Hasta La Gadget!

If you had any doubt that Sony was getting all hot and bothered by the prospects of 3D everything in the very near future, a recent interview with Digital Photography Review should settle that. Masashi Imamura, President of Personal Imaging and Sound at Sony, said that the company is focused on tackling the third dimension on every front, and while we already know it is meeting the needs of Hollywood, with cameras like the HFC Comfort-3D and the HDC-F950, now comes the focus on Joe Consumer, specifically referencing Fuji’s Real 3D W1. Of course, we’re also expecting something a little higher end from the company, with earlier talk of 3D Alphas, but first-things first, and while Mr. Imamura didn’t see fit to tell us when to expect a consumer-friendly 3D shooter, we can’t imagine it’ll be long now.

Sony confirms plans for consumer-friendly 3D cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mercedes has just announced its latest “research vehicle,” the F800 Style, and as concepts are wont to do, it intersperses some extremely ambitious goals with plenty of viable and forthcoming improvements. The two powertrain options touted by the company represent this best. On the one hand, there’s a perfectly reasonable PHEV setup that will generate north of 400bhp combined grunt and offer an 18-mile range when abstaining from gas power. On the other, there’s an electric drive with fuel cells system that will get you a spectacular 375-mile cruising range — if only it’d make it to real products, which seems highly unlikely right now. All the same, as the company’s premium sedan concept, the F800 Style represents the direction of Mercedes’ future designs, both in its external styling and in the internal focus on becoming friendlier to the environment. We can find little reason to object to either. Check out a couple more pics after the break, then hit Autoblog for more details.

Continue reading Mercedes-Benz F800 Style teases us with fuel cells, aggressive new look

Mercedes-Benz F800 Style teases us with fuel cells, aggressive new look originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The TrickleStar line of products does a good job of killing vampire power drain already, but all of those still require you to lift a finger and flip a toggle switch to “off” in order to stop the flow of energy when nothing is there to be charged. Conor Klein’s Leech Plug, however, does the dirty work for you. Thanks to an integrated timer circuit and a mysterious array of “electromechanics” within, his AC outlet physically ejects the charging cord when the device on the other end is done charging; granted, that leaves you with quite a mess in your dining room floor, but hey, at least you’re doing your small part to keep this fragile planet from imploding on itself, right? Peek the video after the break.

[Thanks, Kevin]

Continue reading Leech Plug disconnects when your gadget is charged, does Ma Earth a favor

Leech Plug disconnects when your gadget is charged, does Ma Earth a favor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Habey’s no stranger to the diminutive PC arena, but the latest from the company just might be the one you’ve been scouting. If you’ve been scouting a mini PC that’s dead-silent, that is. The BIS-6620 is described as “an ultra-compact fanless and noiseless PC platform based on the Intel Atom Z510 processor,” measuring just 4.5- x 4.5- x 1.5-inches and offering up GMA 500 graphics, 1080p hardware decoding, a single DDR2 SODIMM memory slot, room for a 1.8-inch (iPod classic-sized), a few USB 2.0 sockets, integrated SD / CF card readers, gigabit Ethernet port, an optional WiFi module and your choice of OS (Windows XP Embedded, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Linux). There’s a fair chance this could double as a simplistic media player in your cramped studio apartment, and at just $299.99 at NewEgg, you won’t be shattering the bank in the process. Video’s after the break.

Continue reading Habey intros fanless, noiseless Atom Z510-based BIS-6620 mini PC: shh!

Habey intros fanless, noiseless Atom Z510-based BIS-6620 mini PC: shh! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Want your stolen gear back? Don’t call some gung-ho superhero who’s as likely to blow up your small grocery store as he is to catch those perps, call GadgetTrak instead. The little startup company has grown since we last heard of it back in 2007, and is now operating a $25 per year tracking service that has delivered a statistically significant 95 percent success rate on reuniting gadgets with their owners. Available for Mac OS and Windows laptops, as well as mobile phones (BlackBerrys, WinMo, and iPhone) and even removable USB storage, the software’s intelligent enough to remotely activate your webcam and ping the incriminating info back directly to you — no data is sent to GadgetTrak. Check out some recent news coverage of the software and its implementation in local schools after the break.

Continue reading GadgetTrak retrieves 95 percent of stolen laptops, puts RoboCop to shame (video)

GadgetTrak retrieves 95 percent of stolen laptops, puts RoboCop to shame (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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