Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Apricot Computers rolls out PicoBook Pro Cloudbook-variant

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/422128585/

Filed under: Laptops

The Cloudbook isn't nearly the hard-to-find commodity it once was, but Apricot Computers seems to think it still has its share of appeal, and it's now churned out its own variation in the form of its new PicoBook Pro. This one packs the usual 8.9-inch display, and includes a 1.2GHz low-voltage VIA processor, 1GB of RAM, a 60GB hard drive, your choice of Linux or WIndows XP and, perhaps most notably, optional WiMAX support. No word on a release 'round these parts, but folks in the UK will apparently be able to pick one up on November 1st for a starting price of £279 (or roughly $485).

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CEIVA's 8-inch CEIVAlife / CEIVAshare digiframes now on sale

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/422165015/

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays

CEIVA's duo of 8-inch digiframes started shipping out this month, but it appears the whole world was too busy ignoring digital photo frames on the whole to notice and / or care. Originally announced at CES, the CEIVAlife features a surprisingly striking design, a 640 x 480 resolution display, a multicard reader to support nearly every card format you've ever heard of, WiFi / phone / optional Ethernet connectivity and an optional PicturePlan service that "automatically uploads photos and receives photos via camera phones, online or from a PC." The WiFi-ready CEIVAshare (shown after the break) sports a more traditional look and includes an 800 x 600 resolution LCD along with a more digestible $129.99 price tag. As you've likely gleaned, both can be purchased now -- well before the gift giving season arrives.

[Via Digital Picture Frame Review, thanks Brian]

Continue reading CEIVA's 8-inch CEIVAlife / CEIVAshare digiframes now on sale

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NVIDIA gets official with GeForce 9400M GPU

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/422492879/

Filed under: Gaming

Not like NVIDIA really needed to waste the ink here, but it has decided to hover under the spotlight a bit more by officially introducing its GeForce 9400M GPU. Yeah, the same one Apple made official on its behalf yesterday. The single-chip design features 16 parallel processing cores, 54GFLOPs of processing power and promises 5x the graphics power over Intel's Centrino 2. In other words, this thing will come a lot closer to handling Crysis in a satisfactory manner than that lowly integrated set you're probably working with now. But you already knew that, now didn't you?

[Via Physorg]

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Samsung's SP-A900, SP-D400 and SP-L300 projectors make the scene in Korea

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/422794101/

Filed under: Displays

Samsung Korea has just dropped the dime on three new projectors. No word yet on pricing or a release date, but there are a few tantalizing details. For high definition video buffs, the SP-A900 offers full HD resolution, a contrast ratio of 12,000:1, Texas Instruments DarkChip4 chipset and 1,000 lumens brightness. The SP-D400 comes complete with a 3,000:1 contrast ratio and 4000 lumens brightness. As for the SP-L300, you get a 3LCD data projector with 3000 lumens brightness and an onboard speaker. Along with some swank design, all three of these projectors feature HDMI input.

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CherryPal $249 cloud PC delayed again, gets 8GB SSD as consolation

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/422890955/

Filed under: Desktops

Continuing its long, slow trek into computing infamy, CherryPal has now let out word that its $249 Cloud PC has been delayed yet again, with the new, anything-but-certain release date now listed as November 4th of this year. In an apparent attempt to prevent a wave of cancellations, the company has also announced that the previous 4GB C100 model is being replaced with a new 8GB C114 model, and that all previous orders would be automatically upgraded to the new model free of charge. If you're ready to take the chance, you can get your order in at the link below.

[Thanks, Simon K]

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Nokia's N85 reviewed, called better than N96

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/423051619/

Filed under: Cellphones

We were always curious why a device that (at least on paper) was superior in a lot of ways to Nokia's N96 wasn't trumpeted as the outfit's flagship device, but nevertheless, an Italian reviewer has made us feel a touch better about our previously ludicrous thoughts. After spending a solid fortnight with the phone, the critic felt comfortable deeming the N85 a "very, very beautiful" handset, also noting that it was "definitely the best Symbian [device]" out there. He even went out of his way to recommend the N85 over the N96 so long as you're cool without DVB-H or a super-snazzy camera. As if you really needed more, he also found the OLED display to be spectacular, the audio quality very satisfactory and the GPS / multimedia functions to be top-notch. Wait, is that the N96 we hear crying? There's no crying in Espoo!

[Via All About Symbian]

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Lenovo ThinkPad X200s reviewed: it's worth the splurge

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/423085742/

Filed under: Laptops

If the X200t is just too convertible-y for you, and the standard X200 just doesn't last long enough for your 18-hour plane rides, the X200s won't do you any good either. If you only need 10-hours of juice, however, this unit is just about perfect. The ultraportable does give up some raw horsepower in order to deliver such stunning life, but true road warriors will certainly make the sacrifice. Critics over at Laptop Mag were duly impressed with just about everything the pricey X200s was packing, noting that the keyboard was "excellent," the design was sturdy and the screen was clean and crisp. Additionally, they found that the power decrease wasn't too noticeable in real-world use, though they did lament the omission of a WWAN module (agreed!) and webcam. Bottom line? These folks found it well "worth the splurge," though we'd recommend giving the full spill a read if you're seriously on the fence.

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Eee PC turns one year old, slides under the $300 barrier to celebrate

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/423166771/

Filed under: Laptops

You wouldn't know it by the vast array of spin-offs and iterations, but the Eee PC has only just now turned one year old and, whether by coincidence or design, it's also now finally dropped under the ever-elusive $300 mark. That doesn't come in the form of that rumored new sub-$300 model, however, but rather an existing Eee PC 900A that's now available from Best Buy for $299.99. Not that we're complaining, as this particular model packs an 8.9-inch display compared to the 7-incher on the 701SDX spotted yesterday, along with a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB or RAM, a 4GB SSD, and Linux pre-installed. Now, about that $200 Eee PC.

Read - jkOnTheRun, "Asus breaks sub-$300 price barrier with Eee PC 900A at Best Buy"
Read - Laptop, "Happy Birthday Eee PC!"

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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

NY Times Reporter Warped Into Dell Shill [Dell]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/421572696/ny-times-reporter-warped-into-dell-shill

Here's why you should never trust endorsements—besides the general principle of the matter. NY Times reporter Marc Santora did an interview for a startup site called Big Think, talking about how technology has changed covering stories like the Iraq War. Imagine his surprise when part of it was slipped into a DigitalNomads ad, a site that's "powered by Dell," magically turning his interview into an endorsement.

While he doesn't actually say the word "Dell" in the spot, at the bottom of the DigitalNomads site is a small sign of who's backing it: "Powered by Dell," so it's an implicit endorsement that, as Valleywag says, "suggests a New York Times reporter has endorsed its vision of mobile technology."

Santora says his involvement was unwitting and unpaid, and it's unlikely the NYT gave permission for an endorsement like this either, so it looks like he got played here. Apparently the people behind the ad have a particularly shady history anyway—last summer, that advertiser stirred up a wicked brouhaha by paying bloggers to recite sponsor slogans. Moral of the story: Don't trust sponsors, endorsements or anything that looks remotely cushy. [Valleywag]

Correction on Apple MacBook vs Dell Inspiron Price Comparison [Correction]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/421947682/correction-on-apple-macbook-vs-dell-inspiron-price-comparison

Yesterday we published an article comparing the latest MacBook and the Dell Inspiron 13, pointing out that the MacBook was too expensive. In the middle of the Apple event battle, the post omitted some facts that made the comparison invalid. We have edited the article to reflect these facts. Our apologies.