Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Swann DVR4-2500 Home Security System Has Four Cameras and iPhone Streaming [Swann]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/0w3pGZUvGY4/swann-dvr4+2500-home-security-system-has-four-cameras-and-iphone-streaming

Do you enjoy dominating your house like the Trinity killer on Dexter, knowing exactly what each of your family members are doing at all times? Then Swann has the four camera security system for you.

The $700 setup has four cameras, a remote, a 500GB hard drive to record continuously for 30 days, a USB port for backing up said video and even 27 infrared LEDs to enable nighttime viewing.

What's special bout this model is the iPhone support, which you can use to stream live and recorded video from any of the cameras to your handheld screen. I would put one in the fridge so I could know exactly what to get from the supermarket on the way home from work. [Swann]




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Next-Generation iPhone May Have 5-Megapixel Camera, Sources Claim [Rumor]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/cmpbEFkKYKg/next+generation-iphone-may-have-5+megapixel-camera-sources-claim

Digitimes' patchy sources are claiming that OmniVision Technologies—the current manufacturers of the iPhone 3GS' 3.2-megapixel CMOS image sensor—has won a new contract with Apple to provide the Cupertino company with new sensors for the next-generation 2010 iPhone.

They claim that the new CMOS image sensors are 5 megapixels. OmniVision Technologies say the orders will increase too, from 20-21 million estimated this year, to 40 to 45 million CMOS for the 2010. [Digitimes]




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Multitouch ASUS Eee Pad Tablet With Tegra Chip On Sale in March? [Tablets]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Fthg_mQYo9E/multitouch-asus-eee-pad-tablet-with-tegra-chip-on-sale-in-march

That Eee Pad we heard about earlier in the month has just been given another rinse through the gossip washing machine, with details about a multitouch, Tegra chipped 4 - 7-inch model breaking cover in March.

It seems like every man and his dog is using NVIDIA's new Tegra chip, with Notion Ink and ICD's tablets being just two we've seen recently. The German site NetbookNews has been tipped off on a March launch for the multitouch tablet, which will be either 4-inches or 7-inches in size (or potentially offered as two different models), and will have either 720p or 1080p resolution. It's presumed to be running Android 2.0, or a variant of it anyway, which ASUS should've got around to much earlier than now, as rumors of a smartbook or Android phone have been flying around since last year.

The leak isn't exactly solid, as you can see, but for anyone holding out for an affordable tablet next year, it's a sliver of hope to cling onto. [NetbookNews via Electronista]




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Broadcom's Crystal HD tech to liven up HD capabilities of N450-based netbooks

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/22/broadcoms-next-crystal-hd-tech-to-liven-up-hd-capabilities-of-n/

NVIDIA's Ion technology may be hogging the limelight when it comes to netbook graphics, but Broadcom's no stranger to the space. After giving Acer's Aspire One HD playback capabilities that it could only dream of just months prior, the company's newly announced Crystal HD platform could provide Intel's Atom N450 with the multimedia boost it badly needs. The nitty-gritty details are still being withheld, but we're told that "top-tier OEMs including Asus, Dell and Samsung" will be slapping this into their upcoming N450-based netbooks. If you're curious as to why you should care, the BCM70015 promises "near flawless" HD video playback, including support for Flash Player 10.1 and Blu-ray flicks. We're told to expect it to start popping up in forthcoming machines throughout 2010, and if you're looking to soak up anything else in the meanwhile, a promotional video awaits you after the break.

Continue reading Broadcom's Crystal HD tech to liven up HD capabilities of N450-based netbooks

Broadcom's Crystal HD tech to liven up HD capabilities of N450-based netbooks originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceHot Hardware  | Email this | Comments

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Intel's netbook and nettop Pine Trail Atom platforms explored, benchmarked

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/22/intels-netbook-and-nettop-pine-trail-atom-platforms-explored-b/

Just after finally making them official and just ahead of what will surely be a blowout of devices at CES, Intel has let loose the dogs of benchmarking upon its highly anticipated Pine Trail Atom platforms: the N450 for netbooks and the D510 for nettops. On the portable side it's HotHardware and AnandTech doing the testing, pitting the new Asus Eee PC 1005 PE (which we just reviewed ourselves) against some of its earlier Atom brethren, finding it out-paces the single-core N270 in terms of sheer CPU performance but is generally trumped by the dual-core 330, while its integrated GPU loses out handily to any machine with an Ion processor. But, in terms of battery life, it bested them all. The story is similar over at PCMag, which tested the D510 in a prototype nettop and found that its performance was no better than earlier 330-spec'd machines, but that its power consumption of just 19W under full load undercuts the thriftiest nettops -- it's quieter, too, thanks to a complete lack of fans. So, perhaps not the speed boost you might have been looking for, but fine battery life abounds, eh?

Intel's netbook and nettop Pine Trail Atom platforms explored, benchmarked originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Slashdot  |  sourceHotHardware, PCMag, AnandTech  | Email this | Comments

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Epic shows off Unreal Engine 3 running on iPhone / iPod touch

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/22/epic-shows-off-unreal-engine-3-running-on-iphone-ipod-touch/

There's certainly plenty of good looking iPhone games available these days, but things could be about to get quite a bit more interesting, as Epic has now demonstrated its Unreal Engine 3 (the same one used for games like Gears of War 2) running on the iPhone 3GS and 3rd gen iPod touch to our friend Anand Shimpi of AnandTech. Unfortunately, it hasn't also announced any games or licensees that will be using the engine, but it seems like it has at least managed to get it running remarkably well on the hardware -- albeit in a somewhat limited demo, as you can see in the video after the break. What's more, Epic also reportedly said that it would be showing off the engine running on "another mobile platform entirely" at CES next month, but didn't drop any further hints besides that. Video after the break, and hit the read link for the full scoop.

Continue reading Epic shows off Unreal Engine 3 running on iPhone / iPod touch

Epic shows off Unreal Engine 3 running on iPhone / iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAnandTech  | Email this | Comments

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Fujitsu LifeBook UH900 in action: good benchmarks, so-so multitouch

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/22/fujitsu-lifebook-uh900-in-action-good-benchmarks-so-so-multito/

Step aside, VAIO P, Fujitsu's managed to take too-small screens on netbooks to new heights with the UH900, and the addition of a touchscreen makes you seem seriously early 2009. So, how does it perform? UMPC Fever is feeling it, with a CrystalMark score helped along by the UH900's SSD, even if done few favors by the 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor. Unfortunately, while the touchscreen display does offer multitouch gestures, they seem rather laggy -- as demonstrated in the video after the break. And thus we witness the odd disconnect of "laptops" and "phones," as the screen size and processor speed borders on a merging point and the interaction styles (or at least the execution on those styles) almost couldn't be further apart.

Continue reading Fujitsu LifeBook UH900 in action: good benchmarks, so-so multitouch

Fujitsu LifeBook UH900 in action: good benchmarks, so-so multitouch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear  |  sourceUMPC Fever  | Email this | Comments

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ASUS Eee Pad rumored to have multitouch, Tegra

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/22/asus-eee-pad-rumored-to-have-multitouch-tegra/

Details on ASUS's rumored Eee Pad were fairly light when the rumors first surfaced, but it looks like things are now starting to get fleshed out a bit more as we near a possible announcement at CES next month. The latest word comes from Netbooknews' sources, who have reportedly all but confirmed that the tablet / handheld will indeed have full multitouch capabilities, and that it definitely won't be running Windows CE (still no word what it will be running). Slightly less certain but more interesting is talk that the Eee Pad will run on NVIDIA's Tegra platform -- or, possibly, Tegra 2, which just so happens to be slated to launch at CES as well.

ASUS Eee Pad rumored to have multitouch, Tegra originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceNetbooknews  | Email this | Comments

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NVIDIA Ion 2 coming in early 2010, compatible with Pine Trail

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/22/nvidia-ion-2-coming-in-early-2010-compatible-with-pine-trail/

Well, here we go: NVIDIA just gave us the heads-up that the next generation of Ion chips (which we'll be calling Ion 2 until it gets a proper name) will be compatible with Intel's new Pine Trail platform and arriving in Q1 of 2010. That's good news, seeing as the Pine Trail-based Eee PC 1005PE we just reviewed didn't offer much of a performance benefit over the older Diamondville chips and definitely couldn't bust through the first few seconds of a YouTube HD clip. Though we got NVIDIA to confirm that it'll improve some of the battery life concerns we've had, we couldn't get much out of them in terms of how Ion 2 will play with the Intel GMA 3150 GPU that's now integrated into the Atom N450 die. NVIDIA also didn't hold back when it came to Intel's reliance on third-party HD accelerator chips for video duties -- they think customers want richer gaming and multimedia experiences on netbooks than Atom alone can offer, and they don't seem to care that Intel keeps calling Ion "overkill." All drama aside we're looking forward to just getting some YouTube and Hulu HD playback on our netbooks -- we'll see what NVIDIA has to show off at CES.

NVIDIA Ion 2 coming in early 2010, compatible with Pine Trail originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OLPC shows off absurdly thin XO-3 concept tablet for 2012 (update: XO-1.5 and XO-1.75 coming first)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/22/olpc-shows-off-absurdly-thin-xo-3-concept-tablet-for-2012/

Still have a bit of faith left for the OLPC project? Good, you're gonna need it: designer Yves Behar has unveiled his latest concept design for the now-aiming-for-$75 vision, and it's all screen. Keeping with the newfound trend toward tablets, the XO-3 is an 8.5 x 11 touchscreen, coupled with a little folding ring in the corner for grip and a camera in the back. To keep things minimal the plan is to use Palm Pre-style induction charging, and less than a watt of power to keep an "8 gigaherz [sic]" (800MHz?) processor and a Pixel Qi screen powered. At half the thickness of an iPhone, this vision is obviously banking heavily on presumed technology advances by 2012 (the projected release date), but it's not too hard to see somebody making this form factor happen by then-ish. Nick Neg isn't all hubris, however: "Sure, if I were a commercial entity coming to you for investment, and I'd made the projections I had in the past, you wouldn't invest again, but we're not a commercial operation. If we only achieve half of what we're setting out to do, it could have very big consequences."

Update: According to our man Nicholas Negroponte, who took time out of his busy schedule to email us with the info, there are two other variations of the XO headed our way before we see the XO-3. Nick says we'll see the XO-1.5 appear in January for around $200 -- an update to the current version. As we'd heard before, the 1.5 iteration will swap a VIA CPU for the current AMD one, and will double the speed as well as quadruple both the DRAM and Flash memory of the current version. Furthermore, he says that in early 2011 the XO-1.75 (replacing that psychotically awesome 2.0 dual screen model) will make its appearance, and will sport rubber bumpers on the outer casing, an 8.9-inch touchscreen display inside, and will run atop a Marvell ARM processor which will enable two times the speed at a quarter of the power usage. That version will sell for somewhere in the $175 range. Then, no 2.0... straight on to the XO-3.0!


[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

OLPC shows off absurdly thin XO-3 concept tablet for 2012 (update: XO-1.5 and XO-1.75 coming first) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceForbes, Press release  | Email this | Comments

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Firefox 4 Windows mockup provides 5 UI hints of things to come

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/23/firefox-4-windows-mockup-provides-5-ui-hints-of-things-to-come/

Want a hint as to where Firefox will go next? As a product visual designer at Mozilla, Stephen Horlander is the kind of guy who can make things happen -- so when he shares updates and mockups on Firefox 4's user interface, we tend to pay attention. He outlines five portions of a screenshot teaser that'll get a much cleaner, more streamlined facelift. Our favorite takeaway is the singular app button for menu navigation. Several variations are shown, but if you ask us, we're currently fond of the setup above. As Horlander notes, the design's in constant flux, but what we're seeing is certainly promising.

Firefox 4 Windows mockup provides 5 UI hints of things to come originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcechromaticpixel  | Email this | Comments

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Motorola Droid and Dell Adamo latest to get Gorilla glass

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/23/motorola-droid-and-dell-adamo-latest-to-get-gorilla-glass/

Corning's darn-near-impenetrable Gorilla glass certainly isn't new -- in fact, we spied it in a few of Motion Computing's tablets just a few months ago -- but it's still not commonplace on mainstream gizmos. Yet. SmartPlanet sat down with Dr. Donnell Walton, senior applications engineer at Corning, in order to discuss the merits of the display technology as well as its importance in the gadget space. The discussion also mentioned that both Motorola's Droid and Dell's Adamo (not to mention Cowon's S9 PMP) are sporting the glass, which acts to make displays "damage-resistant." Not surprisingly, the company is seeing huge demand in the smartphone arena, where touchscreen-centric phones are being shoved into pockets at random and then costing manufacturers big bucks as return rates creep up. It's a pretty interesting read if you're into that type of thing, and yes, we did just give you permission to try and split your Droid display wide open in a moment of frustration. Just don't count on Motorola to accept that as a valid excuse for your RMA.

[Thanks, Jeff]

Motorola Droid and Dell Adamo latest to get Gorilla glass originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSmartPlanet  | Email this | Comments

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Acer's Aspire 1820PTZ convertible tablet hits the wilds of Singapore

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/23/acers-aspire-1820ptz-convertible-tablet-hits-the-wilds-of-singa/

Acer's Aspire 1820PTZ convertible tablet may not be making its London debut until next month, but evidently said machine is alive and well (and shipping, to boot) over in Singapore. One particular enthusiast managed to procure one of the twistable rigs, and as a favor to anyone who appreciates freedom, Kris Kringle and In-N-Out double-doubles, he decided to unbox it, snap a few shots, throw up a video and even toss out a respectable list of impressions. We're told that Acer crammed just about every piece of bloatware known to mankind onto this thing, and the owner didn't seem particularly thrilled with the keyboard nor the overall multitouch experience. That said, performance was found to be "snappy enough for general use," and the casing itself was satisfactorily solid. Hit that read link for the full rundown, and hop on past the break for a look at the boot sequence.

Continue reading Acer's Aspire 1820PTZ convertible tablet hits the wilds of Singapore

Acer's Aspire 1820PTZ convertible tablet hits the wilds of Singapore originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 07:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Netbooked  |  sourceVR Zone  | Email this | Comments

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Averatec's HS-105 netbook looks good, should've waited for Pine Trail

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/23/averatecs-hs-105-netbook-looks-good-shouldve-waited-for-pine/

Details are exceedingly light on Averatec's HS-105 netbook, but all you really need to know is in the processor: there's a 1.6GHz Atom N270 running the show. Unfortunately, that's the same CPU that has been powering the bulk of netbooks for the past year or so, and with Intel's Atom N450 already being used in a few choice rigs, there's hardly a reason to cast a glance at this one. If you insist, other specifications include 2GB of RAM, a 945GSE graphics set, 10.1-inch LCD (1,024 x 600), 160GB / 250GB HDD, WiFi and a 1.3 megapixel webcam. There's nary a word on price or release, but we fully anticipate the sticker to fall somewhere between "ultra cheap" and "let's get two."

Averatec's HS-105 netbook looks good, should've waited for Pine Trail originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAkihabara News  | Email this | Comments

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Saturday, December 19, 2009

I Must Get the Stunning Chiaroscuro PC and a Light Cycle to Match [DIY]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/UQcDqBvpcEU/i-must-get-the-stunning-chiaroscuro-pc-and-a-light-cycle-to-match

Nick Falzone at Bit-tech has created the Chiaroscuro PC. Made of wood and inspired by the Beijing Digital building, this computer is a true thing of beauty. Absolutely amazing, in fact. The best thing: You can do one yourself.

Seriously, I wish all computers came like this from the factory. Or at least mine. Check Nick's photographies and how-to documentation at [Bit-Tech]




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