Tech Gadgets Reviews

by Darren Murph, posted Nov 15th 2008 at 4:11PM

var You know good and well you were instantly jealous of the multi-finger gesture support announced for those minty fresh new Mac laptops, and if you’re finally ready to ditch that envy you’ve been harboring and just get even, have a look. Without even resorting to gangsterism, users of pre-October 2008 Apple laptops can get the four-finger Exposé and Application Switching working — all’s that required is the install disc from a unibody MacBook, a little tweak of the registry and a pinch of patience. We can’t say for sure how far back this hack will go (we’re guessing your PowerBook G3 is out of luck), but we do know that it works just fine with a January ‘08 macbook air. Give it a go if you’re a risk taker, but don’t blame us if your atoms start to melt.

[Via MacRumors]

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Filed under: Laptops

by Samuel Axon, posted Nov 15th 2008 at 5:42AM

Listings for Intel’s new Core i7 processors popped up on NewEgg for a couple hours yesterday before getting pulled back into the pre-launch ether — a cruel tease to desktop PC hardware aficionados counting down the nanoseconds till that red letter day, November 17th. We knew it wouldn’t last, but we’re glad of the error, ’cause now we’ve seen pricing info which should reflect what we’ll be paying next week. The 2.66GHz 920 was listed at $319.99, the 2.93GHz 940 at $599.99, and the 3.2GHz Extreme 965 at $1,069. Benchmarks have shown even the 920 besting top-of-the-line Core 2 Quads, so the entry point is alluring, but if you’re a True Gearhead we expect you’ll embezzle a grand to afford the Extreme chip.

[Thanks, Staff]

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Filed under: Desktops

by Laura June, posted Nov 15th 2008 at 9:55AM

Remember just a few days back when the HTC MAX 4G AKA the world’s very first GSM / WiMAX handset was announced? Well, some pretty sweet footage of the device — which boasts 8GB of flash memory, GPS, WiFi, triband EDGE and WIMAX support — has surfaced, and we have to say it doesn’t look too shabby. The video’s in Russian — because you can only get the phone on Scartel’s Yota network in… you guessed it, Russia, but from the sounds of it, the demonstrator is stoked. Check it out after the break.

[Via wmpoweruser]

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Filed under: Handhelds

Just a little something to complete the geek chic look. Hanging on a 16″ silver-plated chain is a small silver computer pendant that looks like an old Mac, with two (2) rhinestone accents.

Currently, sold out at the moment, but check out the website every so often for stocks.

Price: $12.00
Where to buy: Shana Logic

[ Image courtesy of Geeksugar ]

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by Donald Melanson, posted Nov 14th 2008 at 3:49PM

Rovio owners have been able to control their all-seeing sentry bot from their iPhone (or any other internet-connected device) from day one using WowWee’s browser-based interface, but one enterprising individual apparently found that a tad lacking for his taste, so he decided to take things one big step further by building his own full-fledged iPhone / ipod touch app. In addition to giving you a larger view of the Rovio’s webcam feed, the app achieves the inevitable by letting you use the iphone or iPod touch’s accelerometer to control the Rovio, which should let you give your Wiimote a rest for a while. Better still, the app is free — you know where to get.

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Filed under: Robots

by Laura June, posted Nov 14th 2008 at 12:44PM

Nothing new or unexpected here: just like we said a few days ago, the Samsung Saga, one of the bluest handsets in recent memory, is now available online at Verizon. Also filed under “things we already knew,” the globetrotting GSM and CDMA-enabled smartphone with EV-DO is selling for $199.99 (with a 2-year contract and one of those mail-in rebates we all know and love), though apparently you won’t be able to walk into a Verizon store and pick one up in person until December 1st. Hit the read link for more granular details should you really, really want them.

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Filed under: cellphones, Handhelds

I am a Fred fan.  Or I guess I was a Fred fan.  Fred was an alternative rock station on XM that played some deep tracks that exposed where bands like U2, REM, Cure and others got their sounds influenced from.  XM radio has euthanized Fred and other themed genre stations, in efforts to merge their networks.  I am not the only one sad.

The replacement for Fred is First Wave, a Sirius station, which in my opinion and the opinion of these groupies, blows chow.  Bad.  Shallow.  Bad.

Can I make a fiscal justification to keep both stations going along?  No.  Can I say that satellite radio has finally lost the race with Internet radio?  Yes.  My cohorts and I are leaving as we can’t stand your far too repetitious music designed for those behind the wheel for 30 minutes.

It isn’t all tears for satellite radio owners though, according to craveonline, 

“Each sides’ premium channels and talent remains mostly intact, with stations like Howard Stern, the Grateful Dead Channel and Eminem’s Shade 45 all now available to XM users, while Sirius listeners now get Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour, Tom Petty’s Buried Treasure and B.B. King’s blues station.“

Those of us that got attached to these themed genre stations will miss them and the talent at XM studios in DC.

Farewell Fred.  Thanks for the tip, Jeff.

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Motorola’s latest handset, the MOTO VE240 will be hitting the US pretty soon via Cricket Communications and MetroPCS. This candybar cell phone is a barebones handset that caters to those who want a no-frills communications device, and will come with the following (don’t hold your breath) :-

• 1.5″ CSTN display with 128 x 128 pixels and 65k colors
• MP3 playback
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Speakerphone functionality
• 2.5mm stereo headset jack (why, Motorola, why?)
• USB 2.0 port
• Picture messaging
• microSD/SDHC memory card slot

Motorola’s latest handset, the MOTO VE240 will be hitting the US pretty soon via Cricket Communications and MetroPCS. This candybar cell phone is a barebones handset that caters to those who want a no-frills communications device, and will come with the following (don’t hold your breath) :-

• 1.5″ CSTN display with 128 x 128 pixels and 65k colors
• MP3 playback
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Speakerphone functionality
• 2.5mm stereo headset jack (why, Motorola, why?)
• USB 2.0 port
• Picture messaging
• microSD/SDHC memory card slot

Looking for something that will allow you to have totally portable images for use anywhere?  Check out the new Pico Projector PK-101.  You attach this tiny device (it is smaller and lighter than a mobile phone even!) to either your smart phone (and yes, it works with iPhones too) or media player, and it throws an image onto a nearby screen or white surface.  Pretty cool.

Being the first digital light processing (DLP) projector gives Optoma the right to wave the banner for having a model with a higher contrast ratio at 2,000:1 and brighter colors than the other guys.  The LED light source actually does project a pretty good image, whether inches or a couple of feet from whatever you are using for the projection screen.  The actual resolution of the image is 480 x 320.  You can also mount it on a regular camera tripod using the included adapter.

It comes with two batteries, which you will need since it is kind of a battery-hog.  Each battery will last about 2 hours if you are working in slideshow mode; or an hour and a half in video mode at half brightness setting.  Now, keep in mind if you set it for full brightness, you’ve only got about 45 minutes per battery.  There is also a half-watt built in speaker, focus control, and a 2.5mm minijack/ composite video/stereo audio RCA cable.

Rod Sommerich, National Product Manager for Amber Technology display division, explains that “Optoma’s new PK-101 creates a benchmark for sharing content-on-the-go.  This Pico projector enables users to enjoy a better visual experience with an image that is up to 100 times larger than the small screen of output capable portable media devices including iPods, PDA’s, smart phones and digital cameras.“

Although our Aussie friends get to buy it this month; here in the States we have to hold out until December 15th at an MSRP of $399.  If you want the iphone/ipod adapter cable, add $30 to that price.

Via [yahootech]

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