iBuyPower teases Battalion Touch CZ-10 gaming laptop, punishes subtlety

iBuyPower still isn’t offering many details about its new Battalion Touch CZ-10 gaming laptop, but it has produced that image above, which we’re pretty sure tells you everything you need to know. Namely, that it’s a touch screen gaming laptop (15-inch), and that it has more flames and fangs than your non-Battalion laptop. More details are promised to be coming at CES, but considering this is iBuyPower you can pretty safely bet that it’ll be plenty customizable, and it should be available sometime “in the coming months.

iBuyPower teases Battalion Touch CZ-10 gaming laptop, punishes subtlety originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceHotHardware  | Email this | Comments

LaCie announces two new key-shaped USB drives

LaCie just introduced two new USB keys- the LaCie CooKey and LaCie WhizKey. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://ces.cnet.com/8301-31045_1-10426061-269.html” class=”origPostedBlog”2010 CES/a/p

Optoma announces PK201, PK301 pico projectors

Optoma’s been courting the bargain crowd with its pico projectors as of late, but it’s going back after those with slightly deeper pockets with its latest pair of pocketables, which dial up both the model names and the price tags. Coming in at $299 and $399, respectively, the PK201 and PK301 each pack the same 854 X 480 resolution, but the latter packs a supposedly best in class 50 lumens of brightness, along with an optional battery bank for an extra two hours of use in bright mode. Otherwise, each will give you the same 2,000:1 contrast ratio, a microSD card slot, HDMI input, and a roughly similar form factor (though the PK201 is close to half an inch slimmer — head on past the break for a shot of it).

Continue reading Optoma announces PK201, PK301 pico projectors

Optoma announces PK201, PK301 pico projectors originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

ATT speeds it up to 7.2 too

After T-Mobile says it has upgraded its entire 3G network to HSPA 7.2, ATT is quick to say “Us too!” Except not really, because it’s not done yet and they still need more capacity. Oh well, at least they’re trying. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://ces.cnet.com/8301-31045_1-10426012-269.html” class=”origPostedBlog”2010 CES/a/p

Samsung’s Mobile DTV-enabled Moment hands-on

Samsung’s out and about this evening showing off its just-announced Moment with extra Mobile DTV circuitry stuffed in, and if you thought it looked an awful lot like a standard Moment… well, you’d be absolutely right. The only notable change is an articulating, telescoping antenna that screws into the top of the phone — a sure sign that this device is nothing but a trial unit since we’d assume retail devices would have a sexier way to stow it. Speaking of stowage, what do you do when you’re not watching TV? Pop off the antenna, collapse it, and screw it into the attached charm — “geeky” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Anyhow, we got a little video of the modded Moment in action — unfortunately, Samsung’s having reception issues with its private broadcast setup (there’s no Mobile DTV network here in Vegas, or anywhere, for that matter) but we were able to see how the UI’s going to work and learn a little bit about the system. Guide data will typically be pulled over the TV airwaves, though the company says that it’ll be up to the manufacturer and carrier if they want to supplement or replace that with a 3G-based feed; the video was coming down at 416 x 240 and can be shown full-screen on the Moment’s AMOLED display. Unlike MediaFLO, it’s completely free for users — and that might be just the kick in the pants mobile TV needs to take hold. Follow the break for our video!

Continue reading Samsung’s Mobile DTV-enabled Moment hands-on

Samsung’s Mobile DTV-enabled Moment hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Marvell shows off an ODM smartbook thinner than strict decency permits (hands-on with video!)

Marvell has a new smartbook design on display here with its Armada 510 processor under the hood, and it’s one of the skinniest we’ve seen yet. What’s more surprising, however, is that the device is actually built pretty well, and we even enjoyed the classic-style keyboard spread across its 12.1-inch expanse. The unit was built by an unnamed ODM who is currently shopping it around to manufacturers (or perhaps someone’s bitten already, who knows), and we’re getting a ballpark $200 pricepoint and a promise of about 4 hours of battery life with regular use. Apparently the big trend with these low-power ARM processor-based laptops is to trim down on battery size and therefore cost, and so we’ll have to see where the market settles on preferred batter life: 4 hours might be too few, but at $200 it’s surely tempting. The machine runs full Ubuntu plenty well, including 720p movies, and we were even digging the screen brightness and color — basically, if Marvell’s partners can get this on the market in short order, it might have a significant leg up on the rest of the smartbook competition, at least in terms of sheer quality and sex appeal.

Update: We grabbed a quick video — check it out after the break!

Continue reading Marvell shows off an ODM smartbook thinner than strict decency permits (hands-on with video!)

Marvell shows off an ODM smartbook thinner than strict decency permits (hands-on with video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Parrot’s AR.Drone seeks us out, destroys us as we go hands-on

Parrot's AR.Drone seeks us out, destroys us as we go hands-on
Wondering what it’s like to fly the Parrot AR.Drone we covered earlier this evening? So were we, so we headed straight toward the thing at tonight’s Unveiled event. Speaking with representatives with Parrot they were unfortunately tight-lipped when it came to the details, but did at least confirm that the only connection to the device is WiFi. In theory, any device that supports 802.11 can connect to the drone to send controls to it and, interestingly, download video from the camera on the nose. The first such device is the iPhone and while the reps indicated they aren’t working on apps for any other platforms, they did promise to release all the control libraries to the world, meaning apps can be more easily written for a number of platforms — in theory. But what was it like to fly? Click through to read our impressions.

Continue reading Parrot’s AR.Drone seeks us out, destroys us as we go hands-on

Parrot’s AR.Drone seeks us out, destroys us as we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

WineBottler Turns Windows Programs into Standalone OS X Applications

Mac only: Wine has always been popular among Linux users for running Windows programs, but Wine is available for Mac, too—and now, free utility WineBottler can “bottle” Windows programs into separate application bundles that run as standalone Mac apps.

To use WineBottler, just download a Windows EXE, then drag and drop it onto the WineBottler app. You can install them in a fake C: drive located by default in your home folder, just as you would on Linux, and run them from there easily. However, if you want to create a standalone application bundle (so that you can give a Windows program to a fellow Mac user, for example), WineBottler will create a separate bundle with Wine included inside, so your friend doesn’t have to have Wine installed—the app acts just like any other OS X app.

Note that just like in Linux, not all Windows programs work in Wine—so you’ll have to see for yourself if the program you want to convert is compatible. (Notepad++ Portable, in the screenshot above, worked great.)

WineBottler is a free download, Mac OS X only. Thanks, Tristan!

Syabas Popbox hands-on

The Popcorn Hour lineup had (and still has) a huge following, but it remains one of the most under-appreciated media streamers on the market from a mainstream perspective. We get the feeling that all of that’s gearing up to change, with Syabas demonstrating its highly marketable Popbox here at CES. We were able to swing by and take a look at the product tonight, and we’ve got to confess — it’d be a pretty stellar add to any home entertainment setup. The box was small, light and stylish enough, and the actual user interface was drop-dead simple to navigate. It hooks up with any networked media (the demo was playing back content from a NAS drive), and it even pulls down metadata from IMDB for films. We briefly watched a couple of 720p clips, and playback started instantly and the video quality was nothing short of fantastic. We’ve got a video in the works, but for now, feel free to have a glance at the gallery below.

Update: Video is now live after the break!

Continue reading Syabas Popbox hands-on

Syabas Popbox hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Mikey gets a makeover

The best microphone accessory for the iPhone and iPod Touch just got better, with improved circuitry, line-input, and USB pass-thru. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://ces.cnet.com/8301-31045_1-10425872-269.html” class=”origPostedBlog”2010 CES/a/p