Looks like it is end of the road for HD DVD even on the gaming side, as Microsoft has decided to drop the Xbox 360 hd dvd drive. For those who have picked up this peripheral, don’t worry too much about your warranty as Microsoft will continue to offer warranty support for it. I don’t think a warranty is really necessary in this case anyway since you will hardly use your HD DVD drive anymore with no more new movies being released for it in the foreseeable future. Well, unless you’d like to use it as a mere DVD player, of course - but then again, who doesn’t already have a dedicated DVD player (or two) in the home? Guess the high definition game now belongs to Sony. (Read the full post about ‘Microsoft drops Xbox 360 HD DVD drive’…)
Posted Feb 24th 2008 5:08PM by Darren MurphFiled under: Laptops For those that had no qualms kicking Teddy to the curb and cuddling with Asus’ Eee PC throughout the night just as soon as it was released, you may want to utilize your scroll wheel right about now. For those with a tough stomach and a perverse appetite for destruction, you can most definitely stay put. In the video posted after the jump, the Eee PC is pushed from great heights onto solid floors, forced to sit in extreme temperatures and repeatedly prodded to see if it still functioned. Interested? (Read the full post about ‘Asus’ Eee PC gets torture tested on video’…)
Posted Feb 24th 2008 3:06PM by Darren MurphFiled under: Laptops Look out, here comes yet another duo hopping on the Penryn train, and each of these buggers are sporting a Toshiba logo. Up first is the €999 ($1,480) Satellite A300 — the apparent successor of the A200 — which features a 15.4-inch display, a refreshed design, Harman Kardon speakers, built-in fingerprint reader, 1.3-megapixel camera, integrated microphone, up to 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and your choice of a Core 2 Duo T5500 (A300-124) or T8100 (A300-11I). As for the 17-inch P300 (seen after the jump), you can reportedly expect somewhat similar configurations, but sadly, we’ve no hard details on price or availability for it. (Read the full post about ‘Toshiba’s Penryn-based Satellite A300 / P300 uncovered’…)
The ASUS MK241H lcd monitor features native High Definition Multimedia Interface support for Full HD 1080p video playback; and has a built-in 1.3 Mega-pixel webcam and array microphones to deliver the best video and audio online communication experiences. It also utilizes the exclusive Color Rich Technology for enhanced higher-color-gamut video performance with 130% extra color space.
The Asus MK241H lcd monitor is equipped with 1920×1200 (WUXGA) 16:10 high-resolution panels and a HDMI connection and allows delivery of multi-channel audio and uncompressed digital video through a single cable for full HD 1080p video playback of PS3, XBOX360 and Blu-ray / hd dvd players.
(Read the full post about ‘New Asus Monitors with Video Conferencing’…)
There was once a time when the CB radio was considered high-tech. While the technology is still in use today, it’s tough to see it as cutting-edge. Don’t worry though, Cobra Electronics has brought the CB into the 21st Century by adding in Bluetooth. I was a bit curious about what you would do with a Bluetooth CB radio, but it really makes sense. Since truckers are going to carry cell phones, why not take their existing communication device and turn it into a headset for their phone? Aside from the Bluetooth capabilities, the Cobra Electronics 29 LTD BT CB remains the same as your average CB. I can’t remember the last time I used a CB radio (if ever) and I’ve certainly never been behind the wheel of a big rig. (Read the full post about ‘CB radio updated with Bluetooth capabilities’…)
A few more details are emerging on possible delays with the Asus Eee PC, this time it seems some of the units will be slowed due to a lack of power supplies. “But, shipment of the brand’s hottest-selling Eee PC, a budget-price laptop, is estimated at only between 650,000 and 700,000 units for the quarter due mainly to a shortage of power supplies.” The statement specifically mentions “power supplies” but this may be referring to the recent reports of the battery shortages. Either way, batteries or power supplies (power cords) it seems like we are going to be seeing some delays on the Eee PC. The delays could prove to be good news for at least one other notebook, the Everex Cloudbook. (Read the full post about ‘Asus slowing Eee PC shipments due to lack of power supplies?’…)
With the recent demise of hd dvd and all things that surround it, this news from Microsoft comes as no real surprise, they have officially discontinued the Xbox 360 HD DVD player. Current owners need not worry though, because although discontinued the support and warranty will remain in effect. Actually the only real surprise here is that it took Microsoft this long to make it official. A nice follow up would have been the announcement of a Blu-ray player add-on, but that still has not been mentioned. It would make sense though. Via [Gizmodo] Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed → Tags: design, speakers, gear, pvp (Read the full post about ‘Further HD DVD casualties, Microsoft discontinues Xbox 360 HD DVD player’…)
Posted Feb 24th 2008 8:57AM by Paul MillerFiled under: Digital Cameras, Transportation Ever on the lookout for the next step in up in Big Brother policy, there’s a new camera technology being developed in the UK at Loughborough University which can count car occupants by figuring out how much water and blood content there is inside the car. The obvious application is for trimming down those carpool lane offenders, trying to squeeze by the law with a dummy or a pet in the passenger seat. Look, privacy concerns aside, there’s just something awkward about traffic cams tracking quantities of blood and water inside of commuter cars. Do we really want to let the Machines have that kind of inside (literally) information (Read the full post about ‘New camera tech can detect blood and water content in your car. Ew.’…)
Posted Feb 24th 2008 11:15AM by Paul MillerFiled under: Transportation It’s really too bad nanotechnology is so gosh darn morally unacceptable, it could do so much good for humanity! Take this new wiperless windshield, for instance. Designed by Leonardo Fioravanti of Pininfarina, the Hidra features an aerodynamic design, and a bit of a nanotech sandwich (mmm, sandwich) to keep the front glass clear of water and debris. The first layer protects from sun and repels water, the second layer features “nano-dust” to push dirt to the edges of the windshield and is activated by the third layer which senses the dirt, while the whole kit is powered by the fourth layer which conducts electricity to keep it going. (Read the full post about ‘Wiperless windshields in your future? Thanks, nanotech.’…)
A new online resource from Palm could prove to be helpful for some of the new Palm smartphone owners. With the recent popularity (and the low price) of the Centro we are now seeing a whole new group of smartphone users, some who may not be as technology friendly. These new Self-Paced Learning guides from Palm should offer them the needed help to use their smartphone like a pro. Palm has guides available for the Treo 500v, 680, 700w, 700wx, 700p, 750 and the Centro from both Sprint and AT&T. The guides offer up some tutorials on topics like getting to know your smartphone, setting up your smartphone, sending email, browsing the web, tips, tricks and a whole lot more. (Read the full post about ‘Palm offers free, online Self-Paced Learning Guides for smartphones’…)
