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Saturday, March 28, 2009

Monoprice Mini DisplayPort-to-HDMI Adapter Hands-On: HD iTunes Now Plays On TVs [Hdmi]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/bSc8YY_hYxE/monoprice-mini-displayport+to+hdmi-adapter-hands+on-hd-itunes-now-plays-on-tvs

Monoprice sent us their $14 Mini DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter, and we tested it with some protected content to see if it solved one of the new MacBook's biggest monitor compatibility problems. Sure enough, it did.

Apple is still to blame for not adopting HDMI, but at least this solution is somewhat helpful. See, most run-of-the-mill flat-panel TVs are HDCP compliant, but a lot of monitors are not. So, when you have the adapter, there is suddenly a massive population of screens that you can use that you otherwise cannot.

There are some things to keep in mind with this adapter:

1. It's only going to give you video output—you will have to find another way to route your audio from your new MacBook or MacBook Pro.

2. Even though the HDMI jack allows you to connect to a bunch of TVs that can handle HDCP, it doesn't mean you can get around HDCP. When we tried to watch the same movie using the other adapter, a Mini DP-to-DVI, on an older monitor, we were told we were not allowed:

Bottom line: If you own a MacBook or MacBook Pro, and you have iTunes video content you want to watch on a flat-panel TV, you had better get one of these. Maybe one day Apple will learn that HDMI isn't inherently evil, and all these adapters won't be necessary. [Monoprice]

Are PCs Really Cheaper Than Macs? [The Apple Tax]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/6z0D4g5c7oU/are-pcs-really-cheaper-than-macs

Microsoft is exploiting the recession to full effect by hammering hard how much cheaper PCs are than Macs. But are they really? We were actually surprised by the results when we investigated the Apple Tax.

Stay At the Hotelicopter: The World's First Flying Hotel [Helicopters]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/rHcyar0NZd8/stay-at-the-hotelicopter-the-worlds-first-flying-hotel

Since 2004, the company behind the Hotelicopter has been working to modify a Soviet-made Mil V-12 into two world firsts: the "world's biggest helicopter" and the "world's first flying hotel."

As you might have guessed, the experience on board the Hotelicopter is far from your standard Motel 6. This gigantic flying ~~Titanic~~ machine features everything you would expect from a 5-star hotel—from private entertainment systems and room service to extras like spa treatments, yoga classes, gaming and a tea garden.

If you were wondering just how big and powerful this flying hotel really is, check out the specs:

* Dimensions Length: 42 m (137 ft)
* Height: 14m (45 ft)
* Maximum Takeoff Weight: 105850 kg (232,870 lb)
* Maximum speed: 255 km/h (137 kt) (158 miles/h)
* Cruising speed: 237 km/h (127 kt) (147 miles/h)
* Original Mi Range: 515 km (320 mi)
* Our augmented Mi Range - 1,030 km (640 mi)

The inaugural flight is set to take place on June 26th for an undisclosed price. Obviously, only the affluent need apply—but anyone that is interested can head on over to the Hotelicopter website to get more info about setting up a reservation. [Hotelicopter Thanks Zlooop!]

Toshiba's Digital Billboard Lets Japanese Pedestrians Interactively Game Using Their Cellphones [Japan]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/KbQBly5gehw/toshibas-digital-billboard-lets-japanese-pedestrians-interactively-game-using-their-cellphones

Nikkei has a post about Toshiba's new Digital Billboard in Tokyo's Akihabara district, where passerbys can dial up a number and connect to an interactive game which is displayed on the giant sign.

Cellphone gamers square off against other players connected through Toshiba's Youtube channel. The number keys are used to control a paintbrush, and the goal is to cover squares on the grid in paint while searching for the Toshiba mascot.

The game was created as a marketing ploy to show that the billboards could relay data from the internet in real time. And while the game isn't the most exciting thing in the world, the idea that you could randomly walk by and interact with it is very exciting. [Nikkei via Pink Tentacle via Dvice]

ASUS announces Eee PC E1004DN with optical drive, 1008HA gets a release date

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/27/asus-announces-eee-pc-e1004dn-with-optical-drive-1008ha-gets-a/

In a bombshell of moderate proportions, the gang at DigiTimes have reported that ASUS will be following Mouse Computer's lead (when was the last time you heard that?), and have announced the first Eee PC equipped with an optical drive, the E1004DN. This bad boy sports an Intel Atom N280 CPU, a 120GB HDD, and will be in the ballpark of NT $18,000 - 20,000 (roughly $531 - $590). It should see the light of day sometime in mid-April. The same source reports that the Eee PC 1008HA will be getting its release in May. Out of curiosity, we asked @billyjoel for a comment and have yet to receive a response.

Filed under: Laptops

ASUS announces Eee PC E1004DN with optical drive, 1008HA gets a release date originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia pulling all OEM contracts?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/27/nokia-pulling-all-oem-contracts/

iSuppli, of all companies -- you know, the teardown people -- is reporting that Nokia has stopped using outside contractors altogether for manufacturing its hardware. Nokia has always had a good deal of in-house manufacturing capability, but certain products -- including its upcoming MID, allegedly -- have been contracted out to ODMs like Foxconn and its contemporaries, so this calls a whole slew of initiatives into question. Notably, many of its recent CDMA devices are made outside of Nokia proper, so we've got to wonder -- does this mean they'll be taking up the slack internally, or is CDMA once again on the outs for these guys? See iSuppli's full press release after the break.

[Image via Unwired View]

Continue reading Nokia pulling all OEM contracts?

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Nokia pulling all OEM contracts? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell targets school crowd with Latitude 2100 Welch laptop?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/27/dell-targets-school-crowd-with-latitude-2100-welch-laptop/

Looks like Dell's going for the back-to-school crowd, if this leak is to be believed. According to Gizmodo, the Latitude 2100 "Welch" is a 10.1-inch netbook with a 1.6GHz Atom processor, up to 2GB RAM, and an optional SSD drive, all under three pounds. It's also reportedly equipped with three USB ports, SD/MMC slot, 802.11 a/g/n, Bluetooth, an ethernet port, options for three and six cell batteries, and maybe touchscreen. The best part? Color options include School Bus Orange, Blue Ribbon, Red Apple, and what we can only assume is Chalkboard Black. If the report pans out, look for these around May 2009, just in time for summer vacation.

Filed under: Laptops

Dell targets school crowd with Latitude 2100 Welch laptop? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Orange to offer subsidized MacBooks on contract?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/27/orange-to-offer-subsidized-macbooks-on-contract/

This one's not a done deal just yet, but reports are starting to surface out of the UK that Orange and Apple are in the "final stages" of discussions about offering subsidized MacBooks to folks willing to sign a two-year mobile broadband contract. Of course, unlike some netbooks offered by the carrier, the MacBooks wouldn't be free, but some are speculating that the MacBooks could go for as little as £369 (or about $560), which is backed up somewhat by the £350 price Orange is currently asking for a Toshiba laptop on a similar contract. According to Mobile Today, the two companies have even gone so far as to test Orange's mobile broadband dongles with the MacBooks, and Orange has reportedly already made a "volume commitment" with Apple. Not surprisingly, the speculation only takes off further from there, with word circulating that Orange execs supposedly hope that this is only the beginning of a relationship with Apple, which could eventually lead to MacBooks with built-in SIM cards.

[Via The Register]

Filed under: Laptops

Orange to offer subsidized MacBooks on contract? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel to officially refresh laptop chips next week?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/27/intel-to-officially-refresh-laptop-chips-next-week/

We had a hunch this refresh was coming, and according to information gathered by CNET, it's all going down on Monday. The 2.53GHz SP9600, complete with its 6MB of cache memory and $316 sticker, will reportedly be revealed alongside the 1.6GHz SU9600, which will be pegged at $289. Furthermore, we should see a single-core 1.4GHz SU3500 ($262) with a thermal envelope of only 5.5 watts, which will obviously cater to those really, really low-power applications where horsepower isn't a concern. Interestingly, these newfangled pieces of silicon won't be those rumored CULV chips we heard about in January, as those won't be good and ready 'til summertime. There's also a slight chance that we'll hear a bit more on Intel's reemergence in the GPU field, but we're not holding our breath quite so much on that. Dig in below for lots more, or just be patience and wait for the 30th. Totally your call.

Read - Intel CPU details
Read - Intel GPU details

Filed under: Laptops

Intel to officially refresh laptop chips next week? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wind-powered vehicle hits 126MPH, nabs world record

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/27/wind-powered-vehicle-hits-126mph-nabs-world-record/

Sorry Mr. Schumacher, but your ten year record just got obliterated (okay, "beat soundly") by a Briton. On the dry, dusty plains of Ivanpah Lake in Nevada, Sir Richard Jenkins managed to perfectly harness winds of 30MPH in his futuristic Ecotricity Greenbird in order to hit a ridiculously quick 126.1MPH. In all honestly, we can't even fathom how you hit that speed with just 30MPH of wind, but clearly we're not up to speed when it comes to physics and engineering. At any rate, the milestone is pretty important for Ecotricity, which is trying to make wind power the go-to alternative energy source within the next score. Now, if only we could figure out a cheap and easy way to generate wind on demand, we'd really be onto something.

[Via BBC]

Filed under: Transportation

Wind-powered vehicle hits 126MPH, nabs world record originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Friday, March 27, 2009

Samsung's Alias2 in live shots, still not looking awesome

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/27/samsungs-alias2-in-live-shots-still-not-looking-awesome/

Don't get us wrong, the concept of a truly dynamic keypad on a phone is awesome, and we're sure that the concept is going to be going places in the next few years -- we just don't think that a handset that looks like this is going to be the one to light the fire. Pictures of the Alias2 from Samsung have filtered in after yesterday's user manual leak, giving us a better idea of what the phone looks like; we still can't put our finger on what technology the keypad is using, but given that we've heard that it'll retain its layout with the battery out, we're starting to think that it might be segmented E Ink. Active matrix E Ink would've been ten times cooler, but we imagine it's not quite at the price point yet where it makes sense for a product in this range. Keep on keepin' on with the innovative stuff, though, guys -- just make sure it spends a little more time in the design department next time.

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung's Alias2 in live shots, still not looking awesome originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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@bmorrissey - Casual Game Ads Lift Brands (vendor sponsored study) - http://ping.fm/KdJDG - what'd you think they'd say?

Simple keystroke sniffing schemes work where keyloggers won't

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/27/simple-keystroke-sniffing-schemes-work-where-keyloggers-wont/

Ah, the wonders of CanSecWest. The famed security conference has delivered yet again in 2009, this time bringing to light two simple sniffing schemes that could be used to decipher typed text when keyloggers are just too noticeable. Gurus from Inverse Path were on hand to explain the approaches, one of which involved around $80 of off-the-shelf gear. In short, curious individuals could point a laser on the reflective surface of a laptop between 50 feet and 100 feet away, and then by using a "handmade laser microphone device and a photo diode to measure the vibrations, software for analyzing the spectrograms of frequencies from different keystrokes, as well as technology to apply the data to a dictionary," words could be pretty easily guessed. The second method taps into power grid signals passed along from PS/2 keyboard outputs, and by using a digital oscilloscope and an analog-digital converter, those in the know can pick out tweets from afar. Check the read link for more, and make sure you close those blinds and pick up a USB keyboard, pronto.

[Via Slashdot]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals

Simple keystroke sniffing schemes work where keyloggers won't originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Havok and AMD show off OpenCL with pretty pretty dresses

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/27/havok-and-amd-show-off-opencl-with-pretty-pretty-dresses/

Havok and AMD show off OpenCL with pretty pretty dresses

With all the talk about OpenCL and Snow Leopard together and how the spec will allow Apple's upcoming hotness to exploit graphics accelerators, it's easy to lose track of the place where the standard could make its biggest impact: gaming. Yes, OpenGL may have lost favor in that realm in recent years, but OpenCL looks to captivate the hearts and GPUs of gamers everywhere by applying some much-needed standardization to the physics acceleration realm, first shown in public at GDC running on some AMD hardware. Havok is demonstrating its Havok Cloth and Havoc Destruction engines, the former of which is embedded below, and we think you'll agree it's quite impressive. OpenCL allows such acceleration to switch between the GPU and CPU seamlessly and as needed depending on which is more available, hopefully opening the door to physics acceleration that actually affects gameplay and doesn't just exist to make you say, "Whoa."

Continue reading Havok and AMD show off OpenCL with pretty pretty dresses

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Laptops

Havok and AMD show off OpenCL with pretty pretty dresses originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Rolling Out "Wonder Wheel" and Other Search Additions [Search]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/fFkS_NP0vc4/google-rolling-out-wonder-wheel-and-other-search-additions

Google search has been on a roll lately, and today brings yet another addition—an "options" panel that switches your results to reviews, forum posts, recent items and a timeline, and even a nifty "Wonder Wheel."

Only a certain percentage of Google users will see the "Show Options" link in their blue Google bar at the moment, but the Google Blogoscoped blog has a bit of cookie-adding JavaScript anyone can use to get opted into the "experiment." Once you do, you'll see the view options pictured at right, giving you all kinds of new views on your search results. Most intriguing are the "Reviews" sorter, which uses Google's algorithms and ranking to weed out the opinions and ratings, the "Recent" sorter to show the latest web items, and the Wonder Wheel, pictured up top, that lets you chain-click around a topic to find a lot of related material.

Check out Google Blogoscoped's screencast of the latest Google features below, and hit the link farther down for the cookie add-in trick:

Google's Wonder Wheel Experiment, and More [Google Blogoscoped]

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