Gadget Access

When Apple first announced the SDK, it was supposed to be available by the end of February 2008. Now with just about one week left, Business Week is reporting that the long awaited iphone SDK will be anywhere from one to three weeks late.

Business Week has stated that this news has come from “one source” and as of now there has not been any official confirmation or comment regarding the delay from Apple.

Read [Business Week]

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Posted Feb 23rd 2008 3:20PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Digital CamerasWithout any definitive rhyme nor reason, it appears that Leica’s CEO, Steven K. Lee, has been “removed from power by the company’s supervisory board.” Reportedly, Mr. Lee has been replaced by the firm’s owner and board chairman Andreas Kaufman, who will run the company jointly with board financial controller and treasurer, Andreas Lobejäger, until later this month. Interestingly, we’re not told who will pick up the reins permanently after that — nor exactly why the decision was made — but we suppose it’s only a matter of hours before we find out.

[Via 1001 Noisy Cameras]

With an overall positive review, Walt Mossberg claims the X300 is “a solid, innovative laptop that will be perfect for many mobile PC users.” Making the obvious comparison to its rival, the X300 seems to have a little more to offer feature wise as compared to the macbook air, with a few downfalls coming from the operating system and battery life.

“I believe that both the Mac operating system and the software that comes with it are superior to the Windows operating system and built-in software offered on the ThinkPad.”

I have to agree with him on the OS, but this is just a matter of preference and we will also have our personal reasons for which OS we prefer. Mossberg goes on to mention the battery life, which was only slightly less on the X300. The X300 battery life lasted 3 hours and 5 minutes, which is about 24 minutes less than that of the MacBook Air when running similar services. The battery testing was done with the power-saving features turned off, the screen set to be as bright as can be with Wi-Fi turned on and music playing on repeat.

The X300 does have some notable extras over the Air that include an ethernet port, 3 USB ports, internal DVD drive and a removable battery, but that does come with a little more weight. Depending on the configuration of the X300 it can be as much as 3.5-pounds where the MacBook Air comes in at 3-pounds even. A few other options that are available with the X300 are wireless USB, WiMAX, WWAN access and GPS.

Mossberg ends his review with a statement of praise, claiming the ThinkPad X300 is “a notable engineering accomplishment” and would be “perfect for many mobile PC users” assuming they do not mind the price, which will run up to about $3000.

Read [All Things Digital]

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TiVo currently has a new special going for the TiVo HD DVR. For a limited time you can now get a refurbished model for just $199.99. That price does require a one year service obligation which will run you an additional $12.95 a month or $129 for the full year. As we mentioned this is just for a limited time and the offer will end on April 2.

Read [TiVo] Via [Boy Genius Report]

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Posted Feb 23rd 2008 1:07PM by Ben Drawbaugh
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Some rumors never die, and this one we heard even before the official Warner press release was issued. Now that the format war is officially over, newspapers and magazines everywhere are looking back on the events preceding Toshiba’s announcement. While no one really knows why each studio made its decision, The Globe and Mail cites “analysts” who think the payoff was a factor. Well, we asked Warner point blank about the payoff rumor and Kevin Tsujihara, president, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group said that it “was not a bidding war” and that it really came down to Q4 sales. This answer leaves us with the impression that while some money probably changed hands, the real reason why Warner went Blu was because during all of 2007 the Blu-ray versions of Warner’s titles always outsold the hd dvd. The bottom line is that regardless of any single payoff, since Warner owns most of the home media market, it had the most to lose if it waited too long to chose a format. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

Posted Feb 23rd 2008 1:38PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment
If you’ll recall, Samsung announced plans last November to expand an 8G LCD plant sans Sony — now, Reuters is reporting that Sony is aiming to start procuring LCD TV panels from Sharp, possibly within the next business year. Apparently, the deal with Sharp would allow it to “secure enough panels to meet fast-growing LCD TV demand without heavy capital investments,” and considering that Sharp is already planning to construct the world’s largest LCD factory by 2010, we’d say this works out quite nicely for it, too. Needless to say, the global demand for all things LCD seems to be going nowhere but up, but here’s to hoping those prices continue to head in the opposite direction for the consumers’ sake.

From the makers of Cableyoyo and Cool Feet laptop cooler comes this highly functional and elegantly simple cable organizer and USB hub for laptops. Like other products from Bluelounge, by itself, the SpaceStation doesn’t look like much, but put it to use with your laptop, multiple peripherals, and other junk, and it totally changes the look of your workspace.

Hook up your laptop and all your devices (to the internal 4-port USB hub) and wrap the cords around the coiling pins underneath (the cords can enter at any point all around the station, no need to force it to feed through a particular spot), place the top of your laptop on the station (which makes for a more ergonomic keyboard angle, AND keeps air flowing under the laptop to prevent overheating), and use the rest of the surface space to hold your ipod or other small devices. In addition, there’s a rear accessory rail to slip in business cards, pages you’re working with, or notes to remind you to make calls. Sells for $79.95 at Bluelounge.

Click below to see “after” photos.

Pyramat already had a popular gaming chair for gaming consoles, but this one is made for the PC. It provides cool features, a nice design, and a new sensation while playing games.

Thanks to the wireless digital transmitter, you can connect the PC Gaming Chair to your computer, and start listening to all the audio content on the built-in 2 speakers and 4-inch subwoofer.

To make the chair more stylish, the speakers come with blue LED lights. And for a better usability, the mouse-wheel controls are located on the right armrest.

The Pyramat Wireless PC Gaming Chair 2.1 is priced at $290, and its built-in battery provides up to 5 hours of fun.

Product Page

Posted Feb 23rd 2008 9:52AM by Joshua Topolsky
Tired of the air not doing enough for you? Well, a new project called Green Freedom — headed up by researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory — seeks to improve air’s contribution to our planet. The new technology would provide a method of extracting CO2 from the air and then converting the gas into fuel for cars or airplanes — thus sucking out toxins from our atmosphere while creating a renewable energy source. The process uses a form of electrochemical separation to siphon juice out of the typically poisonous gas, yet has a low environmental impact with a small waste-stream output. The plan calls for the use of existing plants, which will stem the need to build new facilities, enabling the environmental footprint to remain relatively small. Clearly, it’s not being put into general practice yet, but it’s a hopeful taste of things to come.

[Via Inhabitat]

Posted Feb 23rd 2008 7:53AM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets It’s not the first method we’ve seen for blinding security cameras, but this new DIY / art project from the folks at Oberwelt e.V. looks to be one of the simplest, and one of the few that could conceivably be used on an everyday basis. Dubbed the I-R.A.S.C. (for “infra-redlight against surveillance camera”), the device apparently consists simply of a series of infrared lights connected to a battery, which combine to blot out your face with a slightly unnerving glow. Needless to say, while it appears to hide your identity quite effectively, it doesn’t exactly scream subtlety, so you’d best think of some excuses to explain yourself if you actually plan on trying this thing out in public.

[Via Coolest gadgets]