Gadget Train

Filed under: Storage, Networking

Thecus Technology has retooled the N3200 and come up with the aptly named N3200 Pro — a brand new NAS now featuring an AMD Geode CPU. The device boasts a veritable cornucopia of features, including three SATA drive bays for up to 3TB of storage, the option of RAID 5 striping, and an LCD display. Photo, iTunes and DLNA-compatible server options as well as browser-based management should assist users with the “digital lifestyle,” while a feature called “Web Surveillance Server” allows you to take regularly scheduled photographs just by plugging in a USB webcam… which is interesting in a vaguely creepy way. No word on price or availability but the previous N3200 sells for $339.

Thecus debuts N3200 Pro NAS: now with more AMD Geode CPU originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 02:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Gaming

Hints of a 60GB Xbox Live Starter Pack popped up in Europe in August, but according to GameStop and a leaked Circuit City ad, the $99 upgrade should land in American stores sometime next week. Just as we’d heard, the bundle will include three months of Live Gold, a wired headset, and a 60GB hard drive — just the thing to meet that new 128MB New Xbox Experience storage requirement. Too bad Microsoft isn’t going to discount this bundle quite as heavily as that $30 20GB package for Arcade owners, but we won’t complain too loudly — hell, if MS would just cut the price on that ridiculous $149 120GB unit, we’d be all smiles.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

$99 60GB Xbox Live starter pack to be released next week originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Desktops

Dell didn’t exactly have a high design bar to hurdle in order to top its existing OptiPlex desktops, but it’s done a pretty admirable job with its new OptiPlex 960 model, which is available in the usual mini tower, slimline desktop (pictured above), and small form factor versions. Those each sport base configurations that include a 3.0GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, and an 80GB hard drive, and they’ll run you $902, $892, and $912 for the tower, slim desktop and small form factor PC, respectively — or considerably more if you opt for some of the higher end options like a Core 2 Quad processor or a discrete graphics card. For less demanding folks, Dell has also rolled out the $399 OptiPlex FX160 thin client PC, and updated versions of its OptiPlex 760 and OptiPlex 360 desktops, which now pack a 2.0GHz Celeron processor in their base configurations to help keep prices down to $630 and $478. Head on past the break for a glimpse at the complete line-up.

[Via Electronista]

Continue reading Dell goes industrial with new OptiPlex desktops

Dell goes industrial with new OptiPlex desktops originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fancy taking India’s ubiquitous charkha and adding a dash of technology to it, aptly known as the e-charkha. This device produces yarn and does much more than that – it also generates electricity thanks to a maintenance free lead acid battery located at the bottom which doubles up as an inverter. The e-charkha is able to churn out 6 – 9 Watts of power, and two hours of continuous spinning will be able to keep its custom LED light source running for up to 7 hours, enough to extend working time late into the night without having to work in darkness. Also, these LEDs will reduce reliance on toxic and dangerous kerosene lamps, which indirectly lowers medical costs. It will cost around $200 to produce the e-charkha, so hopefully due time and advancements in technology will reduce that price to a more affordable for people living not only in India but other developing countries as well.

Add a comment | From: E-charkha Generates Juice | Visit Ubergizmo | Good deals

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Filed under: Cellphones

Google may still only be the number two search engine in China, but it looks like it’s starting to make some serious inroads into the sketchy cellphone market in the country, with the Android-based G1 reportedly now “pouring into China” though some dubious channels, and demanding some pretty hefty prices. According to China’s DoNews, the handsets are selling for upwards of 3,999 Chinese yuan (or just over $580), with shops charging an extra $70 or so to unlock it for you. That, some unnamed sellers say, is likely to keep the cost of the phone high in the short term, despite a reasonably high supply level.

[Via mocoNews.net]

G1s said to be “pouring into China,” selling for big bucks originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

We should be getting a much bigger dose of Windows 7 details on Tuesday when Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference gets underway, but it seems that some tidbits just can’t be kept under wraps, and ZDNet’s Mary-Jo Foley now has word of a few more features that are apparently in the forthcoming Windows 7 pre-beta. Chief among those is a so-called Device Stage, which promises to let users more easily interact with a whole range of different devices — assuming those devices are “Device Stage-enabled’ devices, that is (yes, really). Other features supposedly in store include an Action Center that promises to help you troubleshoot problems, a new animation framework to allow for custom animations (which should tie in nicely with the rumored GPU acceleration), tighter integration of the Windows taskbar, an expanded use of Microsoft’s so-called “ribbon” interface and, of course, plenty of multi-touch and gesture support.

[Via Electronista]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras

We had a chance to gaze through the wireframe of this 8.1 megapixel Casio W63CA Exilim cellphone back in August courtesy of the FCC’s finest. Now check it in high-gloss, plastic flesh. The latest Japanese super-phone squeezes 480 x 800 pixel into a 3.1-inch OLED display. Let that sink in for a second… the very same 384,000 pixels on a display smaller than the 3.8-inch LCD heralded by the Touch HD. The camera features a wide-angle lens, 9-point auto focus, face detection, anti-shake, and a YouTube video mode that records VGA video at 30fps to microSD. All this in a Japanese-only flip measuring 110 x 50 x 17.4 ~ 22-mm when it launches in early November. Color options after the break.

[Via Impress]

Continue reading Casio’s 8.1 megapixel W63CA with 480 x 800 pixel OLED flips out in Japan

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Filed under: Cellphones

The T-Mobile G1′s Google Maps Street View implementation is one of the slickest features of the first Android phone, but it looks like Apple’s going to keep feature parity — the latest builds of iPhone OS 2.2 seeded to developers have Street View, as well as the ability to give mass transit directions. That’s pretty useful for cityfolk like us — and we’re also stoked that line-in audio is now supported in the SDK, giving devs the ability to create voice recorders and other interesting audio apps. Of course, there’s no word on when 2.2 will actually arrive, but until then we suppose we’ll live with regular, non-data-augmented streets. Lots of screenshots of the new features at the read link.

[Via MacRumors]

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Filed under: GPS

Garmin launched its updated 7×5 series of nuvi navigators back in August, but the high-end MSN Direct-equipped 785T is just hitting stores, and GPS Magazine says it’s a solid improvement over previous nuvis — but if you’re not willing to pay the $50 / year for the MSN service, you’re probably not going to miss it. The 785T drew high marks for its fast frame rate, nice 3D lane guidance / upcoming turn features, and semi-realistic building displays, but the MSN Direct traffic implementation was less accurate than the free traffic service built into lesser T-series nuvis, and download speeds for the service weren’t particularly swift. We’re not all that sold on the connected GPS concept yet, so we’re inclined to take the reviewer’s advice and pick up the otherwise-identical non-connected 765T, but click on for the full exhaustive review to decide for yourself.

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Filed under: Robots

If this here press releases didn’t have a date of February 1997 on it, we’d swear this was some sort new fancy new development. Sure, robots have been playing sports for ages, but seeing this here creature revived begs the question: why don’t we all have one or two of these laying around the house by now? The prototype seen in the video linked below can recognize spoken commands, react to incoming spheres, identify actions of nearby humans and spike volleyballs in your grille all day long. In all honesty, Tosh probably converted this into some sort of elderly assistant bot that didn’t catch nearly as much press, but we’re still holding onto a sliver of hope that this thing is just about ready for commercial release.

Read – Volleyball robot video
Read – Original volleyball robot press release

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