16-Aug-07 16:55:00
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio, Storage
Has it really been a quarter-century since the first compact disc was pressed, finally freeing us from the infernal routine of rewinding our mix tapes? Well sure enough, Philips was kind enough to inform us that its very first CD rolled off the production lines on August 17th, 1982, which history will forever remember -- perhaps unfortunately -- as a copy of ABBA's The Visitors. Nonetheless, this first widely-produced optical disc format would end up changing our lives forever, ushering in the era of lossless copies, easy music sharing, and an unwanted little friend we've come to know as DRM. Now with some 200 billion discs having been sold worldwide -- and probably twice as many distributed gratis by AOL in its dial-up heyday -- it would seem that the original shiny little platter is unquestionably in its golden years, with more convenient or capacious formats replacing it on almost every front. So Philips, the reade...
Has it really been a quarter-century since the first compact disc was pressed, finally freeing us from the infernal routine of rewinding our mix tapes? Well sure enough, Philips was kind enough to inform us that its very first CD rolled off the production lines on August 17th, 1982, which history will forever remember -- perhaps unfortunately -- as a copy of ABBA's The Visitors. Nonetheless, this first widely-produced optical disc format would end up changing our lives forever, ushering in the era of lossless copies, easy music sharing, and an unwanted little friend we've come to know as DRM. Now with some 200 billion discs having been sold worldwide -- and probably twice as many distributed gratis by AOL in its dial-up heyday -- it would seem that the original shiny little platter is unquestionably in its golden years, with more convenient or capacious formats replacing it on almost every front. So Philips, the reade...
Source: Engadget
16-Aug-07 16:23:00
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
We've gotten a deluge of emails over the last week from readers and insiders speculating about the next iPod release; after all, it's been a couple months since Apple loosed the iPhone, the new iMac is official and living large, and current iPods have seen a price drop -- something that only comes strictly mandated by Apple HQ. What's more, sources at retailers are continuing to tell us that Apple is slowing down iPod shipments, strongly suggesting the company is running out its current stock to make room on shelves for new product.
We can't speak to what specific technology Cupertino's got brewing behind the scenes (we know it's OS X-based, and hear it'll use more flash), but whatever it is, we'd wager it'll be released in September or October. And not just because Apple's has taken to launching at least some new iPods every year since 2003, or admitted that it considers its iPhone business its "third", separa...
We've gotten a deluge of emails over the last week from readers and insiders speculating about the next iPod release; after all, it's been a couple months since Apple loosed the iPhone, the new iMac is official and living large, and current iPods have seen a price drop -- something that only comes strictly mandated by Apple HQ. What's more, sources at retailers are continuing to tell us that Apple is slowing down iPod shipments, strongly suggesting the company is running out its current stock to make room on shelves for new product.
We can't speak to what specific technology Cupertino's got brewing behind the scenes (we know it's OS X-based, and hear it'll use more flash), but whatever it is, we'd wager it'll be released in September or October. And not just because Apple's has taken to launching at least some new iPods every year since 2003, or admitted that it considers its iPhone business its "third", separa...
Source: Engadget
16-Aug-07 15:51:00
Filed under: Robots
Aldebaran Robotics' Nao robot didn't exactly have all that many skills to show off at the recent RoboCup in Atlanta, but it apparently had enough to earn itself a place as the new de facto bot for the Standard Platform League (previously known as the Four-Legged League). Until now, that position had been held by Sony's AIBO, who will now apparently be relegated to cheering on its bipedal successor from the sidelines. The Standard Platform League, as the same suggests, requires all competitors to use the same robot, placing all the focus on software development instead of hardware tweaking. Unfortunately, it seems that you'll still have to wait a bit if you're thinking about competing as, last we heard, there was still no word on pricing or availability for the long-in-development Nao.
[Via Robot Dreams]
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to li...
Aldebaran Robotics' Nao robot didn't exactly have all that many skills to show off at the recent RoboCup in Atlanta, but it apparently had enough to earn itself a place as the new de facto bot for the Standard Platform League (previously known as the Four-Legged League). Until now, that position had been held by Sony's AIBO, who will now apparently be relegated to cheering on its bipedal successor from the sidelines. The Standard Platform League, as the same suggests, requires all competitors to use the same robot, placing all the focus on software development instead of hardware tweaking. Unfortunately, it seems that you'll still have to wait a bit if you're thinking about competing as, last we heard, there was still no word on pricing or availability for the long-in-development Nao.
[Via Robot Dreams]
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to li...
Source: Engadget
16-Aug-07 15:29:00
Filed under: Transportation, Networking
According to reports, a single computer crash yesterday in the Customs office of LAX caused hours of delays for more than 17,000 airline passengers. US Customs officials say that a malfunctioning network card on a single desktop created a "domino" effect with its other computers, leading to a total system failure that caused massive wait times. According to a Customs spokesman, "We lost access to our national systems, as well as our local area network." He went on the claim that it took over ten hours to diagnose the problem, halting screening operations and leaving passengers stranded on planes or in the airport -- unable to enter or leave the US. From the sounds of it, Customs need to hire a handful of Engadget readers, who we're pretty sure could have located the source of the problem in considerably less time.
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the po...
According to reports, a single computer crash yesterday in the Customs office of LAX caused hours of delays for more than 17,000 airline passengers. US Customs officials say that a malfunctioning network card on a single desktop created a "domino" effect with its other computers, leading to a total system failure that caused massive wait times. According to a Customs spokesman, "We lost access to our national systems, as well as our local area network." He went on the claim that it took over ten hours to diagnose the problem, halting screening operations and leaving passengers stranded on planes or in the airport -- unable to enter or leave the US. From the sounds of it, Customs need to hire a handful of Engadget readers, who we're pretty sure could have located the source of the problem in considerably less time.
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the po...
Source: Engadget
16-Aug-07 15:08:00
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio
We're still not sure why people are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for an alarm clock when a $5 model from the pharmacy works just as well, but in all fairness to Logitech, the new $250 Pure-Fi Dream (pictured above and in the gallery below) does a lot more than just annoy the hell out of you every morning. Yessir, what you're getting here is a "premium bedroom audio system" featuring 3/4-inch tweeters and 3-inch woofers, along with dual alarms, motion sensitive controls (no more banging around for the snooze button), and a "one-of-a-kind" LCD screen that dupes all the vital info from a docked iPod. And to make sure that you don't become a homebody sitting in your room listening to your Dream, Logitech is also launching another speaker system designed to maximize your iPod experience on the go, the Pure Fi Anywhere (pictured in the gallery below). This followup to the company's mm50 promises longer battery life, a smaller ...
We're still not sure why people are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for an alarm clock when a $5 model from the pharmacy works just as well, but in all fairness to Logitech, the new $250 Pure-Fi Dream (pictured above and in the gallery below) does a lot more than just annoy the hell out of you every morning. Yessir, what you're getting here is a "premium bedroom audio system" featuring 3/4-inch tweeters and 3-inch woofers, along with dual alarms, motion sensitive controls (no more banging around for the snooze button), and a "one-of-a-kind" LCD screen that dupes all the vital info from a docked iPod. And to make sure that you don't become a homebody sitting in your room listening to your Dream, Logitech is also launching another speaker system designed to maximize your iPod experience on the go, the Pure Fi Anywhere (pictured in the gallery below). This followup to the company's mm50 promises longer battery life, a smaller ...
Source: Engadget
16-Aug-07 14:43:00
Filed under: Displays
NuVision, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based maker of LCD televisions, has just announced an veritable avalanche of new models on the way, and we've got all the succulent details. The new displays feature the company's Digital Switching Deep Black (DSDB) technology, which supposedly adjusts backlight settings in relation to images onscreen, allowing for contrast ratios up to a whopping 15000:1; the screens also sport the company's NiDO II or NiDO III image processor / color stabilizer. Sets range in size from a moderate 22-inches to the gigantic, impressing-your-in-laws size of 65-inches. Check out a little rundown of the vital stats, prices, and release dates after the break.
[Via AVguide]Continue reading NuVision debuts ten new Lucidium Deep Black 1080p displays
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
NuVision, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based maker of LCD televisions, has just announced an veritable avalanche of new models on the way, and we've got all the succulent details. The new displays feature the company's Digital Switching Deep Black (DSDB) technology, which supposedly adjusts backlight settings in relation to images onscreen, allowing for contrast ratios up to a whopping 15000:1; the screens also sport the company's NiDO II or NiDO III image processor / color stabilizer. Sets range in size from a moderate 22-inches to the gigantic, impressing-your-in-laws size of 65-inches. Check out a little rundown of the vital stats, prices, and release dates after the break.
[Via AVguide]Continue reading NuVision debuts ten new Lucidium Deep Black 1080p displays
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Source: Engadget
16-Aug-07 14:23:00
Filed under: Gaming
It's not set in stone, but in an interview with CNET.au, RedOctane cofounder Charles Huang suggested that the DS version of Guitar Hero III would include a guitar controller "as long as it makes sense and it plays well." Huang went on to say that RedOctane is "exploring ways to get peripherals on a DS game," and that the company is working on approach with Nintendo's assistance. Given the novel controllers we've already seen hit the DS, RedOctane's got some work to do to back up Huang's assertion that GHIII on the DS "will play probably unlike any other DS game that has come out," but we're willing to give the company the benefit of the doubt -- they seem to have a handle on that whole "gameplay" thing.
[Via DS Fanboy]
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
It's not set in stone, but in an interview with CNET.au, RedOctane cofounder Charles Huang suggested that the DS version of Guitar Hero III would include a guitar controller "as long as it makes sense and it plays well." Huang went on to say that RedOctane is "exploring ways to get peripherals on a DS game," and that the company is working on approach with Nintendo's assistance. Given the novel controllers we've already seen hit the DS, RedOctane's got some work to do to back up Huang's assertion that GHIII on the DS "will play probably unlike any other DS game that has come out," but we're willing to give the company the benefit of the doubt -- they seem to have a handle on that whole "gameplay" thing.
[Via DS Fanboy]
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Source: Engadget
16-Aug-07 14:02:00
Filed under: Desktops, Peripherals
The days of casually interfacing with uber-secure servers without unduly amounts of red tape holding you back could be coming to an end, especially if you work at a government or financial institution that has a contract with Raritan. The latest paranoia-curing gizmo to escape its labs is the Paragon II KVM Smart Card Reader solution for a KVM switch, which supports the US Federal HSPD-12 standard and aims to "enhance an organization's security approach" by requiring smart cards to be inserted before access is granted to machines via KVM. More specifically, the all-in-one solution "does not store or cache card data, requires re-authentication when changing targets, and allows access of servers by only one user at a time." So much for snoopin' on your lunch break, eh?
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
The days of casually interfacing with uber-secure servers without unduly amounts of red tape holding you back could be coming to an end, especially if you work at a government or financial institution that has a contract with Raritan. The latest paranoia-curing gizmo to escape its labs is the Paragon II KVM Smart Card Reader solution for a KVM switch, which supports the US Federal HSPD-12 standard and aims to "enhance an organization's security approach" by requiring smart cards to be inserted before access is granted to machines via KVM. More specifically, the all-in-one solution "does not store or cache card data, requires re-authentication when changing targets, and allows access of servers by only one user at a time." So much for snoopin' on your lunch break, eh?
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Source: Engadget
16-Aug-07 13:35:00
Filed under: Robots
Step off those treadmills OK GO, there's a new indie music video on YouTube ready to help us nerds locate our groove muscle. Spoon's "Don't You Evah" features the toxically cute Keepon dancing robot developed by Carnegie Mellon and Japan's National Institute of Communications Technology. Be sure to hang in 'til the end for the robot dance party which features Manoi, RB2000 and a Johnny Five wannabe getting tore-up from the floor-up in that mad servo style. Full vid after the break.Continue reading Keepon dancing robot featured in Spoon's latest music video
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Step off those treadmills OK GO, there's a new indie music video on YouTube ready to help us nerds locate our groove muscle. Spoon's "Don't You Evah" features the toxically cute Keepon dancing robot developed by Carnegie Mellon and Japan's National Institute of Communications Technology. Be sure to hang in 'til the end for the robot dance party which features Manoi, RB2000 and a Johnny Five wannabe getting tore-up from the floor-up in that mad servo style. Full vid after the break.Continue reading Keepon dancing robot featured in Spoon's latest music video
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Source: Engadget
16-Aug-07 13:06:00
Just when you thought you had a handle on HDMI 1.3, along comes a new sub-class of HDMI switches supporting (are you ready for it?) HDMI 1.3a Category 2, otherwise known as HDMI 1.3 High-Speed. Learn it, live it. Accell's UltraAV 2-port switch supports a 1440p (2560 x 1440) resolution and 10.2Gbps (340MHz) high-speed data transfer without the need of an external power supply. Sure, there aren't any 1440p sets out their yet, but they're coming, as are those 2160p Quad HD monsters. Sorry, no launch date specifics. We only know that it'll cost $99 and receive a proper unveiling in early September at the CEDIA Expo. Of course, you'll still have to find content and a source to pump that superior resolution but this is all about "future proofing" which often has little to do with rational thinking.
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Source: Engadget
