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Logitech's ergonomically designed $100 Alto Cordless stand has three high-speed USB ports for high-powered peripherals, plus integrated wireless technology to connect to the included keyboard. As a nice touch, it folds up into a tidy rectangle for stowing or lugging around. My only beef is, why sell a wireless-enabled USB dock with a cordless keyboard, but not a cordless mouse? Or is that next in the Logitech bag of tricks?
This week, Samsung quietly let it slip that it had reached the 160GB mark for its 1.8" HDD, the Spinpoint N2. The previous record for 1.8" HDDs had been 120GB, held by, yep, Samsung. In case you're not an Apple fanboy, this is extra good news because 1.8" is the HDD format required by iPods. They are also making their way into teeny, tiny camcorders by Samsung and its customers competitors colleagues.
Pricing has not been announced, but the 120GB Spinpoint N2 costs $249, so the 160GB version will be higher still. And from what market research Samsung has done, there's no reason to lower prices just yet:
"The 1.8inch HDD market will grow at a tremendous pace with annual sales expected to increase up to 65% by 2010 as consumers demand smaller, more compact technology devices," states Andrew Higginbotham, director of hard drive sales and marketing, Samsung Semiconductor Inc.
According to TSR, the market research institute, the HDD camcorder segment of the camcorder market will grow from 4 million units in 2006 to over 8 million units by the end of 2011.Sounds like the sky's the limit, at least until flash memory catches up in capacity—and price.
It won't be able to destroy entire planets, but the new Sony VPL-VW60 Full HD SXRD-based projector looks impressive even while knowing that its 35,000:1 contrast ratio, which more than doubles last year's VPL-VW50, is relative. Still, the rest of the specs are quite impressive.
Adobe's introduced a powerful new component it'll be placing into its Flash Video Player 9, adding support for that red-hot H.264 codec, the video compression routine that's behind Blu-ray, HD DVD and lots of HD goodness all over the videoscape. Adobe's also heightened the efficiency of Flash audio, adding AAC audio compression. Perhaps the most important part of the announcement is the addition of hardware acceleration for playback of all different types of full-screen video.
Here's the LG U990, a new cellphone with 5-megapixel camera with Image Stabilizer, auto-focus and Schneider Kreuznach optics. The twisting collar around the lens doubles as a shuttle dial to get your way through its amazing high-speed 120FPS video footage. And there's 3G HSDPA, 170MB internal memory, a 240 x 400 touchscreen and a music player. No price yet, but we want. [Akihabara News via Ubergizmo]
Pocket shots are like those little gel packs that marathoners use to go the extra mile. Except instead of energy-giving sugar, these are filled with vodka, rum, and whiskey. [Wired, Thanks Rob]
The only good that came out of Michael Bay's mutilation of Transformers is that cool shit like this Nike/Transformers toy keeps coming out. Similar to the Optimus Prime and Megatron toys from earlier this year, this Nike Free 7.0 transforms into a character known as Marine Convoy. Unlike the other two, Marine Convoy seems to be an original character who shamelessly displays the Nike Swoosh across his chest and wears the shoe he transforms into. Like most of these offbeat Transformers toys, it's Japan only and costs 2500 Yen. [Hype Beast]
$3000 iPhone data bills for international roaming, it's fair to assume that many of us don't really know what the exact policy is jet set iPhone living. The skinny is this, from AT&T directly: "For $24.99 per month, iPhone users... Read More »
Canon followed a stellar camera launch day with an equally ambitous printer launch: 12 printers in all, including two of those cute little compact photo printers, two basic photo printers and eight—no joke—eight all-in-ones. Like I said, ambitious, but here's how it could have done with fewer:
If you thought your Kia was a cheap car, you obviously didn't buy it in India. A country with an exploding population of drivers, India has a red-hot market for cheap autos. With that in mind, Indian company Tata Motors (oh, grow up) is selling a plastic car that'll run about $2,400 total. Yes, that makes it the cheapest car in the world. Hopefully it's safer than the cars they make in China.
In theory, these Magwear magnetic wrist bands are supposed to hold your screws, nails and other metal parts for DIY projects. In reality, they will serve me to wear my red and purple pyjamas and try to get my wife to fight me (un)dressed up as Storm. All your fantasies could come true for just $18. Or mine, anyway. [Core77]
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 11:35 AM on August 21, 2007
Eagle-eyed Gizmodo regular, Adz has spotted a local listing for Microsoft's upcoming Windows Home Server at the Eyo website. If their details are to be believed, WHS has an ETA of Thursday, and their OEM price is $236.17.
We'll see Thurday whether this comes true. Their stock listing is currently at '-2 (backorder)', and lead time listed as '10 days'... the anticipation builds. No invites to any press launches have been sent out, and I would have thought this would get one. So there are definitely a few grains of salt to be taken.
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 10:49 AM on August 21, 2007
I bounced down to Melbourne last week, and it was the first time I'd flown Virgin Blue since the introduction of their new in-flight entertainment system. Called Live2Air, it is pretty much as advertised - a live feed of 24 Foxtel channels. Sadly, it isn't free. But that made it perfect review material. Is it worth the $5 / $10 price?
Pretty much, yes. Certainly better than expected, and particularly hot if you like to catch some trashy TV now and then. Like Maury! If you can't make out that caption, it reads "My child was the victim of a peeping tom... caught on tape!" I know, I know... I prefer Maury's paternity test episodes too.
More details on how it all works can be found below the fold.
Lots of announcements in the overnight feed from Canon, and we've received the same lost of big news for the local market too. Names don't always quite match up to faces in the translation, though, so here's all the goss on what's what locally in Canon's new line up.
First the EOS 1Ds Mark III:
Available November, RRP $12,999.
Next the EOS 40D (I want one of these):
Available August 25, RRP $1999 (body) or $2799 (EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM).
The rest have been announced, but no local RRPs just yet. The PowerShot A650 IS and A720 IS, and the IXUS 860 IS (US-named ELPH SD870) and IXUS 960 IS (ELPH SD950) are all due September. The PowerShot SX100 IS is due October. The PowerShot G9 has been more 'introduced' than announced, with no dates nor pricing.
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 9:50 AM on August 21, 2007
There was no 'big prize' on the line, but our call for ideas on the best tag for generally messed up stuff was a hotly commented post. Thanks to all who threw their ideas around. After that one we'll be sure and ask y'all for ideas more often.
After thinking it all over, and you may have already noticed, but we've decided to go with 'borked'. It says it all in a nice, general way that rings true to us. Odds are good we'll also be using 'fubar' from time to time, but for that one to come out something really needs to be FUBAR. So 'borked' it is.
Kudos to Nick for being first off the blocks with that one, and the others who chimed in with support.
For those itching for the other comp news, we should have the news on the CBL Data Recovery winner tomorrow morning.
Ars Technica are reporting Windows Home Server has already been released. Considering their source is Microsoft, this seems more than possible. The report details that the product does not have an official release date, but instead has already been made available to OEMs and distributors. Further, customers outside of the US have apparently received copies some days ago. The pricing details are as non-existent as the release date, as Microsoft's policies prevent them releasing a price directly. Hit the jump for more information.
AU: Below the jump this mentions a listing in New Zealand. While I've been moving house, did I miss a local release for WHS? I'll do some digging.
Optimus Prime's Diary gets its Transformer-wannabe mitts all over Takara Tomy's sold-out, holy-shit-it-really transforms Soundwave MP3 player, though they don't exactly offer an in-depth review. But who cares about the specs? It's a Transformers MP3 player that transforms. Sold. Two more unbox shots after the jump.
Perhaps in spin-response to the Paramount news from this AM, a Blu ray Consortium rep just called me to tell me Fox is supporting Blu-ray. What's weird is that they're already supposed to be supporting Blu-ray. I guess the "news" is that Fox isn't ditching Blu-ray, as it seemed they were going to since they haven't released a disc on that format since April, according to Wikipedia. UPDATE: Fox and MGM just announced 29 titles, including 3 Die Hard movies. Were they just waiting for the HD DVD guys to move before telling us all this?
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 9:01 AM on August 21, 2007
There is still some more to spill out of the feedbag, but thought I'd whip out the Wrap to get you on with your day. Check back before this post again shortly to see the last bunch of items from overnight as I send them through.
Lots of new cameras announced by Canon overnight.
Oh, and one more. We'll have local timings and pricing up shortly.
12V battery hack saves you big dollars.
Lots of small batteries hidden inside. Not as dangerous as you'd first think.
World's smallest camera, pervert's dream.
One of those funky snake cameras from your fave stealth game/movie.
Samsung UFO phone does HSDPA at 7.2Mbps.
Where available, of course, but nice to see arriving, and looks good too.
Video of 1870s monocycle in action.
More of that awesome old school cycling style!
Paramount and Dreamworks Animation go exclusively HD DVD.
Quite the shot in the arm for HD DVD!
HD DVD paid $150m to studios for "promotional consideration".
Sorry, who gave who the shot in the arm there? My mistake.
A man who robbed a bookie shop in England using his girlfriend's vibrator has been jailed for five years. Nicki Jex, a 27-year-old chef, concealed the Rampant Rabbit in a plastic bag, brandished it at the cashier and then made off with over £600 ($1200) in cash.
[UPDATE: I took a pass, noting inconsistencies. - B.L.]Turns out the rumor of Kathy Griffin fondling Woz's apples were a bit off, according to Adario Strange. He's proudly skeptical of the whole thing, pointing to a Page Six post that he claims says the two have never met. But reading the Page Six page actually says the contrary. Adario, which is it?
AU: Someone asked yesterday who they are. Huh? Woz = legendary hardware guy, founder of Apple Computers; Griffin = random, annoying American comedienne and self-proclaimed B-lister. Rarely do geeks get celeb goss moments, so play along!
Get it? Hang up your phone? Ha! Ha! Ha! It also hangs up when you put it on a table. That's not as amusing. [Yanko Design]
Although the automated drink makers we've visited are mostly of the coffee variety, this Zarafina Tea Maker suite has the same idea. There are variable settings to control strength, brewing time, type of tea, temperature and adjust for tea bags/loose tea. Kitchen Contraptions tested it out and and found it to be consistent in all its brews, and produced tea that tasted fantastic even to tea-only drinkers. Grab one for the fairly reasonable price of $149. [Amazon via Kitchen Contraptions]
A Chinese site posted some shots of the shell of a supposed Sony Ericsson K-Series Cybershot cellphone. The interesting part is that this phone, or a phone that looks like this, hasn't been announced, so we're left speculating at what its 3x optical zoom and its squarish keypad will be called when it is announced. If it's even a real SE phone at all.
Paramount and Dreamworks went HD DVD exclusive today. Then, a Hollywood news blog reported that the HD DVD camp paid Paramount $50 million and DreamWorks Animation $100 million for "promotional consideration." We asked Paramount and the HD DVD camp about this, and received a quick albeit vague reply: "Whenever we conduct co-marketing, production deals or other agreements, we never discuss business terms."
I take that as a confirmation of sorts—certainly it isn't a denial—but is it bad, or even out of the ordinary? Let's get some context. First, here's a fuller version of what transpired today:
Lite-on's concept for a USB puzzle game involves e-paper, puzzle pieces and software that feeds an image directly onto the puzzle board. Kids rearrange blocks in order to construct the puzzle (which is made out of the image you chose from your computer). However, it looks like the puzzle pieces themselves never actually change—just the images do. So all but the slowest of kids should be able to figure this out in no time. [Everything USB]
Now that Paramount and Dreamworks Animation have just announced they will exclusively support the HD DVD format, we thought it was time to revisit the current status of studio support for both Blu-ray and HD DVD. At last check, Blu-ray had all but a few studios locked down in their camp, with HD DVD trailing far behind. Has it changed?
We got the whitest geek we could find and threw him into Japan to see if he'd survive. Here are his pleas for a return ticket.
To: Frooch
From: Matt
RE: Washing Machine/Air Conditioner Combo Saves Space, Chills Clothes
I saw your post about the air conditioning/washing machine combo, and since I'm on my second washing machine in Japan, even though I'm not an expert about washers and dryers in Japan, I thought I would try to explain why it would be a good idea. That, and because I felt a violent urge to theorize about washing machines at midnight.
Sony's new IMX021 CMOS sensor is good for 12.47MP and 10.39FPS. People are comparing it to Canon's new EOS-1D Mark III. Enough with the pissing match. I'd take half the megapixels and 12800 ISO, frankly. [digitalcamerainfo]
If you wanted to install third-party native software in your iPhone but you didn't had the necessary technical knowledge or courage, the newly updated iPhone Installer.app will make it so easy that it will be very hard to resist. We... Read More »
Sony's making it look like it's fishing for buyers of remote controls, rolling out three different form factors of its latest universal remotes on the same day. There's the RM-PZ1FD, that earthy colored wide remote for those who like to keep the control on the arm of a chair or use it like a laptop; there's the slim rectangular RM-PZ1SD (and we especially like the white one with the green, blue and white number pads); and then there's the curved design of the RM-PZ1D, looking like the most ergonomic of the trio. The three styles will have one odd characteristic in common.
Two filmmakers spent 7 years and $150,000 of their own money to make a documentary about the history of vibrators, called Passion and Power. The doc delves deep into the past, starting with the first steam-powered devices in the 1860s and early electrified vibes in the 1900s (see pic). Passion and Power debuted at New York's Lincoln Center to a sold-out crowd which gave it a standing ovation, and shows at the Mill Valley Film Festival in the Bay Area next month.
This week on Coolness Roundup, Gizmodo's Charlie White and Sci Fi Tech's Stephen Schleicher celebrate the big 1-0-0 by talking about the wonders behind Apple Keynote presentation software, the Netflix and Blockbuster price war, the size of AT&T phone bills and a remarkable prediction they made on show #1 two years ago. [Free Podcast on iTunes or at Coolness Roundup]
We're trying to understand why someone would buy this diamond-spangled solid gold iPod shuffle, which wins the prize for gaudiest second-rate music player. This one even outdoes that 18-karat solid gold iPod shuffle we pointed out to you last month, with this one tipping the more-money-than-brains pricetag scale of $20,000 compared with that solid gold shuffle's $19,343 price. Okay, so this wins the prize for most expensive shuffle in the world, but in our eyes it also wins the booby prize for the tackiest.
These Powerpoint presentation slides unearthed by Rumor Reporter shine new light onto a possible suit on Nintendo by Immersion. Immersion, if you don't remember, is the same company that recently won their suit with Sony for millions of dollars (and settled with Microsoft earlier) regarding vibration in controllers. These new Immersion documents outline their somewhat slimy train of thought as they debate whether or not they want to bring Nintendo into court as well.
We first saw the In2Games Fusion last year before the Wii launch, but they're back again for the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany. This time, besides demoing the "Freedom" line (name changed from Fusion), In2Games is announcing that these are going to be available for the PS2 and the PC.
The peripherals work with games like Realplay Golf, Realplay Tennis, Realplay Racing, Realplay Pool, Realplay Bowling and Realplay Puzzlesphere, and require the wireless motion device called the GameTrak Version 2 for $40. The games? $60. So that's $100 plus tax that you could put into the cost of buying a Wii. [Neoseeker]
The do-it-all set-top box market's about to get even more crowded, the newest kid on the block coming from start-up Building B. Their hook: wireless delivery of traditional TV content in HD, plus VOD and web video without a PC. The catch: They're not so forthcoming with the details in regards to the tech it's using for delivery or prices for either the box or the service.
The black US version of Nokia's N95 has hit the FCC, featuring 8GB of storage in addition to the new exterior. There's no mention of a 3G HSDPA connection, which it was rumored to have. We think there will in fact be a 3G connection on here, as there are links that point to Nokia.com/music in the filing and downloading music to a phone wirelessly would be pretty painful on a 2G connection. But maybe this is a second handset, for T Mobile's EDGE network, only. Not a lot of new info otherwise; we'll keep you posted as this becomes official. [Wireless Info]
One of our loyal Gizmodian visitors sent us three pictures of what he says is an exploded Nokia 2115i cellphone. Reader Jonathan said that last night his phone's battery ran out of power so he plugged it into its charger as he usually does. Check the gallery below to see the result, and on the next page, read Jonathan's account of how it happened.
After 1.5 hours, suddenly, BOOM! It sounds like dynamite, or any explosive stuffs.It looks like there was a fire afterward, too. Good thing the guy's house didn't burn down. Anyone else have any experiences like this with a Nokia cellphone, or any other?
