Hasta La Gadget!

For years now, Voodoo PC’s fearless leader (that’d be Rahul Sood) barely went a month without teasing this or that, or better yet, introducing the new hotness. In terms of cutting-edge design, these guys were at the front of the class. And then came the HP tie-in, along with the worry that the Voodoo name (and “DNA”) would eventually be swallowed whole. After dishing out a smattering of VoodooDNA machines under the HP label, Rahul and his company went radio silent. In fact, we haven’t heard a peep from Mr. Sood for nine whole months, and we really began to wonder what was going on when HP issued the new Envy 13 and Envy 15 with nary an official hint of Voodoo’s fingerprints.

Now, at long last, Rahul has emerged from hiding, and he’s got a story to tell. In short, Voodoo is still alive and well, but it’s certainly not the same company that shocked the world with its ENVY m:790 laptop in late 2004. In fact, Rahul’s been working on some pretty unorthodox projects, ranging from healthcare (okay?) to futuristic stuff for HP’s Innovation Program Office. In a lengthy letter to the world, he explains that the initial push to get Voodoo completely underneath HP’s wings was done in order to give Voodoo access to global partners, and in turn, to ship its products to every corner of the world. When speaking about the Envy 13 / 15, he proclaims that HP’s own laptop team simply lifted ideas from Voodoo prototypes and designed them internally; the truth is that Voodoo didn’t design either machine, it only influenced them. The removal of the “VoodooDNA” tagline — according to Rahul — has to do with “the overall design language, the target market, and the fact that [Voodoo] wasn’t directly involved in the design.”

In the end, Sood admits that there’s still a chance you’ll see another Voodoo-branded machine in your lifetime, but he also confesses that it has transitioned from a desktop and laptop company to “something beyond.” He also makes clear that he hasn’t forgotten about his promise to change the future of desktop gaming, and that new products from HP will continue to boast Voodoo’s fingerprints. Typical Rahul — it just wouldn’t be a formal conclusion without a tease or two, now would it?

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Voodoo’s Rahul Sood emerges from hiding, gives us all the low-down originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

This article was written on May 14, 2007 by CyberNet.

Who’s the greenest? That’s the question that Yahoo is asking.  Tech companies have been taking big steps forward to help the environment, and it appears as though a green-trend has started as more and more people get involved. The latest green project that we wrote about was Google’s solar-power project, and now Yahoo is taking their own route to help in the form of a contest.

It’s Yahoo’s “national call-to-action” and they’re out to find the greenest city in America.  The city that wins the title will receive an entire fleet of hybrid taxis, which by the way, are already popping up in cities across the US like New York. From the pictures, it looks like they’re going with a Hybrid SUV, which is a little surprising, but only because there are standard cars that get better mileage than the Hybrid SUV. In terms of SUVs though, it’s a huge improvement.

There are a few ways that you can get involved in the contest:

1. “Take the green pledge” – Select from a list (pictured below) different ways that you can lower your CO2 emissions. IE: Make sure your walls and ceilings are well-insulated
2. Share your knowledge on Yahoo Answers – earn credits by answering questions in the “environment category.”
3. Use your mobile phone – search eco-friendly terms (organic food, bike, ride share, etc.) on your mobile phone and earn credits.

By participating in the contest, you’ll automatically get a free compact fluorescent light bulb. Each way that you participate earns you credits, and after you’ve accrued 500 credits, you’ll get another free CFL.

To go along with this contest, they’ve launched a brand new site called Yahoo! Green.  It was designed to be the place to go when you’re looking for any topic related to bettering the planet. There you’ll find gas savings tips, ways to better the planet, and opportunities to meet other people online who are striving to be green too.

So, if you’d like to see a Yahoo themed hybrid taxi driving around your town, or you just want a free compact fluorescent light bulb, go check-out Yahoo! Green.

Copyright © 2009 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

Related Posts:

Yahoo Extending The Beta Mail Program To More UsersNite Ize Upgrades Your Old FlashlightsGoogle Wants You To Have A Green SummerNeed a Light? The Flexible Utility LighterIntel Working on Wireless Power System

Get out credit cards, parents, ’cause you know you’re buying this. You don’t want to be bad parents, do you? You don’t want your tots rocking out a little too hard and damaging their hearing. That’s why Griffin Technology just announced MyPhones, safety headphones for kids.

MyPhones have a circuit that limits playback to 85 decibels, which is the level pediatric hearing and safety agencies say is ideal for kids. They also offer an over-ear design, so that your rugrats won’t jam an earbud too far and damage their eardrums.

These headphones come with three changeable endcaps in pink, blue, and orange, or your kid can customize their own endcaps. You can download other designs from www.myphoneskids.com. Also, the packaging doubles as a durable case and includes room for an iPod.

You can pick up MyPhones starting in early October for $39.99.

Windows 7 has inspired an expected new model bonanza among PC manufacturers, and ASUS is no exception. Just for starters the new UL80 (pictured running Windows Vista) and N61Vg offer up some “mainstream” prices and performance up against that Win 7 hotness. The UL80 makes like a thin and light, with a new dual-core CULV SU7300 processor and a quoted 12 hours of battery life, but also works in switchable discreet graphics, Turbo33 tech for selective overclocking the processor, and a disc drive. It’s still relatively thin and light, and to our eyes has a pretty snazzy display. The N61Vg has a bit of a new design language for ASUS, with a pleasant rubberized palm rest. It also has a multi-touch trackpad, strong multimedia features and a decent size / weight for a 16-inch Core 2 Quad machine. The existing UL80 configuration, without the overclocking, goes for about $849, so we expect the new UL80 to be in that ballpark, while the N61Vg is slated for around $1,049.

Filed under: Laptops

ASUS UL80 and N61Vg hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

We’re pleased to welcome back Jeremy Toeman’s Ins and Outs, a column on entertainment technology and broad trends impacting the future of consumer electronics.

Twitter, the 140-character “micro-blogging service,” is a great way for people to share wisdom, ask for advice, and inform lots of strangers about the phenomenal sandwich you are having for lunch. In the past year, Twitter’s grown from the playgrounds of the high-tech crowd in Silicon Valley to the likes of Oprah, Ashton Kutcher, Lance Armstrong, and Josh’s friend Jimmy Fallon. And now it’s coming to a gadget near you. Which prompts the question: should your gadget tweet, and if so, why?

Three of the more mainstream gadgets to gain Twitter integration include the Xbox 360 (coming this fall), the FiOS set-top box (pictured above), and the Sonos music system (now in beta testing). Each of these devices allows their users to send out updates via Twitter, and the Xbox 360 and FiOS box lets people see their friends’ tweets as well. While products like the SqueezeBox, Slingbox, and Nabaztag helped usher in the first generation of “connected” electronics, we’re clearly at the dawn of these devices as bi-directional connectivity and communication products.

Continue reading Ins and Outs: Should your gadget Tweet?

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Ins and Outs: Should your gadget Tweet? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments