Spam Flood Blog: Interesting Stuff

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Interesting Stuff

6/5/2007 7:57:00 AM

Filed under: Storage

And Hitachi makes three. Crashing Samsung's and Fujitsu's 9-mm thin, 250GB laptop disk party is Hitachi's new TravelStar 5K250. Spinning at 5,400rpm, it brings along your choice of SATA 3Gbps and 1.5Gbps interfaces, an 11-ms mean seek time, 8MB data buffer, 24dB rattle when idle (26dB operational), and 1.8W average power draw during read/write cycles. Pretty consistent with the others until you factor in Hitachi's optional Bulk Data Encryption to safeguard data from loss or criminal harvesting. Shipping in volume today for an undisclosed price.

[Via Impress]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/hitachis-travelstar-5k250-laptop-drive-hits-250gb/#comments

6/5/2007 7:33:00 AM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Wake the kids, phone the neighbors, the Apple store is down. If they follow the usual course of events, the store should return touting new gear important enough for an hour or so's worth of downtime, but not important enough for a full blown media event. Our guess: Santa Rosa based MacBook Pro updates with LED backlighting... but who knows.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/apple-store-is-down/#comments

6/5/2007 7:11:00 AM

Filed under: Portable Audio

So you've given in and finally picked up an iPod nano, eh? So how do you go about differentiating yourself from the white-bud wearin' cattle around you? Easy, slip that skinny slab of flash into the massive FACTRON Re-nano case made of solid Titanium, boy. The ¥99,750 (about $818) case made by Kiwami Studios will be available for your $149 nano starting June 5th. Crazy huh? Then again, we never thought we'd feel the need for a $1,500 keyboard either.

Gallery: The Re-nano titanium iPod nano case: only $800

[Via Impress]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/the-re-nano-titanium-ipod-nano-case-only-800/#comments

6/5/2007 6:55:00 AM

Filed under: Household

They don't specialize in the video playing watches that all the cool kids want these days: instead Tokyoflash claims a reputation for weird watch designs, and their latest design is a refinement on one of their weirdest. The EleeNo EG3 has a face that represents the time through a series of squares: the top 3 indicate the hour, the middle three show how many minutes past the hour in tens, and the final three represent the single minutes. At ¥9,800 ($80/£41), the EG3 isn't on the high end of the watch hierarchy either. Just think of all the awkward conversations you can have with members of the public that have innocently inquired about the time!

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/eleeno-eg3-watch-uses-squares-to-tell-the-time/#comments

6/5/2007 5:51:00 AM

Filed under: Gaming

It's not like Sony's PSP hasn't flanked the top of a steering wheel before, but the X-Bike Sony PSP Kit takes the handheld into the world of exercising like never before. Of course, we're not sure if this newfangled motivational tool will help you melt off the pounds like other systems we've seen, but the half-hearted attempt to integrate the PSP into an exercise bike allows users to watch movies (or fitness tapes) whilst burning calories. Interestingly, the product page doesn't mention the possibility of gaming, but we see no reason why the uber-coordinated couldn't mash a few buttons while maintaining their balance on the bike, so feel free to drop your $100 if you know you're in that elite crowd.

[Via Joystiq]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/trixter-exercise-bike-gets-a-psp-add-on-kit/#comments

6/5/2007 5:05:00 AM

Filed under: Storage

They told us they were coming, now sure enough, PNY has loosed their line-up of Solid State Disks. Available in 1.8- and 2.5-inch profiles, the new SSDs feature up to 66MBps read and 55MBps write speeds and standard ZIF, micro-SATA, 44-pin IDE, and regular ol' SATA interfaces for drop-in replacement of hard disks in things like iPods (you wish PNY) and laptops -- right, the same price as SanDisk. Unfortunately, you'll have to be an OEM to take order (starting today) of the 2.5-inch, 32GB jobbie which costs about $350 when purchased in quantity. By Q3, PNY (and everyone else it seems) expects to be shipping their 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch SSDs in 64GB and 128GB capacities, respectively.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/pny-unveils-ssds-for-laptops-ipods-and-more/#comments

6/5/2007 3:51:00 AM

Filed under: Laptops

Uh, Palm, the Foleo just got shown up. VIA just announced the NanoBook Ultra Mobile Device, a reference design for a new ultraportable laptop which just happens to be lighter and smaller than the Foleo -- and which will supposedly retail for just $600. The NanoBook runs on either Windows XP or Vista, weighs less than 850g (1.87 pounds), and sports a 1.2GHz VIA C7-M processor, up to 1GB of RAM, a 30GB hard drive, a 7-inch WVGA display, 802.11g WiFi, Bluetooth (they don't specify which kind), DVI-out, a slot next to the screen where you can pop in a GPS, VoIP, or WWAN module (the module in the pic above is some world clock thing), and up to five hours of battery life. Packard Bell has already signed on to use the reference design as the basis for the EasyNote XS, which is due out in Europe later this year; VIA tells us that at least one other OEM is on-board, but they weren't ready to announce who it was yet.

Continue reading VIA intros NanoBook Ultra Mobile Device - $600 ultraportable laptop

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/via-intros-nanobook-ultra-mobile-device-600-ultraportable-lap/#comments

6/5/2007 3:22:00 AM

Filed under: Portable Audio, Storage

It's not the first album to be released on a USB stick, but this new limited edition drive packing Bob Marley's classic "Exodus" is certainly one of the highest-profile releases to date, and apparently the first from a major label catalog artist. While the exact capacity of the drive isn't clear, there's at least enough space to store three videos of Bob Marley's 1977 performance at London's Rainbow Theatre in addition to the ten tracks from the album itself. As it's not coming from a record label that's seen fit to ditch DRM, however, there's also presumably a few restrictions on how you can use those tracks, so you'll just have to save your rendition of "No DRM, No Cry" for another day. You'll also have to act pretty fast to get one, as there'll apparently only be 4000 drives produced, with them only available to those joining the Bob Marley Passport Fan Club for $45 a year.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/bob-marleys-exodus-released-on-limited-edition-usb-stick/#comments

6/5/2007 1:54:00 AM

Filed under: Features, Peripherals, Storage

Anyone who's ever futzed with a drive array on the fritz or tried to upgrade their large home storage system knows the plight well -- disks will eventually fail and/or run out of space, and when they do, neither scenario is particularly pleasant for a RAID user. (Trust us, we have the horror stories to prove it.) Even though the Data Robotics Drobo isn't ready to take the place of your NAS, if you've been looking for a simple, convenient, reliable method of keeping vast amounts of data in one spot, this may be the way to go. We've been fortunate enough to have a Drobo of our own to fool around with for the past few weeks, and we're pretty excited about how it's gone. Read on for our thoughts.

Gallery: Drobo review

Continue reading Drobo review

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/drobo-review/#comments

6/5/2007 1:35:00 AM

Filed under: Desktops

Considering the recent onslaught of Pico-ITX and other diminutive motherboards hitting the scene, it's not too surprising to hear that Shuttle could end up shipping standalone mobos for its widely recognized XPC series of small form factor PCs. According to an interview with DigiTimes, a Shuttle spokesperson purportedly revealed that the company was "planning to start shipping standalone motherboards for its XPC line" of computers, which would allow current XPC barebone kit owners to upgrade just their mainboard in the future rather than having to buy an entirely new setup. Moreover, this decision would enable owners to mix and match current motherboard offerings with the variety of chassis options, and while there were no hints as to when Shuttle would make the final call on this reported decision, we can't imagine it hanging around for too much longer while competitors eat away at SFF market share.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/shuttle-to-ship-standalone-xpc-motherboards/#comments

6/5/2007 12:24:00 AM

Filed under: Storage

SanDisk has tossed a few more entries into its ever-expanding line of Cruzer USB flash drives, with its new Cruzer Professional and Cruzer Enterprise models offering a few additional perks for more security-minded folks. Both drives are available in 1, 2, and 4GB versions, and each boast the same 24MB/sec read time and 20MB/sec write time. Opting for the Professional model, however, will only get you some basic security features, including a "Privacy Zone" that'll let you password-protect as much or as little of the drive as you'd like. The Cruzer Enterprise, on the other hand, boasts mandatory password protection for the entire drive, along with a set-up process that forces users to create complex passwords. The Enterprise drive will also work with Sandisk's Cruzer Enterprise Central Management & Control server software, which'll give businesses central back-up and restore capabilities, and even allow for remote termination of lost drives. If that meets with your approval, you can snag the Enterprise drives now for between $75 and $185, or save a few bucks with the Professional drives, which'll set you back between $55 and $155.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/sandisk-intros-cruzer-professional-enterprise-usb-drives/#comments

6/4/2007 11:34:00 PM

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

If we had a revolution for every surround sound headphone that promises us one, we'd all be so directionally aware we wouldn't know what do with ourselves. Today's "revolutionary" headphones come to us from Turtle Beach, who promises to turn the very waveform on its head with this new Ear Force AK-R8 "True Surround Sound" headset. Lucky for Turtle Beach, it has indeed packed a couple of notable features into the AK-R8, including a whoppin' eight speakers, dual mics to monitor outside sounds, and a USB audio interface / sound card that includes a 10 band EQ and positioning abilities to (theoretically) get that big room system feel without all the calls from the neighbors. The AK-R8 also includes a removaa removable boom microphone for chatting up your frag buddies, is Windows only, includes an optical S/PDIF adapter for tapping into your sound system, and should be retailing now for about $150.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/turtle-beachs-ak-r8-eight-speaker-usb-surround-sound-headphones/#comments

6/4/2007 10:44:00 PM

Filed under: Wireless

If you're wondering how the privacy advocates that get shipped off to Japan's wireless island will maintain their sanity, we've got a hunch that they just might look Paper Tyger's way before departing. The aptly-named RFID Shield is reportedly "easily printable" and unsurprisingly aims to protect personal information on contactless credit cards and similar wallet mainstays. Purportedly, the unit contains "a new security barrier to assure that sensitive information contained on the card's RFID chip remains protected when not in use," and can even be fabricated into envelopes or paper sleeves. No word just yet on when this here RFID-shunning technology will be available for purchase, but we're sure at least a small sect of individuals will be clamoring for dibs when it finally goes commercial.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/paper-tyger-unveils-printable-rfid-shield/#comments

6/4/2007 9:42:00 PM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We've seen soft 'n cuddly teddies transformed into nearly every gadget imaginable, but the Save-A-Life Training Center is hoping to teach common individuals how to perform CPR with the use of a less frightening subject. The oh-so-adorable CPR Teddy looks a whole lot better than other CPR training bots that we've come across, and after squeezing one of his paws, "voice prompts walk you through the correct procedures for choking rescue and infant / child CPR." It gets a bit dodgy, however, when you have to submerse yourself in the moment and actually press down on his red heart patch as the bear's built-in metronome paces you. Subsequently, the creature's bow tie actually lights up in green or red to alert you of how you're doing, and his chest will actually rise up as you perform rescue breathing and simultaneously inhale mounds of fur. The basic CPR Teddy kit rings up at just $79.95, but we'd highly recghly recommend picking up a few extra masks to avoid getting choked up yourself when performing mouth-to-mouth.

[Via Uber-Review]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/cpr-teddy-cuddles-up-nicely-teaches-resuscitation/#comments

6/4/2007 9:23:00 PM

Filed under: Desktops

As the green trend looms ever larger over the consumer electronics industry, HP is taking full advantage of the opportunity by unveiling the environmentally friendly rp5700 slim desktop PC. The company toots its own horn by boasting about the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Gold award that the machine has garnered, and we'd assume that building it from 95-percent recyclable components and packing it in a box made from at least 25-percent post-consumer recycled cardboard had something to do with it. Additionally, the unit sports an uber-efficient power supply and comes with "an optional solar renewable energy source" to extract juice from the sun. As for hardware, you'll find Intel Core 2 Duo chips up to 2.13GHz, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, SATA hard drives as large as 250GB, optional RAID 1 setups, and your choice of operating system. Of course, the EPEAT Gold-certified machine steps it down to a Celeron 440 CPU with 512MB of RAM, and while this particular configuration will start at $817, other options are available today from $648 right on up.

[Via Slashgear]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/hp-launches-environmentally-friendly-rp5700-slim-desktop-pc/#comments

6/4/2007 8:52:00 PM

Filed under: Wireless, Networking

Ok, Fon's new La Fonera isn't too different from last year's business-stealing La Fonera -- except this time it has a second Ethernet jack if you have a computer or device you want to plug right on in (and don't want / need to use an external switch), or, we suppose, if you want to jack your Fonera into your home network (if you do want / need to use an external switch). We kind of wish Fon changed the name up a little on this thing, maybe re-conjucated it so it would become La Fonero or something, but it would seem the ethernet jack is the only think you've got to look forward to in version 2.

P.S. -Don't mind that USB port -- it only appears in some of the pictures and not in the documentation, so we're assuming that's just a port used in testing / debug units.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/fons-new-la-fonera-hits-fcc/#comments

6/4/2007 8:34:00 PM

While not nearly as capacious as PQI's 256GB behemoth of an SSD, SanDisk is creeping ever closer by bumping its 1.8- and 2.5-inch SSD to 64GB. Previously capped at 32GB, the SATA 5000 and UATA 5000 series are now doubling in capacity and ready to become your next drop-in hard drive replacement. The devices reportedly sport a sustained read rate of around 67Mbps, a random read rate of 7,000 IOPS, and consume about half as much energy as its traditional HDD counterparts. No word just yet on pricing, but SanDisk is reportedly planning to offer up 64GB engineering samples in Q3, while mass production is scheduled to commence by the year's end.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/sandisk-bumps-1-8-and-2-5-inch-ssd-to-64gb/#comments

6/4/2007 7:54:00 PM

Filed under: Desktops

HiPe PC is no stranger to the land of excessive power and unorthodox construction, and the firm's latest two gaming rigs are no exception to either. The K-Tana 2.0 can come stocked with your choice of an overclocked 3.2GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme or dual liquid-cooled &looled AMD Athlon FX-72 / FX-74 processors, an overclocked NVIDIA 8800 SLI graphics setup, 1,200-watt power supply, up to 8GB of DDR2 RAM, up to 4TB of HDD storage, acoustical dampening, colored neon lighting systems, and the ability to order up a customized paint scheme if the early 90s vibe isn't really workin' for you. The real head-scratcher is the DaishÅ 2.0 Dual PC (shown after the jump), which as the name implies, sports a duo of networked PCs within a single vertical chassis. The primary PC is a GeForce 8800-equipped gaming rig with up to 4GB of RAM and 4TB of HDD space, while the secondary computer is a "personal media center or server" powered by either VIA's Epia C7 or Intel's Merom processor. Additionally, the secondary unit is connected to a motorized touchscreen LCD and responds to your voice thanks to the included speech recognition software. Notably, both machines can be configured to include a Blu-ray writer, and while both systems manage to start around $2,600, the sky really is the limit when adding in luxurious extras.

Continue reading HiPe intros K-Tana 2.0 gaming rig, two-in-one Daisho 2.0 Dual PC

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/hipe-intros-k-tana-2-0-gaming-rig-two-in-one-daisho-2-0-dual-pc/#comments

6/4/2007 7:24:00 PM

Filed under: Wireless

Solar-powered WiFi isn't exactly anything new, but upstart Meraki looks to be doing its best to make it more accessible to the general public, today announcing a new outdoor wireless repeater with a solar panel to keep it running. Designed to be used with Meraki's existing Mini WiFi router, the repeater will let you beam a signal up to 700 feet away which, at just $99 a pop, would make a neighborhood-wide WiFi network a relatively low-cost affair. Unfortunately, there's no word just yet on what the solar panel accessory will cost, although Meraki says it'll "clearly be the most affordable option on the market." We shouldn't have to wait too much longer for that key detail, however, as the entire kit's set to ship sometime late this summer.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/meraki-announces-solar-powered-wifi-kit/#comments

6/4/2007 6:54:00 PM

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Major League Baseball may not be happy about Sling Media enabling fans to stream out of market baseball games over the internet, but it is apparently backing off of plans to sue the company into oblivion, RIAA-style. Bob Bowman, president of Major League Baseball Advanced Media said in an interview that winning could be done with "good technology and good content, not lawyers". Following up on its decision not to freeze cable customers out of its Extra Innings package, baseball's new strategy seems to lean towards not irritating its best customers. While we're intrigued by their ideas, we're not subscribing to the newsletter -- yet.

[Warning: subscription req'd for link]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/mlb-backs-off-of-sling-a-little/#comments

6/4/2007 6:24:00 PM

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

If you've been holding out for a red version of the Zune to hit the market before you finally make the plunge, we're guessing the more reasonable metrics of "number of friends with a Zune" or "number of rational software features implemented by Microsoft" aren't really your cup of tea. That's cool, wholly rational actors are totally overrated. On June 10th you'll be able to nab a special edition Red Zune at Target or Amazon (who's laughing now, GameStop?), but just in case you need help holding out that long, Microsoft has unleashed some official press shots of the "watermelon red" player. Not a bad color choice in the slightest, but we were hoping for some aquamarine doubleshot to really make this guy pop. More pics after the break.

[Via Zune-Online]

Continue reading Red Zune coming on June 10th, try and contain your excitement

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/red-zune-coming-on-june-10th-try-and-contain-your-excitement/#comments

6/4/2007 5:54:00 PM

Filed under: Gaming

With the Pac-Man World Championships set to go down in New York tomorrow, earth shattering events are bound to happen, right? That's the word from Gamertag Radio's Godfree anyway, who says he was chatting up Xbox's Aaron Greenberg about the Tuesday event, and Aaron mentioned that "we have a secret unveil for gamers around the world that I think will go down in video game history." We're fairly positive that nothing Microsoft could possibly announce tomorrow could live up to that sort of hype, and it seems even less likely that this will be anything hardware related, but we're always willing to be proven wrong. We were planning on hanging out on this mortal coil for at least the next 24 hours or so anyways, so there's no harm done either way.

[Thanks, Nick P]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/big-xbox-announcement-tomorrow-were-so-not-holding-our-breath/#comments

6/4/2007 5:24:00 PM

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

It seems the love / hate relationship between Microsoft and all things open source is swinging back to the mushy side of the equation, and while this isn't exactly the retaliation we were expecting after getting blasted by Linus Torvalds, it's intriguing nonetheless. In an agreement that eerily resembles that drawn up with Novell, Microsoft has reportedly "announced a broad collaboration agreement based on a set of technical, business, marketing, and intellectual property commitments" with Linux platform provider Xandros. The deal seeks to provide customers working in mixed operating system environments with "enhanced interoperability, more effective systems management solutions, and intellectual property assurances," and the four major focal points include systems management interoperability, server interoperability, office document compatibility, and intellectual property assurance. Interestingly, that also means that Redmond won't be suing Xandros for so-called patent infringement anytime soon, and the partnership even suggests that Microsoft will be "endorsing Xandros Server and Desktop as a preferred Linux distribution." So while we may never know Microsoft's true feelings towards the passionate open source community, there should be a whole lotta love spread to Xandros customers over the next five years.

[Via InformationWeek]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/microsoft-briefy-ignores-beef-with-linux-signs-ip-deal-with-xan/#comments

6/4/2007 4:54:00 PM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Don't feel bad if you've never heard of Flextronics, Solectron or both -- we polled our mom on the subject, and she asked when we were going to give up this "blogging nonsense" for a real job -- but these two fairly low-profile contract electronics manufacturers churn out massive amounts of product for other little companies you might have heard of: like HP, Dell, Sony, Ericsson, Cisco, Motorola and Microsoft. Now Flextronics is ending this bitter rivalry in a Coke buys Pepsi-type shocker, forking over $3.6 billion in cash and stock for Solectron. Flextronics will operate Solectron as a subsidiary, and claims the purchase will help it expand scale and market reach, while saving on costs, with the deal to add about 15 percent to earnings, claims the manufacturer.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/flextronics-purchasing-solectron-for-3-6-billion/#comments

6/4/2007 4:35:00 PM

Filed under: Gaming, Storage

Given the Wii's relatively paltry 512MB of internal storage (and nothing more than an SD card slot for expansion), it's hardly a surprise that rumors of an external hard drive add-on have been persisting for about as long as the console's been around. Now, despite being shot down by Nintendo just a few months ago, the rumors seem to have picked up again, with the speculation now pointing towards an announcement at E3 in July. Lending a smidgen of credence to this latest rumor is SNK's recent announcement that it would soon be bringing some of its Neo Geo titles to the Wii's Virtual Console, many of which would take up a heckuva lot more space (up to 330MB) than the current crop of old school games available on the service. Nintendo isn't buying that argument, however, telling gaming site Spong that it's nothing more than "pure rumour and speculation and none of it is based in any fact or announcement." We somehow doubt that'll be enough to quell all the speculation though, which means we'll just have to wait 'till E3 to finally put this one to rest -- at least for a little while.

Read - CVG, " Wii hard drive on the way?"
Read - Spong, "Nintendo: Wii Hard Drive Has No Basis In Fact"

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/wii-hard-drive-rumor-resurfaces-nintendo-calls-it-pure-specula/#comments

6/4/2007 4:15:00 PM

Filed under: Announcements

Losing isn't fun -- especially when the would-be prize is a shiny new Nokia N75 for AT&T. That's why we want to double everyone's chances of winning this S60-runnin', 3G-havin' wonder -- if you're willing to make the trek over to Engadget Mobile, that is. Have a peek!

Have a look at our other contests, too, before it's too late: Nokia N75 (the first one), Motorola T305, Samsung u620, (PRODUCT) RED MOTORAZR V3m for Sprint, Sprint UpStage by Samsung (number two), Samsung BlackJack

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/engadget-mobiles-giveaway-yields-another-nokia-n75/#comments

6/4/2007 4:03:00 PM

Filed under: Handhelds

General Dynamics (who purchased Itronix a couple years back) thinks it's tough stuff, and now it's after that hip new UMPC market with those rough and tumble wares. The new GoBook MR-1 is essentially a FlipStart plus rugged, sporting rubber and brushed aluminum protection, port covers and a housing hump for the WWAN antenna. Don't go dunking this one in the drink, ~~it's only semi-rugged~~, and we're guessing the $4,450 price tag might dissuade you as well from testing this one's robustness. Since it's just a repackaged FlipStart, there aren't many surprises on specs, though GD did pack in a Intel Core Solo processor instead of the FlipStart's weaker Pentium M offering, and put in a 40GB drive instead of the existing 30 gigger. ~~All the rest is all FlipStart~~, including all the ugly and the two pound weight of the original. General Dynamics expects to start shipping this in September.

Read - Crave
Read - PC Mag

Update: General Dynamics clarified arified some of the initial info we had about this thing. Turns out the unit is is indeed "rugged," (not just semi-rugged) up to military specs 810F and IP54 and GD will include a Dynavue touchscreen option by year end. The MR-1 is built by the same people who put together the FlipStart, but from the "ground up," with different specs (like that Core Solo proc), a bundle of wireless options, an 80GB hard drive option and even an SSD alternative.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/04/general-dynamics-gobook-mr-1-gives-the-flipstart-a-thick-skin/#comments

6/4/2007 3:41:00 PM

Filed under: Cellphones

Just in case you haven't heard the news, Apple finally shouted out the iPhone's release date (shortly after we had the scoop on the date, new commercials, etc.). Here's a quick spot to get yesterday's coverage:

iPhone release date: June 29th?
iPhone release date confirmed: yours on June 29th
Followup: the first real iPhone ad lands
Apple execs admit to iPhone anxiety
iPhone to get software development kit at WWDC?

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6/4/2007 3:25:00 PM

Filed under: Laptops

If you're ready to get rough and tumble with a Santa Rosa-based Toughbook, you're almost there: Panasonic's announcing the new CF-52's availability in the US, as well as new specs and features. There are two base configs (optimized for $2500 and standard for $1650), which feature:

Core 2 Duo CPUs (2.0 and 1.8GHz)
1GB RAM (expandable to 4GB)
15.4-inch WUXGA or WXGA display (1920 x 1200 or 1366 x 768), enhanced 512MB grahics for Aero
80 or 120GB drives (shock mounted), DVD burner
802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (optional)
3G option (launches officially with Verizon exclusively for 120 days, then will have Sprint Rev. A and Cingular HSDPA support -- or add your own)
(4) USB 2.0, PCMCIA slot, ExpressCard slot, SD reader, 1394, VGA, gigabit gigabit Ethernet, modem, serial
TPM chip, and optional SmartCard and biometric scanner
Spill-resistant keyboard and integrated handle

Available in July -- if you're hearty enough to carry around a 2-inch thick 7.3-pound beast of a box.

Gallery: Panasonic's Toughbook CF-52 with Santa Rosa lands in US

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6/4/2007 3:07:00 PM

Filed under: GPS, HDTV

The folks over at The Inquirer sneaked up on an Ferrari-branded Acer c500 and snapped this grainy picture before getting kicked out of the booth by the camera-shy Acer peoples. At least we're almost positive it's the c500, The Inq wasn't able to get any specs or a model number, but this shiny bugger looks to be the exact unit we saw hit the FCC a few weeks ago, which features WinMo 5, a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen, a 300MHz Samsung 2442 processor, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS and a decent complement of storage and RAM. We're guessing we'll know more about this sucker soon enough, Acer was never one to keep a random and possibly ill-conceived Ferrari-based concept under wraps for long.

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6/4/2007 2:37:00 PM

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

If you've been on the lookout for a friggin ginormous media player to fill the space of your classic DVX-POD, Blue Raven's got a new device on the scene today, the MediaMate. While the drive sizes aren't too minuscule for storing plenty of video (7040, 40GB for $380; 7080 80GB for $430) and we're feeling the replaceable battery, the 7-inch 480 x 234 display looks downright hideous once it gets going -- and that's to say nothing of theg of the rest of the unit, which is as shoddy-feeling, large, and unwieldy as we've ever seen a portable media device (at nearly 1.5 pounds and 8 x 4.6 x 1-inches). It does play OGG, however (as well as MP3 and WMA), and while we're really into the fact that it does VOB video playback, it also only supports AVI and MPG containers with MPEG-4 ASP and MPEG 2 --- not so good if you don't want to have to transcode your H.264, DivX, XviD, etc., or are thinking of using Vongo or a PlaysForSure service. Our advice: stick with an Archos if you're really looking to record TV to your player and take it on the go, for us this thing's kind would be a non-starter even if you knocked a hundred bucks off the top.

Gallery: Blue Raven launches MediaMate "portable" media player / DVR

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6/4/2007 2:03:00 PM

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

The iPhone's critics have focused on a handful of issues that could serve to to derail its would-be path to retail dominance; of those, the lack of a removable battery, 3G radio, and support for third-party apps are frequently cited as the top three (presented in no particular order). We may be waiting for round two to get either of the first two niggles resolved -- but contrary to initial reports, it seems that independent devs may end up getting a crack at the first model after all as Jobs had suggested at D. The New York Times is citing "a person briefed on Apple's plans" as saying that WWDC will see the introduction of a software development kit that allows folks to convert small Mac apps to run on the iPhone, seemingly making good on Apple's claim that the handset runs OS X. So who's ready to take the plunge if -- and only if -- this announcement pans out?

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6/4/2007 1:32:00 PM

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Home Entertainment, Laptops, Media PCs

Asustek looks to be taking advantage of this week's big Computex trade show in Taipei to show of its latest round of "rock solid, heart touching" gear, which the folks at Infoworld has thankfully rounded up for us. As is often the case, not everything on display is entirely new, including the company's previously announced super-upgradeable C90 laptop, and its A33 "media player," which is actually more of a media center, packing a DVD burner, 320GB hard drive, dual channel TV tuner, Bluetooth, and 802.11n WiFi. Among the newer products are a pair of Internet radios, one of which, the Asustek Internet Radio 3 (AIR 3), boasts an iPod dock on the top, along with a USB port to let you play tunes off a USB stick. Look for it to set you back about $400 when it's released later this year, while the iPod-less AIR 1 radio will only run you $200. Also announced are a pair of 2 megapixel webcams, one with an autofocus lens and one without, costing $110 and $90, respectively. In addition to showing of its wares, Asustek's also talking a bit about some of its future plans, saying that it expects to launch its first high-definition disc player by the first quarter of 2008, which it says will "likely" be a Blu-ray device.

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6/4/2007 1:02:00 PM

Filed under: Laptops

We've got the scoop on some early marketing materials / renders for Dell XPS m1330, and we have to say, this is as impressed as we've ever been with a Dell laptop. Check it out:

13.3-inch screen, configurable with LED backlight! (300cd/m2, or 220 with CCFL backlight)
Core 2 Duo processor (up to 2.4GHz), Santa Rosa chipset (965PM/GM)
Up to 4GB DDR2 SDRAM
32GB SSD drive or spinning-platter drive options up to 250GB
Slot-loading dual-layer DVD±RW drive!
Optional NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS / 128MB
WWAN option for Verizon, Sprint, or AT&T
Ethernet, 802.11a, a/g, or n options, Bluetooth option
Integrated 2 megapixel webcam (VGA only on LED-backlit display)
HDMI, VGA, 1394, (2) USB 2.0, integrated media reader (MS, SD, xD), dual mini-PCI slots, fingerprint reader
Dimensions with LED 12.5 x 9.4 x 0.87 - 1.33-inches (318 x 238 x 22.1 - 33.8mm) / with CCFL 12.5 x 9.4 x 0.97 - 1.43-inches (318 x 238 x 24.6 - 36.3mm)
Weight starts at 4 pounds

More shots after the break!

Continue reading Dell XPS m1330 performance ultraportable revealed

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6/4/2007 12:35:00 PM

Filed under: Digital Cameras

You won't be seeing one of these sensors in your fashioncam any time soon. Canon has built a 50 megapixel CMOS monstrosity, which is reportedly almost twice the resolution of its nearest competition, and is prepping it as a sort of large format surveillance camera for monitoring large, busy areas such as parking lots and theme parks, along with detailed work like factory part inspections. Despite the sensor's clear industrial-end aims, Canon has managed to build its prototype at 19 x 28mm in size, the same dimensions of the sensors in its DSLR cameras, so who knows where this tech could end up in the long run. So far Canon hasn't even announced release plans for this current incarnation, so we aren't going to go hawking our existing shooter just yet.

[Warning: subscription required]

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6/4/2007 12:05:00 PM

Filed under: Laptops

We already had a pretty good idea of what Acer's first Gemstone laptop, the Aspire 5920, would look like, but we've now got the full rundown of specs, along with a price, courtesy of Acer's Thailand site. As we knew before, it's a Santa Rosa-based machine, boasting a 15.4-inch WXGA display, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics, and an optional HD-DVD drive, among other not too shabby features. What we didn't know is that it'd come with your choice of T7100 or T7300 Core 2 Duo processors, up to 4GB of RAM, and a max 200GB hard drive. Also notably lacking until now was any word on price, which has now been revealed to be 46,900 or 59,900 baht depending on the configuration, or roughly $1,425 and $1,820 for those of you outside of Thailand.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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6/4/2007 11:40:00 AM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

The Chinese government has announced its latest futile attempt to hold back the tidal wave of free digital information that is bound to flood the country sooner or later, placing a ban on the licensing of new internet cafes for 2007 while officials investigate supposed breaches of their restrictive rules. Specifically, the thought police want to find out how widespread the illegal renting of licenses and failure to register customers really are, as part of a larger crackdown on internet culture that began in April at the behest of President Hu Jintao. Let's just hope this moratorium is lifted before next summer, because with the lack of 3G availability by the time the Summer Games hit, it would seem that already-crowded cafes may get pushed to the breaking point as tourists fight one another in a rush to check their MySpaces and get their photos on Flickr.

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6/4/2007 11:05:00 AM

Filed under: Laptops

Sony never really got official with us on this Vaio CR series of laptops, that would just make things too easy, but that doesn't mean the info has to stop flowing. Notebook Italy scrounged up so more dirt on the things, and apparently these units are due to hit in the middle of June, and naturally will be bringing Santa Rosa with them. The look seems in line with Sony's other all-new laptops this season, if perhaps a tad frumpier, and the specs are fairly familiar as well, with Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz T7100 processors, GMA X1300 integrated graphics, Vista Home Premium, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB HDD and dual-layer DVD burner. The 14.1-inch 1280 x 800 screen includes a webcam, and Sony has tossed in an SD card slot along with its usual complement of Memory Stick, FireWire and ExpressCard inputs. Notebook Italy is betting on a 1,350 Euro tag ($1,815 US) for most of the configurations, with a 1,550 Euro ($2,084 US) option coming alongside with beefed up Radeon HD 2300+ graphics.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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6/4/2007 10:45:00 AM

Filed under: Portable Audio

We know, no one was expecting the minuscule integrated speakers within Creative's Zen Wav to be anything more than a mild joke, but just in case you wanted to hear this thing with your own two ears before plunking down the cash to pick one up (or point and laugh), TechEBlog's got you covered. In this brief hands-on look, Creative's Zen Wav is videotaped in a cradle pumping out a sample jam that admittedly highlights treble, but at least it's at least somewhat listenable. Of course, judging the audio quality based on a handheld camcorder is a far cry from scientific evaluation, but click on through anyway for a quick listen and look at the Wav in action.

Continue reading Creative's Zen Wav caught on video

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