Archive for July, 2008

China’s Blu-ray competitor CBHD brings HD DVD back from the dead

Monday, July 28th, 2008

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment CBHD, née CH-DVD -- the Chinese version of the now-deceased HD DVD format -- is in production, gearing up for a fourth quarter launch. DigiTimes cites reports from enorth.com.cn that Shanghai United Optical Disc has laid out the first production line, although Taiwanese disc makers (already ...

Samsung intros two new Q1 Ultra UMPCs: one with Vista Business, one with HSDPA

Monday, July 28th, 2008

Filed under: Handhelds, WirelessThe next-generation Q1 Ultra may be due next year, but Sammy's trying to squeeze every bit of life it can out of the current iteration with two new flavors. Announced today, the Q1U-CMXP boasts an integrated HSDPA 3G cellular modem, while the Q1UP-V is a Q1 Ultra ...

Nokia to pay German state €1.3 million to settle Bochum dispute

Monday, July 28th, 2008

Filed under: CellphonesGermany wanted $6.2 million in research subsidies back from Nokia, and in addition to the "tens of millions" that the company has already relinquished after the highly-disputed Bochum plant closing, it'll be coughing up another €1.3 million ($2.04 million) to hopefully close the door on the matter. Said ...

Brando’s 4-in-1 desk lamp completes your workstation

Monday, July 28th, 2008

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, PeripheralsOftentimes, Brando's assortment of "must-have" doohickeys don't actually do much for your productivity level. This particular gizmo, however, bucks that trend in glorious fashion. The $23 USB 4-in-1 Web Cam is a fairly standard desk lamp with built-in LEDs that also acts as a webcam, voice ...

New Xbox 360 Dashboard update gets leaked, shown off

Monday, July 28th, 2008

Filed under: Gaming Sure, we've seen the Xbox 360's forthcoming Dashboard update demoed in a polished presentation and detailed in high res press pics, but if you're like us, you don't really get exciting about something until it's leaked out into the wild and shown off blurry cam-style. The particuarly adventurous ...

“Whole-day” Eee PC batteries coming later this year?

Friday, July 25th, 2008

Filed under: LaptopsTaiwanese industry and rumor site DigiTimes is reporting (without citing a source) that ASUS expects to deliver "whole-day" battery options to its Eee PC range of netbooks. In addition, ASUS also plans to offer some level of Internet storage, apparently beyond the 20GB they already offer to new ...

Yahoo! Music Store taking DRM servers offline, freezing out customers

Friday, July 25th, 2008

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Portable AudioIn a move which at best could be described as unsurprising, Yahoo! has announced that it's taking its Music Store DRM license key servers offline come September 30th... and freezing customers from ever registering their music with another computer. Ever. Like a twin-sister rehash of ...

xTablet T8700 left alone in a pool with stranger, does indeed work under water

Friday, July 25th, 2008

Filed under: Tablet PCs Poor xTablet. First it's used as a hammer and now it's submerged under water by an accented man in a wetsuit. In the latest test of the xTablet T8700, the guys over at RuggedPCReview swam gingerly with the machine all the while tapping away at its screen, ...

Analyst says Android and Symbian to merge, Nokia and Google to get matching tattoos

Friday, July 25th, 2008

Filed under: Cellphones According to the oracle-like superbrains at J. Gold Associates, Google's Android OS and Nokia's Symbian will "combine to provide a single open source OS," sometime in the very near future... say, three to six months. Sure, Android is just about to launch on devices in late 2008, and ...

Vonage gets an infusion of cash, changes in the boardroom

Friday, July 25th, 2008

Filed under: HouseholdVOIP provider Vonage is doing a bit of reshuffling at the top, while putting the finishing touches on a $215 million infusion of cash from Silver Point Finance LLC. Dry enough? Perhaps, but we're sure Jeffery Citron, CEO and current interim chief executive of the recently embattled company ...

Google.org invests $2.75M in Aptera Motors

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

Filed under: TransportationGoogle.org, the search kingpin's philanthropic wing, has just added another notch to its eco-friendly belt with a recent (and sizable) investment in Aptera Motors -- makers of that absurdly futuristic gas-sipper we've been following. Along with ActaCell (an electric car battery maker), Aptera receieved a $2.75 million infusion ...

AT&T, O2 post updates on iPhone 3G stock situation, promise they don’t have a secret cache

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Conspiracy theories tend to run rampant when a phone (or any object of desire, for that matter) that's produced in absolutely enormous quantities dries up in retail locations. Are they really sold out? Is the retailer trying to work prospective buyers into a frenzied lather? Is the ...

Buffalo’s Blu-ray burner hits 8x, BDA says wha?

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

Filed under: StorageFor what it's worth, Buffalo just announced the world's fastest Blu-ray recorder capable of burning through your data at an 8x clip. The only problem is that BDA-approved media maxes out at 6x, assuming you can even find it. Available in Japan starting next month, the external USB ...

Toshiba working on a netbook / UMPC that’s actually interesting

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops We're almost totally over the whole netbook craze, but Toshiba's latest prototype shows there's still interesting things possible, even if it isn't a traditional laptop. The 5.6-inch touchscreen handheld runs Vista on Intel's Atom processor with a 64GB SSD and a GPS chip -- which like an ...

Weemote maker wants Nintendo to buy his trademark, release him from this iron cage

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

Filed under: Gaming We're going to guess you've never heard of the Weemote, a little blue remote control made by a company called Forbis. The egg-shaped remote control and its parent company are reportedly in financial trouble ever since another company came out with something a lot of people are calling ...