Monday, February 23, 2009

Why Does This Apple iBook Have a Microsoft BSOD? [Inconceivable]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/BSMzXUwytxs/why-does-this-apple-ibook-have-a-microsoft-bsod

So there's this commercial on TV right now for some computer maintenance service with technologically-inept people frustrated over their crappy, virus-laden, machines. At one point an iBook even flashes a BSOD...wait, what?

Oh, the joys of low budget commercials and oblivious ad men! If El Jobso saw this, he would be furious! Plus, they show the iBook running Windows XP. OK, so it's not the end of the world to not know that BSODs only happen on machines that can run Windows (some might even take pride in it). Still, Don Draper would never let this happen.

And if that's not enough for you, there countless other ridiculous parts, such as an angry, snotnosed gamer reminiscent of Angry German Kid, and a middle-aged, corporate suit who speaks about his computer in the same way as his failing marriage. You should really just watch it.



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How To: Hackintosh a Dell Mini 9 Into the Ultimate OS X Netbook [How To]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/MNTI31OAwgU/how-to-hackintosh-a-dell-mini-9-into-the-ultimate-os-x-netbook

I am typing this on a 9-inch, 3G-equipped, almost-pocketable computer, running the best consumer OS money can currently buy. It costs around $400. Do you want one too? Here's how to get yours.

There are a lot of netbooks on which you can install and run OS X, but if you're mindful of the handy comparison chart those lads at Boing Boing Gadgets have compiled, you'll know that the Mini 9 is about as ideal a platform as you'll find for a Hackintosh ultraportable: Everything from wi-fi, sound and the function keys down to the optional integrated mobile broadband card and the SD card reader are supported and work as they should. No hardware compromises at all. It's awesome.

Generally, there are two ways to approach a Hackintosh install: Using a "slipstreamed" OS X installer image that's been modified to install on non-Apple hardware, or using a $129 factory-fresh retail OS X install disk in tandem with a special bootloader that does the necessary tweaking to let the install happen. The former can be easy enough, but it's pretty much illegal since it contains a pirated OS X install disk, and on top of that you'll run into all kinds of problems should you ever want to upgrade your OS or software via Software Update.

By using a retail OS X disk, you stay mostly out of pirate waters, and ensure that once everything's up and running, you'll be as close as is possible to having an actual! Mac. He re we're doing that, using a method referred to as the "Type11" install, cooked up by a fellow of the same handle and his colleagues over on the MyDellMini forums, a fantastic resource.

Even though we're using a standard retail-purchased copy of OS X, the disclaimer: Apple does not like Hackintoshing. It violates the OS X EULA, and probably won't make the Dell folks too happy either, should you need to return your hacked Mini 9 for service. So, as always, proceed at your own risk.

On a personal note let me tell you, it's worth it. The Mini 9 is a beautiful OS X machine. So let's get started.

What You'll Need

Dell Mini 9 With 16GB SSD or higher (8GB SSDs will techincally work, but it will take some fiddling not covered by this guide)

• Retail copy of OS X 10.5.x (NOT an OEM copy that comes with a new Mac)

• A USB flash drive 8GB or higher

• An external USB DVD drive

• The "Type11" Bootloader: DellMiniBoot123v8.01.iso.zip (download link in this forum post)

• Blank CD to burn bootloader image (I actually used version 8.0 of Type11 on my CD-if your boot process with 8.01 is different than what's spelled out in this guide, you can download 8.0 here. Both should work.)

• Windows PC for preparing the flash drive (if DVD drive works fine, this is optional)



Preparing Your Boot Loader

The easiest way to use both the Type11 bootloader (burned to a bootable CD) and your OS X install DVD is via the external USB DVD drive. The catch is, some drives are mysteriously not compatible with installing OS X on the Mini 9. Mine was one of those drives—the bootloader CD would work without a hitch, but it would choke on the OS X install disk every time. Thankfully, it's also possible to run both the bootloader and the OS X install disk off of a USB flash drive. I'm going to spell out my method here, which actually included both approaches, but try an external DVD drive first, and if yours is compatible, your life will be a little easier than mine was. On the other hand, if you don't have an external drive, you can give the USB flash drive method a shot.

The general approach here it to boot from the Type11 bootloader, which allows you install, run and update OS X; once you're up to 10.5.6, you can install a suite of Mini 9 specific drivers so you don't have to rely on the bootloader anymore.

1. Unzip the DellMiniBoot123v8.01.iso and burn it to a CD with Disk Utility or a similar Windows tool (don't just drag the ISO file to a disk). Pop that disk into your external DVD drive, connect it to your Mini 9 and power it on, then press 0 (zero) at startup to bring up the list of bootable devices.

2. Choose CD/DVD from the list, which will bring you into the bootloader. Choose the first option, "Install Retail OS X 10.5" which will bring you to a command prompt that says "boot:"

3. Take out the bootloader disk and pop in your retail OS X install DVD, keeping the PC running. (You can power your external drive off and then on again to make sure everything's kosher.) Press Escape at the boot: prompt to bring up the drive options. The Type11 i! nstaller uses hex codes to choose which device you're booting from, which you can assign at any time from the boot prompt by pressing escape: enter "9f" for the external DVD drive or "80" for the primary internal SSD. Here we're booting from the external CD drive, so press escape, Type "9f" then press enter.

4. At this point, the OS X installer will either load or it won't. If it does, great. You can skip to step 12. If not, you'll need to do what I did, and transfer everything to a USB flash drive to install that way.



Preparing a USB Stick Instead Of/In Addition To a Boot CD

This is based on a tutorial found on the MyDellMini forums by "bmaltais"—bigup to him.

5. Open up Disk Utility and partition your USB drive (8GB or larger) into two partitions: one 200MB FAT32 (MS-DOS) partition named "TYPE11" and one with the remainder of the free space formated as Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) called OSXDVD.

6. Move to a Windows PC (I know, I know), plug in your USB stick and download Syslinux-this is a utility that will make the FAT32 partition of your USB stick bootable. With the Windows Command Prompt, cd over to the "win32" subdirectory of the Syslinux directory you downloaded and type the following, where "F:" is the drive letter for the TYPE11 partition on your USB stick:

syslinux -ma F:

You won't get any confirmation, but if you receive no error messages, you're good: This copies a single file named ldlinux.sys (invisible in Windows) to the USB drive to make it bootable. Pop it out and go back to your Mac if that's what you're using.

7. Now, unzip the Type11 ISO (inst! ead of b urning it to a disk) and copy the whole directory structure to the TYPE11 partition. Do NOT overwrite the "ldlinux.sys" when it asks—you want to keep the one you copied over with Syslinux.

8. To fill up the other partition, insert your OS X install DVD and, in Disk Utility, select it and choose "New Image." Save it to the OSXDVD partition of your USB drive as "live.dmg" with "compressed" as the type and encryption set to "none." This'll take about a half hour to rip the DVD to an image, which should weigh in at around 6.4 GB give or take.

9. After that's done, go to Terminal and copy your mach kernel file to the OSXDVD partition by typing this:

sudo cp /mach_kernel /Volumes/OSXDVD

10. And finally, download this zip file, uncompress it and copy the System and Library folders inside to your OSXDVD partition. This is the last bit of magic needed to make your Mini 9 think it's working with an actual OS X install DVD.

11. On your Mini 9, restart it and enter the BIOS setup by pressing "2"—and make sure legacy support for USB devices is enabled. Now, reboot and select the boot options list by tapping 0 at startup and choose USB Storage. Select the OSXDVD partition to boot from and press Enter. This should load up the familiar Apple and the OS X installer window.



Install OS X

While you're installing and doing initial configuration of OS X, everything will be all warped to 800x600 rather than your Mini's native 1024x600 res. Don't worry, this will be fixed soon enough.

12. The first thing you need to do is format your SSD. Bring up Disk Utility in the installer select it at the highest level possible. Go to "Partition" and make it a single Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) partition. B! efore hi tting Apply, go to Options and select GUID Partition Table. Then hit apply.

13. Now, go back to the Installer, and install OS X to the SSD you just partitioned. You will definitely want to choose to customize your install to save SSD space—I would ditch all the printer drivers and language packs you don't need to save space. If you install with the default options though, don't worry—all can be removed later. The install will take about an hour, so go fix yourself a drink. You may come back to an Install Error message at the very end (I didn't), but if you do, don't worry. It's normal.

14. Once OS X is installed, it's still not ready for use right off the drive. On your first reboot, make sure you boot back into the Type11 bootloader on your CD or flash drive, as your new OS X partition is still not bootable without it.

This is, however, where a bit of weirdness set in for me. The Type11 partition on my USB disk would NOT recognize my fresh OS X install on the Mini 9 SSD. It just would not boot it. The Type11 boot CD I had made (with version 8.0 of Type11) DID recognize it, however, and booted it just fine. So bear that in mind here—even if you weren't using an external drive before, you still might need one.



15. So now you boot back into the Type11 CD and choose option 1 ("Install Retail OS X 10.5") again, even though you're not installing. This takes you back to the boot prompt. This time, hit Escape, and type the code "80" for your SSD (as opposed to "9f" for the external DVD). Press enter, and then back at the "boot:" prompt, type "-f" with no quotes before hitting enter again to boot. This will load all of OS X's kernel extensions (.kexts) to make sure wi-fi and everything works. OS X should boot, and you'll go through the typical OS X setup process. Notice the webcam and—hopefully&m! dash;net working are already working!

ONE MORE NOTE: If networking isn't working, don't panic. On my first boot from the SSD, wi-fi didn't work. But after a restart and another boot from the bootloader CD (with the "-f" option) it worked fine. Throughout this process, if anything is screwy, before you panic and start Googling new strategems, simply re-do the last step that failed—it's often that easy.

Free Up Space and Update OS X to 10.5.6

Now that you've booted from the fresh install on the SSD, it's time to update to 10.5.6 (if necessary). After a default install, I only had a gig and change left on my 16GB SSD, so I had to dump some programs I wouldn't need as well as all the printer drivers found at /Library/Printers. There is an app called Monolingual which can also help clear some space by removing unwanted language files and stripping out all legacy PPC code from your universal binaries.

16. Once you've cleared up enough space (if necessary, you'll need around 6GB), go to Software Update and install the 10.5.6 update. This will take a long-ass time too (the SSD, strangely enough, seems to actually be slower on tasks that take tons of reads and writes).

17. After it's done, restart, and boot into the Type11 bootloader one last time. This time you don't have to use the "-f" flag. Once you're booted, go to the DellMini9Utils folder on your Type11 CD or flash drive and run the DellEFI installer. This will load all of the Mini 9 .kexts and drivers as well as a special bootloader to boot your SSD install. Choose the easy install option and just let it do its magic.

18. After it's done, you'll be asked to reboot one final time. You won't need to boot from the Type11 CD this time; you should boot straight off of your SSD like normal, and enter upon your fresh new OS X desktop, now in gloriously correct 1024x600 resolution. Awesome!



Configs, Tweaks and Fun Stuff

You'll notice right away that OS X runs fantastically on the Mini 9. I was really stunned, and you probably will be too. Here are some things to make it even better:

• Follow this tutorial to get your mobile broadband working if your Mini 9 has it. Network preferences should recognize it out of the box.

• If you're especially OCD, you can run the "AboutThisMac.pkg" inside the Type11 utilities folder to change "Unknown Processor" in the About This Mac window to the correct 1.6GHz Atom designation.

This is a neat trick for fooling pesky oversized windows into shrinking themselves for your small screen.

• I haven't had luck with this, but you can apparently enable some multitouch scrolling action on the Dell's Synaptics touchpad by following these instructions.

Conclusion

So congrats, now you have a 100% functional OS X netbook. I've been using mine for a few days now, and it's quite the machine for basic netbook activities-surfing, IM, email. It connects to my shared AirPort disk and streams my video collection (even high-def files) perfectly, and also backs up wirelessly over Time Machine. The 9-inch screen will make even your lower-res full-screen video look fantastic—YouTube or Hulu, QuickTime trailers and video rips are a pleasure to watch. Watching an episode of something in bed without lugging my 15-incher in with me is really nice.

In addition, I think I may have found the perfect toilet computer. No one wants to fight Windows on the throne. And of course it's amazin! g for tr aveling. I'm about to take a trip to Cairo, and I'll be bringing this little guy without a doubt.

Resources

Many thanks to everyone at the following sites:

DellMyMini Forums: Mac OS X

DellMyMini Forums: OS X: FAQs and How Tos

OSX86 Wiki Guide

So that's about it! Please add in your experiences in the comments-your feedback is a huge benefit to our Saturday guides. Good luck with your own Hackintoshing, and have a great weekend!



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Iriver P7 Gets Official, Packs Innovative... Packaging [PMPs]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/NSi7z-OyAaw/iriver-p7-gets-official-packs-innovative-packaging

We caught a peek of iriver's P7 PMP at CES, but now the 4.3" screened player is up on the official site with some pretty pictures and a full list of specs.

The key points: it'll be available in 4/8/16/32 GB flavors, pack 35 hours audio and 7 hours video battery life, and a 4.3" 480x272 resolution screen. That screen's a bit disappointing, we'd have liked to see a sharper one. It also looks a little pudgier than we'd want from a flash-based PMP, though the screen size makes it un-pocketable anyway. The P7 will support an impressive array of codecs, including the less common OGG, FLAC, and even XviD. Oddly enough, the packaging gets special mention: apparently it can double as "a business card holder, a pen holder, or a picture frame." Still no word on price or Stateside release date, though it should be out in South Korea shortly.

[DAPReview]



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Atlantis Found on Google Earth, Official Explanation Is Dubious [Google Mythology]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/8BZFh5mdXCo/atlantis-found-on-google-earth-official-explanation-is-dubious

The image you see above is purportedly traces of the ruins of the Lost City of Atlantis, found on Google Earth. Let's weigh the evidence for and against, and see what we can conclude.

Conclusion 1: This Is Atlantis, Dammit!

The enigmatic lines were found under the sea off the north-western coast of Africa. This location is awfully close to one of the spots Plato, Legendary Smart Dude, had pinpointed as a possible resting place of Atlantis. In addition, the site is about the same size as Plato described. And if we accept Google's explanation, why is this the first such grid we've seen, in this very suspicious location?

Conclusion 2: It's Not Atlantis, Dammit!

Google claims that the lines are remnants of the sonar traces left by boats as they surveyed the area. Plus, Plato described Atlantis as being designed as a series of concentric circles, not a grid. Sub-argument: Plato's description of Atlantis was fictional, and the entire internet is really bored.

I think the arguments speak for themselves. ATLANTIS IS OBVIOUSLY REAL! [CNET, Google]



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MSI'a X-Slim X340, X600 Are Two More Sub-$1000 Macbook Air Lookalikes [Laptops]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/HkEi6B9X1a4/msia-x+slim-x340-x600-are-two-more-sub+1000-macbook-air-lookalikes

We don't know much about MSI's X-Slim netbook line being touted in China, but from the looks of it, these machines are winners: super-slim form factors, light-weight, 13.4 or 15.6-inch screens, and low cost.

Thus far the X-Slims have only been unveiled in China, and details, such as the processor and chipset platform, are still unclear. It was reported that MSI might go beyond the typical Atom package and offer these with a beefier Pentium-class chip, or perhaps even utilize Nvidia's Ion platform for HD graphics (HDMI output coming standard on these machines seems to make a decent case for the later scenario).

Pricing is apparently between $700 and $100 for the newly unveiled 13-inch X340 (a previously announced X320 is the same form factor sans some of the extras like HDMI. Brings these to the states please, MSI: with your history of supporting the Hackintosh community, these would make fine, fine OS X machines. [Engadget Chinese]



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Sony scouting a tester for unreleased new product?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/21/sony-scouting-a-tester-for-unreleased-new-product/


While the rumors of a PSP2 and PSP Phone have calmed down of late, they're never truly dead. According to a fluent Japanese speaker translating a Sony Japan job listing for GameSpot, the company is on the hunt for an "evaluator / assessor for a new game machine." More specifically, that elusive machine is said to be a "part of the PlayStation or PSP series and their peripherals." The listing goes on to state that the lucky winner will "be part of an advisory staff that will play PlayStation series software on this new machine and check its functionality," and they'll also be able to "test game machines not yet released or new functionality of PS3 peripherals before they are released." From there, it's up to your imagination to determine what exactly this could be alluding to, but we're setting our expectations remarkably low as to not be disappointed.

[Via GameSpot]

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Sony scouting a tester for unreleased new product? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Feb 2009 06:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola with big touchscreen emerges, doesn't disgust

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/21/motorola-with-big-touchscreen-emerges-doesnt-disgust/


What's this, a high-end slate from Motorola that we can all cautiously get behind? Hard as it may be to believe, it seems that Moto might be working on some serious hardware to compete with... well, anything. We don't have any information on this device we're seeing here beyond what we can make out from the picture -- 5 megapixel Kodak-branded camera, big touchscreen, TV-out, and a xenon flash -- but the tip suggests that this could be Moto's first Android device. We tend to think that's not very likely, since we don't have Home or Back buttons on the front (which would also rule out Windows Mobile 6.5 without a Start button), but we suppose they could be hiding out on the side somewhere -- and frankly, we don't see Motorola blowing anyone away with a touchscreen version of its proprietary platform any time soon. At any rate, let's just hope this shot is real, and the phone's almost ready for retail.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

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Motorola with big touchscreen emerges, doesn't disgust originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MyRacer's lisse T10 PMP subtly takes a hint from iriver's SPINN

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/22/myracers-lisse-t10-pmp-subtly-takes-a-hint-from-irivers-spinn/


MyRacer's lisse S10 was too simple to really attribute any level of knockoff status to it, but there's little doubt that the company's lisse T10 took a lesson or two in design from iriver's SPINN. For whatever reason, the SPINN seems to be quite popular in the KIRF circuit, and while the T10 is still different enough to keep it from being the next in our growing list of blatant rips, we're definitely not giving MyRacer any innovation credits here. All that aside, this here PMP is said to feature a 2.8-inch display (320 x 240), 2GB / 4GB of internal capacity, support for a litany of audio and video file formats, a built-in FM tuner and recorder, a text reader and support for an undocumented list of "games." There's no word on a price or release date, but we wouldn't count on it drifting far from its home nation of South Korea.

[Via DAP Review, thanks Michael]

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MyRacer's lisse T10 PMP subtly takes a hint from iriver's SPINN originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 05:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iriver's gorgeous P7 gets itself a web address

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/22/irivers-gorgeous-p7-gets-itself-a-web-address/


Unfortunately, we're still no closer to finding out when the iriver P7 will be available, but given that it's now showing up on the company's worldwide web portal alongside scads of other beautiful pieces of hardware, we'd say it's certainly closer than before. None of the listed specifications look to have changed, but there sure are a lot of purty images to look at there in the read link. Grab a tissue, place it beneath your chin and head on over.

[Via DAP Review, thanks Jeff]

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iriver's gorgeous P7 gets itself a web address originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 08:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPoint 3D brings gesture-based inputs to 3D displays

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/22/ipoint-3d-brings-gesture-based-inputs-to-3d-displays/


Just in case you've been parked out under a local stone for the past six months and change, we figured it prudent to let you know that the 3D bandwagon has totally regained momentum. So much momentum, in fact, that the brilliant minds over at Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft have decided to bust out a 3D innovation that actually makes us eager to sink our minds into the elusive third dimension. The iPoint 3D, which we're hoping to get up close and personal with at CeBIT next week, is a technology that enables Earthlings to interact with a 3D display via simple gestures -- all without touching the panel and without those style-smashing 3D glasses. The gurus even go so far as to compare their creation to something you'd see in a science fiction flick, with the heart of it involving a recognition device (usually suspended above the user) and a pair of inbuilt cameras. There's no mention of just how crazy expensive this would be if it were ready for the commercial realm, but we'll try to snag an estimated MSRP for ya next week.

[Via Physorg]

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iPoint 3D brings gesture-based inputs to 3D displays originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC says Touch Pro2 will be "broadly available," North America included

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/22/htc-says-touch-pro2-to-be-broadly-available-north-america-inc/


In October of last year, HTC informed us that the Touch HD would sadly not be coming to the States via its Twitter feed. Shortly after Mobile World Congress, that same feed has delivered much, much better news in regard to the Touch Pro2. Directly from HTC: "And to answer the big question on everyone's minds, the Touch Pro2 will be broadly available in all major markets, including North America." A followup tweet affirmed that a launch date and country wasn't yet set in stone, but that the phone would begin shipping out in "late Q2." Oh, where art thou, May through July time frame?

[Via Brighthand]

Read - HTC tweet I
Read - HTC tweet II

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HTC says Touch Pro2 will be "broadly available," North America included originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 14:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS Eee PC T91 sits down for photo shoot, early critique

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/23/asus-eee-pc-t91-sits-down-for-photo-shoot-early-critique/


Much like the S101, the T91 isn't exactly "Eee PC" material. Sure, it's small and ASUS-branded, but design wise, it's a pretty bold departure. bit-tech was able to sit down and take an early look at the Eee PC T91 convertible tablet, and while the machine is still a few months out from release, it seems that you can curb your enthusiasm in the meanwhile. Critics found the touchpad to be a hair less awesome than those on other Eee PCs, the lack of multitouch to be a real bummer and the uncanny ability of the LCD to attract fingerprints as just plain annoying. Of course, their unit was still subject to alterations, so the crew isn't completely giving up hope that things won't improve by launch day. In fact, it noted that the inclusion of a DVB-T tuner, WWAN support and GPS functionality were very nice touches, but it still maintained that a standard netbook would likely suit you best unless you're just head over heels for touching.

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ASUS Eee PC T91 sits down for photo shoot, early critique originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI unveils new X-Slim models ahead of CeBIT

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/23/msi-unveils-new-x-slim-models-ahead-of-cebit/

MSI unveils new X-Slim models ahead of CeBIT
We certainly aren't tired of the X-Slim 320 laptop from MSI, with its Air-like form-factor in less expensive and slightly more practical packaging -- it's still many moons away from release, after all. Despite that, MSI felt the need to announce two new models to round out the still unreleased lineup: the 13.4-inch X340 and 15.6-inch X600. We don't know much about these two yet except that the X340 is slated be priced somewhere in the (wide) range of $699-$999 in the US, that both offer HDMI in addition to VGA output, both are Centrino 2-based, and that the X600 even has an eSATA port on top of its two USBs. We'll surely be seeing a lot more of this pair (plus the X320 as well) at CeBIT in just a few weeks, and are hoping that MSI will go ahead and maybe release one before introducing any more.

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MSI unveils new X-Slim models ahead of CeBIT originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung intros 12 megapixel duo: TL320 and HZ15W

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/23/samsung-intros-12-megapixel-pair-tl320-and-hz15w/


What's this, Samsung? Announcing a few new cameras each week until PMA hits us when we least expect it? Just days after the firm expanded its less than enthralling SL lineup comes two new 12 megapixelers. The TL320 is the same one we spotted earlier at Amazon, though some of those specs were -- shall we say, preliminary. The official specs sheets lists a 12.2 megapixel sensor, 5x optical zoom, 3-inch HVGA AMOLED display, 720p movie recording, HDMI output, dual image stabilization and twin analog gauges for checking out memory capacity and battery life. As for the ZH15W, that one checks in with a dozen megapixels even, a 10x optical zoom, a 3-inch LCD monitor, 720p movie mode and most of the same features as the aforementioned cousin. Both shooters should be available this May for $379.99 and $329.99, respectively, and you can catch the full release after the break.

Continue reading Samsung intros 12 megapixel duo: TL320 and HZ15W

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Samsung intros 12 megapixel duo: TL320 and HZ15W originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The $1.94 reason micro-USB is the new phone charging standard

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/23/the-1-94-reason-micro-usb-is-the-new-phone-charging-standard/


Yep, we're all gonna get squeezed for accessories again as the member companies of the GSM Association begin standarizing on micro-USB chargers, and while we're happy that the madness is over, we can't help but feel the decision to use micro-USB over the already-ubiquitous mini-USB was purely greed-driven -- sure, micro-USB's supposedly more robust connector can handle something like 10x more disconnects, but if mini is good enough for everything from pro-level DSLRs to rugged portable hard drives, it's probably good enough for your average flip phone, don't you think? Sigh.

[Via Geardiary]

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The $1.94 reason micro-USB is the new phone charging standard originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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