Hasta La Gadget!

The Onkyo DX1007A5B notebook is why I flew 7,800 miles to attend Computex. It doesn’t feature the fastest processor or break new ground in terms of the platform. And to be honest, I didn’t even know Onkyo made PCs until I saw this system in the Microsoft booth. But this is exactly what I expected to find at the show, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Hardware-wise, the system is nothing special: AMD Athlon Neo CPU, 4GB of RAM, 320GB HD, and Windows 7 Home Edition. But the cool thing is the displays, plural. Two 10.2-inch displays are mounted horizontally, so you can extend your desktop horizontally. Since that would be kind of awkward to carry, they collapse down into a standard form factor for travel.

But wait, there’s more! Twist the screen around, and the system works as a tablet. Albeit without a touchscreen, but still pretty neat.

Practical? Probably not. But you got to love the effort. Check out the video to see it in action and tell me you don’t agree.

Warning: Do not follow the link below unless you have a half-hour or so to spare. Bicycle Portraits will be a hardback book of photographs and transcribed conversations with cyclists in South Africa. Right now it exists as a fascinating web gallery that will swallow your entire coffee break.

There’s something about seeing a person with their bike that shows a lot more than a straight portrait. It’s like seeing the contents of their bag, or peeking into their kitchen cupboards, only less voyeuristic and – for bike nerds at least – way more interesting. Combine that with a few words about how, why and where they ride, and a Google map of where the photo was taken and you can see exactly why this site will suck you in:

Why do I cycle? Because it’s fun! Also some exercise and I mean, there is lots you can do with it. Been cycling about 5 years now. I use it to go to town now and then. I bought this bicycle there. I’ve modified the bike a little, putting in the extra pipes and different tires. It means everything to me.

Remo Baker
Rosebud St. Kwanokuthula, Riversdale, Western Cape, South Africa (Pictured above).

The book is by Stan Engelbrecht and his “friend and fellow bicycle enthusiast” Nic Grobler, and will be completed as they ride their bikes around South Africa to meet and photograph people. The project is funded by KickStarter, which lets regular Joes like you and me pledge money to cool projects like this. The guys are looking for $16,000 to complete Bicycle Portraits. If you contribute, you’ll get a copy of the book when it is published. And even if you don’t, go make yourself a cup of coffee and click the link below.

Bicycle Portraits [Day One Publications. Thanks, Stan!]

Photo: Nic Grobler

Need another way to get your tunes (whether they be i-prefixed or not) onto your Android celly? HomePipe is the latest, a service offering easy access to files on your home computer via your cellphone. It’s been available for Apple devices for some time now, but a recently added Android app extends the reach of its plumbing system. That mobile app works in conjunction with a desktop version acting as a server, pushing photos, documents, and lots of types of media — including iTunes. HomePipe claims this makes it the “first to ever stream home iTunes music to Google’s Android,” but having played with Michael Robertson‘s MP3tunes service, which uploads your music library to the cloud and allows access from Android handsets, we’re happy to assure the service that it is at least the second. Still, it sounds mighty handy, and for the bargain price of free it’s definitely worth a shot. Video demo and full press release is just below.

Continue reading HomePipe streams your iTunes to Android, other files too

HomePipe streams your iTunes to Android, other files too originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 07:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like it’s blowhard season up in Redmond these days, as the latest word from Microsoft on its Live Essentials suite of apps has been accompanied by the brash pronouncement that it’s now markedly superior to Apple’s efforts in Mac OS X — at least when it comes to photos. This verdict was delivered by Brian Hall, General Manager for Windows Live, and is backed by a laundry list of new features we can expect by the holiday season of this year. Windows Live Photo Gallery and Movie Maker will soon be able to link up directly to sites like Flickr, Facebook and YouTube — which will allow for painless uploads as well as pulling in any additional tagging done on Facebook. New photo stitching and retouching abilities, along with face recognition (rather than mere detection) are also being touted, but the ultimate arbiter of the new software’s utility will obviously be the real hands-on experience for users. We shouldn’t have to wait too long for that, as a beta version of the freely downloadable (on Vista and 7, XP holdouts are no longer being served) suite should be making the rounds in the coming weeks.

Continue reading Microsoft updating Live app suite, declares Windows ‘better than Mac for photos, hands down’

Microsoft updating Live app suite, declares Windows ‘better than Mac for photos, hands down’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 06:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mad Catz’s new wireless Litetouch keyboard is most obviously aimed at couch-bound media-center owners, but it could also be great for notebook users who “graduate” to a desktop.

The Litetouch combines mouse and keyboard into one, with two mouse buttons flanking a nubbin-like trackball under the numeric keypad. That keypad is the big gimmick here. It is a touch-enabled LCD screen (don’t worry, the QWERTY side is all real-life scissor-sprung buttons) which can switch between three modes: a standard number-pad, a set of media control keys and a custom “MyEclipse” mode, which lets you assign your own shortcuts. Because the keyboard is backlit, it does suck batteries: the li-ion battery will give you just 20 hours between charges.

As we said, it’s perfect for browsing and watching movies on the big screen. But that built-in mouse and the switchable number-pad also makes a great compact all-in-one for those of us who like to use a desktop machine, but hate to use a mouse. I’m one of them. The day somebody makes an Apple Bluetooth style keyboard with a trackpad built in, I’ll be in line to buy it. Until then, this will probably have to do.

Available now, $130.

Litetouch keyboard [Eclipse Touch. Thanks, Alex!]