March 28, 2008
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs
We know Apple's had its Inkwell handwriting recognition software in OS X for years now, so we might have otherwise just totally glossed over this Handwriting Recognition Engineer job listing on Apple's site. Except for the part that reads: "The recognition technology you create may extend beyond Mac OS X to other applications and the iPhone." They always love to throw those little tidbits in there, don't they?
[Via
Macrumors]
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Posted by Syndicated Listing | Filed Under Tablet PCs | Comments Off
March 28, 2008
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Well, it's no surprise that it was going to happen, but the HD DVD Promotion Group officially dissolved today, leaving behind nothing but this terse message directing us to individual "selling agencies." And so, with literally nothing left of HD DVD, we formally close the sad chapter of consumer electronics history known as the HD Format War, remembering those times
when HD DVD rode high, with low prices, more features and less restrictive rights management as its rallying cries, and the
rantings of Michael Bay still only the delusional fantasies of a fool. May the resistance live on, and our PS3s always be reminded of a time when their ascension was not guaranteed. Red's dead, baby.
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Posted by Syndicated Listing | Filed Under HDTV | Comments Off
March 28, 2008
Filed under: Features, Wireless, Storage
Now that Time Machine's all
buddy-buddy with AirPort Extreme's AirDisk feature, we can see the demand for
Time Capsule sinking considerably. Still, Apple's own NAS drive / WLAN router combo has likely found its way into quite a few households, and now that you've had a chance to back up your life a couple times over, we're interested to see how you'd tweak things. Are you
really pleased with the interface? Are transfers snappy enough? Want a little more freedom with how you're able to configure things? Would you rather it not function as a substitute for a portable stove? Let's be honest -- Time Capsule's a pricey piece of kit for what you get, so feel free to let Cupertino know exactly what's keeping you from being absolutely satisfied in every respect.
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Posted by Syndicated Listing | Filed Under Storage | Comments Off
March 28, 2008
Filed under: Home Entertainment
We first saw D-Link's DSM-750 MediaLounge Wireless Media Player at CES
way back in 2007, and the company
"officially" launched the 802.11n unit in September of that year -- but the scheduled November 2007 retail date came and went, and the four of you queuing up to drop $349 on an unheralded Media Center extender were left to sadly contemplate the crushing banality of your existence. Well, buck up, boy-o, because it looks like D-Link's realized that it's actually supposed to
sell the DSM-750, and it's also gone and dropped the price down a whole $20, to $329. Sure, you can operate the thing in either MCE or MediaLounge mode, but you're still limited to 1080i output (even over HDMI), and at that price, it's pretty hard to see why you wouldn't just nab an Xbox 360 Arcade to do the same thing -- you're getting far more functionality for the money, even if you have to spring for wireless and the remote. Still, we're glad this thing is finally here -- those four dudes were getting awfully weepy.
[Via
eHomeUpgrade]
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March 28, 2008
Filed under: Features, Handhelds, Tablet PCs
HTC's Shift finally
launched in the US this week, and what do you know, we landed one to check out. Sure as hell ain't too shabby for a UMPC, but while it's got a number of things working in its favor (versatile form factor, solid hardware, lots of niceties like a fingerprint reader, 3G, Windows Mobile, etc.), it's got a number of bits working pretty hard against it. Some thoughts:
- The screen hinge is significantly improved and feels really solid. Without putting it through 20,000 open / close cycles, we think it's fairly trustworthy, definitely good HTC gear.
- The microscopic keyboard keys are an absolute nightmare to type on with two hands if you've got normal human mitts. Unfortunately, it's just too small to use regularly, and too large to use with your thumbs; with that kind of real estate we'd have preferred a proper split thumb-board with a nice big track pad in the middle. Major bummer.
- The trackpad is pretty sensitive, but a little difficult to control. The machine itself is certainly snappy enough, though, even running Vista with Aero.
- Hitting SnapVUE / Windows Mobile-mode is instantaneous, albeit a little jarring -- especially since the screen is so huge and WinMo is so clearly not intended for it -- but it's nice to have a lighter weight interface than full-on Windows.
- Try though we might, we simply could not find a way to disengage the unit from its leather-bound case. Maybe this was outlined in the Shift's documentation, of which we received none. Quite annoying.
- HTC kindly bundles a screen protector, a spare clicky stylus, external USB hub with Ethernet (ahem, Air), and headphones with mic.
All in all not bad, but it's going to take a hell of a lot more than what the Shift's offering up to get us to drop $1,500 on a UMPC of any kind. And it isn't winning it any further points considering that one of the device's main draws -- the keyboard -- may as well not even exist for us fat-fingered fools. Check out the extensive unboxing and hands-on gallery below.
Update: Apparently the case is permanently bolted to the unit and can't be removed, part of some weird FCC requirement regarding antenna distance / SAR. At very least they HTC could have used Philips head screws (and not Torx) to facilitate ease of removal.
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March 28, 2008
Filed under: Handhelds, Wireless
We've been hearing that a
WiMAX-enabled version of Nokia's
N810 would be making its
grand debut at CTIA on April 1, but it looks like the cat's out of the bag -- check this new image on the Nokia Europe site. Yeah, no beating around the bush there -- we'd say the WiMAX N810 is coming, and soon. Sadly, the product link doesn't work yet, but we think we might have a hunch what the major differences from the regular N810 are.
[Via
Internet Tablet Talk]
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Posted by Syndicated Listing | Filed Under Wireless | Comments Off
March 28, 2008
Filed under: Cellphones, GPS
It may have won approval from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and
NAVTEQ shareholders alike, but it looks like the EU's
European Commission needs a bit more time to think over Nokia's acquisition of the company, and it's now launched an "in-depth" probe into the matter. According to Reuters, the Commission said that the "proposed merger raises serious doubts with regards to ... competition concerns," although it was quick to add that the decision to open the inquiry does not prejudge the result of the probe. Among other things, the probe will apparently attempt to asses whether the purchase would affect the cost of maps for other companies providing navigation services on cellphones. If all of this has a familiar ring, it should, because it wasn't all that long ago that the EU launched a similar probe into TomTom's similar acquisition of map-maker Tele Atlas.
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Posted by Syndicated Listing | Filed Under GPS | Comments Off
March 28, 2008
Filed under: Transportation
This is it, today's the last day to enter our six days of ticket giveaways for our
fourth birthday this month! We're treating six lucky winners to two round trip tickets destined for anywhere
Virgin America flies. We wouldn't want you traveling in something that doesn't have power, network, and a seatback terminal, though, so you don't have to sweat about completely unplugging to get from point A to point B. Check out the rules below and good luck, because it's all over tonight!
- Leave a comment below. It is in honor of our fourth birthday, after all, so we wouldn't mind a bit of adulation -- but it's up to you.
- You may only enter this specific giveaway once. Although you can enter up to six times through the course of this six part giveaway, if you enter this specific giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
- If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine.
- Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
- Winner will be chosen randomly. That winner will get two round trip tickets anywhere Virgin America flies. Tickets are valid through May 31st, 2008, and are blacked out May 22-26. Approximate value is $599 per pair. You can only win once.
- Entries can be submitted until Friday, March 28th, 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
- Full rules can be found here.
Oh, and be sure to enter
part 1,
part 2,
part 3,
part 4, and
part 5 for another chance!
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March 28, 2008
Filed under: Digital Cameras, HDTV
Regrettably, there's not a whole lot of deets on Vivitar's latest camcorder just yet, but we do know that this ultra-compact unit will log clips in beautiful 720p. The DVR565HD is said to capture in H.264 / MPEG-4 at 30fps, while it can pipe that video back out in 1080i via the HDMI output. Also of note, it should be available in black and silver motifs, and while the 3-inch flip-out LCD monitor is a nice touch, the apparent inability for it to accept anything more capacious than a 4GB SD card is somewhat disappointing. Then again, it
is rocking the
Vivitar logo, and if history tells any story whatsoever, we'd bet this one comes in well under most budgets.
[Via
Slashgear]
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March 28, 2008
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment
Although the PlayStation 3 is quite the lovely
Blu-ray player in
most respects, one issue has nagged remote junkies from day one: the absence of IR. Now, however, the highly-anticipated IR2BT Infrared-to-Bluetooth
converter is on the market, and sure enough, it promises to transmit "all 51 Sony Blu-ray remote codes including the PS button for Power On / Off." The unit itself measures in at 4.5- x 3- x 1-inches, operates on a pair of AA cells or a mini-USB connector and doesn't even require you to own a soldering iron. Ready to control your PS3 via a universal IR remote without getting a degree in electrical engineering? Hit up the read link and hand over your $55, bub.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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