Gadget Access

Posted Jan 28th 2008 5:46AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment var Gartner, the fat lady of research firms, is singing HD DVD’s swan song this morning. Hiroyuki Shimizu, Principal Research Analyst in Japan, says in Gartner’s Semiconductor DQ Monday Report that, “Gartner believes that Toshiba’s price-cutting may prolong HD DVD’s life a little, but the limited line-up of film titles will inflict fatal damage on the format.” He goes on to call the recent price cuts “useless resistance” in avoiding the inevitable. What’s that, you coyly ask? According to Shimizu, “Gartner expects that, by the end of 2008, Blu-ray will be the winning format in the consumer market, and the war will be over.” With 5 of the 7 major studios now backing Blu-ray exclusively, Gartner’s certainty on the subject doesn’t appear to be much of a stretch.

Posted Jan 28th 2008 12:38AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Cellphones
Sure, it seemed like we’d heard the end of the story on HTC phones and the case of the missing drivers, but the cats over at the xda-developers forum have something else in mind. There is currently a $5199.51 bounty on offer from various members of the group for a hacker (or hackers) who can come up with drivers to get their Kaisers’ Direct 3D up to par, thus increasing the video capabilities of the phone. If you’ve followed the case, you’ll know that HTC has essentially stonewalled users looking for an upgrade to their poorly performing handsets, and has intimated that if customers want improved video performance, they should look to future hardware as opposed to upgrades on their current models. Clearly owners are looking to take matters into their own hands — and they’re willing to pay for it. We can’t wait to see what they come up with, and if anyone out there has the ability and the time, here’s a stack of cash that could be yours.

[Thanks, Jaime]

Posted Jan 28th 2008 1:53AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Gaming
Holy Teraflops gamers, AMD just launched the Radeon HD 3870 X2. Their new flagship card previously known by its R680 codename features a pair of RV670 GPUs with CrossFireX built-in to a single card. According to HotHardware’s performance testing, The 3870 X2 was “usually the highest performing single-card in the group.” Yes, that group includes the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX. Here’s the rub though, according to HotHardWare: the X2’s performance is determined by how well the card’s drivers scale in a particular game — a new game without appropriate support renders the card’s performance to that of a single-GPU HD 3870. A problem initially demonstrated during their Crysis testing and later solved with a new set of AMD drivers. Still, as PCPer sums-up, the ~$449 3870 X2 meets or beats NVIDIA’s best in today’s most demanding DX9 and DX10 titles and should be on your “short list” if searching for the ultimate performance graphics card.

Read — PC Perspective
Read — Hot Hardware
Read — Press Release

Posted Jan 27th 2008 10:16PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Transportation, Networking
It’s coming to planes, so it was bound to make its way onto trains. According to a report, a 45-mile commuter railroad line in Massachusetts is about to get a WiFi upgrade, bringing wireless connections to more than 18,000 passengers across 17 stations. Utilizing Sprint’s EV-DO service, this will be the largest deployment of train-based WiFi outside of Europe and will bring access to 45 coach cars in the line. “There is not one commuter rail system in the country that has this right now,” said Kris Erickson, MBTA deputy chief of staff, adding, “We know there are going to be some technical glitches, but we want to get in there and test it in a real environment and get a much better idea how to do it.” The plan is to eventually bless all 13 commuter lines in Massachusetts with wireless capabilities, thus allowing networked games of Sid Meier’s Railroads! to actually be played while on a railroad.

[Via Wi-Fi Networking News]

Another hour another pink phone coming, this time its from AT&T in the form of the Sony Ericsson W580i. As usual with the newly colored handsets, the W580i is going to keep the same specs as the original black model that was launched back in October.

The pink W580i retails for $79.99 after a mail-in-rebate and comes along with a 2-year agreement.

Read [AT&T] Via [EngadgetMobile]

Posted Jan 28th 2008 3:03AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Laptops
Sure, it looks like the Eee, it sports the same CPU as the Eee, heck, it even appears to use the Eee’s OS — but it’s actually the CM900! What does that mean? Well for starters, you’ll pay more money for less computer ($349.99 for a 2GB system, the same price for a 4GB ASUS)… but of course you’ll have that CybertronPC name to fall back on. Honestly, we’d say this was a rebrand if it weren’t for the minor differences in specs, and who knows — maybe it is. If not, however, this is the knock-offingest knock-off we’ve seen in a good long while. Far be it from us to condemn the CybertronPC gang for trying to get in while the gettin’s good, but maybe next time these guys could at least give us a fair shake on the storage / price breakdown?

[Thanks, Brian]

Posted Jan 27th 2008 8:13PM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Robots
Ever wondered what would happen if you were to pit the Wowwee Roboquad against an excitable, yapping puppy? Wonder no longer, friends, as the answer to this age-old question has been captured on video — replete with NES sound effects and 8-bit scorecard. Watch the battle for ultimate supremacy after the break… our money is on the dog.

[Via Digg]

People that are interested in using Skype to communicate with others for free, need a good gadget to listen and speak. A headset with microphone is probably one of the most used products, but the latest keyboard launched by Buffalo can change the scenario.

Codenamed BKBU-SKJ109/SV, the keyboard will become available at the end of the year in Japan, with a price tag of $65. As you can see on the image, by the right side of the NumPad, there is extra space for the Skype phone - meaning that you can say goodbye to the uncomfortable Skype headsets.

Besides the incorporated phone, the upcoming Buffalo keyboard is like any other keyboard.

Via Dvice

People that travel a lot, tend to take plenty of adapters to keep all the gadgets with charge, but if you only want to take one adapter, this Universal device is the best option.

Basically, it features a USB Power Port , which means that you can easily charge your cellphone, laptop, MP3 player, and other devices. To indicate when the power is on, or off, there is a power indicator light - much like what happens with USB flash drives.

Since it is made for travelers, it has to be light and small, that is why it weighs 80 grams, and has the following dimensions: 62 x 48 x 50mm.

The Universal Travel Adapter with USB Power Port costs $17.

• Use with Class II electronic device up to 3A (Max. 100V~250V/50~60Hz) and the UK
• Eliminates the need to carry multiple adapters

Product Page