Posted Mar 6th 2008 8:59PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video, Transportation
While many of you have likely forgotten all about the retail SCV1 backseat TV tuner that Sirius
announced way back in August of last year (and promised for Q4 2007), those hooked from the word go will be elated to know that they can finally get their hands on one. As of right now, Sirius partners are finally stocking (and shipping) the SCV1 Backseat TV System. The pain? $299.99 for the unit itself and $6.99 per month for TV service. In other words, an absolute bargain to maintain sanity on that upcoming 18 hour road trip.
[Via
Orbitcast]
Posted Mar 6th 2008 7:48PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Laptops
With all these new
Penryn-based lappies hitting the shelves, we can't help but be immediately underwhelmed by the BenQ Joybook A53. Sure, the case is fairly attractive, but still, offering up a Core 2 Duo T7250 with just 512MB of RAM is sort of weak. Granted, we've all ideas this one's being aimed at the budget-minded set, so hopefully they'll be down with the 80 to 200GB 5400RPM hard drive choices, dual-layer DVD writer, 15.4-inch WXGA (1,280 x 800) resolution display, trio of USB 2.0 ports, VGA output, audio in / out and 6-cell battery good for around 2.3-hours of usage. Also of note, you'll find integrated Ethernet / WiFi, a 4-in-1 multicard reader and a 0.3-megapixel webcam for pixelated video chats. Unfortunately, BenQ didn't mention how costly this one would be, but it will be rolling out to Poland, Russia, China, Thailand, and Australia right away, while the rest of the world has to wait just a few more months.
[Via
Electronista]
Posted Mar 6th 2008 6:53PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment
NEC's got yet another new projector rolling in for under a grand ($899, to be exact), and it's going by the name VT800. Beyond the stark white finish, you'll find a native XGA (1,024 x 768) resolution, an Ethernet port for remote management / control, built-in closed caption decoding, a USB port, an HDCP-compliant HDMI input, 2,700 lumens, 500:1 contrast ratio and a lamp good for around 3,000 hours. Furthermore, the unit boasts a five-watt internal speaker, PIP / ESS functionality, wall color correction presets and 3D Reform, which "squares the image by adjusting horizontally, vertically or diagonally when the projector cannot be placed parallel or perpendicular to the screen." It's all yours this April.
[Via
AboutProjectors]
Posted Mar 6th 2008 6:29PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Cellphones
Apple unloaded a truckload or two of new reasons to call yourself an iPhone owner today, but we're curious if those announcements were enough to make any fencesitters sashay on down to their local Apple / AT&T store and take the plunge. So, did the news flowing today from Apple's
SDK press conference push you over the edge? Toss your vote in below, and if you're still holding off -- well, tell us what's keepin' ya (yes, the continued lack of 3G is a legitimate gripe).
Posted Mar 6th 2008 6:01PM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: Transportation
It looks like electric vehicle-maker
Think and battery manufacturer
A123Systems have each gotten a pretty big shot in the arm courtesy of
GE, which has announced that it's investing in both companies with the goal of making "electric transportation practical and affordable." For Think's part, it'll be receiving some $4 million from GE, which'll apparently be used at least in part to get its TH!NK Ox electric five-seater (pictured above) out the door (t's already in production in Norway). A123Systems, on the other hand, has signed a commercial supply agreement with Think to supply it with Nanophosphate lithium-ion batteries, and it's already received a hefty $20 million from GE (which it's now doing some joint research with). That's all apparently only part of GE's grander plans, which it describes as nothing short of "efforts to enable global electrification of transportation." Be sure to hit up the appropriate link below for a video of some of what Think has in store.
Read- GE Press Release
Read - DN.no, Think video
[Via
Autoblog Green, thanks Gunnar]
Posted Mar 6th 2008 5:40PM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: Handhelds
Details are really light here, but the folks at HEXUS.net caught sight of this pair of MIDs from Universal abit (the company formed by USI's acquisition of abit) at CeBIT, which they say are on track for a release sometime in the second half of this year. Both of those are unsurprisingly
Menlow-based devices (otherwise known as
Centrino Atom), and HEXUS speculates that they'll each likely show up under any number of different brands (a pretty safe assumption, if you ask us). No matter how they're branded, however, they're sure going to have
plenty of competition by the time they actually get let loose.
[Via
Pocketables]
Posted Mar 6th 2008 5:29PM by Chris Ziegler
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
We just got a call from our friendly local Nokia flagship store, and lo, it seems the mythical
N95 8GB with HSDPA 850 / 1900 is now in stock. The all-black monster of Nokia's current Nseries lineup will run you a stiff $799 -- so get your credit card out, get your 3G on, and find out exactly what 8GB of music you want to carry with you.
Posted Mar 6th 2008 5:19PM by Paul Miller
When Dell started blogging in earnest a year or so ago, we figured we'd be hearing some PR fluff, and perhaps some damage control now and then. What we didn't expect was self-damning posts about sneaking into the competion's conferences to try and swipe customers. According to Direct2Dell, Dell gave HP partners a "sneak peek" at a new ad campaign by squirming its way into a HP Americas Partner Conference in Las Vegas last week. Dell ninjas managed to hit up approximately 800 HP customers with the ad before they got shut down be security. Classy, Dell, real classy.
Posted Mar 6th 2008 5:01PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Remember that gorgeous new
DirecTV HD DVR that stirred the pot at CEDIA last September? Sure enough, said box is finally available to the masses. Of course, it will run you $599 to own, but that's where
DBSTalk's first look comes in -- to help you decide, not help you finance it. Those lucky buggers managed to snag one of their very own and test it out, and noted that it came stocked with a 500GB Seagate drive and the same software set as the HR21-200. Also of note, the HDMI socket is v1.2 (with HDCP 1.1), and there's more ports 'round back than you can shake a stick at. Anxious for more? Head on down to the read link for a bevy of snapshots and the full blown review.
[Thanks, Earl]
Posted Mar 6th 2008 4:40PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Robotic lawn mowers have been
keeping yards
tidy for their masters for a
good while now, but Husqvarna is looking to teach an old robot new tricks with its Automower. As expected, the grass muncher is ultra-quiet and outputs zero emissions, and you can even program it to take off and get to work whenever you please. Reportedly, a fully charged battery can get about 40 minutes of cutting done, and best of all, the unit will automatically return to its charging base to juice back up if the sun isn't out. Still, with a price tag of around £2,000 ($3,971), you may just be better off paying that punk kid down the street to handle your mowing needs.
[Via
Pocket-lint, video at
Megawhat]
Posted Mar 6th 2008 4:21PM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Cellphones
Here's the good news: "select" registered Apple developers won't be the only ones with access to
iPhone 2.0 beta software before the official June launch. The bad news? It still probably won't be you. Apple is courting enterprise IT departments to test out the 2.0 beta in a new "iPhone Enterprise Beta Program," but there are quite a few restrictions and caveats, with an extensive application form and no guarantee of success. If you get into the program, you'll get to test out all those
new enterprise features announced today, and provide Apple with feedback on how awesome everything is.
Posted Mar 6th 2008 3:55PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment
About 48 milliseconds after the format war was officially over, rumors started running rampant (
again) about Blu-ray making its way over to Microsoft's latest console. Now, however, those rumors actually have some legs -- well, at least
a leg. According to Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics US president, "Sony is in talks with console rival Microsoft about offering a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360." For whatever it's worth, the exec also noted that it was having similar discussions with Apple, which has yet to even offer a Blu-ray option on any of its machines. Unfortunately, not a peep was uttered about potential launch dates and the like, but you can rest assured that we'll be keeping an ear dangerously close to the ground.
[Thanks, Andy]
Posted Mar 6th 2008 3:25PM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video
Another press event, another 3G iPhone no-show. Man, just think how nice it would be to have a brand spankin' new HSDPA capable iPhone for downloading all those fancy new apps. Sure would come in handy for syncing your massive corporate email accounts (with attachments), too. Otherwise, you iPhone users will be stuck with your paltry EDGE when WiFi isn't available. Will that all change in June with the launch of the 2.0 firmware? That's what the rumor mill says -- and it makes sense to us. What say you?
Hint: Apple's WWDC, while unannounced, is expected to begin on June 8th. Posted Mar 6th 2008 3:10PM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: Laptops
After a stay that's been
anything but uneventful,
OLPC founder
Nicholas Negroponte has announced that he'll be stepping down as CEO of the organization, and that he's now searching for a successor, although he'll be staying on as Chairman. That word comes from an interview Negroponte gave to BusinessWeek, where he admitted that "management, administration, and details are my weaknesses," and even went so far as to say that the organization needs to be managed "more like Microsoft." He also revealed that the search for a new CEO had actually begun last year, but had ratcheted up in recent weeks, during which time the organization was also reorganized into four operating units, including technology, deployment, market development and fund-raising, and administration. No word on any contenders for the top spot just yet, but Nick Neg described the ideal candidate as someone with a "leadership profile similar to that of Kofi Annan," adding that he hopes to have the search concluded by April or May.
Posted Mar 6th 2008 2:58PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming
Just in case you didn't
catch the blip earlier between Steve's announcement of the
iPhone SDK and the
App Store, here's some fantastic news for the thumb-happy sect: Spore is coming to the iPhone. In fact, the EA Mobile title will go down as "the first 3rd party game on the iPhone." Sadly, it won't actually be available until September, but at least you've got a month to circle on your calender, right? Additionally, EA affirmed that there were "other games in early stages of development," and that it was "actively using the new iPhone SDK to develop games for the iPhone OS." Jump on past the break for the full release.
Continue reading EA Mobile's Spore becomes first 3rd party iPhone game -- available September
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