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MSI’s Wind gets received by someone, unboxed on video July 1, 2008

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Filed under: Laptops

Even though the world at large is waiting on pins and needles for these Wind delays to subside, at least one lucky individual in Italy has received one. Not that you haven't already seen this netbook from every angle imaginable, but things just look entirely more fluid on video. Three minutes (2:55, to be precise) in heaven await you after the break.

[Thanks, Marcello]

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MSI’s Wind gets received by someone, unboxed on video

Posted by admin in : Tech Reviews , add a comment

Filed under: Laptops

Even though the world at large is waiting on pins and needles for these Wind delays to subside, at least one lucky individual in Italy has received one. Not that you haven't already seen this netbook from every angle imaginable, but things just look entirely more fluid on video. Three minutes (2:55, to be precise) in heaven await you after the break.

[Thanks, Marcello]

Continue reading MSI's Wind gets received by someone, unboxed on video

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Samsung SGH-F700 Review - LetsGoMobile

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LetsGoMobile reviews the Samsung SGH-F700 and writes, "The Samsung F700 has been equipped with two digital cameras. The front carries a small VGA camera, which mainly serves for video calls. The second camera, on the back, is more enhanced of course. The 3.0 Megapixel digital camera with auto focus as well as flash takes beautiful pictures. A minus is the shutter lag which makes the camera very slow. Sometimes I did not capture what I wanted to capture because I moved the phone before the picture was taken or because the object had gone from the composition before I was able to capture it. The flash has a rather limited effective range and is in fact a LED instead of a flash tube. Still the functionality of an internal flash is evidently apparent. I, myself didn't use it that much though. Moreover if you like to capture an object at a considerable distance, a flash like this creates some unwanted side effects."

Read more about the Samsung Ultra Smart F700.

T-Mobile Sidekick Slide Review - PDA Street

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PDA Street reviews the T-Mobile Sidekick Slide and writes, " On the right side, you'll find headphone and power ports. The headphone jack accepts 2.5mm plugs, so you'll need an adapter to use standard headphones. The rear holds the lens for the 1.3 megapixel camera. You'll need to remove the battery to get to the micoSD card slot, which is a nuisance...The Slide can play music tracks (MP3 and AAC) providing you have a microSD card to store them, and the pictures from the 1.3mp camera look decent, just a little shadowy. The camera can't capture video, unfortunately. The phone offers Bluetooth support (but not for stereo headsets), but still lacks WiFi."

Read more about the T-Mobile Sidekick Slide.

BlackBerry Pearl 8120 Review - ChannelWeb

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ChannelWeb reviews the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 and writes, "The Wi-Fi is very simple to configure and connected easily to every network we attempted. Other features include AT&T (NYSE:T)'s PTT (Push-To-Talk), a speakerphone, voice activated dialing, conference calling, speed dialing, and Bluetooth 2.0. One feature that was added toVerizon (NYSE: VZ)'s 8130 version of the phone was noticeably missing though; the 8120 has no GPS functionality. The 2MP camera takes relatively nice, clear pictures and has a variety of customizable settings. The included flash and 5x zoom, as well as the capability to record video are also nice additions."

Read more about the BlackBerry Pearl 8120.

BlackBerry Pearl 8120 Review - CrunchGear

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CrunchGear reviews the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 and writes, "Compared to the older Pearl, this version is a bit peppier and looks great. The keys sort of “melt” around the trackball in a way the original Pearl tried to emulate and it’s slightly lighter. It also has a 2-megapixel camera and stereo Bluetooth...While I have to recommend the curve over the 8120, this phone is still a good casual email phone and powerful roaming phone. It’s $149 after rebate and has enough tweaks to recommend it over the older version."

Read more about the BlackBerry Pearl 8120.

Blockbuster calls the Circuit City merger off, asks for class ring back

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It looks like the potential lovefest that might have been the Blockbuster and Circuit City mashup has drifted away as quickly as it appeared. "Based on market conditions and the completion of our initial due diligence process, we have determined that it is not in the best interest of Blockbuster's shareholders to proceed with an acquisition of Circuit City," said Jim Keyes, head-pimp at B-Buster. We can't be sure what the result was with Circuit City shareholders or employees, but we're willing to bet it didn't look anything like that Best Buy rap video. One more time, after the break.

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Electric bandages: not your favorite new prog-rock band

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Finally, a use for electrocution besides your own, twisted interests. A company in Arizona has created a bandaging system which uses electrically activated wound-dressings to heal injuries. Dubbed the CMB Antrimicrobial Wound Dressing with PROSIT (or CMBAWDWP as we like to call it), the bandage works by utilizing a single-layer polyester fabric which can carry a low-level electrical charge when wet. Over a short period of time, the charge can greatly reduce bacteria and infections in the treatment area. Also, it's fun at parties.

[Via medgadget]

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Sanwa’s CD-RE1AT repairs beat up discs

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We understand that not everyone practices safe spinning, so for those of you who've been burned by neglecting those disc condoms, Sanwa's cranked out what amounts to your morning after pill. The CD-RE1AT actually looks like a Sony Discman circa 1986, but instead of playing back your favorite Gin Blossoms jams, it spends its time removing scratches and repairing discs. Seems a pretty simple solution if it actually works, but we're not going to be the first to drop our ¥7,350 ($70) in order to find out.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

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Sanwa’s CD-RE1AT repairs beat up discs

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We understand that not everyone practices safe spinning, so for those of you who've been burned by neglecting those disc condoms, Sanwa's cranked out what amounts to your morning after pill. The CD-RE1AT actually looks like a Sony Discman circa 1986, but instead of playing back your favorite Gin Blossoms jams, it spends its time removing scratches and repairing discs. Seems a pretty simple solution if it actually works, but we're not going to be the first to drop our ¥7,350 ($70) in order to find out.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

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HTC’s Touch Diamond gets spotted in Sprint attire

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Right, so it's not like we didn't know a CDMA version of HTC's hotly anticipated Touch Diamond was headed to Sprint, but who can honestly argue with in the wild photos proving that said assumption is true? What we have here is a bona fide Diamond in Sprint garb, although eagle-eyed readers will likely notice the mildly tweaked TouchFLO interface (which reeks of Bold there at the bottom, no?). At any rate, you can peek one more (blurry, of course) image of this bugger in the read link.

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ASUS confirms intent to drain Eee brand with Eee Monitor

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Filed under: Desktops, Displays

No, no -- this isn't the Eee-branded HDTV. That's another Eee monitor. Seriously ASUS, you deserve some kind of award, nay, banquet to celebrate this crowning achievement. You've single-handedly managed to drive a lust-worthy name six feet below the surface, and now the mere mention of "Eee" just puts us in a foul mood. Nevertheless, we'll attempt to crack something of smile while taking a look at the Eee Monitor, which -- unless that assortment of ports 'round back is completely for show -- isn't just a monitor at all. Rather, this looks to be some sort of all-in-one PC, or a totally fruity docking station at the very least. As with every other ASUS product, there's no pricing or release information coming until who knows when, but you can burn the Eee logo even deeper into your brain by checking out the gallery in the read link below.

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DVD Download DL logo sparks wonder over Toshiba’s super-resolution DVD player

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

We keep hoping that Toshiba will come to its senses and just let this whole thing die, but no. Apparently insistent on keeping the last-generation format alive for as long as it possibly can, it seems the outfit is getting ever-closer to a super-resolution DVD player that would reportedly upscale DVD content like nothing we've ever seen. The latest tidbit in this woefully depressing saga is a newly approved DVD Download DL logo, which was given the final thumbs-up by the DVD Forum Steering Committee last month. In reality, no one outside of Tosh's headquarters has any idea if this development is indeed intrinsically related, but at this point, we wouldn't be shocked one bit to find that it was. Then again, the June 11th meeting also saw specifications for CH-DVD approved, so here's to hoping Toshiba isn't jumping on that bandwagon fiery wreck.

[Via TG Daily]

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First Look: AMD’s ATI HD 4850 GPU

Posted by admin in : Tech Reviews , add a comment AMD takes a big swing at nVidia in the latest round of the graphics card prize fight.

First Look: AMD’s ATI HD 4850 GPU

Posted by admin in : Tech Reviews , add a comment AMD takes a big swing at nVidia in the latest round of the graphics card prize fight.

First Look: AMD’s ATI HD 4850 GPU

Posted by admin in : Tech Reviews , add a comment AMD takes a big swing at nVidia in the latest round of the graphics card prize fight.

First Look: AMD’s ATI HD 4850 GPU

Posted by admin in : Tech Reviews , add a comment AMD takes a big swing at nVidia in the latest round of the graphics card prize fight.

Caption contest: Chinese S.W.A.T. team caught ridin’ dirty… on Segways

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Filed under: Transportation

Josh T: "Stop! Step out of the vehicle and agree to be my friend."
Don: "Don't make me lean forward and come over there."
Chris: "Do it... do it now! Get to the human transportah!"
Josh F: "Snake? Snake?! SNAAAAAKE!"
Ryan: "Watch yourself, Frank, we're dealing with professionals. They've got a... car."
Darren: "So, um, is it safe to back away from this vehicle?"
Richard: "Yes, this would be more intimidating from a Humvee, but y'know, gas prices these days..."
Nilay: "Put the Roomba down!"
Thomas: "Quit calling me Ginger, I'm a day walker!"

[Thanks, Mike]

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Caption contest: Chinese S.W.A.T. team caught ridin’ dirty… on Segways

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Josh T: "Stop! Step out of the vehicle and agree to be my friend."
Don: "Don't make me lean forward and come over there."
Chris: "Do it... do it now! Get to the human transportah!"
Josh F: "Snake? Snake?! SNAAAAAKE!"
Ryan: "Watch yourself, Frank, we're dealing with professionals. They've got a... car."
Darren: "So, um, is it safe to back away from this vehicle?"
Richard: "Yes, this would be more intimidating from a Humvee, but y'know, gas prices these days..."
Nilay: "Put the Roomba down!"

[Thanks, Mike]

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Law to Fine Kid Buyers of ‘Mature’ Games Costs Minnesota

Posted by admin in : Tech Reviews , add a comment Following its failed effort to curb youngsters' access to video games with "Mature" or "Adults Only" ratings by fining kids for obtaining them, the state of Minnesota on Monday was the one paying. The state paid the Entertainment Software Association $65,000, reimbursing the organization for attorney fees and expenses that resulted from the group's successful challenge to Minnesota's video game law. The payout followed a July 2006 ruling in the ESA's favor by Judge James M. Rosenbaum, who issued a permanent injunction of the controversial law.

SSDs save battery power, right? Wrong.

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If you just shelled out some pretty pennies for the a high-speed, low-power SSD, Tom's Hardware may have stumbled onto some findings that won't sit well. According to a rigorous benchmarking session, they discovered that not only do the drives not save you battery power... they eat more of it. How is this possible you ask? Well mechanical drives only hit peak drainage when the actuator has to move the heads, whereas SSDs use full power whenever they're in use, so the end result is actually a diminished efficiency. What that means is that the hype over "green" drives may be just that: pure hype. On the other hand, you're still getting a drive with no moving parts, which at least makes your data more secure, if not more eco-friendly.

[Via Eeeuser; Thanks, Tony]

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Akron, Ohio to provide free citywide WiFi, inevitably fail within a few years

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Municipal WiFi systems in the US have been pretty much failures across the board, but the good people of Akron, Ohio are apparently in for another go-round -- the city's just commited some $800,000 to build out a free wireless network over the next five years. The service will be installed and operated by a nonprofit called OneCommunity, which just received a $4.5M grant as part of a $25M commitment from the John S. and John L. Knight Foundation to implement digital access projects in 26 cities. The University of Akron has kicked in another $350,000, since the signal will cover its campus as well as the downtown area -- all in, some 90,000 residents and 31,000 workers will get access through the project. The network will start lighting up in the next year -- let's hope it fares better than other city WiFi projects.

[Thanks, Glenn]

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Sprint Showing Signs of Resurgence

Posted by admin in : Tech Reviews , add a comment Sprint may be seeing a resurgence in the mobile market. The company's stock climbed 13 percent last week following reports of a Verizon exec telling investors Sprint had started "doing better." The industry has since seen intense speculation that fewer Sprint subscribers are defecting to the top two carriers, Verizon and AT&T -- a notion on which neither company will comment. Sprint has been struggling for some time. The nation's No. 3 carrier lost more than a million customers in the first quarter of 2008, following scores of defections in 2007 and 2006.

USB-powered Animal Massager just might be a bit weird

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Attention all trinket lovers, your next must-buy piece of garbage has just arrived. For years, mom 'n pop stores (not to mention Cracker Barrel Country Stores) have raked in serious profits selling wooden animals with round knobs for feet, but now those manual farm-derived masseurs are likely out of a job. The USB Animal Massager ups the ante in a serious way by getting powered by USB, meaning that you won't even have to lift a finger as you watch that dog, panda or pig go to town on your toes or aching back. $10 spells relief (and embarrassment, but whatever).

[Thanks, Fanny]

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Google, Yahoo Shine Searchlight on Adobe Flash

Posted by admin in : Tech Reviews , add a comment Adobe, Google and Yahoo have joined forces to add dynamic Web content and rich Internet applications to search results. The two search companies will use an optimized version of Adobe's Flash Player technology to improve their engines' abilities to index the Flash file format and scan information contained within the files. This, according to Adobe, will provide more relevant automatic search rankings of the millions of RIAs and other dynamic content powered by Adobe Flash Player and which would otherwise remain outside the scope of traditional Web searches.

HP lets loose $599 xw4550 Opteron-based workstation

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HP lets loose $599 xw4550 Opteron-based workstation

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More Xbox price cut rumors swirl

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The chatter surrounding a possible Xbox 360 price cut got a little louder today, as several news outlets have picked up on an anonymously-sourced Hollywood Reporter piece claiming that Redmond will drop the 360 Pro's price to $299 sometime before E3. That jives with all those leaked ads that hinted at a July 6th date, so we'll see soon enough -- and we'll bet you that extra $50 the $279 360 Arcade sees some price cut love as well.

[Thanks, cbost]

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More Xbox price cut rumors swirl

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Filed under: Gaming

The chatter surrounding a possible Xbox 360 price cut got a little louder today, as several news outlets have picked up on an anonymously-sourced Hollywood Reporter piece claiming that Redmond will drop the 360 Pro's price to $299 sometime before E3. That jives with all those leaked ads that hinted at a July 6th date, so we'll see soon enough -- and we'll bet you that extra $50 the $279 360 Arcade sees some price cut love as well.

[Thanks, cbost]

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The Devil’s in the 3G iPhone Details

Posted by admin in : Tech Reviews , add a comment Yes, the new 3G iPhone will cost much less than the first generation of the groundbreaking multimedia cell phone; that is, if you're one of the lucky ones who qualify for a discount. And it's not that Apple and AT&T don't trust those of you who might want to hack or modify your new iPhone, but you will need to have it activated at the store when you buy it, under the watchful eyes of sales staff. AT&T released the pricing plans for the second generation of Apple's hit phone, with purchase options that range from $199 to $699 for a 16 GB iPhone unencumbered by a service contract.

ASUS can’t help itself, debuts Eee PC 904 HD

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Haier ibiza Rhapsody (8GB)

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Haier ibiza Rhapsody (8GB) This flash based Wi Fi music player is fun and versatile. 249 Haier ibiza Rhapsody (8GB) This flash based Wi Fi music

Shape-shifting, organ-probing chembots coming soon

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Filed under: Robots

The current generation of robots, whether they're the gun-carrying or child-coddling variety, come in all sorts of shapes and sizes to suit their intended purpose. But if research going on at Tufts University comes to fruition, future robots might feature designs that are rather more flexible. Scientists at the school are working on so-called "chemical robots" with no solid parts. Chembots could squeeze under doors, slither through cracks in walls, and even squirm into your orifices, performing internal diagnoses before slowly dissolving away, leaving nothing more than a feeling of creepy violation behind. What about assuming the shape and voice of John Connor's adopted mother? We're hoping that's still a few years off.

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Medion Akoya E1210 netbook gets unboxed

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Filed under: Laptops

Just days after going on sale in Europe for €399, the Wind-esque Akoya mini laptop has been acquired and unboxed for all to see. As it stands, we're still not certain if this thing will ever head to US soil, but judging by the remarkable similarities to a few other low-cost lappies, we reckon we'll survive if it decides to stay put. Head on to the read link for a look at the shots.

[Via SlashGear]

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Medion Akoya E1210 netbook gets unboxed

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Filed under: Laptops

Just days after going on sale in Europe for €399, the Wind-esque Akoya mini laptop has been acquired and unboxed for all to see. As it stands, we're still not certain if this thing will ever head to US soil, but judging by the remarkable similarities to a few other low-cost lappies, we reckon we'll survive if it decides to stay put. Head on to the read link for a look at the shots.

[Via SlashGear]

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iTunes U Graduates Across the Atlantic

Posted by admin in : Tech Reviews , add a comment The Open University is making course material available on Apple's download site. Apple's iTunes Store has built its reputation on music downloads, but it could be about to usher in a new era of learning on the move. In the not-too-distant future, when you see someone transfixed to their iPod, they may be enjoying a quick burst of environmental studies or English literature. It's all thanks to an educational download service called "iTunes U." Launched by Apple in May 2007, it was originally restricted to American universities.

iTunes U Graduates Across the Atlantic

Posted by admin in : Tech Reviews , add a comment The Open University is making course material available on Apple's download site. Apple's iTunes Store has built its reputation on music downloads, but it could be about to usher in a new era of learning on the move. In the not-too-distant future, when you see someone transfixed to their iPod, they may be enjoying a quick burst of environmental studies or English literature. It's all thanks to an educational download service called "iTunes U." Launched by Apple in May 2007, it was originally restricted to American universities.

Roberts releases solarDAB: world’s first solar-powered DAB radio

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Filed under: Portable Audio

Roberts may get ridiculed for its design cues, but one thing's for sure: it sticks to its guns. The latest patently ugly (but sort of cute) DAB radio to emerge from its lair is the solarDAB, which predictably gets energized by the sun. The unit packs a top-mounted solar panel along with a "level indicator on the display screen that shows the strength of the solar level being absorbed." Once the rechargeable batteries are fully juiced, said radio will blast out tunes for a whopping 27 hours. You should be able to secure one in a variety of colors here soon for £79.99 ($158).

[Via TechDigest]

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Roberts releases solarDAB: world’s first solar-powered DAB radio

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Filed under: Portable Audio

Roberts may get ridiculed for its design cues, but one thing's for sure: it sticks to its guns. The latest patently ugly (but sort of cute) DAB radio to emerge from its lair is the solarDAB, which predictably gets energized by the sun. The unit packs a top-mounted solar panel along with a "level indicator on the display screen that shows the strength of the solar level being absorbed." Once the rechargeable batteries are fully juiced, said radio will blast out tunes for a whopping 27 hours. You should be able to secure one in a variety of colors here soon for £79.99 ($158).

[Via TechDigest]

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Uniross rolls out new range of eco-friendly battery chargers

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