Gadget Access

Whether you are into the recent popularity of the ultra-portable notebooks that have been swamping the market lately, or just sitting back and waiting for it to finish, its hard to deny that some of the pre-loaded operating systems are less than desirable. While the pre-installed OS on the Eee PC from Asus is limited and seems slightly child-like, its very functional, especially when compared the the gOS that comes loaded on the Everex Cloudbook that is slightly painful to use.

Given the options available lots of people have been choosing to install an older, albeit still very functional OS, Windows XP. However in some good news coming from the Linux front, Mark Shuttleworth, the CEO if Canonical has given up some excellent information in a recent interview with The Guardian. Its news that should make any ultra-portable and Ubuntu fan very happy, they are planning on launching a new flavor of Ubuntu, dubbed the “Netbook Remix.” The OS, which is being worked on closely with Intel is expected to be announced during Computex, which takes place during the first week of June. Luckily this is just a short time away, hopefully the Netbook Remix OS will be available shortly after the announcement with drivers to support the wide variety of ultra-portables currently on the market.

Read [The Guardian] Via [Gizmodo]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

by Darren Murph, posted May 24th 2008 at 11:35PM
When Rock fell under administration earlier this month, we honestly had no idea if we’d ever see that swank Pegasus 210 hit the market. Today, we still have no clue about the latter, but we do know that the failed company has been caught by the most impeccably named suitor Planet Earth has to offer: Stone. Reportedly, Stone Group will dish out “an undisclosed sum” for Rock, after which the two will meld together and form an all-powerful, completely unstoppable boulder. Watch out Mount Rushmore, you’ve got some serious competition now.

[Via vnunet]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 13 Comments

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

While the MSI Wind is expected to be available shortly, new details are clearing up the operating system options and pricing. We have already learned that the Wind will feature (in the US) a 10-inch display with a 1024 x 600 resolution, and have other options to include a built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam, 4-in-1 card reader along with Wi-Fi 80.211 b/g and an 80GB hard drive.

It is now clear that the Wind will also be offered with your choice of either Windows XP or Novell’s SUSE Linux pre-installed. The Windows XP based model will retail for $549 and offer a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, Bluetooth and a six-cell battery that is expected to give up to six-hours of life. The SUSE based model will be priced a little lower, coming in at $399 and offer up 512MB of RAM, however it will be missing the Bluetooth and also come with just a three-cell battery which is expected to give around two and a half hours of life.

Hopefully the Wind will launch as expected on June 3.

Via [CrunchGear]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

The term “computer desk” generally refers to a desk that was made for people using a computer, right? You’ll see things like a keyboard drawer, maybe a monitor riser and perhaps even some CD holders. However, the designer of this desk has taken the term in the literal sense, and created a desk that is also a computer.

While I couldn’t ever switch to something like this, I think it is an awesome concept for high-end offices. It removes all traces of the computer, save the monitor. When upgrades or repairs are needed, just simply open the lid (I’d keep it locked to prevent employees from just opening it up and poking around) and you have complete access to all of the vital components. The only thing that appears to be lacking is a feature found on almost every simple computer desk; a keyboard drawer. Perhaps you just can’t see if from this angle, but I would hope that they included one in their design.

Source: Dvice

• Email to a friend
• Leave a comment

While still unconfirmed, some further details have begun to leak out about the upcoming Eee Box from Asus. Although these are far from official, TrustedReviews are claiming the specs have come courtesy of a “very reliable” source.

Which at this point any information is welcome, with the Eee Box, we have had very little to go on aside from the early mock-up images and then the leaked image, which most felt looked not nearly as nice as the mock-ups. Otherwise we have heard that was set for a July release, but the specs have been elusive.

The new details are placing the Eee Box with a June 3 announcement during Computex and that it will feature 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and be running the same operating system that is found on the very lovable Eee PC notebook. As far as the availability, that is looking like its going to first be available in the UK during Q3 in white. No word yet on any black version, although it seems very likely given the past history with Asus. still unavailable is the pricing.

Via [TrustedReviews]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

If you were looking to purchase a Zune at Gamestop, your luck has run out. The gaming retailer has decided to stop selling the Zune because “it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated.” Gamestop, apparently has changed their attitude because they originally started offering the Zune as a pre-order from the time of its release back in November of 2006. Microsoft seems not all that worried from the lack of support at Gamestop, Adam Sohn, director of marketing for Zune recently stated;

“We have a set of great partnerships that give Zune a strong presence at retail including Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart and others. We will continue to invest in retail partnerships and have seen good momentum online and at retail over the last few months.”

Even though they’ve sold two million Zune players already, that apparently wasn’t enough appeal for Gamestop to stay in the, err, game. Anybody else sense Xbox 360-syncing coming soon followed by a great sense of regret? While Gamestop has discontinued offering the Zune, they will continue to have them in-store until the current inventory runs out.

Via [Engadget]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

by Nilay Patel, posted May 24th 2008 at 7:09PM
Some interesting electric car developments went down in England recently — Liberty Electric Cars announced plans to covert “tens of thousands” cars and SUVs to electric operation, starting with the Range Rover, and NICE previewed a scissor-door concept it’ll be showing at the London Auto Show. Liberty’s pumping £30M ($59.3M) into a new factory that will start converting Range Rovers to electric vehicles using a “state-of-the-art” drivetrain good for 200 miles on a single charge. You’ll have to pay for the privilege, though — pricing is expected to run between £95,000 ($188,128) and £125,000 ($247,537).

Similarly, English outfit No Intenal Combustion Engine (NICE, very cute) is previewing an all-electric sports car that it plans to show off at the London Auto Show in July. Although it’s just a prototype, the company says that it hints at a future production model. Details are pretty light, but here’s hoping those hot scissor doors make in into production.

Read - Liberty electric Range Rovers
Read - NICE prototype

[Via Electricpig and InventorSpot]

• Permalink
• Email this
• 15 Comments

Filed under: Transportation

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 24th 2008 at 6:05PM
A leaky update faucet let in-the-know users get in on this one a little early, but HTC’s now ready to trumpet its official Windows Mobile 6.1 update for its TyTN II to the world. Besides 6.1, the new release packs in the “display performance update” promised some time ago to help put a cap on the cursing and fist-shaking being displayed by owners of various HTC devices lately — but as we understand it, this isn’t a true driver, so don’t expect miracles. AT&T Tilt folks who want to play it straight will have to wait some undefined additional period of time for their carrier to get its act together and release the update, but their European comrades can head on over to HTC’s site now and kick off the download.

[Image via MoDaCo]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 8 Comments

Filed under: cellphones, Handhelds

Yet another well known artist taking full advantage of the Internet—and what better way to attract wide spread online attention, just use YouTube, along with the mentions of numerous Internet celebrities. The new single Pork and Beans from Weezer offers up cameos from those such as the Numa Numa Guy, to Peanut Butter Jelly Time to Chocolate Rain, mentos and coke along with many, many more. Whether you love Weezer or hate them, personally its a great song with just an alright video, but as an online geek you have to admit its fun to watch. Keep reading to check out the video and judge for yourself.

Watch [YouTube] Via [Digg]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

Trusted Reviews reviews the Samsung i640 and writes, “There is a front-facing camera for video calling. The 2-megapixel main camera is not much to write home about but it has a self-portrait mirror, and its back facing lens is hidden behind the slide when it is not needed, which should help with protection against scratching…The side-mounted camera button has long and short press functions; with a short press taking you to the Windows Mobile ‘Quick List’ profile switcher and a long press activating the camera itself…With the camera active, pressing up and down on the navi button accesses zoom while pressing left and right controls white balance. The camera options available are pretty standard, with the main novelty being a ‘mosaic’ shooting mode that lets you combine four pictures into a single one by shooting four segments one at a time.”

Read more about the Samsung i640.