Monday, September 27, 2010

ASUS upgrades G53 and G73 gaming laptops with 1.5GB NVIDIA GTX 460 grunt

Ready to splash the cash on NVIDIA's fresh new mobile Fermi graphics cards? ASUS is the first company to take the veils off its GTX 460M offering, which it has seasoned with a most welcome addition: 1.5GB of dedicated GDDR5 graphics memory. The ROG G53JW and G73JW machines are the beneficiaries of this upgrade, with both capable of 3D work should you ask them nicely, and offering such tasty options as quad-core Core i7 CPUs, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 750GB of storage, 16:9 displays (1,366 x 768 on the 15.6-inch G53 and up to 1,920 x 1,080 on the 17.3-inch G73), Blu-ray-writing optical drives, and 8-cell 5,200mAh batteries. The lighter of the two laptops weighs in at 3.6kg, but if that doesn't put you off, both are available right now at online retailers.

Via Engadget

Sunday, September 26, 2010

New Ford Fiesta


The Fiesta ST is dead. Too niche, says Ford - no one outside the UK cares about hot little superminis. For us, the hot hatch-hooked minority, this is sad news: the new Fiesta has a cracking chassis and could be a proper flier with a bit more power than the 118bhp of the top-spec 1.6-litre engine.

Enter Mountune, Ford's official tuning arm better known Stateside as Roush, who'll take your 118bhp Fiesta Zetec S and, in exchange for about £1,300, bump it up to a healthier 138bhp with a big new exhaust system and a bunch of ECU tweaks. It won't invalidate your warranty, but it will turn your Fiesta into a noisy little scrote; a coughing, snorting, phlegming little monster that'll have you tiptoeing from traffic light to T-junction with your hoodie pulled down low over your baseball headwear, eyes set to 12 o'clock, ignoring the disapproving headshakes from suburbia's newly deafened moral guardians.

It's a car completely lacking in subtlety in the noise department. So hell, you might as well bury the accelerator, wind it up to 4,000rpm and enjoy the howling, sonorous scream of a fat-piped, naturally aspirated little four-pot battering into the redline. It sounds great.

Unfortunately, though, you won't really be going fast enough to justify all the shouting. Though the Mountune kit cuts two seconds off the Fiesta's 0-60mph time, bringing it down to 7.9 seconds, it's still well short of the proper hot superminis, the Renaultsport Clios and the Corsa VXRs. Even the last-generation Fiesta Mountune - based on the 150bhp Fiesta ST - put out 180bhp, and this newer, bigger car is a full 42bhp down. The problem is the absolute paucity of torque from the Fiesta's naturally aspirated engine, leaving you languishing in the inevitable traffic-light drag race until the Fiesta works itself into a mental, thrashing fury at the top of the rev range.

Even then, there's barely the pace to exploit the chassis. However hard you push the Mountune, it still feels not-particularly-fast. Nicely balanced, yes, a bit lairier than a standard Fiesta, yes, but just not quite enough fun to be a proper hot hatch.

There's nothing wrong, of course, with small hatches being warm rather than hot. On a semi-rational level, the Mountune makes a whole lot of sense: it's no worse on economy or emissions than the un-Mountuned Fiesta Zetec S and, if you take advantage of Ford's deals, no more expensive to insure. But such is the noise the Mountune makes about its performance credentials that it really needs to be quicker than it is. More racket than rocket, then.

Sam Philip

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Motorola Announces The Droid 2


Motorola has announced the sucessor to its popular Droid Android mobile phone, the Motorola Droid 2. The Motorola Droid 2 featires a 3.7 inch display, plus a slide out QWERTy keyboard and it comes woth the latest version of Google’s mobile OS, Android 2.2.

The Motorola Droid 2 is the first Android smartphone to be released that features native support for Adobe Flash, and it supports the latest version of Flash, 10.1.

Storage wise you get 8GB of built in storage, there is also a microSD card slot that can take up to 32GB cards, giving you a total of 40GB of storage.

The Motorola Droid 2 is available from today from Verizon, prices start at $199 with a two year mobile contract.


via Geeky Gadgets

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Samsung Epic 4G Available On Sprint From August 31st



The Samaung Epic 4G is Samsung’s latest Android smartphone, and looks like it may be their most impressive to date, it features a 4 inch Super AMOLED touch screen display, plus a five megapixel camera and an LED flash.

The camera can record HD video in 720p and there is also a front facing video camera, which means that the Epic 4G can be used for video calls.

Other features on the Samsung Epic 4G include, integrated 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, a six axis accelerometer, and a 1GHz processor, plus EV-DO Rev and WiMax, there is also a full QWERTY keyboard.
The Samsung Epic 4G will be available for $249.99 on a two year contract with Sprint, after rebates, and it can be reserved for store pick up on the 31st of August 2010.


Friday, September 10, 2010

MSI GX660R Gaming Notebook


MSI has added another gaming notebook to its range with the launch of the MSI GX660R, which features an Intel Core i7 processor, up to 12GB of DDR3 RAM, and a ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 graphics card with 1GB of RAM.

Other specifications include two 500GB SATA hard drives, a 15.6 inch LED backlit display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which can display Full HD video.

There is also a four in 1 card reader
, integrated 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, plus Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a HD web camera and support for DirectX 11.


There are no details on pricing or availability as yet on the MSI GX660R gaming notebook.


via Tweak Town

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Space Invader Couch



The Space Invader Couch is the work of designer Igor Chak, and whilst it is just a design concept at the moment, I think they should definitely make this one.

The Space Invader Couch is basically a space invader turned in to a couch, a very fashionable and hard to pass by couch. The couch is all leather, with two glass surfaces. Although it might look uncomfortable it’s actually really soft, mainly lined and made with memory foam. Plus this is something different from a conventional couch.


via Like Cool via Geeky Gadgets

Friday, August 6, 2010

Motorola's Milestone XT720 makes US debut... on Cincinnati Bell


We aren't quite sure what kind of deal Cincinnati Bell has going on, but darn if this regional carrier doesn't score some fairly fantastic handsets. Also known for landing Nokia's white E71 and its XpressMusic 5800 first in the US, the operator is now the first American home to Motorola's Milestone XT720. As we'd heard most recently, the smartphone packs a 720MHz TI OMAP3440 processor, 3.7-inch FWVGA touchpanel (854 x 480), Android 2.1, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, an inbuilt accelerometer, USB 2.0 connectivity, proximity sensor, 8 megapixel camera (with Xenon flash) and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It's yours for the taking -- provided that you reside in southeastern Indiana, southwestern Ohio or northwestern Kentucky, that is -- but the $199.99 on contract ($449.99 sans strings) price tag might just push towards more fully featured alternatives. Tough call, we know.

Via Cincinnati Bell

Monday, August 2, 2010

MasterPad prototype marries Windows 7 to 11.6-inch IPS screen


Check out this 14mm-thin contender: built by Pegatron and still at the prototype stage, the MasterPad looks to be the embodiment of Steve Ballmer's incoming armada of desirable Windows 7 tablets. It sports an 11.6-inch IPS screen, which accommodates a 1,366 x 768 widescreen resolution, a 1.3 megapixel webcam plus mic, two USB ports, a memory card reader, an accelerometer, mini-HDMI port, 3G connectivity, and 32GB or 64GB SSD options. All that hi-tech goodness is wrapped up in a magnesium and aluminum alloy body, weighing 990 grams. There are some less cutting edge specs, like the disappointing 2-cell battery that will only get you 5 hours of use and the 1.66GHz Atom N450 CPU -- but we're being promised 1080p video playback and Flash compatibility are ready to roll, and our machine translation hints at an additional HD video-processing chip. The early hands-on experience seems to have left the Israeli journos impressed, and their homeland can expect the MasterPad to arrive "in the coming months," with an Android version also in the works.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Switched On: The Galaxy S paradox



Most high-profile smartphones launch exclusively on one of the major carriers in the U.S. The Samsung Galaxy S, though, will come to market via all of them under different names, different industrial designs, and, in one case, with different input options. And yet, its screen's quality and size – big but not too big – will certainly make it a contender at all of them.

But the handset will encounter anything but a level playing field in its respective portfolios. The Galaxy S will provide a good lab in which to study how much motivation to push a high-end portfolio device counts versus the muscle of having the largest subscriber bases but stronger handset competition. With the Galaxy S's lack of exclusivity already dampening some carrier enthusiasm for promoting it heavily, it appears as though the handset's impact goes down as the number of carrier subscribers goes up. Let's look at the universe of Galaxy S distribution. T-Mobile: T-Mobile has the most incentive to push the Vibrant, its Galaxy S device. While the carrier has certainly been a great supporter of Android, its Android portfolio hasn't been so great. Since launching the G1, the first Android device, most of its handsets have had relatively small screens. All that it has at the high-end is the Windows Mobile-powered HTC HD2, with its 4.3-inch display that could be considered "too big," and an operating system that is most certainly too old. The Vibrant will easily stand out as the strongest smartphone it has to offer.

Sprint: Sprint is the second-most motivated carrier to push the Epic 4G, its Galaxy S device and its second 4G device after the HTC EVO 4G. The Epic 4G's relative desirability to the EVO's is somewhat like the Vibrant's to the HD2's. The Samsung handset features a screen size that, while still large, is a bit more manageable. The Epic 4G is also the only Galaxy S device to feature a slide-out keyboard, which will provide more differentiation not only versus the other Galaxy S models, but also versus the EVO 4G. Epic 4G sales help Sprint make the case for the superior speeds of its 4G network and allows additional revenue via the carrier's $10 per month 4G-capability surcharge.

AT&T:
This is a closer call, but AT&T is more motivated than Verizon Wireless to push its Galaxy S model, the Captivate. Of course, AT&T's smartphone portfolio is far from hurting. In addition to carrying the iPhone exclusively, the carrier likes to tout that it is the only one that offers all major smartphone operating systems to its customers. But AT&T was also the last of the major carriers to launch an Android device, and it has an interest in diversifying its high-end smartphone portfolio from being so iPhone-centric. As with T-Mobile, the Galaxy S will be AT&T's premiere Android device, and its new tiered pricing plan can be an effective aid in drawing new, more budget-conscious consumers into the smartphone fold.

Verizon Wireless: Via its major Droid advertising campaign and use of buy one-get one promotions, the nation's largest carrier has done more to further Android's market share in the U.S. than any of its competitors. Verizon, though, has the least to gain from pushing its Galaxy S device, the Fascinate, which lacks the Droid branding that the company has applied to other exclusive high-end Android smartphones. The Fascinate's screen may have advantages versus that of the Droid Incredible and Droid X, but its size fits squarely between those two models. The Fascinate will likely cannibalize the Droid Incredible given that the former has the specification advantage at the same price point. Verizon is also rumored to have the Droid 2 on tap, an exclusive it has more interest in promoting, particularly as that product will update its only Android device with a slide-out keyboard.

Via SamSung

Saturday, July 31, 2010

How would you change the Drobo FS?

After years of pleading, the fine folks over at Data Robotics finally gifted you with a Drobo NAS. They called it the Drobo FS, but we all know what the real skinny is. But is the five-bay, Ethernet-friendly storage robot really a dream come true? We've had nothing but success with it in our Time Machine setup, but as with pretty much any networked drive, we've heard reports here and there of frustrations and complications. For those who have sprung for the FS, we're curious to hear what you'd change about the setup. Need more drive bays? Would you prefer a few extra interface options? Would you make the box a little less noisy? Go ahead and get honest down in comments below -- we know you need an avenue to vent after the week you just survived, right? 

Friday, July 30, 2010

DMC's 5-inch Copia color e-reader landing this fall for $99, others to follow


It's fairly safe to say that DMC Worldwide's Copia e-reader family won't exactly make that estimated Spring 2010 ship date, but a new report over at The Wall Street Journal is cluing us in on a bit of a revised outlook. As of now, the first Copia suite of e-readers will "hit stores this fall in time for the holiday season," a suite that'll presumably include the 5-inch color (LCD) Wave 5 for $99, a 7-inch Wave 7 for $129, a 10-inch Ocean Color for $299 and a pair of E Ink-based options for $49 (Tidal) / $159 (Tidal WiFi). It doesn't seem as if the two Waves will include any sort of wireless connectivity, and given the LCD display, we're sure that battery life will be nowhere near as good as the marginally-more-expensive Kindle. That said, the user interface does look rather striking from afar, and if these manage to slip a bit further in price before that magical day in December, you could very well see a rush to stuff stockings with a member of this here family. Give those links below a poke if you're on the prowl for more detailed specifications. 
 

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Nokia N8 up for official €469 pre-order in Italy, available in September


Nokia's Symbian^3 flagship -- the 3.5-inch N8 with 12 megapixel camera -- just went up for pre-order on Espoo's Italian storefront showing an end of September availabilty. Now before you get up in arms about the €469 price tag (about $610), remember, the €370 estimated retail price announced was pre tax and pre carrier subsidy. That's just how Europe does things, deal with it. We're not seeing the preorder available elsewhere but we'll update you if that situation changes.
 
Via Nokia

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

HP crams Fermi-based Quadro 5000M GPU inside 17-inch EliteBook



Gotta live up to the name, right HP? NVIDIA's new pro graphics solution for mobile creatives, the Quadro 5000M, was unsheathed only yesterday but HP appears to have been first in line to get some of that new 40nm goodness. Electronista reports that the world leader in PC shipments is readying a 5000M solution for its 8740w EliteBook, which will bring 320 CUDA cores and a jumbo 2GB of dedicated memory to the party. That comes replete with the latest DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.1 compatibility, naturally, as well as a bunch of pro-friendly computational enhancements. Dell's also going to be offering a 5000M-equipped rig, but lest you get too excited, bear in mind that getting the current best Quadro-equipped 17-incher from HP costs north of $3,000, so affordability is clearly not a priority here. Skip past the break for NVIDIA's joyous press release announcing the new Quadro chips. 

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

HyperMac Stand doubles as an external battery for your iPad

Why settle for a separate iPad stand and external battery when you can have both in one device? Why indeed. That's the thinking from the folks at Sanho at least, who have just rolled-out the first-of-its-kind HyperMac Stand. It packs two slots that can hold your iPad at either an 18 or 45-degree angle (with or without a case), and a built-in 40-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-ion battery that promises to extend your battery life by a full 16 hours. Of course, that combination does make this one of the more expensive iPad stands around at $129.95, but that's not exactly too out of line when compared to a standalone HyperMac battery. Head on past the break for the complete press release.


Via  HyperMac

Monday, July 26, 2010

HTC makes Super LCD screens for Desire and Nexus One official



Welcome back to our "worst kept secrets" hour, where HTC has seen fit to release a PR blast informing the world of what it already knew: the Desire and Nexus One are getting Super (duper) LCD displays to fill demand that Samsung's AMOLED division cannot. 

Interestingly, HTC's statement says nothing of the Droid Incredible, a close sibling to these 3.7-inch devices, but the global Nexus One and Desire are getting hooked up "later this summer." CEO Peter Chou has also helpfully explained that the visual experience on the new SLCD screens is "comparable" to AMOLED, but offers better battery performance. Color us curious to see and hear more. 

Sunday, July 25, 2010

HTC Sense coming to Windows Phone 7, after all

 
Some cried and some cheered when Microsoft revealed that handset manufacturers couldn't reskin Windows Phone 7 devices wholesale. But as it turns out, at least one major OEM is still banking on software to help differentiate its phones. HTC's Drew Bamford told Forbes that Sense UI will still appear in the company's Windows Phone 7 creations, and believes it will live on in Android 3.0 (Gingerbread) as well.

"Microsoft has taken firmer control of the core experience," acknowledged Bamford, who added that Sense wouldn't be fully integrated into WP7 phones, but that HTC would "augment" the Microsoft experience with as-yet-undisclosed functionality of its own. As long as it doesn't eat up too much memory and processor time, right? 

Friday, July 23, 2010

Seagate FreeAgent 3TB Previewed


Crunchgear’s Matt Burns gave a quick hands-on with the new Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk 3TB. I’m pretty sure prolific downloaders as well as media professionals will be eyeing this new desktop drive though I concur with the reviewer that many will probably want their media in more than one drive. But 3000 GB really is impressive. 

Some takeaways are that Seagate gets negative marks on not bundling USB 3.0 and Firewire adapters with the device (you have to buy it separately) and it seems to have no eSATA as well. On the plus side, it’s quiet and solid with an external casing that’s easily removable for people who want to pry out the drive and stick into their desktop. 

This looks like the best solution if you want the most disk space in a single drive though personally, I’d rather slice up my storage needs into separate hard disks, just in case.

via CrunchGear

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Toshiba’s Dualscreen Libretto W100 Gets A Sneak Peek


Toshiba shared one of their prototype Libretto W100 dualscreen laptops with Engadget and their resident portable reviewer Joanna Stern had a go at it. The Japanese tech company is planning to release the device next month through retailers including Amazon. Some of the highlights are the tandem operation of the two screens that maximizes the device despite being on top of a Windows 7 OS. You can configure it into many modes including a laptop mode that puts the keyboard on one screen, and a mode that splits the keyboard onto the bottom half of the two screens. There’s even a touchpad mode to help out if you need to. It does need a bit of work on the heat dissipation and the responsiveness of the accelerometer.

You would think that two touchscreen would be twice the fun, right? After all, the iPad was excellent and it only has one screen. Well, you better look at the price first since the Libretto will clock in at roughly €880 ($1,100), way too much for an unproven piece of tech. Maybe if Toshiba adds some excellent software to the mix that takes advantage of the dual screen but even then, the price point need to drop a bit for people to get interested.

via Engadget

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Tesla Introduces New Roadster 2.5


The new iteration of Tesla’s electric sports car recently made its début, just a couple of days after the successful IPO of the company. The Roadster 2.5 is an upgrade of its 2.0 model and those lucky enough to have the previous model can purchase upgrades wherever possible. You can get the new model starting at €81,175 ($101,500).

Aside from the new look which you can see in the image above, the 2.5 also has directional forged wheels, a touchscreen display with back-up camera (optional), better seats that offer lumbar support and improved comfort, a quieter cabin and power control hardware.

Tesla introduced its electric super car last 2008 and reinvented the way vehicles were manufactured by infusing Silicon Valley tech, engineering and practices into their automobile production. The company boasts having the best battery technology for electric cars in the world and has over 1,200 cars sold, located in more than 23 countries.
via Tesla

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Own a TRON Light Cycle for just $35,000


The Parker Brothers Choppers in Florida are selling off three working Lightcycle replicas like the ones in the upcoming movie TRON Legacy. If you’ve been dreaming of having your own Lightcycle ever since the first TRON and have the cash for it, better act quickly since there are only three of these babies left.

Each bike will set you back around €27,900 ($35,000) and each unit is custom-built and unique. Even the color is one-of-a-kind since they won’t make a bike the same color as ones already sold. To top it off, these are real, working motorcycles and not just something to sit on and pose for a photo-op.

I doubt buyers will be using these for their daily grocery run but the maker says they are built for street use. Each bike features hubless wheels, neon accents, a fiberglass body and either an electric or gas motor. Check out the link below for more info.

via Parker Brothers Choppers’ TRON Lightcycle eBay auction

Friday, July 9, 2010

Xbox 360 250GB Reviewed


New Xbox hit town recently, and Engadget has the low-down on the console. The Xbox 360 now has a glossy black case, housing a proprietary 250GB drive. It’s thinner but deeper than its predecessors and also comes with WiFi-N built-in. It also has more USB ports (five to be exact) and comes with a wireless controller. The best thing about it would likely be that it is compatible with Kinect, the grown-up version of the Wii’s motion sensing technology. All in all, it’s just a slight upgrade from the previous model so if you already own one, you probably won’t be interested in this new device just yet. It goes for about €240 ($299) at your favorite gaming retailer.
 
via Engadget

Thursday, July 8, 2010

German ISP To Offer Android Tablet To Subscribers


We’ve heard ISPs offering anything from keychains to MacBooks in order to get subscribers hooked. German internet provider 1&1 will be manufacturing a tablet PC running Android that has all the basic specs we’ve come to know and love from slates of this sort. The 7-inch touchscreen SmartPad will have WiFi, an optional USB 3G modem, an SD card reader with 2GB plugged in, USB port, 500 MHz ARM11 procie, 256BM RAM and 1GB ROM. The company is the second biggest ISP in Germany and will likely bundle this with a 2-year contract and likely 3G coverage will be locked to them. No word if you can get this sans contract but if this proves popular, other ISP will probably jump to offering their own tablets just like what they did for netbooks. It’s expected to be available by the end of this month.

via SlashGear

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Eagle Eye Lets Your Keyboard and Mouse In Your PS3 Party




Penguin United, a company established by gamers, has announced a new peripheral shooter addicts will surely want. The Eagle Eye lets you connect a USB keyboard and mouse direct into your console, giving you that PC first-person shooting experience the PlayStation 3 has been sorely lacking. Reviews of the device during the recent E3 gaming event praise the accuracy and speedy response of the commands. You can also program functions of one-button combos. Setup takes less than a minute and you’re off blasting away at enemy soldier, zombies and what not. While all this might give you an unfair advantage over opponents, I’m sure the $60 (€48) peripheral will at least assuage that guilt by letting you own each of your gaming rivals.

via Engadget

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Orange Power Wellies Keep Your Phone Charged If You're Willing To Walk




While there are many ways to have your device juiced up while you're on a camping trip, these Power Wellies from Orange look quite different, not to mention bulky. The idea behind this is to generate electricity from the heat in your feet, which more or less requires you to trod around for a good twelve hours to generate enough power to charge a mobile phone for an hour. 

Orange teamed up with GotWind in order to come up with this interesting eco-charger, though it's quite hard to imagine anybody walking around the forest just to be able to charge their mobile phone for an hour. Still, maybe it can be improved upon, and if it only needed an hour's walk...


Via  GizmoDiva

Monday, June 7, 2010

Apple retakes the lead

With today's announcement, Apple has taken the lead back in a big way. Did Apple ever lost the lead will you ask? It depends. First, Blackberry is still a huge player, although they certainly don't look like they are "the future". Android is (or was) gaining a lot of mindshare and momentum - which culminated at the Google IO smartphone keynote (a must-see). It is also clear that Apple was starting to get behind in terms of display resolution, and even battery life - two things that every single user care about.



Today, Apple is striking back with a vengeance. The battery seems huge, and if it holds as well as Steve Jobs says it will, we're very impressed. Note that Steve Jobs did not use any marketing gimmick when the said that the iPad can play video for 10hrs. It can. Secondly, the display improvement is massive. Of course, Android phones had high-res displays for more than 6 months now, so that's about time. If Apple's IPS display manages to do OK in bright conditions, they will strike a big win (the 3GS display does fairly well).

iPhone OS 4 introduces a form of multitasking that should be good enough for 95% of users, although expect pro-Android to criticize it because it comes with some caveats. I don't much that regular folks will pay attention.

Of course, there's the industrial design… Despite all the new improvements (faster, longer life, more pixels) the iPhone 4 is smaller than its predecessor. More importantly, it feels much better in your hand, and I epxect the back to be quasi-imprevious to scratches. The iPhone 3GS now seems like a plastic toy. On the industrial side, Apple benefits from economies of scale that no one else has, so the barrier of entry for using quality materials will stay incredibly high for competitors. That is the advantage of building only a handful of designs.

Finally, there's the cool factor. Most people might not use the video call daily but the video demo was extremely well done, and pretty much everyone was floored by the sign language part - it's true it has never been done by a consumer phone before (in a meaningful way), and this was a powerful moment in the speech.

Competitors are not going to stand still: you can expect Android to come out with more features that use more open standards. Android 2.2 is impressive and all, but overall, whatever mindshare was harnessed in the past few months has been largely lost today, maybe only temporarily because Google can also deliver good stuff.

But there's no doubt that Apple has just regained the "cool" that it had lost during the past 6 months and it is obvious that iPhone developers are going to get out of WWDC pumped up and ready for more apps, paid - or free, thanks to iAd.

It's not really hard to predict that the iPhone 4 is going to be a massive commercial success. Already, a bunch of low-tech people with crappy phones have told me that they will get it. It's a done deal.


Via iPhone homepage

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Zomm wireless leash for phones now available


 

Zomm is a weirdly named device that functions as a leash without wires for your Bluetooth-enabled handset. Pairing it to your phone takes a single button click, and should your handset stray 30 feet away from you (or vice versa), the Zomm will vibrate, flash, and sound an alarm. Perfect for those who are always forgetful whenever they get up and about. The Zomm also doubles up as a Bluetooth speakerphone and personal safety alarm, while pressing the center button for nine seconds will enable it to let out loud panic alarm that ought to capture the attention of folks around. The Zomm will come in either black or white colors, retailing for $79.99 a pop as it hits Best Buy stores from next month onwards.


Via GearLog

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Microsoft Windows Embedded Compact 7 Tablet Prototype Pictured



While we don't expect to see any Windows Phone 7 tablet devices anytime soon, Microsoft has demoed a few tablet devices at Computex that are powered by its Windows Embedded Compact 7 OS, which more or less looks like Windows Phone 7. This device supports Silverlight for Windows Embedded, Flash 10.1 and multi-touch within the browser. If you had a dream of a Zune/Windows Phone 7 tablet device, check out the video after the jump to see if they match up. The technical specifications of the device probably aren't too important, since the main story here is about the OS, but if you're interested, it's powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 2 chip and sports an 8.9-inch display.


Via Engadget

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Microsoft Project Natal up close and personal




The Engadget folks came across the much anticipated Project Natal from Microsoft, where it could very well be the retail version for all you know, despite being obviously marked as a developer unit. It looks pretty huge, measuring more than half the length of the Xbox 360 console itself (when the latter is lying down on its side) from the image you see above. We hope that the final product will function as planned – after all, should it end up as a decent competitor to the Wii, it will certainly keep Nintendo on their toes, making us gamers the real winner as all parties up their game to produce better consoles and titles.


Via Engadget

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Fujitsu LifeBook LH520 decked with multimedia friendly features



Fujitsu's LifeBook brand is still going strong after all these years, where the latest version is the LH520 model which will be powered by the energy efficient AMD Athlon II Dual-Core processor, offering an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5430 graphics card which is capable of handling DirectX 11 with aplomb, making sure you will be able to enjoy high quality High Definition movies without dropped frames, while folks who wind down after a hard day at work will find that the LifeBook LH520 is equally adept at gaming as well. You can choose from matte black or matte red colors depending on your taste, where the Fujitsu LifeBook LH520 also offers a balance between work and play with its integrated 1.3-megapixel camera and dual built-in stereo microphones which lets you communicate easily with family and friends worldwide without having to purchase additional accessories. Hopefully this will be priced right as it seems to strike a decent balance regardless of your mobile computing needs.


Via FarEastGizmos

Monday, May 31, 2010

Asus Eee Pad EP121 12-inch tablet is lighter, thinner, faster than the iPad




There you go, after many rumors, we finally get a glance at the Asus Eee Pad, a 12" tablet that is powered by an Intel Core Duo CULV (low voltage) processor. Yes, I know, it's kind of surprising, as one would have expected an Atom or something like that in there - even if it runs Windows 7 Home Premium. This Eee Pad is 12.2mm thick and weighs 1.48Lbs (675g), which is slightly lighter and thinner than the iPad (don't miss our ipad review). Now, hang on: Asus claims that its device can run for 10 hours, a number certainly used to be on equal footing with Apple's product. Now, we would be extremely impressed if the Eee Pad could play video for 10hrs like the iPad does, but I'm slightly skeptical on that one. I'll cross my fingers. Oh, and there's no pricing info yet.


Via NetbookNews

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Samsung Develops Low-powered 18-inch USB LCD Monitor



USB displays are handy little things, just like every other USB device out there; the downside is that they're often small, about 7-inches or so. Samsung looks like it's trying to tackle that issue, as the Korean display giant has come up with a new 18.5-inch LCD display that is powered by a forked USB 2.0 cable that manages to keep power consumption down to 6.3W. The display itself offers a 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, 250cd/m2 brightness and 1000:1 contrast ratio. The downside is that this display uses an edge-lit type backlight that uses LEDs as its light source, which translates to a lifetime of 30,000 hours, much less than the 50,000 hours that existing LCD monitors' LEDs boast. Still, the convenience of USB displays is certainly there.


Via Techon

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Asus Eee PC 1018P Visits The FCC



You might remember the Asus Eee PC 1018P that we brought to your attention a while back, and now the netbook has moved one step closer to being available in the US, thanks to it paying a visit to the FCC. Pricing and release information wasn't mentioned, but we do know many of its specifications, which include:

* 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 pixel display
* 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455 or 1.83GHz Intel Atom N475 processor
* Wi-Fi b/g/n
* Bluetooth 2.1
* 1GB RAM
* 250GB hard drive
* Possibly a built-in 3G module
* USB 3.0 support


Via liliputing

Friday, May 28, 2010

Samsung B7722/B7702 set to be first 3G dual SIM touchscreen phone



Samsung unveils a first from their company in the form of the B7722/B7702, where these will be the first 3G dual SIM touchscreen phone which not surprisingly will arrive in Asia, Europe and Africa. Why aren't we surprised? Normally, dual SIM phones hardly make their way Stateside (they're rarer than diamonds), and such models more or less appeal to those living on the continents mentioned. Expect EDGE and HSDPA connectivity to be bundled alongside a 3.2" display at 240 x 432 resolution, Wi-Fi connectivity, social networking service support, an integrated FM radio and a 5-megapixel camera. Expect the Samsung B7722/B7702 to retail for somewhere in the region of $400 when it arrives, with Europe touting a possible June release date.


Via UnwiredView

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

AT&T Employees Claim iPhone 4G Launching In June



The folks over at BGR have been rather sparse on details, but according to them, some AT&T employees have confirmed that the iPhone 4G will be launched in June, and considering that it's slated to be unveiled in early June, that's quite a quick move from announcement to being available for purchase, certainly welcome news to iPhone-fans around the world. If they're accurate, you won't even have to suffer the agony of waiting until late June, as it'll be available before that. How's that some something to look forward to.


Via BoyGeniusReport

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Audi A8 2011 model to get in-car wireless hotspot



Wi-Fi connectivity at public places are taken for granted by most of us these days, and the future would not be at stationary places, but will be in moving platforms such as vehicles. Audi hopes to introduce factory-installed in-car Wi-Fi connectivity in their 2011 models, where the hotspot itself will be located within the rooftop antenna, where passengers are able to hook up to the Internet through a compatible device. According to Audi, the network can handle up to 7.2 Mbit/sec of data transfer rate while offering WAP2 encryption for secure transmission. It would be interesting to see just how the other rivals of Audi will play catch up in this department, and we look forward to the day when basic models from lesser makes (read: workman vehicles) will include Wi-Fi connectivity as well.


Via AutoBlog

Monday, May 24, 2010

Alienware M11x notebook to get a refresh?



We have just comprehensively reviewed the Alienware M11x notebook last week, and have heard whispers of the mini gaming notebook getting a refresh in due time - where we are looking at a June or July release date. Apparently, the refreshed M11x might just come with the new Optimus technology from Nvidia, and you will be able to choose from an Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processor, depending on the depths of your pocket (as well as just how much processing power you need). Why not check out the video after the jump and try to analyze the person's body language as to whether he is telling the truth concerning a refresh or not? This rumor, if proven true, would probably be a bummer to those who just picked up the Alienware M11x recently since they won’t be expecting a refresh that soon.


Via NetBooked

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Concept DSLR Goes Easy On Your Face



We’ve seen concept cameras with slanted LCD displays before, and seeing that we’ve got another one here, maybe it’s an upcoming trend that manufacturers might actually decide to incorporate into their next hardware line up. The Sony Alpha SLR concept here focuses on ergonomics more than your usual megapixel race, and the most obvious difference is the aforementioned slanted display, giving your nose some breathing room when you’re taking a picture. If you may have noticed, you often have your nose pressed against the display when taking a picture, something that this design will hopefully solve. The question is: does it still look good in your opinion?


Via yankodesign

Saturday, May 22, 2010

HP slate device could ship this October



If you were looking forward to the HP slate device that is supposedly powered by Windows 7 (although others say it could run on webOS due to their recent acquisition of Palm), then you will be disappointed to know that it might ship as late as October, according to HP's Taiwan PC group VP Monty Wong. October is a good 4 months away from the original June date, so if you aren't the patient type, we're pretty sure that you can always pick and choose from a range of tablets out there in the market.


Via Electronista

Friday, May 21, 2010

Samsung I8920 Omnia HD 2 rumored to sport 4-inch Super AMOLED display



There are whispers of the Samsung I8920 Omnia HD 2 being bandied about, claiming that it will feature a 4" Super AMOLED display - while this is not as large as the EVO 4G's display, boasting Super AMOLED technology certainly gives it an edge when it comes to image quality. It will run on the Symbian 3 operating system, sporting a pretty impressive 12-megapixel camera with Xenon and LED flash to blind your subjects, not to mention being able to record video in 720p resolution at 30fps. It could be a toss up between 16GB and 32GB of storage space, while you can also use the Omnia HD2 to help you get around thanks to built-in GPS capability. Surfing on the go can be done at wireless hotspots thanks to its 802.11 b/g/n connectivity, while Bluetooth 3.0 ensures it remains future proof for some time to come.


Via oled-display

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Teardown: New MacBook Battery Could Fit Into The Previous MacBook




The folks over at iFixit are doing their thing again, in this case it means taking apart Apple’s newly-announced 10-hour MacBook. While you might not be interested in the process of disassembling it, current MacBook owners might want to know that the battery is exactly the same shape as the earlier MacBook, but with an extra 350mAh worth of juice. Granted it’s 7.5grams heavier, but that’s a small price to pay for better battery life, right? Perhaps in the future if your battery pack fails while it’s still under warranty, you might be lucky enough to have it replaced with the new 10-hour battery.


Via ifixit

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Samsung Champ has possibility of being cheapest touchscreen phone yet



The Samsung Champ could very well be the cheapest touchscreen phone to date from the South Korean manufacturer, where it sports a strangely small QVGA touchscreen display at 2.4", which is way smaller than even the basic Samsung Corby range with a minimum 2.8" display. Features of the Samsung Champ include the TouchWiz Lite user interface, Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, a 3.5mm headset jack, access to Samsung Apps, a 1.3-megapixel camera and a microSD memory card slot. Expect the Champ to hit the European markets from June onwards, followed by the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America in various colors. No word on whether it will arrive Stateside or not, but with a purported sub-$150 price point unlocked, it could very well be offered for free here with a new 2-year contract.


Via Unwiredview

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Linkbook netbook runs on Freescale PowerPC processor



With all the attention on Intel's Atom processor dominating the netbook landscape, is there hope for other manufacturers? Guess so, as the 8.9" Linkbook netbook that you see here is powered by the Freescale PowerPC processor - the same chip used in Mac computers for a fair number of years until just a few years back. The Linkbook is able to hook up to the Internet as long as there is a decent signal thanks to a 3G modem alongside a SIM card slot, 16GB of internal flash memory and 256MB RAM. Its 8.9" display won't be able to handle HD video though at just 1024 x 600 resolution, but at least you do get the basic two USB 2.0 ports, microphone and headphone jaacks as well as a webcam. No Windows on this as it will run on Link OS, a custom operating system wihch is based on Ubuntu. Vodafone of South Africa will offer this for a mere $25 when you sign up for a 2-year service contract, now how about that!


Via Liliputing

Monday, May 17, 2010

Leak Hints That The iPhone 4G Is Getting A 960 x 640 Display



Rumors of the upcoming iPhone 4G are kicking into a higher gear now, as the latest rumors strengthen the belief that the iPhone 4G will be getting a 960 x 640 pixel display. If the rumor is accurate, the device will not only get a higher resolution display, but will also sport a higher quality IPS (in-plane switching) panel along with FFS (fringe-field switching) technology to make it easier to read outdoors. LG Display and Prime View International have been touted as the suppliers for the new display. Further good news comes in the form that the panel will be a third thinner than previous models, which makes room for larger battery. Finally, it’s claimed that the iPhone 4G will offer 512MB of RAM, which is double of what is offered on the iPhone 3GS and iPad. With all these juicy details, are you thinking of getting the iPhone 4G?


Via Electronista

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Do Bright Lights Before Bedtime Delay Your Ability To Fall Asleep?



If you’re having trouble going to sleep at night, you might want to check out the electronic devices that you’re using right before you sleep. A report from CNN mentions that strong light, regardless of whether it’s from the sun or from the display of personal electronic devices, are able to reset a person’s internal sleep clock. Obviously this would include gadgets such as your smartphone, PDA and tablet devices, and with tablet devices being commonly used as eBook readers before we sleep, this issue might even be more prominent now. A neuroscience professor at Northwestern University also affirms that the light from using an electronic device close to bedtime can stimulate your brain to make it more awake, thus delaying your ability to sleep. If you find that you’re having trouble going to sleep every night, maybe it might be worth a shot research more into this?


Via CNN

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Asus Eee PC 1015P Product Page Goes Live, Albeit Briefly

You might have been intrigued when the Asus Eee PC 1015P paid a little visit to the FCC a while back, and while the product hasn’t been officially launched yet, the product page actually went live on the Asus global page for a while yesterday, but has since been taken down. Fortunately pictures and specifications of it were captured from the site before it was taken down, and specifications of it include:



* Intel Atom N450 processor
* 1GB RAM
* 160 / 250 / 320GB HDD
* Windows 7 Starter + Express Gate
* 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
* VGA, 3x USB, LAN, audio jacks, card reader
* 0.3–megapixel webcam
* 6-cell 63Wh battery - 13.5 hours
* 6-cell 56Wh battery - 12 hours
* 6-cell 48Wh battery - 10.5 hours
* 3-cell 23Wh battery - 5 hours
* 262 x 178 x 23.6 mm
* 1.1 - 1.25 kg / 2.43 - 2.76 pounds (depends on battery)
* Available in white, black or blue


Via netbooked

Friday, May 14, 2010

Sharkoon QuickStore Portable USB 3.0 HDD Enclosure



Sharkoon is offering you a portable hard drive enclosure, dubbed the QuickStore. While we’ve seen billions of different hard drive enclosures over the years, there aren’t too many in the market at the moment that offer you a speedy USB 3.0 connection, helping you transfer those videos much faster. The enclosure supports 2.5-inch SATA drives with a height up to 9.5mm and sports a screwless design, relieving you of the stress of having to keep a screwdriver around to take the drive out. It’s available in black, silver or silver aluminum mirror finish and will set you back $37.


Via techfresh

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Rumor: PSP2 To Make An Appearance At E3

We’re really looking forward to next month’s E3 Expo, especially with the PlayStation Move, Project Natal and Nintendo 3DS still firmly in our minds. But aside from those devices, a rumor has just sprung up suggesting that details on the next iteration of Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP) might appear at E3, and that would really be interesting. Let’s not forget that the PSP has already been on the market for a good six years, and aside from the PSPgo, there hasn’t been any major change to the portable console (aside from a few revisions).



What do you think the next PSP will look like, and are you keen on Sony releasing a PSP2 (whatever it may be called), or would you prefer a Nintendo 3DS?


Via mcvuk

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Green Geek Fashion For Apple Fans

Today, Nicola Harper from Geekware sent me pictures of her latest creations for the geeks who want to be fashionable. In addition of being super trendy, you will help save the planet by buying Geekware items: Nicola uses e-waste to transform obsolete electronic waste into fun and geeky gifts. In the picture above on the left, Apple MacBook Cufflinks ($49.95) for your next black tie tech event, and on the right, matching MacBook Power Button Earings ($29.95), either for yourself or your date.



Other new items: for the nostalgics, the Commodore Key Magnets, and the Custom Keyboard Thumbtacks. Each item is made by hand and quantity is limited.


Via Ubergizmo

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