Hasta La Gadget!

International white spaces enthusiasts could soon get a little one-on-one time with the Federal Communications Commission.

The agency announced Friday that it has created a new International TV White Spaces Fellowship and Training Initiative – a white spaces university of sorts for regulators and technical experts.

The initiative “will provide a platform for the FCC to work with international regulators and their spectrum experts on technical issues associated with the use of TV white spaces and further build on our momentum in this area,” FCC chairman Kevin Martin said in a statement.

The commission’s Office of Engineering and Technology and the International Bureau will oversee the effort, though they have not yet announced details on how and when people can apply. Some people will be trained remotely, while other fellows will be invited to FCC facilities.

HDi’s Blu-ray player is one of the first great Blu-ray + digital file players we’ve seen, being BD Live compliant and playing back DivX/XVid/WMV9/H.264/MKV files. Best of all, it’s got a built-in BitTorrent client.

There are various players like the Network player, BD Prime, HD Base and HD Center, all of which have various mix-and-match functions. The best player, which will be priced at about $800 whenever HDi finds a distributor, will have all of the above functions plus a built-in hard drive bay (plus hard drive) so you can download BitTorrent files to—and play back from. There’s 2 eSATA ports as well.

This type of player would be perfect for the guy who watches Blu-ray, yet also enjoys the occasional internet-procured movie/TV show. Here’s hoping they find a distributor soon. [HDI]

NVIDIA has already given its laptop graphics offerings a bit of a boost at CES, and now AMD has followed suit, with it taking the wraps off its new ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 series chips. As you may have guessed, these are based on the same core architecture as AMD’s 4000 series of desktop graphics cards, and they promise to be as much as twice as fast as their 3000 series predecessors. Helping out significantly on that front is the use of GDDR5 memory, a first for laptop graphics, as well as an increase in the number of stream processing units (800 on the top end HD 4870 and 4850), and a new, cooler 55nm manufacturing process. In addition to those top end graphics options, AMD will also introduce a couple of new 4600 series cards, which use the same GDDR3 memory and 320 stream processing units as before, but are able to fit in tighter enclosures and use less power. Look for the first laptops equipped with the graphics to start rolling out by the end of March.

Filed under: Laptops

AMD announces ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 series graphics chips originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like our puppy-dog eyes have served us well yet again — we just got to spend some time with Dell’s ultra-hot Adamo. It’s really small, less than an inch thick, we’d say — and although we didn’t measure, we’d say that 13-inch screen rumor was spot on. “Adamo” is actually the brand, like Inspiron — this is just the first machine that’ll be out. We weren’t allowed to boot it up or do much of anything except take pictures, but it’s built really, really, well — and it’s a total smudge magnet, with a super-glossy display and a shiny black panel like the Studio XPS series on the lid. Expansion-wise, we spotted three USB ports and an eSATA jack, and the power adapter is crazy small, with a removable plug for international use. The design is somewhat reminiscent of the Envy 133 with its squared-off shape, but it’s still very unique, and while we didn’t put in any serious time on the keyboard, it felt solid enough. Here’s the problem, though — we have no idea what’s actually inside this gorgeous case, and until we do, it’s just another pretty face. Hopefully Dell comes clean on specs and pricing sometime soon — we’d love for there to be some muscle under that hood. We’re headed back to the trailer to up a video, check back!

Continue reading Dell Adamo hands-on! (Update: now with video!)

Filed under: Laptops

Dell Adamo hands-on! (Update: now with video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — Life is about to get sweeter for couch potatoes. Instead of using grubby salsa-stained fingers to press buttons on a remote control they can just move their arms lightly and make their selections.

This concept motion-sensing remote at CES 2009 from Hillcrest Labs uses the company’s software to create applications and interfaces that would allow users to operate it much like the Nintendo Wiimote. Through a combinations of sensors and accelerometers, the remote senses the users’ movements and reflects it on the screen. Users can then click the right or the left button on the remote to make their selections.

The design does away with the many buttons on a traditional remote and makes the remote-clicking process more intuitive. Of course it doesn’t solve the biggest problem related to remotes today: who gets the remote in the house?

Hillcrest’s technology is being used by Kodak and Universal Electronics to introduce new products. The company has also developed a remote control that eliminates the line-of-sight limitation of traditional infrared remotes.

Last year, Hillcrest filed a lawsuit against Nintendo alleging patent infringement over its motion-sensing technology.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com