Posted Feb 5th 2008 4:03PM by Ryan BlockFiled under: Announcements, HDTV You heard right, we’re giving away a sexy new Philips HDTV over on Engadget HD. For your shot to take home a 42PFL5603D 42-incher of your own, head on over and drop a comment! Want to find out more about the set? Hit up Philips’s video here. Finally, don’t forget about the other HDTV + Xbox 360 combo Old Spice contest we’re running, you can enter both.Tags: video games, gadgets, wireless, speakers (Read the full post about ‘Win a Philips 42PFL5603D 42-inch 1080p HDTV on Engadget HD!’…)
The Transformers movie was a hit a few months ago, and for the fans that still want more goodies from the giant robots, here comes the Autobot Flashing T-Shirt. The shirt has a small battery located on the bottom, that works with 2AA batteries and provides the energy needed for the lights to flash in different sequences, which in the end results in displaying the Autobot logo. In case you don’t want a glowing T-Shirt, just turn off the battery and it looks like a normal shirt. Priced at 19, the Autobot Flashing T-Shirt is available in 4 different sizes, and can be used by kids, teens, adults. (Read the full post about ‘Autobot Flashing T-Shirt’…)
Posted Feb 5th 2008 4:01PM by Darren MurphFiled under: HandheldsHeads-up kiddos! LeapFrog is out to swipe even more of that allowance with a pair of all new web-connected handhelds. Up first is the Leapster2, which now boasts a sleeker form factor and the ability to upload your totally sweet results to the web for mum and dad to ooh and ahh over. For you older tykes, the Didj handheld — which is hailed as the first completely customizable educational gaming platform — enables users to “personalize the look and feel of the games, from designing their avatars to choosing background scenery, color schemes and music.” Also of note, the Didj features a 3.2-inch 320 x 240 resolution panel, a 393MHz ARM9 processor and 256MB of Flash memory, which should provide plenty of incentive to hack this thing into a second-rate media player when not beefing up that mental muscle. (Read the full post about ‘LeapFrog intros web-connected Leapster2 and Didj handhelds’…)
Posted Feb 5th 2008 2:34PM by Donald MelansonFiled under: Desktops, Laptops Linus Torvalds may have dabbled in Apple territory in the past, but he’s definitely not mincing any words about competing operating systems now. (Read the full post about ‘Linus Torvalds calls Apple’s file system “utter crap”’…)
Posted Feb 5th 2008 3:53PM by Donald MelansonFiled under: Robots, Wearables It’s still awaiting formal clinical trials, but Dean Kamen’s so-called “Luke” artificial arm has already gone through its share of tests, which we can now thankfully catch a glimpse of courtesy of a new video from the folks at IEEE Spectrum Online. That same video also helpfully provides a few more details on the arm, including word that it can be controlled through a variety of means including foot pedals, nerves or muscles, and that it packs force feedback to give the wearer an indication of grip strength, among other suitably sci-fi-like things. Of course, none of this exactly does the arm justice, so be sure to check out the (Read the full post about ‘Dean Kamen’s “Luke” artificial arm gets demoed on video’…)
Posted Feb 5th 2008 11:34AM by Darren MurphFiled under: Networking For the fourth time in a week, an undersea communications cable in the Mediterranean Sea has apparently been cut, and while no official reports of subversion have surfaced just yet, things are beginning to get suspicious. Flag Telecom, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance ADA Group, has had two cables damaged in the span of a week — a quandary it has never dealt with until now. (Read the full post about ‘Fourth undersea cable cut near UAE, suspicions rise’…)
Kodak has announced a new five megapixel CMOS chip for mobile phones. The chip uses tiny 1.4 micron pixels but manages, according to Kodak, to produce sharper and clearer images than the 1.75 microns standard, especially in low light.
The Kodak KAC-05020 Image Sensor comes at the problem from two angles. First, it uses Kodak’s High Sensitivity pixel pattern, which add panchromatic pixels to the usual red, green and blue. Because these pixels are sensitive to all colors of light, they can pick up a lot more information about brightness.
Second, and brand new, is a complete redesign of the CMOS pixels themselves.
Posted Feb 5th 2008 10:24AM by Joshua TopolskyFiled under: Laptops If you’ve been wishin’ and hopin’ for a new Dell laptop, you might want to hold off for a little bit. According to a speculative report over at CNET, the company is planning on upgrading laptop CPUs to Intel’s fancy new Penryn chips, though the PC-maker is remaining tight-lipped about just which models will get the spike, if any. (Read the full post about ‘Penryn CPUs coming to Dell laptops?’…)
Nokia has announced the 3120 Classic, a candybar style handset that from first glance appears to be as basic as they come. There are a few items that are worth noting for the specs, the 3120 Classic offers a front camera for video calling, a 2-megapixel camera on the back, a 2-inch 240 x 320 display, memory card slot, Bluetooth 2.0 and a 2.5mm headphone jack along with quad band GSM/EDGE and dual band 3G. The 3120 Classic will come in three models, a dual band 3G 850/2100, 850/1900 or 900/2100 and is running S40 with Opera Mini pre-installed. The Nokia 3120 Classic is available in graphite, plum/powder white, deep red or chestnut brown and will retail for around 150 Euros or $223. (Read the full post about ‘Nokia announces plain jane looking but affordable 3120 Classic’…)
Posted Feb 5th 2008 11:06AM by Paul MillerFiled under: Laptops, Peripherals Lenovo seems to think this whole “brick” terminology for laptop power adapters is some sort of slight on the good name of AC/DC adaptation, and is releasing a slim new combo adapter to fight that negative stereotype perpetrated by a biased media. The new $119 90W brick measures a half-inch thick and is about the size of a deck of playing cards. It can power your ThinkPad, IdeaPad or Lenovo 3000, but is also built to charge most phones and PDAs, and some music players if you buy the optional connector tips. (Read the full post about ‘Lenovo’s tiny new laptop adapter brick plays nice with others’…)
