Gizmodo: Upgrades

How to Upgrade Unofficial iPhone 2.0 Firmware to Official 2.0 Firmware

Adrian Covert — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:01:00 EDT

Macrumors has a useful post on how you can upgrade (downgrade, technically) from the leaked "iPhone1,2" firmware to the official "iPhone1,1" firmware issued early this morning. The leaked firmware was intended to only for use with iPhone 3G before it got out to the masses. In short, you need to download the correct firmware, and hold down the option key when you check for firmware updates in iTunes, allowing you to pick the file you want to install. [Macrumors]

Ineligible AT&T Customers Need to Pay Full Price For iPhone 3G

Jason Chen — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:05:45 EDT

AT&T just gave us new details on how their upgrading plans will work for the iPhone 3G. The company is treating the iPhone 3G pretty much just like any other phone in that people who are ineligible for upgrades have to pay the full, unsubsidized price for the phone. People who qualify for upgrade status and people who have an original iPhone are free to upgrade at the $199/$299 price set by Apple. AT&T hasn't specified what the unsubsidized price is, so we'll update when we know more. Here's how you know if you're eligible.

From Best Buy and Wirefly:

AT&T Cell Phone Upgrade
Am I Eligible for an AT&T Cell Phone Upgrade?
Not all Cingular/AT&T customers may qualify for a cell phone upgrade. At this time, AT&T Mobility allows these customers to upgrade with no upgrade fee when they commit to a new 2-year contract:

AT&T customers who have had 24 months of cell phone service since activation of their cell phone or since their last phone upgrade.
Certain AT&T customers may be eligible for a cell phone upgrade even if they have been in their current plan for less than two years (24 months), if they commit to a new 2-year contract and meet these eligibility requirements:

Customer has had a standard calling plan plus data services costing at least $68.99 a month but no more than $98.99 a month, and who has been in contract (and not had a phone upgrade) for 21 months or more,
or
Customer has had a standard calling plan plus data services costing $99 a month or more, and who has been in contract (and not upgraded) in the last 12 months.
A customer with a calling plan and data services of less than $69 who is 21 to 23 months into contract may upgrade for a fee and a commitment of an additional two-year service contract extension. No upgrade fee is assessed for any customers who are on a month-to-month agreement.

Note that AT&T upgrade eligibility may be further limited based on customer’s usage history, payment record, previous phone replacement, etc. Upgrade eligibility is solely determined by AT&T Mobility at its discretion.

Starz Transitions to MPEG4 (For More HD)

Mark Wilson — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:45:00 EDT

Starz is upgrading their infrastructure, transitioning from their MPEG2 systems of old (old, fat DVD codec technology) to sweet MPEG4 (efficiently-packed video that can be scaled more easily to HD). So why am I telling you this? Well, it's totally geektastic knowledge and sometimes I can't help myself. And also, these MPEG4 systems are being installed to offer customers more HD content by clearing bandwidth. The catch? Like many content providers, Starz' transmissions will peak at 1080i/720p. No 1080p for you, guy who apparently spent too much on his television. Just remember this when 4K TVs are all the rage. [CNN]

OS X 10.6 To Be Called Snow Leopard?

Jason Chen — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:41:35 EDT

As unlikely as the rumor is that OS X 10.6 is going to debut at WWDC next week, both Ars Technica and TUAW have independently verified from their sources that the next version of the OS could be coming as soon as Macworld 2009. Ars also says that the code name is Snow Leopard, which on the surface latches on weirdly to the current Leopard name. But when you think about the rumor that 10.6 will only be performance upgrades, UI changes and switching to being Intel-only, that code-name kinda starts to make sense as a final label.

If we had to guess one way or the other, this no-feature upgrade doesn't seem to be something Apple would do. They gave away 10.1 to 10.0 owners because 10.0 was lousy and needed a bugfix badly, but 10.5 Leopard works just fine. They probably wouldn't waste their goodwill on their point upgrades being $129-worthy by doing something like this. But you can't really tell what's going to happen at WWDC, really, and if there's a time to do OS news, it's at the dev conf. [Ars Technica]

PSP Firmware 3.95 Imminent

Mark Wilson — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:55:00 EDT

Sony has announced their firmware 3.95 update should be coming soon. It's a minor upgrade, only adding two small features to the platform...but one that I find completely necessary and long overdue. First, shutting off Remote Play will now no longer necessarily shut down your PS3. Second, and more importantly, PSOne classics can now be played with customizable button layouts. Retro ports on all platforms are notorious for wonky button mapping with little or no way to tweak. Good call, Sony. [kotaku]

Sony Increases Hard Drive Storage Fivefold

Mark Wilson — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:56:49 EST

Sony has announced that they've increased hard drive storage capacity by five times through developing a new method of writing information that's viable even for notebooks. Instead of writing via magnetics, the new system resembles current optical technologies, using a hybrid magnet/laser to write information to a disk at densities of 125GB/square inch. As we understand it, most elements of the traditional hard drive stay intact, but your current 320GB hard drive setup would see data storage reaching 1.6TB. Of course, there are no immediate plans for mass production. [itplus via electronista]

4GB Asus Eee Finally in Five Colors

Mark Wilson — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 10:14:43 EST

Asus promised us long ago that their Eee PCs would be available in a variety of colors, but for whatever reason (we're guessing that reason is the Eee PC's successful sales) Asus has taken their time colorizing the $399 Eee PC that most of us want, instead offering us only the $299 and $350 Surf models in more colors. But fret no more, as Asus has just announced that their $399 version is getting released in "Pure White, Galaxy Black, Blush Pink, Lush Green and Sky Blue." Do those adjectcolors look familiar? They should, since they are exactly the same as what's available on the Surf. Expect them in stores any day now. [mobiletechreview]

CompactFlash Meets SATA Speeds

Mark Wilson — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 09:06:27 EST

CompactFlash is going SATA-compatible through new CFast connectors. Why does this matter to you? Various electronics that use CompactFlash, like digital cameras, are now stuck in PATA (parallel ATA speeds) that can check out data around 133MB per second. New SATA (serial ATA) implementation will boost this rate to 3GB/second.

While CompactFlash will still have lower read/write limitations, this development is important in opening a potential bottleneck as well as paving the way for faster technologies. Sounds good to us. Hit the jump for the full press release.

COMPACTFLASH ASSOCIATION DISPLAYING NEW CFAST™ CONNECTOR & PACKAGE AT CES 2008
CFast Utilizes SATA Interface for 3Gb/sec Interface Data Rate.

Palo Alto, California - January 4, 2008 - The CompactFlash Association (CFA) announces that CFast connectors and package will be displayed at CES 2008 in the CFA booth South 3 30166.

The CFast WG was formed in July 2007 to develop the CFast specification for a CompactFlash card with a SATA (Serial ATA) interface. CFA members interested in the SATA interface should apply for inclusion in the CFA's SATA working group.

Mr. Shigeto Kanda of Canon and the CFA chairman of the board said "The development of a CompactFlash card with a SATA interface will maintain the dominance of CompactFlash in the non-consumer (embedded systems, single board computers, data recorder, etc.) markets as well as promote its use in other applications such as digital SLR cameras and professional video cameras. Having the SATA interface will be a significant step for CompactFlash."

The current PATA (parallel ATA) interface provides up to a 133MB/second interface data rate. The SATA interface will provide interface data rates up to 3Gb/sec as well as compatibility with the SATA disk drive interfaces that are increasingly being used.

CompactFlash card slots are in over 360 digital cameras/video cameras and over 745 other electronic platforms including embedded systems, single board computers, data recorders, heart monitors, defibrillators, slot machines, etc.

CompactFlash cards are currently available up to 32GB with sustained data rates of 45MB/sec. and provide the dominant SSD flash storage solution for embedded systems, single board computers and the new multi-mega pixel DSLR cameras and other devices.

The CF+ and CompactFlash Standard ensures that today's and tomorrow's digital cameras will be compatible with faster and even higher capacity CF cards, as they become available.

In addition to CompactFlash data storage cards, there are CF cards that provide I/O capability. VGA, Ethernet, modem, serial, parallel, digital phone, GSM, Bluetooth, Ethernet wireless, wand & laser barcode scanners, finger print scanners, TV and GPS CF+ cards are all available.

CFA members can participate in the CFA CFast working group and access documentation as the CFast specification is developed.

LEDs Get Brighter, Again

Mark Wilson — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 08:15:27 EST

I love going to bed at night, because every morning I wake up ~~I have a machine that makes me breakfast like Pee-wee Herman~~ there's another development in my geek fetish, LEDs. Researchers from the University of Glasgow have found how to make them even brighter—without a bit more energy consumption. And it's the most absurd, ridiculously simple idea you could imagine. The plan? Cut tiny holes in the surface of the LED.

With less material between the light and your eye, there's less obstruction and thereby more brightness.

Granted, the holes are made through a technique of nano-imprint lithograph, a resource-consuming technique. But researchers believe that the idea could be commercially viable within just three years. You don't need to mark it on your calendar, just know that better light is on the way.

All PS1 Titles Now Playable on The PSP via Remote Play

Sean Fallon — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:20:39 EST

It appears that todays new PSP and PS3 firmware updates include a "secret" Remote Play enhancement that allows users to play all PS1 downloadable titles and discs on the PSP. If you ask me, it is about time that Sony got in on all of the firmware hacking that has been going on. [Playstation Forums]

New PSP Firmware Available, Too

Mark Wilson — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 10:14:53 EST

Last night we mentioned that new PlayStation 3 firmware 2.1 was available (specs here, testing here). But we should also point out that PSP firmware 3.8 is available now as well. The big new feature? The device is now internet radio ready. You'll also score some fancy new visualizations. No, it's not a pocket DVR like the PSP update brings to Japan. But you should realize by now, if you want the cool tech, you have to cross the Pacific (or the Atlantic, and then keep going for a while). [ubergizmo]

Gefen Home Theater Scaler Plus, 1080p Goombas

Mark Wilson — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:26:10 EST

Home Theater Scalers are simultaneously becoming less and more relevant in my eyes: they're more relevant as more people own HDTVs, but less relevant as the HDTV buyers purchase other HD components. Still, the Gefen Home Theater Scaler Plus will be a nice solution for some setups.

The Mac Miniesque Gefen upconverts a small but decent selection sources to 1080p (2 HDMI and 3 analog sources), but what we find most promising is its ability to upconvert game consoles. While there's only so much improvement that upscaling can do, the Gefen Plus only delays the A/V signal by one frame, meaning that it's viable to play SNES' Super Mario World in semi-stunning 1080p. If you're interested, the Gefen Home Theater Scaler Plus runs $499. [product via slashgear]

PSP Firmware 3.80 Brings Pocket DVR

Mark Wilson — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:10:38 EST

Reason #1092 why Japan is way cooler than us: with the new PSP 3.80 update, Sony is offering DVR to every PSP that uses their optional 1seg (wireless digital video) tuner—think of as a completely wireless Archos. And the best part? While the PSP doesn't have the horsepower to record shows while you play games or surf the internet, it can record in Sleep Mode, meaning that keeping up with your favorite shows is feasible to battery life. And there are a few other decent updates as well.

RSS is getting a revamp and improvement, video clips will be searchable by scene and PSP Wi-Fi spots will start offering a few demos and wallpapers.

While Sony's recently gone on record that they are aiming to cut down on the amount of firmware updates they release, the PSP and PS3 are both quickly becoming multimedia powerhouses. If only the best functions were available in the US... [famitsu via kotaku]

TiVo Now With 2 Terabytes of Storage (Unofficially)

Mark Wilson — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 18:00:05 EST

TiVo chop shop WeaKnees is offering the biggest Series 3 TiVo they can muster. Cramming in a 1TB drive internally along with an external 1TB eSATA, they're offering ready-to-run TiVos with a whopping 2TB of storage space, or enough for 292 hours of HD programming. But when you have enough storage for well over 100 HD movies, it's gonna cost you.

WeaKnees is asking $1,599 for the device, and that's after the $200 mail-in rebate. And while we can appreciate the modding they've done to slip in the extra internal terabyte drive, that eSATA requires all of one minute of user installation.

We'll pay for convenience all day long, but at that price, we'd rather just pony up for a full-blown media PC...or pay someone to invent this thing. [weaknees ] Thanks James!

Windows XP to get 10% Performance Boost

Mark Wilson — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 14:20:46 EST

According to software development firm Devil Mountain Software, Service Pack 3 for Windows XP is a "must have" update. Because when they ran the Office productivity test suite on a preview version of SP3, they found performance boosts of 10%. So in case Windows users needed another performance-oriented reason not to upgrade to Vista, they just got one. [yahoo via lifehacker]

Software Radios Boost Crappy Cellphone Reception Cheap and Easy

Sean Fallon — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:10:06 EST

Mid-Tex Cellular systems out of De Leon, Texas is currently running both GSM and CDMA network using a software-based radio system on nine of of their cellular towers. Because the Vanu, Inc. designed software can be upgraded easily, there is no need for costly new hardware when supporting new or incompatible networks. If this technology is widely adopted, cellphone carriers will be able to upgrade and adjust to new standards more cheaply and users will see bigger, better, and possibly cheaper coverage.

Currently, Vanu is looking to expand their business outside of Texas with 200 towers set to go up in Alaska. They have also announced a prototype of a "femtocell" device —a base station of sorts for a single house or office. The plan is to use the device with the 700-MHz spectrum band that is coming up for auction from the FCC in January 2008. [Wired]

YouTube Getting HD in Three Months

Mark Wilson — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:32:01 EST

YouTube co-founder Steve Chen has just announced that YouTube is currently testing higher quality video streams (probably HD, but accounts from the live event differ) for the site. And within three months, these higher quality streams will become available to the public. While I for one cannot wait to see bottle rockets shoot from rear orifices in stunning higher resolutions, Chen points out that there are still a few problems with the idea.

First, remember that the entire existing library will still look like crap. Also, buffering is still an issue. Even if YouTube can get video streaming fast enough, many users still won't be able to receive the streaming instantly, which is what makes YouTube so addictive. And the subtext here, which Chen didn't mention, is the value for YouTube. The site is expensive to maintain as it is, but with the demand of even more bandwidth without much marketplace competition might not make sense from a business perspective. [cnet and techcrunch]

8GB Asus Eee PC To Get Bigger Screen

Mark Wilson — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:39:53 EST

We thought the only difference between the different pricepoints of Asus Eee PCs would be the storage and a few tiny features, like the $299 version lacking the $399 version's webcam. But Asus's upcoming 8GB model will not only feature an extra 512MB of RAM, but a screen size of nearly 3" over its counterparts—10" in all.

Asus is managing the upgrade without increasing the Eee's footprint at all, though we're not certain how the upgrade will effect the somewhat large speakers that sit on each side of the current screens.

We're digging our Eee PC in the Wilson household, but had Asus announced the 8GB version would have a bigger screen in the first place (they'd originally claimed all models to have identically sized screens), we'd have held out on the purchase. There's still no price or release date set for the 8GB model. [source (german) via I4U]

New Zune Software and Firmware Available

Mark Wilson — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:16:12 EST

To all of the Giz readers who own first gen Zunes, your Zune 2.0 is available for download now. For a less cryptic version of exactly what we mean, hit up our hands-on with Microsoft's free upgraded Zuneware. For everyone else who doesn't care, we are so, so sorry for distracting you from what looks to be an otherwise productive workday. Did you make those little post-it airplanes? Nice. [zune.net via gadgetlab]

NVIDIA has just announced their new GeForce ...

Mark Wilson — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:59:47 EDT

NVIDIA has just announced their new GeForce 8800 GT. It makes all those new Direct X 10 accessible to your midrange budget. Look for the cards for $199-$249 starting...NOW! [nvidia]

PS3 Firmware v1.94 to Add DualShock3 Support?

Sean Fallon — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:50:28 EDT

According to Shacknews, the latest PS3 software update, v1.94, will add support for the upcoming DualShock3 rumble controller. The update will also include Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, the first PS3 game to take advantage of DualShock3. Apparently the rumble feature can be toggled by pressing the PS button in the middle of the controller and selecting it via the options screen. Unfortunately those of us in the US and Europe won't be able to take advantage of this new/old functionality until this spring, when the DualShock3 is released to the masses (outside of Japan of course.)[Shacknews via Kotaku]

Army Builds Foam and Woodchip Humvee

Mark Wilson — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 16:30:57 EDT

Next week, the US Army will begin testing a new Humvee that has a body and frame made completely from composite materials, Fiberglass, balsa wood, foam and carbon reinforcements. Conventionally, the Army has battled with how to protect Humvees from mines because ironically, adding more armor to the vehicles just weighs them down (and bring them closer to the mines).

The solution was to build a composite frame that makes the Humvee 900lbs lighter (or about 10%). Beyond the weight savings, the other advantage is that the Humvee is reinforced with different composite concoctions where the vehicle needs the most protection from mines (the rear).

Since mines are the biggest killers of US troops in Iraq, such re-engineering should save lives if field testing goes well. [armytimes via gearfuse]

First WiFi Blackberry (8820) On Sale Now

Mark Wilson — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 13:38:43 EDT

The Blackberry 8820, the first WiFi-equipped Blackberry, is on sale now at Amazon for use with AT&T. It's an update to the 8800 that adds a little 2005 razzle dazzle to the aging but solid line of push email products. Listed for $199, you'll have to wait 2-4 weeks for delivery. So until then, we recommend absolutely not leaving your house, instead relying upon a hardwired connection to get Giz updates. It's a small sacrifice for the greater good. [amazon via bgr]

How to Upgrade Your Creative Zen Vision W Hard Drive to 100GB

Jason Chen — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:00:16 EDT

People have made the case for choosing a Creative Zen W over both the iPod or the Zune (16:9 display, DivX support, 4.3-inch screen), but the storage size has always been a little lacking, even in the 60GB model. By upgrading the drive to 100GB, you're one-upping the iPod in both space and screen size. The process looks fairly straightforward, and as long as you follow each step to the letter, you shouldn't have to worry about bricking your player. [OneMansBlog via MAKE]

PS3 Firmware 1.9 Details Announced, Best Update Yet?

Mark Wilson — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:00:22 EDT

Sony keeps chipping away at the PS3, and they'll carve a great multimedia system out of it...even if they need 100 years. The new firmware 1.9 update just hit in Japan and we're digging some of the new features. Here are the complete changes, and the notes on what were most excited about.

• Ability to rearrange games on the XMB
• Option menu now includes "eject disk"
• Press triangle to eject games/CDs/movies in the XMB
• XMB backgrounds
• Change the folder classification
• Emoticons
• Change CD output to 44.1/88.2/176.4kHz
• Force 24Hz output for Blu-ray over HDMI
• Change PS3 video settings in-game
• "Bit Mapping" in the "Music Setting"
• Save AVCHD type animations from a Memory Stick
• Change settings like upscaling while playing PS and PS2 games
• Add bookmarks
• Web browser security function in the browser's tool section
• Avatar moves during audio visual chat

The Avatar moves?? Oohh! Seriously though, all the small menu tweaks are a step in the right direction, with the first hint of customization we've seen on the platform yet. Plus, we're looking forward to doing some serious testing of in-game video quality now that it's easier to swap settings and you can toggle upsaling. But we're most excited because this puts us closer to firmware 2.0, which we're guessing will be announced at Leipzig next month and be a pretty big deal. Look for firmware 1.9 Stateside soon. [kotaku]

Artificial C-Leg Kicks Some Serious A

Mark Wilson — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 21:52:05 EDT

Otto Bock Healthcare may sound like a boring medical company, but they have just announced an update to their C-Leg, a microprocessor-controlled hydraulic limb, complete with wireless remote control, making it quite possibly the most badass, military-grade prosthetic limb on the planet.

Developed for above-knee veteran amputees, the system is so advanced that leg swing adjustments can be made on the fly, easily altering for activities requiring different gates to perform properly. And while standing, the C-Leg automatically relieves the pressure from the natural limb, supporting the user's entire body weight (up to 275 lbs.) all on its own.

For its $30,000 to $40,000 pricetag, we'd be showing our C-Leg off to everyone. "Nice Lexus. Oh, what's this? Just a ROBOTIC LEG. But really, your car is quite nice. Cup holders and everything."[Product Page via wired and usatoday]

Canon plans a new $451 million factory to ...

Mark Wilson — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:48:11 EDT

Canon plans a new $451 million factory to double production capacity. [reuters]

Verizon Upgrades Entire EV-DO Network to Rev. A

Mark Wilson — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:35:18 EDT

Take that, AT&T! Take that, EDGE! Take that Jobs, and anyone else who wears black mock turtlenecks! Everywhere in Verizon's current EV-DO network, downloads are jumping from 600kbps to 1.4Mbps, with uploads cruising around 500kbps and 800kbps. That's only 8 seconds to download a 1MB file. Or more scientifically, quite fast.

Verizon Wireless: 100 Percent... [prnewswire]

Closer Look and Pricing of Asus' DIY Notebook

Louis Ramirez — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 17:00:54 EDT

Remember that user upgradeable Asus notebook we showed you before? The guys at PC Perspective got some one-on-one time with the C90 during Computex, and we now know that the laptop will start at $1,500. It'll come with eSATA, HDMI and your choice of a standard DVD burner or high-def optical drive. Updating the system's CPU will be as easy as upgrading your desktop's processor and GPU upgrades will be just as easy with Nvidia 8600 and 8500 options. We can't wait to see this baby in the States. – Louis Ramirez

Asus C90 DIY Notebook [PC Perspective]

Blackberry Pearl 2 Details Revealed

Mark Wilson — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 12:52:19 EDT

A reliable tipster has filled us in on a juicy secret.

The biggest update? High speed EV-DO. And a new unbelievable form factor.

If you thought the first Pearl was small, then know that the Pearl 2 will be even smaller, shaving nearly 8mm in depth and 30% of its weight to be competing with RAZRs. Still, the Pearl 2 manages to squeeze in a 2MP camera (upgraded from 1.3) and a MicroSD card.

The Pearl 2 is coming in Q4 of 2007—and it's looking to be a worthy successor to its little brother. (That picture is not the unit, as talked about in our rumor post.)

The trackball may see some adjustments, though we have no word on specifics at this time. Overall, we're extremely excited if the leak pans out to be true...and we're fairly certain that it will. For now, to be safe, chalk it up as a rumor, but we've seen some very convicing docs that tell us it's real. – Mark Wilson

Camera or NEW TRANSFORMER! You Decide.

Mark Wilson — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 13:40:54 EDT

Check out his new Spyshot 6 camera. It sports a 100,000MP CMOS sensor and a bajillion times zoom. And everything good in the whole entire world.

Because it's not a camera, but a Transformer! Hit the jump to see the badass robot that this stupid camera ~~transforms~~ evolves to...

Hasbro has filled their online store with new Transformers. Running a cheap $6.99, there are robots hiding in cellphones, camcorders, and Chinese knockoff Game Boys. It's as if Hasbro knows their demographic is really a bunch of 18 to 100 year-olds who want to pull out a cellphone during their next meeting, only to have it transform in their hand and fire lasers at the boss.

Yes...excellent plan...– Mark Wilson

Product Page [via crave]

Guide to Replacing Your MacBook Pro's Hard Drive

Louis Ramirez — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 05:00:58 EDT

Aside from the obvious storage bump, there are plenty of reasons why you'd wanna upgrade your MacBook Pro's hard drive. The guys at ExtremeTech have come up with a hand-holding guide for replacing your MBP's 5,400rpm HDD for a new 7,200rpm drive, which will give you a noticeably faster MBP. There's a lot of unscrewing involved, so you'll need a Phillips-head screwdriver and a T-6 screwdriver before you begin. Like the other HDD upgrade guides we've seen, this one is worth a read, even if you're the queasy type. – Louis Ramirez

Upgrade Your MacBook Pro's Hard Drive [ExtremeTech]

Apple TV Hard Drive Upgraded For a Price

Jason Chen — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 18:30:06 EDT

Now that you know everything there is to know about Apple TV, here's a service where you can pay someone to upgrade it for you. Sure, you may be comfortable swapping out the disk, but your mom or uncle—who the Apple TV is targeted to anyway—may not.

To upgrade the 40GB disk to 60GB costs $195, and the highest it goes is 160GB for $295. Most of that is labor, but you're familiar with that concept with mechanics and doctors anyway. – Jason Chen

Product Page [MacService via MacWorld]

Asus C90 Will Be First User Upgradeable Lappie

Louis Ramirez — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:05:15 EDT

Because of the way laptops are built, most people don't upgrade their notebooks like they do their desktop. Well, Asus is trying to change that with their new C90 gaming laptop. Everything from the lappie's CPU to its high-def optical drive will be user upgradeable. Asus says you'll even be able to pop out the system's graphics card and install a new one all within minutes. Spec-wise, the C90 will be the first to include HDMI 1.3 and....

an ESATA port. Not to mention it'll be packing an upgradeable Core 2 Duo CPU and a mystery video card. Upgradeable components, HDMI, mystery video card? We're sold. The notebook is expected to debut sometime next month.

– Louis Ramirez
Asus C90 Customizable Notebook [NotebookReview.com]
Hands-on: Asus' Core 2 Duo-Powered C90S Notebook [Maximum PC]

Creative Slims Down Zen Vision M, W

Travis Hudson — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 15:45:20 EDT

I am going to put the sake of Gizmodo's Apple fanboyism on the line by saying the Creative Zen Vision M is the most aesthetically pleasing MP3 players out there, except for the thickness. This player looks good, but unfortunately it feels like holding a brick. Creative has listened to my cries and thinned out the Zen Visions M and W. The new M measures in at .75-inches (down from .87-inches) and the new W measures in at .86-inches (down from 1.04-inches). So, they answered one of the complaints about the player from the users, how about another? Maybe a some better codec support? –Travis Hudson

Chubby Creative Zen Vision:M Got Thinner [EverythingUSB]

Which Vista is Right For You

Jason Chen — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 20:20:42 EST

When you upgrade your computer early next year, there are going to be six versions of Vista for you to choose from. Even ignoring Vista Starter, which is for developing countries, and Vista Enterprise, which your office IT guy will shove down your throat, that's still a lot of choices. To decide which one is right for you, you'll have to ask yourself some questions.

If you want BitLocker drive encryption, that's only available on Vista Ultimate. If you want Media Center, that's on Home Premium and Ultimate. Stuff like IIS (webserver), offline files/folders, tablet PC support, faxing and scanning are all only available on the Business editions and Vista Ultimate. Basically, if you want home entertainment, you can go with Home Premium. If you want more business/office stuff, that's Vista Business. If you want a bloated OS, that's ~~any Vista edition~~ Vista Ultimate. – Jason Chen

Which Vista is Right For You [Extreme Tech via Lifehacker]

iRiver Clix Gets a Sizeable Upgrade

Travis Hudson — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:47:26 EDT

Remember iRiver's Clix portable media player that we first told you about a few months back? That same ho-hum PMP has received some nice upgrades, including the bigger, badder 4GB hard drive. No word on release date, or price but it is nice to see the size increase, even if it is only two more gigs.

iriver Clix is back in black w/ 4GB [dapreview]

Logitech io 2 Digital Pen Gets an Upgrade

Travis Hudson — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 16:18:29 EST

Logitech has unveiled a nice upgrade to their io2 Digital Pen. The new pen will be priced at $150 and include much improved handwriting recognition. A new gesture system will also be added that will ease the process of transforming notes. The pen can automatically send notes to e-mail or Word documents. The included software also gets an upgrade by allowing users more customization by adding words to the dictionary.

Logitech Updates io 2 Digital Pen [DesignTechnica]

Logitech io 2 original pen on sale $159 [Amazon]

Power User - The Best of Lifehacker

Gina Trapani — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 12:30:00 EST

This week at Lifehacker: Decide when to trash your old PC and when to upgrade. Be a walking encyclopedia - literally - with Wikipedia on your iPod. Build yourself a booty-hiding secret hollow book. Finally, smack down that annoying Windows error report dialog that pops up whenever software crashes for good.

You want a new PC. Your old one still has life left in it. What to do? A little RAM, a new hard drive and a Windows reinstall could do wonders, or it might be time to throw in the towel and invest in a newer model. With Vista looming on the horizon, decide whether or not you should be dropping a new compie in your shopping cart — or just a few new parts.

You've wasted away hours reading about Star Trek on Wikipedia while you're at your computer. Now you can do it on the go! Download the 750MB Encyclopodia onto your iPod as an ebook for research while you're waiting on line at the grocery. Just think, you could listen to the Star Trek theme at the same time...!

Got something to hide? Something that would fit inside a book? Be it porn, drugs, money or the earring your high school crush dropped in gym class, everyone needs a secret hollowed-out book in their library. Get thee out the Exacto knife and some glue, because we've got the linkage on how get your stuff into hiding the DIY way.

You know when you're working in a software application and it suddenly crashes, and you're pretty tweaked that you just lost a bunch of unsaved changes to your files? Then to make things worse, a dialog box appears, asking if you'd like to send Microsoft a bunch of data about the crash from your computer, and that just pisses you off even more? Stop letting Windows kick you when you're down and disable error reporting for good.

Lifehacker's Power User column appears every Wednesday on Gizmodo.

Arizona Cardinal's Techie Stadium

Travis Hudson — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 10:00:12 EST

It's alright football fans, today is the beginning of the cold/dark winter and spring season when football is non-existent. Yeah, I could watch Arena football and I could also stab myself in the face with a spoon, but I'm not doing either. Here is a little football news to hopefully hold you out another week or so.

The Arizona Cardinals will be moving from their outdated and un-air conditioned Tempe, AZ stadium to a new high-tech stadium in Glendale, AZ. The new stadium costs approximately $450 million and will include a fabric retractable room, roll-out natural grass field, luxury boxes and best of all, air conditioning.

The stadium will also be wired up with a cutting-edge IP network that will be able to handle voice, data and video on the single network. Insight, a company based out of Tempe, will be doing all of the optical fiber installation. They have already completely wired up the Cardinals training facility and are working with Hunt Construction to have the stadium done by August for pre-season. They will also be evaluating the possible integration of Wi-Fi into the stadium and a radio network to enhance cell phone coverage. Now the big question remains, will this improve the Cardinals performance?

Team Looks to Score With Networked Stadium [eWeek]