Archive for May 12th, 2008
Nintendo just brought WiiWare to the States, which means you can finally download original games to the console — not just the classics available on the Virtual Console. While we’re sure the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles entry and the charming LostWinds platformer will do quite well for themselves, we’ve been drooling over Defend you Castle, the Flash version of which has sucked more productive hours out of us than we’d care to admit — unemployment here we come! Games range from 700 to 1,500 Wii points ($7 to $15) and are available now.
Sanyo’s got a new duo of projectors hitting the Japanese market today, the LP-XC55 and LP-XC50. Both beamers boast white motifs, a boisterous 7-watt internal speaker, 1,024 x 768 resolution, a security bar enabling extra thick cabling to hold it in place and the Active Maintenance Filter system for easy maintenance. Essentially, the latter enables the filter to last longer between changes and “automatically senses when airflow is obstructed by dust, and advances the cartridge to the new filter.” The only notable difference between the two is the 3,100 ANSI lumens (XC55) / 2,600 ANSI lumens (XC50), and of course, the ¥365,400 ($3,529) / ¥312,900 ($3,022) price tags.
Well, Microsoft finally got SP3 out the door for you stubborn Vista-resistant XP users, and we’re dying to know how you like it. That’s right, you. See, our resident guinea pig intern hasn’t felt any performance improvement, we’ve received tips from people who have seen a speed bump, and problems have cropped up as well — we’ve heard reports of sporadic reboots and crashes, some of them AMD-related. But hey, forget all of them… how has SP3 changed your life?
We’ve just received an official statement from AT&T regarding the presence of an “iPhone Black” on its model selector earlier today: “The reference to ‘iPhone Black’ was simply a temporary placeholder used over the weekend for a scheduled catalog update. It was meant to temporarily distinguish the various iPhone models-4GB, 8GB and 16GB-but was never reassigned. We’re changing the site now.” Makes total sense, right? Three models of iPhone, two placeholders: iPhone and iPhone Black. You know, because “Black” has so much to do with memory capacity, and is easier to remember than 4, 8, or 16GB — never mind the fact that we have good intel suggesting that the next-gen device is glossy black.
Also, AT&T, we know those cigarettes are yours, so you can stop telling us you were “just carrying them for a friend.” We’re not stupid, you know.
Not like this is the first time we’ve seen a finalized product look noticeably worse than the concept preceding it, but it’s a shame ASUS’ Eee PC desktop won’t be nearly as pretty as we were led to believe. According to Chile Hardware, the picture you see there to the side is a bona fide Eee Box B202, which weighs in at less than one kilogram (2.2 pounds) and packs an Intel Atom processor / 945 chipset, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, an 80GB hard drive and a Linux-based operating system. No clue how legitimate those specifications are, but hopefully the unit itself looks way sexier from the other side.
Nothing says sexy like a sleek wood trim, wouldn’t you wholeheartedly agree? Vita Audio obviously does, as it’s £499.99 ($980) R4 integrated music system just screams lavish. The all-in-one unit packs an iPod dock, slot-loading CD / MP3 / WMA-music disc player, USB port, DAB and FM tuner with RDS, front and rear auxiliary ports, built-in display, alarm clock function and the firm’s detachable RotoDial remote. For those not feeling the rich walnut veneer, there’s also a high-gloss white (surprised?) version available for £50 ($97) more. Sadly, the “coming soon” tidbit leaves us clueless as to how long you actually have left to save up for either of the pricey systems.
[Via ShinyShiny]
If you can get past the tinge of disappointment in learning that something named the BeBook isn’t actually the BeOS-based laptop you’ve been waiting for all these years, you may be only slightly less disappointed to know that it’s another fairly ordinary and somewhat overpriced e-book reader. Coming in at a hefty €330 (or $510), this one ditches newfangled features like built-in WiFi or EV-DO, with it choosing instead to focus on basic features like a six-inch E Ink display, 512MB of internal memory, and an SD card slot for expansion. You’ll also get support for all the usual document and image formats, as well as some basic MP3 playback functionality. If that somehow sounds like the e-book reader you’ve been waiting for, you can order one now and get free worldwide shipping.
[Via Gadget Lab]
Quick, what’s the best way to dress up an otherwise dry piece on how companies can register non-traditional trademarks? If you answered “mention Apple and the iPod,” you’re the big winner — and you’ve gotten yourself published in the Wall Street Journal. We’ll be the first to admit that Apple’s January registration of the three-dimensional design of the iPod strains credulity, but the simple fact is that non-traditional trademarks have been around for a while now — we seem to remember a little kerfuffle regarding magenta recently, but we can’t quite recall the exact details. Similarly, Nokia trademarked the 12 notes of its default ringtone back in September (even though they’re part of a larger piece written in 1902 called “Gran Vals”), NBC has a mark on its ding-ding-ding station ID, and Coca-Cola has registrations for basically every bottle design it sells. Still, you can bet Apple legal threw quite a pizza party when this mark was approved — and we can only imagine the kind of buttoned-down corporate lawyer jam that’ll go down if the company succeeds in getting a mark on the design of the iPhone, which it’s currently applied for. Hope you’re ready for some more funktastic control layouts.
We’ve got some news that’ll make a PC gamer or two weep: the Wall St. Journal is reporting that as of next month Dell will be dropping four models of XPS performance PCs to focus solely on pushing Alienware. Certainly no surprise though, we’ve been waiting for this move since they picked the company up back in 2006. Of course, there will be certain challenges, namely how Dell will keep its Alienware brand separate (read: pristine) — as its done since the acquisition — yet be able to offer performance PCs on its site alongside the rest of its machines. It’s also unclear what will happen to is XPS line of laptops, since those are big sellers as well, but we’ll all have to wait patiently for the bomb to drop before knowing for sure what Dell’s cutting and what they’re not. [Warning: subscription required]
This new “in the wild” shot of 3K Computers’ upcoming Eee PC killer just pretty much confirms what we already knew: it’s a piece of crap. Lucky for us, it’s now a piece of crap with a new name, the 3K RazorBook. The specs haven’t budged, however, with a 7-inch 800 x 400 screen, 400MHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB flash drive, unspecified Linux OS, WiFi and three USB ports. For $400 we’re thinking no, but perhaps those are some really fast 400 megahertzes.
We had a pretty good feeling this would go down eventually, but we certainly didn’t see a confirmation (of sorts, anyway) coming this soon. Jim Denney, VP of product marketing at TiVo, has been quoted as saying that although the current version of Amazon Unbox can’t process high-definition content, TiVo and Amazon will jointly announce HD capabilities “in the not too distant future.” Granted, the content — whenever it does actually arrive — will only be accessible by “cable subscribers” with adequate bandwidth, but it’s not like that’s any sort of surprise. Sadly, details beyond what you’ve seen here were left out, but at least you can sleep soundly tonight knowing that high-def Unbox material is most certainly on the horizon.
[Via Zatz Not Funny]
Oh, there are plenty of bad Chinese iPhone knockoffs out there, but the HiPhone may be the reigning champion these days — so it kind of seemed like a matter of time before Apple loosed the hounds on distributors of the device. We don’t have confirmation or proper human translation of the above legal notice, but it would appear Apple’s European counsel Bird & Bird has delivered at least one notice to an unnamed distributor threatening €25,000 in damages (and €15,000 in legal fees) for HiPhone sales. Hardly the case of the century, but we’ll let you know if we hear anything.
[Thanks, Ricardo]
Update: Reader Ben W hooked us up with a translation of the letter; we can’t vouch for its veracity, but it’s posted after the break if you want to check it out. Thanks, Ben!
Continue reading Apple finally setting its legal sights on the HiPhone?
For scale, the Pandora crew set up a semi-working unit next to a Nintendo DS and flipped the switch. As you’ll see, the demo isn’t too impressive, but there’s clearly some promise here. Video after the break — be prepared for the usual two minute preamble where nothing really happens.
[Thanks, Andri and Atomicthumbs]
Continue reading Pandora prototype “demoed” — screen turns on
Not that there was any doubt that OLED is on its way to larger sizes (hasn’t it been since like 2005?), but Japanese firm Sumitomo Chemical announced its plans to produce 40-inch OLED panels for HDTVs some time in 2009, meaning Sumitomo-based TVs could hit the market in 2009 or 2010. Samsung’s old-skool 40-inch OLED HDTV prototype shown above for scale.
[Via OLED-Info]
E-Ink has a new display made available last week, based on segmented display cell (SDC) technology. Apparently the new screens are 40% thinner and have increased flexibility over E Ink’s previous displays, and can now be formed in “organic non-rectangular unique shapes, including holes, curves, and other non-standard designs”. Delphi’s already picking up use of the display for future keyfob products — always good to know there are consumer applications right around the corner.
[Thanks, Pat]
Not that we wouldn’t eventually expect a 2.6GHz MacBook, but Apple’s Hot News site is running this promo that references a new, upgraded model of the laptop (which right now only reaches 2.4GHz). Our take? We’re thinking typo, not premature announcement.
[Thanks, Matthew and fr]
Damn, took ‘em long enough! RIM finally announced the BlackBerry Bold / 9000 — we’ve got specs, but no price or hard launch date. Here we go:
- HSDPA and EV-DO versions (including an AWS-capable 1700MHz version)
- 480 x 320 display
- 625MHz CPU, 1GB internal flash memory
- 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 (with A2Dp), GPS, MicroSDHC
- 480 x 320 video recording, photo geotagging
- 4.5 x 2.6 x 0.55-inches, 4.7 ounces
Eye-Fi’s expanding from a single card to a family of three tonight. All are the same 2GB as before, but now we’ve got the new flagship Eye-Fi Explore ($129), which includes geotagging courtesy of Skyhook (the same WiFi-based location system that helps the iPod touch and iPhone find their way). Then you’ve got the Eye-Fi Share ($99) — basically the same card we used to know simply as the Eye-Fi — and finally the Eye-Fi Home ($79), which appears to only be able to upload photos through desktop software using your home network. Expect ‘em all on sale come June 6th.
HP’s got some new 2133 configs out as of tonight, including options for “downgrading” to Windows XP on models over $700 — more or less as expected. They’re up to eight base configs ranging from $500 to $820, so if you’ve been thinking of picking one up you’ve certainly got plenty of options to choose from.
[Via HP 2133 Guide]
