Devices Site

The HD-DVD troopers are surely fighting the losing battle, as new research from Japan details a surge in Blu-Ray player ownership. The study surveyed buying trends from 2,300 electronic stores across Japan, and the statistics showed that next-generation DVD-unit sales rocketed from 6.1% in October to 20% in November and December. As the next-generation players have a higher price point, they managed to account for some 35% of the total DVD player market value. However, Blu-Ray walked home with the largest market share of the two.

Blu-Ray made up 90% of all next-generation DVD player sales. Now, we aren’t mathematicians, but that is a hell of a lot. In fact, it is so much, looking at this image now actually leaves a ferrous-like taste in our mouths, due to its shocking, 90% increased, ironic eye candy status. [Japan Today; image via Picasa Online]

Intel looks set to release more dual-core Celeron processors sometime int he second quarter of this year, to take over where the E1000 and E1200 series left off. This new line will be known as the E1400, and it comes with :-

• 2GHz core frequency
• 800MHz FSB
• L2 cache of 512KB
• Support for Intel 64, XD Bit (Execute Disable Bit) and Speed Step technology

This line will retail for $52 in thousand-unit tray quantities. It is also tipped that by the time 2009 rolls around, single core Celerons would have gone the way of the dodo, with dual-cores leading the way.

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Normally faux anything rubs me the wrong way but this faux-digital message tape looks very interesting indeed.  You write messages by blacking out white sections on the tape.  It could take a while to put together a message of any length; but it does make a nice alternative to temporary signs.  I don’t think this thing has any genuine home applications, but for mischief or business related activities, it truly rocks.

There are two styles to choose from, you can go with the groovy-segmented-retro-calculator style or boring old dot matrix.  I know which one I would choose.

At $12 a roll from Suck UK, you might not want to rewrite War and Peace.

Technabob

Brando’s miniature Bluetooth adapter is a tiny little gizmo you can hook up to your laptop or PC to give you Bluetooth connectivity. Works with Windows ME, 2000, XP and Vista, and Mac OS 10.1.4 or above, and full specs and price are below the gallery.
galleryPost(’tinyusb’, 3, ‘Brando USB Bluetooth adapter’);

Connect Most Bluetooth devices.
Supports A2DP up to 30 meters
Enables wireless connectivity between computers and devices
Enables connectivity to 7 Bluetooth devices at one time
Enables Wireless Personal Area Network (PAN) connectivity
Bluetooth 1.1 compliant
Bluetooth class 2, compatible with Bluetooth class 1
USB 1.1 compliant
More than 33 feet wireless networking range
Up to 723 Kbps data rate
Dimensions: 14 x 19 x 6mm
Weight: 2g

Brando’s Bluetooth adapter costs $24. [Brando]

I’ve been keeping my eye on this Portal-inspired casemod project for a while now, watching and waiting for the builder to eventually finish his creation. And just like the cake, I guess that case was a lie. Then, out of the blue, I was checking out Gizmodo this morning when I came across this Weighted Companion Cube PC casemod that’s just so much better.

Amazingly, builder Magnus Persson created this compact cube PC in just a week. The whole thing measures in at under 8×8×8 inches, fabricated from painted acrylic. Of course it has everything needed to play a round of Portal on board. It runs on a compact Via Epia EX1500G motherboard, and stays cool thanks to a CoolerMaster fan hidden on the bottom of the case.

Kudos to Magnus for an excellent casemod!

[via Bit-Tech]

read more about:

casemod, cube, funny, orange box, pc, portal, valve

Posted Jan 21st 2008 7:21AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Transportation
We’ve already seen whips that brake for us, steer for us and wheel us into that last remaining spot on 5th Avenue without marring someone’s BMW, so it follows logic that we’d see vehicles that peer into our minds, too. Research done by a crew at the Technical University of Berlin has shown that a “smart dashboard” could one day deactivate distractions within the vehicle in order to improve driver response if things simply get too hectic. Reportedly, the system could switch off in-car gadgetry (you know, navigators, radios, Hello Kitty headsets, etc.) when one’s brain became overloaded in order to speed up reaction time “by as much as 100-milliseconds.” Of course, this is assuming that said brain won’t melt down even further when that beloved iPod inexplicably shuts off just as Slash gears up for some serious shredding in Welcome to the Jungle, but nevertheless, we applaud the effort.

[Image courtesy of TAMU]

Looks like Apple lovers are dime a dozen, and they would automatically defend to the death any negative press about their beloved company. For such dedication, Steve Jobs ought to reward these faithful fans (hopefully he doesn’t call them rude) with the iRing from Victor Solo. Currently a concept, this ring comes with a touch-sensitive band that controls media playback as well as volume. It will communicate with the iPhone/iPod using Bluetooth connectivity, but it makes me wonder how so many electronics and a battery can be stored in something so small. Maybe that’s why it will still remain a concept - at least for now.

While the world is enamoured with touch sensitive devices, along comes the humble LED cell phone that takes the opposite route to that of a smartphone’s. The LEDs aren’t there to make it look good, instead they all have some sort of function. You won’t find any display or touch screen, just plain old LEDs. These patterns change depending on the different functions you access. Behind the keys are a bunch of touch sensors that await your command. No lithium ion for this, just a couple of plain old AAA batteries will do. If you happen to lug around rechargeable AAAs, there is a USB interface which provides on-the-go charging.

Do people call you “Fatty McButterpants”? Are you only a physical speciman in the virtual world? You know you want to be in shape, but you can’t keep up both your virtual body and your physical body… until now!

If you insist on being at your desk all day, whether it’s gaming, surfing, or being a spreadsheet jockey, why not hook up the Gamercize PC Sport to your Windows, Mac, or Linux computer’s USB, and get a nice workout at the same time?

The low-rise stepper sits surreptitiously under your desk – just set your feet on the pads, and gently step-step-step. If you can keep up a steady motion, your keyboard and mouse work fine. The moment you stop, however, they stop responding.

Step it up with the Gamercize PC-Sport Stepper!

Gimmie!

Suggested Price: $199.99

While everyone thought that the MacBook Air battery replacement process would be complicated, AppleInsider thinks otherwise. They claim that there is no need for special tools or knowledge if you want to swap out the MacBook Air’s battery. All you need to do is uncover the MacBook Air’s bottom cover, unscrew the battery from the chassis and unplug it from the circuit board with a tug. It is not soldered onto the board like many believed. From the sounds of it, it will probably take less than three minutes to perform this little operation. You could, of course, settle for Apple’s $129 MacBook Air Out-of-Warranty Battery Replacement Program that requires approximately 5 days to complete.