Kensington KeyFolio rebrands AIDACASE iPad keyboard case, doesn't make it any better
We've been eager to see a flood of Bluetooth keyboard peripherals for the iPad and iPhone ever since iOS 3.2 brought support to the platform, but unfortunately it looks like the first wave of iPad cases will all feature the same rubbery keyboard module. Yep, that's Kensington's new KeyFolio Bluetooth keyboard case above, which is the latest riff on the
AIDACASE KeyCase Folio Deluxe we
just reviewed. (And remember, the KeyCase Folio Deluxe is itself a rebrand of the
KeyCase iPad Folio -- confused yet?) Yes, there's nicer contrast stitching and presumably higher-quality synthetic leather, but it doesn't look like Kensington has improved the actual keyboard or created a more stable way to hold the iPad up, which means this thing probably isn't worth the $99 price of admission unless you're crazy desperate for an all-in-one keyboard case solution. (You're probably not.) Truth be told, we're actually sort of saddened to see Kensington go the cheapo-OEM-rebrand route -- we've come to expect more from the company. Here's hoping the next round of iPad keyboard cases is somewhat better.
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BlackBerry 9750 is definitely a refreshed Storm2, but is it called the Storm3?
RIM, come on, guys, you're killing us here! We don't know exactly what the story is yet, but there's a BlackBerry in the wild now with model number 9570 -- and it looks exactly like the existing
Storm2, which lines up nicely with
BGR's insistence earlier this week that the
Storm3 is very much a warmed-over Storm2 with
BlackBerry 6 and some minor spec bumps. In terms of strategy, we guess this would line up with the
Bold 9780 we've been seeing around the block, which looks almost exactly like a
Bold 9700 -- but in terms of
customers understanding that this is a new product, it looks like a recipe for disaster. Of course, this might not be known as the Storm3 when (and if) it's released -- they might stick with the Storm2 or call it something like Storm2 Plus or Storm2.5 -- which might make more sense since we still don't know what that
other spy shot of a completely different device is. Sure, we have no doubt that a few people would be interested in a refreshed Storm2, but would it be enough to justify the R&D and marketing costs?
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Sony's VPL-VW90ES 3D projector priced and dated for the US
Say hello to the latest additions to Sony's lineup of
SXRD projectors announced at
CEDIA 2010, the VPL-VW90ES and the VPL-VWPRO1. Previously
introduced at IFA, the VPL-VW90ES is not only Sony's first projector to wear the Elevated Standard brand and include all the custom installer tidbits that go with that, but it's also the first to do 3D. The MSRP for all that high end construction, 240Hz framerate and 1,000 ANSI lumens brightness is a buck under $10,000 when it ships in November. Just in case you don't have that in your couch cushions, it's also introduced a new 2D-only model at the lower end of the line, the VPL-VWPRO1 has a higher brightness rating than its more expensive cousin, but a lower contrast ratio and price of $3,400, available in October. Check the press release after the break for all the specs available or just peek in the gallery for our hands-on pics.
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Pentax K-5 DSLR and Optio RZ10 hands-on
We didn't get a chance to lay hands on any of the
colored variants, but the solid black Optio RZ10 was easily one of the best feeling point-and-shoots we've touched in quite some time.
Pentax doesn't advertise the coating as being "soft touch," but that's exactly the vibe we get. It's also shockingly small to have a full-on 10x optical zoomer, and while things will get pretty ugly at ISO 6400, it's one of the few handhelds that even give you the option. The
K-5 DSLR, on the other hand, simply didn't feel like a $1,600 piece. And it should, given that's what Pentax is charging for it. Sure, it's solid enough and comfortable to grip, but it's got a lot of proving to do in the reviews to come before we fully recognize the value proposition. Head on down below if you're up for more eye candy.
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GE stuffs DLP projector into 14MP PJ1 point-and-shoot camera, we go hands-on
It ain't the first point-and-shoot to
emerge with a beamer within, but it's the first from GE's
General Imaging branch. Boasting a 14 megapixel sensor, a vanilla enclosure and a
DLP projector, the PJ1 was seen making its debut here at
Photokina in Germany. The highlight of the device is obviously the 854 x 480 resolution projector that's somehow stuffed within the casing, while the most impressive part to us was just how thin it remained with such a unit inside. In other words, the projector itself was certainly lacking, and with just 15 lumens, we felt that the darker-than-dark test room (shown in the video just past the break) still wasn't dark enough. On the capture side, there's a 7x optical zoom, SD / SDHC card slot and support for 720p movies; thankfully, GE's not planning to include too hefty a premium for the projector, as we were told to expect it for "around €250 ($334)" when it lands in Europe next February.
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PlayStation Move accessories charge controllers, keep your pesky imagination in check
If there's anything Microsoft's
Kinect has over the
PlayStation Move -- neither seem to have a killer app -- it's that peripheral manufacturers (hopefully) won't be able to generate
wave after wave of cheap plastic junk to wave in front of a camera. As you can imagine, PlayStation Move peripheral purveyors have no such problem, and Nyko, Mad Catz, Interworks, CTA Digital, PDP and more are pumping out plenty of plastic shells and chargers for those ball-tipped motion controllers. Hit the links below to just see how far we haven't come.
Read - GamingBits
Read - IGN
Read - Amazon
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RealD to license ZScreen for HDTVs, bring cheap 3D glasses to the masses
Most who have seen their favorite content in 3D have seen the light, but still find it hard to look past the glasses. Any 3D glasses are worse than no glasses at all, but expensive 3D glasses make even less sense to most. So while all the consumer 3DTV glasses so far have been of the expensive active shutter variety (which keeps the price of the TVs more in line with the 2D versions), RealD announced at the 3D entertainment summit that it would license its
ZScreen technology (pictured above) to 3DTV manufacturers. This means that the same inexpensive 3D glasses used in theaters could be used at home. The big question of course is how much will these 3DTVs cost, and how will the 3D quality experience compare to what active shutter glasses can offer. But to those who hate heavy, expensive 3D glasses that require batteries, this is could certainly be good news.
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Verizon CEO talks (more) about iPhone: 'we have to earn it'
So, Apple's
talked about putting the iPhone on Verizon, Verizon
wants the phone... why can't we get these two crazy kids together? Well, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg touched on that topic in a talk to investors at the Goldman Sachs conference today. "We don't feel like we have an iPhone deficit. We would love to carry it when we get there, but we have to earn it," Seidenberg said, walking a fine line between complimenting the phone and making it clear that Verizon still has a good lineup. Ivan also mixed in a basketball analogy to sweeten the deal: "This is like the Knicks getting Carmelo Anthony. Like it would be very good if the Knicks got Carmelo Anthony. But they have to play the game whether they get Carmelo Anthony, right?" Ivan hinted heavily that Verizon's forthcoming 4G LTE network could be the golden ticket, and while this isn't a new theory, it's unclear (and a little disconcerting) if he's just as in the dark as we are as to whether or not Apple will come around once LTE is up and running. Still, he put on a brave face: "At some point, Apple will get with the program." Our suggestion? Bake Steve a cake. Couldn't hurt!
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RED shows off some EPIC HDRx test footage
That's
EPIC, mind you, not necessarily
epic. Sure, Red's experiment in HDR video looks like it'll be a help to filmmakers that want the power / flexibility of RAW in post and some tools to war against motion blur, but so far they aren't showing any of that ultra-surreal HDR stuff we known so well from Flickr. What's that you say? You don't want all your videos to look like they're
populated by radioactive creatures on a planet with a dying sun? You disappoint us, person. Go to your room. EPIC can shoot up to 18 stops of dynamic range in motion, with an "HDR" mode for in camera processing and an "HDRx" mode (seen here) for manipulation in post. Hit up the source link for the full res download and in-depth discussion about the tech, or hit below the fold for an embedded copy of the vid.
[Thanks, Andrew F.]
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FloBox, FloBox Mini and Vital amp all include an iPad dock
It was only a matter of time before someone released a speaker system with an
iPad dock, but there is more to Speakercraft's new lineup than a way to listen to music. The FloBox, its miniature version, and the Vital amp can also stream music via Apple's AirPlay, DLNA or Speakercraft's own Nirv system. The two FloBoxes also include a mini USB port to sync your i-device with with iTunes. The Vital 250 is only available in black and will sell for $699 when it hits in the forth quarter. The two FloBoxes will be available in a black, white, silver, red or yellow high-gloss, piano finish with no word on price, but are also expected in a few months.
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PIRO's Windoro bot cleans windows Roomba-style
We all need a little more Roomba in our lives. PIRO's Windoro promises to do for windows what the
Roomba does for floors, with a flat, autonomous robot free-roaming across a surface and cleaning it in the process. Of course, it's a little tougher to cling to a window than to crawl across carpet, so Windoro is a two part bot, connected to its reciprocal cleaning companion via neodymium magnets. Unfortunately it seems like it'd be a bit of a pain to get these two started and to switch windows -- for windows that don't open it would require two people, and for windows that do open it would still be pretty treacherous. Maybe something has been lost in in translation, or maybe we just don't get it, but PIRO expects 50 billion won in sales (about $43 million US). No word on how much the bot will cost, video of the bot's streak-free results are after the break.
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HP Slate prototype caught in the wild, booted to Windows 7
HP has done plenty of its own teasing of the
HP Slate, but in-the-wild spottings are few and far between. Now our favorite YouTuber and yours, x313xkillax, has a video of an HP Slate prototype. (There's some speculation that this is a fake, but from everything we know about the tablet we're pretty sure this is the real deal.) The hardware looks similar to what we've seen before, though perhaps a bit further along than version
Conecti.ca "reviewed"
back in April. We're pleased with the boot time of the device and seemingly fine Flash performance, and x313xkillax calls the touchscreen very responsive, but as you can see in the video after the break, Windows 7 still isn't really designed for finger operation. Just like HP seemed to realize when it bought Palm and bumped this tablet from a consumer launch
to a niche enterprise product.
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Ricoh's rugged G700SE point-and-shoot does Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS and more (eyes-on)
And you thought Ricoh's
G700 was fully featured. Premiering at
Photokina this week, the souped-up G700SE is a modified version of the G700 that appeared last month, with this guy able to accept add-on modules that can boost functionality by a good bit. The prototype unit here in Germany was showcased alongside of the GP-1 GPS dongle and a BR-1 bar code scanning module, with the latter meant more for governments and enterprises. It's still encased in a dust- and water-resistant shell, and it packs integrated 802.11b/g WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR to boot. All of the other specs remain the same from the original G700 (which you can
peek here), and if you're looking to buy one, you'll have to wait until the earlier half of 2011 for it to splash down at around €799 ($1,070) -- according to booth representatives, anyway.
Oh, and for fans of the
GXR series, we stumbled upon an A12 28mm f/2.5 lens module that'll slot right into the company's interchangeable camera starting in Q4. So long as you have €649 ($869) to spare.
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Shure SE315 Sound Isolating Earphone offers detachable cables on a 'budget'
There's something so romantic about just-a-little-bit-too-expensive ear buds, a product that's easily worth every penny and yet easily lost, easily misunderstood, and incredibly difficult to rid of ear wax.
Shure is adding a new model to its hallowed line of 'buds, the new SE315 Sound Isolating Earphone. The headphones have a single MicroDriver, as opposed to the dual drivers in the SE425 and triple drivers in the SE535, but otherwise is very similar to those family members, including the investment-protecting detachable cables. Oh, and of course the price it a good bit more attractive, with a $200 retail price, while the SE425 and SE535 go for $300 and $500, respectively. Still, attractive
enough? We'll leave the handwringing to you.
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Speakercraft's BoomTomb brings subharmonics under ground
The company that invented in-wall speakers wants to make sure your sound system in your backyard looks and sounds as good as the one in your house. The BoomTomb subwoofer with integrated 250 watt amp gets buried in the ground with only the port exposed -- and hopefully somewhere it isn't likely to be tripped over -- where it can accompany your Ruckus speakers that look like rocks. It'll start shipping in the fourth quarter for a yet unannounced price, which means you might have to wait until the spring for the ground to thaw for those in the colder parts of the northern hemisphere.
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Panasonic Toughbook U1 gets new sunlight-viewable screen, still solid to its Atom core
Remember Panasonic's
Toughbook CF-U1? Yeah, so it's been a while (2008, in fact) since it
was unveiled and
then reviewed, which is exactly why Panny thought the time had come to update the rugged UMPC. Its Toughbook U1 has the same magnesium alloy chassis -- we're told it's still the most rugged Toughbook of them all -- but has been updated with "enhanced sunlight viewability." It's no
PixelQi display, but the TransflectivePlus screen can be cranked up to 6000 nits for checking e-mails and other pertinent information in the bright light of day. Internally, the U1 has acquired a newer 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a larger 64GB SSD with Windows 7. The optional two megapixel front-facing camera has also been tweaked with better auto-focus and white balance features. However, the updates aren't just hardware-based: screen icons have been enlarged, and there's a new virtual right click button and larger virtual keyboard with a zoom mode. Of course, military grade doesn't come cheap -- the street price has been set at whopping $2,799. That still makes it one of the most expensive Atom device out there, but then again can you really put a price on something that's
Rammer-resistant? We didn't think so.
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Runco's first 3Dimension projector uses passive glasses
The Ferrari of the projector world kicks off its version of
3D at
CEDIA with the 3Dimension Series projectors which surprisingly use passive glasses instead of the battery operated active ones. The big catch of course is the price of $49,995 for the D-73 pictured above, and the fact that the glasses are proprietary and not the standard RealD glasses you've used at your local cinema. Obviously there are a wide range of inputs and controls including HDMI 1.4 (no
1.4a?) and
RS-232 for the home automation fans. The D-73 starts shipping in the fourth quarter for those lucky enough to afford such luxuries and the full press release is available after the break while you wait.
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Lensbaby rolls out Composer with Tilt Transformer kit for Micro Four Thirds, Sony NEX cameras (hands-on)
We've already gotten our hands on Lensbaby's basic
Composer lens, but the company has now gone and expanded its bag of tricks even further with its new Composer with Tilt Transformer kit. The key bit there is the Tilt Transformer (also available separately), which can also accommodate any Nikon mount lens and tilt it up to twice the amount of standard
tilt-shift lenses. Have a Panasonic Lumix G Micro System or Olympus PEN Micro Four Thirds camera? Then you can get the kit now for $350 or just the Tilt Transformer for $250 -- Sony NEX camera users will have to wait until October 28th to get in on the act. Full press release is after the break, and our hands-on from the
Photokina show floor is just below. Enjoy.
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10-inch Galaxy Tab promised for 2011 by Samsung Ireland General Manager
Tucked away at the bottom of a news story about who'll be carrying the 7-inch
Galaxy Tab in Ireland this year is the promise of a
10-inch Tab (presumably for the whole world) next year. This comes straight from local General Manager Gary Twohig, who seems to have casually disclosed his company's plans for a 10-inch Android slate in the first half of 2011. Beyond that, all we know is that it'll include the
V8 JavaScript Engine that first showed up as a touted feature in Froyo, though if we had to bet our Led Zep record collection, we'd probably say this 10-incher will be holding out for Android 3.x -- either
Gingerbread or
Honeycomb -- for an experience better optimized
to run on larger screens. In fact, that may be the likeliest reason why this new tablet didn't debut with its 7-inch sibling: waiting on a better OS.
[Thanks, Iain]
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Joby's Gorillapod Video breaks cover at Photokina, complete with swivel arm
Joby has pretty much set the standard for portable, flexible, curious looking tripods, and while it has evolved over the years to include
support for bulky DSLRs, it hasn't really made the same strides to cover the burgeoning
pocket camcorder realm. Until today. Here in Köln, the outfit used
Photokina as a launching pad for their newest portable tripod, the Gorillapod Video. For all intents and purposes, this is a classic Gorillapod with an omni-directional positioning video head, an extension arm for pans and tilts and magnetic feet for connecting it to your nearby barn. There's a small button on the head that allows the swivel arm to collapse for even easier travel, and during our moments with it here on the show floor, we were duly impressed with how it held the pocket camcorder strapped on top of it. It's available to order right now for $29.95, with shipments expected within the next fortnight. You know the drill -- gallery's below if you're craving more.
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European Commission lays out new broadband plan, reserves spectrum for mobile broadband
It's not quite the law of the land just yet, but the
European Commission has just laid out some far-reaching new broadband rules that, if implemented, could have some wide ranging implications. Some of the basic rules were first announced earlier this year in the so-called Digital Agenda, including a mandate for basic broadband access across the EU by 2013, and a 30Mbps minimum by 2020. Perhaps most notably, however, is that the Commission has recommended that spectrum in the 800MHz band between 790-862MHz (being vacated as TV broadcasters make the switch to digital) be set aside for mobile broadband use by 2013. Just how much will it cost to implement the recommendations? Between 180 and 270 billion euros, or between 240 and 360 billion US dollars. That's obviously not going to come easily, but the Commision apparently thinks its doable, and notes that a number of measures have already been put in place to increase funding
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Sony Ericsson pushes Android 2.1 upgrade for X10 family back to 'late October'
Big surprises, eh? Sony Ericsson has been playing fast and loose with its calendar
yet again, as it has just announced that the hotly (and by now angrily) anticipated upgrade to Android 2.1 for its
X10 family of devices won't be happening until late October. We were given the gravest of assurances that
the end of September would be the time our tragic wait would end, but nope, apparently "we need a couple of more weeks before we are ready to start the roll-out." Just so we're clear, this isn't
Android 2.2, which is Google's current highest iteration and has been around
for months now -- this is the upgrade to 2.1, aka Eclair, aka the software that's not too far away from its first birthday. SE is trying to console users with promises of HD video and continuous autofocus bundled into the Xperia X10 update, but then there's also word that different configs of the phones will get the update at different times. So don't be surprised if your French-speaking X10 Mini is still doing the Donut deep into November.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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Blockbuster files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
This one's
been expected and rumored for a long time. Now it's official: Blockbuster has initiated "pre-arranged" chapter 11 proceedings. Under the plan, Blockbuster's debt would be reduced from $1 billion to about $100 million when implemented. The press release states that Blockbuster is currently evaluating its US store portfolio as part of the recapitalization process. For the time being, all 3,000 stores will remain open. However, we've been told by a trusted tipster that up to 1,000 could be shed before things are said and done. Now make no mistake, Blockbuster is still open and wants you to know that it's business as usual during the restructuring -- the details of which you can read in the press release after the break.
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Marvell unveils 1.5GHz triple-core application processor, all current smartphones look on in envy
Marvell's decided to whip out the "game changer" tag for its latest slice of silicon, but when you read the spec sheet that accompanies it, you might be willing to forgive it. Just this once. The new Armada 628 application processor delivers three cores, two of which crank along at 1.5GHz, and enough graphical prowess to churn 200 million triangles a second. You might remember we were once impressed by
the Hummingbird's 90 million -- yeah, not so much anymore. The 628 is capable of 1080p 3D video and graphics (meaning it can sustain
two simultaneous 1080p streams, one for each eye) and pledges to have an "ultra" low power profile: more than 10 hours of 1080p video or 140 hours of music playback are on offer. If that's not enough, it's also the first mobile SOC to include USB 3.0 support, adding yet another speed crown to its bulging resume. Now if it can also be
SuperSpeedy in coming to market, that'd be just swell.
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BenQ intros 23-inch XL2410 3D monitor for your stereoscopic camping delight
If you're looking to don a pair of NVIDIA's
3D Vision specs, a
120Hz monitor is your ticket to the game, and BenQ thinks that its LED-backlit variation on the familiar 23.6-inch 1080p panel is the most gamer-centric you'll find. While the base doesn't seem to swivel like the Alienware
OptX AW2310 nor component video in like the
ASUS VG236H, it does feature adjustable height, allegedly low input lag for split-section reaction times, not to mention a bevy of display scaling modes for VGA, DVI and HDMI. There's also the always-desirable picture by picture mode so you can have two inputs pumping out video content side-by-side; BenQ helpfully suggests you use it to entertain yourself with a movie while you wait for that perfect headshot. Boom? Find it in Europe this October, and "worldwide thereafter" at an undisclosed price. Press release after the break.
[Thanks, John N.]
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Tunebug now ready to Shake your cranium for $100
Announced
just before CES, tested by us
at CES, and launching... erm, right about now: the Tunebug Shake, everybody! This helmet-attachable speaker has certainly taken its time to reach a marketable state, but let's look on the bright side -- it's now priced at $99.99, $20 cheaper than it was in January, and it remains a pretty unique piece of kit for the active gadget maven. The Shake uses SurfaceSound technology to channel vibrations into whatever it's attached to, using it as a de facto enlarged speaker surface. We weren't exactly blown away by the sound quality when we tried it, but time heals a lot of wounds (and product flaws). If you're sufficiently intrigued, you'll find video of the retail box contents after the break and orders can be placed at the source link below.
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Facebook phone rumors resurface, Mark Zuckerberg fails to deny them
Let's try to untangle this
Facebook mobile phone mess, shall we? Mark Zuckerberg has recently sat down with Michael Arrington of
TechCrunch -- the source of the original rumor -- to try and dispel some of the confusion that has arisen as a result. The first thing the Zuckmeister says is that Facebook isn't looking to build its own OS or hardware and is absolutely opposed to competing with the likes of the iPhone and Android. What Zuckerberg wants is deeper social integration, positing the question, "What could we do if we also started hacking at a deeper level?" While there'll be no single answer or solution for all phones, Mark firmly believes that social elements have to be designed in from the start:
On phones we can actually do something better. We can do a single sign-on if we do a good integration with a phone, rather than just doing something where you go to an app and it's automatically social or having to sign into each app individually. Those are the two options on the web. Why not for mobile? Just make it so that you log into your phone once, and then everything that you do on your phone is social.
Notably, he fails to deny rumors of such deeply integrated devices being in the pipeline, and
Bloomberg has trotted out a trio of insider sources who claim
INQ Mobile has been engaged to produce two smartphones with just that purpose in mind -- you know the same INQ that
already makes Facebook-heavy handsets, so this could very well be little more than a rebrand. One is said to feature a QWERTY keypad and a touchscreen while the other is an all touch affair, and both are reputedly headed for an early 2011 launch in Europe, followed by a late 2011 arrival in the USA. AT&T is the carrier that's closest to picking them up, we're told, though deals haven't been finalized on what could be sub-$100 phones after subsidies are distributed. So, whatever happens, we're staring down the barrel of a couple of glorified featurephones with deep social integration.
Kin 2.0, anyone?
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Anssi Vanjoki on quitting Nokia: 'I didn't become the CEO. It is as simple as that'
We're really going to miss Anssi Vanjoki when he leaves Nokia in a few months. The straight-shooting Finn brings a sometimes
astonishing but always
entertaining level of honesty and passion to an otherwise staid consumer electronics industry. Of course, we've all been wondering why Anssi announced his
resignation from Nokia so suddenly after saying in July that he was "
committed, perhaps even obsessed" with taking Nokia back to the number one position in high-end devices. Easy, "I didn't become the CEO," said the 20 year Nokia veteran in an extended version of the interview first
published on Tuesday. Anssi then added, "You know who the guy is it's not you... so what do you do, you stay or you leave. I decided to leave." While not regretting the decision to stick with Symbian in the last few years, he does admit that it couldn't compete with Apple's iOS or Google's Android in touchscreen smartphones -- the Symbian rewrite took (or
is taking, depending upon your perspective) too long. The second problem, he says, is Nokia's absence from the US market. In particular, Silicon Valley, the "nucleus," as he calls it, for the software development behind all those "crazy apps everyone keeps talking about." Unfortunately, the 54-year-old Anssi has no future plans that he's willing to discuss. "I need a plan. My plan is to plan," he says.
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Apple TV gets paid, prepares to ship
If you were one of the first to jump on the new
Apple TV pre-orders let loose on September 1st then you're about to find your bank account $99 and change lighter. As of a few hours ago, Apple began charging credit cards in preparation to ship. So you can expect your new
AirPlay toy to arrive any day now. Now click through if you're dying to see the evidence.
[Thanks, Russ and Justin G.]
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PS3 gets early SNES and Dreamcast emulation
Brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it? Sure, jailbreaks and homebrew titles are all well and good, but you know a console has really
arrived when it starts emulating the classics. The
ever-versatile Snes9x has been given a quick and dirty port to the newly
jailbroken PS3, and while it's missing fancy features like "save states" and "UI," it's certainly looks to be doing the most basic task of playing games just fine. Meanwhile, the creator of famed Dreamcast emulator NullDC has a very rough version it up and running on the PS3 as well. We naturally have a long way to go, but this looks like a promising beginning.
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World's largest offshore wind farm spins into action off the coast of Britain
They stretch up to two and a half times the height of Nelson's Column at
Trafalgar Square, their number is close to a hundred, and their mission is to bring clean, renewable energy into British homes. Yes, we're talking about turbines. The latest wind farm to be erected near the Queen's most sovereign isles is said to be the largest in the world (
for now) and promises to produce enough energy to keep 240,000 homes going -- the equivalent of half the county of Kent. It's part of the UK's
grand plan to generate at least 20 percent of all its power needs through the taming of the winds and cost the Kingdom a cool £780 million ($1.2b) to build. That's admittedly a big bill to swallow, but there are worse things to blow your billions on... such as, say, the Millennium Dome.
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Toshiba outs new 4G WiMAX-ready laptops
Looks like Toshiba's dipping its toes a little bit deeper into that pool known as
WiMAX-ready laptops. In addition to the previously-announced
Satellite U405, we've now got a quartet of older models with a new 4G flair:
Satellite E205,
M645 and A665, and
Protege R705. All have prices starting between $760 and $1,080 and will hit retail around September 26th. Just make sure you double-check the laptop you're picking up is the newer version with the right antennas. All the additional info you seek can be found in the press release after the break.
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Dell whips out 23-inch Inspiron One all-in-one and Zino HD
It's been awhile since we've heard from
Dell on the home entertainment front, but don't you worry, the guys in Round Rock have been right on top of it. First up is the brand new Zino HD home theater PC, which like
we'd heard is being updated with an AMD quad-core Phenom II processor that's more than capable of pumping out full HD to your HDTV. In typical Dell spirit there's tons of configuration options, including one for 1GB of ATI discrete graphics, a Blu-ray drive, and up to a terabyte of storage. For $299, we're a bit giddy about this little one considering it packs more power than any of those
Ion nettops and it comes with a wireless keyboard and IR remote control.
If a large touchscreen all-in-one is more your thing, the
Inspiron One can be configured with similar parts -- an AMD Athlon II X4 processor, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5450, Blu-ray, and up to 1TB are all on the list. To us, the real appeal of this one is its 1920x1080 resolution, 23-inch display, which produced some pretty stunning HD playback when we saw it in action last month. Dell's put a lot of energy into its new Stage touch interface, which consists of different tiled applications. It's actually more than eye candy as we're betting those Netflix and CinemaNow tiles will see plenty of tapping. The One starts at $799 and will be available this coming weekend -- but before you yank out the wallet, we'd suggest flipping through the galleries below and hitting the break for a read of the press release.
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Sonos Wireless Dock for iPod and iPhone launched at GDGT party
See anything new in that picture Sonos fans? If you look closely, you'll spot some new Sonos Wireless Docks on the table. The scene is last night's
GDGT party in Boston. The device is the WD100 that streams the music collection stored on your docked iPod / iPhone throughout your Sonos multi-room music system. Look for it launch at the end of October for $119. With any luck, we'll be hands-on with it later today. Official press shot after the break.
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Visa rolling out payWave mobile phone payments in NY subway and taxis
DeviceFidelity's
mobile twist on Visa's payWave system is a nice little solution to the fact that nobody's bothered to build contactless payment chips into US mobile phones just yet -- DeviceFidelity just stuffs the Visa smart chip circuitry into a microSD card and lets you on your way. Of course, this supplants the much needed additional storage on an Android handset, and requires a chunky add-on case for the iPhone, but at least it's a start. Visa will now start allowing those payWave-enabled devices to make contactless payments at subway turnstiles and taxi backseats in New York City as part of a new trial for the tech. Of course you've been able to do this with all sorts of chipped credit cards already, but there's something very future-ey about swiping your phone to make a payment -- now how about ditching the clunky add-ons and building some of this circuitry in by default?
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Samsung Tab priced at $999 in Australian money, ships November
It seems that though just about
everybody's getting the Samsung Galaxy Tab, few know
how much it costs, but Australian customers can expect to pay AUD $999 if they're buying off-contract. Several Australian media organizations are reporting that's what the seven-inch, 16GB Android 2.2 tablet will cost, when it arrives at the country's three major phone carriers for a slated November release.
Smarthouse points out that the price reveal surprised Australian executives as a comparable iPad 3G 16GB costs just $799, though a Samsung VP told the publication, "we believe this is a fair price." We'll just let the market decide on that one, okay?
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NBC Universal says 99-cent rentals would 'devalue' content, News Corp calls them a 'short-term test'
ABC and Fox may have been willing to part with their TV shows for 99 cents a pop
on the new Apple TV and
at Amazon, but don't be surprised if NBC Universal fails to join their ranks. "We do not think 99 cents is the right price point for our content," said CEO Jeff Zucker at an investor conference earlier this week, noting that NBC shows are indeed present on iTunes for those willing to shell out $1.99. That's not the only bad news for video-on-demand enthusiasts, as News Corporation is apparently reconsidering its stance -- though subsidiary Fox is presently dishing out 99-cent shows, president Chase Carey called its involvement a "short-term test." Guess that brave new world of cheap streaming is still a ways off, eh?
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Bug Labs to offer pre-certified modules for Verizon's network
Verizon's holding its developer conference (VDC, for those in the know) this week where it courts software and hardware developers alike to make stuff that works on its airwaves, and one of the bigger pieces of news to come out of it so far has been from
Bug Labs. Now, Bug's not exactly a company we'd expect to be working with Big Red, as CEO Peter Semmelhack notes in his blog post on the matter: "it may come as a surprise to you that a company that is so often vilified for being closed is teaming up with Bug Labs, a company that is defined by its openness." What changed? Basically, Bug modules are going to serve as pre-certified building blocks for developers, saving little guys with limited budgets the time and expense of going through Verizon's certification process -- you just integrate Bug's hardware and you automatically inherit its approval. No word yet on when the new modules will be ready or how much they'll cost, though (we're still waiting on the
new BUGBase to launch). Follow the break for the full press release.
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Sharp unveils AQUOS Quattron 3D for the States
Sharp made US 3D fans very happy today by announcing the immediate availability of its new 52 and 60-inch AQUOS Quattron 3D TVs at CEDIA. The LED backlight side-mount scanning LE925 series starts at $4199 with the bigger brother going for $5299, feature two pairs of 3D glasses bundled in, a dynamic contrast ratio of 8,000,000:1 and IP control plus RS-232 for home automation fans. The Ethernet port or optional WiFi adapter can also be used to stream
Netflix,
VUDU or a variety of other over the top video services. What's interesting is that Sharp is claiming its 4th color (yellow)
Quattron technology offers a brighter image which can overcome the dimming, that 3D glasses are known for. Also, a first is that the 3D glasses can convert the 3D signal to 2D for that one 3D hatter in your party (not to be confused with the TV's ability to convert 2D material to 3D). The full release with many more details after the jump.
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Roku XDS review
It's an interesting time for Roku -- the upstart device company has owned the
cheap'n'easy Netflix streaming market
since the beginning, and its platform has been getting more and more flexible over time, adding various channels like
Amazon Video on Demand,
MLB.tv,
UFC, and
others. But cheap and simple aren't necessarily good enough anymore, not with the new
$99 Apple TV set to launch in just a few weeks -- and while Roku already took the preemptive step of
slashing prices across the board, it's following up with some promising new hardware and features. The new Roku HD offers basic 720p streaming capabilities for just $59, the new Roku XD adds 1080p streaming support for $79, and $99 Roku XDS -- which we tested -- offers 1080p support, a USB port for local media, optical and component outputs, and dual-band WiFi. Apart from the new case, the HD and XD are extremely similar to Roku's previous offerings, but the XDS is immediately interesting -- it offers a number of features absent on Apple's offering. So does the newest flagship Roku have what it takes to remain our favorite inexpensive streamer? Read on to find out!
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