Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Computers
Asus Eee PC 901 Shipping Now
11:23PM Mark Wilson | The Asus Eee PC 901—the new 8.9-inch Eee—is shipping now from Newegg (Amazon still has it on pre-order only). Configured with Atom processor, 1GB of RAM and 12GB of SSD storage, the little laptop can be yours for just US$599.99. And in a strange cosmic occurrence, today is the day I expect to finally get my MSI Wind test unit. More »
Cameras
Canon Entry-Level EOS Rebel XS DSLR Priced and Dated for US
11:22PM Matt Buchanan | Canon’s entry-level EOS Rebel XS (1000D) just got more official stateside, with a price and release date: US$699.99 for the kit, with the same f/3.5-5.6 18-55mm image-stabilizing lens as the XSi, and it ships next month. Note that Canon has dropped the “Digital” part of the name, since it’s sort of redundant. To see how it stacks up against the XTi and XSi, check out our easy comparison chart here, or hit the press release below. More »
Home
Walk-In Wine Cellar Vault, Our Superhero Lair
11:00PM Mark Wilson | When we want to be stronger, smarter and better looking, we just head into our secret wine cellar vault. Encapsulated in brushed aluminium, the environment is temperature and humidity controlled as our 1,500 bottles of “super juice” sit safely on the redwood racks. And given the included PC database to keep our collection straight, the only thing we’re missing is a spot to sob in the fetal position under the stream of a cold shower—our special power of choice. The vault will run you US$27,995; the hangover is free. Here’s a look inside (we’re clothed in the shot): More »
Phones
This May Be the First Man on the Planet to Get an iPhone 3G
10:38PM Gizmodo US Edition | The guy grinning in this photo is called Jonny Gladwell, and he’s from Auckland, New Zealand. Why’s he grinning? He’s first in the queue at the Auckland Vodafone shop. And due to the timings involved, that should make him the first person in the World to buy an iPhone 3G. Lucky bastard. [Image credit: Darryl Carey] AU: Well, he’ll be one of the first three people in the world – Vodafone NZ are opening three stores at 12:01 on Friday morning: Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. We’ll be at the Auckland launch, so we’ll try and have a chat with Jonny here and find out all his hopes and dreams on Thursday. More »
Games
A Widescreen Nintendo DS is ‘Purely Rumour and Speculation’
10:30PM Mark Wilson | Here’s the deal. Yesterday an advertisement was floating around showing a Nintendo DS that had bigger, wider screens. They didn’t look quite 16×9 as the gaming blogs were claiming, and the whole ordeal could have been a pretty quick Photoshop blunder by a third party software designer. Anyway, a lot of people ended up running the story, so I thought we should let you know about it in the remote case that a.) someone at work was talking about a widescreen DS or b.) it somehow ended up being real. Nintendo has called the device “purely rumour and speculation.” I just think it’s funny that the DS in the ad is out of battery. [aeropause and eurogamer via kotaku] More »
Random Stuff
Fanboy Is Now a Real English Word, Says Merriam-Webster
10:12PM Gizmodo US Edition | Yes, it’s official: you now can be a fanboy by the power of Grayskull and the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, which says the word is now part of the English language. They arrive a little late, because the Oxford American Dictionary in Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard running on my Apple iMac 24″ shows it, and so does the dictionary on my Apple PowerBook 17″–running Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger–and also the automatic orthography corrector in my Apple iPhone. The Merriam-Webster added other geek terms which are not in the Oxford, though: More »
Peripherals
Elgato Shrinks EyeTV Digital TV Dongle, Now MacBook Air-Friendly
9:46PM Gizmodo US Edition | Elgato has shrunk the tech in their Mac-friendly USB TV tuner dongles so that the latest EyeTV DTT Deluxe is much smaller. And as a result, it’s now compatible with the MacBook Air’s low ground-clearance. It’s got a digital tuner inside that can do full HD, so it’s just for those of you who can get DVB-T or Freeview, and apparently packs better image-processing for a less noisy picture. It also leaves the mini-DVI slot unblocked on an Air, and comes with a choice of aerials to suit the signal strength in your area. Available now for US$125 in Europe. [Register Hardware] More »
Science
LHC Ignition Delayed Until August, Earth Spared Another Month
9:15PM Gizmodo US Edition | The scientists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland have decided to delay the ignition of the massive particle accelerator. The LHC countdown now shows 30 more days, so you can enjoy July to its full potential. In case you don’t know what a Large Hadron Collider is, it’s the thingamajig that is supposed to find the Force that binds all things or–according to some morons–was supposed to kill us all yesterday. Wait, hold on a moment here. Maybe they activated it. Maybe the first collision created a white hole that sucked the whole Universe in, and we got back in time. More »
Phones
Nokia Haptikos Tactile Touchscreen Patent Is a Bit Like Apple’s
8:39PM Gizmodo US Edition | Among the rush of Apple patents relating to touchscreens over the last year came one on tactile feedback touchscreens, and Nokia seems to have been thinking along the same lines. Almost exactly the same lines, since Nokia’s Haptikos tech is a system of fluid-cells driven by piezoelectric actuators that push up through a flexible touchscreen. And that sounds a lot like Apple’s sub-surface, adjustable tactile “keys.” But apparently the Nokia tech is aimed at “variable and controllable user perceived surface roughness or friction coefficient” rather than buttons. Fascinating stuff, nevertheless. [Unwiredview] More »
Cameras
