Panasonic loads Centrino 2 into Toughbook CF-52 / CF-74

July 16, 2008

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We're beginning to wonder if Panny's long-standing CF-52 and CF-74 will ever be replaced, but so long as folks keep biting, we suppose there's nothing wrong with perpetual makeovers. As with nearly every other laptop manufacturer, Panasonic has also decided it prudent to freshen up the aforesaid pair of Toughbooks with larger hard drives, 802.11n WiFi, expanded graphics capabilities and Intel's Centrino 2 platform. Aside from that, you can still expect the same rugged exterior, shock-mounted HDD and spill-resistant keyboard, but you'll pay dearly for those safeguards. Both the 15.4-inch CF-52 and 13.3-inch CF-74 will be available next month starting at $1,949 and $3,199, respectively.
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Valmet Automotive announces plans to build Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid

July 16, 2008

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It may still be squabbling with Tesla over some allegedly stolen secrets, but it looks like Fisker is still moving full steam ahead with its Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid, with Valmet Automotive now announcing its intention to manufacturer the car en masse in Finland. As Fisker itself had announced way back when, they're expecting to churn out 15,000 of the cars annually, with the first of 'em sent to land in North America sometime in the fourth quarter of 2009, and Europeans getting theirs shortly thereafter in 2010. Apparently, Valmet was chosen to manufacture the car after an "extensive global search," with its location in Finland in particular working in its favor given that more than half of Fisker's cars are expected to be sold outside of North America.

[Thanks, Timo]
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Valmet Automotive announces plans to build Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid

July 16, 2008

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It may still be squabbling with Tesla over some allegedly stolen secrets, but it looks like Fisker is still moving full steam ahead with its Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid, with Valmet Automotive now announcing its intention to manufacturer the car en masse in Finland. As Fisker itself had announced way back when, they're expecting to churn out 15,000 of the cars annually, with the first of 'em sent to land in North America sometime in the fourth quarter of 2009, and Europeans getting theirs shortly thereafter in 2010. Apparently, Valmet was chosen to manufacture the car after an "extensive global search," with its location in Finland in particular working in its favor given that more than half of Fisker's cars are expected to be sold outside of North America.

[Thanks, Timo]
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Rock Band 2 hands on, live shots, Ion drum kit, first impressions: woot!

July 16, 2008

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RockBand 2 handson
If you're jonesing to get your Rock Band 2 on like we are, you'll be all over these new shots of the game's upcoming controllers that we got all grubby on today at E3.

First, the new guitars not only look better, but they will include some welcome hardware tweaks. The new axe includes an optical sensor that will make syncing the game to your display a breeze. Rather than go through that annoying tap..tap...tap synchronization scheme, all you'll need to do is hold up your controller to your display and it will figure things out with you based on your screen's refresh rate. In addition, the new guitars have been updated with slicker fret controls that make it easier to slide from one to the other. Meanwhile, the strum bar has been tightened up a bit. No clicking, though -- the guys at Harmonix say no one "dreams of playing a metronome" anyway. A dig at Guitar Hero? Perhaps, but if you're looking for some click feedback from your controller, look elsewhere.

Gallery: Rock Band 2 Hands On and Impressions

Continue reading Rock Band 2 hands on, live shots, Ion drum kit, first impressions: woot!

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Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: World Tour to work with Rock Band instruments

July 16, 2008

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Good news, plastic rockers -- Activision announced at E3 today that its upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour game will work with Rock Band's controllers, including the drumkit, and that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith on Xbox 360 has received an update that "should" make the game compatible with Harmonix's axes. Nothing too wild on the Aerosmith tip, as the guitars should just work now (finally!), but Activision's had to do some work to make World Tour play nice: the game is designed for a five-pad drumkit, but it'll compress down to four to work with Rock Band's set. See? Friends all around. Is that so hard, guys?

Read - Guitar Hero: Aerosmith updated
Read - Guitar Hero: World Tour
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Hands-on with Sony’s new BDP-S350 and other HD frivolities

July 16, 2008

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So Sony's got a $399 Blu-ray player on the market now, huh? Really blasting away at that price point, huh Sony? Really keeping on your toes now that HD DVD is dead and gone, giving you zero competition in the physical format space, yeah? Oh, we forgot, you're using a blue laser, and those require bloody war with dastardly intelligent man-eating monkeys to boot up. We got to handle Sony's new BDP-S350 Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player tonight, and while we aren't mad that the new player draws less power, takes up less space, and supports more technical HD hotness, it literally feels like a $20 DVD player in the hand -- no way Sony has $400 of electronic components in this thing. Even the front LCD is teensy: we've bought $200 home theater in a box systems from Sony with more extravagant displays. We understand Sony trying to make back a few dollars from a pricey format war, but at this point this ridiculous price point is looking way artificial. In other, less insulting news, Sony was showing off the new HT-SS2300 Home Theater System, which is designed to complement the S350, along with the HT-IS100 "Micro System," which we found intriguing. Sony also showed off its HDR-CX12, which is nothing special in person, though we certainly like what's under the hood.

Gallery: Hands-on with Sony's new BDP-S350 and other HD frivolities

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Meizu M8 finally launching in August?

July 16, 2008

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The saga of the Meizu M8 is one of the more entertaining dramas in the phone biz these days, owing partly to the endless delays and tweaks, granted -- but owing much more to the truly masterful ripping of the iPhone's industrial design. Unfortunately, there's been very little actual bite to follow up the bark coming out of the Meizu camp, and it looks like we might get a real taste of this thing for the first time as soon as next month. A post on Meizu's website, seemingly from none other than CEO J. Wong himself, claims that a first cut of the M8 will arrive next month -- along with plenty more pictures and details -- but it'll be a somewhat neutered rendition that features just 128MB of RAM and zero flash. October will bring the real deal, a 256MB baddie that rocks 8GB of storage for 2180 yuan, which works out to about $320. Meanwhile, pictures have surfaced of the latest prototype floating around Meizu's labs, looking both as slick and as litigation-prone as ever. Bring these stateside, Mr. Wong, and we'll be the very first to sign up -- just don't be surprised if Apple is right behind us.

[Via Electronista]

Read - August for 128MB model, October for 256MB / 8GB?
Read - Prototype M8 in the wild
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Meizu M8 finally launching in August?

July 16, 2008

Filed under: ,


The saga of the Meizu M8 is one of the more entertaining dramas in the phone biz these days, owing partly to the endless delays and tweaks, granted -- but owing much more to the truly masterful ripping of the iPhone's industrial design. Unfortunately, there's been very little actual bite to follow up the bark coming out of the Meizu camp, and it looks like we might get a real taste of this thing for the first time as soon as next month. A post on Meizu's website, seemingly from none other than CEO J. Wong himself, claims that a first cut of the M8 will arrive next month -- along with plenty more pictures and details -- but it'll be a somewhat neutered rendition that features just 128MB of RAM and zero flash. October will bring the real deal, a 256MB baddie that rocks 8GB of storage for 2180 yuan, which works out to about $320. Meanwhile, pictures have surfaced of the latest prototype floating around Meizu's labs, looking both as slick and as litigation-prone as ever. Bring these stateside, Mr. Wong, and we'll be the very first to sign up -- just don't be surprised if Apple is right behind us.

[Via Electronista]

Read - August for 128MB model, October for 256MB / 8GB?
Read - Prototype M8 in the wild
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Lenovo’s SL, R, and T series ThinkPads get the data sheet treatment

July 16, 2008

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Lenovo provided most of the basic specs for its new batch of ThinkPads when it announced 'em yesterday but, if you want to examine them right down to the very last detail, Lenovo has now got you covered with some data sheets for most the Centrino 2-based laptops. That includes the SL300, SL400 and SL500, the R400 and R500, and the T400 and T500, but not the W series models, although those are really just T series ThinkPads with added ATI Mobility FireGL graphics and Display Port. All set? Then dig into the PDFs below.

Read - ThinkPad SL300, SL400, and SL500
Read - ThinkPad R400 and R500
Read - ThinkPad T400 and T500
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Lenovo’s SL, R, and T series ThinkPads get the data sheet treatment

July 16, 2008

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Lenovo provided most of the basic specs for its new batch of ThinkPads when it announced 'em yesterday but, if you want to examine them right down to the very last detail, Lenovo has now got you covered with some data sheets for most the Centrino 2-based laptops. That includes the SL300, SL400 and SL500, the R400 and R500, and the T400 and T500, but not the W series models, although those are really just T series ThinkPads with added ATI Mobility FireGL graphics and Display Port. All set? Then dig into the PDFs below.

Read - ThinkPad SL300, SL400, and SL500
Read - ThinkPad R400 and R500
Read - ThinkPad T400 and T500
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