| Latest Ben Heck Show helps you build your very own Portal Shirt Posted: 26 Oct 2010 11:01 AM PDT Considering that you're an avid viewer of The Ben Heck Show, we're assuming this is old news to you and yours. On the off-chance that you missed the last episode, we're here to rope you back into reality. Embedded past the break is a video filled with love, laughter and legitimate instructions on building your very own Portal t-shirt. According to Benjamin, the system consists of a front-mounted LCD, pocket-mounted battery pack and rear-mounted camera, and naturally, it's being released just prior to Halloween. You now know exactly what you have to do. See more video at our hub! |
| Apple now offering free iPad engraving Posted: 26 Oct 2010 10:34 AM PDT Been holding off on an iPad until you could put just the right two-line message on the back of it? Well, today's your day, as Apple is now finally offering free engraving for both the 3G and WiFi models just as it does with iPods -- and conveniently just in time for the holidays. That will change the shipping time from 24 hours to one to three business days, however, so make that message count. |
| China's Shanghai-Hangzhou rail line opens, hits record breaking speed of 262mph Posted: 26 Oct 2010 10:08 AM PDT  High speed railways, particularly in Asia, have been soaring at around 200 miles per hour for quite some time now, but given just how much pride the Chinese have in their own rail system, it's no shock to hear the entire nation gloating about a new speed record. Of course, we're pretty partial to records ourselves, so we'll happily open up a round of applause when a bullet train hits 262 miles per hour without imploding. The newfangled Shanghai-Hangzhou connection (which connects Hongqiao and Hangzhou) has gone into service today, with most riders treated to a top speed of only 220 miles per hour. Officials have already stated that they're hoping to improve speeds to over 312 miles per hour, with other nations reportedly anxious to get ahold of their technology. Oh, and if you're curious about details, the CRH380 train covers 126 miles in just 45 minutes, with seats starting as low as $12. |
| Keio University developing 'olfactory printer,' AromaRama due for a resurgence Posted: 26 Oct 2010 09:46 AM PDT We're not entirely sure why people keep trying to bring back Smell-O-Vision, although Keio University's success in printing scents using a modified printer gives us hope that this sort of thing might someday be somewhat feasible -- and useful. It works by using an off-the-shelf Canon printer that's been given a " scent jet," Kenichi Okada told New Scientist. "We are using the ink-jet printer's ability to eject tiny pulses of material to achieve precise control." The scent dissipates quickly, after one or two human breaths. And while specific scents can be printed, there is as of yet no way to build a general purpose device. According to the University of Glasgow's Stephen Brewster: "We don't yet know how to synthesize all the scents we want. There is no red-green-blue for smell -- there are thousands of components needed." That's OK with us. In our experience, it's usually better that people keep their smells to themselves. |
| BlackBerry PlayBook demoed courtesy of RIM's Mike Lazaridis and Adobe's Kevin Lynch Posted: 26 Oct 2010 09:23 AM PDT RIM has now uploaded the full video of its PlayBook's brief stint in the limelight during Adobe MAX yesterday, where Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch and none other than Mr. BlackBerry himself, RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis, take the "professional tablet" through its very first public test drive on the keynote stage. The duo run through an MRI scan viewing app -- presumably in an attempt to woo the lucrative medical market -- along with the PlayBook's Air-based video player and browser-embedded Flash player, both of which seem to work pretty well. We also get a quick look at the tablet's multitasking cards, where we see that apps continue to function even from within their card views; it looks pretty nice, but at a glance, it doesn't do any tricks webOS wasn't pulling off a year ago. Interestingly, the edited video has a number of cuts -- some seem like harmless attempts to cut out boring parts, but there are a couple suspicious ones where we suspect something unsavory happened on the PlayBook or it ran just a little slower than RIM would've liked (of course, with the PlayBook's release still months out, they've got plenty of time to tighten that up while they wait for developers to submit their wares in exchange for a free PlayBook of their own). At the end, Lazaridis expertly skirts Lynch's question of when exactly the device will be released... and he didn't even need a seasoned PR rep standing next to him to deflect it! Follow the break for the full demo. |
| Mint Automatic Floor Cleaner review Posted: 26 Oct 2010 08:58 AM PDT We live in a world full of fabulous idle distractions -- a million TV channels, videogames at our fingertips, the world's greatest literature just a few menu selections away. Yet still we're stuck cleaning the same floors more or less the same way our forefathers did, despite the fact that they had a lot less fun stuff they could be doing instead. The $249 Mint Automatic Floor Cleaner is another attempt to free us from that burdensome task and, like the Neato XV-11 we recently reviewed, it is quite clinical and comprehensive in the way that it does things. However, while this one is likewise a heck of a lot smarter than a Roomba, for some it'll be of rather more limited usefulness. Why? Read on to find out. Hardware When we reviewed the Neato XV-11 we told you the sorry story of Geeves, our tired old Roomba 560 who's been doing faithful duty around the house for many years now, with the battle scars to prove it. Brownish gash on the front? Got stuck under a hand-me-down hutch with a tricky base. Scratches on top? Curious puppy who got spooked. We figure Geeves was understandably uncomfortable around the XV-11, with its room-sweeping radar array perched on top. The Mint, though, why that's not even a vacuum! It's a robot sweeper, effectively a self-propelled version of those Swiffer mops (and their various generic imitators) that fill the cleaning aisle at the grocery store. Indeed, it even accepts Swiffer pads.  The bot works by pushing a cleaning pad along your floor, including a selection of re-usable cloth ones for either dry or wet cleaning. Pick the appropriate one, tuck it into the rubber grippers on the front pad holder, put the little guy where you want him to go, and set him free. From here the two-wheeled rover is on its own to find its way around, featuring no tricky laser scanner but not necessarily flying blind thanks to a NorthStar beacon. This is a little cube (powered by a pair of C cell batteries) that beams an IR pattern onto the ceiling. The Mint, meanwhile, has a camera on its top and can use that pattern to steer itself around. Mind you, the Mint is quite good at determining the size of a given room without navigation, but it'll limit itself to cleaning about 350 square feet of dirty floor if it has no backup. It'll do about 1000 if that cube is in sights -- though that drops to 250 if you put it in wet mopping mode, where it does an extra thorough job of scrubbing to get things spic-and-span. Testing We used the bot around the house for a number of days on various floor surfaces. Naturally it's useless on carpet, and indeed it'll actively avoid the stuff if its front pressure sensor thinks that it's rolling up onto it. That worked fine, but the robot's sensors weren't always so keen. We have one section of flooring where hardwood transitions to linoleum. The Mint had no qualms about going up from hardwood to the fake tile, but absolutely refused to go back onto the hardwood. We spoke with folks at Mint about this, who indicated that the bot thought it was perched precariously close to falling off a cliff, instead of simply sitting at the edge of an eighth-inch transition. The bot is smart enough to figure out the shape and size of the room, and so it knew it was supposed to be going back to finish its job on the other side. However, since it refused to go over the transition, it couldn't find a way back. It'd spend about five minutes going back and forth along that transition, beeping and blinking confusedly, hopelessly, before finally giving up. Roomba Geeves, meanwhile, clunks right over that little divider without thinking twice -- or, perhaps, even once. Since there are no virtual walls or any way to tell the Mint to stay out of a given area, we simply were unable to use it in that room. The folks at Mint assure us that a firmware fix for this is coming, and yes, this is a floor cleaner that you can update the firmware on. Tucked away beneath the thing is a hidden miniUSB port not mentioned in any of the documentation -- in fact it's been kept secret until now. The company has an update client they'll be releasing to the public in the coming months and is considering releasing specs on the thing to allow tweakers and hackers to see what they can do. But, that's all in the future, and for now if you have such a transition you might want to avoid the Mint. Put the Mint in a room with no such deviations in flooring, however, and it does a quite comprehensive job. It doesn't have any fancy onboard sensors (indeed it often bangs into the wall to know when to turn around) but it still maps out the room, efficiently crossing going back and forth like the XV-11, a stark contrast to a Roomba's chaotic beauty. However, where the XV-11 is smart enough to find doorways and basically clean an entire level of a home, the Mint is best suited for cleaning a single room at a time. Surprisingly, having the NorthStar cube on doesn't really help much when it comes to finding its way around, really only enabling it to clean larger areas and, once it's through, make an extra lap around the edge, as shown in the video above comparing both modes. With or without the cube the Mint does a respectable job of either dusting or mopping, though when used with a wet pad it simply isn't scrubbing hard enough to lift off any stains that have been sitting there for long. The thing only weighs a couple of pounds, so imagine using a mop with that little pressure and you can see this is something that would need to be set loose very regularly to keep a given floor clean. And you might just be inclined to do so, as unlike the robo vacs it makes virtually no noise -- well, except for the banging on the walls bit. It does, however, require a lot of manual attention. There's no charging base for it to return to, so you'll need to flip it over and plug it in by hand. Also the pad must be replaced and cleaned after every use, so you'll need to pop that off and put a new one on. But, that's not to say it isn't worth doing, and it's a lot better than dealing with chemical refills for an iRobot Scooba. Wrap-up Is the Mint Automatic Floor Cleaner for you? Are you the sort who primarily cleans your floors with a wet or dry mop -- or simply by shuffling around in formerly clean socks? If so it could be, but we'd say only if you're looking to maintain a smallish area, as unlike the XV-11 this one doesn't do very good at finding its way from room to room, and only if you don't mind taking care of the thing, as it will need attention after every use. It is wonderfully quiet compared to the rest and, at $250, relatively affordable, but not cheap enough to warrant a universal recommendation. |
| Rock Lock protects your guitar from theft, runs at least one roadie out of a job Posted: 26 Oct 2010 08:34 AM PDT Let's set the scene: you let that last Bm chord ring out, the crowd roars in the background, the fog fades and the lights go down. A drip of sweat falls from your brow and lands softly on the pick guard of your shiny new Fender. A smile graces your face, you slowly remove your weapon of choice from around your body and slam it down whimsically on your guitar stand. Exit stage right. Meanwhile, you're munching on a week-old Honey Bun and some prankster from that mosh pit on the left is making off with your six string. Tragedy. In order to keep this awful, awful scenario from happening to you, The Rock Lock Company was born. Chris Goulet turned a bright idea into a product you can buy, with this here buckle simply snapping around your guitar neck, looping around something immobile and locking into place. Of course, you'll need a tech to remove it prior to rolling out for your first song, but it's probably worth the $49.99 asking price for all those other moments. Hit the source link to get your pre-order in, but only if you enjoy free shipping as a bonus. |
| Sonos Wireless Dock for iPod and iPhone is out now for $119 Posted: 26 Oct 2010 08:08 AM PDT And now we're at a crossroads. Apple is about to start hitting the wireless media streaming game hard with AirPlay and an armada of third party manufacturers. Meanwhile, Sonos is improving its already impressive streaming ecosystem with a now-shipping Sonos Wireless Dock (WD100) for your iPod or iPhone that can stream your device's music digitally to any of your Sonos ZonePlayers. It's not that bad a buy at $119, especially if you already have a big investment in Sonos. Plus, Sonos has plenty of other perks (like great support for online streaming music services) that it would be happy to point out to you. Still, we can't help but wonder what this sort of product will look like in an AirPlay-contoured market, say, one year from now. Show full PR text THE SONOS WIRELESS DOCK IS NOW AVAILABLE
New accessory wirelessly streams digital music from iPod or iPhone to every room of the home
SANTA BARBARA, CA – October 26, 2010 – Sonos, the leading developer of wireless multi-room music systems for the home, today announced that the Sonos Wireless Dock (WD100), an accessory to the award-winning Sonos Multi-Room Music System, is now available for purchase. The Sonos Wireless Dock is available for $119 at all Sonos authorized retailers and at www.sonos.com.
With the Sonos Wireless Dock, you can now play all of the music from an iPod or iPhone in every room of the house while simultaneously charging your device. Unlike most iPod docks on the market which use the iPod's analog interface, the Sonos Wireless Dock sends your digital music files wirelessly to ZonePlayers throughout your home via the iPod's digital interface-without ever converting to analog. The all digital path preserves the sound quality from the iPod to the speaker and when combined with Sonos' outstanding wireless performance, ensures you get the highest fidelity sound.
You can wirelessly play what's stored or playing on an iPod or iPhone, including most iOS music apps, on any or all Sonos ZonePlayers. Browse and select the music from either your docked device or any Sonos Controller, even another iPhone or iPod Touch. And, you can play the same song from a docked iPod or iPhone in every room – perfectly synchronized.
"The Sonos Wireless Dock is the perfect accessory for our music loving customers who own an iPod or iPhone so they can play that music in any or every room of the home," said Phil Abram, President, Sonos, Inc. "This new accessory reinforces our mission to provide our customers with access to all of the music on the planet, including everything available on their iPod or iPhone."
The Sonos Wireless Dock is compatible with the following devices: iPod touch (1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation), iPod classic, iPod nano (3rd, 4th, and 5th generation), iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G and iPhone, and has been certified under the Made for iPod program to meet Apple performance standards. The Sonos Wireless Dock supports Apple's 1Amp charging specification so your iPod or iPhone are ready to go when you are.
For more information about the Sonos Wireless Dock or to locate an authorized Sonos dealer in your area to demo the new accessory, please visit www.sonos.com. |
| Vodafone Australia creates giant Android mascot, sets it free on the streets of Sydney Posted: 26 Oct 2010 07:22 AM PDT In the States it's almost voting time and the posturing has certainly come to a fever pitch. If someone hasn't come a knocking on your door yet, promising to fix whatever ails you, they surely soon will. So, it's nice to see a representative going door-to-door without an ulterior motive... well, without a political one, anyway. Meet Andy, the full-scale Android mascot who can be found wandering the streets of Sydney in an attempt by Vodafone to get people more familiar with the little OS that could ( and is). We're thinking he's more likely to scare small children than create converts out of competing smartphone users, but maybe our pollsters are reading this one wrong. [Thanks, Geoff] |
| Nokia Siemens Networks sees 825Mbps over traditional copper, Phantom DSL claims 'the future' Posted: 26 Oct 2010 06:59 AM PDT Look, it's not easy nor cheap to lay an entirely new network infrastructure -- just ask Verizon. Regardless of how badly we all want a fiber optic cable ran directly into our closet, it's probably in our best interest if companies like Nokia Siemens Networks continue to improve existing services. Since we're on the topic, it's probably prudent to point out a new discovery surrounding existing copper wires -- one that involves data transmissions at up to 825Mbps. As the story goes, NSN is testing new technology (let's call it Phantom DSL) that could dramatically increase capacity of conventional copper wires, with the aforesaid data point coming on a trial transfer across 400 meters of wire; when stretched to 500 meters, it still held steady at 750Mbps. We're told that Phantom DSL promises a bandwidth increase of 50 to 75 percent over existing bonded copper lines, but mum's the word on when ISPs will actually have access. Yesterday, please? Show full PR text Nokia Siemens Networks achieves world record copper DSL speeds
Paris, France – 25 October 2010
"Phantom DSL" reaches 825 megabits per second over 400 meters of copper lines
Nokia Siemens Networks has successfully tested a technology that could drastically increase the data carrying capacity of standard copper wires. The company achieved data transmission speeds of 825 megabits per second (Mbps) over 400 meters of bonded copper lines and 750 Mbps over 500 meters. At these speeds, network operators could optimize existing, widely deployed copper infrastructure to provide bandwidth-intensive services for years to come.
Nokia Siemens Networks used circuits that involve the creation of a virtual - or 'phantom' - channel to supplement the two physical wires that are the standard configuration for copper transmission lines. The approach, known as Phantom DSL is also being showcased during Broadband World Forum 2010 in Paris,
October 26 - 28.
"Laying down new optical fiber to the home remains costly, though it is capable of delivering very high speeds and is a definite solution for long-term bandwidth requirements," said Eduard Scheiterer, head of broadband access business line, Nokia Siemens Networks. "However, the innovative use of technologies such as phantom circuits helps operators provide an efficient last mile connectivity with existing copper wires."
Phantom DSL promises a bandwidth increase of 50-75% over existing bonded copper lines. This prolongs the life of copper networks, delaying the need for fiber rollout and protecting operator's existing capital investments. The promised high speeds will enable a whole new range of end-user services and open up new revenue opportunities for operators. The technology could be used to test initial demand for very high bandwidth services.
Nokia Siemens Networks' Phantom DSL will become an integral part of the company's DSLAM* products hiX 562x/3x. |
| White iPhone 4 evidence shows up in Apple Store app's update? Posted: 26 Oct 2010 06:25 AM PDT So, you may or may not have noticed that this morning, Apple updated its own Apple Store app for the very first time, and version 1.1 has a little surprise. That's right, in the 'Reserve Products' screen, the much delayed white iPhone 4 shows up as an option. Now, before you lose control of yourself, keep in mind that you can't actually reserve one... yet. Of course, this could just be some sort of cruel glitch in the system, or it could be a tiny bit of evidence that the white iPhone is actually, finally on its way. At the very least, we know that Apple's still thinking of it... just like us. Update: Apple's now removed the white iPhone 4 references, but don't worry: we'll always have that screen grab. |
| Epson shoves a Core i7 processor in a chunky nettop, will build it to your specification Posted: 26 Oct 2010 06:21 AM PDT Tiny desktops? Good. Wimpy processors? Bad. Epson's Endeavor ST150E? Possibly the best of both worlds. Sure, it's bigger than your average nettop, about twice as tall, but for that extra girth you get a selection of Intel processors ranging from a Celeron P4600 all the way up to a Core i7-640M. It also sports a DVD-R/W drive, up to 8GB of RAM, 640GB on platters or a 64GB SSD, mountability behind an LCD, and power consumption as low as 16 watts -- though we're guessing that's with the Celeron. Indeed you can get this built however you want, with a starting price at 64,890 yen, or just under $800. But, get liberal with the options and you could be looking at a rather less frugal 190,000 yen. That's about $2,300, and an awful, awful lot for a little machine. |
| Western Digital stuffs 1TB HDD into Live Hub networked media streamer Posted: 26 Oct 2010 05:54 AM PDT WD's no stranger to the media streaming game, but things apparently just got serious. Gone is the My Book-esque design that has been used on all of the units prior, and in is a sleeker, sexier box that's quite clearly designed to slip right on top of your existing cable set-top. The WD TV Live Hub is easily Western Digital's most feature-packed streamer yet, with a 1TB HDD within for storing who knows what locally. There's also an Ethernet socket for pulling down content via the web or your local network, and a pair of USB ports allow for storage expansion or transfers. Naturally, it'll handle Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, Blockbuster on Demand and UPnP / DLNA streaming to your favorite game console, but the lack of inbuilt WiFi (it's available via an optional adapter) puts a mild damper on an otherwise fantastic sounding product. It's available immediately around the globe, with Americans able to snag one for $199.99 directly from WD or at Best Buy. Update: Looks as if Desktop Review has a lengthy review on this guy, along with a slew of user interface shots. The botto line? It's the best player yet from the company, though the price tag did present a bit of sadness. Hit it up for the full skinny. Show full PR text WD's New HD Media Center Streams Popular Movies and the Broadest Range of Personal Content
WD TV® Live Hub™ Media Center With 1 TB Storage Allows Users to Centralize Video, Music and Photos and Play Full-HD 1080p Video on HDTVs Throughout the Home
LAKE FOREST, Calif., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Western Digital® (NYSE: WDC), the world's leader in external storage solutions and maker of the popular WD TV media player family, today introduced the WD TV® Live Hub™ media center (photo), a Full-HD 1080p media player with a 1 terabyte (TB) built-in network hard drive that gives users the freedom to play all their personal media on any screen in the home. The WD TV Live Hub media center brings new experiences to the WD TV family, including instantly renting or purchasing the newest releases through the Blockbuster On Demand® service, the same day as DVD/Blu-ray release, as well as interacting with personal Facebook® communities. In the U.S., the WD TV Live Hub media center is initially available exclusively at Best Buy online and at all 1,093 Best Buy stores nationwide.
The WD TV Live Hub media center plays a wide variety of media file types, including popular Full-HD 1080p video formats such as .mkv, .mp4 and .mov. The integrated, compact and quiet 1 TB hard drive enables users to centralize their digital media from multiple sources for smooth, glitch-free playback of even the highest resolution videos. Digital media can be easily transferred to the internal drive from shared folders on PCs and Mac®s on the network or directly from external hard drives, thumb drives, camcorders or cameras connected via one of the two USB ports. Users also can stream videos from home network drives with a DLNA/UPnP™ server such as the recently announced My Book® Live™ home network drive.
The WD TV Live Hub media center also is a media server: HD video, music and photos can be streamed from the onboard hard drive to any DLNA/UPnP-compatible TV or multimedia device, anywhere in the connected home, including the WD TV Live Plus HD media player, connected TVs, Blu-ray Disc™ players, Xbox 360®, and PlayStation® 3 game consoles. Users also can stream content from their WD TV Live Hub media center to iPads™, iPhones® or Android™ smartphones using third-party applications.
The WD TV Live Hub media center offers unique Facebook integration, which lets users upload photos and videos, share their status, view their wall and get the latest newsfeed from their network of friends – all on the big screen TV. In addition, the WD TV Live Hub media center provides viewing of Netflix® for movie streaming, YouTube™ for user-generated videos and Flickr® for photo sharing, as well as listening to Pandora®, a personalized Internet radio service. Additional content includes local and international weather forecasts from AccuWeather.com®, and MediaFly® daily video podcasts from CNN®, NBC®, MTV® and ESPN®.
The customizable WD TV Live Hub media center's user interface enables personalization of screen backgrounds and user interface themes, as well as setting of favorites and content ratings. Standard wired or wireless USB keyboards can be used for simpler text input for activities such as searches of local content and YouTube and Facebook interaction.
"The WD TV Live Hub media center lets users create a personalized media jukebox that brings your entire personal content collection and the best of Internet content to the biggest screen in the house," said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD's branded products group. "With the WD TV Live Hub media center, consumers can take their home entertainment experience to the next level, streaming personal content to multiple rooms at the same time, so they can play a Netflix video on their HDTV screen in the family room, while sharing vacation slideshows on the computer in their home office."
"People are looking for a versatile, easy-to-use media player that gives them a smooth streaming experience regardless of where they are in the home and whether they're viewing Internet content or personal media content. That's exactly what the WD TV Live Hub media center delivers," said Frank Bedo, merchandise director in computing at Best Buy®. "We are excited to collaborate with WD on this innovative entertainment product."
"Connected media players are an exciting new category that is helping to redefine home entertainment," said Wendy Fritz, senior vice president, computing, at Best Buy. "The WD TV media player series' broad ability with personal content has made it a leading seller. Add to that the premium content services, and the new WD TV Live Hub media center is bringing a whole new dimension to home entertainment."
Other key features of the WD TV Live Hub media center include:
* Compatibility with virtually all TV sets thanks to an HDMI 1.4, composite video and component video output;
* Automatic sync of shared digital media folders from PCs and Macs on the network with the internal hard drive to provide easy playback of new content;
* Customizable user interface and programmable remote;
* Ultra-compact design that easily fits into almost any entertainment center;
* Two USB ports that allow seamless media playback from USB drives, camcorders and digital cameras;
* WiFi-readiness (with adapter); and,
* A 1-year limited warranty in PanAm.
The full set of features and list of file compatibility is available on WD's website.
Capacity and Compatibility
The WD TV Live Hub media center is available in 1 TB storage capacity and supports a large variety of the most popular file formats, including HD camcorder video formats. It is also compatible with Windows® 7, including the Windows 7 Play To feature, and any DLNA/UPnP-enabled device.
Price and Availability
The WD TV Live Hub media center is available worldwide (Netflix, Blockbuster and Pandora services are available only in the U.S.) and can be purchased in the U.S. exclusively at Best Buy and online at wdstore.com. MSRP for the WD TV Live Hub media center is $199.99 USD. |
| The Blaze Blink Now saves you from Computer Vision Syndrome, is always watching Posted: 26 Oct 2010 05:27 AM PDT Big Brother is watching you, and you'd better remember. Forget for just a moment and you could find yourself committing thoughtcrime doupleplusquick. Enter the £49.99 ($78) Blink Now. It's ostensibly a device designed to save you from Computer Vision Syndrome, a modern affliction that causes headaches and blurry vision among those who spend a little too much time basking in the glow of a CRT or LCD. But, we're thinking its purposes are rather more nefarious. It's basically just a little LCD that you hang in your monitor and connect via USB. It presents an eye, always looking at you, lazily and nonchalantly blinking. In theory, if you see an eye blinking you'll blink more often yourself and cut down on eye strain. In reality, the thinkpol is always watching and this is just another reminder. |
| Grace debuts GDI-IR2550p WiFi radio with built-in Pandora controls Posted: 26 Oct 2010 04:58 AM PDT It may not exactly be one of the biggest "firsts" around, but Grace Digital Audio's new GDI-IR2550p WiFi radio is apparently the first such radio to pack built-in Pandora controls on the radio itself -- the company's earlier Digital Allegro only had controls on the remote and accompanying iPhone app. Unfortunately, Grace has paired that somewhat unique feature with a radio that seems to have confused retro good looks with bland and dated -- that same four-line LCD used on every other Grace radio doesn't help things either. If that's not your primary concern, however, you will get a decent range of features from the radio, including support for a slew of other internet content besides Pandora, streaming music from your Mac or PC, the aforementioned iPhone app, and all the usual alarm clock functionality you'd expect from a desktop radio. Look for this one to set you back $169.99. Update: Looks like this is just Grace's first of the sort -- this here Livio device did the same thing last year. For shame. Thanks, Brandon! Show full PR text Grace Digital Audio Unveils the First Tabletop Internet Radio to Feature 1-button Music Control of Pandora®
The first tabletop Internet radio that allows 1-button control of your Pandora music directly from the front of the radio, the remote control, or the free iPhone® remote app
San Diego, Calif. - (October 26, 2010) – Grace Digital Audio, a leading brand of Wi-Fi connected home audio solutions, is pleased to announce a new all-in-one advanced tabletop radio featuring Pandora. Grace's Model# GDI-IR2550p is the first and only tabletop radio that incorporates the same features that Pandora listeners use on computers and smart phones, including 1-button access to the thumbs up/down song selection and play/pause functions. Listeners can also skip, play, pause, and even bookmark songs directly from the remote and front control panel.
Grace Digital's Wi-Fi Internet Radio featuring Pandora additionally provides over 50,000 radio stations, podcasts, and on-demand content including NPR / NPR on-demand, FOX News, CNN, BBC, CBS, iheartradio, NOAA Weather Reports, Live365, KROQ, and Sirius Premium Internet radio. For customers who desire to listen to their digital music collection wirelessly anywhere in their home, Grace's GDI-IR2550p will also connect and play music direct from your iTunes library stored on your PC or MAC.
Grace Digital's CMO, Greg Fadul, thinks functionality is what sets Grace's new Wi-Fi radio apart from the competition. "In the transition of bringing Pandora radio from the computer to the tabletop, most Internet radios lose the simple functions that the computer provided. "We've created a stylish Wi-Fi enabled tabletop radio with high-grade audio that reflects the same simple and easy-to-use functions of Pandora that are available on the computer."
Now shipping, Grace's GDI-IR2550p is available at www.gracedigitalaudio.com and www.amazon.com for $169.99.
About Grace Digital Audio
Based in San Diego, California, Grace Digital Audio is a designer and manufacturer of connected home consumer electronic products including, Internet radios featuring Pandora, outdoor speakers, USB archival solutions, media players, wireless speakers and other indoor/outdoor audio products. Known for ease of use and a superior audio quality, Grace Digital Audio provides home linked products that keep customers connected to their music in and outside their homes. Grace sells its products through major retailer, ecommerce sites, dealers and distributors throughout North America. To learn more about Grace Digital products please visit them at www.gracedigitalaudio.com.
Pandora and the Music Genome Project are registered trademarks of Pandora Media, Inc.
iPhone and iTunes is the registered trademark of Apple, Inc |
| Nissan Leaf launches in Europe, takes us for a drive Posted: 26 Oct 2010 04:00 AM PDT 26,000 people can't be wrong, right? That's the current tally of Leaf pre-orders that Nissan has collected from US and Japanese drivers excited by its all-electric hatchback. Yesterday, the car that's built to plug into the same wall outlet as your toaster held its official pan-European launch party -- with the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, and Portugal getting the first deliveries in early 2011 -- and we were on site to grab a few closeup pictures and some precious time in the driver's seat. American drivers should look out for a new set of keys in their mailbox this December, so there's probably no better time than now to give them a preview of what they're getting themselves into. Jump past the break for more on the Nissan Leaf. Driving Experience Let's set everything else aside for a moment and just focus on what the Leaf is like for its most important passenger: the one with the steering wheel in his (or her) hands. Upon placing your derriere within its very comfortable seat, the Leaf presents you with that signature of Japanese cars: a button-rich control scheme augmented with a wide variety of information readouts to saturate your eyeballs with. It's mildly intimidating, but in fact you can ignore the entire steering wheel control hub if all you want to do is get moving. The Leaf's driving controls couldn't be simpler: there's a rotund stick taking the place of your usual gear shift, used to switch between Drive, Reverse and Eco modes, while starting up the vehicle is just the press of a power button away. Once you're in Drive, there's just two pedals and a steering wheel to contend with. When you do get going, the first sensation you'll experience will actually be a feeling of desensitization. You'll get none of your usual feedback when starting up a car, such as that reassuring engine hum and its concordant elevation to a menacing noise as you gain speed. Nope, you just press on the accelerator, the car gets moving, and you'd better be paying attention to what's going on outside the windshield if you want to stay informed. It's unfamiliar, but not unnatural, and grows into a real pleasure of serenity, which is only amplified by the car's generally very smooth ride. Wind and tire noise start to be felt as you reach above 50kph (31mph), but only subtly. The Leaf's built-in pedestrian alert system is pretty much inaudible inside the car itself. Acceleration on the Leaf took us by surprise, this thing can really take off. Its performance is no doubt helped by the available 207 pound-feet of torque, which you can tap into right from the off, there's no need to wait for an engine to ramp through the gears. Electric vehicles (at least the affordable ones, Mr. Tesla) have tended to be perceived as the dull eco-geeks of the motoring world, but there's no denying Nissan's claim that the Leaf is a fundamentally fun car to drive. There's a simple pleasure in its rapid acceleration which encouraged us to exploit every opportunity to test it. Both the accelerator and the brake pedal are responded to instantly, and with great effect. We might claim we were "testing" how hard the brakes were when we threw ourselves and our passenger forward at one point, but the fact is the Leaf responds to a feathery touch and anything more sincere gets correspondingly strong results. Needless to say, we like that a lot.
Software All the same, the Leaf doesn't expect to be gracing posters atop boy riders' walls. It's billed as a transporter for families and city dwellers, for whom things like top speed (140kph / 87mph) and 0-60 numbers will be far less important than the ability to pull away from traffic lights in a reliable, even impressive, fashion. The software side of things also leans toward tamer driving, with a " tree-growing" indicator up at the top of the driver display giving you visual cues about how good your driving is. Bash the accelerator too hard and and slam the brakes, and your tree will start to degenerate. Be a smooth operator with a gentle touch and you'll get multiple trees on your display as reward for such conscientious driving. The rest of the info panels provide handy information like the range you can go on the current charge (under current driving conditions) and how much power the motor is using at the given moment. The Leaf even has an Eco mode, wherein it turns on regenerative braking and sucks in its stomach to really optimize your range (and minimize your environmental impact, of course). We found that our test car's max range jumped from 134km (83 miles) to 151km (94 miles) when we flipped it on. On that subject, Nissan reps told us hot weather can impact what you get out of your batteries by as much as 40 percent, but that's when you're talking about scorching, unbearable heats and with bad driving bundled into the equation. Very cold climes (sub-zero degrees Celsius) can also expect to suffer a penalty for their deviation from the equator by having to warm up the batteries before the car can be started up. The Windows Embedded Automotive center console display is filled with additional options, such as setting charging timers and looking at your range superimposed on a map, all of which appear to be both sensible and useful. Check out our test drive gallery above for screen grabs and more details.
iPhone / web integration An iPhone app has been developed for the Leaf, which will hook up to the car via a centralized global data hub in Japan. Alas, the app is still at its prototyping stage and Skynet the tracking center isn't yet online, so we couldn't see it in action for ourselves. What we're promised is the ability to set up and time charging through the phone, turn on the air conditioning remotely, and check on battery status and levels. An additional web interface is in the works which will also allow you to plan a route online and then beam it down to your Leaf (via its integrated 3G connection) for later use. Physical design It's worth spending a moment on the Leaf's physical design as well, as it really outdid our expectations when actually seen in person. In spite of its pretty average outward size, which humorously enough classifies it as a "large" car in Japan, a "medium" in Europe and a "small" in the US, the Leaf was extremely spacious. Its boot can fit 330 liters, while passengers are attended by extremely comfy seats and plenty of leg and elbow room. That applies with equal force to the rear seats (which rest atop the bulk of the battery pack) as it does to the front. You could easily fit three people in the back, with none of them having to feel crammed in. The way the entire car is outfitted, inside and out, conveys a sense of high quality materials and exacting attention to detail.
A great example of that are the oversized headlights. We found them rather alien, but their bulbous shape actually serves a pretty important function that has to do with acoustic aerodynamics. Basically, because the Leaf is so darn quiet on the inside, outside noises tend to seem rather more significant than usual (we learned that by turning on the AC, whose operation was much more noticeable within the Leaf than your usual four-wheeler), so Nissan has gone and designed the headlights so that, when the car's in motion, they create a vacuum immediately behind them, thereby serving to deflect extrerior noise away from the driver and front passenger's side windows. Very clever. Maintenance and cost
As we mentioned above, the Leaf will be pluggable into regular household power outlets (but only after Nissan has your house's electric setup checked) and the promise is that it will charge fully within eight hours. There's also the option to have a dedicated charging station installed at your place, which can cost up to or around £1,000 ($1,575) in the UK, while Nissan is pushing hard to get quick-charging infrastructure rolled out across Europe, which will get you back up to full within 30 minutes. If you want an estimate on running costs, Nissan's UK Leaf reservations cost £257 ($403), which the company advertises as the projected cost of electricity to run the car for a year. Reps here also tell us the Leaf will set you back 15 percent less in maintenance costs than conventional cars, mostly because there's almost nothing to maintain beyond the brake discs and cooling systems. Finally, the price in the UK will be £24,000 ($37,784) after a £5,000 government subsidy, while in Europe you're looking at a €30,000 ($42,050) cost after subsidies. Nissan spent a little time discussing its battery tech with us as well, congratulating itself on the breakthrough four-layer module design, which packs twice the energy density into the space, emits less heat, and is more durable and easily stacked by virtue of its shape. You'll find 48 of these modules lining the floor of each Leaf, storing up to 24kWh of pure electric energy. We're being promised that 80 percent of that maximum capacity will still be available after five years, which coincidentally happens to be the length of Nissan's warranty for the EV parts in the Leaf. Notably, that's significantly less than the eight-year pledge made to American buyers, though the only answer we were given was that they are "different markets" and therefore the offering is different.
While it may not emulate the vehicles of Blade Runner (we knew that idea was too good to be true), the Leaf's pedestrian alert still gives you a satisfyingly futuristic whirr to woo passers-by with. Hear it below.
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| Ality's backlit WeeBoard: yet another bantam RF HTPC keyboard Posted: 26 Oct 2010 03:14 AM PDT Quite frankly, you've probably got more mini keyboard options than you need, but given that Ality decided to throw backlighting into its latest, we're giving it the edge over the other guys. The aptly named WeeBoard is an RF-based wireless keyboard that's designed for use on the couch, likely in conjunction with your HTPC. There's also an integrated optical trackpad for moving a mouse cursor, and there's even a row of customizable media shortcut keys for launching specific applications and actions quickly. It's expected to go on sale direct from Ality this December, with a retail price of $79.99 -- hang tight if you're looking for retail distribution partners. Show full PR text Ality Launches the Cutting Edge Wireless Multimedia Keyboard
Seamlessly Control Mac and PC Media Centers at the Palm of Your Hand
Hong Kong, 22 October, 2010 – Ality today introduced the WeeBoardTM Mini Wireless Keyboard, the world's most innovative mini wireless multimedia keyboard that is compatible with all PC and Mac-powered devices, offering users a seamless and complete home entertainment experience through a tiny dongle.
As a pioneer product in the market, WeeBoardTM Mini Wireless Keyboard is designed to meet the needs of both PC and Mac users for up-to-date and efficient media consumption. The backlit keypad of WeeBoardTM makes PC controlling in the dark a hassle-free experience. With a single hand operated optical trackpad that outperforms any trackball and mouse, cursor movement is made easier than ever. Users can also freely customize their "media" shortcut keys for immediate and direct media control.
With promising RF transmission within 10m controlled-distance, the slim and light-weighted WeeBoardTM Mini Wireless Keyboard allows users to control their own PC and Mac-powered devices at home anytime and anywhere. Users can also easily command their TV and other home entertainment devices that are connected to PC and Mac media centers using this tiny dongle.
In addition, "Environmental friendly" concept powers WeeBoardTM Mini Wireless Keyboard with rechargeable battery which saves thousands of batteries. Design with aluminum finishing shell, the compact and stylish high-end product helps to showcase the users' taste and innate sense of style.
As Apple TV and Google TV make their way into millions of homes, consumers are increasingly getting the next-generation of entertainment at their homes through the Web via their TVs and computers. This will become a global trend that revolutionizes the way consumers get their entertainment. Consumers will soon be enjoying their familiar cable or satellite programming and additional content from around the web while they surf the web with a full browser. A multi-function tool like WeeBoardTM allows easy and instant control of internet-enabled home entertainment devices, and yet is compact enough to compliment the new interactive entertainment experience.
Combining all handy and personalized functions and putting total control into the palm of your hand, WeeBoardTM Mini Wireless Keyboard is no doubt your best home entertainment partner in the coming internet TV era.
WeeBoardTM Mini Wireless Keyboard will be available for sale worldwide on the Ality's website coming Christmas, with a retail price of US$79.99. Retail distribution channels will be announced shortly.
Specifications:
1. 2.4GHz ISM band RF Transmission with tiny dongle
2. Backlit keypad
3. Optical trackpad
4. Rechargeable with lithium polymer battery, 3.7V 900mAh
5. Product size: 129 x 13 x 86 mm
###
About Ality
Ality is a Hong Kong based Consumer Electronics Company, founded in 2006, specializing in elegant yet simple consumer electronics for the modern home. Ality currently produces a range of digital photo frames, universal remote and media centre control devices. For more information, please visit www.alitypc.com. |
| Yamaha PDX-31 iPod / iPhone speaker dock: too sexy for your 90s era living room Posted: 26 Oct 2010 02:26 AM PDT Truth be told, there's precisely no reason for the world to ever see yet another iPod sound system. If we haven't found one to suffice at this point, we're very clearly doing it wrong. That said, Yamaha has a knack for cranking out iPod / iPhone sound systems that look just as good (if not better) than they sound, and that's remaining the case on the PDX-31. Aside from reminding us of the gorgeous Oregon shoreline, this here speaker dock handles iPods and iPhones with a 30-pin Dock Connector, ships in a trio of hues (dark red, black and light gray) and offers up an auxiliary input for those other media players. It also houses a pair of 3.25-inch speakers, dual wall construction and arrives with a bundled remote for good measure. It'll carry an MSRP of $169.95, 80 percent of which is the premium for this thing looking so darn seductive. Show full PR text GREAT SOUND, SLEEK STYLING: YAMAHA'S NEW PORTABLE DOCK COMBINES MATCHLESS VERSATILITY AND STRIKING COLOR OPTIONS
PDX-31 Joins the Growing Range of Yamaha Speaker Docks for iPod, iPhone and MP3 Players ¾
BUENA PARK, Calif.––Yamaha Electronics Corporation, the innovator in home theater and digital audio and video reproduction, today introduced the PDX-31 portable player dock for iPhones and iPods, featuring an AUX-in (stereo mini jack) for use with any MP3 player or other audio devices.
Available in three dramatic, yet versatile colors (dark red, black and light gray), the PDX-31's superior sound quality is delivered by a Yamaha digital amplifier with extremely low noise distortion. The PDX-31 offers reinforced, dual wall "box-within-a-box" construction with twin 3 1/4 -inch speakers to provide rich dynamic bass response for powerful, clean sound from any music library.
The PDX-31 is compact, light enough and cosmetically versatile to be placed anywhere in the home. The flat-top design provides an attractive and sophisticated touch to any home interior. The supplied small, handy remote control works like your iPod controls, making it easy to browse menus and select songs. Embodying Yamaha's continued drive toward environmentally sound products, the PDX-31 incorporates the advanced power management feature Auto Power Off which automatically powers the unit off after a certain amount of time to conserve energy.
The PDX-31 remembers the volume level when you remove your portable device so the next time you dock it, the volume is set to that level.
Yamaha places a high premium on versatility in designing its products," said Tom Sumner, President, Yamaha Electronics Corporation. "The PDX-31 allows you to enjoy song files in several different ways, while offering great sound, effortless operation and sleek styling."'
The Yamaha PDX-31 carries an MSRP of $169.95.
For more information, write Yamaha Electronics Corporation, P.O. Box 6660, Buena Park, CA 90620; telephone (714) 522-9105; email infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/hometheater. |
| Google Instant showing up on some Android devices in beta form? Posted: 26 Oct 2010 01:37 AM PDT If you believe the good readers of Droid Life (and there's no reason why you shouldn't), Google has started sneaking out its Instant search option to Android phones in the USA. So far, reports include the original Motorola Droid, the Droid X, and HTC's Droid Incredible. Lest you've been enjoying a lengthy holiday in the tropics, Google Instant throws up search results as you type your query, delivering either much faster results or a much more annoying search experience, depending on how you look at it. Reported operation so far aligns with our early hands-on, with Instant taking a bit of time to get its bearings, but the software is still at the beta stage, after all. Why not jump into your browser this morning and tell us if your Android's answering your questions before you even hit the Enter key? |
| Sanyo glams up Eneloop batteries for fifth anniversary Posted: 26 Oct 2010 12:54 AM PDT How do you celebrate half a decade as the world's best loved and most efficient rechargeable battery? You throw a party, of course, which is exactly what Sanyo is doing with its Eneloop Tones Glitter limited edition set. Packs of eight technicolored AA and AAA Eneloops will go on sale in Japan on November 14, augmenting the brand's signature longevity with a dash (hell, make it a heaping) of glamorous style. For the functionalists out there seeking an excuse to jump on board, each box contains one of each color, meaning you can claim you bought them to color-code your battery management operation. Yeah, we'll believe you. |
| Android Market surpasses 100,000 apps: can't stop, won't stop growing Posted: 26 Oct 2010 12:11 AM PDT  Ah, there we go. Right around three months after we falsely suspected that El Goog had crossed the 100,000 mark in its Android Market, the company itself has today confirmed the passing of that line via Twitter. For those keeping count, it took but three months to go from 70,000 to 100,000 and seven months to go from 30,000 to this point. Of course, Apple's still holding down the lead in terms of sheer numbers with close to 300,000, but there's no question that the Android Market has nearly everything a boy (or girl, for that matter) could want. Except for a quote generator from Step Brothers. Oh, wait.... |
| HTC Speedy a Knight in Sprint armor coming January 6th? Posted: 25 Oct 2010 11:02 PM PDT  We were just getting used to HTC Knight when along comes more supposed details of the still-unconfirmed slider. Boy Genius Report has what it claims is a leaked accessories list from Sprint that reveals a case for the Knight is due on January 6th, 2011. Does that mean the phone itself is launching on the same date? Would that date have something to do with the start of CES? Oh, and BGR also claims from a source the Knight is getting a new title. What do you think about the HTC Speedy -- descriptive, eh? As far as we can tell, there isn't really much else to go by at this point, so our jump to conclusion will just have to stay under the bed for now. |
| N900 can run unmodified webOS games, what can your Linux-based phone do? Posted: 25 Oct 2010 09:56 PM PDT Ah, standards. Palm and Nokia know what we're talking about, which is why they support similar methods of developing native Linux apps, namely SDL 1.2. Add on the hardware similarities between the Palm Pre and the N900 (OMAP3430, PowerVR SGX, Open GL ES 2.0 support) and you have a beautiful recipe for cross-platform gaming. Some hardcore Maemo users have taken this to heart and released a new "Preenv" package for the N900 that allows the phone to run unmodified webOS games. Of course, you'll need to root your Pre to get at those games, and if you want to make a launch icon for the game on the N900 you'll have to root it as well. Still, this is exciting beyond the potential for playing Need for Speed on much-lauded Nokia hardware: with easy portability between platforms, there's all the more reason for a developer to be attracted to MeeGo and webOS in the future. [Thanks, Andy D.] |
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