Archive for February, 2010
February 26, 2010
Baidu Digital’s B618 portable media player boasts something that is missing from the others - it comes with a dual core processor, although so much processing horsepower underneath the hood certainly makes us wonder whether this is overkill or not. Still, that ought to provide enough juice for smooth delivery of 720p video playback alongside support for a wide range of codecs including H.264 (High Profile /Main Profile), Real 8/9/10, WMV7/8/9, MPEG1/2/4, DivX3/4/5, Xvid, H.263, compatibility with RM, RMVB, AVI, MKV, WMV, MP4, 3GP, MPG, MPEG video formats and MP3, WMA, APE, FLAC audio formats. No idea on pricing, but this little PMP that could will hit the Chinese market in a few days’ time.
Permalink: Baidu Digital B618 portable media player from Ubergizmo | RSS Sponsor: Win a Fellowes Microshred Paper Shredder!
February 25, 2010
Every office has one. The co-worker that freaks out at the slightest piece of misplaced paraphernalia. Nobody likes a neatnik except other neatniks.
This Cardboard Spill Prank, which you can download and print for free right from the old Internetz, is a cheap, effective, hilarious way to make your office’s token neatnik freak out. Sometimes a good gag is all someone needs to take themselves a little less seriously. If you want a comfier alternative, check out the Blood Puddle Pillow.
February 25, 2010
Here’s a little something that might allude to the traditional thinking that Japanese men are shorter in virtually all aspects - the 5″ Japanese Lightsaber USB Thumbdrive which comes in a cute (and small) form factor, holding not focusing crystals but 1GB of storage space. They will come in red and blue colors that represent Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker respectively, where plugging them into any available USB port would emit a nice glow, although we would have also liked to hear that lightsaber activation “swoooosh”. This $19.99 purchase ain’t a fly-by-night offering, since they are part of the officially licensed Lucasfilm collectibles.
Permalink: Japanese Lightsaber USB Thumbdrive from Ubergizmo | RSS Sponsor: Win a Fellowes Microshred Paper Shredder!
You’ve gone for the 64GB of quad-channel DDR7 RAM, you’ve got your Core i26 processor, and you’re running a triple pack of those Radeon Ultra HD 9000 cards in CrossFire. But something’s missing from your speed demon machine — could a $799 SSD be the answer? Crucial would have you believe that, yes, splashing all your rent money on a 256GB storage drive is a totally worthwhile investment, and early reviews of the RealSSD C300 revealed it to be “holy mother of god” fast. So no qualms about its speed, but if your benchmark lust knows some budgetary bounds, you may want to consider the slightly more reasonable 128GB variant, which comes in at $499. Both are available right this minute direct from Crucial, so either go buy one or stop this torture and go distract yourself with something cheaper.
[Thanks, Rick]
Crucial’s 6Gbps RealSSD C300 goes on sale, costs as much as a decent laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 06:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Crucial (256GB), (128GB) | Email this | Comments
February 25, 2010
Ford’s been keeping itself busy on the navigation front, and while you may have noticed that 2010 just began a few weeks ago (on the Gregorian calendar, anyway), 2011 model year vehicles are already on the minds of those in Dearborn. 2011 models with voice-activated navigation systems will be getting an update that brings along HOV logic, helping users who travel with a buddy to get from point A to point B more hastily if carpool lanes are nearby. Of course, only 2,500 miles of those blanket America, so a few other updates might be intriguing to those of you who are sane enough to live outside of the rat race. Branded POI icons, higher density street labeling and HD Radio will come standard on voice-controlled NAV systems, and potentially most interesting is the notion that “integration with SYNC Traffic, Directions and Information (TDI) app — enabling new features like the ability to download destinations sent from a home or work computer from Mapquest” — will hit later on in the year. Full release is after the break.
Ford adding HOV logic, ability to download outside Mapquest destinations to 2011 NAV systems originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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February 24, 2010
Hey guys, some fun news to share: Engadget for iPhone / iPod touch 2.0.1 was just approved by Apple and is now available on the App Store! The big new feature is landscape mode in article, comment, and sharing views, but we’ve also bumped up font sizes, made some improvements to the commenting experience, and added the ability to edit tweets directly in the app. Oh, and you can also now email photos from galleries from within the app, and customize the toolbar. Of course, that’s in addition to our regular features like offline viewing, built in streaming for The Engadget Show, and in-app tip submissions — you know, for when you see the iPhone 3GT leak out.
So what are you waiting for? You can download the app right here, or just click the image above — if you’ve already got it installed the update should be waiting for you right this second. Full changelog after the break.
Once again, a big thanks to the team at AOL that makes these apps happen: Sun Sachs, Andy Averbuch, Hareesh P, Anibal Rosado, Rajesh Kumar, Rich Foster, Claudeland Louis, Mike Wolstat, Eric Wedge, Vikas B R, Milissa Tarquini, Asha Indira and Bob Gurwin. High fives all around.
P.S.- Updates for the BlackBerry and webOS apps should hit in March, and that’s also when we’re scheduled to launch our Android app — stay tuned!
Continue reading Engadget for iPhone / iPod touch 2.0.1 now available!
Engadget for iPhone / iPod touch 2.0.1 now available! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Want to get all multitouchy with a large-screened table without buying into the Microsoft Surface ecosystem? Are you independently wealthy and a bit of a bring-your-own-x nerd type? Oh, good. The folks at NVision Solutions and Intuilab have teamed up to build the “durable” rear projection NVTouch Surface Computer, which retails for around $70,000. The unit is built around off-the-shelf components like a projector, desktop PC and standard video card, and can be upgraded and customized by NVision or the buyer. Obviously this is centered around commercial applications where buyers are going to be building highly custom apps, but Intuilab has some pretty great concept apps already built for the table as a bit of a jumping off point.
NVTouch Surface Computer gets you into the multitouch table game for a scant $70k originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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February 23, 2010
Now that Microsoft’s browser selection story story is all but settled, it looks like the European Union is gearing up for a new antitrust probe, with its crosshairs aimed generally in Google’s direction. According to the search giant’s Senior Competition Counsel Julia Holtz (via its European Public Policy Blog), complaints from three European internet companies — legal search group EJustice.fr, price comparison site Foundem.co.uk, and German-based Microsoft subsidiary Ciao.de — have prompted the European Commission to launch a preliminary, fact-finding probe. The charges? Anticompetitive practices stemming from unfair downranking of its competitors in search results. Google denies any wrongdoing, while adding ,”we are also the first to admit that our search is not perfect, but it’s a very hard computer science problem to crack.” The Microsoft connection seems particularly notable to Google; Holtz reiterates that the company had a good relationship with Ciao until the Redmond company picked it up in 2008 — “we started receiving complaints about our standard terms and conditions.” Like we said, at this point it’s just a fact-finding probe that could end up going nowhere, but seriously, Google’s lawyers cannot seem to get a break these days.
EU launches preliminary antitrust probe against Google originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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February 23, 2010
We’ve seen a few USB 3.0 peripherals pop up overseas, but by and large, the American market has been left to ponder the future of their transfers. Will they really be stuck with USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 (rest its soul) forever? Will no one rise to the occasion and provide the necessary gear to support the raft of SuperSpeed USB kit that’s just around the bend? At long last, those restless nights are coming to an end, as accessory mainstay Belkin has announced today a foursome of devices to help you get every last MB/sec possible from your next external HDD. The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 PCIe add-in card ($79.99) gives your existing desktop a pair of USB 3.0 ports, while the ExpressCard adapter ($79.99) adds a pair to your laptop. Closing things out are a duo of USB 3.0 cables (A-B and Micro-B), both of which are available for $39.99 in a four foot run or $49.99 in an eight foot version. Mama always said speed didn’t come cheap, and now you wish you would’ve listened. Don’tcha?
Belkin unleashes overpriced USB 3.0 peripherals: PCIe card, ExpressCard and cables originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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February 23, 2010
See that little chip? It’s called a TI WiLink 7.0 and it’s going to end up in your mobile phone soon, [...]
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