Saturday, March 29, 2008

New Verizon-branded LG VX8560 Flip Phone Shows Its Pretty Face [Cellphones]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/260274095/new-verizon+branded-lg-vx8560-flip-phone-shows-its-pretty-face

Verizon is getting what could become the replacement for its VX 8700 Shine flip phone—a new red and black number that's currently called the numerically confusing VX8560. Details are very scarce at the moment, but the pictures shows a TFT display with a camera on top and a dedicated silver audio control below. It will most likely launch after its cousin, the Prada-like VX9700.

Currently slated for mid-to-late Q2, preliminary specs for the VX9700 include a 3.2-megapixel camera with a Schneider Kreuznach lens, touchscreen, a full QWERTY keyboard and both a microUSB port and a microSDHC slot.

lg9700gh6.jpg

[Howard Forums and Howard Forums]


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IR2BT Infrared-to-Bluetooth converter now on sale, PS3 owners rejoice

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/259734350/

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Although the PlayStation 3 is quite the lovely Blu-ray player in most respects, one issue has nagged remote junkies from day one: the absence of IR. Now, however, the highly-anticipated IR2BT Infrared-to-Bluetooth converter is on the market, and sure enough, it promises to transmit "all 51 Sony Blu-ray remote codes including the PS button for Power On / Off." The unit itself measures in at 4.5- x 3- x 1-inches, operates on a pair of AA cells or a mini-USB connector and doesn't even require you to own a soldering iron. Ready to control your PS3 via a universal IR remote without getting a degree in electrical engineering? Hit up the read link and hand over your $55, bub.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

 

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Vivitar's pocket-friendly DVR565HD camcorder does high-definition

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/259780489/

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Regrettably, there's not a whole lot of deets on Vivitar's latest camcorder just yet, but we do know that this ultra-compact unit will log clips in beautiful 720p. The DVR565HD is said to capture in H.264 / MPEG-4 at 30fps, while it can pipe that video back out in 1080i via the HDMI output. Also of note, it should be available in black and silver motifs, and while the 3-inch flip-out LCD monitor is a nice touch, the apparent inability for it to accept anything more capacious than a 4GB SD card is somewhat disappointing. Then again, it is rocking the Vivitar logo, and if history tells any story whatsoever, we'd bet this one comes in well under most budgets.

[Via Slashgear]

 

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HTC Shift hands-on

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/259891846/

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HTC's Shift finally launched in the US this week, and what do you know, we landed one to check out. Sure as hell ain't too shabby for a UMPC, but while it's got a number of things working in its favor (versatile form factor, solid hardware, lots of niceties like a fingerprint reader, 3G, Windows Mobile, etc.), it's got a number of bits working pretty hard against it. Some thoughts:
  • The screen hinge is significantly improved and feels really solid. Without putting it through 20,000 open / close cycles, we think it's fairly trustworthy, definitely good HTC gear.
  • The microscopic keyboard keys are an absolute nightmare to type on with two hands if you've got normal human mitts. Unfortunately, it's just too small to use regularly, and too large to use with your thumbs; with that kind of real estate we'd have preferred a proper split thumb-board with a nice big track pad in the middle. Major bummer.
  • The trackpad is pretty sensitive, but a little difficult to control. The machine itself is certainly snappy enough, though, even running Vista with Aero.
  • Hitting SnapVUE / Windows Mobile-mode is instantaneous, albeit a little jarring -- especially since the screen is so huge and WinMo is so clearly not intended for it -- but it's nice to have a lighter weight interface than full-on Windows.
  • Try though we might, we simply could not find a way to disengage the unit from its leather-bound case. Maybe this was outlined in the Shift's documentation, of which we received none. Quite annoying.
  • HTC kindly bundles a screen protector, a spare clicky stylus, external USB hub with Ethernet (ahem, Air), and headphones with mic.
All in all not bad, but it's going to take a hell of a lot more than what the Shift's offering up to get us to drop $1,500 on a UMPC of any kind. And it isn't winning it any further points considering that one of the device's main draws -- the keyboard -- may as well not even exist for us fat-fingered fools. Check out the extensive unboxing and hands-on gallery below.

Update: Apparently the case is permanently bolted to the unit and can't be removed, part of some weird FCC requirement regarding antenna distance / SAR. At very least they HTC could have used Philips head screws (and not Torx) to facilitate ease of removal.

 

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ASUS Eee PC desktop finally revealed?

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/260089182/

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We've all been waiting to see what ASUS's Eee PC desktop would turn out to look like, and HotHardware is claiming these shots are the real deal. Yeah, we know, it's a bit reminiscent of a certain motion-sensing game console, but besides these kind of grainy photos we've still got almost nothing to go by. Yet!

 

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Friday, March 28, 2008

AMD Phenom X3 Triple Core Processors Are Crippled Quad Cores in Disguise [Amd]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/259368398/amd-phenom-x3-triple-core-processors-are-crippled-quad-cores-in-disguise

x3.jpgPart of AMD's multi-core Phenom blast today is the Phenom X3 8000, "the world's only triple-core x86 processor," which we heard about a few months ago. They're supposed to bargain chips for budget consumers, but they're a nicer bargain for AMD, actually, since it lets them dump bug-plagued quad-core Phenomsby disabling a core. But if performance is your top concern, you might want to steer clear of the whole Phenom batch anyway. We're still waiting for AMD's 45nm chippies, personally. [Hard OCP, Anandtech]


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Samsung launches 10.2-megapixel L210 point-and-shoot

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/259288497/

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Now isn't this bugger just as cute as a button? Even if red isn't your hue of choice, Samsung's L210 point-and-shoot comes in black and silver motifs too, and while the 10.2-megapixel sensor is probably a bit much for a shooter this size, we suppose Sammy's just following the trend. Aside from the pocket-friendly design and 3x optical zoom lens, you'll also find a 2.5-inch LCD monitor, red eye correction, optical and digital image stabilization, face detection, an SVGA movie mode and ten whole megabytes of internal storage. Should that fill up on you during your outing (we know, chances are slim), you can slam an SD / SDHC / MMC card in for additional space. Not too terribly shabby for $199.95, yeah?

[Via Gadgets-Weblog]

 

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