SlashGear

SlashGear Week in Review – 10 2010

Shane McGlaun — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:04:49 +0000

Hello geeks and geekettes and welcome to the latest SlashGear Week in Review! Early this week we saw the iTable. I reckon that the iTable is sort of like an iPad, with legs, that can hold your beer and pizza while you play Farmville. If Professor X lived in the world of Bioshock, this steampunk power wheel chair would be his ride. The thing even dispenses your adult beverages after piping the booze through an ice chiller.

The Wall Street Journal announced this week that Panasonic will cut the price of its 3D TVs by 50% compared to Japanese pricing when they venture into the US. The reason given for the price cut is to encourage adoption of the tech. Chris posted up a review of the HTC Legend early in the week and found the device to be impressive, but expects it to lose some luster when the Desire lands.

Spring Design has announced that the Alex eReader will launch in early spring. I guess a spring launch for the Spring reader is fitting. Nokia has filed for a patent on some very cool battery tech. The patent outlines a mobile phone battery that generates its own power from movement of the user.

Asus debuted a new Eee netbook this week called the 1005PR. The machine crams in a Broadcom HD video decoder, 250GB of storage and more. MSI slipped a new model into its X-Slime range Tuesday called the X360. The thin machine has a 13-inch screen and uses a Core i5-520m CPU.

Intel announced that it was working on a new dual-core Atom processor for netbooks. I am sure Intel is feeling a bit of pressure now since AMD is set to offer its own netbook processor. I ran across a new guitar concept early in the week that has no strings, but uses vibration to make it feel like you are using strings.

Sceptre unveiled a 24-inch TV/PC LCD this week that was clad in shiny chrome. The set has full 1080p resolution and a gob of connectivity features. The coolest thing I saw this week was called the Casttoo. It’s a cast cover that you can order with a picture of your actual x-ray on it.

Samsung finally offered up pricing and a ship date on its R1 and R0 PMPs for the US. The things will ship in April with the R0 starting at $99.99 and the R1 at $149.99. Sony has officially launched the PlayStation Move motion controller. The system will be available in the fall and reminds me a lot of the Wii controller system.

A cool electric bike concept showed up this week that has a carbon fiber frame used to conduct electricity for the electric motors rather than wire. The concept looked awesome to boot. Panasonic announced Thursday that its 3D Home Theater system could be purchased in Best Buy Magnolia stores. The system includes a 3D Blu-ray player and a 50-inch 3D plasma TV for $2,899.

OCZ got low with SSD pricing late in the week when it dropped the Onyx SSD at under $100 for 32GB of storage. Ludacris would approve. The Fusion Garage Joo Joo has landed at the FCC. The little beast has an Atom N270 and NVIDIA ION graphics among other nice features.

One of the coolest games in the arcade back in the day was OutRun. We found go-cart attached to an OutRun game that simulates the road and lets you really crash. Lenovo offered up a bevy of new all-in-one machines late in the week. The new systems included the L2261 Wide and L2361p Wide along with the L2461x Wide all sporting 1080p resolution.

A company called Novothink debuted a new solar charger with versions for the iPhone and for the iPod touch late in the week. The chargers are called the Solar Surge and have internal rechargeable batteries along with a rear solar panel. Thanks for reading this week’s edition of the Week in Review!

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Robert Scoble Talks Windows Phone 7, Google, and Location-Based Services

Evan Selleck — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:47:08 +0000

If you hadn’t heard, South by Southwest Interactive is going on right now, over there in the big state of Texas. It’s one of the biggest conferences around, and all types of people show up to speak their minds, show off the latest and greatest, and have fun doing it. Included with some of those people (outside of our own team), is Robert Scoble. He’s one of the biggest names in the tech journalism game (just try following him on Twitter or Google Buzz), and he’s got some great perspective on quite a few things. Most importantly, the big names in tech right now.

Windows Phone 7 Series is one of the most highly-anticipated, most-talked about platforms to come around in awhile. A lot of people see it as the resurrection of a mobile Operating System, and we’re amongst them. Scoble expounded on his own ideas regarding the latest and greatest from the Redmond-based company, most of which circled around the fact that he believes Windows Phone 7 Series is a beautiful thing. He went on to further mention that the User Interface in the 7 Series has moved past the iPhone, which is a good thing. He did mention some problems, though. For example, it’s not out yet. We agree: that is a bad thing.

The second issue deserves its own paragraph. Scoble wanted to make it clear that Google has figured out the best game plan for their Android-based devices. Going as far as to say that when he picks out his next device next year, it’s not going to be because it’s pretty, but because of the services it offers. In this way, he does not believe that Microsoft (and Apple as well) will be able to offer the same experience. Case in point, while you get to keep all your applications from the iTunes Store via iTunes proper, you still have to sync your phone to the computer and download them. When you get a new Android device, if you’ve set up a back-up from a previous one you had, then the moment you sign in onto your new device your applications are immediately downloaded to your device. Right from the cloud.

What’s Scoble’s advice to Microsoft? Fire everyone that’s not working on Internet-based, mobile device products. From the top down. So basically start fresh.

Moving on to location-aware applications, he spoke on Twitter, Gowalla, and Foursquare. Despite the fact he was obviously overjoyed by the simple fact they were all working at this year’s SxSW, he noted that while it’s great Twitter is getting into the market, they aren’t offering something in return for people “checking in” at locations. Simply geotagging a location is not enough for people to keep up with the service. The reason Foursquare and Gowalla have picked up speed is because they give something back to the user, such as points, badges, and the like.

But everything isn’t roses and butterflies for the location-based service giants. Apparently, if you get the appropriate teams drunk enough (which, for the record, SxSW is a perfect place to do that), they’ll tell you that their biggest competitor is set to turn on their own location-based platform in April or May: Facebook. Considering the big user base it will build off of, we’re wondering what kind of services the platform will offer, and how indeed it will compete with the likes of Foursquare and Gowalla.

And then, of course, we have Google Buzz. Scoble’s been a high priority target on Google’s latest project, and has amassed quite a few followers since its launch. And while he believes that Google Buzz is interesting, he admits that it’s much like Twitter in that it doesn’t offer something in return for tagging a location. The most interesting part of Buzz is Google Maps, and the layer it exists in. Seeing nearby buzzes is great, but it’s not enough to be an actual competitor to the location-aware giants.

SxSW is still going on, so hopefully we’ll get the chance to mingle with a few other big names walking about. If we do, we’ll be sure to pass it along. Check out the video below if you want to hear all the bullet points in a more spoken fashion. Plus, you get to see all the people milling about like ants. Which is always fun.

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FujiFilm Finepix Z700 Brings Pet Detection to the Camera Game

Evan Selleck — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:43:57 +0000

FujiFilm wants to make sure that when you buy their latest point-and-shoot, the Z700, that you’re completely covered. You know, in the “detect this” department. After all, what good is a camera that can only detect red eye? Or only detect faces? All of that’s in the past. Well, welcome to 2010, where the next big thing is . . . Pet detection!

The Finepix Z700 from FujiFilm is the first of its kind (we’ll let you be the judge of whether that’s a good thing or not). The camera proper has a 12MP lens, and it’s of the point-and-shoot nature. It’s got a touchscreen interface, so we know this won’t appeal to everyone. Unfortunately though, it looks like the Z700 is still a bit rough around the edges. During an event this last week, the camera was fully capable of taking regular photos, but when it started snapping photos of animals, things got rocky.

Apparently, when a dog is in motion, consider the “pet detection” a no-go. It’s just not happening. Furthermore, while the camera was able to snap shots of a stuffed animal without a problem, when a real animal was used things got a bit more hairy. We’re sure these things are still being worked on, but for now, if you’re willing to drop $280 dollars on this thing when it comes out later this month, make sure that you’re pet meets the minimum requirements (yes, there’s a list) first.

[via Gizmodo]

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Apple iPad Sells 120,000 Units Total on Friday

Evan Selleck — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:27:17 +0000

The iPad went on pre-order status on Friday, and from early estimates, the tablet has taken on quite the success. While we’re still waiting to see some end of the weekend numbers, we’re pretty sure that the Cupertino-based company can take some solace in the fact that the tablet has been a success. Of course, in situations like this, numbers generally speak louder than words.

So, how’s it break down? From what we can tell, just after the first day, Apple reached somewhere in the ball park of 120,000 tablets sold. As it goes, it looks like the WiFi-only version of the iPad was the largest seller, and we’re likely to think that has something to do with the simple fact that it’s due out on April 3rd. Another shocker though, is that it’s also looking like the orders for the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models were just about equally split. So, while cost may have something to do with it, for the most part it’s looking like customers just don’t mind dropping the extra coin for the extra space.

Revenue wise, Apple is looking at $75 million in the first day. That’s a pretty big chunk of change, if you ask us, and we’re pretty sure that executives at Apple are sitting contentedly in their chairs. Of course, for 99% of customers out there, they haven’t even touched the tablet yet, so they’re banking a lot on the Apple name. We’re pretty shocked that in the first two hours, it looks like Apple was on a roll, clocking in an estimated 25,000 units sold every hour. That’s pretty amazing. So now all we have to do is look forward to April 3rd. Are you counting down, yet? Now, about that battery…

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Motorola CLIQ XT for T-Mobile gets reviewed

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:58:50 +0000

Room in your heart for another Motorola Android smartphone running MOTOBLUR but stuck on Android 1.5? The T-Mobile CLIQ XT by Motorola is set to hit the market imminently, and we’ve got our full review over at Android Community.

Based on the original Motorola CLIQ, but dropping that handset’s slide-out hardware keyboard in favor of a slimmer chassis and Swype text-entry system, the CLIQ XT certainly has a reasonably packed spec-list. A 5-megapixel camera, multitouch and Flash Lite support are all this season’s must-haves, and despite the CLIQ XT being positioned as a mid-range device they’re all onboard.

Still, it’s been a long time since Android 1.5 was current, and as we’ve learnt the hard way in the past, it’s not about the specs but how the device delivers. Does the Motorola CLIQ XT do enough to push past its OS limitations in what’s now a far more competitive Android segment? You’ll have to read the full review to find out.

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Apple iPad orders “so overwhelming” new in-store collections frozen?

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:43:53 +0000

The storm of iPad preorders this morning has reportedly been “so overwhelming” that Apple’s customer services team are apparently warning would-be buyers that there may not be stock to pick up in-store come April 3rd. According to multiple MacDailyNews readers, buyers who have contacted Apple’s customer card team to change their order from delivery to in-store collection are being told that the tablets may in fact be in short supply at their Saturday launch.

That’s because, to change from delivery to pick-up, the order must in fact be cancelled and then re-placed as an in-store collection. However, the “overwhelming” number of orders have seemingly left Apple uncertain as to whether they’ll have sufficient store units to satisfy that demand.

It’s unclear whether this is a US-wide situation or limited to certain stores, and Apple themselves are yet to officially comment. Previous rumors and leaks suggested that iPad production had faced issues and that initial numbers of devices would be limited; however they were quickly followed by reports apparently from component suppliers that production was on-track according to schedule.

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Eye-Fi Pro X2 shipping today

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:15:13 +0000

How long does it take to get an 8GB memory card to the market? If you’re Eye-Fi, and the card is the WiFi 802.11n-toting Eye-Fi Pro X2, then it’s a couple of months; the company has announced that its latest wireless-enabled memory card is shipping from today, promising faster transfer speeds and improved overall performance.

According to the Eye-Fi blog, that’s all down to their new X2 engine, which bundles together a 200 MHz ARM926 processor with an MMU, dedicated flash and radio interface engines, and encryption acceleration hardware. Combined, they’re good for improved WiFi-triangulation geotagging accuracy and “Endless Memory”, Eye-Fi’s new system whereby images and video are automatically deleted from the X2 once the card has verified that they’ve been correctly uploaded to the server.

The Eye-Fi Pro X2 will also come with Eye-Fi Center, the newest version of the company’s desktop manager app for PC and Mac. Eye-Fi Center will also be available for existing Eye-Fi owners, though so far we can’t find it to download on their site. As for the Eye-Fi Pro X2, that’s available for $149.99.

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Spring Design Alex on sale Tuesday March 16th?

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:12:57 +0000

From one delayed ebook reader to another, and it’s now the turn of the Spring Design Alex to throw some grist into the rumor mill. According to our tipster the company’s Android-based dual display ereader – which has an E Ink panel up top and an LCD touchscreen underneath – will go on sale at the company’s site come Tuesday March 16th.

Spring Design had previously been promising early March 2010 availability for the Alex, though that time period came and went. In fact, at time of posting the company’s store page still reads “Thanks for your patience. We’re almost ready with our Alex store. Keep checking in and by the first week of March you’ll be able to order your Alex online.”

Before that, a February 22nd release had been suggested. We’ve got a request in with Spring Design for more information, and will update as and when we hear back from them.

Spring Design Alex hands-on demo:

[Thanks Alex!]

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Plastic Logic QUE delay confirmed: arrives Summer 2010

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:00:48 +0000

As expected after this morning’s report, Plastic Logic have officially confirmed that the launch of the QUE ebook reader will be delayed until Summer 2010. In an official statement from company CEO Richard Archuleta, the decision is described as “to fine-tune the features and enhance the overall product experience.”

Plastic Logic are promising free shipping to preorder customers as an apology for the delay; the QUE was originally expected to ship in mid-April 2010. The device – which uses an E Ink display like other ebook readers, but paired with a unique plastic backplane of Plastic Logic’s own design – is being positioned as a business device, with pricing to match. The entry-level model kicks off at around $650.

Plastic Logic statement:

From: Richard Archuleta
Subject: QUE proReader Shipping Update

Thank you for being one of the first customers to order a QUE proReader from Plastic Logic. We appreciate your business.

Today, I wanted to personally inform you that we are postponing the first QUE proReader shipments until this Summer in order to fine-tune the features and enhance the overall product experience.
Within the next month we will send you an email with more details about your order. If you also ordered accessories for your QUE proReader, we plan to ship them at the same time as your QUE proReader.
I can imagine that you want to get your QUE proReader as soon as possible. We are sorry for the delay. For your inconvenience, the shipping charges will be on us.
Please note that we will not charge your credit card until your order is ready to ship.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us at QUEhelp@PlasticLogic.com.
Once again, thank you for being one of our first QUE proReader customers.
Best regards,

Richard Archuleta
CEO
Plastic Logic

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The Palm Paradox

Michael Gartenberg — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:41:44 +0000

It’s been a rough few weeks for the folks at Palm. First false rumors about Palm shutting down production lines, followed by less than stellar results have once again started the usual suspects putting Palm on either some death watch or have them about to be sold to (insert vendor’s name here _____). Regarding the second, I don’t believe Jon Rubenstein came out of retirement to build a world class product only to have it sold to (insert vendor’s name here _____). But with regards to the whole death watch theme, Palm reminds me a lot of TiVo these days. It’s not just the death watch meme that’s plagued TiVo for years, it’s the fact that Palm suffers from their own version of the TiVo paradox.

What’s the TiVo paradox? It’s a term I coined to explain how hard it is to market the contextual value of features. A distinct conflict existed between consumer understanding of TiVo features and their ability to value the functionality. This was the TiVo paradox. While the purpose of TiVo features was clear and consumers valued features exclusive to TiVo, they don’t learn to appreciate the entire package of features until they used them. The net result was a rabid fan base of users who loved and praised the product and other users who couldn’t understand the cost of a $500 “digital VCR”.

TiVo’s features were relevant to the TV viewing experience based on a user’s immediate contextual need; the pause and rewind live TV feature is the killer feature for a sports fan, while remote access to the electronic programming guide is key to the busy traveler’s DVR experience. Without trying these features, users are unaware of their overall value as they come together as a whole. Want to pause TV when the phone rings? That’s the killer app at that moment. Recording a show using an EPG to simply search for it? That’s the killer app at that moment. Skipping commercials when you watch recorded content? That’s the killer app at that moment. Contextual functionality ONLY comes together when you get to see the whole, not a piece or part. When you see only pieces, you just get a very expensive VCR not a TiVo.

This is exactly the issue I think Palm is having right now.

Palm’s features by themselves are not “killer applications”. In fact, they look a lot at the surface like most of the other phones that are out there. There are, however, a multitude of features related to things like Synergy that are totally contextual, that at a given moment in time BECOME the killer app for using the device. It’s something you see reflected in the base of the webOS user. Those who use webOS are totally fans of the experience and don’t discuss issues such as a lack of applications. They focus on the contextual experience that delivers on the notion of mobile social context.

The problem for Palm (as TiVo learned) is this is a nasty marketing problem since there’s no good way to get the message across in 30 seconds. It’s important for Palm to start focusing it’s marketing on getting the message of mobile social context out there; at the same time Palm needs a better way to leverage the fan base that make up webOS users, since those are the folks who have made the leap of faith and for whom the light bulb has already lit up. I don’t think Palm is anywhere close to being down and out but they need to re-think how to tell a great story of engineering and technical achievement and break the Palm Paradox.

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iPhone Pro concept adds slide-out gaming controls, MagSafe [Video]

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:28:11 +0000

If we’re being honest, we far prefer clever renders of what designers think the next-gen iPhone should look like rather than so-called “leaked” shots that smell unduly fake. Italian design firm ADR Studio have thrown their oar in with this, the iPhone Pro, coupling iPad styling with some Transformer-like slide out panels offering gaming controls.

Video demo after the cut

It’s not the first time we’ve seen designers attempt to cater to gamers with their iPhone concepts. Given Apple’s attempts in recent months to position the smartphone – and its iPod touch cousin – as a legitimate gaming handheld we wouldn’t be surprised if the company themselves were looking at how to make the control experience better, though we don’t imagine they’d quite take the step to giving the next-gen phone wings.

Elsewhere in the iPhone Pro concept there’s a MagSafe connector for easier charging, a bigger display and a front-facing camera for video calls. The power button slips from the top to the back and gains some MacBook Pro style too. We doubt this is what Apple really have lurking in the wings for release later this year, but it’s good enough to tide us over for a while at least.

[via Recombu]

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Sony PSP Go suffering appalling Japanese sales?

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:05:26 +0000

Rumors of a Sony PSP Go relaunch seem all the more believable this week, as the latest – unofficial – sales figures for the handheld are released in Japan. According to market watchers Media Create, Sony sold a mere 1,275 PSP Go devices in the first week of March; contrast that with Sony’s own PSP, which sold 64,808 devices in the same period.

In fact, in the ten week period between December 28th 2009 and March 7th 2010, Sony are believed to have shifted a grand total of 17,618 PSP Go units. Again, that pales in comparison to the regular PSP, of which 667,961 were sold.

[via CrunchGear]

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Lenovo L2261 Wide, L2361p Wide & L2561x Wide with Multitouch 1080p LCDs outed

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:21:10 +0000

A trio of new Lenovo LCD displays have been outed, though so far they’re yet to show up on the company’s own site. The Lenovo L2261 Wide and L2361p Wide are 21.5- and 23-inches in size, while the Lenovo L2461x Wide with Multitouch is 23.6-inches and, as the name suggests, offers a multitouch-capable touchscreen layer. All three support Full HD 1080p.

The Lenovo L2261 Wide has 250cd/m2 brightness and a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, along with an anti-glare screen coating and an integrated PSU. Connectivity includes VGA and HDCP-compliant DVI-D, though no HDMI, and the display adjusts for tilt and swivel but won’t rotate for portrait use.

As for the Lenovo L2351p Wide, that looks a whole lot more like an LCD HDTV and gains an HDMI input too; it also has a 0.3-megapixel webcam, speakers and a microphone, along with a three port USB 2.0 hub. It too offers 250cd/m2 brightness and a 1,000:1 contrast ratio.

Finally, the Lenovo L2461x Wide with Multitouch has a 2-megapixel webcam, speakers and microphone, along with HDMI and VGA, a four-port USB 2.0 hub and an LED lightbar that’s controllable from a capacitive touchstrip. There are also various Windows shortcut buttons on the front panel, while specs include 300cd/m2 brightness and 1,000:1 contrast.

According to the three datasheets (in the gallery below) all of the new monitors will arrive in March 2010. No official word on pricing, but Thinkpads have dug up a couple of listings ranging from $549 to $1149 for the L2461x.

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iPad gets open ePUB support; 3G control detailed

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:52:39 +0000

If you’re still wavering about slapping in your credit card details for an iPad preorder, perhaps some new tidbits about functionality might change your mind. Apple have quietly added a few new details to their iBooks and 3G pages, including confirmation that readers will be able to load non-DRM ePUB format titles to their iPad via iTunes.

That accompanies support for Apple’s own, DRM-encrypted ebooks and digital content that will be purchased on-device through the iBookstore. Previously, while we’d known which format Apple would be using, it was unclear whether titles from outside of the iBooks ecosystem would be supported. Still, it looks like there’ll be no way to download such content directly onto the iPad itself.

Meanwhile Apple have thrown up some screenshots of the 3G management system by which owners of the iPad WiFi + 3G models will be able to control their mobile data usage. As well as being able to sign up and cancel on-device, there’ll also be a running total – useful for those on the 250MB package ($14.99 per month) – and the ability to switch between that and the unlimited data package ($29.99) or add a one-off 250MB boost ($14.99). It’s also been made clear that you can sign up and cancel as often as you like.

[via Everything iPad 1 and 2]

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Lian Li PC-T1R Spider case gets tested: arachnophobes need not apply

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:26:49 +0000

Bizarre PC cases are nothing new, but Lian Li’s PC-T1R Spider does manage to look different even in that unusual crowd. Described as a “test bench” case – that is, one which leaves the components open and accessible for frequent tinkerers – the PC-T1R takes a mini-ITX board and a slimline optical drive, while looking like a spider with half its regular legs.

techPowerUp got their hands on a pre-production version, and they seem impressed. It’s the distinctive looks which swung opinion for the Lian Li; they actually say it’s not much of a test bench case, since you need to do some serious cable tying if you want to keep them out of the way, and the whole thing flexes around the multiple joints.

Still, we can see the new Lian Li garnering the same sort of fanbase as flocked to the Antec Skeleton, one of the better known – and similarly eye-catching – test bench cases of late. Lian Li are yet to announce final pricing, but the PC-T1R Spider is expected to come in at around €150 ($205) and be available in black or red.

[via CaseModBlog]

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Apple iPad Keyboard Dock won’t ship until mid-April

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:47:24 +0000

Hoping to pick up one of Apple’s more useful iPad accessories along with your iPad preorder? Unfortunately it looks like early-adopters will have to suffer with the onscreen keyboard for a while, as according to the Apple Store the iPad Keyboard Dock – while available to purchase now – won’t ship until mid-April 2010.

That’s in contrast to most of the other official iPad accessories, which are listed as set to ship in time for April 3rd. The official Apple iPad case comes in at $39 while the iPad Dock Connector to VGA adapter is $29. If you can cope without the QWERTY and just want a docking station, the iPad Dock is $29 and will also ship for April 3rd.

In fact, the only later accessory is the Apple iPad 10W USB Power Adapter, which is priced at $29 but not expected to ship until late-April. Looks like heavy iPad users will have to get used to carrying their AC adapter between home and the office until then.

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Apple iPad up for preorder now

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:32:14 +0000

The Apple Store is back, and as expected the iPad is available for preorder. Apple’s touchscreen tablet is currently available to order in its WiFi-only form, priced from $499 with 16GB of flash storage. Orders placed today are expected to ship on April 3rd in the US.

However, while Apple Stores worldwide went down, only the US one is actually accepting preorders. In fact the updated store is still to confirm pricing for the iPad outside of the US, something which Apple have proved reluctant to tell us about.

Of course, if you want a 3G-enabled version of the iPad – which uses an unlocked GSM modem (with AT&T compatible bands, though not T-Mobile USA) and a microSIM card – you’ll have to wait a little longer. Those models are set to arrive in late-April 2010, priced at $629, $729 and $829 respectively for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models. So, who’s preordering today? Let us know in the comments.

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Bike concept for 10 to 15-year-olds is coolest bike ever

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:03:56 +0000

This has been the week of cool bike concepts. Earlier this week I talked a bit about the cool carbon fiber electric bike. Today I ran across a really cool bike concept aimed at kids from 10 to 15 years old, though I can’t see why older folks who like cool design couldn’t ride it too.

The concept is called Bike 10 to 15 and looks like the bike Tron learned to ride before his parents bought him a light cycle. For some reason the thing also reminds me of what an Xbox branded bike might look like. The big feature of the concept is a seat that can be adjusted to any height along with the bar the seat sits on.

The frame also stretches horizontally to put the rider in the correct position. Any guy who rode a bike too big for them will tell you having that bar at the right height is important, particularly if you plan to procreate later in life.

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Final Cut saw blade cuts and sands at same time

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:47:55 +0000

I am a DIY kind of guy, in some instances anyway. I change my own oil; I can hook up your home theater and fix your computer. I’m not that great when it comes to building stuff from a pile of wood though. I can build it, but it might not be straight or stand up and stuff. If you like to build things that require power tools and wood the Final Cut saw blade may be the coolest gadget in your toolbox.

Final Cut looks like a plain old saw blade for your table saw. The difference is that on the sides of the saw blade where there is usually nothing, the Final Cut blade has sand paper. That means you can cut your trim pieces and sand the cuts at the same time.

I once had a dog named Gordy that liked to eat toilet paper, which was cool because he could drop a deuce and wipe at the same time. The Final Cut saw blade is sort of like good ol’ Gordy taking care of two things at one time. You can get a 10-inch blade for $64.95 and replacement sand paper discs for $27 per four pack.

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Asus P6X58D Premium mainboard for Intel LGA1366 CPUs launches

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:32:37 +0000

Asus was whipping new mainboards out at CeBIT earlier this month and now that the show is over, Asus is still offering up new hardware. Asus has unveiled a new mainboard today called the P6X58D Premium aimed at enthusiasts looking to build up a sweet Intel LGA1366 rig.

The new board supports the 32nm 6-core processors that are on the roadmap and has lots of other high-end features. The board has six SATA 3Gb/s ports and a pair of 6Gb/s SATA ports too. It also has two USB 3.0 ports on the rear panel and eight more USB 2.0 ports to boot.

The board supports up to 24GB of RAM and uses the Intel X58 chipset with ISCG10R. Asus uses the NEC USB 3.0 controller and has the mainboard has a pair of FireWire ports. Both 3-way SLI from NVIDIA and CrossFireX from ATI are supported. The board uses a fanless cooling system and supports DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC sound.

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Novothink Solar Surge for iPhone and iPod touch debuts

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:17:13 +0000

One day I hope that all my gadgets get power from the sun or other methods that don’t require me to remember to plug them in. I like my iPhone, but the thing sucks down power when I play games on it like a boozehound with a fresh six-pack. If you are out all day with your iPhone or iPod touch and want some extra juice, Novothink has a new solar charger called the Solar Surge that is just for you.

The Solar Surge is a slip on case that is a bit reminiscent of the Mophie Juice Pack with an open top. The Surge has a solar panel on the back and an internal lithium ion battery that provides extra run time for your iPhone.

The Solar Surge can also be plugged into a USB port to charge when you aren’t out in the sun. The iPhone version has a 1320mAH internal battery and the iPod touch version is 1500mAh. Both versions use smart changing to stop drawing power when the battery is full. 3G talk time on the iPhone using the thing is up to four hours longer than without it. The iPhone version is $79.95 and the iPod touch version is $69.95.

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Qualcomm patent app shows multi-fold device to replace smartphone and tablets

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:02:40 +0000

We all know that half the cool stuff we see in patent applications won’t ever make it to market. I have decided that lots of the really cool patents applied for are nothing more than a way to capitalize on the possibility of such tech coming in the future and being able to sue. Qualcomm has filed a patent application for a multi-fold device that looks interesting.

The patent app shows a device that can be spread out flat to be used as a TV, folder into a cell phone or folded into a tablet style device with a keyboard section. The idea is interesting, but the gaps created at the fold lines would drive me crazy if I tried to watch TV on something like that.

The patent app also says that the UI will change depending on how the device is folded. That would mean when folded like a cell phone you would get a thumb pad and number pad for calls. Fold it like a notebook and get a keyboard on one section and a display on the other.

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Apple Store down: iPad incoming

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:54:07 +0000

It should come as little surprise, what with the well-publicized iPad preorder sale starting today, but the Apple Store has been taken down for updating. Apple’s new tablet kicks off at $499 and is expected to go on sale at 8.30am EST; of course, Apple could surprise us and add a few more updates into the mixture as well. Recent rumors have tipped an updated Mac Pro desktop, using Intel’s new Core i7-980 Gulftown processor.

There has also been disappointment recently regarding Apple’s apparent reluctance to put one of the newer Core i5 or i7 processors into their MacBook Pro line, which is currently still using the last-generation of Core 2 Duo chips. Still, we wouldn’t be surprised if Apple kept today’s excitement solely for the iPad.

The WiFi-only iPad models will be priced at $499 for the 16GB iPad, $599 for the 32GB iPad and $699 for the 64GB iPad. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait until late-April for the 3G version of the tablet, which will be priced at $629, $729 and $829 respectively for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models.

Apple iPad demo video:

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HTC Incredible snapped in Verizon livery

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:51:37 +0000

Other than the iPhone, it really seems to me that Verizon gets most of the cool phones first. Maybe AT&T is afraid another cool phone that users actually use for data on their network will do them in. We have been hearing grumblings about the HTC Incredible for a while now and the device has been spied all decked out for Verizon service.

We know some of the details on the handset already. The beastie will get an 8MP camera with dual LED flash and a Snapdragon processor running at 768MHz rather than the 1GHz it is capable of. I would guess that the CPU speed is underclocked to reduce heat and extend battery life.

Other know features of the device include 512MB of ROM, 512MB of RAM, Android 2.1 with Sense UI, an optical track pad, FM tuner, and WiFi. The handset uses a big 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED screen with a resolution of 800 x 480 and a 1300mAH battery.

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QUE proReader delayed until summer

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:43:02 +0000

I am not typically one to pre-order products. I like to be able to just walk into a store, buy the thing, and take it home. One of the reasons I don’t like pre-orders is that you never really know when you will get the device until it actually ships. Such is the case with the geeks who pre-ordered the expensive QUE proReader a while back.

At the time pre-orders started the reader was supposed to ship in the middle of April. One person who pre-ordered the device has sent an email received from the CEO of QUE over to Engadget. According to the email, the QUE is being delayed until sometime later in the summer.

The reason given in the email is that QUE wants more time to “fine tune features and enhance the overall product experience.” When companies spout marketing speak like that, what I really hear is “the thing doesn’t work right and we are fixing it.” The upside if you have pre-ordered is that your credit card hasn’t been charged yet and you can cancel and take your $650 to $800 depending on the version you ordered and get yourself an iPad or two.

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Zoom drops new G2Nu and G2.1Nu guitar pedals for rockers

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:32:13 +0000

My lack of musical talent has been well documented. I attribute my musical inability to the lack of interest in any sort of practice. Guitarists have all sorts of gadgets and gear they can use to make their music sound better and different like effects pedals and other stuff. A company called Zoom has unveiled a couple new effects pedals for guitarists called the G2Nu and the G2.1Nu.

The new pedals offer features that were created with the help of Steve Vai. The devices get overdrive/distortion sounds along with twenty different guitar amp and stomp box effects for different sounds that include gain settings and harmonic character.

The pedals have patches that offer musicians sounds from the 60’s and 70’s and the G2.1Nu adds an integrated expression pedal for more control over the sound. Both of the devices can allow for recording to a computer with USB outputs and feature a 1.9-inch LCD for settings and more. Free software to allow the user to monitor and capture tones on the computer is available for download to go with both the devices.

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Wood + ratcheting tie down = ladder perfect for city folk

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:16:47 +0000

About this time last year, I bought a new house. The new place has ceilings that are 12-feet tall in some rooms. The company who designed the AC system must have thought it would be funny to put the place where filters go on the 12-foot ceiling, which meant my 6-foot stepladder was no good. I don’t own a truck so when it came time to buy that new 10-foot stepladder so I could change the filter I ended up driving down the highway, with the top down on my convertible, trying to hold a 10-foot ladder with one hand and shift gears at the same time.

You always hear about designing a better mousetrap, but what about designing a better ladder? This ladder concept is actually cool, and looks like something you could whip up yourself. The thing uses one of those ratcheting motorcycle tie downs and a couple pieces of wood. When you need to carry the ladder somewhere or store it, the ladder comes apart easily.

The tie down works like a handle for carrying it around and keeps the thing from falling apart when you are at the top. The downside to the design is that it’s one of those ladders that needs to lean on something, not a stepladder. Still, the design is cool and the thing is a great idea.

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HOTT MD500 super-budget Android MID taunts us on video

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:59:02 +0000

Remember the 7-inch HOTT MD700 MID spotted back at CES 2010 and tipped to be arriving at distributors priced at $120 apiece? The Chinese company is back with another, smaller model, and the best news is that it should be even cheaper: the HOTT MD500 has a 4.8-inch display and runs Android, and will be just $92 for distributors (assuming you only use microSD for storage).

Video demo after the cut

HOTT are referring to the MD500 as their “iPad killer”, though given the disparity between the screen sizes that seems a little tongue-in-cheek. The 4.8-inch touchscreen runs at 800 x 480 WVGA and the whole thing is a little smaller than the Archos 5 Internet Tablet currently on the market.

Currently the MD500 runs Android 1.5 with HOTT’s own UI enhancements, and inside is a Rockchip ARM9 chipset capable of multiple video codecs. In fact the only real disappointment here is the limited battery life; HOTT reckon you’ll only see 5hrs of ebook reading or 3hrs or video viewing. Still, if it can reach the market for under $120 or so after it hits mass production this summer, we reckon there’ll be a few people willing to live with that.

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Galaxy dual core GTS 250 video card makes geeks drool

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:55:21 +0000

If you are a PC gaming geek that likes new gaming hardware for your rig, step back a bit so you don’t drool all over your $150 gaming keyboard before you read this. Galaxy has unveiled its suitably awesome dual-core GTS 250 retail edition video card with dual fans to keep things nice and frosty.

According to Galaxy the card turned in a 3Dmark Vantage score of P13946 putting in somewhere between the GTX 285 and GTX 260 in performance. The cards cooling solution has a pair of 7cm fans and the surface of the cooler is made from aluminum.

That is all the details that Galaxy is giving up on the slick dual GPU video card right now, which admittedly isn’t much. The company isn’t willing to part with important specs like GPU clocks, pricing, and availability.

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OutRun real-world gaming cart simulates road, allows for real accidents

Chris Davies — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:31:12 +0000

Take a SEGA OutRun arcade cabinet, strap on a go-kart and get a university to fund the whole thing, and you’re approaching Garnet Hertz’s “immersive driving experience” project. The UC Irvine post-doctoral researcher has adapted the road-ready (though we’re not sure how legal) setup to track the upcoming highway and convert it into the 8-bit on-screen graphics. That way, you drive a real vehicle down a virtual road.

Given there’s more to road safety than tracking the white lines Hertz’s system follows in order to fashion its graphics – which come complete with OutRun-style palm trees, naturally – the golf cart based vehicle only manages a 15mph top speed. Hopefully the driver thus has enough attention to keep an eye on other vehicles and pedestrians.

Still, the researcher doesn’t actually expect any of this to end up on the open road; instead, it’s intended to highlight the limitations of computer vision and the discrepancies between real-life and games. ”No matter how good computer vision is, it is never going to be completely perfect” Hertz explains, “Computer vision is never as good, as complete, as the real world.”

[via Kotaku]

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