Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Samsung R430 / R540 laptops now partying stateside

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/18/samsung-r430-r540-laptops-now-partying-stateside/

That might pretty Touch of Color aesthetic Samsung's been rather fond of is popping up on the virtual US retail shelves by way of the 15.6-inch R530 laptop. Both it and the black 14-inch R430 are sporting a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, and Intel's stock-in-trade GMA 4500MHD graphics. Interestingly enough, both are priced at $654, so 15.6 inches of screen space is just a tinge too big or you think ToC is a rather silly look, you're not being punished.

Samsung R430 / R540 laptops now partying stateside originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Laptoping (1), (2) | source

Amazon (R530), (R430) | E mail this | Comments

Android-powered Motorola Backflip headed to AT&T on March 7 for $100 on contract

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/18/android-powered-motorola-backflip-headed-to-atandt-on-march-7-for/

AT&T just got its first Android-powered smartphone (four more coming this year) in the HSPA 7.2-capable Motorola Backflip. The Motoblur device with reverse flip design and 3.1-inch touchscreen packs GPS, WiFi, and a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with flash and camcorder function that neatly integrates with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter or photo sharing sites like Picasa. It lands March 7th for $100 after $100 rebate and two-year contract with smartphone data plan. AT&T promo video after the break.

Gallery: Android-powered Motorola Backflip headed to AT&T on March 7 for $100 on contract

Continue reading Android-powered Motorola Backflip headed to AT&T on March 7 for $100 on contract

Android-powered Motorola Backflip headed to AT&T on March 7 for $100 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 07:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source

PR Newswire | Email this | Comments

NEC manages 16Gbps, tries to put a dimmer on Light Peak (updated)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/18/nec-manages-16gbps-over-usb-3-0-tries-to-put-a-dimmer-on-light/

If you didn't know it, there's a brewing interface war between the effortlessly backwards compatible USB 3.0 and the decidedly fresh break offered by Light Peak. Most people are fans of new stuff that works with their old stuff, but so too do people like stuff that's really fast, and USB 3.0's 5Gbps just can't match Light Peak's 10Gbps. ~~Or can it?~~ ~~NEC says it can, indicating that its USB 3.0~~ NEC has demonstrated a new chipset managing a whopping 16Gbps (2GB per second) over a single cable, finding a way to overcome ~~that standard's~~ signal interference problems to more than triple the USB 3.0's held ceiling. ~~It remains to be seen whether NEC's technique will be integrated into the still young 3.0 spec, but that would certainly be the logical thing to do.~~

Update: TheLostSwede commented to point us to an English version of the press release that, in Japanese form, seems to have led to the Electronista story we used as a source. Apparently something previously got lost in translation as the release actually talks about a wholly new inter-chip serial interface offering 16Gbps speeds, not an extension to USB 3.0. This could provide the system internals to shovel bits to whatever new external interface reigns supreme.

NEC manages 16Gbps, tries to put a dimmer on Light Peak (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source

Electronista, NEC Japan | Email this | Comments

Visa teams with DeviceFidelity for contactless payments via microSD card

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/18/visa-teams-with-devicefidelity-for-contactless-payments-via-micr/

Visa has been working on contactless (a.k.a. NFC) payments for quite some time, and it's now teamed up with DeviceFidelity in the hope of bringing them to even more cellphone users. That company makes (among other things) a contactless payment system contained on a microSD card which, when paired with Visa's own payWave system, will let you use just about any microSD card slot-equipped cellphone to make pay contactless payments at between 50,000 to 60,000 merchants in the US. Exact specifics are otherwise a bit light, but Visa says trials are scheduled to begin in the second quarter of this year.

Visa teams with DeviceFidelity for contactless payments via microSD card originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

The Inquirer | source

Market Watch | Email this | Comments

Kingston ships 256GB DataTraveler 310 USB flash drive to affluent Yanks

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/18/kingston-ships-256gb-datatraveler-310-usb-flash-drive-to-affluen/

No matter how you slice it, having 256GB on your keychain is pretty rad. For those living in various regions of the world not named America, they've had access to the DataTraveler 300 for just under a year. Thankfully, the Kingston finally realized that Yanks love capaciousness as well, and the DataTraveler 310 is the solution that very sect has been longing for. Hailed as the first 256GB flash drive to ship in the States, the DT 310 is capable of holding up to 54 DVDs or 1,984 JPEGs of your undercover lover, and it'll function just fine with Windows, Linux and OS X-based systems. We're told that it'll sport data transfer rates of 25MB/sec (read) and 12MB/sec (write), but chances are you'll never get the opportunity to put those claims to the test. You know, given that astronomical $1,108 MSRP.

Gallery: Kingston 256GB DataTraveler 310 USB flash drive