by Darren Murph, posted Nov 17th 2008 at 1:24AM Okay, so maybe Memorex’s Profile 1.1 MVBD-2510 was only $269 from the get-go, but busting through the unofficial $150 price barrier is a pretty big deal for Blu-ray. Granted, we’re totally expecting a few more to join the fold come Black Friday, but who’s not all about buying from the comfort of one’s home versus braving frigid temperatures only to catch eight airborne diseases and shave 2.85 years from your life due to statistically significant levels of stress on a day off? Bottom line: $139.99 for a BD deck is pretty darn cheap (even for Woot’s standards), and even if there’s no BD-Live support baked in, it’ll still handle the 1080p basics. (Read the full post about ‘Memorex MVBD-2510 Blu-ray player hits $139.99 (but not for long)’…)
by Darren Murph, posted Nov 16th 2008 at 6:09AM It was inevitable, really — now that ARM processors are bound for netbooks and the like, it follows logic that ARM would tag team with Canonical to bring along Ubuntu support. The two firms have collaborated in order to “bring the full Ubuntu Desktop operating system to the ARMv7 processor architecture (targeting the Cortex-A8 and Cortex -A9 in particular) to address demand from device manufacturers.” They even go out of their way to assert that this is all about bringing Ubuntu to “new netbooks and hybrid computers,” though we’re still hopeful that the OS will find its way into even more diminutive ARM-powered devices in the future. (Read the full post about ‘Canonical bringing Ubuntu to ARM-powered devices’…)
by Laura June, posted Nov 16th 2008 at 11:03PM ASUS’ P565 has been pretty much unofficial until now, though we did see some alleged photos and specs of the device not terribly long ago. The phone has just been officially listed on the ASUS site, however, and we’ve got a quick rundown of its stats (which are pretty much exactly what we’d seen before). The Glide UI-sporting, HSDPA smartphone — which ASUS claims is the “fastest business PDA phone” in the world — runs Windows Mobile 6.1, has an 800MHz Marvell CPU, a 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen, 256MB flash memory and 128MB of DDR SDRAM, 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, and a microSD slot with SDHC support. (Read the full post about ‘800MHz CPU-packing P565 handset appears on ASUS site’…)
by Joseph L. Flatley, posted Nov 16th 2008 at 3:49AM Introducing Firemachines’ Slyc: this diminutive desktop is not the smallest we’ve ever seen — and regardless of what they say in their product literature, it’s hardly a bargain when compared to the mac mini and other similarly sized desktops. It boasts a Core 2 Duo processor and is available in two flavors. For $999.99 you can expect 2.20GHz, 2GB memory, 200GB storage, and DVD +/- RW; but if you’re looking to save a hundred bucks, you can scale back to 2GHz, 1GB memory, 120GB storage and DVD-ROM / CD-RW. The 3-year warranty will run you $129.99 — which will be worthless if Firemachines isn’t around in three years. What do you think? (Read the full post about ‘Firemachines’ Slyc: a lot less for a lot more’…)
FROM GAMERTELL - The biggest Matrix boxed set gets a high-def re-release along with a free digital download of the first film for video iPods… MORE » Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed → Tags: video, gprs, wi-fi, game (Read the full post about ‘Gamertell review: The Ultimate Matrix Collection on Blu-ray’…)
Continuing with the many ads that have already been leaked out, Wal-Mart has leaked out a few of their ads. Wal-Mart isn’t set to officially release what they’re going to sell until November 24, but they did release a bunch of items so we, at least, have an idea of what’s going to go on there. First, we have a nice 50 inch Samsung plasma HDTV, which is set to sell for $798. Continuing with TV’s, we have a Magnavox Blu-Ray player for $128. Next up is a Xbox 360 console that also comes with Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock and a wireless guitar - all for $199. Moving on, we have a HP Pavilion desktop computer for $398. Unfortunately, the above items don’t come with model numbers or other specifications, so I can’t really tell you how good the computer is, or what model number the TV is. Lastly, we have a GE microwave selling for $25. Melissa O’Brien was asked about the validity of these items, but she didn’t really say anything other than that Wal-Mart will “hare the facts directly with customers on Monday, Nov. (Read the full post about ‘Wal-Mart Black Friday ads leak out’…)
FROM GAMERTELL - A possible Best Buy Black Friday 2008 ad has surfaced on the internet. However, the ad quality is poor and there is a chance it could be a hoax. MORE » Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed → Tags: hdtv, video games, mobile devices, cellphone (Read the full post about ‘Best Buy’s Black Friday 2008 ad either awesome or hoax’…)
FROM APPLETELL - Does the comfort of ergonomically designed game pads make you long for the days of horrible, crippling hand cramps? Legacy Consumer Electronics is here to put you back in pain. MORE » Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed → Tags: Ogg, DAB, tests, gps (Read the full post about ‘Atari 2600 controller is USB, OS X compatible’…)
by Laura June, posted Nov 15th 2008 at 3:31AM DARPA’s been running a blood pharming program for quite awhile now, but it’s gotten a real kick start this week with the announcement of a partnership with Cleveland-based biotech company Arteriocyte. Arteriocyte, it seems, has developed a Nanofiber Based System, or NANEX, a technology that enables the production of red blood cells without a donor. The two companies hope research will eventually lead to an “in theatre” blood-making machine for the military. So, if there’s no donor, where do the progenitor cells come from? Well, that’s a little hazy at this point, though Arteriocyte developed the NANEX using “blood of the umbilical cord” (stem cells), but we don’t know what will fuel the final product. (Read the full post about ‘DARPA teams up with Arteriocyte to create ominous-sounding blood pharming machine for the military’…)
by Nilay Patel, posted Nov 14th 2008 at 6:02PMIt seemed earlier this week that AMD’s new Conesus chips would take on Intel’s dominant Atom platform in the netbook market, but it sounds like that was just wishful thinking — according to CEO Dirk Meyer, the chipmaker is “ignoring the netbook platform” in favor machines “above that form factor.” AMD says that it’s seeing high return rates on netbooks, a phenomenon it’s chalking up to an unsatisfactory user experience on smaller machines. Of course, that doesn’t quite jive with the sales numbers being posted by Acer, ASUS, and HP — and although return rates are indeed higher for Linux machines than for XP, we’re puzzled as to why AMD cares about anything other than raw chip sales to OEMs, since we were under the impression that that’s how AMD makes money. (Read the full post about ‘AMD says it’s “ignoring” netbooks, will focus on ultraportables’…)
