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Thursday, September 17, 2009

OCZ's PCIe SSD Z-Drive finally starts shipping

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/17/oczs-pcie-ssd-z-drive-finally-starts-shipping/

Call it coincidence if you will, but on the same day that Super Talent announced that its 2TB RAIDDrive would begin shipping next month, OCZ has finally confessed that its Z-Drive is shipping... right now! Originally shown in prototype form back at CeBIT, this PCIe card is equipped with four SSDs linked in a RAID 0 configuration. We'd originally assumed that just a few capacities of the same device would be available, but we're learning today that two iterations will be produced: the Z-Drive p84 will be MLC-based and tout a 750MBps maximum read rate / 650MBps maximum write rate, while the SLC-based Z-Drive e84 cranks that to 800MBps and 750MBps (respectively). Also of note, both models will be available in 256GB and 512GB sizes, though the 1TB flagship will be p84 only. We've checked Amazon again and it's still showing "1 to 3 months" before release, but hopefully there's a memo waiting in some admin's inbox to remedy that.

Filed under: Storage

OCZ's PCIe SSD Z-Drive finally starts shipping originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hercules loads Windows 7 Starter on $399 eCAFE EC-1000W netbook

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/17/hercules-loads-windows-7-starter-on-399-ecafe-ec-1000w-netbook/

Is this really the first netbook to be officially announced with Windows 7? From Hercules? Yeah, we're miffed too. In fact, we forgot all about the outfit's eCAFÉ lineup -- which briefly splashed down about this time last year -- but we suspect this bugger may have a bit more staying power. The eCAFÉ EC-1000W is destined to ship at the tail end of October (you know, just after Win7 hits the streets), and while the 1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, 1GB RAM module and 250GB hard drive are totally predictable, we get the feeling it'll just feel nicer thanks to the revitalized OS. Other specs include a 10.1-inch display (1,024 x 600), 50GB of online storage, a chiclet-style keyboard, 802.11n WiFi, a 6-cell battery, integrated webcam / microphone, three USB 2.0 sockets, audio in / out, a VGA output, Ethernet and a multicard reader. Not bad for $399 -- but where's that $200 Win7 netbook we were promised?

Gallery: Hercules loads Windows 7 Starter on $399 eCAFE EC-1000W netbook

Continue reading Hercules loads Windows 7 Starter on $399 eCAFE EC-1000W netbook

Filed under: Laptops

Hercules loads Windows 7 Starter on $399 eCAFE EC-1000W netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Waze Generates and Reports Real-Time Traffic Data on Your Phone [Downloads]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/pWPT8MOV50A/waze-generates-and-reports-real+time-traffic-data-on-your-phone

iPhone/Android/Windows Mobile: Waze turns your GPS-enabled phone into a node in a network of real-time traffic reporters. As you use Waze, you build maps, get traffic data, and alert other commuters to events on the road.

Waze is focused on bringing you live traffic information and maps via crowd sourcing. Each phone with Waze installed generates map data and, through user-interaction, also provides information about construction, traffic jams, and other road-related events important to drivers.

Waze also provides turn-by-turn driving directions, which are adopted in real time based on traffic conditions and other information in the Waze network—it should be noted, however, that Waze currently doesn't function as a long range navigation tool but instead analyzes the areas you regularly drive in and suggests optimal routes.

Check out the demo from Waze to get a better feel for how the system works:

In addition to the application on your phone, there is also a dashboard system on the Waze web site. There you can flag areas of the map that need to be edited or repaired, make changes to the map to correct errors, and add additional information to the maps to help other commuters. Even if you don't use Waze on your phone, you can still visit the Waze site and view their live map of your area.

Waze is free and requires an iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, or Symbian phone.

Waze [via jkOnTheRun]

Motorola Cliq Review: Most Customizable Android Phone Yet [Android]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/WPkTy96I-VQ/motorola-cliq-review-most-customizable-android-phone-yet

T3 got an exclusive review on the Motorola Cliq—in Europe, Dext—and they seem quite impressed. They go as far as saying it's a "new dawn" for Motorola. Here are the basic points:

The good

• Motoblur: Motorola's combination of user interface and social service seems to be the winner. They say the widgets that allow you to customize the home screen are useful and quick, always updating live. For example, there is a messaging widget show the latest mails or texts right on the home screen, as they come in. The news widget collects information from several RSS at the same time.

• "Happenings": It is the most interesting widget-connects to social networking sites and puts all status updates together in one single feed. It's not without problems, though, as it shows the updates from all your Facebook friends. You know, all the 457 you really don't know at all.

• Contact book: Apparently, the address books collects information—addresses, emails, phones, photos, status, birthdays, dates, events—from all your contacts, adding the latest info from the social sites you are connected to. This sounds rather cool, as it seems you won't have to update your contact book ever again.

The bad

• The hardware quality: It doesn't seem very good, according to them. Apart from the boring design, the touchscreen is "occasionally hit-and-miss," and the phone feels cheap. The 320x480 screen quality is good, however.

• QWERTY Keyboard: The physical keyboard isn't good. ! Bad layo ut, and not enough spring keep them going back to the virtual one, which is accurate and feels good.

Conclusion

Despite the bad points, Katherine seems happy with the Motorola Cliq, saying it's a "rock-solid" performer, extremely customizable, fast, and great for social networkers. Go read her full review at T3. [T3]

Hands-On With The Redfly That Turns Your BlackBerry Into A Psuedo-Netbook [Smartphones]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ndFvLmbQJ_I/hands+on-with-the-redfly-that-turns-your-blackberry-into-a-psuedo+netbook

Turns out the Redfly, that netbook looking device that extends a smartphone to its 8.9-inch display via Bluetooth or USB, is doing all right. So all right that they rolled out support for BlackBerry. I still would rather a netbook.

The $250 Redfly hardware is the same — it has a 8.9-inch screen, a pretty cramped keyboard compared to the 10-inch netbooks of today and a decent sized touchpad. I took issue with the later. When it is paired with a Windows Mobile phone it works as a mouse, however, with the BlackBerry it works as a four way directional pad of sorts. It is supposed to mimic the rollerball on the Berry, but it doesn't really and it will take some getting used to.

Navigating the BlackBerry OS was a bit sluggish. It took at least two to three seconds to switch Windows or tasks (though apparently the drivers aren't final). The lag is killer when playing BrickBreaker. If I'm going to carry round a notebook looking device in my bag, I'd much rather a $300 netbook with browsing and performance speed. But the Redfly isn't popular with people like me, it is primarily an enterprise solution for companies that would rather deploy smartphones rather than laptops. In that niche case, I assume this BlackBerry solution will be welcomed with open arms.

Not going to lie, I'm totally surprised that this company is still kicking with the onslaught of netbooks that cost just a tad bit more (though you can find good netbooks on sale now for $250). But Redfly is still buzzing; they will be available at a larger brick and mortar retailer very soon and Android support will be here by the end of the year. [Celio Redfly]

AMD pops out sub-$100 quad-core Athlon II X4 CPU: review roundup

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/16/amd-pops-out-sub-100-quad-core-athlon-ii-x4-cpu-review-roundup/

AMD has always been one to play the pricing card in its never-ending tussle with Intel, but we get the feeling this introduction may pack more of a punch than any before it. It's a simple concept -- the $99 quad-core CPU -- and given just how in love we Americans are with value menus, you can bet new PC builders will at least give the new Athlon II X4 620 ($99) and 630 ($122) a look. Reviews around the web essentially came to the same conclusion: it's not the fastest quad-core chip around, and the lack of L3 certainly doesn't make it the most attractive, but the 620 somehow manages to compete with all of the processors in its price range while being the cheapest. The "cut-down Phenom II," as HotHardware calls it, suffers a bit on the gaming side due to the L3 removal, but in general scenarios it was plenty potent. Hit the links below if you feel like digging in way, way deeper.

Read - HotHardware
Read - TechSpot
Read - MaximumPC
Read - PC Perspective
Read - TweakTown
Read - PC Pro
Read - AMD Zone

Filed under: Desktops

AMD pops out sub-$100 quad-core Athlon II X4 CPU: review roundup ori! ginally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIA unveils its 1080p-playing SurfBoard NetNote, we'll still call it a netbook

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/16/via-unveils-its-1080p-playing-surfboard-netnote-well-still-cal/

VIA unveils its 1080p-playing SurfBoard NetNote, we'll still call it a netbook

The world needs more tiny notebooks able to fling out high-definition video without flinching. However, the world doesn't need more arbitrarily named categories of devices. So, it's with mixed feelings that we bring news of the finalization of the SurfBoard platform from VIA, pledging to bring 1080p playback to the netbook category -- or rather to the NetNote category, which is what VIA would like us to call it. We won't, but we will be happy to see the VX855 media processor start showing up in little laptops soon, as its support for H.264, MPEG-2/4, VC-1, and WMV9 sounds quite a bit more inclusive than we've found NVIDIA's ION to be. We're not particularly fond of the burnt umber hue applied to the initial recipient above (we liked the looks of the clear prototype much better), but if it means watching high def content in coach class without breaking our backs, killing our batteries, or melting our CPUs, we'd rock it. It certainly would go with the fall fashions. Full press release is below.

Continue reading VIA unveils its 1080p-playing SurfBoard NetNote, we'll still call it a netbook

Filed under: Laptops

VIA unveils its 1080p-playing SurfBoard NetNote, we'll still call it a netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fujitsu gifts LifeBook T5010 convertible tablet with multitouch LCD

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/16/fujitsu-gifts-lifebook-t5010-convertible-table-with-multitouch-l/

It's definitely not the first LifeBook to boast a multitouch panel, but given just how popular the original T5010 proved to be, we're pleasantly pleased to see the outfit bless that very convertible tablet with a touchscreen. The new dual digitizer option gives the 13.3-inch machine a whole new purpose in life, as it now supports two-finger touch (for rotating, pinching, zooming, groping, etc.) within Windows 7. Oddly enough, Fujitsu's choosing to ship this with Vista until October 22nd rolls around, so we'd advise you to hold tight for another month and change if at all possible. Everything else about the rig remains mostly the same, though the $1,759 (active digitizer) / $1,859 (dual digitizer) starting tags are actually lower than the MSRP given to the first T5010 in early 2008.

Gallery: Fujitsu gifts LifeBook T5010 convertible tablet with multitouch LCD

Filed under: Laptops

Fujitsu gifts LifeBook T5010 convertible tablet with multitouch LCD originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New iPod touch gets a speed test, zips right on by

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/16/new-ipod-touch-gets-a-speed-test-zips-right-on-by/

The new generation of the iPod touch, we've been told, is roughly 50 percent faster than the previous iteration. Well, the fine folks over at the iPhone Blog have done a bit of information collecting on just that topic -- to see if Apple's latest is actually that much faster. Both Macworld and TUAW did testing which showed a reduction in boot times from 31 to 19 seconds, web page loading (using the New York Times) went from 34 to 15 seconds, while app launching saw time reductions across the board. So -- in essence -- yes, the newest iPod touch is about 50 percent faster than the previous model in terms of performance. Hit the read link to hear even more tantalizing details.

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

New iPod touch gets a speed test, zips right on by originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Super Talent's 2TB RAIDDrive shipping next month to the rich and silly

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/16/super-talents-2tb-raiddrive-shipping-next-month-to-the-rich-and/

Remember that 2TB PCIe RAIDDrive we peeked earlier this year? Yeah, that was no April Fool's joke. Super Talent's answer to OCZ Technology's Z-Drive is on track to ship next month, shortly after it makes a quick stop by IDF next week. The device slots into one's PCIe bus and utilizes a RAID architecture specifically tailored to work with NAND flash memory. In fact, the outfit has actually boosted the transfer speeds from the 1.3GBps estimate to a 1.4GBps promise. The aluminum enclosure houses four discrete SATA SSDs, with the RAIDDrive GS being the model that tops out at 2TB. For those able to deal with "just" 1TB, there's the RAIDDrive ES and RAIDDrive WS, both of which are detailed further in the read link. No exact pricing has been nailed down yet for the flagship unit, but considering that the 1TB RAIDDrive GS is pegged at $4,999 for OEMs, we'll let your imagination do the rest.

Filed under: Storage

Super Talent's 2TB RAIDDrive shipping next month to the rich and silly originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Haiku Alpha 1 available now: BeOS lovers of the world rejoice

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/16/haiku-alpha-1-available-now-beos-lovers-of-the-world-rejoice/

A mere eight years in the making, the Haiku Project has announced the release of Haiku R1/Alpha 1, the first official development release of the low footprint open source OS formerly known as OpenBeOS. Since it's an alpha release, you'll be expected to do your part identifying bugs and reporting glitches and the like -- but here's hoping that they at least got Firefox to run in relative stability this time 'round. We know you're too damned giddy at the prospect of installing this thing on your netbook for any more of our prattle, so why don't you just hit the read link and get started, then?

[Thanks, Hawkje]

Continue reading Haiku Alpha 1 available now: BeOS lovers of the world rejoice

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Haiku Alpha 1 available now: BeOS lovers of the world rejoice originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E-Wolf e1 electric race car could create new class of racing jockeys

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/16/e-wolf-e1-electric-race-car-could-create-new-class-of-racing-joc/

There's certainly no shortage of hurdles to cross in building a competitive, all-electric race car, with the weight of the vehicle (and requisite battery pack) being particularly high up on the list. While the folks behind this new E-Wolf e1 vehicle have indeed managed to get the weight down to an impressive 500 kilograms (or just over 1,100 pounds), they've also taken another somewhat unique step to ensure the performance is just right: limit the weight of the driver to 150 pounds. That, combined with a 110kW, quadripolar, liquid-cooled, AC induction motor, apparently allows the car to hit 0 to 100 km/h in less than five seconds, achieve a top speed of 230 km/h, and last a full 300 kilometers on a charge. Of course, it also costs €150,000 (or over $220,000), but it is apparently street-legal, and definitely won't be mistaken for a Tesla Roadster.

[Via Autoblog Green]

Filed under: Transportation

E-Wolf e1 electric race car could create new class of racing jockeys originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Leo caught on video demonstrating its multitouch display

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/16/htc-leo-caught-on-video-demonstrating-its-multitouch-display/

There's been plenty of rumor and speculation regarding the HTC Leo as of late, all serving to pique our interest. If talk of a Snapdragon CPU and an updated TouchFlow 3D UI are not, in fact, greatly exaggerated, it looks like we might have a killer phone on our hands here. And now, to fill in the picture a bit, the kids at PocketPT have hepped us to a demonstration of the device's multitouch capabilities. Exciting, no? Make sure you check out the video below, which shows the Leo flipping through photo albums and zooming in / out of stills and video the with style and ease befitting a 1GHz processor. You'll be glad you did.

[Via WMPoweruser.com]

Continue reading HTC Leo caught on video demonstrating its multitouch display

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC Leo caught on video demonstrating its multitouch display originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic's new EVERLED light bulbs to light up your life for 19 years

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/16/panasonics-newest-everled-lightbulbs-to-light-up-your-life-for/

Long-lasting light bulb technology is nothing new -- people have been trying to up the lifespan these bad boys for some time. Long-lived light bulbs are generally uber-expensive, too, but we like to keep our eyes on such things. Panasonic's just unveiled the EVERLED, a line of bulbs set to be launched in Japan at the end of October. Lighter and more efficient than other LEDs on the market, these babies use 85 lumens per watt for a 40W bulb. Though the bulbs are not going to be cheap -- about $40 -- the company claims they'll have a lifespan of 19 years, bringing the overall costs down considerably. Still, we'd have to see them last that long to believe it.

[Via Inhabitat]

Filed under: Household

Panasonic's new EVERLED light bulbs to light up your life for 19 years originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wacom Bamboo multitouch tablet is real, we've got pics to prove it

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/16/wacom-bamboo-multitouch-tablet-is-real-weve-got-pics-to-prove/

Windows 7 is almost here, and we get the feeling that the multitouch revolution (at least in the consumer realm) won't be too far behind. Lenovo just dished out a pair of new touch-friendly laptops, Fujitsu spruced up its LifeBook T5010 with a multitouch panel and now Wacom is kicking out a finger-friendly Bamboo tablet. Just in case you figured that yesterday's sneak peek was nothing more than an imaginative Photoshop, we've got another round of closeups today to prove otherwise. Tipster Jesus claims that he's been using the $69 device on his Snow Leopard-equipped Mac for a tick, and he's had no issues getting things working. There's also mention of a full interactive tutorial that helps you setup customer application-specific gestures, which frankly, sounds like oodles of fun.

[Thanks, Jesus]

Gallery: Wacom Bamboo multitouch tablet is real, we've got pics to prove it

Filed under: Displays, Peripherals

Wacom Bamboo multitouch tablet is real, we've got pics to prove it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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