A few new rumors point to two new NVIDIA-packing iMacs

A few new rumors point to two new NVIDIA-packing iMacs

With more and more players getting in on the all-in-one market, both on the high and the low end of the scale, you just have to figure Apple’s going to respond with something new and flash to make everyone go “ooh.” There were numerous hints last year about a refresh to the line, and now we have a few more that again point to updated NVIDIA-based machines in 20- and 24-inch glossy sizes. The above photo is supposedly from some secret Apple marketing material, and the company is said to also be reducing stock of the old ones at retailers in preparation of a typically dramatic switcheroo. As far as when that will happen, your guess is as good as ours at this point — you know how much Cupertino loves surprises.

[Thanks, iB3nji]

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A few new rumors point to two new NVIDIA-packing iMacs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Watch Phone to Cost $1500?

Lg_watch_phone

Lucky Brits – already enjoying a crash in their currency alongside their truly terrible weather – are to be further shafted by Orange and LG. The mobile carrier has, according to Mobile Today, agreed to sell LGs watch phone for a staggering £1000, or around $1450. This means we’ll have to reclassify the Dick Tracey Special into our prestigious "Bling" category.

Oddly, the article goes on to say that "it will cost around £500 with an additional minimum line rental of £40 per month."

So which is it? £500 or £1000? To be honest, it makes little difference. Both are far too high. Look at the fuss about the iPhone, a device which cost $600 at launch, but which did a lot more than this wristwatch telephone. It’s not even flashy enough to attract the more moronic consumers, those who might drop $10,000 on a diamond studded collar for their chihuahua.

In fact, it looks a lot more like the kind of regular wristwatch our own hair-model and review guru Danny Dumas might buy. Our prediction? A solid gold, Swarowski-coated FAIL.

The LG watch phone gets £1,000 price tag [Mobile Today. Thanks, Johnny CA!]

Photo: Priya Ganapati

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Man charged $28,000 for using data card, Slingbox to watch football game

While waiting for a Caribbean cruise liner to set sail from the Port of Miami last November, a Chicago native with an AT&T wireless card and Slingbox decided to catch the Bears vs. Lions football game on his laptop. The end result? A $28,067.31 bill from for international data charges, despite the ship never leaving the harbor. Apparently the card was picking up a signal it shouldn’t have, and while the bill was eventually dropped to $290.65 after a considerable number of calls to customer service, let that be a warning to mobile users traveling on the fringe of international roaming areas — and in case you were wondering, the Bears ended up winning 27 to 23.

[Via The Register]

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Man charged $28,000 for using data card, Slingbox to watch football game originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 07:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s New Cameras Finally Rein In the Pixels

Samsung_zzz

Samsung has birthed two new compact cameras into the world and they are, quite astonishingly for the pixel-obsessed company, not suffering from megapixel overload.

Both models are almost indistinguishable from any other compact on the market except for one of two novelties, despite Samsung’s claim of an "impressive list of features that set the camera apart from the competition."

Of the two models, the TL320 is the most interesting. It has an AMOLED screen on the back, an OLED  which uses less power than a regular LED, offers brighter colors, better contrast and doesn’t need a backlight. A camera is the perfect place for this tech, battery hungry as they can be, and often used outside in the bright sunshine.

The other HZ15W is a 12MP superzoom, with a full 10x optical zoom lens. To combat the wobbles at the long end there is also dual image stabilization which jiggles the sensor and the lens just so to keep everything steady. Otherwise, both cameras have the usual image tweaking features: Face Detection, Smile Shot, Blink Detection, Beauty Shot and Money Shot (just kidding on the last one), and both will shoot 720p video.

The TL320 comes out in May for $380 and the HZ15W in March for $330.

Foam-infused Impress DIS.PLAY encourages touching

Move over Surface, we just found our next tabletop display. The aptly named DIS.PLAY beautifully merges the functionality of a touch panel with the allure of dimly-lit scenarios, and the inclusion of memory foam just makes it all the more sweet. In one usage scenario, we’re told that objects could be put into motion with sound, and when a certain “shape” is mashed and deformed, the respective audio would bend along with it. Another instance showcased 3D modeling that could be varied by simply twisting the hand or intensifying a finger press. Check the demonstration video after the break, and grab your Tempur-Pedic pillow if you’re looking to play along.

[Via KanYeWestBlog, thanks DellAppleFan24]

Continue reading Foam-infused Impress DIS.PLAY encourages touching

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Foam-infused Impress DIS.PLAY encourages touching originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 07:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Price Watch: PC Blu-ray drive, $79.99 shipped

Get a new Sony Blu-ray drive for just $80 shipped.

(Credit: Newegg)

Remember the $89.99 Blu-ray Disc drive from last week? Hope you waited, because here’s an even better deal: Newegg has the Sony Optiarc internal Blu-ray drive for $79.99 shipped. Plus, unlike the previous drive, this …

Originally posted at The Cheapskate

Designing the Kindle 2

SEATTLE–Amazon wanted to make the Kindle 2 hot, but not too hot.

It gave it a slimmer design and more storage, but there are a lot of things Amazon could have added, but didn’t. Things like a color display not only would make the device pricier and give it a shorter battery life, but would also make the gadget uncomfortable to hold.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos holds up a Kindle 2 at the device's recent launch in New York City.

(Credit: David Carnoy/CNET Networks)

“One of the great things about Kindle is it doesn’t ever get hot,” Amazon Vice President Ian Freed said in an interview at Amazon’s downtown office here. That’s important, Freed said, given that the company has one main goal with the Kindle–making the product as invisible to users as possible when they are reading.

“The most important thing for the Kindle to do is to disappear,” Freed said. That was the goal with the first device and was also a key factor in deciding what would go in the sequel, which started shipping on Monday. There are the obvious factors, like the thinner, sleeker design. But there are also things like an improved cellular modem. As a result, Kindle users will find themselves out of range in fewer places to get updates or buy a new book.

Originally posted at Beyond Binary

Wine 1.0 CrossOver 7.0 Released Today

This article was written on June 18, 2008 by CyberNet.

wine birthdayarrow Mac Mac; Linux Linux arrow
It took an astonishing 15 years to complete, but Wine 1.0 has finally been released! Wine, for those of you that don’t know, serves as a way to run some Windows applications in Linux without the need for an emulator. The team has done their best to recreate the Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL’s) that are used in Windows, and it all had to be done without an ounce of code from Microsoft.

The project has been very successful, and Wine 1.0 brings thousands of Windows-only applications and games into the Linux world. Take a look at the different rating systems they’ve come up with for the different applications, along with how many programs fall into each category:

  • Platinum (1300+ programs): Applications which install and run flawlessly on an out-of-the-box Wine installation (ex. Half-Life 2, Photoshop CS2)
  • Gold (1500+ programs): Applications that work flawlessly with some special configuration (ex. World of Warcraft, Command & Conquer 3)
  • Silver (1000+ programs): Applications with minor issues that do not affect typical usage (ex. Call of Duty 4, StarCraft Brood War)

Similarly CrossOver 7.0 for Mac and Linux was released today, and it now supports Microsoft Office 2007 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) in addition to the Adobe CS2 line of products. CrossOver 7.0, unlike Wine, will run you at least $39.95, but might be well worth it if you really want to run Office 2007.

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UK Nanotech Firm: Modded Nokia Handset Instantly Detects Diseases

NanotechA few days ago, a UK-based Nanotech firm previewed a cell phone prototype that detects diseases using the emitted breath of users.

Using a Nokia phone, Applied Nanodetectors Ltd. (AND) placed a nanotech chip inside that is laced with sensors that can instantly identify CO2, NOx (nitric oxide) and NH3 (ammonia) gases. According to previously released data, the nanochip detector is made out of carbon nanotubes.

One way this app could help people in danger, on the road, is if they were having an asthmatic attack. A quick blow onto a nanochip detector on a phone would help determine, through simple green/red UI symbols or text, if they were suffering from this condition. Medical research says that when a person is having an asthmatic attack, nitric oxide builds up in the lungs.

The idea follows that if and when an affected user blows into the phone and a diagnosis is confirmed, an email to the user’s doctor is sent immediately.

The company is claiming that future versions of the tech will be able to detect everything from lung cancer to food poisoning, and even diabetes.

According to a report from the 2009 International Nanotechnology Exhibition + Conference in Japan, the sensor correctly detects the composition and presence of excessive gas densities (in the parts-per-billion range) and matches it to a disease database in the phone. The process is similar to that found in other phone prototypes that determine the level of alcohol toxicity in breath.

AND’s managing director Dr. Victor Higgs (pic below, right) has compared the tech favorably to the detailed process of fingerprint matching. During an earlier iteration of the tech, he mentioned that the sensor application would be ‘ten thousand times more sensitive’ than the breathalyzer used by police to detect alcohol. 

Sesnse
There are a already few gadgets out there that detect blood alcohol content (BAC). Among them is the GPS navigation gadget from NDrive, as well as pro breathalyzers that use infrared spectroscopy.

At the moment, AND has not disclosed a figure about how much it would add to a phone’s cost when it eventually becomes available.

At the conference, it was also noted that despite Nokia’s early involvement, the first AND nano-disease detector phone will probably come from a deal with a Japanese company in a few years.

Photo: tech-on, Applied Nanodetectors

Sigma DP2 Spotted in the Wild. Verdict: 20% Better Than DP1

Sigmadp24

Poor Sigma. The company keeps banging away with its cameras, but there is either always something wrong with them, or they’re just plain late. Not late to ship (although that happens too), but just plain late. The cameras often feel like they are using technology already two years out of date.

The DP1, for example, was a great, stylish and stripped down camera — a fixed lens and a big, high quality Fovean sensor. It was marred by terrible controls, a labyrinthine menu system and a ridiculously slow ƒ4 maximum aperture. It was also delayed, over an over.

The DP2 offers promise, and was spotted in the UK at the Focus on Imaging exhibition by Richard Kilpatrick. He gave it the once over and declared it "20% snappier". The menu system is improved, there is a new quick access button for changing oft-used settings and the body has seen some physical tweaks (a slightly larger thumb grip for one) and a maximum aperture of ƒ2.8.

Most exciting, though, is that the camera has a top ISO of 3200. This, coupled with that roomy sensor should mean great low light shots. It’s just a shame that the DP1 won’t be around until later in the year. Late again — the Panasonic LX-3 already has a great maximum aperture, good low-light performance and the lens, while being faster, wider and a zoom, still doesn’t need to drive its way out, motor grinding, into the world every time you switch it on. It’s also available today.

Sigma UK at Focus On Imaging – and DP2 news [Sigma User via BBG]
Photo [Richard Kilpatrick/Sigma User]

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