Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Saturday, June 14, 2008

EFiX USB Dongle Will Boot and Install OS X on Any PC, Supposedly [Hackintosh]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/311253416/efix-usb-dongle-will-boot-and-install-os-x-on-any-pc-supposedly

Not up to the messier parts of building a Hackintosh? EFiX is a USB dongle that promises to take care of all of that for you, automagically on any PC. Pop it into the port and you can install OS X straight from the DVD "without having to worry about patches, replacing files and anything like that." Update: There's a video demo of this black magic here.

If you're thinking it sounds too good to be true and that the site looks a little scuammy, you should know that it took a lot of time to craft this voodoo stick and required the developers to thwart "various problems, including sabotage." After six months of testing, it's due on June 23. Our advice? Let someone else be the guinea pig. Hey guinea pigs, if you buy this, let us know how it goes! [EFiX via Insanely Mac via Hack a Day]

Intel Launching Cheap Quad Core Processors to Battle Budget AMD Triple Cores [Intel]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/311322935/intel-launching-cheap-quad-core-processors-to-battle-budget-amd-triple-cores

Digitimes is reporting that Intel is about to pop a series of cheap quad core processors (Q8000) to slap back at AMD's budget triple core offerings. The first will be the Core 2 Quad 8200, which'll run at 2.33GHz with a 4MB L2 cache, supporting a front-side bus of up to 1333MHz for around $200. Difference between these and standard Q9000 series is that these don't support Intel's Trusted Execution or Virtualization Technology.

These seem kinda redundant, since you can pick up a Core 2 Quad 6600 for that much (or the newer 45nm Q9300 for not a whole lot more), both of which trounced AMD's fastest quad core in benchmarks. And AMD's triple cores ain't exactly anything to sing about to begin with. [DigiTimes via Tech Report]

Nokia 6205 flip official for Verizon

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/311143042/

Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia's got a new no-frills handset coming to Verizon on June 15th, the Nokia 6205. Specs like a 1.3 megapixel camera, 58MB of memory and the Verizon UI -- no thank you -- won't have us in a hurry to turn in our N95, but the real news here is that the phone was designed by Nokia itself, and they're promising even more phones for Verizon in the future -- though S60 might not be in the cards. The 6205 has a 2-inch 176 x 220 screen on the inside, and a 1.28-inch 128 x 128 LCD on the back, there's a microSD slot, plenty of audio codec support, Bluetooth and a paltry 4 hours of talk time due to the EV-DO connection this thing wastes on a WAP 2.0 browser. It comes in the standard blue version, available in July, or you can pick up "The Dark Knight" edition we heard about (pictured), complete with movie-based ringtones and a pre-loaded trailer, on June 15th. Both will retail for $119 with contract.

In need of some hands-on of this phone? That's weird. Check it out at Engadget Mobile.

Gallery: Nokia 6205 flip hits Verizon

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NeuScreen multi-touch screen engine shown on Nokia N95

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/311158481/

Filed under: Cellphones

Call us loony, but it sure seems like Nokia's heralded N95 ends up in the middle of quite a few DIY endeavors. Sure enough, said mobile is at the heart of Sittiphol Phanvilai's latest project: NeuScreen. Put as simply as possible, the project creates a multi-touch engine for the N95, and in the demonstration waiting after the jump, a simple pen light is used to control objects on a TV screen that is connected to the aforementioned handset. Confused? Give the video a look, that always clears things right up.

[Thanks, Moses]

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ASUS Eee PC 1000H already unboxed on video

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/311225535/

Filed under: Laptops

Okay, so that was eerily fast. Merely two days after ASUS' Eee PC 1000H went on sale in Taiwan, the cats over at TweakTown managed to secure a unit and curb their excitement long enough to unbox the thing, snap some photographs along the way and even capture the experience on video. Here's a hint: it's an Eee PC, it has a 10-inch display, and it's leaving its original packaging. Video after the break.

Continue reading ASUS Eee PC 1000H already unboxed on video

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EFiX wants to bring OSX86 to the masses

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/311493216/

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Word in the OSX86 world is that a new product will revolutionize (and simplify) the process of installing OS X on a PC -- and that product is called the EFiX. The USB dongle allegedly pops into a free port and allows you to install the retail version of the Mac operating system on just about any system by automatically locating the proper hacks and drivers needed. Famed OSX86 hacker Netkas has demoed a beta unit on video (which you can see after the break) and claims that it's working as it should. The manufacturer is aiming to have models available for purchase by June 23rd... barring any more "sabotage." This sounds like a much more reasonable solution than marketing a Mac clone -- feel free to send one our way whenever you like guys.

[Via Boing Boing Gadgets]

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Toshiba Qosmio G55 features SpursEngine, visual gesture controls

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/311675651/

Filed under: Laptops

Looks like Toshiba's not too far out from a new Qosmio called the G55, which LAPTOP says is on sale next month for $1,550. Listed among the specs are an 18.4-inch (1680 x 945) display, Centrino 2 CPU, GeForce 9600M GT, 4GB of RAM, dual drives, and the "Quad Core HD processor" (probably the commercial name for the Cell-based SpursEngine), which powers many of the media functions, including its camera-based visual gesture control system. LAPTOP calls the gesture system groundbreaking, but we're clearly two sides to the same coin: the demo they gave looks cumbersome, inaccurate, and incredibly frustrating. And besides the fact that it requires "steady hands" and "can't be used by people with wrist problems," even if the gesture controls were well done, holding your arm in the air for minutes at a time is nowhere near a practical for regular use. Is it sad that we still kind of want it, though?

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Green Plug starts small, signs on Westinghouse

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/311881405/

Filed under: Displays, HDTV

Remember Green Plug? That universal connector we detailed last month which aims to replace wall warts and help Mother Earth out in the process? Turns out, said outfit has just landed its first real believer as Westinghouse committed to using the smart power technology. Even Darwin Chang, Westy's CTO, admitted that his firm "wasn't the largest, but somebody has to be the first." Chang is hoping that utilizing said tech will help it cut costs by eliminating the need to ship power adapters with its wares, but we'd say that's being pretty optimistic. Really, the only way that will go over well is if hordes of other firms jump on the (currently desolate) bandwagon in short order -- any takers?

[Via PCWorld]

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NVIDIA and friends working on alternate USB 3.0 spec, SiS joins in, Intel uninvited from everybody's birthday parties

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/311949912/

Filed under: Peripherals

Remember middle school? These guys do. NVIDIA, AMD, VIA and now SiS (only two capital letters? Not trying hard enough) have all teamed up in a fight against Intel of truly pubescent proportions. Intel has denied accusations of hiding the USB 3.0 spec, since it's not their spec to hide, and claims it has no obligation to disclose its actual host controller specification before it's ready. This apparently has the other chip makers scrambling to make their own host controller, so they aren't beholden to Intel's schedule. That could cause problems for the end product -- if they don't build theirs exactly like Intel's, and with Intel's already being on the market by the time they're done, they'll have to return to the drawing board and possibly delay their release by nine months. They claim this could give Intel two years of zero competition in the USB 3.0 space, but Intel figures since it plans to release the spec for free, is investing heavily in its development, and isn't done yet anyways, it doesn't owe those companies a thing. This just gets better and better.

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