Hasta La Gadget!

What do you get the CEO who has everything? If you were thinking of picking up a Kindle for Steve Ballmer for the holidays, you can think again. The Microsoft head is not a fan of e-book readers.

Asked what he thinks about such devices during the recording of a Netherlands TV show, Ballmer answered, “We have a device for reading. It’s the most popular device in the world. It’s the PC.” Oh, snap.

Ballmer added, “I would love to see companies like Amazon and others bring their books to the PC. Hopefully we can get that to happen with Barnes & Noble or Amazon or somebody. But no, we are not interested in e-readers ourselves.”

All of this ultimately brings into question the Courier prototype we saw, a couple of weeks back. The device is ostensibly a tablet, sure, but judging from the design, the ability to display e-books sure seems to be at the top of its to-do list.

Fashion fans, rejoice. Your two favorite labels have finally come together: Giorgio Armani… and Windows Mobile. Today in Milan, Armani’s empire unveiled a new, €700 (or about $1030) smartphone built by Samsung, running Microsoft’s latest 6.5 OS iteration. The device — featuring a full touchscreen and slide-out, landscape QWERTY keyboard — touts a 3.5-inch AMOLED display, a 5 megapixel camera, 8GB of internal storage, GPS chip, and microSD slot. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who spoke at the launch, says the device is “the most fashionable phone [he’s] ever had a chance to talk about.” We won’t lie, there is something weirdly appealing about the bronze and black smartphone, though we don’t see ourselves shelling out that kind of dough on this particular model. Oh, not because we don’t want to, but it doesn’t go with our shoes. Check out a couple of videos from the launch after the break, including a short clip with Ballmer.

Continue reading Giorgio Armani and Samsung unveil Windows Mobile smartphone… with a little help from Steve Ballmer

Filed under: Cellphones

Giorgio Armani and Samsung unveil Windows Mobile smartphone… with a little help from Steve Ballmer originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, sure, ideally your entire roof would be comprised of solar tiles that would meet your entire house’s energy demands and would also water your lawn and clean your gutters while they were up there. But, despite pledges of “affordability” something tells us it’ll be awhile before your roof starts juicing your gadgets. This solution from MIT looks a little more practical — and affordable. They’re simply tiles that change color based on the temperature, Hypercolor style. In the cold they turn jet black, absorbing the sun’s warmth and channeling that into the house. In heat they turn white, reflecting that same light and cutting down on cooling bills. Simple and smart. The MIT team calls the tech Thermeleon, and while early prototypes do change color as designed, it remains to be seen how durable the tech will be, and a leaky roof is no good regardless of how efficient. Asphalt shingles reign supreme for yet another year.

Filed under: Household

Roof tiles change color based on the temperature, your house’s mood originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony has a long history of VAIO all-in-one machines, usually taking the party line by offering swank aesthetics combined with slightly cringe-inducing price tags. When we went hands on with its latest, the VAIO L, we found it to look just as good as those earlier ones, but its $1,300 price tag to be rather fair. Built into a 24-inch, 1920 x 1080 (1080p) touchscreen it’s meant to serve as both an HDTV and a PC, featuring an HDMI inport where you can plug in your PS3. Yes, that’s what mom calls it before she starts rocking out with the kiddos in the video after the break. It has a 500GB drive for your apps and for DVR recordings through Windows 7 Premium, packs a Blu-ray writer, a Core 2 Duo processor, and “loads of RAM.” Sure, there are cheaper ways to get an all-in-one, but only one comes standard with an inport.

Continue reading Sony’s VAIO L 1080p all-in-one PC is perfect for rockin’ moms (video)

Filed under: Desktops, Displays, Media PCs

Sony’s VAIO L 1080p all-in-one PC is perfect for rockin’ moms (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The big drawback of keeping an open glass of bourbon by the bed as I sleep (to help with the bad dreams, if you’re asking) is that often the side effects of this wonderful sleeping potion (dizziness, poor coordination) mean I often spill a slug on the tiled floor. This gets sticky quickly and can be dangerously slippery should I have to get up for a refill.

What I need is, say, an illuminated, anti-spill cup from which to sip my golden, liquid companion, whilst at the same time not disturbing the Lady sweetly dozing at my side. What I need is the Litecup, a drunken idiot-proof sippy-cup with a nightlight in the base and a lid that needs a good suck to get the juices inside flowing. Better, you can start to pull from anywhere on the rim, meaning no troublesome searching for a tiny slit while in a stupor. Bonus: filtering the light through the whiskey bathes the room in a beautiful amber glow. £6 ($10).

Product page [Litecup]