Gadget Access

Posted Mar 5th 2008 12:17PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Misc. gadgets
What’s the use in having a wireless set of cans to rock with and a separate contraption to make / receive Skype calls on? Exactly, thus the Logitech ClearChat PC was born. Of course, it’s certainly not the first cordless set of stereo headphones to sport a microphone, but being that it’s built on 2.4GHz technology, you can finally take your calling habits wherever you go in the house (well, within 33 feet of the USB transmitter) without fear of static ruining a good pep talk. Quite frankly, it’s a little unsightly for our tastes, but those who can overlook that can pick one up (in the US and Europe, mind you) for $99.99 this May.

For those of you who have that dream of backpacking through Europe, you might want to take something to blog your experience. The Backpakcer’s Diary is a PC concept that is made to be more durable and flexible, specifically designed for outdoor usage.

For example, the user does not have to worry about finding a cord to power this particular device as the Backpacker’s Diary comes with a flexible solar panel. Personally, I didn’t think we were at the point where we could charge our PCs with solar power, because I myself am still addicted to the cord.

It also has some other features that would come in handy for portable PC action. There is a GPS for guiding weary travelers on their way, and there is some wireless Internet action as well. Also, you don’t have to worry about writing in the dark with its EL light source. Another feature is a quick recording feature, just in case you want to walk and talk at the same time.

All in all, the Backpacker’s Diary Concept PC looks like quite a tool for those who want to take their indoor work outdoors. Just looking at it makes me want to hit the woods and still be in contact with the Internet.

Source

Posted Mar 5th 2008 11:19AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Storage
Just like fine wine, the HDD Stage Rack keeps getting better with age. On its third iteration now, the latest version of the external HDD cradle not only includes the obligatory USB and eSATA ports, but it also boasts a 6-pin FireWire 400 connector and two FireWire 800 sockets. ‘Course, this thing isn’t slated to be available for US hands until the end of this month, but that’ll give you a few weeks to swallow the lofty $165.33 price tag, at least.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

Posted Mar 5th 2008 9:53AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: cellphones
Remember how the folks at the Meizu booth swore up and down that the M8 Mini One wasn’t that similar to the iphone? Well apparently the Hanover police think otherwise. According to a report, the booth (shown above in its vacated state) was shut down by cops for piracy during CeBIT and passersby were told that, “The venue is closed until further notice.” It appears that after stopping down the M8 show, cops proceeded to confiscate equipment and literature associated with the painfully obvious knock-off, and will be making a more detailed statement on Thursday in regards to the action. Meizu, it might be time to get yourself a makeover… and a good attorney.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in; Image courtesy Heise Online]

Samsung’s latest announcement means they are getting closer to putting 1TB of storage with a single drive into notebooks. The newly announced Spinpoint M6 hard drive is the “world’s first” 2.5-inch 500GB notebook drive.

The 500GB hard drive was produced by combining three 167GB platters into the hard drives small frame which achieves the 500GB total capacity. Despite its storage capacity, the Spinpoint M6 still boasts a 5,400 RPM capability. Fast enough for most everyone’s mobile computing needs. Samsung has announced the drive is currently shipping, however they have not yet announced which PC maker will be carrying the hard drive.

The Spinpoint M6 becomes Samsung’s latest attempt at putting 1TB of storage in a laptop. Earlier this year they announced the M79S laptop and were able to combine two 500GB hard drives in select Hitachi laptops.

Andy Higginbotham, director of hard drive sales and marketing, Samsung semiconductor said that the hard drive was a result of customers demand for more notebook storage to accommodate data, video and music files.

“Our Spinpoint M6 easily fits within notebook PCs with no modification to the notebook PC chassis, giving users more storage power than ever before,” says Higginbotham.

Other technical details of the Samsung Spinpoint M6 include:

• 5400 RPM Spindle Speed
• 8MB Cache
• 3.0Gbps SATA interface with free-fall-sensor
• Perpendicular magnetic recording technology
• Flying-on-demand head technology

The Samsung Spinpoint M6 is currently available and retails for $299.

Read [Samsung]

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I recently discovered docstoc.com through a colleague and almost instantly became addicted. .docstoc is a user-generated community built for free-sharing professional documents (legal, business, technology, education, and creative). Did I mention that it’s a free service?

Whether you’re creating a lease or contract for a new tenant, or starting a new job and in need of a strategy deck, you’ll find an abundance of high-quality examples in multiple formats (: .doc, .pdf, .xls, .ppt, .ppt, .txt).

A somewhat social community, you’ll find a highly engaged user-base viewing, downloading, rating, and commenting on all documents.

My favorite feature is the “request tab.” If you can’t find the document you’re in search of, you can add the title, tags, categories, language, and file type of any document and when any other user subsequently uploads the document, you’ll get it sent to you by email.

Visit docstoc.com for more information.

When you think about it, the cars parked outside the house must be fuming over what goes on inside during the holidays. Balloons and streamers for birthday parties, wreaths and stockings for Christmas, tablecloths and autumn-colored centerpieces for Thanksgiving. “The house gets everything!” the cars are saying beneath their honking. And they’re right. Sure, they get fed, cleaned, and tuned up from time to time, but that’s hardly a celebration.

Silence their (g)rumbling engines this Easter with a pair of 16″ plush ears to hook over their windows and a 4.5″ pink nose to wire to their grilles. Be careful what you wish for, eh, cars?

Available for $15.95 from What on Earth.

Via bookofjoe.

Posted Mar 5th 2008 10:45AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: cellphones, Wireless
Truth be told, there’s nothing extraordinary about Sierra Wireless’ latest EV-DO USB modem. It plays nice with Rev. A networks, includes a microSD slot, and comes with TRU-Install to simplify the setup procedure. Granted, it is “the only product in its class to include a connector for an external antenna (saywha?),” and it is remarkably small, so it’s still worth a look if you’re currently doing without. As expected, you’ll reach downlink speeds of up to 3.1Mbps and upload speeds of up to 1.8Mbps, and the built-in GPS antenna is a nice bonus, too. Unfortunately, we’ve no idea how costly this one will be, but be on the lookout for a Q2 launch.

[Via MobileBurn]

Posted Mar 5th 2008 7:20AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Misc. gadgets
We’re not exactly sure what’s up with using sodas to celebrate the launch of something, but apparently, the folks in Redmond just totally dig it. For (at least) the second time in as many years, Microsoft has selected a lemon-lime beverage to create buzz (and fizz, we suppose) about a particular product launch. C’mon Microsoft, we know you like to stick to your guns, but what’s a fellow got to do to get some rebadged NuGrape?

Samsung has unveiled their latest ultra-portable notebook. The P200 features a 12.1-inch display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 graphics card, Bluetooth 2.0, a built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam, 6-in-1 card reader, an ExpressCard slot and two USB ports. Aside from a decent set of specs the one downfall is the 4.1-pounds that it weighs in at.

According to Samsung the P200 will give you over 3 hours of real world battery life, of course I am sure with some true user testing we could expect to see that a little bit lower.

Sadly the P200 does not look like it will be landing in the States anytime soon, instead headed for the European and Korean market. The P200 is currently available and retailing for €999 (around $1,517 US).

Via [electronista] Via [ubergizmo]

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