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Alienware is selling a new small form factor PC, the Area-51 5300. It looks a lot like a Shuttle—I swear that’s the same case as the newer ones—but has the typical Alienware array of high performance, high priced features, including PCI Express. I spec’d out a middle of the road system and was running about…
I bet it won’t be too long before all external hard drive enclosures come with a commodity MPEG-4 decoder chip and video out hardware built right in. SigmaTek is selling this X-Bay “Multi-media Hard Drive” for $euro;330 with a 40GB hard drive—not much of a deal, really. But they also sell it without the hard…
New DoCoMo 3G FOMA handsets are on their way—the 901 series. Each phone in the series is a little different, but they all share new stereo speakers for “3d ringtones” among other, incremental updates. I’m still debating on renting a phone in Japan or just popping an American SIM into a generic phone. I’d sort…
This is what makes America great. A writer of science fiction can also find work as a technology pundit, which in turn nets him enough money—and freedom—to design the World’s Least Attractive Lamp. In many countries, people are run through with pig iron skewers just for writing science fiction, let alone making glowing orange rind…
Toshiba has announced a new LCD TV called the “RD-17V1,” and it’s allegedly the first “hybrid TV.” Though hybrid meant “half human, half machine, ALL KILLER” in the glory days of low-rent sci-fi, today it has come to mean “contains both DVD-R/RW and hard drive.” Despite having a squint-inducing 17-inch size, the RD-17V1 manages to…
Yamaha comes around with a new and semi-interesting looking product called the “Digital Sound Projector,” which is probably the first innovative attempt I’ve seen at virtual surround sound technology in a while. The speaker looks much like many other elongated speakers when it’s got its cover on, but on the inside, you’ll notice that the…
They say silence is golden, but if Thermaltake’s Silent PurePower fanless power supply is any indication, it’s more of a reddish coppery tone. This could be just the thing for your homebuilt media center, where silence can really count. The reviewer was impressed by it, although it’s not, of course, the only fanless power supply…
How many times have you found yourself in the mountains with your acoustic guitar, sitting around the campfire, trying to tune up so you can burst into a rendition of Kumbaya or On Top of Spaghetti and ensure perfect pitch, when—dammit!—you realize that you left your guitar tuner back in Hoboken? Or maybe you’re at…
MagPix new Pocket Photo Album might be a big success—it’s hard to tell. At only $100 for the 1.5-inch LCD display unit, it’s a lot cheaper than any multipurpose portable media devices. It’s cheap enough to throw in a purse and not worry about it getting a little scratched up, even. And since it uses…
Over the past several months, motorcycle helmet manufacturers have begun introducing Bluetooth equipped helmets, allowing for improved communication while straddling your hog on the open road. Whether you intend to talk on your Bluetooth-equipped phone or just chat with your passenger (or, presumably, other nearby bikers) a Bluetooth mic + speakers in your helmet is…
I still think the Swatch Paparazzi MSN Direct Watch looks like something that comes with a Happy Meal, but if you’ve got a Super Size for SPOT watches then you should probably check out this review—they don’t get much more detailed for something that only has like five functions. Also, I can’t believe Swatch is…
So while everyone is waiting to see if Jobs is going to announce a ‘Digital Hub’ solution for television on the Mac, other companies like El Gato (le rawr!) are releasing products for OSX to keep it up to date with PVR functions. Their new EyeTV 200 is a lot better than their previous USB…
Product Highlights • Games to arrive for Ipod, rumours roll [TheInquirer] • HP Issues ROM Update for iPAQ 3715 [PDABuyersGuide] • RoboDumps [SRC] • New ATI PCI Express Cards Coming? [TheInquirer] • Extreme Holiday Lighting [GriswoldHome] Business • VoIP backers should celebrate Bush win [CNet] • Verizon, Sprint Lowering Surcharges [AP] Reviews • nVidia GeForce…
The Air Force already developed the Woody Allen-esque “Active Denial System,” a microwave-based beam that causes painful, but (hopefully) non-damaging bubbling of the water just underneath the skin. Basically, people cook a little and then freak out—better than a bullet, and at least twice as entertaining. And while a Humvee-mounted version is in the works,…
These performance gloves from 180 all share a good trick: each comes with a pull-back flap that hides an ‘Exhale Port,’ a one-way valve that lets you breathe warm air into the gloves to heat your hands without taking them off. They come in a vareity of styles, including these Flurry Mittons. A warm pair…
Linksys is selling a 802.11g CompactFlash card for $100. While most devices that would need this don’t have the sort of storage necessary to really need the extra speed, it’s certainly not going to hurt anything. And I’m sure there’s a lone hacker out there using his iPaq as a node to relay streaming video…
Josh Caldwell has completed his three month Segway coast-to-coast journey, “American at 10mph.” He had sex zero times. Across America, low and slow [CNet] Photos [CNet]
Toshiba is releasing a clever portable DVD player in Japan that I hope finds its way here—if not the very model, then at least the form factor. While the 1,024 by 600 pixel widescreen LCD is nice and all, what really revs me is the Tablet PC-style twist screen, that lets you watch movies in…
Let me sum up this review of the HP Bluetooth headphones: I was excited about these. They are a “piece of cake.” They are awesome. Scott eVest is awesome. Everything is awesome! To sum up, according to Jack at Dave’s iPaq, these headphones are awesome. Okay, I’m really not being fair, but he has, like,…
Nokia announced the 6235 and 6235i, two mid-range CDMA2000 1X candy bar phones with built-in VGA camera and FM radio. There’s almost zero to get excited about if you’re a phone nerd, but they look perfectly serviceable otherwise. Expect to see the 6235s on a variety of worldwide carriers. Basically, I’ve got nothing, but if…