Guitar Sidekick brings your phone to your guitar, while your guitar gently weeps
You may not want to be seen rocking one of these at your next gig, but if you've been trying to juggle your phone and guitar while using some of the endless number of apps out there, you might just want to consider this so-called Guitar Sidekick from Castiv. As you can see, there's not a whole lot to it -- just a bracket that attaches to the neck of your guitar, and an adjustable mechanism that will accommodate just about any smartphone (or even a PSP). No word on an iPad version just yet, but you can grab this one right now for $30.
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Kodak PlayTouch preview
While Sony's new
Bloggie Touch provides the template for how simple and easy a touchscreen camcorder could really be, Kodak's similarly well built and attractive
PlayTouch provides a stark contrast, with a modicum of simplicity on the surface, but a megaton of functionality to uncover. The PlayTouch isn't as pick-up-and go as the Bloggie, but the basic touchscreen controls can be quickly mastered. What sets the PlayTouch apart are the in-depth features like an external microphone jack (complete with gain control), video effects (like black & white and sepia modes), and the particularly ambitious video editor. You can only trim shots and extract stills from that latter mode, but paired with the newer generation EasyShare functionality that lets you pre-assign photos and videos for upload to YouTube and Facebook, among other services, you can almost completely avoid using your computer as anything but a dumb pipe to the internet.
The PlayTouch really isn't a "gift it to your grandma" sort of camcorder; even with a $230 pricetag you still have to bring your own SD card, there's no built-in storage, and most of the higher end functionalities like the external audio jack will be lost on the general populace. Still, if you're looking for a pocket camcorder that is more than just a dumb pocket camcorder, Kodak seems to be continuing the niche it carved out for itself originally with the
Zi8.
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Global Qi wireless power standard released, Energizer and Sanyo announce products
It's no good buying an
eCoupled inductive charger if it won't work with your
Powermat, or your
Touchstone. Non-standard chargers suck, so we're glad to see that the
Global Qi wireless power standard has been released, and the first products have been announced. A number of companies,
Nokia and
RIM to name but a few, have signed on their support, with Energizer stepping up first with the Energizer Inductive Charger. When it releases this fall it will initially work with charging sleeves for the iPhone 3G/S and BlackBerry Curve 8900, but we presume others will be coming. More promising is Sanyo, which is designing battery packs "without making any change in designs and aspects of existing mobile devices." In other words: they'll look and act like a normal battery pack, but also be able to be charged wirelessly. Beware, ubiquitous micro-USB charger: your days are numbered.
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Silicon oxide forms solid state memory pathways just five nanometers wide
Silicon oxide has long played the sidekick, insulating electronics from damage, but scientists at Rice University have just discovered the dielectric material itself could become a fantastic form of storage. Replacing the 10-nanometer-thick strips of graphite used in previous experiments with a layer of SiOx, graduate student Jun Yao discovered the latter material worked just as well, creating 5nm silicon nanowires that can be easily joined or broken (to form the bits and bytes of computer storage) when a voltage is temporarily applied. Considering that conventional computer memory pathways are still struggling
to get to 20nm wide, this could make for quite the advance in storage, though we'll admit we've heard tell of
one prototype 8nm NAND flash chip that uses nanowires already. Perhaps it's time for silicon oxide to have a turn in the limelight.
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Sony Bloggie Touch preview: an actually simple 'simple camcorder'
Maybe we're a bunch of idiots, but while the Flip and its ultra-simple camcorder ilk have certainly made shooting video simpler and more accessible for the masses, we still find many of these cameras surprisingly unintuitive or just "blah" at doing what they do (Kodak's otherwise excellent
Zi8 and
PlaySport cameras come to mind) when it comes to UI. After playing with the
horrendous Flip Slide HD, we were almost sure touchscreens would act as another obstacle to using these things, but of all people, Sony has come to the rescue. We found the original Bloggie line very unimpressive, but this new
Bloggie Touch crop is exactly as easy to use as you'd imagine a one button device would be.
That big record button on the front? You press it, and it records stuff. The responsive touchscreen UI takes care of secondary issues, like playing back that stuff you recorded, swapping resolution (it shoots at up to 1080p), setting a timer, and more detailed settings, with four well placed icons, while a touch slider operates the digital zoom. If you hold the camera like a still camera and tap the camera shutter button now naturally placed on the top you can take 12.8 megapixel stills (okay, we lied, there are two buttons, three if you count the on / off button). Despite the slim, sexy design of the camera, Sony still worked in a pop-out USB plug and a full sized HDMI jack. Even the $180 / $200 price (for 4GB or 8GB of storage) is surprisingly good. Just a reminder, in case you'd forgotten: the Bloggie Touch is built by Sony. We'll be looking forward to its October launch.
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Philips Dimenco glasses-less 3D TV of the future, hopefully our future
The problem with the future is that it's always 3 to 5 years away. Nevertheless, what you're looking at is what Philips and Dimenco, a small company of ex-Philips engineers, say will be coming to the consumer television market as early as 2013 -- earlier if you're in the professional advertising business or just want to view your family photos on a small 3D photo frame. Just remember that Philips has been showing off variations of the glasses-free technology behind this prototype
lenticular lens television
for years, so we're not getting our hopes up. Nevertheless, Dimenco assured us that the path to the consumer market for its 3D display is clear.
So how did it look? Well, it was ok, we guess. It doesn't have that in-your-face pop of the current generation of 3D televisions that require 3D glasses. The effect is more subtle (or maybe the content was). Our biggest problem was with the sharpness of the display. Although the 56-inch prototype CCFL LCD was 4k (that's 4 times the resolution of your Full HD TV) the image we saw was coarse in appearance due to the lenticular lens required to refract the left and right images for each eye. Having said that, the lenticular lens technology used is certainly better suited for non-stationary viewing. While the border around objects on the screen tended to shift quickly and blur (see the video after the break) when looking at the panel frombetween any of its 15 viewing angles (spread across a 120-degree arc), at least it didn't exhibit those horrible dark vertical bands seen when changing your angle even slightly while viewing 3D panels based on the
parallax barrier method of glasses-less 3D. Still, it was hard to find the viewing sweet spot and honestly, given the option to sit in front of this display and a 4k panel "limited" to 2D, we'd have to opt for the latter. Get back to us in 3 to 5 and see if we feel the same.
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iFixit celebrates Friday with teardown of Virtual Boy, the greatest game console man has ever known
We still have memories -- some would say nightmares, but we digress -- of hanging out at a neighbor's house and taking turns playing matches of
Mario's Tennis, our biological ocular displays assimilated into a rubber mask that engulfed our brains and left us in a permanent state of viewing the world in red wireframe. Crude 3D though it may be, it's still a part of history we must accept, and if you happen to own a Virtual Boy, we have just two things to say to you. One: we're insanely jealous. Two: if you ever need to know how to rip it to shreds for repair / stress relief,
iFixit's got you covered. In the world of Man with Screwdriver vs. Game Console, yet again Man wins. Seems a perfect ending to a week that featured
Atari 2600,
Nintendo Famicon,
RCA Studio II, and
Magnavox Odyssey 100. Check out highlights in the gallery below, or hit up
iFixit for the whole shebang.
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Infrared Nerf autocannon hunts predators, little sisters too (video)
When it comes to keeping unwanted personnel out of your property, whether that be an estate or an alcove, you can't be expected to hang around holding the big guns all day long. That's when you need an automatic-targeting turret, and Rick Prescott's Infrared Seeking Sentinel is a good, non-lethal choice. Built on a
Nerf Vulcan EBF-25, he added an infrared tracker, motor, and battery pack to make the thing autonomous, capable of firing in semi- or full-auto modes. He's posted full instructions on how to make your own, and his effort won him the
Make Gadget Freak Design Contest. It also won him something else: our admiration. Full explanation and demonstration after the break.
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LG's 31-inch OLED spin-slices its way into our cold LCD hearts
Yeah, we spied a few of LG's new 31-inch, 2.9mm thick displays
the other day, but we hadn't seen the standard
TV-like configurations -- which don't mean too much, because this is still a prototype, but they're a comfort all the same. We also managed to peep a 3D setup with the screens, which used polarized glasses and was surprisingly sharp. We promised ourselves it would just be a quick look, and that we had important things to do today, and that we really don't need a new TV all that much... but three hours later we found ourselves still planted in the same spot, a small trickle of drool dripping all over our camera gear. When we finally managed to snap out of it, we clicked a few stills and grabbed a video of one of the screens spinning before running out of the LG booth with our eyes shut tight and desire still raging in our heart.
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Microsoft Kinect starts making home deliveries to beta testers
As beta testing programs go, Microsoft's
Kinect venture has been kind of...
leaky. No surprises, therefore, that we've now received our first in-the-plastic pictures of the motion-tracking camera peripheral, replete with a few select shots of its packaging. Redmond's promise that hardware was en route to testers was clearly not a hollow one, and we can now probably expect a bunch more unauthorized disclosures about the user experience with what should be final retail units. The outside of the packaging includes a couple of teasers encouraging users to pick up some of those bodacious
PDP stands and wall mounts for their Kinect -- presumably the start of a tidal wave of Kinect accessories.
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Samsung Galaxy Player 50 hands-on
Remember how Samsung downsized the
Wave to make the
Wave 723 and killed off the pricey, fancy
Super AMOLED display in the process? Yeah, well, the same rule applies to the Android-powered Galaxy line -- so if you were hoping to see some mind-blowing contrast ratios on Sammy's new PMP... well, you can just keep on hoping (and besides, even the mighty
Tab has gone the TFT route for now). The Galaxy Player 50 is pretty cute in the flesh, featuring a 3.2-inch WQVGA LCD with multitouch capability, Android 2.1, and your choice of 8GB or 16GB worth of internal storage with microSD expansion up to 32GB. It's also packing a 2 megapixel cam on back and support for 802.11n -- and heck, like the Philips
GoGear Connect it's even got a mic, basically putting it just one spec sheet line item shy of being an actual smartphone.
For all intents and purposes, the PMP feels like a midrange Android smartphone when you're holding and using it; it's reasonably responsive, and we were happy to see that it has Google Maps Navigation on board (along with the Android Market and all the other standard "Google Experience" Android apps). We found the keyboard a bit cramped, but there's only so much you can do with a portrait virtual QWERTY keyboard on a 3.2-inch display, and we imagine we could get used to it with time. Needless to say, the total package feels more put-together than the GoGear, and if we were rocking a dumbphone, wanted to keep our music compartmentalized, and couldn't stand the thought of adding an
iPod touch into our lives, we imagine the 50 would be on our short list. Follow the break for Samsung's press release -- and don't forget to have a gander at the gallery!
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Plex announces partnership with LG, pledges to beat Boxee Box and Apple TV for free
We're excited about the
Boxee Box, and the new-look
Apple TV is intriguing, but no single box is as good as a box that doesn't exist yet does the same stuff. Confused? Sit down, let us explain. That's the point Plex is making in announcing its new partnership with
LG, which will integrate Plex software into its 2011
Netcast HDTVs and Blu-ray players. Plex enables the same sort of functionality as those smart little boxes mentioned above, letting you serve content from a machine running OS X and push it to your TV or to a mobile device (iPhone and iPad right now, Android coming). Plex also supports all the major online streamers, like Netflix, Hulu, and even the BBC iPlayer. Lack of PC support is something of a bummer, but a Windows version is said to be coming, so even your beige box can soon get in on the box-free fun.
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Nagoya Institute's folding X-Frame car lacks S-foils, hyperdrive, rolls on a big orange ball
Welcome to the future, dear readers, where boring black tires are replaced with bright orange and yellow ones and where your car can dynamically expand or contract. This is the X-Frame Folding Vehicle, a concept from the Nagoya Institute of Technology that was first shown at the 2009
Tokyo Motor Show, but rolled out of hiding again for the city's recent Good Design Expo. The car changes shape to offer seating for either one or two and can raise or lower itself dynamically based on terrain, speed, and proximity of Clown Gang members when you're cruising in Neo-Tokyo. No word on when or if it will see production, but don't let a complete lack of crash-worthiness get you down on this vision of tomorrow.
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For You Digital MX10 5-inch Android MID hands-on
Who says the
Streak is the only game in town if you want a 5-inch Android device? Well, no one, actually -- there are lots of generic options if you just want something with a 5-inch display running on Google juice -- but regardless, we had a chance to check out just such a device introduced at
IFA this week, the so-called MX10 with Android 2.1 from South Korea's For You Digital. Our first impression on seeing the MX10 is that it's pretty stylish and doesn't give off the air of jankiness that you occasionally get with these off-brand MIDs; it's available in both black and white, and we especially liked the white which gets a matte silver ring around the edge (the black is paired with chrome, which obviously suffers from more fingerprint issues). There's no internal cellular connectivity (the "E" on the screen above seems to be a bug), but the device supports USB host mode, which means you can connect a USB modem from your carrier of choice when the 802.11b / g just doesn't cut it. Unfortunately, the MX10's Achilles' heel is its display, which we found to be exceptionally low-contrast -- putting it up against a
Super AMOLED would be almost comical -- and resistive, which just isn't a good option for a platform as finger-friendly as Android is. If anything, this might make for a good media tank that you can use to carry around a bunch of movies, since it's available in internal capacities from 2GB up to 16GB and offers microSD expansion paired with HDMI-out (
real HDMI, not micro) and 1080p capability. Check out some more shots (including more of the white) in the gallery.
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Chrome is now 2 years old! Google celebrates with release of version 6
Two years. Can you believe it's only been two years since we started browsing the internet
faster than a potato can tear through the air? Well, Google can, and it's certainly not been sitting around during that time, improving
Chrome's JavaScript performance by a factor of 3, and throwing in a litany of additional features, like tab side-by-side view, themes, auto-translation, and bookmark and preference sync across machines. To celebrate the anniversary, the company's uploaded version numero 6 to its stable channel, which brings a few more GUI optimizations and some bug fixes to the table. Hardware graphics acceleration isn't yet included in the public release, but it too shall be joining the party before long.
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Huawei Ideos hands-on
Chinese telecom giant Huawei -- which has been playing the Android game
with major carriers around the world for some time now -- has selected
IFA to debut the Ideos, a new entry-level model running
Froyo in a variety of colors. Huawei's press release calls the Ideos "the world's first affordable smartphone" -- which seems like a bit of an overstatement (okay, a huge overstatement) to us -- but really underscores the fact that this thing is going to be launching for somewhere between $100 and $200 unsubsidized in Europe, Asia, and both North and Latin America. It's got 3G, WiFi, mobile hotspot capability for up to eight devices, and was apparently developed in direct partnership with Google, a sign that Mountain View is serious about taking Android 2.2 across the entire price spectrum.
We checked out the Ideos today and were pretty impressed; clearly, you're not going to mistake it for an
EVO, a
Droid X, or a
Defy, but Huawei has definitely put some effort into engineering this thing so that they were able to make it cheaply without making it feel like it would come apart in your hands. The company is quick to note that 2.8-inch capacitive displays aren't very common -- and though we could've definitely used HVGA instead of the Ideos' QVGA, we were pleased with the responsiveness, both from a processor performance perspective and a touch sensitivity one. Add in the support for 7.2Mbps HSDPA and the stylish colors (black, yellow, blue, and purple) and Huawei might just have a winner here. More on this one when launch carriers start to come out of the woodwork. Follow the break for the full press release.
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Lacie MosKeyto streamlines portable storage, invites bad puns
Lacie's keeping up its
eccentric branding strategy today with this pest-inspired new USB key. Measuring a mere 20mm in length and 10 grams in weight, the MosKeyto is ready to all but disappear once you plug it into your computer, and it'll outdo its physical counterpart by not only sucking data down but pushing it back out should you want it. Basically, it's yet another miniaturized USB drive and can be owned today, starting at $18 for the 4GB version. 8GB will set you back $28 and there's a 16GB variant to come as well. Got all that? Good. Now buzz off.
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Mobee's inductive Magic Charger for Apple's Magic Mouse really is magical
If you look deep enough into the halls of IFA, if you can see through the 3D television murk and tablet hype, you might be lucky enough to find a few gems. Like the Mobee Magic Charger for Apple's Magic Mouse making its worldwide debut today. So, what's the "magic?" Well, if you own a wireless Apple Magic Mouse then your biggest complaint is without a doubt battery life. That means you're either purchasing (and tossing) alkaline after alkaline or you're constantly swapping in a fresh pair of rechargeables to keep the juice flowing. The Mobee Magic Charger does away with that nonsense with its inductive charging mini-USB base station and battery pack that slots into Apple's mouse -- no special sleeve or bulky appendage required unlike many after-market inductive charging solutions. Oh, and the 1.30oz / 37g battery pack -- developed in-house by Switzerland-based Mobee -- is actually lighter than a pair of AAs thereby reducing the overall weight of the mouse.
Regarding specs, we're told that a Mobee charged Magic Mouse will last for 6 days under constant use. After that, it requires 6 hours to reach a full charge. Otherwise, the idea here is to park the mouse on its dock when not in use. While the company has considered an inductive charging mouse pad, they opted against it so that people can mouse on the surface of their choice and to keep the whole package portable and inconspicuous. The Magic Charger itself matches the materials, look, and feel of Apple's Magic Mouse perfectly. Oh, and the blue charging light you see above will be green once the product ships worldwide in mid-October for €49.90 (with tax) / $49.90 (before tax). At that price, it offers a 6-8 month break-even for the typical Magic Mouse user relying on disposable batteries. Honestly, the Mobee Magic Charger is an idea so good that it makes you wonder,
why didn't Apple think of that?
Expect to see a "few more" Mobee products launch for Apple products before the end of the year and into 2011. While Mobee wouldn't tell us exactly what products are coming, it did admit to looking at Apple's new Track Pad, the iPhone 4 (we expect to see a case), and wireless keyboard. We look forward to it.
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Canon's PowerShot S95 gets reviewed, found to be worthy S90-successor
Canon's
PowerShot S90 managed to attract a considerable fan base with some stellar image quality and professional-level features, but it did have a few drawbacks -- most notably a lack of HD video that's hard to overlook these days. The new and improved
PowerShot S95 promises to address that and other complaints, however, and according to
PhotographyBlog, it succeeds on most counts. Not only does the camera maintain the same high image quality as its predecessor, but it offers some added flexibility with an improved lens Control Ring, improved image stabilization, a new HDR mode and, last but not least, 720p video recording. Despite those newfound HD capabilities, however, video still seems to be this camera's main shortcoming, as you'll have to make do without autofocus or optical zoom during recording. That wasn't enough to prevent it from getting a 4.5 out of 5 rating from Photography Blog, though -- hit up the link below for the site's full review.
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Skype 5.0 beta brings 10-way video calling to the world
Skype's Windows client is showing a bit of ambition today as its latest beta version now boasts a mighty 10-way video calling implementation. The earlier v5.0 beta threw up
five-way vidchat, but it'd seem Skype kept its software engineers working through the summer and now we've got double the visual fun. Which would be awesome if we actually had nine other people we cared to see while talking to them. This update also brings a UI makeover, your typical stability and call quality improvements, and a neat automated call recovery feature. Download away, if you must.
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Sharp releases slew of new Quattron TVs at IFA 2010
Just in case those
George Takei commercials didn't clue you in that Sharp was serious about Quattron, the company has announced four new TV lines at IFA sporting yellow as a fourth subpixel color. At the top of the list, the Quattron 3D-enabled LE925 line will be available in 60-inch or 46-inch sizes and feature Sharp's proprietary high-speed FRED LCD signal processing technology along with side-mounted scanning LED backlighting -- which like the
LV Series -- is touted to produce 1.8x better brightness than competing sets and reduce 3D crosstalk. Aquos Net+ connectivity is thrown in too, along with 2D-to-3D conversion, a digital triple tuner and 8GB of built-in flash memory for timeshift recording. Playing second fiddle to this overachiever are the 2D-only LE924E, LE824E and LE814E series, which will also feature Aquos Net+. Pricing details for all of the new lines are still unknown, but they're slated to be available in Germany and Austria later this month. Here's hoping Sulu gets his jaw checked out before then.
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NES controller pressed into service to Android overlord (video)
Perhaps the worst, and least repairable, shortcoming of touchscreens is their failure to act as viable game controllers. Keyboard-equipped smartphones alleviate that pain a little (particularly if you pair them with a
Game Gripper), but ultimately we'd all prefer real controllers for our real games. Such was clearly the thinking behind the homebrewed setup here, which combines an HTC EVO 4G -- with Android and an NES emulator inside -- with an Arduino board, a BlueSMiRF Bluetooth module, and a classic NES control pad. The result might look like a mess of wires, but who cares when you can rock
Super Mario 3 the way Nintendo surely intended?
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SageTV puts $150 HD Theater 300 up for pre-order, breaks down the specifications
Whoa, welcome to the new decade
SageTV! Nearly two full years after introducing the
HD Theater HD200, the aforesaid company is hitting back with the HD Theater 300 -- and frankly, the timing couldn't possibly be worse. Last month, a $149.95 price tag on a no-name streamer may have looked attractive, but with the revised
Apple TV and price-adjusted
Roku line, we get the feeling this one will be a hard sell. At any rate, this new networked set-top box boasts a non-stackable design, a Toslink optical audio jack, HDMI 1.3 socket, a pair of USB jacks and an Ethernet connector. It also supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD/MA (which means you're cleared to bitstream to your HDMI 1.3 receiver), but you'll need to pony up an extra $29.95 for a WiFi dongle. Yeah, bummer. The outfit suggests that you turn this critter into a whole home DVR solution by running SageTV Media Center software alongside of it, but you should probably know that you'll have some trouble if trying to shove DRM'd content through it. It's available for pre-order down in the source link if you're interested.
[Thanks, Tom]
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Philips unveils new PicoPix pico projectors (update)
Our friends at
Engadget en Español have turned us on to some pico projecters that recently popped up on Philips' Flickr account. We don't have too much info, other than they are designated (in no particular order): PPX-1430, PPX-1230 and PPX-1030. And they're really rather small. Yeah, we're underwhelmed too. But we must report even the least breathtaking gadgets: it's our meat and potatoes, after all. And you can bet your bubby that if Philips
does relate any mind-blowing information at this year's
IFA (which is going on as we write this), we'll let you know. Oh, you want more pictures? Well, here you go!
Update: We got the PR! (Thanks, bb-chef.) Depending on features (power options, SD card slot, etc.) prices range from €200-€300 (about $256-$385). All models sport a resolution of 800 x 600 and a contrast of 400:1. Available in October. See for yourself after the break.
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Quantum refrigerator could cool your quantum computer, allow for quantum overclocking
The
quantum computer is still ranking pretty high up there on the vaporware charts, somewhere between Duke Nukem Forever and a
Steorn in-home power generator. Eventually we'll get there, and theoretical physicists at the University of Bristol are helping with a quantum cooling system. It is effectively a means for two
qubits to cool a third, with the outer two cooled by lasers and absorbing energy from the third, which is heated to its excited state. Unsurprisingly this is all rather theoretical at this point, but the team
does plan to actually build such a quantum refrigerator in the not too distant future. Then, we figure, they'll host the first quantum kegger.
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Samsung's 50-inch 720p PN50C490 3D plasma on sale now for under a grand
Looking to spoil yourself with a fancy new
3DTV? Ain't got the cash to go
all-out? Hello, compromise. Samsung's 50-inch
PN50C490 -- which we
peeked just a few weeks ago -- is now shipping from Amazon, Best Buy and a slew of other local consumer electronic marts if we had to guess. As a refresher, this mid-sized HDTV has a 720p resolution, 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, no internet connectivity to speak of, a USB socket, three HDMI inputs, a pair of component jacks and support for the third dimension. It's up for grabs today at just $989, but you'll probably want to budget a few extra hundies for that
Samsung 3D Starter Kit (not to mention a few 3D Blu-ray Discs).
[Thanks, James]
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NVIDIA GTX 470M highlights rollout of 400M mobile GPU series
Not everybody needs
the world's fastest mobile GPU, so NVIDIA is sagely trickling down its
Fermi magic to more affordable price points today. The 400M family is being fleshed out with five new midrange parts -- GT 445M, GT 435M, GT 425M, GT 420M and GT 415M, to give them their gorgeous names -- and a pair of heavy hitters known as the GTX 470M and GTX 460M. Features shared across the new range include a 40nm fab process, DirectX 11, CUDA general-purpose computing skills, PhysX, and
Optimus graphics switching. 3D Vision and
3DTV Play support will be available on all but the lowest two variants. NVIDIA claims that, on average, the 400M graphics cards are 40 percent faster than their 300M series counterparts, and since those were
rebadges of the 200M series, we're most definitely willing to believe that assertion. Skip past the break for all the vital statistics, and look out for almost all (HP is a notable absentee, while Apple is a predictable one) the big-time laptop vendors to have gear bearing the 4xxM insignia soon.
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Ringtone creationism not for sale in iTunes 10, but DIY method still seems to work
Not that we've ever been a fan of paying an additional 99 cents to turn an already-purchased track into a seconds-long ringtone, but if you fancied the option in iTunes 9.2.1, we're sad to inform you that yesterday's update seems to have nixed said option. But hey, look at this way, now you can learn a new skill: how to make
iTunes 10 ringtones free of charge with some filename finagling. The old method still seems to work just fine (instructions via More Coverage link below), so turn that .m4-frown upside down!
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Ask Engadget: best screwdriver kit for DIY computer work?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's
Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Calvin, who needs a replacement for his recently broken Switztool 6-piece screwdriver kit. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at
ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.
"I've always used a Switztool 6-piece screwdriver for my computer work. I love how it retracts all the bits into the screwdriver. But it just bit the dust after a very heavy fall. Just want to know from other fellow readers: what's the best screwdriver (or kit) out there for DIY computer work and electronics hacking?"
Quite an interesting question, indeed. We'd probably recommend a kit with a 00-sized Philips screwdriver for getting those laptop bolts out from the casing, but desktop-specific ones are certainly allowed. And... go!
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Toshiba StorE TV+ drive connects up to 2TB of media directly to your HDTV
Feel like connecting a HTPC or even one of the many streamers to your HDTV is overkill? Toshiba's new StorE TV+ is prepared to quietly retain up to 2TB of media (in various formats, check after the break for specs) until called upon, when it can play them back via HDMI, no connected PC required. It can also connect to PCs or other DLNA devices (like, coincidentally enough,
Toshiba's new HDTVs) networked via Ethernet and the included WiFi dongle or load files directly from memory cards and USB drives. Even with all that, a lack of access to internet video sources makes the £199 MSRP a tough sell even ith 2TB of space at the ready, but if it works its way into a TV bundle then there may be buyers willing to bite when it ships next month, while an eSATA hard drive only StorE.D10 model will follow later this year for an unknown price.
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Toshiba Places to deliver web content across all Toshiba screens
Great devices aren't great without content and if you want it done right, sometimes you have to do it yourself. For
Toshiba that means a new online content and services portal called Toshiba Places. The point of this companion software is to ensure that all said company's screens have a similar look and feel which will bring a consistent experience to every size screen while still being optimized for a TV or mobile phone (for example). Places will help you gain access to your own content or share it in your social networks as well as offer access to applications and various other online content. Exactly what premium content is available wil vary region by region and so until the US announcement comes we'll have to wait to learn which of our favorite sources will be included.
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Toshiba outs Lumileo pico projectors, only one of which requires a plug
Toshiba's new LED-based
pico projectors won't shake the world with VGA resolutions, 14 lumens and just 80 minutes of battery life, but we have to admit the Lumileo P100 and Lumileo M200's focusing dial and keypad do look a spot more stylish than some of the cubes and rectangles we've tried. And while we've just pretty much described the P100 model in full, the M200 has an additional feature that might be worth your while --
like the 3M MPro, it plays back video (including DivX), Word, PowerPoint, Excel and PDF files directly from 2GB of internal memory or your microSD card of choice, with no attached PC required. Otherwise, both project up to 60-inch pictures from VGA or "TV in" ports not shown here, and both will appear in Europe to claim an unspecified amount of that continent's discretionary cash during the fourth quarter of this year. PR after the break.
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iFixit continues its retro gaming rampage, reduces an innocent Atari 2600 to bare components
iFixit, is no device safe from the scars of your screwdriver? These eyes have been scarred, forced to witness the destruction of yet another childhood icon. Previously it was the
RCA Studio II and the
Magnavox Odyssey 100 before that. Now it's the rather more memorable
Atari 2600 going under the scalpel, four simple screws removed to reveal an eight-bit, 1.19MHz processor featuring 128 bytes of RAM (yes, a massive 1,024 bits) and a graphics adapter capable of 192 x 160 resolution with 128 colors -- though only four could be used on any given line. Through these humble beginnings the cartridge-based console was born... and now here it rests.
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Samsung Galaxy Tab reported to retail at €699 and €799 in Europe (update: O2 Germany pricing)
An increasing number of Euroland news outlets are reporting an eye-watering set of prices for
Samsung's Galaxy Tab. Although still unofficial and therefore not yet to be trusted, the values we're hearing are €699 ($890) in France and €799 ($1,020) in Germany. Those presumably represent the cost of the 16GB and 32GB Tab, respectively, and align perfectly with Apple's iPad WiFi + 3G pricing -- aside from the fact the iPads have double the storage at each price point. Oops! That does make us wary to believe these numbers just yet, but if you want a laugh, why not check out UK importer Expansys today, which is offering a cracking deal for the 16GB Galaxy Tab at £680 ($1,050). And with only a 39-day wait!
[Thanks to everyone who sent these in]
Update: So we're hearing some conflicting information here. Samsung itself is telling us at IFA that no pricing has been announced and that any prices floating around are speculation -- but it seems the company has already announced a suggested retail prices of SEK 9,000 in Sweden including VAT, which works out to about $1,240 (or $930 without VAT). In other words, even after taxes have been removed from the equation, you're looking at a pretty pricey option for an unsubsidized device here. Let's hope we see some steep discounts on contract, eh? Thanks, Rasmus!
Update 2: O2 Germany's official Twitter account
informs us that the Galaxy Tab will cost the Bundesrepublik roughly €759 (about $972) in all -- a €99 ($127) deposit to start off and then €27.50 ($35) a month likely over two years. Thanks,
Nils!
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Toshiba finally dives into Blu-ray 3D with BDX3100 player, offers up BDX1100 if stereo's not your style
Seems like Toshiba
bit off more Blu-ray 3D than it could chew this year -- the Japanese firm's just announced that the new BDX3100KB will be its first set-top stereoscopic player, never mind the
BDX3000 it announced at CES. Still, we're willing to forgive and forget if the new machine (replete with DivX and MKV playback, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround, and instant playback of AVCHD footage from connected camcorders) makes it stateside sometime soon -- both it and the relatively boring BDX1100 standard Blu-ray unit are presently slated for a UK release (at unspecified prices) in October of this year. PR after the break.
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Toshiba Camileo S30 and P20 pocket camcorders get touchscreens
Toshiba's launching some new
Camileo pocket HD camcorders at
IFA, and hey -- just like everything else in the world, they've sprouted three-inch touchscreens. Both offer 1080p recording and 10x digital zooms with HDMI out and support for 64GB SD storage; the £139 ($214) S30 comes in a more standard form factor that's 19mm (.7 inch) thick and features eight megapixel still photos, automatic exposure control and image stabilization, while the £119 ($183) P20 comes in a pistol grip package and takes five megapixel stills. The P20 will hit in October, while the S30 is set to arrive in January, so it makes perfect sense for Toshiba to announce it now, in September. PR after the break.
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Toshiba goes all LED with new HDTVs at IFA 2010
Besides that
Android tablet, Toshiba's brought a whole slew LED-lit LCD televisions to
IFA 2010. The REGZA WL Series is the company's first range of 3DTVs, available in 40-, 46- and 55-inch sizes (pictured above) with LED backlighting, 7,000,000:1 contrast ratios, it 3D Resolution+ upscaling tech and one pair of active shutter glasses bundled with each one. They're also DLNA enabled and ready for Windows 7, with the Toshiba Media Controller software making streaming content as easy as dragging and dropping a file. The rest of the lineup includes the high end VL series with LED backlighting, midrange REGZA 42SL738 42-inch HDTV and edge-lit SL738 series LCDs in smaller sizes from 9- to 32-inches. Check the press site or YouTube trailers embedded after the break for more details, and don't be surprised to see the 200Hz motion technology, millimeter measurements, DVB-T tuners and BBC streaming while these are due in October across the pond, we'll be keeping an eye out at CEDIA for US-bound variants.
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Toshiba Satellite A665-3DV gets a stereoscopic software makeover, now plays nice with 2D content, Blu-ray 3D and external screens
Nabbed one of Toshiba's
fully-loaded stereoscopic laptops, only to find a dearth of actual 3D? The company's got a software update that might revitalize your machine. Where previously you'd have to install ready-made dual-ocular content directly to your hard drive, the manufacturer's just promised a Toshiba Video Player application that will convert your existing 2D content into 3D, plus firmware that will help you pipe stereoscopic video over the integrated HDMI port and upgrade your Blu-ray drive to take the new
Blu-ray 3D discs -- though we honestly thought it
could do that last bit already. While there's no word on availability, the press release suggests a download will pop up any moment... so, you know, be sure to keep both eyes out. PR after the break.
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Roku XD and Netgear Roku XD Player hit the FCC
Well, well, what's this? Looks like Roku has some bigger plans for
hitting back at the
$99 Apple TV than just
price cuts of its own: a Roku XD and a Netgear Roku XD Player just hit the FCC. That's right, Netgear -- Roku's expanding its platform to third parties. We don't know if these two devices are standalones or designed to work together, but we're guessing they're standalones; the Netgear unit might blend in some of the
Digital Entertainer line's support for local playback and services like PlayOn, YouTube, and CinemaNow. Of course, the big question is going to be price, since if these are substantially more than the Apple TV's $99 they're going to have to offer some major features, but we should be finding out what's up soon enough: the confidentiality on these docs lifts October 23.
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Samsung Galaxy Tab rooted, just for bragging rights
Okay,
Sera-Apps, we're happy you
cracked the Milestone, but now you're showing off -- rooting the Samsung Galaxy Tab
probably a full month before launch. Do you really want Samsung to have time to patch those holes? That's what we thought. Now, go enjoy your Superuser status, and please save some exploits for the rest of us.
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