Tech News

A Look Inside the Creative X-Fi Processor

ExtremeTech has an in-depth look at Creative’s forthcoming X-Fi Audio Processor, which sports a whopping 51 million transistors on a 0.13 micron process that runs at 400MHz—a lot of oomph for an audio processor. Almost as if they don’t realize that people aren’t getting any better at hearing things, Creative keeps plodding on in the…

Tech News Joel

Gizmodo Japan: Sony Walkman NW-HD5

I finally had a chance to play around with the new Sony NW-HD5, another so-called “iPod Killer.” The verdict? When you hold it up and touch the casing, it feels a bit flimsy, almost like you’re holding some cheap Chinese knockoff—this is not sleek PSP territory. But yes, it weighs next to nothing, which is…

Tech News Jean Snow

Nintendo Teams with IGN/GameSpy for Wireless Gaming Network

Nintendo has teamed up with IGN/Gamespy to offer a Wi-Fi gaming network to allow gamers to compete across the internet. This is vaguely interesting, except for the fact that they’ve announced their first game: Animal Crossing DS. The first Animal Crossing was a love-it-or-hate-it thing, but I’ll give you one look inside my Animal Crossing…

Tech News Joel

Windows Mobile 5.0 Announced

As if the previous post didn’t give it away, Microsoft has officially unveiled Windows Mobile 5.0, formerly known as Windows Mobile 2005, or ‘Magneto.’ The impact of the operating system upgrade will become more known with time, as all the Windows Mobile folks get a chance to really probe into its abilities, but the new…

Tech News Joel

Dell Will Offer Windows Mobile 5.0 Upgrade for Axim X50

Dell has announced that they’ll be offering an upgrade for Axim X50-family PDAs to Windows Mobile 5.0 (aka ‘Magneto’) once the software ships in third quarter. It won’t be free, of course, but will be available to purchase. I don’t know how upgradeable Windows Mobile PDAs will be to Magneto in general, but it’s smart…

Tech News Joel

Bookmark Stores With RFID

Tokyo-based TechFirm is launching a service that allows customers to “bookmark” a favorite store by running their RFID-reading phones (or other devices) near an RFID device in the store. Your phone instantly receives pertinent information about the store (I would imagine things like sales and specials for the day) and the store gets your information,…

Tech News Cardinal

Who Is ‘As Seen On TV?’

Over the last couple of months (and maybe longer), user #857673, known by the Alias ‘As Seen On TV,’ has been responding to a number of Apple-related posts on Slashdot, billing himself as an Apple employee and making sweeping, but seemingly accurate statements about the inner workings of the company. This is a good thing—his…

Tech News Joel

Brando Glowing UMD Stand

Brando sells a $12 stand to hold your favorite UMD discs for your PSP, basking them in the icy glow of blue LEDs. It requires 2 AA batteries for the glow, but otherwise provides a nice home for your UMDs, keeping them safe from harm (which is more than can be said for the UMD…

Tech News Cardinal

Powerseed Meal Pacekeeper

The Powerseed is a small, egg-shaped device (which has been around for about a year) that sits on your dinner table and beeps at regular intervals, indicating when you should to take a bite. Every five minutes, it flashes a different signal to remind you to evaluate just how hungry you really are. This is,…

Tech News Cardinal

Nokia Sensor: Bluetooth Hookup Software

Nokia has released a nice, but basic piece of software called Nokia Sensor for (many of) their Symbian phones that will let you search out Bluetooth phones in the vicinity and swap “folios”—brief profiles that let those around you know exactly why they should walk the other direction. You can check Nokia’s site to see…

Tech News Cardinal

Call to Protect

Call to Protect is a charity campaign that collects cast-off mobile phones to put in the hands of victims of domestic violence. They also sell the phones (although it’s not clear where, exactly), using the proceeds to fund similar organizations. If you’ve got an old phone you’d like to get rid of, it’s a nice…

Tech News Joel

DisplayPort: Another Piece of Hardware That Thinks You’re a Thief

ExtremeTech has details about ‘DisplayPort,’ a new proposed video interconnect standard that would be used as a catch-all solution for connecting televisions, LCDs, CRTs, and projectors to all manner of computers and home entertainment devices. That’s the good part—one slim plug that should work with everything, which will even support audio. The bad part is…

Tech News Joel

LuxPro Super Tangent Retail Box

I never doubted for an instant that LuxPro would release the Super Tangent iPod shuffle clone—they really don’t have a lot to fear from Apple in Taiwan—but DAPreview has confirmed it, providing this image of a boxed, retail version. The 512MB version is around $85, or $15 less than a shuffle, except the Super Tangent…

Tech News Joel

Gameboy Emulation on PSP

If you’ve got a version 1.0 Japanese PSP—the kind that will allow you to run unsigned code from your MemoryStick—then count yourself lucky, as the first GameBoy emulator has just shown up for the device and you’re the only ones who can run it. It’s a shame, really, because as much as I love my…

Tech News Joel

Kigurumix Bottle Dancers

Battery-operated, bottled-top dancing toys are very important—probably the most amazing thing to come out of Japan since a humorous cartoon bear rollerblading his way to a good sale on soba. Sadly, as much as I want to resist the alure of these Kigurumix caps, they send a two-fingered prod into my soda plexus. Cute, dancing…

Tech News Joel

Blu-Ray Loves HD DVD: Toshiba and Sony Play Hard to Get

Although initial reports indicated that Toshiba and Sony were on the cusp of a wet, sloppy make-up kiss over their competing Blu-ray and HD DVD standards, Toshiba totally wrote this note that was like, “What? Psh!.” And the they were all, “absolutely no decision has been made for unification on any basis,” which—OMG—and I guess…

Tech News Joel

Morning Bits

Product Highlights • Motorola builds nanotube-based display [News.com] • PSP Web Browser Emulator [PSP411] Suitable for pretending you had a PSP. Business • Ericsson To Stop Seeking New CDMA Customers [Cellular-News] • Vonage says sees no pressure from cable telephony [Reuters] • Music Goes Mobile [Corante] Big Exec interview. • RIM Announces Blackberry Subscribers Top…

Tech News Joel

NapsterTones

Music download service Napster has launched ‘NapsterTones,’ a new service for downloading ringtones and wallpapers for your mobile phone. Amazingly, the cost for a ringtone is $2—twice as much as downloading a song from Napster for use on your computer or MP3 player. And you want to know why that is? Because the service has…

Tech News Joel

Pepper Pad Pre-Order

I’m not terribly impressed by the Pepper Pad—I think the form factor is weird, to say the least—but it’s especially unlikely I’ll be using one with a list price of $800, the price it’s currently on pre-order for at Amazon. If you are into a Linux-powered ‘Media Pad’ with a 20GB hard drive, a 624MHz…

Tech News Joel

Sharkoon Media Reader 2: Son of Xbox

The Sharkoon Media Reader 2 is totally boring from a ‘what does it do’ standpoint—it’s just a flash media reader. But as Alex Watson points out, it looks an awful lot like a miniature Xbox. Could it be that in the light of the upcoming glowing, white Xbox 360, the old Xbox has become an…

Tech News Joel

A Look Inside the Creative X-Fi Processor

Gizmodo Japan: Sony Walkman NW-HD5

Nintendo Teams with IGN/GameSpy for Wireless Gaming Network

Windows Mobile 5.0 Announced

Dell Will Offer Windows Mobile 5.0 Upgrade for Axim X50

Bookmark Stores With RFID

Who Is ‘As Seen On TV?’

Brando Glowing UMD Stand

Powerseed Meal Pacekeeper

Nokia Sensor: Bluetooth Hookup Software

Call to Protect

DisplayPort: Another Piece of Hardware That Thinks You’re a Thief

LuxPro Super Tangent Retail Box

Gameboy Emulation on PSP

Kigurumix Bottle Dancers

Blu-Ray Loves HD DVD: Toshiba and Sony Play Hard to Get

Morning Bits

NapsterTones

Pepper Pad Pre-Order

Sharkoon Media Reader 2: Son of Xbox

Trump Posts Concept Art of His Presidential Library, and It’s AI Slop

Forget Tower Desktop, GMKtec Mini PC Drops to a Record Low as Amazon Clears Out Final Spring Sale Stock

‘Fallout’ Season 2 Was a Hit Despite That Unsatisfying Release Strategy Change

JBL Authentics 500 Retro-Style Home Speaker Hits 40% Off, Now at Its Lowest Price as Amazon’s Spring Sale Clearance Begins

ExpressVPN Spring Sale Special: Up to 73% Off + Free eSIM and Password Manager

You Too Will Learn to Fear the XenoFrog

Amazon Echo Dot Sees Its Last Price Drop in the Spring Sale, Final Hours Tick Down Ahead of an Uncertain Prime Day

Artemis 2 by the Numbers: Breaking Down NASA’s Big Return to the Moon

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

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