Hawt Gadgets

Filed under: Tablet PCs

We'll hand it to 'em -- we've yet to see a RippleNote emerge from South Korea that we didn't think was at least marginally good looking, and the Ripple Tablet T8100 most certainly keeps the streak alive. Boasting a 12.1-inch 1,280 x 800 resolution touch panel, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, 120GB SATA hard drive, DVD writer and a 2.1GHz T8100 (surprised?) processor, this beauty can act as a traditional laptop or convert into a tablet should the mood strike you. As for ports, you'll find a trio of USB 2.0 connectors, built-in Ethernet, VGA, 4-pin FireWire, ExpressCard and audio in / out. Mum's the word on a price at the moment, but expect it to pop up 'round Seoul anytime.

[Via AVING]

 

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Filed under: Laptops

Ubuntu lovers, rejoice. The Round Rock powerhouse has saw fit to add the open-source OS to yet another one of its products, this time the recently released Inspiron 1525. No surprises here -- just a vanilla 1525 with Ubuntu 7.10 loaded in along with built-in DVD playback capabilities and a warm, fuzzy feeling to boot. It should be noted, however, that US users will be forced to wait until "later this month" before being able to snap up one of these rigs, while consumers in the UK, France, Spain and Germany can indulge right away.

 

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Filed under: Portable Audio

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Apple_intros_2GB_iPod_shuffle_for_69'; It's turning into quite the day for shuffle aficionados. Apple just slash the price on its 1GB iPod shuffle this AM to a very palatable $49, and now the company is pushing a brand new 2GB version out the door for $69. The color selections will be the same as little brother, including a (PRODUCT) RED version. It'll be available later this month.

 

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Filed under: GPS

We're not exactly sure what makes a navigator one that women swoon over, but hooking it up with a pink or zebra striped faceplate is probably a good start. The Carrera S350 is pretty neutral right out of the box, sporting just a white frame, a 3.5-inch LCD, integrated MP3 player, camera alerts and 2D / 3D maps of the UK and Ireland. But this piece gets all kinds of wild when the aforementioned fascias take over. Furthermore, Binatone even asserts that a stylus is included "for those with nails to protect," and just in case you aren't up to speed on your technobabble, the firm informs you that a stylus is simply "a wand for pressing the screen." Don't be too insulted, ladies -- it's only £99.99 ($197).

[Via Pocket-lint]

 

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Filed under: Laptops

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/HP_s_UMPC_2133_revealed’; We’ve just received these images of HP’s rumored UMPC. Honestly, we have no reason to doubt their authenticity. The HP Compaq 2133 “lifestyle accessory” features a big, scratch resistant 8.9-inch 1366 x 766 (WXGA) display, ExpressCard/54 slot, Wireless LAN, nearly full-sized QWERTY (95% of full), integrated webcam, and optional SSD in a 2.5-pound anodized aluminum sex pot running Vista or Linux. Or so say the tipped images. Funny how the once keyboard-less UMPC-class device has now morphed into an Eee PC-like mini. Still, if this is what we can expect from the UMPC crowd come Silverthorne then you can count us in, HP.

 

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Introducing MacBook Air.

The world´s thinnest notebook.

MacBook Air is ultrathin, ultraportable, and ultra unlike anything else. But you don’t lose inches and pounds overnight. It’s the result of rethinking conventions. Of multiple wireless innovations. And of breakthrough design. With MacBook Air, mobile computing suddenly has a new standard.

[Learn more…]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Transportation

Some Penn State researchers are taking a cue from nature and have built the first solar cell that can effectively split water to harvest the hydrogen. While the technology and efficiency of electricity-gathering solar cells has been humming on nicely, cells that can pull hydrogen out of water directly (instead of using solar-harvested electricity to do it) have found that the catalysts conducive to separating hydrogen and oxygen are usually pretty good at putting the two gases right back together again. The folks at Penn State have now developed a process that more closely mimics the photosynthesis process in plants, and while we won't pretend to understand all the nitty gritty of dye usage and other such nonsense, we do know that such a system could eventually attain 15% or so efficiency, providing a nice and clean way to gather power for that fuel cell car of the future.

[Image courtesy of MTU.edu]

 

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Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio

Sony's still got that spark that can make a boring old HDMI switcher into a fashion statement. The four port SB-HD41R (pictured) isn't doing anything special, but it does it in style. Meanwhile the SRS-BT100 and the DRC-BT15 (pictured after the break) help you get your Bluetooth on, with the BT100 working as an autonomous 30W speaker for you Bluetooth-capable music players, while the DRC-BT15 acts as a Bluetooth adapter, pumping out whatever comes in the minijack over EDR / A2DP. Unfortunately, we don't really need any of this stuff, since that home entertainment center of ours is looking messy as it is, but luckily we don't have to make a decision just yet since these are only announced for Japan at the moment.

Read - SB-HD41R
Read - SRS-BT100
Read - DRC BT15

Continue reading Sony announces sexy HDMI hub, Bluetooth paraphernalia to clutter up our life

 

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Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio

At least that's the only way we can explain the stealth bomber look on this AS-IP300 iPod dock from Kenwood. You can buy a black version to complete the effect, but don't expect to get much out of these 1.9W stereo speakers. The best news is that you're looking at a 95 Euro ($140-ish) pricetag for the unit, which has us rather ambivilant as to if or when this'll be getting a Stateside release.

 

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Filed under: HDTV

Toshiba made a formal announcement today with regard to the state of HD DVD. Unfortunately, it wasn't the white-flag surrender we had hoped would bring a swift end to the format war. In a statement made by a Toshiba spokesman, the firm said, "Toshiba has not made any announcement or decision. We are currently assessing our business strategies, but nothing has been decided at the moment." This came as its stock soared under investor speculation that Toshiba was ready to pre-empt future losses and bring the battle with Blu-ray to a conclusive end. Nevertheless, a multi-format disc pressing plant for indie films by the name of Blue Ray Technologies (BRT) announced the closure of its HD DVD stamping lines. According to BRT's founder Erick Hansen, there's no need to wait for the formal announcement, "HD-DVD is dead, all that is left is the burial." Ouch.

Read -- Toshiba statement
Read -- BRT press release

 

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Filed under: Cellphones

Marking the end of a remarkable era in cellular technology, the FCC is officially letting American carriers decommission their legacy analog networks as of today, February 18, 2008. Few of us still own a phone based on AMPS -- Advanced Mobile Phone System, ironically, despite the fact that there's been nothing "advanced" about it for many years -- but we owe the very existence of the world's modern wireless infrastructure to the introduction and overwhelming success of the Bell Labs-developed technology. So successful was AMPS, in fact, that it eventually covered virtually 100 percent of the continental United States, a statistic CDMA and GSM have only recently begun to approach.

Continue reading Analog cellular networks, R.I.P.: 1983 - 2008

 

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Filed under: Gaming

So analysts at research firm iSuppli are projecting that the Wii will overtake the 360 as the dominant current-gen console this year, as projected sales would put Nintendo at over 30m units, compared to Microsoft's expected 26m. The PS3 is also mentioned as having the greatest growth potential if it hits projections of 25.7m total units sold this year, but that seems a little optimistic if you ask us. Sony fans might have the last laugh though, as ultimately iSuppli sees the PS3 as the market leader as we enter the next decade. Hey, who knows, Sony might just catch up and recapture that crown -- anything's possible.

 

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