Archive for September 25th, 2008
You already witnessed our unboxing and hands-on with Sling Media’s Slingbox PRO-HD, and if you’re anxious to know when you can grab one of your own, how’s about right now? Sling has revealed that its $299.99 high-def box can be purchased this very instant from its website and other B&M retailers, and for Canadians feeling a touch left out, take heart — you all will be able to purchase the unit “in the coming weeks” for $329.99.
Never one to settle, Art Lebedev’s design shop is trying its hand at handset design, and we like the looks of it. Art is teaming up with Scartel, a Russian carrier which just launched a WiMax network in Moscow and St. Petersburg, for a flagship handset of sorts, and has left no spec unturned — at least in the wishful-thinking conceptual stage. In addition to a WiMax radio, the device has WiFi, tri-band GSM, microSD, dual cameras, 3.5mm audio, an A/V plug and a gargantuan 850 x 480 screen. There are minimal buttons at the base: a five-way joystick and call / end, and no keypad, so we’re going to assume that we’re looking at a touchscreen device. Now all that’s left is to pick an OS — would Android be too much to ask? Another shot is after the fold.
LG can be forgiven for receiving a little help in getting its first netbook, the X110, out the door. However, the company doesn’t seem to be really trying to distinguish itself from the herd with its second one either, the 10-inch Xnote Mini. It features the same basic setup as the rest, including an Atom processor, 160GB hard drive, 1.3 megapixel camera, and 3-cell battery all contained in a svelte 2.6 pound enclosure. No word on price or availability outside of Korea, where it’s been released, but if you’re looking for a lightweight 10-incher we think you can already do better without breaking the bank.
[Thanks, Chris]
There was a time — back in the mid-’90s — when Diamond Multimedia was tops in the burgeoning graphics acceleration game. Those days are apparently long gone (and look to stay that way) thanks to recent quality assurance issues affecting many of the company’s 512MB Radeon HD 3800 series cards. Those manufactured between January and July of this year are said to suffer problems ranging from a complete lack of power management to plain ‘ol “poor soldering.” Alienware saw a 10-percent failure rate and shipped back its entire stock, canceling any further dealings with the company. For the record, Diamond doesn’t actually manufacture these, acting as a reseller for GeCube, but perhaps was lax in its testing and now is perhaps being lax in its disclosure. The company has indicated that not only is there no problem with its products, its gone so far as to state that “Diamond manufactures the most reliable graphics cards in the industry and our customers’ satisfaction is our first priority.” Alienware would beg to differ.
