Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

It’s not the first time Nokia’s teased us with a research effort it’s working on, but unlike some other recent examples, the company’s so-called noBounds project likely isn’t decades away from becoming a reality, although that’s not to say it’s not impressive. As you can see in the video after the break, the project aims to let you pair a cellphone or handheld up with virtually any type of display, and deliver full HD video at 30 frames per second over USB or WLAN. That’s apparently also done with “very low power consumption,” and would work either with displays with a built-in USB or WLAN connection, or any other display with the addition of a dongle. Needless to say, there’s no indication as to when we might see such a system let loose, but you can be sure we’ll be keeping our eye out for any further developments.

Continue reading Nokia noBounds projects promises full HD video over USB or WLAN

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Google: Android will outsell iPhone, we still love ya Steve

Filed under: Cellphones

Watching Google tiptoe around its relationship with Apple as it rolls out Android is one of the most enjoyable aspects of watching the industry these days. This is perfectly illustrated in the words of Rich Miner, group manager for Google’s mobile platforms, who said, “there’s a much larger potential market on Android than for the iPhone.” A truthful statement in all likelihood assuming that the OS is robust upon its global release later this year and available on handsets from HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and LG as expected. Miner then took a few shots at the iPhone SDK saying, “There are things I saw people doing with the first version of the Android SDK that it seems like you can’t do with the iPhone at least at the moment.” He then noted that the SDK had been downloaded 750,000 times (compared to Apple’s 100k in 4 days) as of February. Naturally, he then applied a thick, brown coat of public relations salve saying, “[If I were a developer] I’d certainly be looking at the iPhone, and if you believe there will be lots of Android phones out there, as we do, I’d be developing for both platforms.” Kumbaya my BossEricSchmidtSitsOnTheAppleBoard, kumabaya…

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Asus EP20 desktop emerges from CeBIT confusion

Filed under: Desktops

This shiny little box seems to have slipped under just about everyone’s radar during the CeBIT whirlwind earlier this month, but the folks at matbe.com thankfully scored some pictures and details on their trip past Asus’ booth, and they’re suggesting that it could, in fact, be the desktop Eee PC that the company’s been talking about. That claim is backed up by the fact that it comes with the Eee PC’s Linux-based OS installed, although there’s apparently no other firm details on the desktop (dubbed the EP20) just yet, only that it has “good enough performance” and boasts “docking for living & studying room.” There also doesn’t seem to be any official word on a price (matbe speculates €200, or just over $300), but it will supposedly be released sometime this summer.

[Via Eee Site]

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Virgin Mobile turns Spitzer scandal into marketing gold

Filed under: Cellphones

Poor, poor client number 9, Eliot Spitzer. Having suffered a humiliating week in the US press, corporate Canada is now taking its shot at the disgraced New York governor. That’s the actual print ad which Virgin Mobile will run in Toronto newspapers this week with the following subtext:

“At Virgin Mobile, you’re more than just a number. When you call us we’ll treat you like a person, not a client. Whether you’re #9 or #900, you’ll get hooked up with somebody who’ll finally treat you just how you want to be treated.”

Let’s just see if Spitzer swallows the jab, or comes out fighting this unauthorized use of his image. Full text blow-up after the break.

[Via Textually]

Continue reading Virgin Mobile turns Spitzer scandal into marketing gold

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How would you change Chumby?

Filed under: Features

As with Pleo, many may argue that Chumby is simply too cute to tweak. But if you can manage to shuffle your emotional attachments to the side for a tick, we’re confident there’s quite a few things you’d like to see changed. Sure, this totally unique hodgepodge of glanceable information and bedroom mainstays can handle quite a broad variety of tasks right out of the box, but considering that it’s built on an open, hackable architecture, it’s just begging for someone to come along and do things better than its creator. So, now that you’ve had ample time to roll this critter around your domicile, enjoy its abilities and install that hefty firmware update, what’s left to be done? Tell the world below, we’re all listening.

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Volvo’s ReCharge plug-in hybrid concept: this time it’s for serious

Filed under: Transportation

We were totally digging Volvo’s ReCharge plug-in hybrid concept when they were showing it off last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but unfortunately it wasn’t much more than a cutaway demonstration model at that point. Lucky for us, Volvo decided to take it legit, and built a full-on working concept model of the Volvo C30-based car. The company is teamed up with Saab in a five-year plan to develop plug-in hybrids, and they’re currently planning a fleet of 10 cars to be tested in Sweden. Volvo plans to announce a hybrid version of one or more existing models within the next five years, but they’re certainly playing it safe — though the lithium-polymer batteries and in-wheel electric motors might prove them otherwise.

[Via Crave]

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Filed under: Desktops

This shiny little box seems to have slipped under just about everyone’s radar during the CeBIT whirlwind earlier this month, but the folks at matbe.com thankfully scored some pictures and details on their trip past Asus’ booth, and they’re suggesting that it could, in fact, be the desktop Eee PC that the company’s been talking about. That claim is backed up by the fact that it comes with the Eee PC’s Linux-based OS installed, although there’s apparently no other firm details on the desktop (dubbed the EP20) just yet, only that it has “good enough performance” and boasts “docking for living & studying room.” There also doesn’t seem to be any official word on a price (matbe speculates €200, or just over $300), but it will supposedly be released sometime this summer.

[Via Eee Site]

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Nokia N810 with WiMAX set to launch at CTIA on April 1st?

Filed under: Handhelds

Remember the rumor we saw floating about a few weeks ago about a Nokia N810 refresh? Well, the lads at The Boy Genius Report are reporting — on a rumor mind you — that Nokia is set to launch its N810 refresh with WiMAX at CTIA in April this year. Interestingly, the name will remain the same, and not be labeled the Nokia N830 as we’d first thought. Yeah, it’s only a rumor at this point, but we’re thinking that giving this radio-less internet appliance a bit more reach is nothing but a good thing.

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AirLive AirMedia 3000 streamer does YouTube, too

Filed under: Home Entertainment

We’re not sure how the AirLive AirMedia 3000 “wireless multimedia server” accesses YouTube content without a browser — unlike devices like the Apple TV and iPhone, it apparently plays the straight .flv files, which only show up on the website, we believe — but if it does, chalk it up as one of the easier ways to watch dogs ride skateboards on your TV. Not much else in the way of details, but if this thing really is rocking Flash video support, we can see it carving out a solid little niche for itself.

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Dell busts out 20-inch UltraSharp 2009W LCD

Filed under: Displays

Not feeling enough LCD love from Dell lately? How about this new UltraSharp 2009W? The new 20-inch 16:10 widescreen monitor does up a 1680 x 1050 resolution, with 36% more pixel content than Dell’s 19-incher. The display also outperforms its budget friendly E207WFP predecessor with a 102% color gamut, 2000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 5ms response time, and four USB 2.0 ports. Only inputs available are DVI with HDCP and VGA, but perhaps all can be forgiven with that $289 pricetag. It’s available now.

[Thanks, Bart]

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DARPA hard at work on nanomechanical chips

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

These chips won’t be blazing through Crysis any time soon, but there’s certainly room in the world for mechanical nanocomputers, and thanks to DARPA we might seem them in the real world sooner rather than later. The chips harken back Babbage’s 13 ton difference engine, but with a whole lot more nano. They’re also more robust, generate less heat and consume less power than their solid-state counterparts. DARPA has plenty of uses for them on the battlefield (like counting bullets, oddly enough), and consumers might seem them showing up car engines and children’s toys.

[Via Crave]

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Filed under: Laptops

Hey, we’ve no qualms with Frontier crafting a 12.1-inch laptop that weighs less than some obese MIDs, but c’mon, a 800MHz Intel A110 processor? Yep, the same chip that resides in quite a few UMPCs has somehow found its way into this creature, along with 1GB of RAM, a WXGA (1,280 x 800) panel, 80GB hard drive, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, 4-in-1 multicard reader, integrated graphics and a built-in 1-watt speaker. Additionally, you’ll find an integrated microphone, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, a 56k modem, VGA out and a biometric scanner to keep your files under wraps. Granted, it does weigh just 2.73-pounds, but until this thing gets a handle on the processor situation, we’d divert that ¥129,799 ($1,264) elsewhere.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

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Intel’s quad-core QX9300 laptop CPU in Q3?

Filed under: Laptops

Check it high-enders. DigiTimes has been milking their Taiwanese motherboard sources for information about Intel’s laptop-class, Core 2 Extreme QX9300 processor. They’ve come away with a Q3 ship date and price of $1,038 when purchasing the quad-core proc in bulk. Digitimes‘ own sources had originally pegged the QX9300 for a May release. But such is the life of the muckraker.

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Sugar cube-sized swarm bots could build Transformers, bring destruction upon us all

Filed under: Robots

British scientists have started an EU-funded project named “Symbrion” to build swarm bots the size of a sugar cube, which could self-assemble with each other and form larger, more useful, and more box office-potent robots. Each bot will have wheels or tentacles to allow it to move around independently, along with its own brain to help it hunt down the other bots via infrared. Once assembled the bots should be able to take on the shape of a robo-snake, robo-spider, robo-arm or whatever else is required of them, and will pool their computing power — with hopefully enough juice between them to rattle off trite phrases and bad puns. This is certainly not a new concept, but the Symbrion project has a good £4.6 million of funding to get started — which we hear is worth roughly a million billion dollars in the US.

[Via Digg]

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Oyster Cards vulnerable to RFID hack, lots of other systems too

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Sure, it’s fun to say that one billion RFID cards are now at risk due to the Mifare Classic’s broken encryption, but it’s another thing to comprehend how widespread the fallout could potentially be — the London Underground’s Oyster Card is based on the chip, for example. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg: a new report says that the system can be broken in minutes using a typical PC — check the video after the break for a demonstration. We’ve also listed all the other now-potentially-vulnerable Mifare RFID implementations we could find, but there’s got to be more — put ‘em in comments!

Continue reading Oyster Cards vulnerable to RFID hack, lots of other systems too

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Keepin’ it real fake, part CXIV: the N95 FM radio… from Asaki

Filed under: Cellphones

It’s just what you’ve been waiting for — a Nokia N95 running Windows Mobile. It looks like the rumors were true after all! What’s that? This is not a real phone? It’s just an FM radio with a sticker on the screen? Oh bother. Yes folks, thanks to eagle-eyed tipster Eric, you’re looking at the next evolution in gadgetry — the Asaki N95 FM radio. We’re not sure what the going price for this is, but we’d imagine slightly less than $779, though the real N95 doesn’t come with those totally pimped-out headphones, does it?

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Filed under: Gaming

Captain Awesome and the League of Awesomeness were unavailable for comment. Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to go die a few hundred more times in pointlessly difficult platforming levels. Bowser version is after the break.

Continue reading Wii gets the Super Smash Bros crystal ice treatment

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USB bomb brings new meaning to “plug-and-play”

Filed under: Storage

Looking for that perfect weapon of mass destruction to pair with The Button? This USB Bomb designed by Joel Escalona should fit the bill nicely. Unfortunately, it’s just a concept at the moment, but we’re sure with a little bit of Styrofoam and a whole bunch of black crayons you could get yourself on the FBI watch list in no time.

[Via technabob]

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Comcast sues FCC for not letting it own anything it wants

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Given Comcast’s notoriously shady service, we’re not exactly in favor of the company being allowed to ruthlessly torture service any more markets than necessary, but we can see why it might be a little frustrated with the FCC, which has allowed all sorts of giant phone companies to merge in the past few years, yet still recently decided to block cable companies from owning more than 30 percent of the market. Comcast and the FCC have butted heads in the past on similar regulatory issues, but this one should be particularly interesting, since FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is currently the focus of a congressional probe into his handling of the agency. We can actually sort of see Comcast’s point — the FCC probably should allow giant telco mergers while arbitrarily capping cable ownership, but really we’d prefer a lot more competition and a hell of a lot more focus on customer service from all of these companies instead of yet more lawsuits and paperwork.

[Via TechDirt]

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Filed under: Laptops

Hey, we’ve no qualms with Frontier crafting a 12.1-inch laptop that weighs less than some obese MIDs, but c’mon, a 800MHz Intel A110 processor? Yep, the same chip that resides in quite a few UMPCs has somehow found its way into this creature, along with 1GB of RAM, a WXGA (1,280 x 800) panel, 80GB hard drive, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, 4-in-1 multicard reader, integrated graphics and a built-in 1-watt speaker. Additionally, you’ll find an integrated microphone, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, a 56k modem, VGA out and a biometric scanner to keep your files under wraps. Granted, it does weigh just 2.73-pounds, but until this thing gets a handle on the processor situation, we’d divert that ¥129,799 ($1,264) elsewhere.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

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Volvo’s ReCharge plug-in hybrid concept: this time it’s for serious

Filed under: Transportation

We were totally digging Volvo’s ReCharge plug-in hybrid concept when they were showing it off last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but unfortunately it wasn’t much more than a cutaway demonstration model at that point. Lucky for us, Volvo decided to take it legit, and built a full-on working concept model of the Volvo C30-based car. The company is teamed up with Saab in a five-year plan to develop plug-in hybrids, and they’re currently planning a fleet of 10 cars to be tested in Sweden. Volvo plans to announce a hybrid version of one or more existing models within the next five years, but they’re certainly playing it safe — though the lithium-polymer batteries and in-wheel electric motors might prove them otherwise.

[Via Crave]

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Gateway revs the M-series laptops to X and XL

Filed under: Laptops

It hasn’t even been a year since Gateway dropped the M-series laptop on us, but with all the other kids getting fancy new Penryn shoes, it’s time for an upgrade — say ‘allo to the M-151X and M-151XL. Only the XL gets the fancy new 2.4GHz T8300 Core 2 Duo, actually — poor X here is still wearing last year’s 65nm 1.66GHz T5450 fashions. Both feature a 15-inch glossy screen, though, as well as 256MB ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics with HDMI out, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, fingerprint reader, 5-in-1 memory card reader, slot-loading dual-layer burner, 250GB drive, and Vista Home Premium. Not a bad little package, especially for the price: the X will set you back a cool grand, while the XL runs $1,299.

[Via Laptoping]

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Oyster Cards vulnerable to RFID hack, lots of other systems too

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Sure, it’s fun to say that one billion RFID cards are now at risk due to the Mifare Classic’s broken encryption, but it’s another thing to comprehend how widespread the fallout could potentially be — the London Underground’s Oyster Card is based on the chip, for example. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg: a new report says that the system can be broken in minutes using a typical PC — check the video after the break for a demonstration. We’ve also listed all the other now-potentially-vulnerable Mifare RFID implementations we could find, but there’s got to be more — put ‘em in comments!

Continue reading Oyster Cards vulnerable to RFID hack, lots of other systems too

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Asus EP20 desktop emerges from CeBIT confusion

Filed under: Desktops

This shiny little box seems to have slipped under just about everyone’s radar during the CeBIT whirlwind earlier this month, but the folks at matbe.com thankfully scored some pictures and details on their trip past Asus’ booth, and they’re suggesting that it could, in fact, be the desktop Eee PC that the company’s been talking about. That claim is backed up by the fact that it comes with the Eee PC’s Linux-based OS installed, although there’s apparently no other firm details on the desktop (dubbed the EP20) just yet, only that it has “good enough performance” and boasts “docking for living & studying room.” There also doesn’t seem to be any official word on a price (matbe speculates €200, or just over $300), but it will supposedly be released sometime this summer.

[Via Eee Site]

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Meridian announces MF10 1080p D-ILA projector at EHX

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Every so often, a projector hits the market that’s just so delectable, it’s hard to stop fantasizing about what pieces of your kids’ rooms could be auctioned off in order to procure it. Enter the $14,995 Meridian MF10, which is most certainly one those units. Packin’ a totally familiar black chassis, three 0.7-inch 1080p D-ILA chips, a native 30,000:1 contrast ratio, 700 lumens, and a 2x zoom lens (2:35:1 Cinemascope is optional), this PJ exudes confidence. You’ll also find a pair of HDMI 1.3 ports along with component, S-Video and composite (saywha?), an RS-232 control terminal and the ability to play nice with the firm’s $3,995 DVP2351 digital video processor (shown after the jump). Yeah, they’re both available as we speak, but can your Centurion Card really handle it? [Warning: PDF read link]

Continue reading Meridian announces MF10 1080p D-ILA projector at EHX

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Japan’s Shougaku Ichinensei mag bundles “finger piano” for kids

Filed under: Wearables

Face it, Japan is just cooler than you are. You have a job and a car, Japan? Japan has finger pianos bundled as freebies with manga-centric magazines for 1st graders. You lose. And by “finger piano” we really mean finger piano. Check out the video after the break for a better idea, but basically you mount a sensor onto each finger and plunk away — the circuit bending potential is immense.

Continue reading Japan’s Shougaku Ichinensei mag bundles “finger piano” for kids

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DARPA hard at work on nanomechanical chips

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

These chips won’t be blazing through Crysis any time soon, but there’s certainly room in the world for mechanical nanocomputers, and thanks to DARPA we might seem them in the real world sooner rather than later. The chips harken back Babbage’s 13 ton difference engine, but with a whole lot more nano. They’re also more robust, generate less heat and consume less power than their solid-state counterparts. DARPA has plenty of uses for them on the battlefield (like counting bullets, oddly enough), and consumers might seem them showing up car engines and children’s toys.

[Via Crave]

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Smart Goggles help you find that one thing… you know, with the stuff

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Wearables

While perhaps some sort of tagging or RFID system could be more effective in this task, you’re certainly never going to look as badass on the hunt for a flower pot as you will with these Smart Goggles. Being developed by researchers at the University of Tokyo, the video goggles are hooked up to a backpack computer and record whatever you see. The system can be trained to recognize particular items by name, using some fancy image recognition software, and is meant for people with memory problems or just really hard to find plants. You can even ask the system to play back some recent video of the object (”where did you see it last?”) to help jog your memory or just bring back old times. Super-fine white coat not included.

[Via Daily Mail]

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Every so often, a projector hits the market that’s just so delectable, it’s hard to stop fantasizing about what pieces of your kids’ rooms could be auctioned off in order to procure it. Enter the $14,995 Meridian MF10, which is most certainly one those units. Packin’ a totally familiar black chassis, three 0.7-inch 1080p D-ILA chips, a native 30,000:1 contrast ratio, 700 lumens, and a 2x zoom lens (2:35:1 Cinemascope is optional), this PJ exudes confidence. You’ll also find a pair of HDMI 1.3 ports along with component, S-Video and composite (saywha?), an RS-232 control terminal and the ability to play nice with the firm’s $3,995 DVP2351 digital video processor (shown after the jump). Yeah, they’re both available as we speak, but can your Centurion Card really handle it? [Warning: PDF read link]

Continue reading Meridian announces MF10 1080p D-ILA projector at EHX

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Volvo’s ReCharge plug-in hybrid concept: this time it’s for serious

Filed under: Transportation

We were totally digging Volvo’s ReCharge plug-in hybrid concept when they were showing it off last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but unfortunately it wasn’t much more than a cutaway demonstration model at that point. Lucky for us, Volvo decided to take it legit, and built a full-on working concept model of the Volvo C30-based car. The company is teamed up with Saab in a five-year plan to develop plug-in hybrids, and they’re currently planning a fleet of 10 cars to be tested in Sweden. Volvo plans to announce a hybrid version of one or more existing models within the next five years, but they’re certainly playing it safe — though the lithium-polymer batteries and in-wheel electric motors might prove them otherwise.

[Via Crave]

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SanDisk’s Sansa Fuze reviewed

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Those of you hoping to have your mind blown can go ahead and leave quietly out the back, but for anyone else hoping for a dirt-cheap and fairly lovable DAP, the Sansa Fuze from SanDisk might just fit the bill. PC Magazine and CNET put the player through its paces and came out with a few nice things to say about it. Starting at $80 for 2GB and ramping up to $130 for 8GB, the player is certainly a good deal, and its diminutive form factor — a compromise between the Clip and the View — measures a mere 0.3-inches thick, while still managing a quality feel and a microSD slot. Unfortunately, the size only leaves room for a 1.9-inch screen, which CNET calls “dingy,” and SanDisk’s proprietary syncing port on the player isn’t winning it any fans. Audio quality doesn’t quite match the Sony A810 or Samsung P2, and the codec support is fairly limited, but obviously Rhapsody integration is the real draw here. These days 24 hours of audio playback isn’t earth shattering either, but it’s certainly commendable, and while it doesn’t appear SanDisk is going to change to face of the DAP market with this unit, we’re sure they’ve hit the sweet spot for some.

Read - PC Mag (3.5 out of 5, “Good”)
Read - CNET (7.3 out of 10, “Very good”)

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Filed under: Features

As with Pleo, many may argue that Chumby is simply too cute to tweak. But if you can manage to shuffle your emotional attachments to the side for a tick, we’re confident there’s quite a few things you’d like to see changed. Sure, this totally unique hodgepodge of glanceable information and bedroom mainstays can handle quite a broad variety of tasks right out of the box, but considering that it’s built on an open, hackable architecture, it’s just begging for someone to come along and do things better than its creator. So, now that you’ve had ample time to roll this critter around your domicile, enjoy its abilities and install that hefty firmware update, what’s left to be done? Tell the world below, we’re all listening.

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Mac Pro Mini mod is almost the midrange tower Mac you’ve always wanted

Filed under: Desktops

Sure, we think the iMac is a nice machine, but sometimes you want to add a PCI card or six, and when the cheapest beslotted Mac starts at a whopping $2,799, mods like Hideo Takano’s Mac Pro Mini just make you wonder what could have been. Of course, there are no slots in this bad boy either since it’s based around a stock Mac mini with a 2.33GHz processor upgrade, but it is a mighty impressive effort — actually, check out Hideo’s whole Mac Mod Lab site for even more sick Mini mods.

[Via Unplgged]

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Asus EP20 desktop emerges from CeBIT confusion

Filed under: Desktops

This shiny little box seems to have slipped under just about everyone’s radar during the CeBIT whirlwind earlier this month, but the folks at matbe.com thankfully scored some pictures and details on their trip past Asus’ booth, and they’re suggesting that it could, in fact, be the desktop Eee PC that the company’s been talking about. That claim is backed up by the fact that it comes with the Eee PC’s Linux-based OS installed, although there’s apparently no other firm details on the desktop (dubbed the EP20) just yet, only that it has “good enough performance” and boasts “docking for living & studying room.” There also doesn’t seem to be any official word on a price (matbe speculates €200, or just over $300), but it will supposedly be released sometime this summer.

[Via Eee Site]

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Inteset’s Vana VA6420-Si media extender system gets Blu-ray

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Back when the format war was still a-brewin’, Inteset saw fit to offer up Blu-ray / HD DVD combo drives on its media PCs. Now that said war is behind us, the firm is plugging Blu-ray drives into its Vana VA6420-Si media extender system. The device, which can also be used in standalone form, enables users to bring content from varying locales within the domicile to a central home entertainment center, and aside from the 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 2GB of RAM and GeForce 8400GT graphics card, you’ll also find 7.1-channel audio outputs, a slew of video ports including HDCP-compliant DVI / HDMI and even an option for a CableCARD tuner. Unfortunately, we’ve no idea how pricey this rig will be, but with specs like that, we can’t imagine it being cheap.

[Via eHomeUpgrade]

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Wii “Twilight Hack” now works sans GameCube adapter

Filed under: Gaming

Have you been sitting on the sidelines while all the cool people stick Linux distros and Snes9x on their “Twilight Hack” Wiis? Seems like there aren’t any more excuses to keep out of the game now that you can do the hack with a regular SD card in the Wii’s regular SD card slot — no more GameCube memory adapters required. No fancy boot sector surgery is required either, you just drop a .elf file onto your memory card and you’re ready to go. Check out the video after the break if you still need more convincing.

Update: Now with actual video goodness after the break.

[Via Wii Fanboy]

Continue reading Wii “Twilight Hack” now works sans GameCube adapter

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Keepin’ it real fake, part CXIV: the N95 FM radio… from Asaki

Filed under: Cellphones

It’s just what you’ve been waiting for — a Nokia N95 running Windows Mobile. It looks like the rumors were true after all! What’s that? This is not a real phone? It’s just an FM radio with a sticker on the screen? Oh bother. Yes folks, thanks to eagle-eyed tipster Eric, you’re looking at the next evolution in gadgetry — the Asaki N95 FM radio. We’re not sure what the going price for this is, but we’d imagine slightly less than $779, though the real N95 doesn’t come with those totally pimped-out headphones, does it?

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Sony unveils four E-Series 3LCD projectors in Asia-Pacific

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment

If you reckoned that Sony’s VPL-EX4 and VPL-ES4 were getting a bit long in the tooth, we suppose Sony agrees. Across the way (in Asia-Pacific, to be precise), Sony has launched four new PJs on us: the VPL-EW5, VPL-EX50, VPL-EX5 and VPL-ES5. According to the company, the whole lot is aimed at boardroom masters, but these 3LCD units and their 2,500 ANSI lumens would certainly hold their own after hours. Additionally, the first three incorporate Sony’s BrightEra imaging technology, and you’ll find resolutions as high as WXGA (1,280 x 800) and contrast ratios up to 900:1. For more specifics on each, check out the nitty-gritty in the read link below.

[Via AboutProjectors]

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Meridian announces MF10 1080p D-ILA projector at EHX

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Every so often, a projector hits the market that’s just so delectable, it’s hard to stop fantasizing about what pieces of your kids’ rooms could be auctioned off in order to procure it. Enter the $14,995 Meridian MF10, which is most certainly one those units. Packin’ a totally familiar black chassis, three 0.7-inch 1080p D-ILA chips, a native 30,000:1 contrast ratio, 700 lumens, and a 2x zoom lens (2:35:1 Cinemascope is optional), this PJ exudes confidence. You’ll also find a pair of HDMI 1.3 ports along with component, S-Video and composite (saywha?), an RS-232 control terminal and the ability to play nice with the firm’s $3,995 DVP2351 digital video processor (shown after the jump). Yeah, they’re both available as we speak, but can your Centurion Card really handle it? [Warning: PDF read link]

Continue reading Meridian announces MF10 1080p D-ILA projector at EHX

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Filed under: Storage

Apparently catering to the few folks out there that feel they have too few USB flash drives, Ultra Products recently let loose this so-called SpaceStation 6, which comes with no less than six tiny thumb drives that can be neatly concealed and used as the mood strikes. Of course, there’s no hub action going on here — which would be convenient — and the slots likely won’t play nice with your current stash of flash drives. If you’re still interested, however, you can grab either a 12GB version (consisting of six 2GB drives) or a 6GB version (with six 1GB drives) right now for $90 or $60, respectively.

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Watching Google tiptoe around its relationship with Apple as it rolls out Android is one of the most enjoyable aspects of watching the industry these days. This is perfectly illustrated in the words of Rich Miner, group manager for Google’s mobile platforms, who said, “there’s a much larger potential market on Android than for the iPhone.” A truthful statement in all likelihood assuming that the OS is robust upon its global release later this year and available on handsets from HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and LG as expected. Miner then took a few shots at the iPhone SDK saying, “There are things I saw people doing with the first version of the Android SDK that it seems like you can’t do with the iPhone at least at the moment.” He then noted that the SDK had been downloaded 750,000 times (compared to Apple’s 100k in 4 days) as of February. Naturally, he then applied a thick, brown coat of public relations salve saying, “[If I were a developer] I’d certainly be looking at the iPhone, and if you believe there will be lots of Android phones out there, as we do, I’d be developing for both platforms.” Kumbaya my BossEricSchmidtSitsOnTheAppleBoard, kumabaya…

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SanDisk’s Sansa Fuze reviewed

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Those of you hoping to have your mind blown can go ahead and leave quietly out the back, but for anyone else hoping for a dirt-cheap and fairly lovable DAP, the Sansa Fuze from SanDisk might just fit the bill. PC Magazine and CNET put the player through its paces and came out with a few nice things to say about it. Starting at $80 for 2GB and ramping up to $130 for 8GB, the player is certainly a good deal, and its diminutive form factor — a compromise between the Clip and the View — measures a mere 0.3-inches thick, while still managing a quality feel and a microSD slot. Unfortunately, the size only leaves room for a 1.9-inch screen, which CNET calls “dingy,” and SanDisk’s proprietary syncing port on the player isn’t winning it any fans. Audio quality doesn’t quite match the Sony A810 or Samsung P2, and the codec support is fairly limited, but obviously Rhapsody integration is the real draw here. These days 24 hours of audio playback isn’t earth shattering either, but it’s certainly commendable, and while it doesn’t appear SanDisk is going to change to face of the DAP market with this unit, we’re sure they’ve hit the sweet spot for some.

Read - PC Mag (3.5 out of 5, “Good”)
Read - CNET (7.3 out of 10, “Very good”)