Hasta La Gadget!

At what point has the bootleg market gotten out of hand? How about when knockoff goods actually start beating their brand-name counterparts to stores? That’s exactly what has happened in China, where, thanks to manufacturing delays, the Apple iPad has yet to go on sale. Bootleg iPads,” on the other hand, can apparently be had by the boatload.

Of course, they’re no iPads. Reuters got a close look at one of the knockoffs, which, judging from the description, seems to have been created before the real iPad was unveiled.

Hefty and thickset with three USB ports and a more rectangular shape than the original, this knock-off with iPad aspirations, which runs a Windows operating system, looks more like a giant iPhone. It costs 2,800 yuan ($410), making it slightly cheaper than the iPad’s $499-to-$699 price tag

That doesn’t sound especially promising, but it may actually beat the JooJoo.

They might officially be targeting the lower end of business budgets, but a quick peek at the attractive stylings of Lenovo’s ThinkPad Edge and Dell’s Vostro V13 would suggest that both have no shortage of consumer market appeal. So, for the sake of differentiating between these two thin-and-light machines, Lenovo has provided us with one of its torture test videos. Subjecting the V13 and Edge to (hopefully identical) pressure at varying points across the LCD lid, this procedure assesses the robustness of each machine’s screen design. In spite of lacking all the fancy metals present in its elder ThinkPad siblings, the Edge comes through the test unscathed and begging for more, whereas the V13 … well, it doesn’t. Skip past the break to see the hideously disfigured LCD that resulted from its visit to the Lenovo labs.

Continue reading ThinkPad Edge beats Vostro V13 in LCD stress test (video)

ThinkPad Edge beats Vostro V13 in LCD stress test (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you had any illusions about what exactly the Bold 9650 is, make no mistake: owning a Tour takes you 95 percent of the way to understanding the experience. The only thing you’ll really notice on an ongoing basis is the optical pad, which is definitely a big improvement over the trackball of old — not only does it eliminate the issue of gunk buildup, but it’s totally responsive and arguably even easier to use than the ball for most tasks. The version we used was Sprint-branded, but RIM has unbranded units on hand, too; we can only assume Verizon will end up picking it up, though Big Red has been uncharacteristically silent about the matter so far. Hit up the quick gallery below (or, you know, take your Tour and just tape a picture of an optical pad over the trackball to get the experience firsthand).

BlackBerry Bold 9650 hands-on: yeah, it’s a Tour with an optical pad originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Drinkclip/Beltclip is a combination plastic cup-holder. The twist is that you clip it to your belt for on-the-go slurping of the day’s coffee ration. Over the last week, I have been testing it out in a variety of unsuitable situations. But first, a brief recap.

Almost three weeks ago, I gently mocked the clip as being both dorky and dangerous, inviting spillage of scalding-hot coffee directly onto your body. Readers agreed: “Imagine the fun when the crowd surges and the hot coffee is squeezed out of the squashed cup!” wrote ka1axy in the comments (somebody else tried to co-opt the thread with a fundamentalist anti-coffee screed: “coffee is bad for you anyway, stop drinking it and you wont be temped to buy this stupid thing.”)

The Drinkclip people got in touch and issued a challenge to test their device. I accepted. So how did it do?

Pretty good, although as ever I tried to abuse it beyond necessary limits. The clip comes in two parts. A strongly sprung clamp like that found on a workshop inspection lamp, and a detachable belt-clip-able section that does the cup-holding. When used together, the hinged joint lets the cup stay more-or-less upright as the clamp section sways.

The clip works great as a low-slung desk-bracket that keeps your coffee below notebook level for safer spills. And the detachable clamp is strong enough to grip even the thinnest surface safely. But that’s not the point. This is a clip to be used on the move.

I avoided coffee, mostly due to a Starbucks allergy which kicks in every time I see a children’s milkshake packaged for adults. Instead, I chose beer, and slipped the can into the included “koozie”, a neoprene sleeve which both insulates the can and keeps it firmly in the clip. Mounted directly to the belt, it is surprisingly spill-resistant and frees you hands for essential tasks like flipping steaks on the grill or making a turn signal as you cross four lanes of traffic on your bike. In fact, get the clip to sit upright when you’re in the saddle and it is rock-solid, mostly because your waist doesn’t move much as you ride.

Stage two was a stress-test for the full clamp assembly. Again on the bike, but not just rolling down the street. This needed to be brutal. I took the clip and a six-pack to Friday-night bike-polo and clamped the Drinkclip to my handlebars, ready for the full stop-start, herky-jerky ride ahead.

The result? A partial success. The clip did indeed stay put, but inevitably drooped down out of reach, although the can stayed upright thanks to the hinges. Worse was the thrashing around of the beer in the heat of play. As I dodged nimbly across the court, my handlebars were flung from side to side. The can was whipped back and forth like the head of a dropped fire-hose. I lost a lot of beer (although the wet patches did cause some opponents to skid and fall, a definite benefit).

Should you buy it? Sure, if you’re a pro-barbecuer then $15 is a steal, and the Drinkclip is certainly tough enough to last. If you’re looking to carry coffee across the city as you walk, don’t. Take a break, stop pretending your time is so damned important and stop off in a non-chain cafe for a real espresso, not some turgid, watery brew or creamy mocha-choca-fluffball.

Beltclip [Drinkclip]

Photo: Charlie Sorrel

See Also:

• First Look: Dorky Drinkclip Good for More than Coffee
• Too Hot to Handle: Hip-Mounted Coffee-Holder

Believe it or not, Sony managed to shift 12 million 3.5-inch floppy disks in Japan last year — presumably to die-hard old schoolers. Alas, time waits for no one, and the venerable data transporter that started its life way back in 1981 is going to all but cease production by March of next year. Sony was the last of the major manufacturers to keep churning these bits of plastic out, but soon that too shall be no more. Having already shut down operations in most of the world, it’s now noted the end of life for its domestic market, and thereby effectively consigned the floppy to the past. Good riddance, you might say, but we still remember fondly the wonder we experienced upon tearing apart our first 5.25-inch floppy disk. Ah well, the diskette goes the way of the cassette, guess that was predictable.

Sony shutting down Japanese floppy disk sales by March 2011, kills a tech dinosaur originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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