Thursday, September 18, 2008
Computers
Toshiba Releases Their Obligatory Netbook
11:45PM Mark Wilson | Say it with me everyone: 8.9″ screen, 1.6GHz Atom processor, up to 1GB of RAM, 120GB HD and…you get the picture. Toshiba’s offering is definitely style-aggressive, packs Ubuntu and promises a (6 cell?) battery life of 4 hours, but it’s pretty much the exact $US500ish system we’ve seen cloned and crapped out by every laptop manufacturer in the known universe. Is there some club we don’t know about where hardware developers get together for rights of passage involving ritual branding, hallucinogenic concoctions and the release of one’s first netbook? We sure hope so, because otherwise this beat is getting really tired. [Register Hardware] More »
Home
Memorex MVBD-2510 Blu-ray Limbos Under $US300
11:30PM Mark Wilson | The Memorex MVBD-2510 fills that getting-the-job-done-for-cheap niche, but Gizmodo readers should know we don’t actually recommend it for purchase. It costs only $US270, but sacrifices Profile 2.0 and the ethernet that accompanies it. So it’s a pass, but a positive trend for the industry all the same. [prnewswire] More »
Science
Google and GE Team Up to Revitalise Our Ancient Power Grid
11:15PM John Mahoney | We might still have to wait a while for the Google washing machine–but GE as we know is also a huge player in energy infrastructures, which makes notable their announcement of a partnership with those incessant innovators at Google to modernise our stone-age grid. If (if) we somehow do find ourselves with an administration in January that truly moves forward with forward-thinking energy plans, we don’t want to losing a huge percentage of our fresh new juice to our inefficient grid, most parts of which date back to the disco era. More »
Software
Asus Helps Your Pirating Including Software Cracker for Free
10:54PM Jesus Diaz | Asus–makers of inexpensive Eeeverything–is now shipping illegal cracking software to make your computing life even cheaper. According to UK publication PC Pro, not only they have accidentally included a piracy tool with their recovery DVD, but they have also put several confidential documents and source code inside. So nice of them. More »
Vehicles
Next Generation Stealth Bombers Jump Out of Hyperspace
10:00PM Jesus Diaz | The next-generation stealth bomber from Boeing/Lockheed Martin is out. Developed by Phantom Works, the large diamond-shaped body, with long wings and razor-sharp nose, resembles a long-range B-2 Spirit bomber that has been retrofitted at Darth Vader’s garage: from the front, it looks kind of evil and menacing. Unlike Northrop Grumman’s proposal, which is like the stealth bomber that eats too many Snickers. More »
Science
Scientists Say Virtual Imaging Colonoscopy As Good As Real Thing, With Less Probing
8:59PM Kit Eaton | According to the results of a new study, a virtual-reality 3D-graphic colonoscopy is about as good as the real thing for screening for colon cancer. The virtual procedure is made by image processing the results of an abdominal CT scan, then a doctor views the results in a sort of first-person-shooter “fly through” of the patient’s inner tubes, looking for abnormalities to shoot examine. The graphical technology is of course less invasive *ahem*, more convenient and preferred by patients…though it’ll likely come down to a dollars-based calculation before you start seeing this in your local medical facility. [Medgadgets] More »
Phones
Asus Launches AiGuru SV1, World’s First Skype-Certified Videophone
7:51PM Kit Eaton | Update: Asus tells us that the product wasn’t supposed to be announced just yet. They’re still tweaking the unit, so the specs listed below aren’t the final specs. What we do know is that this device is coming and it is going to be something similar to this, but minor details will probably be changed. The original writeup and release are after the jump. More »
Computers
Asus’ N10 Non-Eee UMPC Gets Some Hands-On Action, More Specs
6:57PM Kit Eaton | While information has been arriving in fits and starts on Asus’ new N10 non-Eee ultra-portable, over at Laptopmag they got a teeny hands-on view of the PC. The 10-inch machine (which Asus was keen to stress as a notebook not a netbook) is due to come in N10E and N10J versions, with the main differences being the HDD and graphics: the E version has 160GB HDD and Intel integrated graphics, while the J version gets 320GB and a switchable Integrated Intel or Nvidia GeForce 9300 MS package that we mentioned before. The battery life is now quoted at “6 to 12 hours” with a six-cell battery, which sounds even more incredible than the previous 6.5 hour figure. Finally, the pricing for the N10E’s been set at $US599, and the N10J’s gone down to $US699, which should be welcome news for Asus fans. [Laptopmag] More »
Cameras
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 Doesn’t Shoot HD Video
6:22PM Kit Eaton | Ah, shucks—it looks like Panasonic’s funky new non-DSLR DMC-G1 camera actually doesn’t shoot HD video after all. What those photos most likely represent is a mock-up of a possible future version of the cam, that might launch next year sometime. We know this ’cause DPReview got their mitts on a pre-production G1, and found it only shoots video in the non-HD formats as per the press release. Now we can’t wait to see if Panasonic actually comes good with the HD promise of that mock-up, and lets the camera join Canon and Nikon’s HD shooting party. [DPreview] More »
Games
