• #gadgets

    Hands-On With Ricavision's VAVE Universal Vista Sideshow Remote

    We've seen Ricavision's Sideshow Remotes before (and even got hands-on with their previous concept SideShow remote), but this is the first time we've fondled the commercial version that's coming next year. More »
  • #laptops

    OLPC Laptop Hits Embarrassing $200 Milestone

    During the OLPC price hike from $175 to $188, a spokesman said they were committed to keeping the price below $190, and probably below $200 if possible. This was in September—a month and a half ago. Guess they weren't trying very hard, since the laptops have just made the jump to $200. Besides being symbolic for being twice as much as they originally guessed, the fact that the price keeps rising is just embarrassing for the organization. Our estimate now is that the price will continue rising to a possible, $230~$250 level. What's your guess? [Reuters]
  • #peripherals

    Sennheiser VMX100 Bluetooth Headset Has VoiceMax Voice Distinguishing Technology

    Sennheiser's latest Bluetooth headset, the VMX 100, has on-board technology that distinguishes the human voice from background noise in order to provide a clearer outgoing sound during conversations. We're unsure how well the headset will distinguish background noise when the background noise is actually human conversation, but at least it'll have five hours talk time and 100 hours standby. The thing looks absolutely gigantic with the Borg attachment fitting over the ear, but we suppose that's where the voice distinguishing technology lives. [CNET]
  • #laptops

    $100 OLPC Laptop Gets Another Price Hike

    The $100 laptop—which was already up to a hefty $175, has gotten yet another price bump to $188. A spokesman says they're committed to keeping the price from rising above $190, and probably below $200 if at all possible. It's very strange that the price keeps rising, seeing as it's been, what, two years since the project was announced, plus they've gotten more orders from companies so they can ramp up bulk production. Shouldn't hardware prices have dropped instead of risen? [Yahoo]
  • #olpc

    $100 Laptop Starts Mass Production, In Kids Hands October 2007

    A major milestone in the OLPC saga has just been reached. After hyping it for five years, the "$100" laptop is finally ready to hit mass production, and should be in kids' eager paws by October of this year. Unfortunately for said kids, the porn sites that they're so looking forward to browsing will be filtered out through software, meaning the only thing they're going to be pulling is the charging string. [BBC]
  • #peripherals

    Xantrex XPower PowerSource Mobile 100 Portable Battery Backup Weighs a Pound

    Xantrex, isn't only the King of the Southern Elves. He makes mini battery backup systems. This one's a paperback-sized portable power source theoretically good for an extra 2.5 hours on your laptop. It also has USB ports for charging phones and other gadgets that can feed off of them. And a 12-volt car power inverter, that it can use to juice up your 110-volt gadgets, or charge its own battery from. Miraculously, it only weighs a pound. (Must use Mithril.)– Brian Lam More »
  • #digitalcameras

    Sony Alpha 100 DSLR Field Test (Verdict: Great Quality Images For A Price)

    Popular Photography first took the Alpha 100 into Alaska for a boat-test. Sony's on-board image stabilization meant he didn't need to take an image-stabilized lens with him, as it effectively added that feature to every lens used. More »
  • #digitalcameras

    Sony Alpha 100 DSLR

    There's been some recent hubbub about a Sony Alpha DSLR—apparently it's the Sony Alpha 100. No official announcement has been made tying the name to the model (there should be one soon), but here's what Sony's released about the specs. More »
  • #laptops

    UN Backs $100 Laptop

    In a gesture of peace, happiness and love, the UN has decided to back the much-talked-about $100, hand-cranked laptop. And you won't believe where the the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is planning on signing the partnership agreement with MIT's Nicholas Negroponte. Yes, that's right, the luxury ski resort of Davos, where lots of fat cats with expense accounts go once a year to hold court at the World Economic Forum. So, while they down their Bordeaux and veal, they'll discuss how millions of poor children can use the little green crank (for free) to get Microsoft Windows and Internet access. Enjoy, folks, and say Hi to Putin for me. More »
  • #laptops

    Quanta Gets Behind $100 Laptop

    We reported last month that the $100 laptop was going to be a reality, but now Taiwanese company Quanta has made a deal to manufacture these One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) computers, designed by MIT Media Labs. Quanta, which also manufactures systems for companies such as HP, Apple, Dell, Gateway, Sony, IBM, Sharp and Fujitsu, has promised "to devote substantial engineering resources to the OLPC project during the first half of 2006 with the goal of bringing the OLPC system to market by the end of 2006." Based on Linux, these laptops feature a 500 MHz processor, a screen capable of displaying both full color and high-contrast black and white, 128MB of RAM and 512MB of flash memory, four USB ports, wireless broadband and will be able to operate on wind-up power. More »
  • #laptops

    $100 Laptop a Reality

    Though they've been bouncing the idea of a $100 laptop around for a while ($100 Laptop - No Child Left Behind), it looks like it's finally becoming a reality. The lime green laptop is about the size of a text book and with a hand crank to allow it to operate without electricity. Designed at the MIT Media Lab, the project mainly aimed at developing countries where a calculator and Internet access can mean the difference between starvation and a good year. The goal is to allow these kids and even adults to actually own the laptops, though governments or charities will pay for them. More »