MG-450HD supports full 1080p (1920x1080 pixels) in all the common video formats: AVI: MS-MPEG4v3/XviD/WMV9 (XviD with GMC option applied not supported) WMV: WMV9, ASF: WMV9, MP4: MPEG4 Video, DAT: MPEG1, VOB: MPEG2, MPG/MPEG: MPEG1/MPEG2, TP/TS/TRP: HD-MPEG2/SD-MPEG2, it also supports MP3, OGG, WAV, WMA audio and JPG/JPEG, PNG, BMP.
It weighs 20oz, and measures 2.2" x 5.9" x 7.3". It is avilable now for $228.95.
Continue reading "Now Shipping: Mediagate MG-450HD"
We love the Archos 605 WiFi Portable Media Player and Archos has just made it even better with a cool new accessory that crosses the barrier into GPS navigation system territory.
The Archos 605 GPS in-car holder adds GPS functionality to your 605 with Tele Atlas maps for either Europe, the US and Canada, or China. Functionality includes traffic assistance, route planning, and speed control assistance (in some countries).
The new holder will retails for $129.99 or will be available in a bundle with a 30GB 605 for $399.99.
Why should you consider this instead of a "real" GPS navigation system? because the 605 has a great touchscreen display (4.3" 800 x 480 pixels), up to 160GB of storage space for movies music and photos, plus you can take it anywhere.
(full press release after the jump)
Continue reading "GPS in-car holder for Archos 605"
Another Eee PC clone has been launched in Europe by the Spanish company Airis. The Airis Kira sure sounds (and looks) a lot like the Eee PC: 7 inch display, 800 x 480 resolution, 1GHz VIA C7 mobile processor, 2 GB flash memory, 512mb RAM, Ethernet, 56kbps modem.
It is powered by Windows XP, it weighs 2.2lb, its dimensions are 9.5" x 6.7" x 1.1", and it costs 299 Euros ($470).
I guess the old adage still stands: "if you can't beat them, copy them", although it is interesting seeing a European company copying an Asian one, it's normally the other way around.
Unlike the Eee PC it also comes in pretty colors (pink and yellow) as well as black and white.
(more at airis)
Continue reading "Another Eee PC copycat, the Kira 100"
Tuesday 22 April
A major difference between the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and previous wars is that in these wars we have been able to save a vast number of injured soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who would otherwise have died from their injuries.
This is due in part to better protective gear and in part to the excellent prompt medical care our troops receive.
The downside to this is that we have high numbers of badly injured servicemembers who need ongoing medical care along with assistance adjusting to injuries such as severe burns and loss of limbs.
With that in mind that Defense Department just launched a really worthwhile program: establishing the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine with a five-year $250m budget to "harness stem cell research and technology in finding innovative ways to use a patient’s natural cellular structure to reconstruct new skin, muscles and tendons, and even ears, noses and fingers".
Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the war on terror our servicemembers put their lives on the line for every American and they deserve the best care and rehabilitation money can provide.
(full press release after the jump)
Continue reading "Military aims to regrow body parts"
NDrive has launched two new GPS navigation systems in Europe that include aerial photos of major cities similar to Google Maps. The photo maps of the UK and Ireland are stored on an 8GB memory card that can be switched out for maps of other countries.
Other features of the devides include speed camera alerts, a large points of interest database, audio video and photo playback, bluetooth, and an FM transmitter.
The G280 costs £199 ($400) and the G800 £315 ($630).
(more at biosmagazine)
Fujitsu has added automatic hardware-based encryption to it's MHZ2 CJ 320GB hard drive.
This hardware based encryption supports the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and unlike software based encryption (such as Truecrypt) the key does not reside in the computers memory and the encryption does not use an processor power from the laptop.
The new drive will be available at the end of May 2008.
(more at pclaunches)
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that US Customs and Border Patrol agents can search laptops without needing to show reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed.
"quick, lets search all the confidential business files on that guy's laptop, Osama Bin Laden may be hiding in one of them"
Whatever happened to the Fourth Amendment?
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
(more at dailybreeze)
Mitsubishi has unveiled a prototype of a new GPS navigation system for Honda cars in Japan that warns motorists when they are approaching a high crime area.
I doubt the system would work in the US though: some lowlife would sue because the system discriminates against him and where he lives.
(more at physorg)
Netflix has announced that it expects to soon announce three new partnerships to bring streaming movies to your TV. What's up with the announcement of an impending announcement anyway??
They aren't saying who the partners are yet but the plan is for these hardware manufacturers to sell devices that can connect over the internet to Netflix's servers and stream movies (of which there are over 9000 offered for viewing).
(more from reuters)
Microsoft has announced that Windows XP service pack 3 has been released to manufacturing and will be available for download on April 29th (if you use the automatic update feature of windows if will download it sometime this summer).
(full announcement below)
Continue reading "Windows XP Service Pack 3 Released"
The D-Link DPG-1200 PC-on-TV is now shipping.
This gadgets connects to your TV (via VGA, composite or component cables) and then to your PC via Wi-Fi. Using a remote control you can then access media on your PC from the TV as well as go online to view videos on places like youtube and Google Video.
A useful gadget for people who don't have a media center PC. The retail price is $239.99.
(press release after the jump)
Continue reading "Now Shipping: MediaLounge PC-on-TV DPG-1200"
Jaybird has introduced an upgrade to their JB-100 bluetooth stereo headset: the JB-200.
The earbud/tip has been completely redesigned for better fit and sound quality, and they have AVRCP music controls on the side (perfect for trekkers pretending to be Uhura at conventions).
Here's the list of improvements:
1. More control of music, with complete AVRCP Music & Call Controls
2. Improved fit, with 25% narrower ear-tip
3. Sound isolation, with 50% longer sound isolating ear-tips
4. Greater comfort, with higher grade, softer silicon ear-tips
5. Enhanced audio experience, with 25% more volume & improved bass performance
6. Clearer voice reception on phone calls, with relocated & upgraded mic
7. More freedom of movement, with 1” Longer behind-the-neck cord
The JB-200 is available now for 129.99.
(more at jaybirdgear)
According to gearlog Elektrobit is promising to have a dual cellular/satellite windows mobile phone available in 2009.
Gearlog writes:
"The most striking feature of the Elektrobit device is its antenna: it doesn't seem to have one. This is a slim, light (4.7 x 2.5 x .8" HWD) phone that runs on HSDPA high-speed cellular networks and uses Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional (yes, it has a touch screen) but also happens to connect to an upcoming satellite network being launched next year by Terrestar across North America. Or that's the plan, at least: this is a reference design, and the satellites aren't up in the air yet.
Other features of this concept include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, a MicroSD slot, a 3-megapixel camera and voice controls. Of course, Elektrobit could also be claiming it comes with a pony and cake, and we wouldn't be able to contradict them until next year at least. At least they don't seem to be ripping off Apple's iCal icon."
(more at gearlog)
Acer has announced they are going to offer a new version of their Aspire 5920 laptop with built-in WiMax in partnership with Sprint.
What do they mean by "in partnership with Sprint"? that means you can only buy the laptop through sprint with a (2 year) service plan.
I am looking forward to the widespread availability of WiMax: being able to get online seamlessly with your laptop almost anywhere just like using a cell phone.
(via infoworld)
Want to add a second monitor to your PC but scared (or unable) to open the case?
Iogear comes to the rescue with an external DVI graphics card that connects to your PC over USB.
It works with Windows XP and Vista, costs $149.99, and while they don't give any specs for how fast it is I wouldn't be planning on using to play recent games - it's strictly for the office word/excel crowd.
(full press release after the jump)
Continue reading "Iogear USB External DVI Graphics Card"
NEC has announced a high-definition 2.7" LCD module that in the future could end up on a camcorder, digital camera, ipod, or windows mobile phone near you.
The NL9654HL06-01J (great name by the way) offers a resolution of 960x540 pixels on a 2.7" diagonal screen, that equates to 413 pixels per inch.
Hidef is great but I still can't get excited about watching the latest desperate housewives, american idol, or battlestar galactica on a tiny 2.7" screen, given the choice I would stick with a nice 60"+ LCD TV (although they are a little tricky to carry aboard planes for long flights).
(full press release after the jump)
Continue reading "NEC's new Hidef 2.7" LCD screen"
Digitimes is reporting that early adopters of the Eee PC 900 are finding weaker batteries than those provided to the media for review:
Asustek Computer is considering plans to give a free Eee PC 900 battery upgrade to consumers in Hong Kong who purchased their machines on the first day of launch following complaints that the company had mislead customers and early reviewers.Several consumers in Hong Kong who purchased Eee PC 900s on the first day have complained that the battery that came with their system (4-cell, 4400mAh) does not have the same capacity as that of review samples supplied to the Hong Kong media (4-cell, 5800mAh) before the launch.
Asustek explained that the 4400mAh battery is currently the standard for the Eee PC 900, while it plans to introduce the 5800mAh battery in later products. It said 5800mAh batteries were provided to the media for testing by mistake.
The company said it is currently evaluating procedures to instigate a replacement program, details of which it will announce at a later time.
(via digitimes
Toshiba has announced a bunch of new laptops:
The Satellite Pro L300 and L300D start at $699 for a basic 15.4" laptop.
The Satellite Pro M300 is a more portable 14.1" laptop starting at $999.
The Satellite Pro U400 is a compact 13.3" laptop for $1049.
The Satellite Pro L350 is more of a desktop replacement with 17" screen starting at $1099.
Not really earth-shattering new, just your average business laptops.
(full press release after the jump)
Continue reading "Toshiba announces 5 new laptops"
Some people are content to listen to their music privately with little earbuds, others just want to share it with the world (regardless of whether the world wants to listen or not).
Well not you can share your videos as well as your music with the Goodmans iPod Dock with built-in 7" LCD screen.
Just be careful you don't accidentally go showing everyone those videos you downloaded from that "educational" site, you know the ones with the rubber mask and whips, better keep those to yourself.
The Goodmans iPod Dock looks pretty stylist, accepts all flavors of iPod, has a 3 in 1 card reader built-in and comes with a remote control. Price? £89.99 (about $180).
(via chipchick)
Are you too scared to cross the street? think a car is going to ignore that big red stop sign and hit you? wish there were some way to make sure cellphone distracted soccer moms would know you were crossing?
Well now there is! designer Hanyoung Lee has designed a virtual wall of plasma laser beams that separate the crosswalk and the traffic. Hmm, I wonder what that would cost across every intersection in a major city? and how much of our precious oil-generated energy would they consume?
What next? virtual laser domes to go above people scared that the sky will fall on them?
(more at yankodesign)
PhotographyBlog has the scoop on a new compact rugged camera from Ricoh.
The G600 is lightweight, water and dust resistant and has a 5x optical zoom, 2.7" LCD, and a 10.3 megapixel CCD.
It's dimensions are 116.5 mm (W) × 68.0 mm (H) × 32.0 mm (D) and it weighs 260g.
It supposedly meets US Dept. of Defense “MIL Standard 810F” which means you can drop it from one and a half meters (four and a half feet) without it breaking.
Maybe I should get one and send it over to my buddies serving in Afghanistan for some real world testing? ..... on second thoughts Ricoh wants $700 for it so maybe I wont.
(more at photographyblog)
Fujitsu has announced a new entry in the all-in-one pc category where the innards of the pc are packed inside a (hopefully svelte and alluring) large LCD monitor.
The F-A50 goes on sale in Japan in about a month's time and will cost the equivalent of $1300.
What about the features? well according to a Japanese to English translation it has a 16" display running at 1366x768, core 2 duo T8100 processor, Intel integrated graphics, wifi, and a PC Card slot (who uses PC card slot anymore? maybe they are more popular in Japan alongside beer and panty dispensers??).
(via Engadget)
Seagate just announced they have shipped their one billionth hard drive. According to them that's 79 million terabytes of data storage, 158 billion hours of digital video (not sure if that is hi-def or not), or 1.2 trillion hours of music.
Amongst other interesting (and not so interesting) factoids in their press release:
It took 29 years to ship a billion drives, they estimate they will ship their next billion in 5 years.
and,
Their first hard drive could hold 5 megabytes, weighed 5lb and cost $1,500.
(click here for the full exciting press release)
Computer-Choppers have taken ostentatious to a new level with a 24kt gold plated Macbook Air complete with sapphire encrusted apple logo.
If that isn't enough for you they also have a matching gold superdrive.
Bling Bling!
(more info and pics at http://www.computer-choppers.com/)
Saturday 12 April
People always wish their laptop was as powerful as a desktop pc, then when they get one that powerful it is too heavy to move around. Well that is a trade off you have to accept if you want a top of the line laptop.
Asus just announced a new desktop replacement laptop, the M70, that has some really impressive specs including 1 terabyte of storage space, blu-ray support, 17" lcd with 1920x1200 pixel resolution, and a smartlogon system that uses facial recognition.
Of course you are going to pay a lot for all this power, probably around $3200.
Continue reading "Asus M70 Notebook - 1 terabyte storage and blu-ray!"
