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Thursday, September 11, 2008

HTC's Touch HD gets even more dreamy

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/389499902/

While that 480 x 800 pixel display has everybody in a feverish pant, MoDaCo has released even more unconfirmed specs on the rumored HTC Touch HD guaranted to pound a lustful wave of disruption into your handset purchasing plans. To start with, it's listed at 115 x 62.8 x 12-mm making it almost exactly the same size as the svelt 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3-mm iPhone 3G. That's a good start. Now slip GPS, HSDPA data, a 5 megapixel camera (no flash), stylus, microSD slot, 3.5-mm headphone jack, and 1350mAH battery into the mix and you've got the stuff of serious, WinMo fantasy. We'll know if it's all legit soon enough as MoDaCo claims a retail date by Christmas. Yes, really. Only thing missing is WiFi... and Android.

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SanDisk introduces 32GB Extreme III CompactFlash card

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/389593868/

Filed under: Storage

SanDisk's 30MB/s Extreme III line of flash cards keeps growing -- the company just announced the 32GB Extreme III CompactFlash card for $299. Pretty steep, but if you're shooting high-speed RAW images or filming an HD masterpiece, we bet your ears just perked up. Out in October, we're told.

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Plastic Logic's e-reader vs Amazon Kindle... fight! (updated with video)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/389444375/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

The kids at tgdaily have a hands-on video of Plastic Logic's biggie e-reader unveiled at DEMO earlier this week. With it, they've also nabbed a bit more information on this potential subscription-based, Kindle killer. The 7-mm thin reader connects via micro-USB to a PC to charge the unit or transfer documents. Documents can also be transferred over WiFi or Bluetooth (no cellular radio?) -- the reader can even communicate wirelessly with other readers to transfer documents. The 8.5- x 11-inch touchscreen allows for gesture control, as we heard, with the added bonus of quick and easy on-screen annotation of any supported media type such as Word docs, PowerPoint slides, or PDFs. Plastic Logic says they don't plan to compete with Kindle directly, instead, it's targeting business mobile professionals with "a lot of documents already," not those who will get all their content from the Amazon store.

Of course, a variety of leaks have already made it clear that Amazon's not exactly standing still with its Kindle reader with larger and more, eh hem, attractive models in the works. Sony, too, is planning a special Reader-based event next month. So... is 2009 shaping up to be the death of print? Oh hells no -- but it's certainly getting a lot more interesting.

Update: DEMO launch video showing a complete walkthough of a prototype device now posted after the break.

Continue reading Plastic Logic's e-reader vs Amazon Kindle... fight! (updated with video)

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Apple has so much more where Nike+ came from

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/389667456/

Filed under: Wearables

Apple has a batch diagrams and patent-speak that it just shuffled past the patent office, detailing a next-generation Nike+ system that will make runners jump for joy, and non-athletes groan in agony. We're not sure if this is going to be something that Nike can just build shoes for and use existing Apple hardware, or if this'll be a reworking of the whole kit, but there's a lot of new stuff going on here. The system relies on integrating GPS and additional shoe-based sensors into the system, put to work in measuring your stride, the condition of the shoe, and perhaps even blasting you advertisements along your run route. The system can measure your velocity with accuracy in the range of 0.1 MPH, and let you know if you're a toe-planter or a heel-planter when you run. It just can't lug your lazy ass out of bed.

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O3b satellites to enable connectivity for the world's "other 3 billion"

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/389702939/

Filed under: Wireless, Networking

O3B satellites to enable connectivity for the world's

If you thought Verizon was taking its sweet time rolling out FiOS to your neighborhood, imagine how long it would take to connect the entire continent of Africa. Verizon wouldn't bother trying, but satellite company O3b, in partnership with Google, is doing just that. The pair plan to bathe that continent (and others) with soothing Internet waves via 16 medium-earth orbit (MEO) units. Latency is said to be only 120 milliseconds, with maximum download speeds at 1.25Gbps. That's seriously fast, about the same as Japan's Kizuna (set to cover disconnected Asian regions), but before you cancel your 1.5Mbps WildBlue account and go on a bandwidth safari know that these new orbital hotspots are destined to act as backbones for use by smaller ISPs. They'll in turn provide wireless access direct to customers over 3G or WiMax, throttling things appropriately.

[Via ZDNet Government]

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