Hasta La Gadget!

Looking to mix in some illegal ROM downloading action with your standard PMP activities? Oppo’s got your number with the Muse G11, confirmed back in September and just now getting a few more details. The swiveling 3.2-inch, 432 x 240 touchscreen device offers a scant 4GB of storage, low for its $161 asking price, but support for extensive audio and video formats, text to speech capabilities, and integrated FM tuning make it a bit more functional than your average media player. Of course its biggest draw will be among the gaming community thanks to its d-pad and dedicated buttons, but we still don’t have any confirmation of what sort of games it’ll support out of the box — nor any idea of when we might be able to get our hands on one.

[Via PMP Today]

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Oppo’s Muse G11 is more portable than an SNES, cheaper than an iPod Touch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a report that could send shock waves through the video game industry, market research firm iSuppli has detailed the real cost and new savings found in Sony’s second-generation Playstation 3.

iSuppli’s report, issued Monday, says that the current PS3 model contains 2,820 individual parts, including Nvidia’s Reality Synthesizer, IBM’s Cell Broadband Engine, and Toshiba’s I/O controller, which are now made using 65-nanometer process technology, compared to 90-nanometer technology formally employed in the previous iteration. That has drastically reduced the PS3’s power supply cost by 30 percent from $30.75 to $21.50.

The costly PS3

(Credit: Sony)

Kionix’s three-axis accelerometer in the PS3 controller has replaced the Hokuriku Electronic Industry Co. part, saving Sony an estimated $1.45 per unit.

But perhaps the most important cost savings is in the console’s vaunted Cell processor from IBM. According to iSuppli, the latest PS3 includes a new version of IBM’s Cell Broadband Engine, which is priced at $46.46 — 28 percent lower than its original cost in the first-generation hardware. A new version of Nvidia’s Reality Synthesizer, the console’s GPU, at $58.01 per unit is now priced 30 percent lower than it was in the first generation.

Altogether, Sony’s second-generation PS3 features a 35 percent total cost reduction from the first-generation model. In dollars and cents, today’s PS3 costs Sony about $448.73 to produce, compared to the old model’s $690.23 price tag. That said, the lower cost doesn’t include software, box contents, and royalty expenses.

Realizing that, and considering the PS3’s current price tag of $399, iSuppli has found that Sony is still losing money with each sale of its console. But Andrew Rassweiler, director and principal analyst at iSuppli, believes Sony may be able to break even in 2009.

“With its new-generation PS3, Sony has come closer to breaking even, although it probably hasn’t quite reached that mark yet,” Rassweiler said in a statement. “With iSuppli’s estimated PS3 cost at $448.73, the product retailing in the United States at around $399 and taking into account other expenses, the PS3 may be able to break even in 2009 with further hardware revisions.”

Great, but is that enough time? With Microsoft and Nintendo outselling Sony’s console each month with ease, Sony’s window of opportunity is almost closed.

…

Originally posted at The Digital Home

Think you’re having a rough day? Did you get a placard with instructions to the exit rather than a bonus check this week? We know, life’s a little rough right now, but how on Earth can you look at the bunch pictured above and not crack at least a smidgen of a grin? Based on the insanely popular Kooky Klickers brand, the Kooky USB Drives are modeled after the widely recognized character pens and are being pushed by EMTEC. Curiously, there’s no mention at all of a price, and odder still, not a peep on capacity choices; in other words, you should be fully prepared to pay too much for too little when your kid starts to wailing.

Filed under: Storage

EMTEC’s Kooky Klickers-based USB drives bring a smile to anyone’s face originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This product is definitely not for those of you “on the wagon”. However, if you don’t mind a constant reminder of a cocktail at your bedside, enjoying a soothing glow of A Glass Of Drink LED Light could be a good way to turn in.

When standing in an upright position, the device gives off luminous hues which smoothly alternate between green, blue, and red. Turn it upside down and the light goes away. It also comes with a switch that lets you turn it off completely. Once again, A Glass Of Drink LED Light does not appear to be an actual glass. So we don’t recommend using it to make gin and tonics.

With its power-savvy LEDs the light could also be considered “green”. But then again, it is powered by standard AAA alkaline batteries. The manufacturer could have easily come up with some sort of self-winding dynamo system, but didn’t. Thus, A Glass Of Drink LED Light did not make the cut for our green technology site, GoodCleanTech.com. Go here for more photos and a video.

Not that we haven’t seen patently absurd lens attachments for mobiles before, but we’ve yet to come across any that were this universal (and be to honest, this useful). Sure, one could argue that a detachable wide-angle, fisheye or 2x telephoto lens made for a cellphone camera is more likely to do nothing than something, but we prefer to look on the sunny side of things. In other words, it’s totally worth $16.99 just to be able to make your subjects pause as you whip out the correct lens for the occasion… which you’re photographing on your C905.

[Via OhGizmo]

Filed under: Cellphones

Magnetic / detachable lenses suddenly make cellphone cameras fun originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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