Hasta La Gadget!

Oh, really Best Buy –you don’t say? Too bad… that $69.99 price tag would be so much easier to swallow if you threw in the whole kit and kaboodle.

[Thanks, Kevin]

Continue reading Best Buy sucks at product recognition: Wireless Keyboard for TouchPad, iPad sold separately

Best Buy sucks at product recognition: Wireless Keyboard for TouchPad, iPad sold separately originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You won’t be coloring us surprised at the launch of the E-PM1, but those other two? Well, let’s just say we’ve always been big fans of the elusive trifecta. Olympus just went live with the PEN E-P3 (shown above), PEN E-PL3, and PEN E-PM1, three 12.3 megapixel interchangeable lens cameras with Live MOS sensors, TruePic VI image processors and an ISO ceiling of 12,800. You’ll also get a reengineered autofocus system, a 1080i HD video mode, newly designed user interfaces and a variety of Art Filters. The E-P3 is outfitted with an all-metal body and “the world’s fastest autofocus” (really?), while the rear is dotted with a 614,000 pixel OLED touchscreen. The E-PL3 steps it up with a 3-inch tilting LCD, while the smallest and lightest of the PEN line (yeah, the E-PM1) will be shipping in a half-dozen hues. The outfit also revealed a new pair of prime lenses, a camera grip and a FL-300R flash, all of which are detailed in the source links below. The bad news? Only the P3 is being priced, with $900 landing you a fairly swank kit this August.

Update: We got hands-on with these guys, and you can check it out right here.

Continue reading Olympus reveals PEN E-P3, PEN E-PL3, and PEN E-PM1 interchangeable lens cameras

Olympus reveals PEN E-P3, PEN E-PL3, and PEN E-PM1 interchangeable lens cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Haptic belts and other wearable devices that can guide you may not exactly be a new idea — we’ve even seen some DIY attempts — but the US Army testing them? Well, that’s something worth noting. As New Scientist reports, the Army Research Office in North Carolina is now working on just such a device (likely more advanced than the one pictured here), and hopes that the belts could eventually be used to remotely guide soldiers on the battlefield. That’s done with a combination of GPS, an accelerometer and a compass — and, of course, the haptic part of the equation, which vibrates or pulses to point the soldier in the right direction, or indicate when they’re nearing their target. The idea there being to reduce the need for any handheld devices (at least until thought helmets become a reality), which can both take the soldiers’ eyes off the battlefield and potentially reveal their position at night. There’s still no indication as to when the belts might actually see use in the field, but early tests show that they’re at least as accurate as a handheld GPS, and the soldiers say they actually prefer it.

[Image credit: Sreekar Krishna]

US Army testing haptic belt that nudges soldiers in the right direction originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You’ve got to hand it to IBM’s engineers. They drag themselves into work after their company’s 100th birthday party, pop a few Alka-Seltzers and then promptly announce yet another seismic invention. This time it’s a new kind of phase change memory (PCM) that reads and writes 100 times faster than flash, stays reliable for millions of write-cycles (as opposed to just thousands with flash), and is cheap enough to be used in anything from enterprise-level servers all the way down to mobile phones. PCM is based on a special alloy that can be nudged into different physical states, or phases, by controlled bursts of electricity. In the past, the technology suffered from the tendency of one of the states to relax and increase its electrical resistance over time, leading to read errors. Another limitation was that each alloy cell could only store a single bit of data. But IBM employees burn through problems like these on their cigarette breaks: not only is their latest variant more reliable, it can also store four data bits per cell, which means we can expect a data storage “paradigm shift” within the next five years. Combine this with Intel’s promised 50Gbps interconnect, which has a similar ETA, and data will start flowing faster than booze from an open bar on the boss’s tab. There’s more detailed science in the PR after the break, if you have a clear head.

Continue reading IBM develops ‘instantaneous’ memory, 100x faster than flash

IBM develops ‘instantaneous’ memory, 100x faster than flash originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Are Nintendo and Sony’s portable gaming offerings not doing anything for you? Yearn for the days of Hedgehog-based adventure? You’re not alone — though, unless you’re as crafty as “lovablechevy,” you’re going to have to settle for whatever you can find on eBay or in a dusty shoebox under a bed at your parents’ house. The modder resurrected a Game Gear with a custom case created using the beloved Sega portable, a Master Gear converter, a screen from a PS One, and assorted other bits and pieces. The franken-portable can play Game Gear and Master System titles, has a rechargeable battery, and weighs a hefty two-plus pounds. Video after the break and lots more jealousy-inducing images in the Source link below.

Continue reading Game Gear mod has five-inch screen, rechargable batteries, two pounds worth of memories

Game Gear mod has five-inch screen, rechargable batteries, two pounds worth of memories originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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