Spam Flood Blog: Interesting Stuff

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Interesting Stuff

6/6/2007 7:47:00 AM

Filed under: Laptops

Egads NEC, show some pride... a Hello Kitty LaVie? Say it ain't so! Your LaVie series of laptops were already totin' some serious Alice-the-housekeeper frump, and now this? What can we say, that puss dominates Japan like a pink, mouthless Godzilla... really, what could poor NEC do. Available now for ¥199,500 or about $1,645 with plenty of pasted-on Swarovski nuggets destined for the recessed folds in the pit of your man-bag. Sure, you'll buy it for your daughter but we know who'll use it... sissy.

[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/2007/06/06/the-hello-kitty-lavie-is-this-really-the-life-nec/#comments

6/6/2007 7:01:00 AM

Filed under: Laptops

ASUS is showing of its design chops this morning with a trio of laptops made from wood. Of course, these aren't the first (and certainly not the last) pieces of consumer electronics kit to go au naturel. We've even seen other wood-cased laptops before including ASUS' own EcoBook. But man, is the above "laptop" design practical by any stroke of the imagination? Still, kudos to you ASUS for pushing the design envelope. If these are the gaffes required en route to your product successes then we're willing to suffer (a little). Read-on for a few viable designs which, knowing ASUS, could see limited production runs.

Read -- model 1
Read -- model 2
Read -- model 3

Continue reading ASUS' wooden "laptop": kills trees and reason with a single swing

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

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/06/asus-wooden-laptop-kills-trees-and-reason-with-a-single-swin/#comments

6/6/2007 5:56:00 AM

Filed under: Desktops

We just received an anonymous tip regarding the two new Dell desktops Wal-Mart will be carrying starting Sunday. We have no way to verify the claim but the specs -- which were apparently read directly off the packaging -- certainly seem reasonable and are in line with Michael Dell's own admissions on the models. The first system is said to be a $698 Windows Vista Home Premium model E521B-001W sporting a 19-inch "E197FPB" LCD monitor, dual-core Athlon 64 X2 3600+ processor, 2x 512MB (1GB total) DDR2 667MHz memory, 320GB SATA disk, Integrated GeForce 6150LE graphics, a 16x DVD +/-RW optical drive, USB keyboard and mouse, 13-in-1 media card reader, 10/100 Ethernet, integrated 7.1 channel sound, and 56k PCI Data Fax Modem. For comparison sake, that's about $50 cheaper than a Dell Dimension E521 (pictured) configured on-line with the "exact" (you never know with Dell) same components only with a 19-inch widescreen SE198WFP LCD which is faster, brighter, and features a higher contrast ratio than the Wal-Mart E197FPB (which we presume to be the SE197FP listed on Dell's site). The second system is a $498 E521SA-001W offered sans monitor and a 250GB disk -- exactly $1 cheaper than a similarly spec'd E521. So, if the specs are to be believed, then it's a wash in terms of pricing. Really though, what did you expect from the razor thin margins of the home PC market? Again, these are unconfirmed so you'll have to check for yourself on the 10th when Dell's systems find their way into the godless hellscape called Wal-Mart.

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

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/06/specs-and-prices-of-wal-marts-new-dell-desktops-revealed/#comments

6/6/2007 5:02:00 AM

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays, Wireless

Nah, MediaStreet can't be considered a pioneer by throwing in Bluetooth functionality with its eMotion digiframe, but considering that only a few others have made such a gesture thus far, you won't find us bellyaching. The firm is upping the ante on its seven-inch widescreen digital photo frame by adding in the ability to instantly transfer photos snapped on your cameraphone or BT-enabled device onto the frame, but didn't forget about the traditional loading methods in the process; users can still import media onto its 256MB of internal memory via SD, CF, SDHC, MMC, MS / MSPro, xD, or USB 2.0. The device plays nice with JPEG / BMP photos, MP3 and WMA on the audio front, and AVI / MPEG1/2/4 when looking at video, and while this may not be the biggest buck on the block, it manages to support a variety of interchangeable wood frames and a wireless remote while ringing up at just $149.

[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/2007/06/06/mediastreet-adds-bluetooth-to-emotion-digital-photo-frame/#comments

6/6/2007 4:41:00 AM

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

It was two months (to the day, actually) ago that we first got wind of the possibility that Nintendo could have a trio of colorful Wiimotes planned for the UK market, and now we've got even more reason to believe that future Wii controllers could indeed sport a few different hues. Of course, we're still filing this away as a rumor for the time being, but a fairly convincing screen shot from an Argos internal system clearly shows that a blue Wiimote has a SKU in its inventory. Additionally, the UK-based poster also stated that a pink listing was also spotted, but had no idea if any were carefully hidden in the store's back room. Still, we've no idea if or when Nintendo ever plans on releasing the slightly more vivid Wiimotes on the world, but you can go ahead and color us sour if these end up a European exclusive.

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

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/06/colorful-wiimote-rumor-gets-revived/#comments

6/6/2007 3:05:00 AM

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Four years in the making, Olympus looks set to finally launch the successor to their E-1 digital -- the first camera designed as a DSLR from art-to-part. Swaddled in silk with a "coming soon" teaser tagged on Olympus' European site is what can only be the new flagship shooter they've been dribbling out at tradeshows under the "P-1" codename. No specs of course, only that the E-1's successor will take "the excellent picture quality, mobility, and reliability of the E-1 to new and unprecedented levels." Hey, that's what Olympus says. Still, until they take off the veil, well, anything goes.

[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/2007/06/06/olympus-teases-with-e-1-dslr-followup/#comments

6/6/2007 2:02:00 AM

Filed under: Gaming

Non-nerds need not apply, but if Guitar Hero has whetted your appetite for rockstardom, and you don't want to mess with any of those nasty string-based things of your predecessors, FRETBUZZ should be able to help you and your Guitar Hero controller on the path to glory. The app is written in Max/MSP, and requires you to download the runtime environment to fire it up, not to mention the fact that you'll need quite a bit of technical chops to get it past that point and making music for you. Luckily, the creator of the app is part of The Guitar Zeros, which naturally makes its sounds using this very method, and there are some decent instructions for doing your thing. Rock on, just remember to leave us a spot on your guestlist when you get all rich and famous changing the face of music forever.

[Thanks, Jake]

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

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/06/fretbuzz-app-turns-your-guitar-hero-stylings-into-real-musicks/#comments

6/6/2007 12:58:00 AM

Filed under: Cellphones

We've got a bit of hands-on and photo gallery love of the new HTC Touch over at Engadget Mobile. If you're the type who's at all interested in thin, sexy, large-touchscreen smartphones that launch in June of 2007, you owe it to yourself to check this sucker out.

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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/htc-touch-hands-on/#comments

6/5/2007 11:26:00 PM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

While the Virtual Hallucinating goggles and Brain Machine can certainly give you a taste of the erratic, a new behavioral-pattern monitor at the University of California, San Diego will reportedly be used to "study the behavior of patients with mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia." The LifeShirt, "a computerized vest that continuously monitors the patient's movements," sports integrated sensors to monitor hyperactive and repetitive movements and record data on "respiration, heart rate, and other physiological measures." Notably, the padded room wearers are presumably crammed into sports a ceiling-mounted webcam that films their exploratory behavior in order to better analyze movement patterns associated with certain disorders. Eventually, of course, researchers are hoping that data collected from the sensor-laden straight jacket could be used to create new drugs to help combat the behavioral abnormalities, but for all of our sakes, let's hope this thing doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

[Via MedGadget, photo courtesy of TechnologyReview]

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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/big-brother-equipped-straight-jacket-further-proves-youre-crazy/#comments

6/5/2007 10:01:00 PM

Filed under: Robots

Incorporating sweat sensors into gadgetry is nothing new, but an artist from Buenos Aires apparently felt that just detecting the liquid wasn't nearly good enough. The Alexitimia robotic blob was crafted by Paula Gaetano in order to showcase "creative intuition that permits both the artist and the viewer to leap over logic, whether scientific or artistic, and emotionally experience the problem laid out here of reconciling the wet domain of nature with the dry domain of electronics." Pretty far out, we know, but this creepy piece of blubber reportedly feels like rubber to the touch, and thanks to the integrated touch sensors, an internal water pump allows the pores to perspire in a zany attempt at showing affection. No word on whether this thing can blast out streams if your handling gets a little too rough for comfort, though.

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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/alexitimia-robotic-blob-sweats-when-you-touch-it/#comments

6/5/2007 9:05:00 PM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Looks like all that heat generated by your laptop may finally be useful for something other than frying eggs -- a group of grad students led by professor Orest Symko at the University of Utah has unveiled an array of "thermoacoustic" engines that turn heat into sound, which can be directed at a piezoelectric mechanism to produce electricity. The US Army-funded research seems promising but is obviously still in its infancy -- one of the designs the researchers demonstrated is half the size of a penny but pumps out 120dB of noise (about the same as a siren), while another bumped out over 135dB, (which is roughly equivalent to a jackhammer). The team expects that future, smaller designs will work at ultrasonic frequencies outside the range of human hearing. Although we're not expecting hybrid-siren-powered laptops to hit anytime soon, you Utes out there may want to invest in some earplugs -- Professor Symko says they'll be testing these designs at the University's water-heating facility in the next year.

[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/2007/06/05/tiny-thermoacoustic-engines-pave-the-way-for-screaming-gadgets/#comments

6/5/2007 8:23:00 PM

Filed under: Podcasts, Portable Audio

Ok, so we finally heard back from Zune PR, and they were about as cagey as we always expect when it comes to statements about future moves in the market. Anyway, here's what they said about Sunday's meme that the player wouldn't be launching in Europe this year: in a nutshell, Ballmer was mistranslated, and did not say either way whether Zune is launching in Europe in 2007. "He emphasized -- as we've been saying all along -- that focus is important to us and the US has been our focus to date. He also reminded those readers that Zune is an investment for the company... a multi-year strategy... but we are currently not making any announcements about future launches." Ok, so it might have just been easier for Zune to come out and say it is (or isn't) in fact still launching in Europe this year, and you can still chalk up the above to a non-denial denial if you like. But it still seems plausible this year may yet hold good news for our cross-Atlantic pals anticipating a Microsoft player of their very own, so don't give up just yet.

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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/zune-still-may-be-coming-to-europe-this-year-maybe/#comments

6/5/2007 7:53:00 PM

Filed under: Features, Portable Audio

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:

When Lala.com launched just last year, the company raised eyebrows looking to build a business around trading of compact discs for a dollar per trade while expecting most of its revenue to come from sales of new CDs. The company claims that it actually reached profitability in its core business, but it realized that exposing members to lists of each others' CDs wasn't enough. Soon it added Internet radio by acquiring terrestrial-turned-Internet broadcaster WOXY.com.

Lala has dismissed concerns that it would facilitate piracy as members ripped and flipped with the argument that the real problem that music faces today is the war for time and money versus other media. Consumers are inundated with cable channels, YouTube, RSS, DVDs, video games, Web sites and those clever Engadget columns that you know you should really submit to Digg more often.

To this war, Lala is bringing two major weapons which brings the site determined to disrupt squarely into the realm of digital music. Not only will the company offer free music library hosting and downloading directly to one's iPod, but it is moving to offer free streaming of on-demand libraries from all four major labels, starting with Warner Music.

Lala will enable any members to store their entire digital music collection on its site to stream on demand. Of course, Lala is not the first to have this idea -- MP3.com tried it in 1998 and earned the scorn of the RIAA, which forced the startup to nix the idea. Nowadays, several sites provide music locker services (often for a fee) for those wiling to upload their music files, which can be a lengthy proposition for those with large libraries.

Continue reading Switched On: Lala makes the Web the latest iPod accessory

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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/switched-on-lala-makes-the-web-the-lat/#comments

6/5/2007 7:23:00 PM

Filed under: Cellphones

While the unlicensed version of Porsche's mobile handset still holds a special place in our hearts, it looks like the Porsche Design Mobile Group finally took it upon themselves to join the growing fray and introduce its own co-branded device. The group has already slapped the luxurious logo on a sat nav device as well as a portable XM radio, but Stephane Bret (the group's director) was caught showing off a new mobile in Essen. Unfortunately, details on the phone are all but nil, but we do know that the P'9521 was unveiled at the Red Dot Design Museum and will rock a squarish flip-phone design, integrated camera, and multimedia player. No word just yet on when (or if, actually) this sure-to-be-overpriced handset will hit store shelves, but we can't help but notice that a few formidable opponents are quite a few laps ahead at this point. Click on through for a few more shots.

Continue reading Porsche Design Mobile Group unveils P'9521 handhset

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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/porsche-design-mobile-group-unveils-p9521-handhset/#comments

6/5/2007 6:44:00 PM

Filed under: Robots

As we all know, the human-robot divide can be a tough one to bridge (what with them secretly plotting to destroy us and all) -- but there's a new robot out there that's willing to tackle the problem, and he's ready to lend a hand to anyone doing research on the subject (for a price, of course). With a head full of servos, RoboMotio's Reddy robot can contort its face into a broad range of expressions, including joy, anger, sadness, surprise, and disgust, which the company says makes it ideally suited for various human-robot endeavors. RoboMotio appears to be a bit wary of Reddy getting too "emotional," however, choosing not to give him legs or any other means of movement, although those willing to take the risk can attach him to "many standard or non-standard mobile robot bases." Of course, robots can't make a living on goodwill alone, so RoboMotio's also talking up Reddy's potential for various marketing and entertainment applications, which means you could be running into him any day now. In the meantime, be sure to hit up the link below for some not-to-be-missed shots and a couple of videos of Reddy in action.

[Thanks, Jake]

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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/reddy-the-emotional-humanoid-robot/#comments

6/5/2007 6:10:00 PM

Filed under: Features, Misc. Gadgets

While we're busy sipping iced girly drinks in the shade Stateside, considering which laptop-lite du jour most deserves a spot in our gadget bag, our Engadget Chinese counterparts are sweating it up in Taipei, blowing out the coverage on Computex Taipei (like always). Head on over to our sister site for prolific galleries and impressions (in English!) of the sights and sounds of the "world's second largest IT tradeshow." Once the dust settles a bit we'll round up all the happenings, but to see it all as it happens, you know where to go.

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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/engadget-chinese-does-computex-taipei-2007/#comments

6/5/2007 5:36:00 PM

Filed under: Gaming

Just a quick check-in on that supposedly Earth-shattering Xbox news that was due today: turns out that Bandai and Pac-Man designer Toru Iwatani debuted Pac-Man Championship Edition for Xbox Live Marketplace in New York, with new game types and an undisclosed number of new mazes -- the first in 26 years. (Humorous: the event was presented by... wait for it... Quiznos.) We're not gonna harsh on Pac-Man or anything, we love the little bugger and know damn well that for some this will actually "go down in video game history" as claimed. But our minds remain thoroughly unblown, and so we point you to Joystiq for the complete story.

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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/world-crushing-xbox-news-turns-out-to-be-new-pac-man-mazes-ga/#comments

6/5/2007 5:10:00 PM

Filed under: Digital Cameras

CompUSA has been trying to turn itself around for a while now -- it closed a ton of stores earlier this year and has generally been pretty aggressive in trying to cut costs. No matter how bad things get, though, sometimes a company's gotta bite the bullet and do the right thing by its customers, and it looks like the $269 CompUSA is holding back from Texas consultant Terry Heaton might end up costing it a lot more than it anticipated. Seems as though Terry purchased what he thought was a Canon A630 from one of the stores CompUSA was closing back in March, but when his step-daughter opened the box a few weeks ago, it was empty. Assuming he'd get a refund, Terry drove to the nearest CompUSA, where he was told that all liquidation sales were handled by a third party and not CompUSA, and that he would have to contact CompUSA's attorneys to secure a refund. Undaunted, Terry then wrote a letter to CompUSA's CEO, whose "Executive Care" assistant replied and said that Terry should have been more careful to inspect the box when he purchased the camera, and that the prominent ALL SALES ARE FINAL signs around the store and on the receipt weren't just for show. That's pretty callous, if you ask us -- while we're always extra-careful when we buy clearance items, we can't imagine CompUSA (or its liquidators) knowingly marked an empty box with a $269 price tag, and we can't imagine seeing that price and thinking the box might be empty. So come on, CompUSA -- let's see some customer friggin service, okay?

[Via LostRemote, thanks, James]

Update: Heaton got his cash back! Well, in the form of a gift certificate, which kind of sucks, but still, we're glad for him.

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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/compusa-sells-an-empty-canon-a630-box-for-269-wont-issue-refu/#comments

6/5/2007 4:40:00 PM

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Misc. Gadgets

Sony's showing off a whole range of new environmentally-friendly gear in Japan at the moment, all of which can be used without ever having to be plugged in for a recharge. One of the more interesting devices of the lot is the Spin N' Snap digital camera (pictured above), which you charge up simply by placing your fingers in the two holes (which also double as a viewfinder) and spinning it around a few times. Taking a slightly different but equally non-power-hungry route is the Crank N' Capture camera, which can also apparently capture video of some sort. Rounding out the line up are the Pull N' Play stereo headphones, the Push POWER Play device (apparently a viewer of some sort), which you charge by rolling it back and forth on a table, and the "Juice Box," which packs a fold out solar panel that can be used to charge your other devices. What's more, if we're reading the machine translation correctly, it appears that all the devices are made of re-used or recycled plastic. Unfortunately, there's no word on when or if any of them will actually be available, although you can check out a couple more pics courtesy of Impress after the break and plenty more at the link below.

[Thanks, kaztm]

Continue reading Sony shows off range of enviro-friendly "odo" gear

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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/sony-shows-off-range-of-enviro-friendly-odo-gear/#comments

6/5/2007 4:11:00 PM

Filed under: Peripherals, Storage

Just in case you hadn't yet caught wind, the Data Robotics Drobo external drive appliance went on sale today (for $500 US). We're not usually the type to tell people whether or not they should buy gadgets, but if you're at all curious you can check out our Drobo review here.

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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-now-available/#comments

6/5/2007 3:55:00 PM

Filed under: Announcements

Courtesy of Sprint, Engadget Mobile's got yet another (PRODUCT) RED Motorola RAZR V3m to give away. Sure, the 1.3 megapixel camera and media player are nice, but that red shell lets everyone know that you're doing your part to help fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Try your luck right now!

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

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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/engadget-mobiles-still-at-it-with-the-giveaways-moto-v3m-for-s/#comments

6/5/2007 3:27:00 PM

Filed under: Laptops

We still don't have the magic numbers (launch date and price) on that most impressive new Dell XPS m1330, but we did at least secure some more eye candy for you. A couple more shots after the break.

Continue reading More pics of the Dell XPS m1330

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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/more-pics-of-the-dell-xps-m1330/#comments

6/5/2007 2:59:00 PM

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

OEM manufacturer Amtek's rolled into Computex with a fresh new UMPC prototype, and it looks like it may have already signed up a partner in the US to offer it under their brand name. That bit of news comes from GottaBeMobile, which has also managed to scope out a few of the device's specs. As is par for the course these days, the device is based on Intel's McCaslin platform, and packs either an 800MHz A110 or 600MHz A100 processor, a 3600mAh 2-cell battery with an optional 4-cell extended battery, and an integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam, not to mention a full QWERTY keypad. Apparently, Amtek is set to put the device into mass production by the end of the year, although it looks like we'll have to wait a bit longer to hear anything on pricing or availability, as well as any word about that mystery US partner.

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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/amtek-shows-of-u560-umpc-at-computex/#comments

6/5/2007 2:25:00 PM

Filed under: GPS

TomTom doesn't appear to be letting that spat with Encyclopaedia Britannica stop it from rolling out new GPS devices, with its new GO 720 unit making its debut today, along with the company's new "Map Share" system. The device itself is a fairly standard affair, boasting a 4.3-inch WQVGA display, a 400MHz CPU, 64MB of RAM, an SD card slot, an FM transmitter, Bluetooth, and maps of the US and Canada pre-loaded on the unit's 2GB of internal flash memory -- an RDS-TMC traffic information receiver is also available as an optional accessory. The company's new Map Share system, as its name suggests, lets users make changes to maps and share 'em with others. While you'll apparently be able to make the changes directly on the device, you'll still have to use a PC to upload them for others to use, and to get your updated maps in return. Look for this one to set you back about $500 when its released in the US and Canada in late July -- a separate model, the GO 520, will also be available in Europe only.

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

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/tomtom-intros-go-720-with-map-share-technology/#comments

6/5/2007 1:58:00 PM

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Alienware's Hangar 18 is open for business, as we've entered the fortress tall and come away with a few more details on this new AMD LIVE! Home Cinema PC. The low end configuration comes in at $1,999, 250GB of storage, 720p video output via HDMI and an AMD Athlon X2 4200+, to the $3,899 model with 2TB of DVR storage, 1080p video, 4600+ and 4GB of RAM. Those steel hardware walls are wrapped around Windows Vista Home Premium with all the Media Center features we're used to, which should mean easy streaming of all that content to your PS3 or Xbox 360. The only military intelligence that doesn't make sense, is that you'll be forced to choose between 720p output with up to 4 tuners (2 analog, 2 digital), or 1080p with only 2 tuners (1 each.) Still, the standard 5.1 channel amplifier and wireless Gyration remote it makes for an impressive media PC package, expect it to ship June 21st.

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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/alienwares-hangar-18-launches/#comments

6/5/2007 1:41:00 PM

Filed under: Laptops

Asus and Intel seem to be bridging the gap between the fairly humanitarian efforts of the OLPC project and their own Classmate PC efforts, and the recent rash of mini-laptop attempts such as Palm's Foleo and VIA's NanoBook. Specs and launch plans aren't entirely nailed down, but this new Eee PC line has quite a bit going for it, even as crowded as this market is getting. The 7-inch ultraportable is based on an unnamed Intel chipset, and runs regular Windows XP or Linux without a problem, but really shines in its "easy" mode that strips things down to a barebones OS mainly for internet browsing (sound familiar, Foleo?). Asus didn't even leave Palm alone with its Wii comparisons either, stating that the Eee name, which stands for "easy to learn, easy to play, easy to work," also conveniently conjures images of the Wii game console, which is known for being novice-friendly. The Eee line will kick things off with the Eee PC 701, which will sport 802.11b/g WiFi, Ethernet and a modem for connectivity, along with a webcam, 512MB of RAM and a 4, 8 or 16GB flash drive for speedy, reliable storage. The real kicker is that prices for the 2 pound laptop are supposed to start as low as $200, and the Intel / Asus duo won't be aiming this at massive governmental purchases, but instead instead will be offering it to consumers through traditional retail channels.

[Via HardwareZone]

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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/asus-new-eee-pc-701-joins-the-laptop-lite-fray-with-a-bang/#comments

6/5/2007 1:12:00 PM

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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6/5/2007 1:02:00 PM

Filed under: Displays

Apple left a little mystery in their MacBook Pro announcement today, and being that this marks their first official release of an LED-backlit laptop we had to take out the guesswork and get confirmation on a few of our more burning questions.

All 15-inch MBPs now use LED-backlit displays standard; 17-inchers still use CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent)
Apple claims users can see a battery-life benefit of between 30 mins - 1 hour (depending on use). They did not have stats on exact efficiencies between LED and CCFL backlit displays.
The new LED backlight is the same brightness: 300 vs 300 nits of the previous gen's CCFL
The viewing angle is also the same as before
In other words, besides faster time from fully-off to full-brightness and an increase in battery life, Apple claims users should notice absolutely no perceivable difference between last-gen displays and the new LED-backlit ones.

Other bits

To clarify, MacBook Pros are using Santa Rosa, but MacBooks are not yet using Santa Rosa
Even though the MBP is 0.2 pounds lighter, we're still without an internal / integrated 3G option

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6/5/2007 12:46:00 PM

Filed under: Laptops

If Toshiba's just announced 12.1-inch Portege R500 laptop is a tad too small for you, you may want to consider the company's new Tecra M8, which packs a 13.3-inch widescreen display into a slightly heftier package (4.5 pounds). Apart from that bump up in size, you'll get a 1.8GHz T7100 Core 2 Duo processor, Intel's GM965 Express chipset, 1GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, a DVD SuperMulti drive, Intel Turbo Memory, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, and an integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam, among other features. Build-to-order models will also apparently be available in the "near future," but if you want one now it looks like you'll have to settle for the default configuration, which'll set you back $1,399.

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

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6/5/2007 12:17:00 PM

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

It wasn't too long ago that the Aussies got special treatment with the Australia-centric Beyonwiz DP-S1, and now the Brits in attendance can stop pouting and perk up a bit thanks to the sleek TVonics DVR-250. The UK-friendly digital video recorder sports a stylish black enclosure, a 250GB hard drive, built-in Freeview tuner, one-touch recording, an additional tuner for watching one program whilst recording another, eight-day EPG, and a universal remote to control your AV setup from the comforts of your sofa. Additionally, this device boasts "reduced power consumption" in comparison to its competitors, and claims to be "environmentally friendly" due to the carefully selected components used in construction. Nevertheless, the DVR-250 can be snapped up now for £189.99 ($376) by those looking for OTA recording abilities across the pond.

[Via TechDigest]

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

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6/5/2007 11:46:00 AM

Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops, Portable Audio, Portable Video

We've seen a plethora of devices that seem to convert your iPod into a laptop of sorts without voiding the warranty, but after you've broken the screen and have nothing to lose, why spend money on a pre-fabricated alternative? The iTop is essentially a hacked iPod that now resembles a white MacBook in some strange parallel universe, and while it's definitely a stretch to deem this thing an iPod laptop, it can reportedly run a full build of Linux. Of course, the protruding hard drive may detract from the overall appearance, but at least it performs the task of holding the device upright whilst sitting. Unfortunately, there aren't too many details to assist those who'd like to replicate this feat, but click on through for a few more snaps of this bizarre creation.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

Continue reading Apple iPod hacked into iTop handheld

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6/5/2007 11:15:00 AM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Akustica, which makes its mark building acoustic system-on-chip solutions, has recently introduced what it calls the "world's first HD microphone that enables HD voice quality in laptop PCs and other broadband mobile devices." The firm's AKU2103 is a digital-output microphone with a "guaranteed wideband frequency response," which means that you can sleep easy knowing that your built-in mic complies with the TIA-920 audio performance requirement for wideband transmission. This MEMS device crams the mechanical transducer, output amplifier, and sigma-delta converter onto a single chip of silicon, and touts near-immunity to RF and electromagnetic interference as well as to power supply modulation. The surface-mountable unit measures in at just four- x four-millimeters in size, and while pricing details aren't available to the masses just yet, Akustica plans on sampling the AKU2103 in Q3 of this year.

[Via Slashdot]

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6/5/2007 10:46:00 AM

Filed under: Laptops

It's easy to jump to conclusions when you hear a spec like "2.4 pounds" -- things like no disc drive, minuscule screen and a complete lack of horsepower quickly spring to mind -- but Toshiba is really taking things next-gen with its new Portege R500. The new bestest buddy to Tosh's flagship R400 tablet, the R500 packs a first ever 7mm optical drive, 12.1-inch transflective (outdoor readable) LED-backlit screen, and does it all with a mere 0.77-inches of thickness, which Toshiba claims is the thinnest ever to include a disc drive, and that aforementioned 2.4 pound weight. The R500 isn't spec shy either, with a Core 2 duo U7600 1.2GHz processor, Intel GMA 950 graphics, up to 2GB of RAM, a 120GB HDD and a 1280 x 800 screen res. There's even a PCMCIA slot, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth and VGA out, just to make the other ultraportables look bad. To top it all off, Toshiba is boasting of the "world's longest" battery life for a 12.1-inch widescreen notebook, but doesn't have any hard numbers other than that. The laptop starts at $2,000 with XP Pro, or $2,150 with Vista Business, but the real fun starts later this year when Toshiba starts shipping 64GB SSD configurations, which once specced to a 3 cell battery and no optical drive will weigh a paltry 1.72 pounds.

[Via Laptoping]

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6/5/2007 10:16:00 AM

Filed under: Desktops

It looks like blistering fast DDR3 RAM and new Draft 2.0-spec 802.11n gear aren't the only new wares taking the stage at Computex, as an X38-based SX38P3 Deluxe was spotted comfortably residing within a Shuttle XPC. Of course, this isn't the first motherboard news coming from the Shuttle camp of late, but the camera-wielding crew at HotHardware was able to snap a few shots of the new flagship system all the while. The SX38P3 will reportedly replace the SD37PV2 as Shuttle's high-end Intel based barebone system, and will sport a single PCI Express x16 slot alongside a vanilla PCI slot -- something the SD37PV2 lacked and received healthy amounts of criticism for. Interestingly, the rear of the machine purportedly held no legacy ports whatsoever, instead opting for six USB 2.0 connectors in hopes that you've upgraded your input peripherals and printer relatively recently. As expected, no availability and pricing details were to be had, but feel free to click on through for more sneak peeks at the newfangled rig.

[Via Inquirer]

Continue reading Shuttle X38-based desktop spotted at Computex

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6/5/2007 9:46:00 AM

Filed under: Laptops

Right on cue, we've got MacBook Pro updates for you to love or hate depending upon your fanboy affiliation. First the 17-inch which now features new NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics and a new 1920 x 1200 pixel display (for $100 extra)... at last. Both the 15- and 17-inch models now sport Intel's Santa Rosa platform -- Intel's latest take on Centrino featuring an 800MHz front side bus which changes dynamically to save power. Apple was also kind enough to finally loose a MacBook Pro with LED backlighting just like Sir Steve promised. However, that appears to be limited to the 15-inch model. So now we're looking at a 15.4-inch MBP with a 1440 x 900 pixel display topping out with a new 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 160GB 5,400rpm disk, 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (up to 4GB supported), pre-enabled 802.11n of course, a new 256MB of NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics option, 8x (up from 6x) slot-loading SuperDrive, and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR. It maintains the same dimensions while tipping the scales at 5.4-pounds (down from 5.6-pounds). The 17-inch meanwhile tops out with the same 2.4GHz proc and up to 250GB of disk. Much newness, at least for the 15-incher, for the same entrance fee of $1,999 starting today -- that'll only get you into the cheap seats but the faithful have to sit somewhere.

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

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6/5/2007 9:33:00 AM

Filed under: Wireless

Considering the sensational amount of knockoff gadgetry and counterfeit software that manages to emerge in China, it's only surprising that it has taken this long for a company (or two) to unveil a legitimate solution to at least curb the amount of black market goods that leave the country. Reportedly, Oracle will be teaming up with Hitachi to "jointly market wireless IC tags in China that can be used to identify whether products are real or not," meaning that tagged goods can now be easily identified as authentic when placed over a reader. The tags will be made and distributed by Hitachi and the duo of firms will promote the usage of said anti-piracy measures with the Tokyo-based Ubiquitous ID Center which issues and manages IC tags. Initially, the tags will purportedly be used with tickets for the upcoming Beijing Olympics and Expo 2010 in Shanghai, but there was no word on any planned rollouts or potential takers outside of these two events. Still, for Japanese wares makers that operate in China, ¥10 ($0.08) a pop for these piracy-thwarting tags sounds like an awfully fair deal. [Warning: Read link requires subscription]

[Via Yahoo]

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

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6/5/2007 9:02:00 AM

Filed under: Portable Video

Asuka packed some decent codec support in this one, and it's hard to fault 'em for a 3.6-inch QVGA screen and the 0.67-inch thickness, but could this PME380 PMP really be any less exciting? You can pack in your media, including most MPEG flavors, DivX and XviD, onto an SD card and play it back for 7 to 10 hours, or tune into DVB-T for about 4. There's also video out and an FM transmitter option, but that's as far as the spec sheet r sheet reaches. No word on price, but Asuka plans on starting volume production in August.

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

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6/5/2007 8:21:00 AM

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC just made their "major" announcement. Are you ready for it... wait... it's the Elf now official with its "Touch" street name. Right, the Windows Mobile device we first saw six months ago and already formally announced by O2 Germany as the Xda nova. HTC's big surprise? Well, the Touch is the first device to feature TouchFLO touchscreen technology "developed by HTC" -- though we think Microsoft had a little something to do with it. It's not multi-touch like the iPhone, but it does offer a "new and unique" way to sweep a finger (or stylus) across the screen to control the 3D interface. To recap, the diminutive 99.9 x 58 x 13.9-mm Touch runs Windows Mobile 6 with TouchFLO UI on a 2.8-inch display and OMAP850 processor while packing tri-band 900/1800/1900 GSM with EDGE, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, 1GB microSD expansion included, and a 2 megapixel cam. Best of all, it's available now in the UK, later this month around Europe and Asia, and then North and Latin America in the 2nd half of the year.

Gallery: HTC's Touch with TouchFLO -- the Elf with new 3D sweep interface

Read -- press release
Read -- TouchFLO interactive

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

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6/5/2007 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!

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