Hasta La Gadget!

Okay, so this thing is way more “traditional Bluetooth headset” than “a round object that looks nothing like a Bluetooth headset,” but we’ll give the marketing team credit — STONE sure got us looking. Jabra‘s newest Bluetooth headset has just become official, bringing with it a behind-the-ear design, a wireless portable charger (which doubles as a carrying case) and Noise Blackout Extreme technology to keep things quiet when your yammering. There’s also a “nearly invisible touch-controlled volume pad” on the outside of the headset, a battery good for 8 hours of talk time (or 12 days in standby), dual BT pairing support and A2DP compatibility. Unfortunately, you’ll have to waltz into an AT&T retail store starting on November 8th to get one, and worse still, you’ll walk out $129.99 poorer. But hey, you’ll leave Stoned. (Sorry.)

Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables, Wireless

Jabra STONE Bluetooth headset brings extreme noise blocking, $130 price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not like we haven’t seen a ThinkVision monitor trying its best to be good to Ma Earth before, but Lenovo’s ThinkVision L2251x Wide has just become the first in the industry to notch a TCO Certified Edge — which, we’ll be honest, sounds like a pretty bodacious award to have. Dubbed the company’s “greenest monitors yet,” the ThinkVision L1711p, L1951p Wide, L2250p Wide, L2251p Wide and L2251x Wide are all at least TCO Certified, EPEAT Gold rated and are 50 percent more energy-efficient than previous models. Outside of all that, you’ll find 1,680 x 1,050 resolution panels, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio and a five millisecond response time on the whole lot, while select models boast DisplayPort compatibility and a built-in webcam. The ThinkVision L1951p Wide, L2250p Wide and L2251p Wide monitors will be available starting this Friday for $239.99, $249.99 and $259.99, respectively, while the L1711p will land on November 6th for $229.99 and the L2251x Wide sometime next month for $299.99.

Continue reading Lenovo’s new slate of ThinkVision LCDs really, really love the environment

Filed under: Displays

Lenovo’s new slate of ThinkVision LCDs really, really love the environment originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At last! The new Arex I-X rocket—the first iteration of the rocket that will take humans back to the Moon and beyond—is out of NASA’s assembling facilities, and is now at Launch Pad 39B, getting ready for launch.

The assembled Ares I-X was mounted aboard NASA’s sandcrawler at Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building at 1:39 a.m. It arrived at Launch Pad 39B around 7:45 a.m.

The Ares I-X will test the viability of the 100-meter high Ares I, NASA’s tallest, most powerful rocket since the Saturn V. The Saturn V was ten meters higher than Ares, and it remains the biggest, most powerful rocket ever launched.

If everything goes well, Ares I-X will blast into the sky on October 27, reaching 40 kilometers up in the air, and sending vital information about its performance. The first stage, a solid rocket engine, will return to Earth. The dummy upper stage will fall down to the ocean.

Arex I-X is the first major milestone for the Constellation program, which in theory would take over the shuttle, and also bring humans back to the Moon and Mars. If el Sr. Presidente gives the go ahead, that is. At this point, the Constellation program is being evaluated by the Augustine Commission. Their final report, that will seal its fate, will be handed in to the White House this week.

In other words, enjoy this one while it lasts. [NASA]

We had the opportunity to hear a preview of the $399 Sonos S5 all-in-one speaker ahead of its 27 October US launch (November 10th in Europe). For comparison, we had it staged side-by-side with a pair of Sonos 100 speakers — a setup that costs $678 ($499 for an amplified Sonos ZonePlayer Z120 and another $179 for the separate loudspeakers). Unfair, perhaps, since Sonos is actually positioning its five speaker (two tweeters, two 3-inch mids, and a built-in 3.5-inch sub) S5 with five dedicated amps against premium iPod speaker docks like the $600 Bose SoundDock 10, $600 B&W Zeppelin, or legacy $349 Apple iPod Hi-Fi. So how did it sound? About what we expected, which in this case is a good thing. Click through to find out why.

Continue reading Sonos S5 ears-on review: a premium iPod speaker dock without the dock

Filed under: Portable Audio

Sonos S5 ears-on review: a premium iPod speaker dock without the dock originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Android 1.6 retrofitted onto Samsung Q1 UMPC (video)

Filed under: Handhelds, Software

Android 1.6 retrofitted onto Samsung Q1 UMPC (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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