Big ‘ole Panasonic TVs

Panasonic will be releasing a 65 inch full HD plasma television early November. Full HD means there will be 2.07 juicy megapixels of beautiful high definitionness. Word around the block is that this monstrosity will be less than $10,000 when it is released in Japan.

Along with this, Panasonic will also be releasing three other plasma televisions that claim to be power efficient. These televisions will range upwards to 50 inches. Panasonic is also taking an initiative to increase the luminance of products by increasing the aperture ratio by 25% and also by reducing variance in luminance by individual pixel (whatever the hell that means).

Related
Panasonic Whips Out Its 1080p

Panasonic to Release… [NewLaunches]

Razer Copperhead Reviewed (Verdict: Expensive Hotness)

The hardware gurus over at GameSpot gave the new Razer Copperhead a full review. As a quick refresher, this mouse features 2000dpi and 1000 MHz USB response rate, both of which were unheard of in mice until now. This mouse also features built in memory to store all of your personal settings. The shape of the Copperhead allows for all type of mouse-grippers: lefties, righties, people who grope the mouse with their entire hand and also people who barely touch the top.

The included drivers allow full customization including setting specific dpi, refresh rate, custom axis sensitivity, cursor speeds, acceleration speeds and it is all stored in the 32KB of onboard memory. A small onboard button allows cycling between profiles on the fly. Tests were ran in Counter-Strike and Serious Sam 2, they both excelled in precision and responsiveness. The unfortunate problem is that this mouse will set you back about $80, almost two times as much as Logitech’s MX1000 high-end mouse. With Microsoft’s new gaming mouse on the horizon and the foray of Logitech gaming mice, this Razer Copperhead may have a tough time getting sales.

Razer Copperhead Reviewed [Gamespot]

SD + USB - Hassle = PsD sweet

A Taiwanese company has made coinjoined twins out of SD and USB. It’s called the PsD or Personal Storage Disc. One half is a regular SD memory card—slot it in and load it up. Ready to transfer to a PC? No need for an external SD card reader, or to rely on Bluetooth discoverability. Just take the top half of the PsD apart and it can be plugged straight into a USB port. I suppose fitting it right in the middle of that USB slot might be a problem, but this is a pretty boss solution for a nagging problem. The sample shown here is 2GB, but there is zero info on pricing or availability.

Memory Card or USB ?, Dont Choose, get a 2 in 1 [Phoneyworld]

Here iDoggie-Doggie

We’ve already seen those dancing beer can-radios that groove along to FM broadcasts, but now the genre has moved on to “man’s best friend.” The Sega Toys iDog not only rips off Apple’s packaging (like everything else these days) but it’s AIBO-like facial expressions take a lesson from Sony as well. Just sit the iDog next to your speakers or plug it into your iPod’s headphone jack and watch it dance along to your favorite trax. Seven LED lights in its face flash along to the rhythm and sensors in its face and tail detect light changes and touch to denote different emotional and musical responses. Its built in memory holds up to 70 songs and it can even create simple music through its movements. The only thing it’s missing is the iPooper Scooper.

iDog - Listens to Music, Dances with Rhythm, Sings Songs [Universal Models]
Product Page [Sega Toys]

Mr. Gadget USB Watch - Not Ugly (!!)

Hopefully the USB watch fad is fading, but if you’re still interested in wearing a huge hunk of flash memory on your wrist, this might be the way to go. The Mr. Gadget Executive watch—name sucks—is acceptably styled and features a Citizen quartz chronograph movement, a massive improvement over the previous versions I’ve seen. It holds 1GB and it doesn’t have a doofy USB dongle sticking out of it.

Mr.Gadget 1GB USB 2.0 Executive Watch [Mr.Gadget]

New iDen’s Identified

Motorola is preparing some new launches for its less glamourous line of iDen phones. They don’t get names like RAZR or The Pebble, but these mobiles are always hearty and well-made for those of you who may actually use them for more than a fashion statement. The FCC has filed some details and what we know of now is three phones: the i870, the i450 and the i415. Two of the new phones use BOOST mobile for walkit talkie service and the flagship i870 has a 1.3 megapixel camera with flash, bluetooth, MP3 player with external controls, WiDEN high speed data and a push-to-open hinge.

New Motorola iDEN Phones Revealed [Phonescoop]

You know I'm really getting sick of companies putting the letter "i" in their products. It just makes them sound like rip-offs from Apple.

Mazda’s USB Starter Key

Mazda is trying to bond with its future drivers by installing a “USB stick key”—or flash drive—instead of the traditional cylinder lock key system. Yes, this means you’ll be able to start your car with a USB dongle as well as transfer driving directions and music to the internal hard drive of this concept car, dubbed the Sassou. Being shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show, this 3-door hatchback design concept is, if you don’t mind the reference, somewhat pod-like (REALLY pod-like, unlike the iPod, which is not technically pod-like at all).

Mazda Ditches Cylinder Locks in Favor of USB Key [EverythingUSB]

Turn Your SE K750 into a Walkman Phone

The W800i aka the Walkman phone is already out and shipping, but if you want to save yourself the cost of a cell upgrade, a Chinese site has discovered a way to turn an older K750 into a multi-media powerhouse.

Looks like a firmware update, nothing that will destroy your phone, but you’re going to want to be careful. Don’t blame us if you suddenly find yourself with a charming Sony Ericsson paperweight.

Upgrade Sony Ericsson K750 to W800i [TheGadgetBlog]

Waterproof Speakers - Watersports Were Never Such Fun

These waterproof speakers will run you $65.00 and work with all your normal gadget goods like the iPod, Minidisc, CD player, etc. A tight rubber seal ensures it stays dry and fully functional in wet conditions. Hell, it’s even got a hook to hang it from your showerhead so you don’t get it all soapy and gross.

Waterproof Speaker [The Gadget Blog]

Pantech PG-8000: It’s a Phone Disguised as a Camera

We mentioned the Pantech PG-8000 a few months ago when it debuted at a Russian trade show. Well now it has launched in Korea. A refresher: if you thought the Nokia N90 looked freakishly like a camera, you haven’t seen anything yet. The Pantech PG-8000 looks almost exactly like a compact digicam, save for a small number keypad at the back. It’s a 2 megapixel camera with a huge 2-inch horizontal LCD display, truly giving it that digicam look. And just for kicks, it also throws in music playback functionality in there, supporting MP3, AAC, and even an FM tuner (We’re betting that a lot more phones will have music playback to keep up with the rumored iTunes phone). The PG-8000 also has IrDA, Bluetooth, and the ability to sync it via USB. Pretty sweet… if you live in the region. No idea if this will make it stateside.

Related
Pantech PG-8000, PG-6100: 2.0 Megapixel CCD

Pantech PG-8000: More a Camera than a Mobile Phone [I4U]

MSN Teleo Voip

Microsoft has announced that it has acquired Teleo, a San Francisco based VOIP Internet phone company. This will allow Microsoft to introduce voice-over-ip into MSN services, and perhaps be included in future Windows Vista OS plans.

The competition for Voip supremacy goes to the next level with Google Talk, Skype, AOL, Yahoo Messenger with voice, and Vonage all competing for Voip service customers.

Om Malik scooped it, Andy Abramson watched it, and Microsoft announced it.

about Teleo

Hollywood + Windows Vista = 4eva

Between TPM support, integrated DRM in next-gen optical drives and codecs (i.e. WMV HD/VC1), and, of course, our favorite, PVP-OPM, Microsoft seems to be pulling out all the stops when it comes to locking down their next version of Windows. And for good reason too—assuaging the copyright-enforcement concerns of the Hollywood paranoiacs studios means big money for a company at the hilt of The Battle For The Livingroom. According to Cnet, apparently late versions of the Vista beta will begin to feature Windows Media playback sandboxing on the PVP end, wherein media playback data will be locked completely away from other applications and plugins, making it all the more difficult demux, move, or otherwise transcode your content. Microsoft is even putting into place the necessary countermeasures to aid and abet the RIAA in distributing highly copy-protected CDs. We’re not entirely sure how effective all these countermeasures are going to be by the time Vista hits the streets, but we can definitely say it’s about time the consumers let their dollars did the talking when it comes to fair use.

Live shots of the Sony Ericssion P950 aka the Hermione?

The mystery man or woman who’s been collecting info, tips, and rumors about the Sony Ericsson P950 finally got the guts to post up those images they had of what is supposedly a prototype of the new smartphone. Nobody seems to know for sure whether or not these pics are the real deal, but all those threatening letters we’ve received from Sony Ericsson’s attorneys make us think that we’re on to something. Somebody over there is not at all pleased that these pics have surfaced.

Cellphones are dangerous/not dangerous, chapter 8041

According to London researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research in England, a ten-year study concluded there is no increased risk of tumor generation in use of cellphones near the ear or head—but they’re unsure about what their study may find in the years ahead. Uh, that’s about it. Gee, where have we heard that song and dance (or directly contradictory evidence) about thirty or so times before, hmm?

LG launches first WCDMA DMB phone

LG is throwing down this crazy handset, supposedly the very first third generation (WCDMA) DMB phone. The thing supports GSM, GPRS and WCDMA all, and sports a rotatable 2.2-inch LCD screen with a “Mobile-XD Engine” for high-definition DMB display. The earphone itself is actually endowed with the DMB antenna, making it extra useful when trying to listen in noisy environments. LG plans to officially release this beast during the German IFA exhibition in early September.

DreamAuthentics Personal Video Arcade machines

Soooo sweet — DreamAuthentics is putting out a Personal Video Arcade machine line geared towards consumers, with a bunch of units in true old skool arcade cabinet style. They don’t just play the classics, but can run a slew of games from the Xbox and Playstation consoles as well as off-the-shelf PC games. They’ve got several configurations to choose from, each coming pre-loaded with twelve classic arcade games, plus you can watch DVDs, listen to music and hook in your cable as well, although just standing in front of an arcade console to watch videos doesn’t seem nearly as exciting as getting your Asteroids on. As you may imagine, these things aren’t cheap, and all will run you into the several $K region. We’re thinking of raising some cash by putting all of our exergaming equipment up on eBay!

Motorola’s new iDEN phones: i870, i450, i415

The FCC once again lets us in on the impending launch of some new phones — these will all be iDEN phones from Motorola. The i450 and i415 are nothing special, just basic entry-level phones, and the flagship among the three here is the i870. It’s a clamshell with two color displays, 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, microSD (aka TransFlash) slot, MP3 player, high-speed WiDEN support, and MOTOtalk functionality.

Microsoft to open Xbox 360 store in Tokyo?

The timing couldn’t be any better on this one — ITmedia snapped some pics of the construction shielding surrounding what they suppose is an Xbox 360 store. Given the rumors about Microsoft putting up a similar store in Times Square, it seems like a valid hypothesis to us. Sure, it could end up being something else. But we probably shouldn’t argue with the Ring of Light lest it give us another terrible ending to a Halo game.

Nintendo DS TV tuner, large

Yeesh, so you can watch TV on your Nintendo DS alright, but you’ll have to effectively double its size if you want to do it with this gigundo TV Tuner. It’ll work on your GBA, too, and will garner about 6 hours’ worth of playback on 4 AAA batteries. You can pre-order at $89 now, and the unit will ship with its gargantuan cranium in October.

Bae Yong Joon edition iRiver U10

Known as simply “Yon-sama” (Lord Yon), Korea’s Bae Yong Joon is easily Japan’s most recognized celebrity. It’s a level of popularity that is difficult to fathom for people living outside of the country — over 5,000 people turn up to greet him at the airport any time he decides to make his entrance public, and hundreds just follow him right back to Korea when he returns. His drama DVDs sell 35 times better than competing dramas’ DVDs. That’s why this Bae Yong Joon Special Edition iRiver U10 will completely destroy other flash players’ chances at further success in Japan. It’s the same 512MB U10, but the fact that it features Yon-sama startup images, Yon-sama stills, Yon-sama saying “good afternoon” when the unit turns on, and “good morning” when using the unit’s alarm clock function means this unit should already be considered sold out. No joke, Apple. Celebrity endorsements move units.

Creative’s new MuVo Vidz

Guess Creative didn’t appreciate being pushed around by Samsung in the supermini flash-based video player market, so they’re hitting the YP-T8 (or perhaps it was the MPIO One?) back with familiar looking 512MB and 1GB devices of their own. The MuVo Vidz feature a 1.18-inch 65k color OLED screens and will play back WMA (we assume PlaysForSure), MP3, and MPEG-4; the 1.2 x 2.6 x 0.6-inch device will sell for $260 in Singapore, which is about $153 US.

Maxtor’s Shared Storage Plus ups the multimedia NAS ante

Looks like Maxtor’s the latest to try their hand at blurring the line between home NAS (network attached storage) with multimedia capabilities, and set-top digital multimedia box—well, kind of. Their new Shared Storage Plus series of devices due this October will not only offer capacities up to that 500GB sweet spot, but have integrated media-server functionality to UPnP devices on the network, and even a couple USB ports for sharing printers or additional non-networked external hard drives. So yes, you’ll have to keep streaming that content to other devices, but it should a little more seamless than rocking those damned UNC drive shares. The 10/100 port might also be a little disappointing for that maximum of 20 users connectible to the drive, but if you need more throughput you should probably be using a drive array anyway.

GM’s Hummer laptop. Seriously.

We’re kind of thinking instead of introducing their own own OEMed “semi-ruggedized” laptop with the Hummer branding and styling they should have picked up the Samsung M70 from this weekend—but make no mistake about it, General Motors is capitalizing on the success of the Hummer with a laptop all the same. Built by Itronix, who make some pretty ugly devices (which ought to fit perfectly with the supreme bustedest of all trucks), the laptop will have all the goodness of their other Windows-based machines, as well as an integrated GPRS/EDGE module—unexpectedly making it the second commercially available device in the US to feature integrated cellular wireless. The lappie will be available in black or silver with yellow, red, or pewter-gray trim for the ultimate in unnecessarily durable civilian ostentatiousness.

Take a Mac mini for a spin

Need a Mac mini for a few weeks, or just want to give Apple’s smallest desktop computer a try? Apple is now offering a Mac mini test-drive program via its online store, allowing prospective customers to purchase a mini and then return it for a full refund within thirty days if they don’t like it. Apple isn’t charging a restocking fee, though you still have to pay for shipping if you send back the mini, and the offer only applies to stock minis, not custom jobs (Apple’s standard refund policy allows 14-day returns and adds a 10% restocking fee). Of course, to return it, you have to call Apple’s support line first, and we assume that they have retention experts on the line who will try to convince you to keep it. But it still sounds like a sweet deal, especially if you can time your credit card billing cycles accurately and never have to lay out a dime.

Hitachi’s 500GB Deskstar 7K500 reviewed

Perhaps you better remember Hitachi’s HDD line when they came sold in the form of IBM’s Deathstar Deskstar 75GXP, the hard drive infamous for being the largest out at the time—and for crashing. Hard. Over and over. Well, if you’re again ready to trust the Hitachi Deskstar brand to supply you with dizzying amounts of storage, their Deskstar 7K500 is still currently the largest drive in town at an even 500GB. No, to the best of our knowledge the thing isn’t a perpendisk, but it will set you back a good $350 US—significantly more per GB than smaller drives—and for apparently not so impressive performance. But we understand you may still want one anyway—hey, you’re a grown person.

The Nikon D200?

Is Nikon quietly prepping its response to Canon’s new EOS 5D? Nothing confirmed as of yet, but supposedly they’re getting ready to introduce the D200, a new 12.4 megapixel digital SLR with a 2.5-inch LCD (incidentally, it sounds like this is a totally different camera than the Nikon D200 we first heard some rumors about last year).

Sony’s got more: Vaio H and Vaio M

Looks like after yesterday’s salvo Sony still ain’t done. They’re continuing the onslaught on their Japanese consumers with their latest in the Vaio H and Vaio M machines. The H is a sexy little media centric number that can come equipped with up to a Pentium D 820 (2.8GHz), an accompanying 20-inch 1,680 x 1,050 display, dual tuners, six USB 2.0 and two FireWire ports, a PC card slot, and that new SD/MMC/MS/XD reader.

Their latest take on the oddly shaped all-in-one with a fold-down-keyboard Vaio M finds it with the same 1,280 x 800 widescreen display, but with a Pentium 4 538 (3.20GHz) processor, up to 300GB of drive space, and USB 2.0, FireWire, and Ethernet.

[Via Ployer]

Continue reading “Sony’s got more: Vaio H and Vaio M”

Acer introduces TravelMate 4020 laptop

Acer introduced the TravelMate 4020 laptop yesterday, an $899 Centrino-based system that the company says sets a new price/performance standard. We can’t vouch for that but it does seem to be a pretty decently spec’d unit for the price, including a Pentium M 725 Processor, 15.4-inch WXGA widescreen LCD, 512MB DDR2 400 SDRAM, 60GB hard drive, CD-RW/DVD ROM Combo drive, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900, and the usual 802.11b/g, WLAN, 10/100 LAN, and V.92 Modem. Weight comes in around 6.5 pounds.

The Motorola Q coming to the V?

Not that we’re surprised when Moto spreads their GSM-centric wings a little and introduces their hot phones second-string on CDMA networks, but word has it that hot off the heels of getting the CDMA RAZR this holiday season, Verizon could also be getting a compatible version of the Q qwerty Smartphone. Another nicety is the Verizon version of the device is supposed to support EV-DO, which we wouldn’t find at all surprising given the EV-DO on the RAZR as well.

Pantech’s two megapixel Dica PG-8000 due out soon

We first spotted this one back in May, but Pantech says that their new PG-8000 two megapixel cameraphone should be out sometime next month. Yeah, it can do a few other things besides take pictures (like play MP3, AAC, AAC+ audio files), but there’s really no mistaking this one for what it really is: a two megapixel camera that also happens to be make phone calls (you can probably figure out what “Dica” stands for). Two megapixels probably isn’t enough to satisfy anyone who is serious about using their phone as their primary digital camera (which is the only reason you’d by something like this that’s more camera than phone), but sooner or later they’ll squeeze a decent four or five megapixel sensor in there and make a handful of hardcore enthusiasts very happy. Oh, and for the record this is a GSM phone with a 2-inch, 320 x 240 pixel LCD screen, Bluetooth, and an integrated FM tuner.

Continue reading “Pantech’s two megapixel Dica PG-8000 due out soon”

OpitcalBar turns part of a display into a touchscreen - sort of

Want a touchscreen display? Then you’d better just buy one, or pick up a Tablet PC. That’s the conclusion of PC Magazine, which checked out the H2i SimplyTouch OpticalBar, a $60 sensor that hooks up to the top of a monitor and tracks finger movements over a portion of the screen, allowing that part of the display to become a virtual touchscreen. The reviewer found that using a keyboard and mouse is still quicker, and that the sensor can still misread taps, despite the fact that the system is designed to work with SimplyTouch’s own software, which has a preset group of icons that you can assign to different tasks. The review didn’t even mention the biggest problem we see with this: pizza grease on the screen. But, then, maybe we need to get away from our desk a little more.

NEC’s HR-1100A white-label HD-DVD

Early adopters, start your engines. NEC certainly didn’t drag their feet in releasing a counter to Pioneer’s BRD-101A, the first consumer PC next-gen optical drive we saw earlier this week. But NEC’s new HR-1100A is a 2x HD-DVD drive (remember, HD-DVD / Blu-ray are very high bitrate, and 2x here is not equivalent to 2x DVD, just as it is not equivalent to 2x CD) dual-layer drive that can read dual-sided discs that can theoretically fit 64GB. Don’t forget the real bonus here though—this drive has a blue laser pickup (oh, the irony) that reads DVDs and CDs, unlike the Pioneer which only has a dual laser system capable of reading Blu-ray and DVD discs. It’s kind of funny watching these companies pick their side; let the format wars begin, uh, again!

A Case of “He Said, HP Said”

With pioneer Rio being the latest casualty of the MP3 wars and Apple on the verge of announcing something next week that could be anything except a video iPod, we should not forget another digital music brand that recently left the field. It’s been more than a month since HP announced its exit from the iPod market. Yet, the world still mourns. Vigils continue in the major metropolitan centers of New York, London, Paris, and Munich as everybody talks about pop music. Across a fragile planet, iPod shuffles hang low around consumers’ necks like 0.78 oz. albatrosses. And rumor has it that even Steve Jobs has been seen in public wearing a black turtleneck in what many perceive as a sign of sympathy.

The music world has been hit especially hard. Elton John has written a tribute to the posthumous player to the tune of “Candle in the Wind” called “iPod on the Shelf: a Tribute to the Apple iPod by HP by Elton John.” The HP iPod seemed so young, so vibrant, and so very much exactly like Apple’s. How could this have happened? Perhaps those initial conversations between two Cupertino computing giants went a bit like this:

Continue reading “Switched On: A Case of “He Said, HP Said””

Onkyo WL-TR100 streams video over WiFi

We’ve seen a few products designed to stream video over WiFi, but few look as simple — or costly — as the Onkyo WL-TR100, which is expected to be out in Japan next month for a mere ¥84,000 ($765). The base unit plugs into a video source, such as a DVD player or DVR, and the remote plugs into another TV. Video is compressed to MPEG-2 for transmission, and Onkyo claims a range of about 160 feet. Onkyo also claims the device uses 802.11a, which we find surprising, given its typically shorter transmission range. Then again, if this is going to be used in a typical small-scale Japanese home, range may not be an issue.

Samsung Silver Wash sterilizing washing machine

Whereas at one point if you told us there was a sterilizing washing machine that killed 99.99% of live bacteria by electrolyzing 400 billion silver ions during the wash and rinse cycles, we might have chortled. But now we know better now than to doubt advanced Korean obsessive compulsive sterilization technology. B unless you keep your garments in an environment that ensures germ-free stasis, it probably won’t matter very much even though Samsung claims the machine prevents future bacteria from clinging to the clothes… if that’s possible.

Revolution details in 2 weeks

Nintendo will finally take the covers off their new revolution console on September 16 at the Tokyo Game Show. After hyping their system for seemingly years, talking up the "revolutionary" new direction they will take gaming it will be interesting to see what they actually deliver.

Nintendo have really struggled in the console market over the last two generations with first Sony and then Microsoft stealing huge portions of the market, particularly outside Japan. While their handhelds seem to go from strength to strength taking on any challenge I feel this console is a last ditch effort from the big N, if this one fails it could be the end of home consoles from them, which would be rather sad given how long they have been in the market.

Revolution details in 2 weeks

Nintendo will finally take the covers off their new revolution console on September 16 at the Tokyo Game Show. After hyping their system for seemingly years, talking up the "revolutionary" new direction they will take gaming it will be interesting to see what they actually deliver.

Nintendo have really struggled in the console market over the last two generations with first Sony and then Microsoft stealing huge portions of the market, particularly outside Japan. While their handhelds seem to go from strength to strength taking on any challenge I feel this console is a last ditch effort from the big N, if this one fails it could be the end of home consoles from them, which would be rather sad given how long they have been in the market.

MSN TV 2 Updates

You two, over there. With the MSN TV 2 devices. Are you paying attention? As the last surviving users of MSN TV 2, you’re expected to recruit more people to watch with you. In order to make the activity a bit more pleasant, Lord Gates has improved your MSN TV box and will allow you to listen to WMA music and watch DRM-protected movies. You may also use POP email over MSN TV and a little light will blink on the box to notify you of new messages. Please. The entire MSN TV 2 project depends on your cooperation.

New Bells and Whistles for the MSN TV 2 Player [PCMag]

Mathmos Space Projector: Lava Lamp for the 21st Century

You guys remember the Lava Lamp right? It was the rage of college dorm rooms and teenage make-out sessions everywhere. Well, Mathmos were the guys that invented it way back when in 1963, and now, they’ve got a brand new Lava Lamp of sorts. Only this time, the light will be on the wall.

The Mathmos Space Projector works like this: You slide an oil wheel in a color of your choice into the projector, turn the 20W spot lamp on, focus the image on to the wall, and there you will see a swirling swishing of colored blobs much like the Lava Lamps of yore. It’s sure to be a hit at your next ’60s revival party.

The projectors come in translucent, silver, or graphite, and the oil wheels come in violet/red, violet/green, and blue/red combinations. It’s UK-only at the moment, and is selling for £68 (roughly 123 USD).

Mathmos [Mathmos via Retro Thing]

UPDATE - Ok. We get it. You can buy it at ThinkGeek. It’s in the US. Please stop making us cry.

High-Tech Laundromats

Universities in Kentucky are giving students more options when it comes to doing laundry. For example the laundry rooms in the dorms at the University of Louisville are offer students the option to connect to a website online to check the status of their wash or dry. The system can also send an email or text message to the student when their cycle is done and also show the status of other machines; such as displaying how many washers and dryers are available. Hopefully this could deter those bums that are constantly stealing my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle briefs. Sick freaks.

A message from your Laundry [Smart Mobs]

Thermal Snapshot Camera

Everybody has a little Sam Fisher inside of us (or maybe James Bond for those oldies) and are always intrigued by spying on super secret government projects. Thermotek is helping you pursue your dream of being locked by SMERSH with their Raytek MX6 Phototemp handheld IR temperature sensor with digital camera. What makes this thermal sensor camera even sweeter is that it even looks like a gun. Holster this baby up and when the time is right let those bad guys have it… in the form of a thermal picture, probably sent via email.

Thermo-snapshot [Red Ferret]

iSkin: Silicone Snake Oil?

I’ve bene hearing about the iSkin for a couple days now. Here’s what I don’t get: iSkin makes much to-do about its two layers of silicone that “combine to create the ultimate barrier against dust, dirt and even moisture.” They go on to boast that the idea is being patented, and even show a model in a bikini wearing one of these around her neck. But nowhere does it say this thing is water proof, or even water-resistant. It is, I believe, moisture resistant (phew, now I can take my Shuffle outside on a muggy August day). In other words, there is absolutely nothing about the .5mm inner layer and 1.5mm outer layer of silicone that protects an iPod Shuffle more than, say, the Sport Case. Or, for that matter, the Armor. Although the controls are covered, which is nice. And for $19.99 it’s swell looking and comes in colors with st00pid names like ADRENALINE (blue and green), VIGOR (red), Oxygen (clear) and IMPULSE (gray and clear).

iSkin Shuffle Duo [Product Page]

Apple to Intel: “If you really love me, you can wait”

Time for another daily update on what the hell is going on with Apple and Intel. Apple has made an agreement with Freescale Semiconductor. The agreement states that Freescale will supply the Power PC microprocessors used in Apple computers until the end of 2007. This could mean a lot of different things regarding the Apple/Intel plans. Let’s just hope Apple is playing the tedious and painful waiting game with Intel.

Apple to Intel Switch, Switched Again [MobileMag]

HydraBrush Dual-Sided Toothbrush

This dual-headed toothbrush supposedly eliminates human error and also cuts down on brushing time (highly efficient, someone alert 43 Folders!). There are two versions: the HydraBrush Express and the HydraBrush Ultra.

With revolutionary 8 micro brushes that surround your teeth and gums, you will experience a technology that takes the guesswork out of brushing. You can get the job done in 60 seconds or less with CONFIDENCE that you have done a PERFECT job, everytime with HydraBrush Express.

So, in all reality you can pay $109 for the Express that all but irradiates your teeth in less than a minute. Sounds like a deal to me! But wait, for $50 more you can pick up the Ultra, which looks as though it could be turned upside down and used as a handheld milkshake blender.

HydraBrush cleans both sides… [PopGadget]

News Leak: Microsoft Keyboard and Mice

News of a new Microsoft keyboard and a couple of MS mice was leaked today, and we’ve got a brief overview of the latest of MS input devices. Bear in mind that none of them have been released yet, so prices and availability are still unknown.

First up, is a new Microsoft Natural keyboard for all you Carpal Tunnel afflicted folks out there. The Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 still has that split keyboard and the curved key bed, but now it features a zoom slider, five programmable “favorites” keys, forward/backward keys in the center of the keyboard, hotkeys, and other standard function keys.

Next is Microsoft’s “Athletic” Notebook Mouse, which is modeled after a tennis shoe. Don’t know how athletic you’re being if you’re using this thing indoors with your laptop, but apparently it’ll be more accurate than most notebook mice. It’ll also have rubber side grips, tilt wheel, and a thumb button that’s set to magnify the screen. It runs on USB.

Finally is Microsoft’s first foray into the world of gaming mice. The Laser Mouse 6000 is built for both designers and gamers alike, with its Precision Booster functionality that allows users to toggle sensitivity levels between full and 10-90% sensitivity. It also has the ability to have macro sequences tied to individual keys in-game (that’s for all you lazy cheaters out there). There’ll also apparently be notebook versions of the Laser Mouse, for the gamer on-the-road.

We’ll let you know of proper releases with price and availability as we get them.

Microsoft Leaks New Ergonomic 4000 Keyboard [EverythingUSB]
Microsoft’s Athletic Notebook Mouse [EverythingUSB]
MS Uses Laser in Mouse of Mass Destruction [EverythingUSB]

Ricoh Digital R3 in the Works?

The blogmill is abuzz over rumors that Ricoh is introducing a 5 megapixel camera with 7.1x optical zoom. The Caplio R3, if real, would feature anti-shake technology, 1cm macro mode and a 2.5-inch LCD Screen. See, not every rumor is about Apple.

Ricoh Caplio R3 [Digital Photography Blog]

Sharp Builds 3-megapixel Cameraphone Bits

Sharp is up to no good again with this 3-megapixel CCD camera for cell phones due for release this September. Pretty soon, these tiny cameras are going to get so good, you won’t need to remember anything anymore, just point shoot and upload to your server with exquisite clarity. This camera includes an “industry first” all-internal 2X zoom function and auto focus which makes it the only camera phone that can actually double as “stalker ware!” So watch out celebrities, now the paparazzi aren’t the only ones to steer clear from.

DigitalCamera@101reviews

Radio, TV, Phone = Radiden

Sony Ericsson and NTT DoCoMo are working together to design an experimental handset that combines radio, television and telephony. This phone mimics the Ericsson K750i, but it is also quite obviously inspired by Sony’s old-fashioned pocket radios. Not likely to leave the Japanese domestic market anytime soon, according to this blog that is part of the upcoming PMN Mobile User Experience Conference in London.

Sony Ericsson, DoCoMo combine radio and TV in Radiden [MEX]

Bowling for PS2

We suspected that Sony had its own Death Star, but this is the clincher. The PlaySphere is a PS2 mod that transforms a regular PS2 into a bowling ball shaped gaming console. I really like the aesthetic and the pics on the site that show exactly how a PS2 actually fits into the sphere are amazing. The best part of this was that Sony actually sponsored the mod, as it was done as part of a PS2 modding contest in Ireland.

Project Page

New Olympus Digital Cameras Announced

Olympus has announced seven new digital cameras, including the new Olympus SP-350 and SP-310, Olympus ultra-zoom SP-500UZ with 10x optical zoom, the all-weather Stylus 600 Olympus µ (mju) DIGITAL 600, and the easy-to-use FE Series digital cameras: the FE-100, FE-110 and FE-120.

Continue reading "New Olympus Digital Cameras Announced" »

August 30, 2005 in Digital Camera | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Pics of HP’s new iPAQ rx1950/rx1955 Pocket PC

They didn’t have any pics last week when they first reported on the existence of HP’s unannounced iPAQ rx1950/1955 Pocket PC, but apparently Todo Pocket PC’s source has delivered for them again, this time with several shots of what they claim is the new handheld from a variety of different angles (yes, it does look like several older iPAQs). No confirmation of the specs yet, but supposedly this one will run on Windows Mobile 5.0 and have a 300MHz processor, 32MB of RAM, 64MB of ROM, the usual 3.5-inch, QVGA LCD touch screen, an SDIO expansion card slot, 802.11b.

[Thanks, murph]

UPDATE: A couple people have commented on how close this looks to an already released iPAQ, it’s entirely possible that Todo Pocket PC just posted pics of an earlier model thinking they were new. It’s also possible that HP decided to keep the earlier form factor and just update the specs.

D-Link’s DI-725 Wireless 3G Mobile Router

We were wondering how long it was going to take for the networking big boys to stomp all over Junxion’s turf, and now it looks like D-Link is stepping up with a 3G WiFi router of its own. Like the Junxion box, D-Link’s DI-725 Wireless 3G Mobile Router lets you create a WiFi hotspot anywhere you can find coverage; you just pump in 3G courtesy of a high-speed wireless laptop card (they list it as working with EV-DO, UMTS, Flash-OFDM, and HSDPA cards) and the router will pump out 802.11g (there are also four Ethernet ports, if that’s more your style). D-Link figures says that the router will most likely be sold by wireless carriers that offer 3G; guess we already know that one of those won’t be Verizon.

ErgoClick, the two-fisted mouse

We’ve seen a lot of alternative pointing devices, but we don’t think we’ve seen one like the Ergo Click before. Instead of a single-handed mouse, the ErgoClick splits pointing and clicking between the two hands. The idea is that, while one palm slides around to move the pointer, the other palm handles the clicking, minimizing hand and finger movement and lowering the risk of repetitive stress injuries. While this might be a good idea for someone who only uses a mouse, we can’t help but think that for average users who constantly switch between keyboard and mouse, this will only make things worse, as they now have to take both hands off the keyboard to get anything done with the pointer.

Airvantage vest uses your breath as insulation

With summer just about over, we’re already starting to look for solutions to that winter chill, and the first thing that comes to mind is heated clothing. And while battery-operated heated jackets like the Grado Zero Space sound pretty tempting, but we’d sort of like something that isn’t dependent on a power supply to keep us toasty. That’s where the Airvantage vest comes in. Pump it up by breathing into a tube, and your breath acts as an insulating layer between you and the elements. If you’re too hot, you just let out a little air. Sounds great. Just be careful not to let that air out to quickly if you’ve had the garlic soup for lunch. You’ll really heat up the room, and not in a good way.

o.d.m. ‘mysterious’ watch

You know how we dig watches — especially when they do something more than just tell time. Well, o.d.m. has decided to use that wrist real estate to spread a little goodwill by scrolling a unique message when the watch is at your side. Each colored watch comes with its own message, black is “Save the Earth”, white is “World Peace; No War”, yellow is “Save the Forest”, grey is “To be Great is to be Simple” — well, you get the idea. Thanks to some nifty engineering, when you bring the watch up to read the time it’ll switch from the message to the time automatically, and a flick of the wrist will make it display the date. All that peace and love won’t come cheap, however, with the cheapest watches running $149US and the limited edition white crystal setting you back a cool $230.

1GB MMCmobile card announced

Samsung continues to spam the flash memory world, this time annoucing a 1GB version of their “MMCmobile” card. MMC, MMCplus, MMCmobile (a.k.a. RS MMC), MMCmicro… so up next is “MMCnano”? Of course if it’s only introducing models with a higher capacity, we’re not one to complain. But if we had to, we’d probably mention how devices that take full advantage of the 52MB/sec transfer speeds of these cards don’t actually exist yet.

Roundup of 1GB CF cards

Ready to pick up a 1GB CompactFlash card for that DSLR? Check out PCStats’ guide to CF cards first. In addition to providing a good rundown of the available products, along with a breakdown of pricing and read/write speeds, PCStats tested out four popular cards, including a 1GB Microdrive and a Sandisk Extreme high-speed card, using both benchmarks and real-world tests in DSLRs. Their conclusion? High-speed cards may live up to their manufacturers’ claims (at least to some extent) but those claims may not mean a whole lot in the real world — especially in older cameras or point-and-shoot models (not that too many of those use CF cards). So, if you’re going to pay extra for a high-speed card, make sure your camera really can take advantage of it, especially when it comes to writing data as shots are recorded.

Asus W2V media laptop reviewed

It’s a little early to say the market for 17-inch, widescreen media notebooks is crowded, but we are starting to see some more competition in this niche, with the Asus W2V now joining other entrants like the Dell XPS Gen 2. Like the XPS, the W2V is a heavy desktop replacement designed to be more of a “room-to-room” laptop as opposed to something you can throw in your bag and take on a plane. But with a built-in tuner, DVR software, 1024MB of RAM standard and 2.13GHz Pentium M 770, this box has a lot going for it, even if it does weigh 7-1/2 pounds and cost over $2,500. Pocket Lint got a good look at it, and found it to be “a stunning example of a notebook designed primarily for multimedia use.”

Solar charger for your PSP, DS, or GBA, OK?

You’re bummin’ ‘cuz your portable gaming rig just won’t make it through that marathon session on your day at the beach. Bum no more, for $35 will net you a solar charger than can power your Sony PSP, Nintendo DS, or GameBoy Advance — in bright light (Mogwai!) the PSP gets a full charge in about 4 hours via a built-in 1800mAh Li-ion battery. This means the fun doesn’t have to end on your next wildnerness retreat, kids.

iTunes phone to be based on the E680i?

Bits and pieces of information on the now legendary, yet unseen iTunes phone keep coming in — iLounge now has it that while the E790/ROKR will indeed be an iTunes phone, it’s not gonna be the iTunes phone that will make fanboys drop to their knees. The bigger deal iTunes phone will supposedly be based on the Motorola E680i, which runs on Linux, does SD/MMC storage and sports integrated stereo speakers plus support for Bluetooth headphones. Notably, it’s also got a touch screen, which could magically turn into ye olde scroll wheel. What’s not clear is what the UI is going to be like — we totally wouldn’t put it past Apple to drop a bomb and unleash a mobile OS. And frankly, we hope they do.

neXfit’s new exergaming bike

This one’s a bit different from something like the TACX Fortius training bike because you’re not limited to mere training simulations — you can hook the BK-A6 cycle up to your Playstation 2, XBox, or your PC and play your favorite titles to your heart’s content via game controllers mounted right to the handlebars. The controls include a force feedback system so you can even get your regular shock effects from collisions and explosions in the game. The bike also comes equipped with the Online Health Manager program that’ll track your exercise records and stats. It does look way more fun than the treadmill workstation.

iTunes phone will only hold 100 songs

Even more iTunes phone details, if you can believe it: a source involved with making the commercials for the new handset has confirmed for us that it will only hold 100 songs because Apple is worried about cannibalizing iPod shuffle sales. Our source also says that these first iTunes phone ads will be “music-based spots with people calmly walking down the street on the phone with their shadows and reflections dancing wildly beside them.”

Samsung Sense X1 “thumb width” notebook

Samsung is dropping a new ultra-thin laptop on us in its Sense X1, a notebook only 23mm thick (billed as “thumb width”) and weighing in at about 3.5 pounds. It’s doing a 14-inch WSXGA screen, 128MB ATI X300 graphics card, 512MB DDR2 RAM, 80GB hard drive, and powered by a Pentium M753 1.2 GHz chip. It’s also got a waterproof keyboard that slips down to the front edge of the notebook in what Samsung calls the “SuperRelax” mode. The machine has been built with an eye towards multimedia, and packs in some impressive acronyms for graphics and sound in the DNIe (Digital Natural Image engine) and DNSe (Digital Natural Sound engine), so we’ll have to keep an eye out for a review that will translate marketing speak to reality. Last but certainly not least, the X1 is promising 13.5 hours of battery life which sounds like a friggin’ miracle, and we’re hoping something didn’t just get lost in the translation from German.

[Thanks, Jens]

Continue reading “Samsung Sense X1 “thumb width” notebook”

Sony’s revamped Vaio T lineup

Ah, Sony finally gave their T series notebook a makeover! Not that we didn’t appreciate its finer points as a very smallish laptop (especially the T350 first commercially released American machine with wireless data), but they slimmed it down even further from 1 - 1.34-inches to a 0.82-inch thick mini that’s got a 1366 x 768 res screen, Pentium M ULV CPU up to 1.2GHz, up to 1.5GB of RAM, a 40 or 60GB drive, dual-layer DVD burner, WiFi, and Bluetooth. It looks like they even added SD to their MemoryStick machines’ integrated flash media port. We’re not sure if this is a Japan-only development on their VGN-TX90PS, TX90S, and TX50B/B, but we’ll keep keeping a close eye on Sony, as this would be a major, unexpected shift in their business practices.

[Via Akihabara News]

Continue reading “Sony’s revamped Vaio T lineup”

Sony’s Vaio BX wants to get bizzy

Looks like Sony’s finally hopped on the biometrics bandwagon with their businessy new 4:3 Vaio BX series (VGN-BX90PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PS5, PS6) which in addition to their groundbreaking new support of SD, will feature a Pentium M 780 (2.26GHz) CPU, 14.1-inch SXGA+ (1400 x 1040) display with “privacy filter,” dual-layer DVD burner, FeliCa, Bluetooth 2.0, built-in webcam (ahh, takes us back to the TR series!), and, of course, WiFi b/g. Also interesting is their addition of a touchpoint (you know, the eraser head between G/H/B), a modular drive bay, and a TPM chip for all you Fritz lovers.

Sony’s desktop theater Vaio V PC

Sony seems pretty excited about the new Digital Motion Reality TV Tuner in their latest all-in-one multimedia desktop, the Vaio V (VGC-VA200RB, VA200B, VA170B, VA200DS, VA170S). Apparently the tuner significantly increases video quality (huzzah), while the rest of the box rounds out with a Pentium 4 630 (3GHz), 20-inch 1366 x 768 display, dual 200GB drives, dual-layer DVD burner, and multiple tuners. Still, you’re not paying quality here, friends, you’re paying for that sweet, sweet 8-inch bezel. Aw yeah.

Continue reading “Sony’s desktop theater Vaio V PC”

Sony’s Vaio RC media-centric powerhouse

We all know Sony’s media powerhouse—looks like they’ve updated their fancypants R lineup (now it’s the RC70PS, RC70s, RC50L7, and RC50) with a Pentium D 840 (3.20GHz) CPU, a four drive array (up to 2TB, see below), dual-layer DVD burner, and some sweet remotes and Premiere editing centric peripherals. +5 extra gimmick points to Sony for that ever-enhanced central cutout, too, which they say provides superior airflow to the system.

[Via Akihabara News]

Continue reading “Sony’s Vaio RC media-centric powerhouse”

The Tuny8

Wasn’t aware that there was even that much of a market for the Olympus m:robe MR-100, let alone for a knock-off, but check out Dyne Telecom’s eerily familiar new Tuny8 MP3 player. The two players might bear a certain, uh, resemblance to each other, but it’s all on surface: whereas the MR-100 can only play music and has a 5GB hard drive and a monochrome display, the Tuny8 can play video (it supports MPEG4, WMV, ASF, and AVI formats), comes in 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB versions, and has a 1.6-inch, 160 x 128 pixel, 260K color LCD screen.

[Via The MP3 Players]

Fresh Sony Ericsson P950/P1000/Hermione info

We can’t vouch for the reliability of all of this biz, but someone’s compiled together what they claim is all the known info about the Hermione, that new unannounced smartphone from Sony Ericsson, including an illustration based on photos that they say they have but cannot publish given the legal environment (SE’s lawyers are doing their damnedest to hush everyone up about this one — like everyone else, we’ve gotten several cease & desists from them). Supposedly the new phone, which will probably, but not definitely be called the P950, is set to hit the market in early February of next year and will reportedly have built-in WiFi, UMTS, a 320 x 240, 262,000 color LCD touch screen, a two megapixel camera, and a QWERTY keyboard with keys that are larger than those of Sony Ericsson’s current flagship, the P910.

Griffin TuneBox - another iPod shuffle speaker system

Looking for all the world like a shrunken version of Altec Lansing’s inMotion, Griffin Tech’s TuneBox is yet another speaker system for the iPod shuffle. Like PodGear’s ShuffleStation (but more compact and less funky looking), it charges the shuffle while it’s plugged in, and is available now for about $40. We still don’t get the point of turning the shuffle into an amped system, but we guess it’s reasonable if you’re either a traveler with a very small music collection or an oompa loompa looking for a boom box.

Creative’s latest: The Zen Patent

Still waiting to see whether they patent their unique process for putting worms on MP3 players, but in the meantime Creative just scored a patent for its user interface for portable media players. To make things simple for us they’re dubbing this the “Zen Patent”, and, surprise, surprise, they’re already making some noise about how the patent covers the UI used in the iPod and iPod mini. You probably already know how dim a view we take of the USPTO these days, but c’mon, a patent for a UI that “enables selection of at least one track in a portable media player as a user sequentially navigates through a hierarchy using three or more successive screens on the display of the player”? Isn’t that sort of obvious? No matter, we’re counting down the minutes until Creative files suit against, well, everybody.

LG sez, “Me three!” with P7200

It was funny before when Samsung played catchup with the RAZR on the V740 / Blade, but now it’s just kind of sad when LG knocks off their Korean rival’s Johnny-come-lately knockoff. Granted, they did it in such a way that kind of absolves them by making it significantly uglier and thicker, but truth be told, the die-cut button panel and external music buttons are still front and center. The tri-band P7200 also features a 2 megapixel camera, 262k color 176 x 220 display (and a 65k color 96 x 96 subdisplay), MicroSD, Bluetooth, and a craptactular GPRS connection, all in a 0.66-inch thick package (compared to the 0.57 and 0.54-inches of the Blade and RAZR). Guess we can’t blame LG for trying though.

Continue reading “LG sez, “Me three!” with P7200”

Apparently even ringtones are patented

Ringtones are patented? Seriously? We haven’t been able to dig up the patent in question, but apparently both Siemens and Sony Ericsson have quietly settled lawsuits filed against them by an inventor who claims to have patented the process by which cellphones play music instead of just a regular ring. Seems like the cellphone companies could argue that a simple ring itself is a form of music — but then again, anything that can be used against our old friend Crazy Frog can’t be all evil.

The Multi-Function Personal Energy Device

We’ve seen hand cranks of all shapes and sizes for all sorts of devices, but never before have we at Engadget seen a crank so splendidly efficacious that a 5 minute cranking session could result in a whole 2.5 hours of talk time on your mobile. Why not even wall outlets with stock adapters are capable of such impossible wonders! Surely, you say, this device must cost a consumer such as yourself £100! No sir, not a hundred, not fifty, not even twenty five—we offer this marvel to you today for £14.99. But wait, there’s more! It’s also an FM radio, a flashlight, it comes with multiple tips…

HTC Universal/MDA Pro hits Germany later this week

We’re still fairly certain that the HTC Universal isn’t going to be sold over here in the States (at least not the UMTS version), but we have some good news for any of our German readers who have been lusting after this monster of a Pocket PC Phone: starting on Thursday you’ll be able to pick up the new phone, which as being sold as the “MDA Pro”, from T-Mobile Germany. Retail price will be a hefty €749.95 without a contract, or between €430 and €500 depending on what kind of two year service agreement you sign up for.

Cellphone jamming equipment company lobbies for looser restrictions on jamming

In what we’re sure is an act of pure, unadulterated benevolence untainted by self-interest, cellphone jamming equipment maker CellAntenna Corp. is appealing to U.S. lawmakers to change federal laws to permit broader usage of cellphone jamming equipment by law enforcement officials. We’re gonna bet you can guess the reason, too — that’s right, it will help in the fight against terrorism. Because, as everybody knows, there are a ton of cellphone-wielding terrorists out there (in fact, as far as we’re concerned, anybody we see with a cellphone is automatically under suspicion). CellAntenna issued a statement yesterday indicating that increased cellphone jamming is “the first step in increasing our profits preventing an IED attack in the United States.” How refreshing — a corporation with a social conscience.

CDMA RAZR for Verizon reviewed

Mobile Burn cuddled up with a pre-production model of the CDMA RAZR coming to Verizon later this year (well, Q1 2006 to be safe). The V3c version distinguishes itself from the CDMA version Motorola makes for Korea by including all the major features of its GSM counterpart, including Bluetooth, plus the features of the Korean version like the 1.3 megapixel cameraphone and the EV-DO support. Some items of note are the two-tone gray color scheme on the unit, an added dedicated camera key, some minor changes to the keypad, and its use of the new “standard” Verizon user interface in place of the Motorola UI. Bear in mind that this is a pre-production version of the phone, so things may end up changing before its release, and though overall the move to the Verizon UI is generally frowned upon, they pronounce it at least easier to use than the LG VX8000, the first EV-DO phone to be saddled with the new Verizon UI.

WowWee Robopet reviewed

PC Magazine recently spent some time playing around with the Robopet, the latest household bot from WowWee, the company behind the Robosapien and Roboraptor. They’re left a bit disappointed by this latest effort, however, saying it falls short of the high design standard set by WowWee’s other robotoys and, at $99 US, is overpriced to boot. On the upside, it does do plenty of cool tricks and is small enough for a desk, but it also apparently tends to fall off said desk (it has sensors in the front, but none on the sides or back). It also doesn’t have a volume control, so unless you enjoy annoying your co-workers, you’ll probably want to keep this pup at home.

Knocking off the big name Korean players

What can we say? As if the iPod itself wasn’t enough of a cliché in and of itself, now iPod knockoffs are even completely stale. So for the real (non)innovation check out the gallery of high-class Chinese-on-Korean knockoffs—big, big names at low, low prices! Like the iRover N10, Sam’s Ung Yup YP-F1, and, of course, the Appel Mini eyePod. Ok, so we made those names up (Chinese knockoff firms: feel free to use ‘em, you don’t even have to steal it), but the chintzy rips are for reals and on display at Telecoms Korea by way of a secret Reigncom operative.

New Midsize Sport-Utilities

Prices for mid-size sport-utility vehicles for sale in Canada range from around $26,000 for a base 4WD Chevrolet Blazer or GMC Jimmy to about $124,000 for a Porsche Cayenne Turbo.

Incredibly successful through the 90s, mid-size SUVs still make up one of the most dynamic segments of the market. Even more so since the increasingly popular "cross-over" or more car-like SUVs have joined the party.

SUV Mutants Multiply
These new-wave SUVs, often referred to as "cross-over" vehicles, are built on modified car platforms. The boldly-styled Nissan Murano, built on a version of the Altima platform, is a prime example. The Murano offers a 3.5-litre, 245-horsepower, DOHC V6 coupled to Nissan's Xtronic CVT (continuously variable transmission), in either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive guise.

The striking Infiniti FX35 and FX45 blend sleek styling, sports car performance and handling, SUV utility and all-weather capability to create a unique pair of vehicles. The FX35 is powered by a 3.5-litre, 280-hp V6 and rides on 18-inch wheels, while the Infiniti FX45 is powered by a 315-horsepower, 4.5-litre V8 engine and rides on giant 20-inch alloy wheels.

The Volvo XC90, a first SUV for the Swedish carmaker, won the North American Truck of the Year award and AJAC's Best New SUV over $45,000 award after its launch. It is available with a 2.5-litre, 208-hp five cylinder engine, a 2.9-litre, 268-hp inline six (both turbocharged) and, new for 2005, a Yamaha-sourced 315 horsepower 4.4-litre V8.

Honda's mid-size Pilot SUV is built in the Alliston, Ontario plant, on a version of the Odyssey minivan platform, itself derived from the brilliantly-flexible Accord architecture. The Pilot can seat up to eight and is powered by a 3.5-litre V6 engine with VTEC that has been bumped from 240 to 255 horsepower for 2005, mated to a revised 5-speed automatic transmission.

The more upscale Acura MDX shares the Pilot's Variable Torque Management 4WD (VTM4) system and its V6 engine, but in a higher-output, 265-hp version.

Another variation of the car-based SUV theme is the Mitsubishi Endeavor It is powered by a 3.8-litre V6 engine that has gone from 215 to 225 horsepower for 2005, mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission.

GM's current take on the crossover theme are the Buick Rendezvous and Pontiac Aztek that are basically built on the same front-wheel drive platform, with available Versatrak all-wheel drive. Both models are powered by a 3.4-litre, 185-hp V6, but the Buick can also be ordered with a more powerful 3.6-litre, 245-hp V6.

New '05 Midsize 'Utes
Completely redesigned, the latest version of the popular Jeep Grand Cherokee has a restyled exterior, an improved interior, an all-new suspension, a new standard 5-speed automatic transmission, two new engines (including a 325-hp, 5.7-litre 'Hemi' V8) and three new full-time 4x4 systems.

Land Rover's LR3 is an all-new SUV that replaces the (Ford-owned) British company's Discovery model. Designed to offer improved levels of interior space and a superior on-road driving experience, the LR3 is powered by a Jaguar-sourced 300-horsepower 4.4-litre V8 mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, a high-tech Terrain Response 4WD system and a fully independent electronic air suspension.

At Nissan, both the XTerra and the Pathfinder are fully redesigned for 2005. The XTerra features new exterior styling, a roomier interior with a more functional cargo area, an all-new rugged steel frame and a new 265-hp, 4.0-litre V6 with the choice of a 6-speed manual or a 5-speed automatic transmission.

The Pathfinder, on the other hand, is now based on the same platform as the Titan pickup and Nissan's full-size SUV, the Nissan Armada. Looking a lot like its big sister, the new Pathfinder is larger, has more interior space with three rows of seats and is powered by a 270 horsepower 3.5-litre V6.

Offered as a 2006 model, the second-generation Mercedes-Benz M-Class is longer and wider, with refreshed styling, a lower drag coefficient and a roomier interior. It is powered by 268-hp, 3.5-litre V6 or an optional 302-hp, 5.0-litre V8, both mated to a 7-speed automatic transmission.

Hybrid power makes its way into the mid-size sport-utility market in 2005 with the arrival of new gasoline-electric versions of existing SUVs by both Lexus and Toyota. The new Lexus RX 400h is based on the successful Lexus RX 330, the first Lexus ever built outside of Japan when production began at the award-winning Cambridge, Ontario plant, but it supplements the RX 330's regular 3.3-litre V6 with an electric motor.

This Hybrid Synergy Drive system produces the equivalent of approximately 270 horsepower at peak power, compared to 230 horsepower for the current RX 330. The Lexus RX 400h also features a regenerative braking system and a sophisticated new Vehicle Dynamic Management (VDM) stability system.

Released as a 2006 model, the new hybrid version of the Toyota Highlander showcases its own application of the Hybrid Synergy Drive system that combines a 3.3-litre V6 and a pair of electric motors. While the 2005 Highlander is available in either FWD, four-cylinder or 4WD, V6 trims, the new 2006 Hybrid is offered only with 4WD.

Favourites Persist
In the mid-size sport-utility league, the Chevrolet Blazer and GMC Jimmy are like a pair of crusty old veterans who refuse to get pushed aside. Definitely old-school in design, they make up for their relative lack of sophistication by being tough, reliable and affordable, qualities that still rank at the top the list for certain SUV buyers.

Another classic mid-size SUV is the Ford Explorer, the model that sparked the craze for spacious and practical 4-door SUVs in the early Nineties. A perennial best-seller, the Explorer remains one of the few 'mid-sizers' to offer an optional V8 engine (4.6-litre, 240-hp) over its standard V6. It gets thoroughly revised and updated for the 2006 model year.

Speaking of V8 power, the recently-revised Dodge Durango goes one step further since its base engine is a 4.7-litre, 230-hp Magnum V8, with a throbbing 5.7-litre, 335-hp 'Hemi' V8 available as an option.

The Chevrolet TrailBlazer and GMC Envoy offer a higher level of passenger comfort and efficiency for 2005, including a newly available Vortec 5300 V8 engine equipped with GM's innovative Displacement on Demand (DOD) technology.

Buick offers a more luxurious version of the same platform in the Rainier, which shares the same base 4.2-litre, 275-hp inline six as its Chevrolet and GMC cousins.

A classic example of the SUV is the Mitsubishi Montero, which is powered by a 215-hp, 3.8-litre V6 and offers 7-passenger seating.

Toyota's 4Runner is another classic 'ute that combines rugged body-on-frame construction, a dual-range 4WD system and a gutsy 245-horsepower 4.0-litre V6 (a 4.7-litre, 235-hp V8 is optional) with sleek looks and a refined interior.

For those who insist on luxury, Lincoln offers its Aviator Based on the Explorer, it features plusher amenities, extensive standard equipment and is powered by a 302 horsepower, 4.6-litre V8 mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission.

Cadillac is also in the running with its luxurious yet surprisingly sporty Cadillac SRX, available with a gutsy 4.6-litre, 320 horsepower Northstar V8.

The European Élite
BMW's standard-setting X5, with its sophisticated xDrive all-wheel drive system, is powered by a base 3.0-litre inline six producing 225 horsepower through a 6-speed manual transmission, but is available with a 315 horsepower V8 or a 355-hp, 4.8-litre V8, both mated to a 6-speed automatic.

Legendary German sports car maker Porsche has created the Cayenne, a luxury mid-size SUV that delivers the driving excitement and performance expected of a Porsche. The Cayenne 'base model' is powered by a 3.2-litre, 247-horsepower V6, while the Cayenne S upgrades with a 340-hp, 4.5-litre V8. For the true power-hungry, the spirited Cayenne Turbo goes above and beyond with its twin-turbocharged 4.5-litre V8 that produces 450 horsepower and 457 lb-ft of torque.

Built on the same platform as the Porsche Cayenne, the Volkswagen Touareg has its own, entirely distinct design, and can be ordered with two different engines: a 3.2-litre, 240 horsepower V6 or the optional 4.2-litre, 310-hp V8.

Saab, on a final note, is also joining the SUV market this year with its new 9-7X. Built on a much-revised version of GM's mid-size SUV architecture shared by the aforementioned TrailBlazer, Envoy and Rainier, the 9-7X uses the same 275-hp, 4.2-litre inline six or 300-hp, 5.3-litre V8, but it offers distinctive styling with a definite Swedish accent, and Saab-specific chassis settings.

Click to enlarge

The popular Jeep Grand Cherokee has been entirely redesigned for 2005 and offers a greater selection of engines than ever.

Click to enlarge

The all-new, second-generation, 2006 Mercedes-Benz M-Class is longer, wider, restyled and now built on a unit-body architecture. Its engines are a 268-hp, 3.5-litre V6 or an optional 302-hp, 5.0-litre V8.

Click to enlarge

The original Ford Explorer launched the 4-door SUV craze that is still unabated. This perennial top-seller was redesigned two years ago, getting a independent rear suspension and an optional third-row bench.

Click to enlarge

Nissan's Pathfinder has been entirely redesigned for 2005. Now with body-on-frame architecture, with 7-passenger reating, it is powered by a 270-hp, 4.0-litre V6 coupled to a 5-speed automatic gearbox.

Click to enlarge

Saab joins the SUV market this year with the new 9-7X, built on a version of GM's mid-size SUV platform with Saab-specific chassis settings and powered by a 275-hp, 4.2-litre inline six or a 300-hp, 5.3-litre V8.

Click to enlarge

The 2005 Toyota Highlander Hybrid will soon be available with the same V6-based, 270-horsepower, gas-electric Hybrid Synergy Drive power train as the Lexus RX 400h.

Click to enlarge

Honda's Ontario-built Pilot can seat up to eight and it is powered by a 3.5-litre, 240-hp V6 engine coupled to a 5-speed automatic gearbox.

Click to enlarge

The elegant Volkswagen Touareg offers the choice of a 3.2-litre, 240-horsepower V6 or a 4.2-litre, 310-horsepower V8, both with DOHC.

Click to enlarge

Toyota's rugged 4Runner's standard engine is an a 245-hp, 4.0-litre V6 but its optional engine is a smooth-running 4.7-litre V8 that now develops a full 270 horsepower.

Click to enlarge

The rugged-looking Mitsubishi Endeavor is powered exclusively by a 3.8-litre, 215-hp V6 engine, with a 4-speed automatic gearbox.

Diesel Engines Are Coming Back

Far from the smelly and messy clatter traps of twenty years ago, cars and SUVs powered by modern diesel engines run cleaner and more efficiently as automakers increase and improve the offer.

Guess what's coming back: Diesel engines.

Automakers have introduced new diesel-powered models during 2004, and there are more in the pipeline.

Mercedes-Benz, which in 1936 debuted the 260 D, the world's first diesel car, is offering its first diesel model in several years: the 2005 E 320 CDI sedan.

With a highway fuel economy rating of 6.3 L/100 km (44 mpg) and a whopping 369 lb/ft of torque coming on as low as 1800 rpm, the six-cylinder-powered E 320 CDI can appeal to both fuel-conscious buyers and sport-minded drivers.

Indeed, the E 320 CDI's torque is 59 per cent greater than the 232 lb/ft at 3000 to 4800 rpm of the E 320 sedan's gasoline engine. The 201-horsepower diesel sedan's 0-100 km/h of 8.3 seconds is very close to the 7.7 seconds we recorded aboard the 221-hp E 320 gasoline-fed model, with our trusty electronic accelerometer.

Outstanding Diesels for SUVs Too
Not to be outdone, Volkswagen is now offering its award-winning 5.0-litre turbodiesel V10 in what has become the top model of the Touareg sport-utility line-up. This state-of-the-art engine delivers an amazing 553 lb/ft of torque at 2000 rpm, which helps vault the Touareg TDI from 0 to 100 km/h in a truly amazing 7.2 seconds, while letting this three and a half ton (3155 kg / 6956 lb) luxury SUV consume only 10.8 litres of diesel fuel per 100 kilometres of highway.

Moreover, VW has again made available a turbocharged diesel engine in its Passat GLS mid-size sedans and wagons. This thoroughly-modern 2.0-litre power plant has leading-edge common rail injection technology and produces a modest 134 horsepower but an impressive 247lb/ft of torque at a low 1900 rpm: Enough to accelerate the sedan from 0 to 100 km/h in an average of 10.4 seconds, in our usual electronic measures. A thoroughly acceptable performance, coupled to a highway fuel economy rating of 6.9 L/100 km.

For the 2005 model year, Jeep is adding a 2.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder diesel to the list of options for its Liberty SUV. This new Italian-made (by top diesel specialist VM Motori) engine delivers a 295 lb/ft torque peak, which is more than even the Liberty's 3.7-litre gas V6 engine, rated at 235 lb/ft.

While larger SUVs such as the Ford Excursion have been offered with diesel engines over the years, the Liberty marks the first smaller-size SUV to offer a diesel option in almost twenty years, in the North American market. Ironically, Jeep had also been the last to have such a model: The Jeep Cherokee equipped with an optional Renault-built, 81-hp turbodiesel unit and first offered as a 1985 model.

All this comes at a moment when consumers are becoming more familiar with fuel-efficient gasoline-electric hybrids and begs the questions: Why diesels-and why now?

Diesels Didn't Disappear
Many consumers might have thought that diesel-powered passenger vehicles had, for the most part, disappeared from the market. It's true that interest in diesels on this continent, particularly in cars, had faded since the early 1980s when car buyers were more focused on fuel efficiency. Back then, even General Motors built and sold diesel-powered cars in this country.

As the memory of the oil shocks of the 1970s went away, buyers began to eschew diesels in favour of internal combustion engines that burn gasoline. Truth was, the old diesels could be loud, making the usual diesel engine racket under the hood. They were often also smelly, with telltale blue or black smoke, and familiar fuel odours emitting from the tailpipe.

"The technology of the time left a bad taste in the mouths of many and a lot of bad memories of smokey, smelly, clatter-trap cars," acknowledged Dieter Zetsche, president and chief executive officer at Chrysler.

With publicized concerns cropping up over the years about diesel emissions possibly being deleterious to health, it's not surprising that the demand for diesels in this country fell. However, diesel demand continued in the large pickup truck segment, where torque, towing performance, better fuel economy and long-term durability are areas where diesels can excel.

Europe Embraces Diesels
Diesels certainly didn't disappear in Western Europe, where they represent an estimated 35 per cent to 40 per cent of new models sold. Indeed, anyone who has visited France, Italy or Austria lately can attest to the widespread use of diesel cars. In France, diesels are in an estimated 60 per cent of new cars sold. In Austria: it's 70 per cent or more.

Chief reasons for popularity of diesels in Europe: The price of diesel is lower than that of gasoline, and diesel engines have greater fuel efficiency than gasoline engines. (It helps that filling stations often provide free gloves to keep drivers' hands from getting that diesel smell on them.)

Europeans also have come to prize the new diesel engines for their strong torque - an amazing amount of get up and go can be found in a diesel car - and for their durability.

Diesel Progress
Diesels has been improving and aren't the same as they were about 20 years ago.

Today's diesel engines for cars tend to use Common-rail Direct Injection technology - which is what the "CDI" in the Mercedes E 320 CDI model stands for, for example. This rail is a shared delivery "pipe" for all fuel injectors and allows the diesel fuel to get into engine cylinders at a consistent, very highly pressurized rate - roughly 23,000 psi in the E 320 CDI.

Electronic fuel injection systems used in today's diesel cars allow for varied injection timing and adjustment of the quantity of fuel injected, so vehicles can better respond to driver demands. Diesel engines for today's cars also tend to be turbocharged to ensure strong performance characteristics.

The electronics and common rail technology, along with newer particulate filter installations, have also helped the newer diesel engines better meet ever-stricter diesel emission regulations.

Things will get even better when cleaner diesel fuel, with less sulphur content than what is currently allowed, becomes available in this country. The currently timetable is for 2006.

North America Changing
No one in the auto industry is predicting that North Americans will join Europeans in their level of interest in diesels. Nonetheless, there are signs that things here are changing.

As gasoline prices increased over the last few years and even more so in recent months, Mercedes-Benz officials note that they have received regular requests from consumers who remember the carmaker's diesel-powered cars.

There are plenty to remember, since in the early 1980s more than 75 per cent of the Mercedes cars sold on this continent were diesel-powered. The last Mercedes with a diesel engine in this country was the E 300 Turbodiesel, which left the market in 1999.

Bharat Balasubramanian, vice president of engineering technologies and regulatory affairs at the Mercedes car group, said more than 50 per cent of the diesel-powered cars sold on the continent are "still running here on the roads."

Volkswagen, which never stopped selling diesel-powered versions of its Golf and Jetta models over the years and currently offers diesels in its New Beetle and Passat models, says its diesels are well received and never languish on dealer lots.

Indeed, a base Golf GL four door with 2-litre four-cylinder gasoline engine and manual transmission is rated at 9.8 L/100 km in city driving and 7.6 L/100 km on the highway. By comparison, a Golf GL four door with 1.9-litre turbocharged four-cylinder diesel engine is rated at 6.2 L/100 km in the city and 5.1 L/100 km on the highway.

Note that the 100-horsepower diesel engine in the Golf generates 177 lb/ft of torque starting as low as 1800 rpm and continuing to 2400 rpm for good acceleration and response, while the 115-horsepower gas engine in the Golf GL develops only 122 lb/ft of torque at 2600 rpm.

Challenges Ahead
Consumers need to know and be convinced that diesel engines of today aren't the same as the noisy ones from 20 years ago.

The best way to evaluate diesels is to test drive the new models that have them and compare these vehicles, back to back, with gasoline-powered versions of the same models.

The results could surprise you. For example, the '05 Mercedes-Benz E 320 CDI contains extra soundproofing and engine technology to help reduce the usual diesel engine rattle, or clatter, that's usually heard under the hood.

As a result, some consumers might be hard-pressed to notice, by the sound, that this new model is a diesel. Tests by Mercedes show the car is the quietest diesel the company has ever offered in Canada, with sounds at idle a mere 44 decibels compared with 42 decibels for the comparable gasoline-powered E-Class sedan. At full throttle, the diesel model actually is slightly quieter than the gasoline model, with noise measured at 72 decibels vs. 76 decibels from the gasoline engine.

Meantime, automakers are examining price in the whole consumer-appeal equation.

VW's Touareg with 310-horsepower V10 has a starting MSRP of $85,400. This is a stout $22,090 more than a Touareg with a 4.2-litre V8 that also delivers 310 horsepower but only 302 lb/ft of torque between 3000 and 4000 rpm.

Diesel cars in Europe typically come with a smaller price premium of $1,400 or more, versus a comparable gasoline model.

In Canada, VW's diesel-powered Golf GL hatchback with a manual transmission has a starting MSRP of $22,290, which is $2,060 higher than a comparable gasoline-powered Golf GL.

Mercedes put a $1,400 price premium on its 2005 E 320 CDI over the 2005 E 320 gasoline-powered six-cylinder sedan. The E 320 CDI has a starting MSRP of $74,400, to the latter's $73,000.

Despite all the changes, though, only time will tell how receptive Canadian consumers are to the rising number of diesel offerings.

But when some of our readers in Alberta start expressing an interest in diesel-powered cars because of rising fuel prices, we are inclined to believe that their more modern proponents have a bright future.

Click to enlarge

Jeep is bringing back the diesel engine's superior torque and frugality to the mid-size SUV class 20 model years after offering it in its landmark Cherokee.

Click to enlarge

The Jeep Liberty CRD's engine is a 2.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder unit by Italian diesel specialist VM Motori. It delivers a sturdy 295 lb/ft of torque.

Click to enlarge

Mercedes-Benz pioneered diesel engines in passenger cars, back in 1936. This 2005 E 320 CDI sedan is its first diesel automobile since 1999.

Click to enlarge

The Mercedes-Benz E 320 CDI's state-of-art 3.2-litre engine also uses high-pressure 'common-rail' direct injection to increase efficiency and lower emissions and fuel consumption.

Click to enlarge

Volkswagen's support of the diesel engine never wavered in North America. For more than three decades, it was championed by its Rabbit, Golf (here), Jetta and Passat model lines.

Click to enlarge

VW's award-winning, hugely powerful and remarkably stingy 5.0-litre turbodiesel V10 was offered here only briefly, under the hood of the carmaker's Touareg luxury SUV.

Click to enlarge

Smart currently offers the littlest diesel engine in Canada; a 0.8-litre, 41-horsepower three-cylinder unit, as the only power plant available in its new Fortwo Cabrio and Coupé models.

Pentax Optio S60

It’s been awhile, but Pentax finally released a new camera last week dubbed the Optio S60. It’s a 6 megapixel camera with a 2.5-inch LCD screen, 3x optical zoom, and a “simple mode” feature that lets the camera pick out optimal settings for a particular shot. Powered by two AA batteries, it has 11 Mb internal memory, and an SD card slot. Available in October 2005 for under $300.

Pentax Optio S60 Digital Camera [MobileWhack]

Nokia N90 Review (Verdict: It’s Hot)

As if we weren’t coveting this already. InfoSync World got their hands on the crazy-awesome swivel-camphone, the Nokia N90, and summarily said to it: We love you, and want to have your babies. Sure it’s a bulky phone at 173 grams and 112 x 51 24 mm, but it has a good reason for that — the lovely 2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. Yeah, so the external display isn’t too hot with only about 65k color depth, but it does its job by showing the signal strength, battery life, caller ID, and incoming text messages. But the internal display makes up for it, with 2.1” screen, 352 x 416 resolution, 262k color, and adjustable brightness. And let’s not forget the crazy swivel action that makes this look like a camcorder. The camera also comes packed with auto white balance and adjustable exposure, which is pretty good for a cameraphone.

One more caveat: the N90’s power input is not compatible with standard Nokia chargers. But a conversion dongle is included, so that’s solved too. Add this all up with solid Series 60 software, and the N90 sounds like one of the better all-in-one cellphones out there. Still no idea how much this thing will cost stateside, but it’s currently going for about 725 Euros.

Nokia N90 [InfoSync World]

Sun Denshi Waterproof MP3 Player - Ready for Its Shower Scene

Waterproof audio devices are a strange breed. They fill a niche that a lot of us didn’t even know we had, namely the desire to place electrical devices near our naked, wet bodies. This 32MB MP3 player—PLEASE NOTE: Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to attach the player to a laptop for music reloading while the shower is operational—looks like a bulbous blue shower bug and even includes a waterproof AC adapter. I’m going to assume it has an FM tuner, but no mention of it appears.

Sing in the Shower: Sun Denshis Waterproof MP3 Player [AkibaLive]

Samsung YH-J70 Launched

Samsung is dropping MP3 players all over the place. The YH-J70 is a 20GB player with color screen that will sell for about $299 and offers video playback, voice recording, photo viewing, and everything the iPod Photo should have but doesn’t.

Samsung’s YH-J70 Now Available For Purchase In The U.S. [SamsungHQ]

Samsung SV-L77DMB: Portable DMB-capable DVD player

More Samsung goodness. This time, it’s the Samsung SV-L77DMB, a portable DVD player that’s capable of playing DMB as well as these other formats: DVD, DiVx, VCD, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, JPEG, MP3, and WMA. It has a 7-inch TFT screen that has a 16:9 aspect ratio, TV out, auto preset tuning for DMB, bookmark functionality, and a battery life of 240 minutes. You can also get a car kit for in-car viewing, in case you want to increase your likelihood of an accident. No idea on price or availability so far, but we’re guessing it’s Asia-only.

Samsung SV-L77DMB a portable DMB-capable DVD player [New Launches]

Sniper Detection System

Not to be flip, but pretty soon NATO is going to be walking into battle zones in AT-ATs. This sniper detection system is just incredible. It’s an array of microphones aimed in different directions that can pick up and triangulate the location of sniper fire even in noisy locations. They’re currently testing them on Hummers in Iraq and a processing unit estimates the direction, elevation, and distance of a sniper after the first shot fired.

Vehicle-mounted Acoustic Sniper Detection System [Gizmag]

Mindprint TRIO: USB 2.0 Studio-in-a-box

I have no idea what that labyrinth shape on the front is about, but the TRIO has some real appeal for gigging live. It features built-in analog-style compressor, EQ, and filter effects for your mic or instrument, all of which operate in standalone mode if you want to leave the computer offstage. Three independent speaker outputs plus two independent headphone amps mean you can easily set up listening levels for monitoring while you play that new tune about how much you hate your ex. Or how the robots will take over, depending on your genre. -P. Kirn

Mindprint TRIO: Audio Interface/FX Good for Mobile Music? [Create Digital Music]

Hitachi DZ-GX20A DVD Camcorder Reviewed (Verdict: Nope)

As reviewer David Elrich points out, Hitachi may be spreading itself a bit too thin. Their latest camcorder offering is quite sub-par with poor 2-megapixel pictures and, worst of all, bad video.

I mean you can make bullet trains but you can’t make a camcorder that takes good video? For shame, Hitachi.

Hitachi DZ-GX20A [DesignTechnica]

Black RAZR V3 Phone Unveiled by Motorola Korea

Hey, check out how the Motorola black RAZR V3 mobile phone is being unveiled by Motorola Korea at Seoul Cinema. It's always interesting to see how products are promoted in different markets. Motorola’s special-edition black RAZR V3 cellphone is one of the slimmest phones on the market, you knew that right? The new RAZR, MOTO Q Smartphone , and more Motorola mobile phones were also presented at the recent MOTONOW 2005 event.

Motorola black RAZR Key Features
* External dimensions: 13.9 x 55 x 98 millimeters
* Weight: 95 grams
* External color display
* Picture caller ID
* Nickel-plated copper-alloy chemically-etched keypad
* Internal display: 2.2 inch 176 x 220 pixel 64K color TFT display
* External display: 96x80 pixels 4k color CSTN CLI
* EL keypad illumination panel
* Internal quad-band antenna
* Integrated VGA camera with 4x zoom
* Integrated Class 1 Bluetooth® wireless technology
* 22kHz polyphonic speaker with MP3 ringer support
* MPEG4 video Playback
* 3D Graphics Engine
* Java™ MIDP 2.0
* Dedicated Messaging & Browser keys

Continue reading "Black RAZR V3 Phone Unveiled by Motorola Korea" »

Apple's Big Announcement

Apple Computer is planning a "special event" on September 7 in San Francisco, according to ZDNet. A big announcement has been expected from Apple after rumors of a new cellphone or portable video device, or possibly new iPod and Apple Mac products. The invitation to the event that went out to press reads: "1000 songs in your pocket changed everything. Here we go again"

So the question is: What is coming?

Motorola iTunes iPod phone?
Apple iPod video player?
Apple Mac Tablet computer?

Recent Apple announcements include:

Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple iTunes with Podcasting
Apple with Intel inside

‘Caddy’ system golf gadget uses GPS to give exact measurements to the hole

A new handheld device is, um, seriously teeing off golf’s governing bodies. The gadget uses GPS technology to pull down exact distances to the current hole, as well as all the bunkers, ponds, greens, etc. en route. Traditionalists are pushing for a ban on the £249 device which will be available to consumers starting next month, contending that the system essentially amounts to cheating. Traditional caddies are worried the device will put them out of business, as they make a living from their in depth knowledge of the local courses. Of course, golf’s governing bodies don’t have any control over amateurs like your Uncle Bob, who already pre-ordered his.

Design your own LEGO kit

File this under “wish I had this when I was little”: LEGO is starting a new program called LEGO Factory where you can download a desktop application that allows you to create a custom brick design. You can take the designs you create using the LEGO Digital Designer software, upload them to the LEGO website, and actually order a kit of LEGO bricks that will make the design you spec’d out. Sweeeeet! We really ought to finish this post but, um, we got some LEGOin’ to take care of — see ya!

Sony Ericsson’s Radiden handset

Sony Ericsson announced the “Radiden” today, a PDC handset intended for use with NTT’s 2G DoCoMo service. The name is a combination of “Radio” and “denwa” (means “phone”), and it looks like Sony Ericsson has made quite an effort to integrate the two. They claim that not only is it the world’s first phone to feature an integrated FM/AM/TV tuner (listen to audio from TV stations, no video), but it features what they call a “Dual Front Design,” where one side is for phone and the other for radio. Each side also has its own LCD, operational controls, and power control. Unfortunately, the Radiden offers no camera, i-Appli support (though i-Mode internet and mail are there), Bluetooth, infrared, or external memory support. Not the most balanced trade-off we’ve ever seen, but at least now we understand where Samsung and XM might eventually be going with that deal they made.

Pioneer’s BRD-101A white-label Blu-ray burner

Not that we’d judge who ultimately wins the HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray battle by which of the two competitors get their beige-box OEM drives to market first, but you’ve got to appreciate Pioneer’s BRD-101A. The drive hits up dual-layer DVD±R/RWs, and, of course, the next gen optical format—but not CDs, oddly. Guess that third laser was just too much. Still, something tells us this thing’s going to cost slightly more than most white-label devices.

[Via Akihabara News]

Samsung’s YH-J70 finally hitting the shelves

It’s certainly been long enough since we first heard about the YH-J70, but it looks like Samsung’s heavy push into the digital audio player market’s finally yielding some sort of fruit. We’re not sure how long they’ve made it available, but it looks like you can finally pick up one of their YH-J70s for $299.99. Not bad, but we’re holding out for our YP-U1s to arrive in the mail… any day now. They’re not coming, are they?

W32.Wullik.B@mm worm burrows into shipping Zen Neeon

Looks like somebody turned off the virus scanner at the Creative production plant—it would appear that about 3,700 5GB Zen Neeons shipped since July might have possibly been packing a W32.Wullik.B@mm payload. Of course, if you don’t go running conspicuous applications found on your device and have some cursory virus scanning going on you’ll probably be ok just to wipe the damned thing out of box, but somehow we have a feeling there’ll be an unfortunate few for whom this won’t be too fond an experience.

[Via Engadget Japanese]

Logitech intros V20 USB-powered laptop speakers

Logitech just introduced a new pair of speakers designed for use with laptops. We can’t tell you anything about the most important part — how they sound — but we do know that the V20s will set you back about $80US and are USB powered so you won’t have to lug around a power brick with them. The speakers also come with integrated multimedia controls and a handy collapsable stand. They’re also both Mac and PC compatible. Look for them in the US early next month — our friends in Europe will have to wait till October to get their hands on them.

The Olympus SP-500UZ

10x optical zoom: check. 2.5-inch screen: check. 6 megapixel CCD: check. RAW support, 10MB internal memory, VGA movie recording, yup, the Olympus SP-500UZ has all that—too bad they insist on continuing to use those XD cards. The £300 (about $540 US) pricetag sounds about right though; expect it in October.

The Olympus Stylus 600

Next up from Olympus today, the Stylus 600, a new six megapixel model with a 2.5-inch LCD, a 3x optical zoom lens, PictBridge support, in-camera red eye removal, and a built-in help guide if you have trouble figuring out how to do something (which is of course useless to you if thing you can’t figure out is how to turn on the camera or find the help guide). Should hit stores next month with a retail price of $300.

The Olympus SP-350 and 310

Olympus got some more for you this morning—their new SP-350 and SP-310 strike a mid-range chord as 8.0 and 7.1 megapixel offerings (respectively), featuring 2.5-inch screens, 3x optical zoom lenses, hot shoes, and more RAW support goodness. Expect these to hit in October as well for £310 and £270, respectively (that’s about $560 and $485 US).

Continue reading “The Olympus SP-350 and 310”

Mod your laser printer to totally shred

If your printer had a “reverse” button, it might work something like the modded Xerox laser printer cooked up by InventGeek’s Jared Bouck. After gutting most of the printer’s internals, Jared added new circuitry and a shredding unit, with the end result being a desktop shredder that can slice through 25 pages a minute. Of course, the mod ended up costing more than many pre-made shredders, and you can forget about using your laser as a printer once you’ve done this, but if those things really matter to you, chances are you’re not going to attempt this mod in the first place.

[Via Slashdot]

The Krystal Electronic Light Showerheads

When you’re living the life of luxury, it’s the details that count. And we don’t know about you, but we can only shower in water that’s run over crystal, gold, or some other semi-precious substance—enter Ondine Living’s Krystal Electronic Light Showerheads. Kind of like the Hansa faucet, but somehow far more gauche and ostentatious.

[Via MoCoLoCo]

The Archos Gmini 500

Those two updated versions of the Gmini 400, the Gmini 402 and the Gmini 402, didn’t exactly set us on fire, so you can probably understand why we got all excited at the prospect of Archos introducing a new Gmini 500. Prepare to be disappointed. Not sure what their master plan is here, but to our tired eyes this looks exactly like a rebadged version of the AV500. Sure, there are few minor differences in the specs department, but this wasn’t exactly the upgrade we’d been waiting for.

Mitsubishi’s Wakamaru

They’re only making 100 consumer-available Wakamaru bots (which is good, because they’re selling ‘em for ¥1,575,000, about $14,300 US), but Mitsubishi believe this little child-bot that has a listening vocabulary of about 10,000 words and face recognition for up to ten people will be able to take care of the place while the master’s away. We’d just like to see it vacuuming with its older brother, the Dyson.

Peugeot actually made a Moovie

Hard to imagine what a rollover would be like in the Moovie, but believe it or not Peugeot has something to show for that Design Contest they held a few years back. Granted, you probably couldn’t take it offroading or some such nonsense, but as an electric city car two-seater with the ability to turn nearly 360° in place and crazy porthole like doors, it may not matter all that much what you can do without outside insane parallel parks. No word on whether they actually want to mass produce these things (something tells us they’re still trying to get their flying car out the door), but we certainly wouldn’t refuse one if it showed up on our doorstep in a basket.

The Olympus FE-120, FE-110, and FE-100 >

And last up from Olympus today, three new low-end cameras, the six megapixel FE-120, the five megapixel FE-110, and the four megapixel FE-100:


The FE-120 is pretty standard for an entry-level six megapixel consumer digital camera; it has a 3x optical zoom lense, a 1.8-inch LCD, and should retail for $250.

Read



The FE-110 and the FE-100 are pretty much the same camera, apart from their resolution. Each has an unreasonably small 1.5-inch LCD and a 2.8x optical zoom lens. We get that these are both on the budget tip, but with all the other options out there it’s hard to imagine an informed consumer picking either of these up.

Read

Yet another wristband medical monitor

Another day, another wristband monitor for patients. This one, from Israel’s Tadiran Spectralink, monitors a patient’s vitals and transmits the data to a central computer via GPRS. The unit, to be marketed under the name MDKeeper, also allows wearers to initiate a text message to an emergency response center, a function that’s become common on other monitoring units targeted at the “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” set.

Fujitsu Releases Two New Tablet PCs

Seemingly confident in the future of Tablet PCs, Fujitsu released two new Tablet PC models today; the Lifebook T4020 and the Stylistic ST5032. The Lifebook is a convertible tablet, whereas the Stylistic is a slate-style tablet. Both will feature a 12.1” XGA display with 160 degree viewing angle, optional Bluetooth, fingerprint sensor, and a choice of either Atheros Super AG or Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Wi-Fi connectivity. The Lifebook T4020 will have either Intel Pentium M 740 or 760 processors, whereas the Stylistic ST5032 will feature an Intel Pentium M 753 processor. The Stylistic model has a few extra features like a shock-mounted hard drive and a dedicated Smart Card slot.

Retail price for the Lifebook T4020 starts at $1,599, while the Stylistic ST5032 is selling for $2,499. Both are available now via Fujitsu’s website.

Product Page: Lifebook T4020 [Fujitsu]
Product Page: Stylistic ST5032 [Fujitsu]
Press Release [Fujitsu]
Fujitsu unveils LifeBook T4020 and Stylistic ST5032 tablets [InfoSync World]

Armored iPod

This iPod has more armor than most of our troops in Iraq. Since the page is in Japanese—and appears to have been published back in 2004—I have no idea whether it saw the front lines or was simply a one-off casemod for a tin-can robot. All I want to know is, where can I get an armband to go jogging with this thing?

Update: Here’s the real story. This guy’s 2-day old iPod got crushed during a commuter train ride. The face plate cracked and the stainless steel back was even dented. Rush hour train rides in Japan create murderous pressure on an iPod because you get shoved and packed into the cabins. That gave him the idea to build this armored aluminum case to protect it. He even gives the specs to replicate the design here: http://homepage.mac.com/sideriver/cubesite/zuko/iPodcase.pdf

[Thanks Phil and Didier!]

Armor plate for iPod Photo [Project Page]

MobiBLU Boxster

Okay, it’s not exactly Monster Garage, but these folks have hot-modded the new MobiBLU into the audio panel of a Porsche Boxster. The gear required to do this costs around $20—Boxster sold separately.

Gear & Gadgets… [Rainy Day Magazine]

Apple iTunes Music Store Raising Prices?

Apple's iTunes Music Store is feeling the pressure from major record labels to raise the price of an iTunes song download. If Apple gives in, the price of a song may go up from the current 99 cents, to $1.49 per song. Apple iTunes has alot of power in the music industry now, since Apple dominates online digital music sales with an estimated 75%, and about 80% of MP3 player sales with the iPod.

"I don't think it's time yet," said Jimmy Iovine, the chairman of Interscope Records, Universal's biggest division. "We need to convert a lot more people to the habit of buying music online. I don't think a way to convert more people is to raise the price. "I believe that he really feels that everybody isn't hooked yet into the whole concept," Mr. Iovine said, referring to Mr. Jobs. "You make it affordable, at a reasonable price, so they can learn about it. It's not an unreasonable position."

I'm hoping Steve Jobs will pull a fast one, and lower iTunes music prices even more! I doubt that will happen though.

read more | New York Times

Samsung i300 scores FCC approval

Two days in a row now for the Samsung i300: yesterday it was revealed that UK carrier O2 is all set to offer the new 3GB musicphone sometime later this year, today PhoneArena reports that the i300 has gotten FCC clearance to be sold here in the States. As we’ve said before, FCC approval doesn’t guarantee a US release, but it does at least mean that it’s possible now and that there’s a chance that Samsung is shopping it around to carriers.

Apple and the major labels headed for a showdown over iTMS pricing

It’s no secret that a few of the major labels have been feeling a little, uh, antsy about the price Apple charges for downloads at the iTunes Music Store letting Apple sell music, they’ve been making noise for months now about how they feel like they’re getting a raw deal, and the New York Times reports that at least two of the biggies are headed for a showdown with Steve and co. No label is definitely pulling out or anything, at least not yet, but apparently the labels are putting pressure on Apple to loosen up the pricing structure and let them charge more for new hit songs and less for cuts from the back catalog. Oh, and they’re also annoyed that Apple won’t open up and let other manufacturers license its FairPlay DRM or allow the iPod to play DRM’d downloads from other online shops (either move would probably broaden the customer base for downloads).

We totally get why the labels might want to have the flexibility to charge more for some songs and less for others (basic supply and demand), but they already get about 70 cents of every 99 cent iTMS download and so jacking up the price of new music would probably be one of those smooth moves that merely results in plenty of customers returning to P2P services where they can get the same music for free (and without all that DRM nastiness).

The Rio Carbon C: what could have been

So after the announcement of Rio’s demise yesterday we were finally able to come out with the insider details we weren’t legally able to show you before. For a couple weeks now we’ve been sitting on a 90-page user manual sent to us from a reliable unnamed high-level Rio employee on the no-longer-forthcoming Rio Carbon C, what was to be their 2005 flagship device. But man, talk about rubbing salt into open wounds—the Carbon C was set to outclass pretty much everything out there.

So what was it going to sport? Well, to start it was going to have 20 and 30GB drive models, a high res screen, theme support, scroll wheel, dock, remote (sigh), USB charging, mass-storage compliancy, line-in/FM recording, PlaysForSure, picture viewer, and, of course Audible and MP3 support. (FLAC and OGG support were not mentioned in the manual.)

It might also frustrate you to learn that they had plans to bring the regular old Carbon up to 8GB, and that the Carbon C was so close we could almost taste it. Like, they were seriously entering production about to ship these things for the holidays—it was freaking done. Ah well, c’est la vie.

Continue reading “The Rio Carbon C: what could have been”

Verizon cutting EV-DO prices?

Is Verizon Wireless getting ready to drop what it charges for accessing EV-DO on a laptop? Reuters is reporting that they’re expected to announce a price cut from $80 to $60 a month in order to rope in as many new subscribers as possible before Sprint Nextel has a chance to go nationwide with its own high-speed EV-DO network. We’re completely and utterly addicted to EV-DO now, but even sixty bucks a month is probably more than they should be charging if they really, really, really want to expand their subscriber base. Don’t just try and edge out Sprint: if Verizon made the price competitive with DSL and cable they’d easily scoop up a fair number of people who’d rather have EV-DO everywhere than just broadband at home.

Chaos Cat-Attack! It’s Chaotic! (Now featuring Chaos Wand)

Scientists across the globe have dedicated their lives and millions of dollars of research funds into making sure your cat has a good time. Apparently this was designed from chaos theory research.

The Cat Attack uses the latest research in chaos theory and complex systems to emulate the movements and personality of a cat’s favorite prey. This “virtual mouse” technology utilizes algorithms based on a six-dimensional coupled nzmap system modeled on the neural network of a real mouse.

On top of that, the Cat-Attack even has a bouncy poof ball! Wowee! This product is available for $20, which is a good price for such a revolutionary scientific cat toy.

Smart Medical Wristband

This wristband contains a memory chip that stores all of the drug information for any patient. Chips are also placed on drug containers, when the sensors are near each other the wristband determines whether the drug is the correct one. Now while this isn’t a fool proof system, it is definitely a step-up in dosage mistakes.

Apple iSight Review

CNET gives a "very good" Editor's rating in a review of the Apple iSight webcam.

CNET writes:
"The Apple iSight is hands down one of the best Webcams we've seen. Its sleek style, great image quality, sensitive microphone, and flawless integration with iChat and iMovie make it the perfect complement for any Mac computer." read full Apple iSight web cam review

From Apple

iSight is a state-of-the-art video camera that’s the easiest way to video conference with your colleagues, friends and family over broadband. Featuring an autofocusing autoexposure F/2.8 lens which captures high-quality pictures even in low lighting, iSight also includes a dual-element microphone in its stylish compact aluminum body.

Apple iSight details here

Apple iTunes Music Store Raising Prices?

Apple's iTunes Music Store is feeling the pressure from major record labels to raise the price of an iTunes song download. If Apple gives in, the price of a song may go up from the current 99 cents, to $1.49 per song. Apple iTunes has alot of power in the music industry now, since Apple dominates online digital music sales with an estimated 75%, and about 80% of MP3 player sales with the iPod.

"I don't think it's time yet," said Jimmy Iovine, the chairman of Interscope Records, Universal's biggest division. "We need to convert a lot more people to the habit of buying music online. I don't think a way to convert more people is to raise the price. "I believe that he really feels that everybody isn't hooked yet into the whole concept," Mr. Iovine said, referring to Mr. Jobs. "You make it affordable, at a reasonable price, so they can learn about it. It's not an unreasonable position."

I'm hoping Steve Jobs will pull a fast one, and lower iTunes music prices even more! I doubt that will happen though.

O2 getting Samsung’s 3GB i300 musicphone

We haven’t heard a damn thing yet about this phone making an appearance Stateside, but the Inq says that it looks like UK carrier O2 is going to be getting the SGH-i300, that new music-centric Windows Mobile-powered Smartphone from Samsung with the 3GB hard drive. Sounds like they’re going to be selling it for around £80 with contract, not sure whether O2 will be limiting users’ ability to sync the phone with a PC — though we really hope not, since it’d be mighty expensive to load a 3GB drive up with pricey wireless downloads. (And yes, there’s been an almost unreasonable amount of Windows Mobile-related news lately.)

Michigan county using black boxes to rehabilitate drivers

A judge in Oakland County, Michigan is making use of black box technology to track driver’s who’ve been convicted of moving violations. Since implementing the program last year, District Court Judge Brian MacKenzie has order the devices installed into 14 defendants’ cars to track vehicle speed, acceleration, braking speed and turning speed. As part of a program called DRIVE (Driver Rehabilitation Incorporating Vehicular Education — yeah, clever), it targets reckless drivers and those with multiple driving infractions. The boxes emit a loud beep when the driver is speeding or accelerating too rapidly. The data is gathered and send to the driver’s probation officer on a monthly basis; eventually, they’ll be modified to be tracked by satellite. We guess the upside to all this is that at least the drivers are aware the box is there.

iRiver H10 5Go Pure is the H10 with no FM tuner

We’re scratching our heads over whether there’s a huge demand for this but you know, it’s not like we’ve run any focus groups on it or anything. The iRiver H10 5Go Pure is just the ol’ H10, but sans FM radio. The result is a cheaper player at 229 euro/$282 US. There ya go, cheapskates, don’t say iRiver never gave ya nothin’.

The Hot Fridge

We thought this fridge was hot — this fridge? It’s really hot. It makes use of what is usually wasted heat emitted from keeping the interior cool to keep food warm on top of the device. The experimental designed by Hae-jin Kim also uses fabric pocket bags for interior storage instead of the normal plastic shelving dealies, which supposedly increases air circulation and allows easier storage, with the drawback of encasing your food in what look sorta like body bags.

IR not dead, and actually getting faster

NTT DoCoMo, along with Sharp and Waseda University, have developed a new infrared standard that speeds up IR communication about 4 to 10 times. Dubbed IR Simple, it uses existing hardware and promises full backward compatibility with existing devices, and can be added as a firmware upgrade in the case of most mobiles. It’s nowhere near as big over here as it is in Japan, where it’s still going strong, but heck if it’s suddenly 4 to 10 times faster, maybe it’ll make a comeback like Twisted Sister. But without the hair.

GM will launch self-driving car in 2008

This will totally give new meaning to the term auto-pilot: GM will be launching a vehicle with an actual self-driving system in its 2008 Opel Vectra. That’s right — think KITT, people, but without the smarmy voice (well, we assume, anyway). It will be able to pilot itself even in heavy traffic at up to 60 mph, which is more than we can say for most of our friends, really. It’ll be using lasers, a video camera and a sophisticated computer brain to recognize signs and detect obstacles. Let’s hope the OS it uses is, um, extremely stable.

Ladies and gentlemen, the behemoth: Samsung’s M70 19-inch laptop

12, 13, 14, 15, 17-inches, nothing’s good enough to satisfy you. Well, fine. We promised there would be a 19-inch laptop, and here you freaking go. In fact, the Samsung M70 is so damned huge they had to take that 1680 x 1050 19-inch LCD and make it fully detachable with a DVI port. But it’s not like you’re going to get one here any time soon because of that American non-compete with Dell, so not only do you have to save up for the machine, but also for the trip to Korea to fetch one. And for the inevitable visits to the chiropractor.

New MSN Home Page, Messenger Releases In the Works

MSN is revamping yet again the MSN home page. No word on when the new design is likely to go live. Speaking of MSN, the folks over on TheHotfix.Net are sporting a list of alleged features for MSN Messenger 8.0. Microsoft only just released MSN Messenger 7.5 this week.

The Fastest Net Yet

Ultrafast broadband services from phone and cable companies could speed up your downloads to 15 megabits per second or more. And it is claimed that the pricing for these ultrafast internet connections will be competitive to the prices of dsl and cable today. Read more at

The Fastest Net Yet (PCWorld)

Mitsubishi accelerate electric car program

"The continually rising price of fuel has caused Mitsubishi to step up the development of an electric car.

Mitsubishi and Tokyo Electric Power Co. are jointly developing a new generation electric car, dubbed MIEV (Mitsubishi In-wheel motor Electric Vehicle) and is scheduled for production by 2008."

Read on at Stuff(NZ)

Elpida Japan makes world's fastest DDR RAM

"While many still don't employ DDR-2, Elpida recently announced that it has completed its first DDR-3 chip. The Japanese memory designer employed a dual-gate transistortechnology on a 90 nm process to reduce leakage and improve transistor performance. The new memory runs at a speed of 1,333MHz, doubling the current high-performance memory standard of 667MHz and besting the Samsung DDR-3 introduction of 1.06GHz."
Read on at Geek.com

LEDs are expected to eventually replace fluorescent lights in homes

LEDs are considered the fourth-generation light source in human history following fire, incandescent lamps and fluorescent lights.

Generally speaking, LEDs consume an eighth of the power of incandescent bulbs and half that of fluorescent lights, so they play a significant role in energy conservation."

Read on at Asahi.com

The HTC Universal: What do you want to know?

Man, if there was ever one gadget we were definitely not expecting to have fall into our laps this week, it’s the HTC Universal. It’s definitely big for something you’re supposed to use to make phone calls, but with great size comes great power, right? (There’s a good chance you have the spec sheet for this one memorized: this baby has Windows Mobile 5.0, WiFi, Bluetooth, a one megapixel camera, QWERTY keyboard, a VGA touch screen, a 520MHz processor, 96MB of ROM, 128MB of RAM, and an SD memory card slot.)

Normally we’d take a week or whatever and pump out a review, but we thought it’d be more fun to just ask you guys what you want to know about. Post your questions in the comments below and we’ll do our best to answer as many of them as we can in a future post.

UPDATE: Yikes, that’s a lot of questions! In fact, a lot more than we’d anticipated, can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to answer all, or even most, of them, but we promise we’ll do our best. Now just give us a few days, ok?

Nintendo to reveal the Revolution Controller next month?

SPOnG can be a little irregular in the credibility department, but they’re “confirming” with “100% certainty” that Nintendo is finally going to unveil the Revolution’s much-speculated-upon controller, as well as show off several different games running on the next-gen console, at next month’s Tokyo Games Show.

Robo Maxx budget robovac

No, that’s not a bad prop from the latest straight-to-video sci-fi movie, it’s the Robo Maxx, yet another budget robovac that’s not available in North America. This one’s selling for 49,00 Euros on Amazon.de (or about $60US). Unlike some other cheap bots, this looks to be an actual vacuum, not just a duster, although according to I4U, the reviews are a bit mixed, with some saying the dust container fills up too fast. Just don’t let your Robosapien see it or it might try comandeer it and make a getaway.

Tsukuba Express begins service

We’ve all seen the pictures from Japan: some guy wearing white gloves shoving people into a train so the doors can close. Yes, the Japanese take their trains quite seriously. That’s why when the new Tsukuba Express line that runs from Akihabara (in Tokyo) to Tsukuba (of racing fame, in Ibaraki) began service yesterday, over 300 people stood in the rain, camera in hand, to be onboard for the train’s maiden voyage. Why would we care? The Tsukuba Express is amongst the first trains in Japan to feature WiFi connectivity. This brings us to our next question: would you really have room to use even a tiny Japanese laptop on a train where there are some 50 people within 3 feet of you?

Survey says: 35.9% of US teens bought cellphones for texting

Well, we already know that texting in the US breaks down by age (which makes sense), and now according to a recent survey by the IDC and SMS.ac, 35.9% of teens acquired their cellphones for the sole or main purpose of texting, while only 13.3% of them wanna get all old skool and actually talk. Although, bear in mind the study was done by SMS.ac so it might not be, uh, completely without bias. We are a little curious about what exactly the other 50.8% of those kids are doing with their cellphones, though.

Gemini iKey portable USB recorder

This little box itself doesn’t have onboard storage — you need to plug in an external USB hard drive or thumb drive, and it’ll take a line signal, convert it to MP3 or WAV and transfer it to your storage device. Since the Gemini iKey doesn’t have any preamps, you’re not going to be recording Whitney’s next album on it or anything — but this could be useful for gigging bands or DJs who record their shows/sets. It could easily replace a minidisc solution since it saves time by recording directly to a drive. At $229 it’s also cheaper than something like the Edirol R-1, especially if you don’t have a stack of CF cards laying about.

Cellphone service coming to NYC subway stations

Of all the places we’d like better cellphone service, the New York subway system ranks pretty high on the list. It’s not that we want to hold conversations down in that endless maze of tunnels; somehow, we don’t think we’d be able to hear much over the endless din of inscrutable service announcements, Central American musicians and random insane screamers. But the idea of being able to send text messages or catch up on news during those interminable waits is very appealing — especially if when our train is delayed and we need to fill in our peeps. So, it’s good to know New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is requesting proposals from cellphone providers for exclusive rights to wire the city’s stations and platforms (no service is planned in the tunnels or trains themselves). Verizon, Cingular, Sprint and T-Mobile are all considering bidding on the contract which could be worth as much as $100 million over 10 years. The winning bidder would have to open their subway net to other providers, but could charge roaming fees. We’ve gotten used to not paying those, but we just might be willing to hand over a few cents per connection just to be able to check our mail while we’re down in the tube station at midnight.

Who needs virtual desktops when you have eight monitors?

File this under “Ebay of the day”: up for grabs is this decked out Dell system with dual Xeon 3.2 GHz processors, 4GB 266 MHz DDR SDRAM, two 146GB 10K RPM SCSI drives, 8X DVD+RW/+R and 16X DVD, and two Colorgraphic Xentera GT 4 Video Cards to run its eight screens. You know, we’re thinkin’ this would make the perfect gift for your favorite friendly Engadget editor.

Kodak EasyShare V570: exclusive pics

This one’s not yet been announced, but reader Jayson was kind enough to send in some shots of this new EasyShare V570 from Kodak. It’ll join the V530 and V550 in the Kodak Pocket Series, and is rocking 5 megapixels, 5X Dual Optical Ultrawide lenses, 5X zoom without requiring lens extension, a 2.5-inch display, included docking station, and an SD slot for storage. No word on price yet, but more eye candy after the jump.

Continue reading “Kodak EasyShare V570: exclusive pics”

iPulse stereo system for tripping out with your iPod

Yeah, Sharper Image, you always know how to accompany that next acid test. Behold iPulse, a stereo speaker system that adds a colorful LED lightshow to your otherwise mundane listening session. And just like that Pink Floyd laser show, it plays right in time with the music. For only $129.95, all this synaesthesia could be yours.

PS3 pricing strategy: is Sony bluffing?

Chris Morris at CNN/Money has an interesting theory on Sony’s insistence that the Playstation 3 will “be expensive” — are they bluffing? The advantage would be twofold: first, set consumer expectation high, then surprise them with something much lower, driving a potentially much larger buying rush. Secondly, lull Microsoft into thinking they can get away with sticking an extra high pricetag on the Xbox 360, scaring off some of its potential buyers. The other potential reason for crowing about high pricing expectations might be to force Microsoft to make the first move, thus prepping consumers to get beyond the cognitive barrier of paying more than $300 for a game console. And, you know, it’s not like we would be shocked and appalled to discover than Sony totally played the media on this one — what do y’all think?

Cowon iAudio A2 prices

Akihabara News scored some pics of Cowon’s sweet new PMP, the A2. We also now know it’ll do 10 hours of battery life in video mode and 18 in audio. When it rolls out (still no word on when!) it’ll be 420 euros ($517 USD) for the 30GB version, and 350 euros ($430) for the 20GB unit.

Continue reading “Cowon iAudio A2 prices”

Hands on with the Sirius S50

Well that was fast—our boys over at Droxy took a few to hook up with Sirius and catch a gander of the S50 that was announced yesterday. Apparently the total memory capacity of the thing is a GB, which sounds about right, and the Media Dial and Executive Radio are both looking pretty nice. Still, we were kind of bummed they didn’t announce a wearable device that got live satellite reception, but we’ll find a way to carry on with our lives. Somehow.

Sony’s mod W800i Speaker Cradle

Far be it from us to criticize Sony (or whomever actually produced this unit) for tearing a page out of the Eero Aarnio book of style in the case of this very simple W800 display unit / cradle. They could do far worse, as far as we’re concerned, than knocking off the Ball Chair—but we’ve been waiting for our Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair Treo cradle forever. Can someone please make that happen before we stoop to Ikea-replica lows?

Rio Audio, RIP: 1998 - 2005

It was a good seven years, but under the constant pressures of this mortal coil, our good friend Rio today succumbed to moving on from this temporal plane. Since shipping the first mass-market (and second altogether) digital audio player in 1998, the 32MB PMP300, Rio weathered storm after storm. After prevailing against the RIAA MP3 player backlash, Rio parent brand S3 merged with Diamond Multimedia to form SONICblue, only to be cut up and sold to D&M Holdings under the Digital Networks North America (DNNA) name, along with other withering SONICblue brands such as ReplayTV and Escient; after a brief comeback with their relatively popular line of Karma and Carbon devices, D&M once again cut up the business, selling Rio’s IP (including software and long-standing patents and patent applications) and engineering resources to chipset manufacturer SigmaTel. Today D&M announced to no great fanfare that they would be shuttering Rio’s doors permanently, though the Rio brand and trademark will not change hands as of this time. Like the orphan child with the heart of gold neglected its whole life until its premature and lonely death, we mourn the passing of Rio—loved so dearly but by so few.

The Pontus PAC-7002(B)

Forget docking your MP3 player with your computer, that’s so passé. This fall docking with your car stereo is way in—as with Pontus’ PAC-7002(B) in-dash player, which also includes a digital audio unit in sizes up to 512MB. It should support MP3, WMA, and OGG, but not an American release, so keep those unders unbunched. All this from the company with the immortal tagline, “We are willing to Expand Anthropocentricism.”

Hands on with the HTC Galaxy

The review is in French, which makes it of limited utility to most of you out there, but Mobinaute have what we believe is the very first hands on preview of the HTC Galaxy, HTC’s first Pocket PC with built-in GPS. Nothing too spectacular in the spec department — it runs Windows Mobile 5.0 and has a 300MHz processor, 64MB of Flash ROM, 32MB of RAM, a 2.8-inch, 320 x 240 pixel LCD screen, Bluetooth, WiFi, and an SDIO expansion card slot — but this pic of the Galaxy side-by-side with both the HTC Wizard and HP’s new iPAQ hw6515 should give you an idea of just how small it is (it’s the one on the right, by the way).

The Sirius One and Starmate Replay

Man, Sirius just keeps letting ‘em loose this week, but of the devices we’ve seen thusfar the One might be our favorite. Is it the old-school beeper styling with the top-mounted LCD display? Perhaps it’s the $80 pricetag. Or better yet, perhaps it’s the 2.8 x 4.5 x 0.8-inch footprint—in fact, it’s not unreasonably larger than their wearable S50, which isn’t actually a live sat rad receiver. But let’s not forget about the 5 x 1.9 x 0.8-inch Starmate Replay, which we saw earlier this week. It’ll feature a 44-minute time-shifting buffer, and a $130 pricetag.

Don’t forget the keys to your Sharp Mebius PC-NH50K

Yeah, it’s not too different than having a key to your car (outside the fact that they’re not as easily copied, of course), but for those rather concerned with the safety and security of their biz lappie, Sharp’s new Mebius PC-NH50K and PC-NH50AK require the insertion of a USB key to get booted. Of course, we have a strong feeling this key will be often kept in the very same laptop bag as the machine—thus without constant user diligence you just end up with an easy way to immediately lose access to your system. Might we recommend biometrics instead?

HTC Wizard coming to T-Mobile in October

Another big score for T-Mobile USA. Yesterday we were able to confirm that they’ll be getting the HTC Tornado, that new Windows Mobile-powered smartphone with built-in WiFi, now we’ve learned from an inside source that beginning in October T-Mob subscribers here in the US will be able to get all cozy with the HTC Wizard, too. No exact release date, but the price will probably (but not definitely) be somewhere around $400 or $500. This one probably won’t be an exclusive, since since supposedly Cingular is also getting the Wizard, but it’s good to see that T-Mobile is finally getting some decent phones, right?

iLounge’s Fall 2005 FM Transmitter Shootout

There are probably way more iPod FM transmitter accessories out there than there needs to be, but iLounge has a good roundup comparing six car units (Belkin’s TuneBase FM, DLO’s TransPod FM, Griffin’s RoadTrip [pictured at right], Kensington’s Digital FM Transmitter, Newer Technology’s RoadTrip! Plus and RoadTrip! 87.9FM) and six fully portable units (Belkin’s TuneCast II, BTI’s TuneStir, Griffin’s iTrip and iTrip LCD, Tekkeon’s MyPower FM, and XtremeMac’s AirPlay). Their picks for the best of the bunch? Kensington’s Digital FM Transmitter and NewerTechnology’s RoadTrip! Plus.

Engadget’s 2005 / 2006 Intel’s chip lineup cheatsheet

Well, summer’s drawing to a close, so it’s about time for Intel’s fall Developer Forum. Now that most of the news is in, we figured we’d give you bitheads a little something to chew on in the way of a cheatsheet to their new 2005 / 2006 product lineup. You Mac fans might also want to listen up too, since these are the chips that’re going to be running your next Power Mac and/or Power Book.

So the big news here is in their Napa mobile computing platform—this year’s take on what the Sonoma Centrino platform was late last year—and the processor at the heart of it all, codenamed Yonah, will be a dual-core mobile chip with 2MB of shared L2 cache and the ability to address 64GB of memory. Did we scare you off yet? No? Well, read on, there’s plenty to go around.

Continue reading “Engadget’s 2005 / 2006 Intel’s chip lineup cheatsheet”

Flexplay self-destructing DVDs coming to Japan

We thought the Flexplay self-destructing DVD was as dead as Divx before it (not the codec, the original locked-DVD format), but Convex Group, the investment company that owns Flexplay, hasn’t quite given up the ghost. Japan’s Nippon Shuppan Hanbai has apparently licensed the technology, which chemically renders a DVD physically unplayable two days after it’s first opened (i.e. exposed to oxygen), and is marketing it as 48DVD. We somehow don’t expect it to be any more successful in Japan than it’s been in its home market, and promoting “The Aviator” as an initial release isn’t going to help. Trust us, the schoolgirls who made “Titanic” one of the most popular foreign films in Japanese history aren’t going to settle for a mere 48 hours with Leo.

Bluetooth ads worry security experts

The latest Bluetooth-based ad campaign is worrying security types, who are concerned that it’ll encourage bad phone habits; namely, that consumers wowed by the ads will keep their Bluetooth connection open to receive anything that comes their way. “This is dangerous from a user behavior point of view,” said Patrick Runald, senior technical consultant at F-Secure. The new campaign, from British ad agency Filter, streams music and videos to cellphones, and Filter insists there’s no way the campaign can be spoofed. We’re not worried about that; we just don’t want unsolicited ads kicked to us by Bluetooth. So, don’t worry about bad security habits on our part; we’ll be blocking this one from the get-go.

Panasonic’s VIERA TH-65PX500 sub 9k 65-inch plasma

Ah, we remember those halcyon days as though they were only last week, when even small plasmas cost about $10,000 US, and a faint hope of the HDTV dream lingered o’erhead as we slept. But Panasonic’s announced they’re to sell a sub ¥1,000,000 ($9,000) 65-inch 3000:1 contrast ratio 1080p beast of a monster of an HDTV, the VIERA TH-65PX500. Funny how in this market now ten grand’ll get you low-end high-end.

Windows Vista Looks Slicker, Safer

Improved search and security in Beta 1 of Microsoft's new OS; but no sea change. Plus: two new Internet Explorers.

The first beta of Microsoft's Windows Vista clearly shows where the operating system is headed. Rather than a dramatic departure from Windows XP, Vista seems to refine the OS with sharper graphics and improved search and security. The new interface and other changes are definitely for the better, but some aspects of Vista--including its Virtual Folders--are a bit puzzling.

Described by company executives as "a plumbing release" containing only about half the features users will receive in the shipping version (still said to be on track for rollout in late 2006), Build 5112, aka Beta 1, was released on July 27 to 10,000 technical testers, with an additional half million IT pros and developers gaining access to the code (if not to tech support) via their respective Microsoft support groups.

Vista's Got the Look

Quite simply, the new OS looks cool. Vista's "aero glass" see-through window frames and green liquid-like progress bars resemble effects that Mac users have enjoyed for years. Vista's icons are representational: A document's icon is an image of that particular document, a file folder containing documents looks like a folder with papers inside--and the top-paper icon is an image of the first document in that folder (see image at left)

The ubiquitous standard application menu bar (the one with the File, Edit, View, and other menus) that traditionally appears just under the window frame has been relocated in Windows Vista and is now below the address bar--or dispensed with entirely. An additional menu bar in Windows Explorer provides several new options, such as the Aero theme's slider control that lets you enlarge or shrink icons. Navigating to a file or folder is much easier because folder names in the Address bar (for example, 'Administrator>Virtual Folders>Favorite Music') are now buttons you can click to go to that folder. Or you can jump straight to any subfolder by clicking the arrow and then choosing the folder from a drop-down menu. Finally, a preview pane at the bottom of the window provides information about the selected item; the kind of info varies by file type (see image at right). You can alter the size and location of the preview pane, or hide it.

Security Is Job One

Conscious of the security and reliability concerns that have plagued previous Windows releases, Microsoft is trying hard to overcome people's resistance to upgrading by proving that with Vista, things have changed. Based on my experience with Beta 1, the results of that effort remain to be seen. The most striking security innovation is the new Limited User account: A Limited User cannot install applications, but can perform routine tasks such as installing a new printer driver.

Microsoft's reviewer's guide promises a host of new security and reliability features--for example, the abilities to detect imminent component failure and recommend responses such as immediate data backup, as well as to detect during startup whether a system has been tampered with. While many of these features, along with improvements in deployment, troubleshooting, and management, are directed primarily at IT departments, they are sure to benefit users, too.

One of the more helpful changes: Context-sensitive search windows appear everywhere in Vista. The Start menu, which in most respects looks much like its counterpart in XP (and can be reset to resemble the old Windows 95/98 Start menu), provides a small search field at the bottom. Start typing, and Vista replaces items in the menu's left column with the names of the programs on your PC that best match your search term. Alternatively, click All Programs, and the left pane lists your programs. If they can't all fit, a scroll bar appears--and it is much easier to navigate than the three or four splayed columns you see on XP's All Programs menu. (for Steve Bass's instructions on changing XP's All Programs list to a scroll bar.)

You'll also find search fields located to the right of the Address bar in Windows Explorer (and Internet Explorer 7, for that matter--see "Two New Internet Explorers"). In the beta, the Windows Explorer search appears to index only file metadata, the same information you can view (and sometimes edit or enter) in XP by right-clicking a file and choosing Properties. Microsoft says that the shipping version will offer more search capabilities. Click the Search icon on the Start menu to open the new Search Center, which allows you to perform multiple layers of filtered searches.

Windows Vista's Virtual Folders find documents even when you aren't searching for them by dynamically updating the results of a saved search when you click the folder. This feature will be available for all Windows applications once Microsoft implements the WinFS file system that was originally slated for Vista. Until then, however, no third-party apps will be able to take full advantage of Windows Vista's search capabilities.

Microsoft preinstalled several Virtual Folders in Beta 1, but some are confusing: The Documents folder replaces My Documents, but there's also a Virtual All Documents folder with different content. The Music and Pictures shortcuts on the Start menu point to Virtual Folders, not to the Music and Pictures subfolders of the Documents folder.

Missing completely from the beta are support for Tablet and Media Center PCs, and a promised new version of Windows Media Player. We anticipate seeing more of these items as future builds surface. The next milestones on the road to release are Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference in September, and Beta 2, which may be made available to the general public (but for which no release date has been announced).

Clearly a work in progress, Windows Vista may not be a revolutionary departure from XP--but that's not necessarily a bad thing. If the OS delivers on Microsoft's ambitious promises, especially for security and reliability, PC users won't care whether they're getting a complete overhaul or a simple renovation.

Along with Beta 1 of Windows Vista, Microsoft has produced not one but two beta versions of Internet Explorer 7--one for Windows XP, and one in the Vista beta. The most exciting (and long overdue) innovation in both is tabbed browsing, which lets you open multiple Web pages in one browser window. You switch between the pages by clicking tabs in the IE 7 window. (The free MSN Search Toolbar adds tabs to IE 6.) Tabs have long been in Opera, and they're an attraction in Mozilla Firefox.

Another nice addition in the IE 7 betas is a search text box positioned to the right of the Address bar (see above). Microsoft has also improved IE's printing capabilities with a good Print Preview function that lets you resize the page prior to printing.

Microsoft's promised support for RSS feeds --which are confusingly called both "Feeds" and "Web Feeds"--appears in rudimentary form as a button with radio waves emanating from a point. The grayed-out graphic turns red on sites that have correctly tagged RSS feeds; clicking a feed displays its contents as a Web page. You can subscribe to the feed by adding it to your Favorites, but there's no mechanism for knowing when a feed has been updated: You have to keep checking the bookmarked page.

IE 7 for Windows XP (but not for Windows Vista) also contains the first iteration of a new Phishing Filter that identifies suspected and confirmed phishing sites (Web sites that try to get your personal information by masquerading as well-known legitimate sites such as those for PayPal or a bank). Suspected sites are identified based on their behavior; confirmed sites are those that appear on a constantly updated database that Microsoft is maintaining.

The company originally planned to upgrade IE only when it shipped Vista. But clearly in response to the growing popularity of Firefox and endless IE 6 vulnerability disclosures, Microsoft chair Bill Gates announced in February that a stand-alone version of IE 7 would be available by year's end for Windows XP with Service Pack 2 and XP Professional X64 Edition.

IE 7 isn't without annoyances. For example, the Forward and Back buttons are easy to find on the top left; but the Home button is on the menu bar, below the tabs, and the Refresh button is now to the right of the Address bar (it turns into a stop button while the page loads). Microsoft will likely address these issues before IE 7 ships.

Virtual Server 2005 R2 Due By Year-End

From Microsoft Watch: The names have changed. But the plan is still the same. Microsoft is now going to release Virtual Server 2005 R2 (the product formerly known as Virtual Server 2005 Service Pack 1) before the end of this year. It is still planning on rolling out a new version of Virtual Server in 2006, but is no longer referring to that product as Virtual Server "Version 2." Microsoft is still working to integrate the Virtual Server "hypervisor" technology into Windows Server, some time after Longhorn Server ships in 2007.

Phishing Filter To Be Part of IE Toolbar

Users aren't going to have to wait until next year for new phishing filter technology that Microsoft touted as one of its major Internet Explorer 7.0 enhancements. Microsoft is back-porting the phishing filter to its tool bar for older versions of Internet Explorer. Apparently, the phishing filter was developed not by Microsoft, but by WholeSecurity, an Austin, Texas, software developer.

Microsoft Redraws Its Virtual Server Roadmap

Microsoft has decided to christen Virtual Server 2005 Service Pack 1 as Virtual Server 2005 R2. But the follow-on release is still due out in the latter half of 2006.

Microsoft is adding another member to its growing family of R2 servers. The latest addition is Virtual Server 2005 R2. Microsoft officials announced at the Intel Developer Forum this week that they had decided to christen the first service pack (SP) update for Microsoft's Virtual Server 2005 product as an R2 release instead of SP1. The renamed product is still due to ship in the fourth quarter of this year.

Never thought this would happen

Microsoft just signed a major movie deal with Universal and Twentieth Century Fox to develop and distribute Halo, the movie. I remember when I first heard about this deal, I laughed my ass off because of the $5 million price tag they wanted for the rights to the film plus some backend. But they did it. There is no real date on when the movie will be developed yet alone released, but there are speculations that the movie will come out when Halo 3 comes out.

(more…)

New Intel Processor Architecture

The kids over at Intel have released new information regarding the latest architecture for their processors. Some of the highlighted features that will be making their way onto your PC are: dual-core processing, 64-bit, 65nm process, virtualization, platformization and improved performance per watt. Basically what all of this means is that Intel will be taking a lot of little electrical things with big fancy words and putting them into computers to make the computer go vroom vroom fast! Intel is claiming all of the new features will improve the processor’s performance per watt five times greater than the old Pentium 4’s. And yes, how it is looking now Intel will be eyeing Apple machines for usage of this new architecture.

Intel’s unified processor architecture [arstechnica]

Electrosmog, a Great Band Name and More!

Despite all the wireless technology pervading our landscape, microwave signal pollution has become somewhat of a perceived threat (insert tinfoil helmet joke here). The “Electrosmog Detector” senses the invisible EMF signals in your vicinity so you can either frantically run in the opposite direction or get a beautiful gaussian tan by bathing in the microwaves. At least you’ll take comfort in the fact that technology is advancing faster than you can escape it and this baby will make sure you steer clear of impending doom.

Product Page

Low End Theory: DigiCams Now Cheaper Than Zantac

The first camera I ever owned, back when the Nicaraguan Contras were front-page news, was a Kodak Disc—the 3600, if I’m not mistaken. My parents thought I was intelligent and responsible enough to take care of a high-tech machine; little did I know that they’d scooped up the unit at a church swap meet, for significantly less than I’d recently paid for my Soundwave Transformer.

Looking back, they were right to skimp; I broke the thing a few months later, trying to snap a rock hitting the lens. Lucky for them the disc cameras were being phased out, and were thus omnipresent in bargain bins. I got my feet wet with photography, and learned a bit about the technology to boot. (Geek that I am, I disassembled a couple of discs, and later conducted an “autopsy” on the busted 3600.)

My point is, low-end tech’s great for putting in the hands of budding gearheads, young or old. Which is why, despite its gimpy spec sheet, I’m sort of crushing on Sakar International’s 3-in-1 digital camera, which I first glimpsed in the window of that noted electronics retailer, CVS. After the jump, the skinny on the cheapest camera this side of a self-made pinhole job. PLUS: Low End Theory’s first hate mail!

[MORE]

Nokia 6682 Reviewed (Verdict: Thin and Smart)

The as-of-yet unreleased 6682 apparently ended up in the hands of the Phonescoop folks who like what they see. This smartphone runs Symbian and has quite a bit of range, even in harsh radio environments. Overall, it’s a cool, keyboardless contender to some of the better smartphones out there.

Review: Nokia 6682 [PhoneScoop]

One Mobile Photo

Now that camera phones are yielding somewhat decent photos, and higher megapixel phones are definitely on the way, Fuji has announced a Digital Mobile Printer that weighs about 7 oz and uses two CRT lithium batteries to create a credit card sized image. Of course, the MP-70 only works with infrared enabled cameraphones—mainly from Nokia, Siemens and Sony Ericsson. We know most of your fave pictures are taken in low light situations (pervert) so the Fuji Image Intelligence function gives you auto exposure compensation for brighter, clearer images. You’ll have to wait until end of September to pick this up, and it will cost $129.

DAP Delights for August 25

Our headlines for today:

Another day, another screenless MP3 player (known to many as a “shuffle clone”). This time, the South-Korean manufacturer AirPie takes the stage. The company’s new TH-31 comes in three different colors slash memory capacities. Unfortunately, it seems that we’re missing out the infamous “flying cake functionality” once more.

[MORE]

Sony Digital TV Remote Control RM-P7D

More at ITMedia (Japan)
Sony Japan

NEC's 5GHz USB Wireless Adapter AtermWL54SU

5GHz USB Wireless Adapter - "KuruKuru-Connector."
Stick-shaped IEEE 802.11a Wireless LAN Adapter.
Begins selling early September.

Read more at ITMedia (Japan)

Dell Axim X51 and X51v get Bluetooth approval

Now mind you it ain’t FCC approval and it sure as heck ain’t your momma’s approval, but the new Dell series of handhelds to follow up on the X50/X50v series just scored Bluetooth approval from the Bluetooth Qualification Program. It sounds like something one might have to take classes at the local community college to secure, but it’s really just about approving a device to carry the ol’ Bluetooth logo. Anywho, other than that there still aren’t any hard facts about these handhelds, but speculation has it that the X51v will probably sport a 640 x 480 pixel screen, both it and the X51 will likely run Windows Mobile 5.0, and will start somewhere in the $500 base price range. But you know, we still gotta wait for the FCC and our mommas to weigh in for sure.

[Thanks, FSK1138]

Dell launches high-end 5100MP projector

As drool-inducing as plasma and LCD TVs are, if you want a totally big-ass screen there’s really nothing that can match a good projector. Dell’s looking to tap that market with their new high-end projector, the $3,499 5100MP. At more than twice the cost of Dell’s next most expensive projector, the 5100MP is quite a set up for them, with 3,300 ANSI lumens, SXGA+ (1400 X 1050) resolution and 2,500:1 contrast ratio. That’ll give you a projected screen size of 24.4-292.5-inch diagonal. It’s also got all the ports you’ll need for your home theater or, um, business use, including HDMI, composite, VGA, M1, S-Video, and an RJ-45 port for network-based monitoring. It’s available now in the US and Canada and Dell says it’ll be available in other regions later this year.

Hanshin Tigers card reader, wireless combo pack

Japanese baseball team Hanshin Tigers may not be the winningest team over on that side the planet, but they have some absolutely maniacal fan support. And by maniacal, we can mean only one thing — a traditional victory celebration where men in their birthday suits jump from the Dotonbori bridge in Osaka into dirty canal water below. So, it comes as no surprise to us that peripheral maker Corega has announced two products to mark the 70th anniversary of the Hanshin Tigers: A USB media card reader and 802.11b/g router/PCMCIA card set, emblazoned with the Tigers logo. We’re holding out for a more cliche-friendly Godzilla card reader, where the cards are inserted into his back to look like the back plates.

Oppo Digital OPDV971H, DVD player with upscaling

Let’s face it; no matter how much you spent on that HD display, you’re still going to be watching a lot of standard resolution programming and recorded media for quite some time (especially since the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD wars are far from over). So, if you’re going to watch those DVDs on your HD set, chances are you’re going to need to invest in a DVD player that can at least make them look better through upscaling. DVDTalk has the goods on the Oppo Digital OPDV971H, whic offers good upscaling, DVI outputs, good deinterlacing, and a price of just $199. And considering what you’ve probably already spent on your home theater setup, that price probably sounds pretty good for a box that should tide you over until you’ve replaced all of your current DVDs with HD versions.

Military researchers working on flex-winged drones

Why is it that military researchers always seem to get the best toys? That certainly seems to be the case at the University of Florida, where military-funded researchers are working on a possible successor to the Air Force’s unmanned Predator planes. The new drones, inspired by seagulls, feature shape-changing wings, designed to let the planes swoop into tight spaces like alleys and apartment balconies. Motors in the wings enable them to flex at their “elbows,” executing a full upward or downward movement in 12 seconds. Project leader Rick Lind (pictured) also drew inspiration from the Wright brothers’ early planes, which included flexible wings controlled by cables.

[Via Slashdot]

PowerQuick personal lifting device allows people to quickly scale buildings

PowerQuick sounds more like an energy bar of some sort, but it’s a device that’s been developed for the U.S. military to help soldiers scale buildings quickly. the lifting device can raise or lower a 145kg load at one meter per second. The idea is to throw a rope with a grappling hook to the building top, then use the PowerQuick harness-like device as an assistant to haul oneself up. The device is battery-powered, and one charge will take you about 250 meters, which is equivalent to about five times the height of the Statue of Liberty. the military’s version runs on solid fuel, but the battery-powered PowerQuick will be sold to civilians, with potential applications in construction, logging, window washing, rescue work, and, um… fun!

LeapFrog Fly pentop computer turns out to be pretty fly

Businessweek has a look at the LeapFrog Fly pentop computer for kids and finds it a potentially very cool tool. The Fly only responds to written commands, then talks back with responses and options. The device doesn’t respond well to sloppy handwriting, so getting the hang of the writing recognition for some of the applications (scheduler, calculator, current time, notepad, settings, games) might take a little bit of getting used to. Other than that, they found the interface novel and fun to use, and the games entertaining while also educational — kids will be learning in a way that looks an awful lot like fun. That kind of educational stealth is bound to appeal not just to the kids, but also to the parents holding the wallets.

Aircraft-mounted laser weapon may be ready in two years

If the gull-winged drones we checked out a little earlier ever catch on, we’ve got just the accessory for them: The High Energy Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS), currently under development by military scientists, is a laser weapon that can fit in a fighter jet. The laser is designed to fire in pulses, which allows it to run without a heavy cooling system, and which also, no doubt, allows laser-jockeys to get that rat-a-tat-tat machine-gun feel while using a weapon straight out of sci-fi. Prototype models can fire 1kW pulses, which may not be able to do much damage, but researchers are hoping for a missile-zapping 150 kW version by 2007.

[Via Slashdot]

Sirius’s S50 wearable satellite radio

Looks like Sirius beat itself to the punch with its new Starmate Replay device today, announcing an even smaller, even more attractive wearable device, the S50. Granted, it only plays back via docked recording of Sirius content, but it’s a mere 1.9 x 3.9 x 0.7-inches—smaller than a 60GB iPod—and includes 50-hour playback buffer, as well as being able to play back MP3 and WMA files. The $360 pricetag is a little steep, and tacking on another $100 for the dock, remote, and antenna is a little annoying, but there isn’t a whole lot else out there if you want to get Sirius you can take running with you. Expect to see this out around October.

Fujitsu drops two new Loox models, the T70M and T70M/T

These two iterations to the Fujitsu Loox T70 line feature 20% less power consumption over their predecessors, giving them a battery life of about 11.3 hours. Nice! The weight has dropped a tiny bit, xD memory support has been added, and screen quality improved. Curiosly, the hard drive capacity has been dropped down to 60GB from 80 and um, last time we checked, files aren’t gettin’ any smaller. But whatevs, the Loox fanboys are bound to eat it up at an as-yet-undisclosed price. Above is the T70M/T; click on for shots of the T70M.

Continue reading “Fujitsu drops two new Loox models, the T70M and T70M/T”

Samsung’s latest DMB phone, the SCH-B250

Seems like every other week we’re hearing about portable DMB (digital multimedia broadcasting—a primarily Korean standard) devices overseas, but Samsung’s multimedia-centric line of phones always seems to be the cream that rises to the top. We can’t say the SCH-B250 is any exception, what with the rotating screen, 2 megapixel camera, 128MB memory, and built-in Office/PDF functionality. While the approximate $735 pricetag might be a little hard to swallow, but it’s not like you’d ever buy one for North American use anyway, so for now let’s all just sit back and watch what wonders they can work outside our antiquated American gadget market.

Netgear’s MBR814 Flash-OFDM Mobile Router

It’s not entirely the same as some of the EV-DO WiFi routers we’ve seen, but Netgear’s MBR814 is kinda close in concept, and so far it’s among the first commercial consumer-available WiFi routers we’ve seen featuring a wireless broadband backhaul. Granted, the technology is Flarion’s FLASH-OFDM, so uplink coverage is extremely limited in the states (last we heard Nextel was toying around with it), but Qualcomm’s Flarion acquisition earlier this month will ensure that there are at least a few places abroad this thing’ll be useful for awhile in.

[Via WiMaxNetNews]

Credent shuts down that Windows phone’s camera, Bluetooth, et. al.

We know how wary enterprises can be of potentiall