technicalupdates

Mar 14, 2009

Archos 5 TV DVB-T tuner

Yes, it looks goofy as hell, but we're sure Archos 5 owners aren't complaining about the new Snap-on TV DVB-T accessory -- not only will it allow you to watch live TV, it integrates with the DVR features of the unit to give you portable recording. Interestingly, although the Snap-on TV features dual tuners, they're used to increase reception quality, not to allow viewing of one channel while recording another, which is a bit of a bummer. Still, we wouldn't lean on this for hardcore DVR use anyway, so we're guessing it won't be a huge issue. ArchosLounge says it should be on sale in Europe in the next couple weeks for less than €60 ($76),

Apple's redesigned iPod shuffle hits 4GB

Apple just doubled the capacity of its iPod shuffle to 4GB while ditching the control wheel entirely. The new design keeps the clip and adds VoiceOver -- a new feature that gets around the lack of display by telling you which song is playing and who performs it at the touch of a button on the earbud cable. It'll also call out your playlists and let you navigate to others. Available in black or silver for $80 and your claim to what Apple calls the "world's smallest music player."

Nokia Smartphone

After having its trio of new music-oriented handsets leaked, Gartner goes and releases a set of unflattering sales figures related to Nokia's beleaguered smartphones. While smartphone sales overall increased 3.7% in Q4, Nokia's share slid from 50.9% to "just" 40.8% on 15.6 million units. While many, including Samsung and HTC gained, it was RIM and Apple that made the biggest advances. RIM increased its share of the lucrative market to 19.5% (7.4 million units) from 10.9% while Apple more than doubled its share, up from 5.2% to 10.7% (4.1 million units). Keeping things in perspective: smartphones accounted for only 12% of all mobile device sales for the quarter. There's a method to Nokia's mid- to low-end handset madness.

iPod touch 2G finally jailbroken with NitroKey

The iPhone Dev Team hackers have been teasing their redsn0w iPod touch jailbreak for what seems like forever now, but those you tired of waiting might want to check out the just-released NitroKey Slipstream. The $15 software does its thing on the 2.2.1 firmware, and automatically installs Cydia for all that jailbroken app action you crave -- including the new paid apps store. Windows-only for now, but there's apparently a Mac version in the works -- hopefully we'll see the free redsn0w take the lead back on that front.

Nokia 5030, 5330, and 5730 XpressMusics

We know that the shindig Nokia's putting on tomorrow has something to do with music, so it's certainly within the realm of possibility that we'd see some new XpressMusic handsets there, and indeed, All About Phones seems to have scooped the goods. It looks like we'll be treated to no fewer than three models -- all Xpress-branded, naturally -- starting on the low end with the 5030 candybar. This one eschews XpressMusic for the less audiophile-sounding "XpressRadio" name, pimping its in-built FM radio support and a large, squarish speaker around back at a crazy low price of €40 ($51) unsubsidized. Moving one rung up the range is the 5330 XpressMusic slider, packing a 3.5mm jack, some sort of special light effects for the ravers in the audience, and 24 hours of listening time; it'll be available in the third quarter for €160 ($204). Finally, we have the rumored 5730 (pictured) -- the only of the three to run S60 and lay claim to a genuine smartphone title. This one follows in the E75's footsteps by packing both a numeric and a landscape QWERTY slide, WiFi, a 3.2 megapixel cam, HSDPA, and GPS, but the most interesting new feature here might be the "Xpress Home Screen" which exposes your loaded media right from the phone's -- you guessed it -- home screen. This one should hit in the second quarter for €280 ($357) and will be offered in a Comes With Music version in some countries. How's about killing off DRM while you're at it, Nokia?

A-DATA's SATAII SSD 300 Plus

It's hard to say just how legitimate these claims are at the moment, but A-DATA seems pretty jazzed about its newest SSD. While not nearly as capacious as the outfit's recently unveiled 512GB XPG SSD, the next-generation SATAII SSD 300 Plus supposedly increases performance of read speeds by up to 40 percent while boosting write speeds by around 60 percent when compared to a "regular SSD." According to A-DATA, this here drive utilizes a special mobile SDRAM module to hit a sustained read rate of 250MB/sec and write rate of 160MB/sec, and all this high-flying performance comes to you in 32, 64, 128 and 256GB flavors. Pricing, however, remains a thick, convoluted mystery.

Mar 13, 2009

MSI VX600 15.4-inch notebook

MSI has been one busy outfit as of late -- between the company's new Wind Boxes, netbooks, and everything else, it's been quite a year. That said, allow us to submit for your approval the VX600. This guy sports a 15.4-inch (1280 x 800) display, an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD3410 graphics, up to 4GB memory, up to 320GB storage, and 6 and 9-cell battery options. In addition to all that, the company's brought their ECO Engine Power Management System to the party, which allows the device to switch among the five different power saving modes (including Gaming, Movie, Presentation, Office, and Turbo Battery) for optimized battery usage. No price or availability yet, but you'll know as soon as we do. For reals.

Microsoft does the unthinkable, reveals own Notebook

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and while we can't say with any level of certainty that Microsoft Hardware engineers weren't toiling away on this laptop cooling stand back in the heyday that was 2005, we highly doubt that's the case. For whatever reason, Microsoft is boldly entering a new category of accessories with the introduction of the USB-powered Notebook Cooling Base, which sports a built-in fan and cooling channel to prevent overheating. The whole thing is just 1.16 inches thick, and there's even a cable management clip if you find yourself in need. In somewhat related news, we're also being greeted by a new Special Edition line of Arc Mouses (mice?), which arrive in frost white, eggplant purple, deep olive green and marine blue. As for pricing, you can expect the breezy pad to land this July for $29.95, while the critters are available later this month for $49.95 a pop.

Sony's panorama-shooting DSC-HX1 camera

If you're looking to craft an epic, 1,500 megapixel panorama image, something like the Gigapan Imager is your best bet. But, for those of us who want to capture a little wide-angle action and then move on before the tour bus abandons us, Sony's upcoming DSC-HX1 could be the solution. The nine megapixel shooter, releasing in April, comes with a unique (for the moment) panorama mode that allows it to capture 224-degree horizontal or 154-degree vertical shots automatically. Just push the shutter release and then slowly sweep the 20x lens across that wondrous vista before you. The camera internally fuses everything together to create a single 7152 x 1080 image; no post-processing required. It's demonstrated in a video below (on a quaint little diorama), and while $500 is on the pricey side for a non-SLR digi cam, if you've ever tried to stitch photos manually you might think it money well spent -- assuming it still works that well without a tripod.

Continue reading Sony's panorama-shooting DSC-HX1 camera handled on video

XRoad G-Map iPhone navigation map Review

While the world waits for a tried-and-true navigation app from Apple, XRoad is taking advantage of the situation by offering up its G-Map app in the interim. Kicking Tires decided to take the new software for a spin, and while the map quality took a pretty harsh beating, the overall offering was highly praised. More specifically, not every street name was present during testing, meaning that you had to rely implicitly on the turn-by-turn instructions if you weren't familiar with your surroundings. Outside of that, however, it seemed to nail all the important points. Accuracy, routing, ease of use and design were all smiled upon, and it seems critics gave the street name snafu a bit of a break with the hope of future updates solving the issues. If you're still a touch hesitant to drop your hard-earned cash, give that read link a gentle tap.

HP rolls out Compaq CQ2000M For Europe

HP's mini-Q nettop first turned up in Taiwan way back in November, but it looks to finally be making its way around the world, and it's now shown itself in Europe in the form of the Compaq CQ2000M. There doesn't appear to be any significant changes beyond the slight name change, however, with the nettop still packing the standard issue 1.6GHz Atom Z230 processor, 1GB of RAM (expandable to 2GB), a 160GB hard drive, Intel GMA950 graphics and, of particular note, a dual-layer DVD burner. Unfortunately, there's also still no indication of a release on this side of the pond, but those in Europe can apparently grab one now bundled with a 20-inch monitor for €349, or about $440.

Google issues first Android Dev Phone 1 update, clarifies paid app situation

Android Dev Phone 1 owners are pretty much expected to handle their own business when it comes to firmware updates, but those of you who like to kick it official take note: El Goog's just released Android 1.1 for its totally unlocked version of the G1. Most of the fixes are to do with POP3 accounts, although paid apps are now supported with a catch: you won't be able to access any paid apps that use Android's hilariously weak-ass copy protection features, because the ADP1 comes rooted out of the box and thus able to read / write the folder protected apps are stored in. So yeah, ADP1 owners now have access to paid apps that don't have copy protection -- we're guessing that's not a large number. Honestly, we don't see the point of this: nothing's ever going to stop piracy, and pissing off the people willing to buy $400 unlocked phones that don't come with support doesn't seem like the best way to build brand loyalty. Maybe you want to reconsider, guys?

Lenovo's 16-inch IdeaPad Y650 Review

Lenovo's curiously cute IdeaPad Y650 has been shipping out to multimedia lovers everywhere for just under a month now, but if you've been holding tight until a legitimate review hit the tubes, here's your sign. Computer Shopper managed to get ahold of one of these 16-inch beauties, and while it was disappointed in the lack of a Blu-ray player and 1080p screen option, it generally had positive things to say. The screen, though limited in resolution (1,366 x 768), was deemed "brilliant," and the gesture-enabled touch pad was also a joy to use. It was found to be "surprisingly light" for a machine this large, and the attractive pricing made it all the more, um, attractive. All in all, it seems the Y650 is a solid choice for those looking for decent power, good looks and a large panel, but gamers and high-def junkies should probably turn their eyes elsewhere.

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Review

Dell's Mini 10 netbook certainly seems to occupy the sweet spot between the company's Mini 9 and Mini 12 offerings but, according to Laptop's review of the netbook, there may be just a few too many trade-offs for some folks. On the upside, the Mini 10 does compare favorably to most other 10-inch netbooks in terms of size and weight, and the keyboard is actually a tad larger than the one on the Mini 12, with it measuring about 0.3-inches deeper and extending right to the edge of the system. Unfortunately, Laptop found that the reworked touchpad was quite a bit more finicky than the one's on its counterparts, and Dell's decision to hold back on some features like a six-cell battery means that it doesn't quite give you the same bang for the buck as something like the Samsung NC10 or ASUS Eee PC 1000HE. Still undecided? Then hit up the read link below for the full rundown.