Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Intel announces its first SSDs, plans to ship in a month

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/369414821/

Filed under: Storage

Intel's keeping the announcements coming at this year's IDF -- today we got word that the company will launch its first SSDs in a month or so just as we expected. The 1.8-inch X-18M and 2.5-inch X-25M drives will be targeted at laptops and MIDs and come in 80GB and 160GB sizes using MLC tech, while the 32GB and 64GB SLC-based X-25E is aimed at servers and will be out in 90 days. Intel hasn't locked down pricing, but the M-series drives should cost about $8/GB, which would put the 160GB unit at a whopping $1,280 and the 80GB at $640. We're hoping those estimates are skewed a little high -- and Intel says there might be a cheaper 40GB unit on the way as well. We'll see in a month, we suppose.

[Via Electronista]

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Casio intros the blemish-zapping EX-Z300 digicam with a slew of likeminded friends

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/369499153/

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Casio, clearly not wanting to be left behind in the compact digicam market, has introduced what might be described as a treasure-trove of cameraifical excellence. Heading up this line of unstoppable goodness is the £229.99 ($429) EX-Z300, a 10-megapixel shooter that carries the company's in-camera touch-up mode called "Make-up" which allows you to clone away "blemishes" or "people you hate to look at." The electronics-maker is also introducing the £129.99 ($242), 9.3-megapixel EXILIM Card EX-Z19, the £149.99 ($280) 9.1MP EXILM Zoom EX-Z85, and a slightly less robust version of the EX-Z300 called the EXILM Zoom EX-Z250 -- at £199.99 ($373) -- also with a 9.1MP sensor. Exciting stuff, right? Right.

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Intel's UrbanMax slider laptop concept unveiled at IDF

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/369528532/

Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops

Intel appears to be firing on all cylinders at IDF. Besides whatever surprised they have planned for tomorrow, the chip-maker rolled out a prototype of a convertible laptop / tablet / MID / UMPC / netbook / super-gadget called the UrbanMax. There's not much in the way of specs on the device, but as you can see from the photos, it utilizes a combination sliding / tilting screen to transform into any variety of configurations. The display is a resistive touchscreen, though it's not clear what the guts are made up of here. The whole thing reminds us of a giant Tilt, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. One more pic after the break.

[Via jkkmobile]

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Intel teaser slate PC revealed as a Panasonic medical tablet

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/369625865/

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Intel's certainly taken the lid off some interesting gear at this year's IDF, but this is a little disappointing -- that cool-looking slate / tablet PC the company was teasing this afternoon is a Panasonic tablet aimed at the healthcare industry, just as we suspected. Put in that context, it's nothing special at all, really -- we've seen tons of these from various manufacturers, and Panny's been putting out similar Toughbook tablets for some time, including the Atom-based CF-U1. Guess you can't win 'em all -- but at least the guessing was fun for a while.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

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Pandora project demoed on video, shows off hardware, Linux, and Quake 2

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/369787621/

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

It looks like the Pandora project is really coming together nicely. EvilDragon has just posted this video on the GP32x boards of a development model up and running. It's pretty exciting stuff if you're a homebrew fan (and we know you are), featuring demos of the device smoothly running emulators like PicoDrive, PSNES, booting up a build of Linux, and even getting its Quake 2 on (at high frame rates and looking crystal clear). It's still going to be awhile before we've actually got our grubby mitts on one of these, but this is certainly doing a good job of whetting our appetites. Watch the video after the break and see for yourself.

[Thanks, Chris]

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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Kensington's Wireless USB Docking Station Is the World's First, Supports Five Devices and DVI Monitor [Kensington]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/368330698/kensingtons-wireless-usb-docking-station-is-the-worlds-first-supports-five-devices-and-dvi-monitor

Kensington's just released the world's first Wireless USB universal docking station, conveniently named the Wireless USB Docking Station. The thing suppports five USB devices as well as a DVI monitor, which can then be "attached" wirelessly to your notebook whenever it comes into range. Speaker ports round out the solution, and the whole thing is compatible with any Wireless USB notebook brands. You'll be able to pay $230 for one at the end of the month at Dell and Kensington. Is the convenience of not having to plug in five USB devices (or one, if you have a USB hub), a monitor and a speaker every time you sit down worth $230? We say yes. [Kensington]

Lunocet Monofin Makes Man into Michael Phelps [Lunocet]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/368465266/lunocet-monofin-makes-man-into-michael-phelps

Boy that Michael Phelps is fast. No one can argue it, he can dominate in almost any style of swim and possesses one of the best dolphin kicks in the world. That is, one of the best kicks aside from some random guy using the Lunocet monofin. Because while Phelps is able to swim at an inhuman 5 miles per hour, the average swimmer using the carbon fiber Lunocet will routinely hit about 8mph. Is it too late for us to book our tickets to Beijing?

The Lunocet weighs about 2.5lbs out of the water, but in the water it's positively buoyant. Constructed from silicon wrapped in carbon fiber with a titanium footplate, the system gives you the same power on a downstroke as an upstroke. Coupled with a pair of strong legs the monofin could theoretically generate enough power to drive a human completely out of the water—yes, real life dolphin acrobatics at last.

So is the Lunocet worth its $1250 to $1800 pricetag? We don't know, but it sure sounds a whole lot better than actually training. And we doubt that we'll be getting access to DARPA's swimming tech anytime soon. [Lunocet]

Easycar U7 DMB / GPU unit launches in South Korea

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/368064320/

Filed under: GPS, Portable Video

We're (so) looking forward to the day when we Americans don't have to look longingly at the amazing navigation units that pop up every month or so in South Korea, but until that fateful day arrives, we'll continue drooling courtesy of the Easycar U7. This screen-dominated conglomerate features a 7-inch LCD, DMB TV tuner, 19-millimeter thick frame and an integrated multimedia player / text viewer. All that for just ₩199,000 ($191)? Nah, we're not envious at all.

[Via Techie Diva]

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Ozmo's WiFi PAN mouse cuts the wires and the Bluetooth

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/368108521/

Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless

We've never really had anything bad to say about our Bluetooth mouse experience (this week, at least), but Ozmo thinks it can do better. The company has built an optical mouse that connects over low-power WiFI Personal Area Network (PAN) technology. Ozmo has special drivers for the PC to allow it to do concurrent WLAN and WPAN connections, and is compatible with 802.11g and 802.11a. They're also fighting Bluetooth on the audio front with a headset, where we think they might find a more welcome reception -- especially when they get some good stereo headphones on the market. Intel and Ozmo just recently trotted out this WiFI PAN tech a couple of months ago, and what we have here are reference designs for use by OEMs, so no word on commercial availability just yet.

[Via I4U]

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Samsung Omnia reviewed on Engadget Mobile

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/368250635/

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Remember the Touch Diamond? Yeah, well, cherish that memory, because it may be gone by the time you get done with our quick look at Samsung's mighty Omnia. We're not saying the Sammy entry blows away HTC's -- not by a long shot -- but it's a solid competitor that makes Windows Mobile looks shockingly passable for the year 2008. Read on!

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Dell's "Mini" Inspiron 910 gets specs, pics, and potential release date leaked

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/368297864/

Filed under: Laptops

The cats over at Gizmodo have gotten their eyes on some succulent and salacious photos of the oft-rumored, much-discussed, openly-desired Dell "Mini Inspiron" (or as it's now being called, the Inspiron 910) -- and they've shared with the world. In the pics you get to see that familiar pencil-pose along with a slew of insides and outs, including an up-close look at ports, keyboard, and guts. The specs look like they're right in line with those leaked materials we had back in June, and the word is this little baby will be hitting shelves come August 22nd. Time to swing by the Coinstar machine.

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USB 3.0 gets seriously detailed

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/368374509/

Filed under: Peripherals

Just last week, Intel gave AMD, NVIDIA and a whole host of friends what they had been clamoring for: 90% complete USB 3.0 controller specifications. Now, the cool cats over at MaximumPC have churned out an encyclopedic writeup that details USB SuperSpeed remarkably well. The highlights include assurance that USB 3.0 will be backwards-compatible with USB 2.0 and that it'll provide transfer rates up to ten times more than USB 2.0's 480Mbps limit (that's 4.8Gbps). Furthermore, we're told that uploads and downloads are kept on separate lanes, the cables are thicker, it will charge more devices more quickly, and it will be much more mindful of energy waste. Go on and get yourself completely schooled in the read link below.

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Video: Android SDK v0.9 hits the internet looking almost ready for primetime

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/368398582/

Filed under: Cellphones

It's an interesting day for the folks at Google. Not only do we see the supposed GPhone (AKA, the HTC Dream) get trotted out to the FCC, and hear new rumors about the device's release date, but now there's a brand-spanking-new release of the Android SDK available. The version? 0.9 -- a number which puts this dangerously close to a number that most would consider non-beta. Meanwhile, the new version of the mobile OS has been significantly changed, adding a new widgetified (big old clock: present!) and flickable homescreen, a handy (and speedy) tab to pull up your apps, plus a media player, camera, and handful of other noticeable design tweaks. Don't believe us? Check out the video after the break showing it all in action.

Update: We've included a gallery of screenshots as well. Check out the sync contacts option. Sweet! Also, you may note that it asks you to "open keyboard to compose message" in the SMS screen -- almost like it's made for a device with a slide-out keyboard.

Gallery: Video: Android SDK v0.9 hits the internet looking almost ready for primetime

Continue reading Video: Android SDK v0.9 hits the internet looking almost ready for primetime

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Sanyo offers up "entry-level" 1080p PLV-Z700 LCD projector

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/368406703/

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

"Entry-level" and "1080p projector" don't often go hand-in-hand, but Sanyo's mashing the two terms together with its PLV-Z700. The Full HD beamer provides a 1,920 x 1,080 native resolution, 1,200 ANSI lumens, 10,000:1 contrast ratio, twin HDMI 1.3b ports (along with an array of others) and a variable iris that can "control lens iris adjustment every 1/60th of a second." Unfortunately, the most tantalizing tidbit has been omitted for now (yes, the price), but word on the street has it shipping to the UK in October.

[Via AboutProjectors]

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HP EliteBook 2730p gets shown off on video

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/368454433/

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

We didn't exactly get the best look at HP's new EliteBook 2730p tablet when it was announced earlier today, but Notebooks.com has now thankfully come through with a video of the device, in which HP's Kyle Thorton helpfully shows off every nook and cranny of sleek yet supposedly rugged convertible. That includes a peek at the tablet's jog dial, which makes a welcome reappearance after being ditched on the 2710p, and its "double clutch" stylus-holding system, which promises to keep you from losing your trusty input device (it's actually pretty slick). Head on past the break for the full show.

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