Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re a gadget fan (and let’s face it: you are) then there’s simply no excuse for using disposable batteries. Environmental concerns aside, rechargeables have advanced such that it just makes economic sense to switch. We’ve been unapologetic fans of Sanyo’s Eneloop series of Ni-MH batteries for years. Hell, we like any modern rechargeable that’s sold fully charged and is capable of maintaining that state even after years inside the family junk drawer. Today, Sanyo is announcing its Eneloop lite series scheduled for a June 22nd launch in Japan with a global release set for sometime later. These cells are meant to tempt you by their relatively low, up-front purchase price of ¥780 (about $8.64) for a pair of 1.2V 950mAh AAs or ¥640 ($7.09) for a pair of 1.2V 550mAh AAAs — each capable of about 2,000 recharges saving you at least $1,000 over their lifetime. They’re not going to power your hotshoe flash but they will handle the relatively low to medium power requirements of all the remote controls in your life. Do it.

Continue reading Sanyo Eneloop lite Ni-MH rechargeable batteries are cheap, less filling

Sanyo Eneloop lite Ni-MH rechargeable batteries are cheap, less filling originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While it lacks the bombast and sheer size of major technology trade shows such as CES and the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the Game Developers Conference has quietly become one of the most important events on gaming’s calendar.

HTC’s HD2 is a near perfect combination of physical hardware and silicon that delivers impressive performance on a device that’s surprisingly sleek given the display’s massive 4.3-inch exapanse. Even Microsoft’s much maligned Windows Mobile 6.5 is expertly masked by HTC’s Sense interface. So it’s easy to understand the anticipation felt by the HD2’s first US release, questions of a Windows Phone 7 OS upgrade path notwithstanding. T-Mobile has the release honors and is now showing the HD2 as “coming soon” in its phone inventory. We’ve also got the first “in the wild” shots courtesy of TmoNews showing that big Blockbuster shortcut linked front and center for downloading On Demand movies directly to the device. Still no firm price or date but $199.99 on contract ($449.99 unlocked) sometime around 24 March sounds about right. One more shot with official T-Mobile branding after the break; the rest at the source link below.

Update: Tipster Nigel spotted a “†” footnote to nothing (yet) at the bottom of the page that requires 4 payments of $112.50 (or 20 payments of $22.50). That’s $450, matching the rumored price of the unlocked handset.

[Thanks Taylor]

Continue reading HTC HD2 breaks free in the T-Mobile USA wilds

HTC HD2 breaks free in the T-Mobile USA wilds originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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John Harrison looks like an unmade bed, talks more than Larry King and says he sees sound as color. He makes speakers out of hemp, and to spend any time with him leaves you thinking he’s smoking some of the product.

It would be easy to dismiss him as a lovable, eccentric old hippie. But the man might just be a mad genius. He has rethought the most fundamental part of a speaker -– the cone –- and traded paper for hemp. The result is the Tone Tubby, and it makes guitar amps sing like Aretha Franklin. You’ll find them in rigs used by everyone from Billy Gibbons and Carlos Santana to Keith Richards and the guys in Metallica.

“That is one fine, fine piece of product,” Gibbons told the guitar gurus at ToneQuest Report. “They look great, but most importantly, they sound great. They are really stunning, and they’ll stand tall with anything.”

High praise indeed. But you don’t have to be an ax-slinger to appreciate what a little hemp can do for your sound. Harrison’s outfit has higher ambitions.

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Turning aged hard drives into clocks has been a common occurrence for years now, but there’s still something magical about this rendition. Designed and crafted by Svofski, the Strobeshnik relies on the stroboscopic effect to create the illusion of a persistent numeric display. The HDD platter itself has ten digits, colon and dash marks cut all the way through it, and by carefully timing the light strobes, the illusion is perfected. Check out a video of the startup just below the break — and be patient, the payoff is spectacularly sweet.

Continue reading Strobeshnik: probably the most awesome hard drive clock of all time

Strobeshnik: probably the most awesome hard drive clock of all time originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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