Thursday, July 30, 2009

Digital Cowboy's DC-MCNP1 2.5-inch NAS doubles as media player

Digital Cowboy's DC-MCNP1 2.5-inch NAS doubles as media player

It's a little hard to believe that we've gone two whole months without a new device from Digital Cowboy, but at long last, the Japanese wrangler is hitting back with a striking new piece of consumer electronics goodness. The DC-MCNP1, which falls neatly into the Movie Cowboy family, is a 2.5-inch NAS drive at heart, but aside from giving you access to files on its diminutive internal drive anywhere in the world, it also streams a plethora of file formats to your HDTV. The HDMI / composite video outputs should take care of the vast majority of ya, and the USB 2.0 socket provides an expansion option for those needing to hook up an external HDD. An Ethernet port is built in for network access, but those who'd prefer to cut the cord can certainly plug a wireless adapter into that USB socket and pray continuously to the signal gods above. If you find yourself in Fukuoka next month, give this one a look if you've got ¥19,900 ($209) to spare.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Digital Cowboy's DC-MCNP1 2.5-inch NAS doubles as media player originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer reaffirms that Android-based netbook still coming in Q3

Acer reaffirms that Android-based netbook still coming in Q3

In an effort to quell all sorts of kicking and screaming that resulted from an evidently erroneous report earlier in the week, an Acer representative has reportedly reaffirmed that an Android-based Aspire One is still on schedule for a Q3 release. If you'll recall, we first heard of Acer's intentions to dole out an Android-laden netbook during Computex, and now it seems as if those very plans are still perfectly on track. So there you have it, folks -- no need to keep pounding those heart medications.

Filed under: Laptops

Acer reaffirms that Android-based netbook still coming in Q3 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung 8500 series LCD TVs feature local-dimming LED backlights, Yahoo! widgets

Samsung 8500 series LCD TVs feature local-dimming LED backlights, Yahoo! widgets

Sure, we might all just be getting used to LED-backlit LCD HDTVs, but this train ain't stopping, Chico -- Samsung just got official with the 8500 series, which features the next-generation of local-dimming LED backlights. The 54.6-inch and 45.9-inch 240Hz sets are just 1.6 inches deep and offer a 7,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, a 2ms response time, and an Energy Star 3.0 savings mode that continually adjusts the picture and backlight to optimize both picture quality and power savings. You're also getting Samsung's usual suite of connected TV features, like the Yahoo! Widget Engine, DivX playback, and DLNA support, but you'll be paying handsomely for all this newness -- the 45.9-inch UN46B8500's MSRP is $3,599, while the 54.6-inch UN55B8500 will run you $4,499.

Filed under: HDTV

Samsung 8500 series LCD TVs feature local-dimming LED backlights, Yahoo! widgets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung's Solstice touchscreen phone bounds onto AT&T

Samsung's Solstice touchscreen phone bounds onto AT&T

The age of the touchscreen dumbphone is definitely upon us, is it not? Today AT&T and Samsung announced the availability of the Solstice, a phone featuring a 3-inch (presumably resistive) touchscreen, TouchWiz, and lots of funky social networking tie-ins. Still, one gets the overwhelming impression that phones of this ilk are simply trying to cash in on the buzz of like-minded devices, while not bringing anything particularly notable to the table. This 3G-equipped number comes loaded with a 2 megapixel camera, microSD support up to 16GB, and... not much else. The phone will be available August 2nd for $99.99 with a two-year contract. Call us crazy, but for that kind of money, aren't there superior touchscreen devices on this network?

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung's Solstice touchscreen phone bounds onto AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Sholes Android phone headed for Verizon?

Motorola Sholes Android phone headed for Verizon?

On the lookout for the Motorola / Android / Verizon trifecta, we dug up some handset renders over at motofan.ru that seem to fit the bill quite well, thank you. According to the site, "Sholes" is a 3.7-inch (480 x 854) touchscreen device that will make its debut in the U.S. in October, featuring: 512MB storage, 256MB RAM, support for microSD / microSDHC up to 16 GB (an 8GB microSD ships with the phone), a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, GPS, and the expected connectivity (USB, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi), audio, and video formats. And if the translation wasn't hopelessly garbled, the source is also saying that this bad boy will support both CDMA and EVDO Rev A . No word on a price yet, but if this phone does make it to the realm of the real it'll be nice to see a Moto / Android device that doesn't look like it belongs in the hands of a tweenage girl (yeah, we said it, Morrison). See for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Motorola Sholes Android phone headed for Verizon?

Filed under: Cellphones

Motorola Sholes Android phone headed for Verizon? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fujifilm Finepix Real 3D W1 gets the hands-on treatment

Fujifilm Finepix Real 3D W1 gets the hands-on treatment

Fujifilm's Finepix Real 3D W1 may look like a fairly standard (albeit dual-lensed) compact camera in its official shots, but as the folks at Stuff.tv discovered when they unboxed theirs, it's a slightly different story in person. While not exactly a deal-breaker, the camera looks to be considerably harder to just toss in a pocket than a regular compact camera, and it weighs about as much as the non-compact Olympus E-P1. That said, it does apparently deliver the goods when it comes to capturing 3D movies and still images, and it'll even work with macro shots, although that apparently requires a bit of practice. Hit up the link below for a closer look.

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Fujifilm Finepix Real 3D W1 gets the hands-on treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer further bolsters Timeline lineup with new 8000 Series

Acer further bolsters Timeline lineup with new 8000 Series

It may seem like only yesterday (or a couple of months ago) that Acer was rolling out its very first Timeline laptops to much fanfare, but it's now already turned things around and kicked out a whole new addition to the line-up: the 8000 series. Apparently aimed at both business users and average folk, this one will be available in 13.3-, 14- and 15.6-inch variations, and pack the usual Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Solo ULV processors, 4GB or 8GB of RAM, a 160GB or 500GB hard drive (or even an 80GB Intel X25-M SSD, for those looking to go all out), and either some basic Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics or a ATI's 4330 dedicated GPU -- not to mention some bonuses like a multitouch trackpad and optional 3G (at a later date, it seems). No word on pricing or availability just yet, but it seems safe to bet that at least the entry-level models will be sub-$1000, if the current Timelines are any indication.

Filed under: Laptops

Acer further bolsters Timeline lineup with new 8000 Series originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS G60Vx lappy smuggled out of the Peoples Republic of Gamers for in-depth review

ASUS G60Vx lappy smuggled out of the Peoples Republic of Gamers for in-depth review

Sure, it looks good enough on paper, but how does the new G60Vx gaming laptop from ASUS stack up in the real world? The kids at Bit-Tech have got their hands on this guy and have been cool enough to let us in on their findings. According to the review, the machine "acquits itself pretty well," with the 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM and Blu-Ray drive all holding up their end of the bargain -- aside from the "stuttery" and "dramatically low" framerates encountered while playing Crysis (well, it is Crysis, after all). That said, the device will play "a good number of modern games at the native resolution," even if they deem resolution "irritatingly low" for 2D use. But, you know what? That ain't all, not by a long shot... to see the benchmarks and analysis in their full, unexpurgated glory, hit that read link.

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

ASUS G60Vx lappy smuggled out of the Peoples Republic of Gamers for in-depth review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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3 pocket-sized digital cameras for the enthusiasts' toy-box - http://bit.ly/mJ3e5 - love! want!

This Is How You Sell Wide-Angle Lenses [Photography]

This Is How You Sell Wide-Angle Lenses [Photography]

It's extremely rare to find a tasteful ad campaign that uses sex and clever humor to perfectly define the qualities of a technology product. This series of print ads for Omax wide-angle lenses is one of them:

The campaign was created by Publicis India, showing alternative uses for the wide shots that these lenses can get. I, on the other side, just point and shoot with no shame whatsoever. [Advertolog—Thanks Eduardo Lozano!]

Windows 7 RTM Cracked (What Took So Long?) [Windows 7]

Windows 7 RTM Cracked (What Took So Long?) [Windows 7]

I mean, it's been six days since the RTM first leaked on BitTorrent. SIx days! That's like an eternity. At any rate, it is true—Windows 7 RTM Ultimate has already been cracked using a Lenovo OEM product key.

The key and OEM certificate were extracted from Win 7 Ultimate's .wim files. A similar method was used to bypass Vista, and those vulnerabilities were never addressed so there is no reason to suspect that Microsoft will do anything about it now (but there are no guarantees). Supposedly, the crack works with 32-bit and 64-bit Ultimate versions and can be implemented on HP, Dell, and MSI computers in addition to Lenovo. Of course, you would need to engage in a little BIOS magic to fool the OS that you are using an OEM machine before any of this would work in the first place. [Softpedia via Download Squad via Lifehacker]

Google Dumps Another Half-Million Free Titles Into Sony's eBook Store [Ebooks]

Google Dumps Another Half-Million Free Titles Into Sony's eBook Store [Ebooks]

Sure, their authors are all dead, and they're already technically free anyway, but another 500,000 properly formatted, lovingly .EPUBed public domain titles have arrived in Sony's ebook store, courtesy of Google, earning their catalog a deserved—if slightly dubious—claim to the title of the "largest source for eBooks." Mazel tov. [Sony]

Kanex Mini DisplayPort Adapter With Audio Review: Someone Finally Gets It Right [Review]

Kanex Mini DisplayPort Adapter With Audio Review: Someone Finally Gets It Right [Review]

The Kanex Mini DisplayPort and USB audio to HDMI adapter, which one-ups the previous Monoprice adapter because there's audio.

The Price: $40

The Verdict: It works. IT WORKS! Playing back 1080p trailers in Quicktime, powered by a MacBook Pro, on our plasma TV was fantastic. And the part where it actually has audio? Yes please.

It's quite easy to use. The USB and Mini DisplayPort goes into the MacBook Pro (or Mac Mini), and the other end takes an HDMI cable. Your Mac should automatically detect the new display, but you have to manually switch the audio output to the USB audio device. If you're planning on using a new Mac Mini, this is the way to go. The video quality is pretty much what you'd expect from a clean 1080p source, and those trailers look good.

And with the problems Apple's own Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapters are having, using this and an HDMI-capable monitor might be a smart idea.

The adapters will be available later in the week. I suggest you pick one up if ! you have any kind of Mini DisplayPort-capable computer you want to throw up onto your TV once in a while. Also, Monoprice has a unit coming up soon as well that's pretty similar. [Kanexlive]

A Guide To Finding The Best SSD For Your Money [Storage]

A Guide To Finding The Best SSD For Your Money [Storage]

If you want to boost your computer's performance, solid state drives can deliver. However, if you find the choices out there to be daunting, LaptopMag's comprehensive SSD roundup can help you get the most performance for your money.

They tested seven 2.5-inch 128GB SSDs with SATA that ranged in price between $200 and $450. In the end the OCZ Vertex came out on top in terms of overall performance, but the Kingston SSDNow V-Series held its own with a "budget" price tag of $249. Hit up Laptop Mag for the full breakdown. [LaptopMag]

Kodak debuts EasyShare Z950, M381 and M341 digicams

Kodak debuts EasyShare Z950, M381 and M341 digicams

Had enough Kodak this fine morning? No? Good. Just hours after showcasing its newest 1080p pocket camcorder, the aforesaid firm is hitting us up with a few more new pieces to digest. First up is the EasyShare Z950, a modest megazoom-in-a-P&S-body that packs a 10x optical zoom, 12 megapixel sensor and a $279.99 price tag. Next, we've got the totally ho hum EasyShare M381, which also offers a dozen megapixels alongside a 3-inch rear LCD, 5x zoomer, easy upload to Facebook / YouTube, face detection, a variety of lovely hues and an MSRP of $179.99. The last cam is the M341, which steps down to a 3x optical zoom and a smaller 2.7-inch LCD for $149. Closing things out is the EasyShare D830 (£119.99; $196) and D1030 (£169.99; $279) digital photo frames, which check in at 8- and 10-inches respectively (in terms of display size) and tout interchangeable face plates, 512MB of internal memory, a Quick Touch border, memory card reader and a USB port. Everything here should ship in the US and UK by September, though those hungry for additional details are welcome to tap that read link.

[Via DigitalCameraInfo]

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Kodak debuts EasyShare Z950, M381 and M341 digicams originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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