Gizmodo: Duo

Pantech Duo 2 Dual-Sliding Windows Mobile Phone Leaked on FCC

Jason Chen — Sat, 31 May 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Seeing as the original AT&T Pantech Duo 1 is the C810, this C820 has a really high possibility of being the Pantech Duo 2. There aren't many details, but it's got WCDMA 850/1900, which is AT&T's 3G, and probably will run Windows Mobile like the previous ones. It's interesting to check out the differences between this and the Ocean 2, which also popped up on the FCC a few weeks back if you're into looking at FCC drawings. [FCC]

Apple Docking Patent Works Perfectly with Ultra-Slim MacBook

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:30:05 EST

This Apple docking station patent shows a screen base in which you can slide in a MacBook through its side. While this would be difficult to do with current MacBook models, it fits perfectly with the idea of the ultra-light, ultra-slim MacBook that allegedly will be presented at MacWorld. Basically, the patent shows an iMac-like unit with all the necessary ports and components, with a slot-loading right bay. The system works similarly to the old PowerBook Duo and its DuoDock base station, but vertically instead of horizontally. The complete patent text and diagrams, along with our own step-by-step rendering, leave no doubt about how this works:

While this concept would have been impossible with the current Macbooks, which are too big and heavy, the rumored ultra-slim, ultra-light portable could work perfectly in this kind of configuration. [USPTO via PC Joint]

AT&T's New Pantech Duo Hands On (Gallery)

hook — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:15:54 EDT

I got the chance to give the Pantech Duo a spin, or rather a slide, and haven't been able to put it down. AT&T's newest Windows Mobile phone has an attractive, glossy gray finish, but it's the double keyboards that really steal the show.

As fans of the Helio Ocean (the Duo's genetic sibling) can tell you, the snappy sliding action on the handset is addictive. Though the two-way slider is a bit hefty at about 0.8 inches thick, it feels more compact than the Ocean. Both keyboards on the Duo are roomy, but the flat keys on the QWERTY keypad are a little harder to type on than the comfier Ocean. I also found the directional pad a bit cramped and ended up tapping the wrong way one too many times.

According to AT&T, the Duo is geared for consumers and business types alike, and packs in the carrier's full entertainment suite and a microSD slot for additional memory. However, some may be disappointed by the average 1.3-megapixel camera.

The Pantech Duo is currently available for $200 with a two-year service contract, but you'll also have to tack on a data plan which ranges from $30 to $50. [AT&T Wireless]

Pantech Duo C810 Dual Slider Now Rocks the AT&T Casbah

Charlie White — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:50:55 EDT

Check out this hands-on video of the Pantech Duo C810, now available via AT&T just as we told you it would be. The dual-slidin' WinMo 6 phone looks a bit smaller than we thought it was (and smaller than the similar Helio Ocean), but still seems clunky and a bit thick for our tastes. But hey, what do you want for $250 with the usual two-year indentured servitude? Anyway, Eric from Phone Scoop gives us a good gawk 'n' grope of the phone from all angles, even though he could relax a bit. Overall, not a bad handset for the money with its 3G connectivity, but unfortunately there's no Wi-Fi or GPS. [Pocketnow and Wired]

Lightning Round: V-Moda Vibe Duo (With iPhone Call Button)

Jason Chen — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:00:53 EDT

The Gadget: The V-Moda Vibe Duo iPhone headphones, which combine V-Moda's great price to quality ratio with a thin, iPhone-compatible headphone jack with an on-board music/call control button.

The Price: $99

The Verdict: These sound just as good (both incoming and outgoing) as the older Vibe Duos without the call button, and definitely just as good as the older Vibes without the iPhone integration. If you've got an iPhone, they're pretty much an all-in-one solution to replace the sub-par default Apple headphones with something that still has an on-board call button and much, much better sound quality. Pick one up if you're in the market for some iPhone buds. [V-Moda]

More on the Energizer Duo USB Charger

Jason Chen — Tue, 01 May 2007 17:30:45 EDT

We covered the Energizer USB charger before, but we've got some new details on how it interacts with the software.

Energizer has two widgets, one for Macs and one for Windows, that let you monitor the charge as it's happening—in real time. It's like a mini-episode of 24 happening in your own machine, except instead of bombs getting found, you're making sure you have enough batteries for your Wiimote. Price is still $14. – Jason Chen

Energizer Duo [Energizer via Everything USB]

Sony Pro-HG Duo Media is the New King of Memory Sticks

Jason Chen — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 11:00:32 EDT

By going to an 8-bit parallel interface from a 4-bit parallel interface, these backwards compatible Memory Stick Pro-HGs give you twice as much transfer rate, which in turn gives you up to 30MB/s (or 240 Mbps). Why is this important? Because the newest top of the line camcorders will be using this soon to take advantage of the faster recording and shorter data transmission times. Plus, with the right card reader, you can probably use this as a ReadyBoost drive in Vista. – Jason Chen

Press Release [Sony]

Soundolier's Speaker/Lamp Combo Brightens Your Tunes

Louis Ramirez — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 15:31:29 EST

Home theater fans may frown at this speaker lamp combo, but you have to hand it to the folks at Soundolier, the lamps are pretty snazzy looking. Sound-wise, however, we wouldn't use them over our Denons. Nevertheless, the Duo can be purchased as a single lamp or as a pair (for stereo sound). An additional $80 buys you the Maestro, a wireless transmitter that streams music from your receiver, iPod, or CD player. – Louis Ramirez

Product Page

Intel Core 2 Duos In, Puts Intel Back On Top

Jason Chen — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 15:34:05 EDT

This year we've been hearing lots of the Core Duo, especially when it comes to the media and their loads of Apple laptop news. But now the reviews of the Core 2 Duos are in, and they've supplanted the Athlon 64 FX as the top pocessor out now.

The results also show a significant advantage for Intel over AMD by pretty much every metric that counts to power users: price, performance, power consumption, and all the combinations of those three.

We'll spare you the extreme details that you need a degree in EE to understand—we have one and we still don't—but suffice it to say that the Core 2's performance on everything was excellent. The $316 Core 2 Duo E6600 is a great deal for the power it's got, and if you're after the most amount of power, there's the Core 2 Extreme X6800 at $999.

If you're into the nitty gritty like charts and performance comparisons, check out the links below. – Jason Chen

Intel's Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors
Conroe at last [Tech Report via Ars Technica]

Jinglehorse EcoSystem: Energy-Sipping PC

Charlie White — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 13:11:35 EDT

Laptop manufacturers take advantage of the energy efficiency of the Intel Core Duo processor to extend battery life, and now computer maker Jinglehorse uses that same efficiency to allow its EcoSystem PC to consume 75% less energy than its Pentium 4 counterparts. These electricity-sipping boxes only use about 44 watts while they're sitting still and 75 watts with the pedal to the metal.

Plus, all that energy savings results in less heat, requiring smaller, quieter, and less frequently-running fans. For those of us who leave our computers on 24/7, this $895 computer might just pay for itself after a few years. Good deal. – Charlie White

Product Page [Jinglehorse, via treehugger]